The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is a massive game, depicting a Hyrule with three levels to explore – land, air and underground. This Hyrule is also full of Easter eggs, i.e. playful little references to other Zelda games. These references are part of Hyrule’s larger mythology, after all. If you’re looking to find them all, we’re compiling a running list of all the references we’ve found, organized by the game they come from.
The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening (1993)
Image: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo via Polygon
In the far southeast corner of the Hyrule map, you’ll find a shoreline-fringed island called Toronbo Beach with a single landmark, labeled Koholit Rock. If this sounds vaguely familiar to you, it might be because this island (called Eventide Island) was also in breath of the wild — or maybe it’s because you heard about it in a dream? More precisely, it is from the dream that Link has in Link’s Awakeningwhich takes place in an alternate dream version of Hyrule where every person, place and thing has a name that is just one little bit off.
At the beginning of Link’s Awakening, Link is shipwrecked and stranded on Toronbo Shores (meaning “Shores”, not “Beach”). Later in the game, he ventures to Koholint Island, which has a slightly different name than the Koholit Rock pictured here. Why is the “n” missing in tears of the kingdomthe version of the name? And why is it just a rock as opposed to the name of the whole island? Again, we’ll just chalk it up to the dream logic of Link’s Awakening. —Maddy Myers
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998)
Every time Link cooks a dish over a fire in tears of the kingdom, he hums a little song. The only song I’ve heard so far is “Saria’s Song”, also known as the Lost Woods theme, from Ocarina of time. According to users of this Reddit threadLink also hums several other songs by Ocarina while cooking, such as “Epona’s Song”, “Zelda’s Lullaby”, “Song of Storms”, and perhaps more to be heard and shared by tears of the kingdom players.
THE Ocarina of time the soundtrack, composed by Koji Kondo, includes some of Zelda’s most popular and critically acclaimed songs; these songs have influenced musicians for years since their debut. Plus, it’s downright adorable to hear Link hum them. —MM
The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask (2000)
Image: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo via Polygon
Majora’s Mask, the titular cursed mask The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Maskcan be won and worn by Link in tears of the kingdom, if you manage to overcome one of the toughest challenges in the game. If you dare to take the fight, head to the Floating Coliseum (in the central depths of Hyrule). Once you arrive, the Colosseum will close around you, after which you’ll have to face five increasingly difficult Lynels. If you manage to kill them all, this mask will be your reward – and what a reward! Here’s the big advantage of wearing this mask, according to its item description: “Wearing it makes it harder for some enemies to spot you. This is a rather rare find. —MM
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (2006)
Image: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo via Polygon
In the far southeast of Hyrule you will find Eventide Island, an isolated piece of land. Below you will find the depths of the Eventide, which is home to a colosseum full of Bokoblins of various colors. If you face them all, you will be rewarded for your troubles: the helmet of Midna from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.
Midna’s helmet is iconic because it’s one of the main things people see on her and think, “What the hell is that?” In tears of the kingdom, it provides a fair amount of defense, but also makes you resistant to gloom, which makes sense, given Midna’s affinity with the Twilight Realm. (I mean, dark is dark, and so is dusk? I know it’s not the same, but thematically it works, OK?) Although you can’t pick things up with the orange hair attached in the helmet, you can put it on and then go stand in a pack of wild wolves, pretending to play the role of your favorite character (Midna), if you wish. —Julia Lee
