Takaya Imamura created Tingle and we must respect his wishes
For four long decades, Nintendo fans have puzzled over the long-eared enigma that is Link. The hero of the Legend of Zelda games is known to be a man (Hylian?) of very few words. One of the few times we’ve ever heard Link talk was in the cornball 1989 animated series The Legend of Zelda, where his trademark is acting like a douche and saying “Excuuuuse me, Princess!” to Zelda in a snotty tone. Now, the art director of Majora’s Mask, Takaya Imamura, is weighing in with his own thoughts on the longstanding debate. And it turns out, he’s anti-yapping.
“The moment Link speaks, I can’t help but worry a little that the ‘Zelda magic’ everyone has been nurturing in their hearts might just vanish into thin air,” Imamura wrote on X, in response to another post asking “Now that The Super Mario Galaxy Movie has been out for a few days, how do we feel about the upcoming Legend of Zelda movie?”
In response, a fan asked Imamura how he thought Nintendo might handle Link speaking in the upcoming Legend of Zelda movie, which is slated to hit theaters in 2027. Imamura acknowledged that the character will “obviously talk,” but noted “it seems like [Link will] be a taciturn character.” (Given how little the recent Mario Galaxy Movie seems to care about giving its characters interesting stuff to do, I think it’s entirely possible that Link won’t speak at all.)
Imamura retired in 2021, but he worked at Nintendo for 32 years, designing the story and characters of F-Zero and many of the supporting characters from the Star Fox series of video games. Not only was he responsible for creating the iconic falling moon in Majora’s Mask, he also created the legendary weirdo Tingle, a middle-aged man who dreams of becoming a fairy. Frankly, if he doesn’t want to hear Link talk, maybe we ought to respect those wishes.
Nintendo artist (and Tingle creator) Takaya Imamura retires
Illustrated numerous games in 32 years with Nintendo, including classics Star Fox and F-Zero
