“In early prototypes, as a placeholder for Midna, Tetra from The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker was riding on Wolf Link as he ran around Hyrule.”
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Countdown to DLC Pack 1: The Master Trials
Art Director Satoru Takizawa reveals the secret behind Midna’s Helmet.
Hello. I’m Takizawa, Art Director of The Legend of Zelda™: Breath of the Wild.
In DLC Pack 1: The Master Trials, players can find Midna’s Helmet in one of the chests hidden in the world (this DLC is only available through the purchase of the Expansion Pass).
Midna appeared in the Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess game for Wii™ and Nintendo GameCube™, and she played an important role as Link’s partner. On the Wolf Link amiibo™ figure (which was released alongside the Wii U remake of the game, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD), she’s perching on Wolf Link.
Creating a “buddy” character who would stay next to Link at all times and battle in tandem with him was a first for a Legend of Zelda game. The challenge started with brainstorming among designers for ideas, and we eventually finalized this character through a trial-and-error process for her shape, facial expressions, actions, etc.
In early prototypes, as a placeholder for Midna, Tetra from The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker was riding on Wolf Link as he ran around Hyrule.
How does Midna show emotion? We fine-tuned her facial expressions over and over.
There was a secret project we were considering working on before The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess for Wii, and Midna inherited the character profile for the “goblin/devilkin” character that would have been featured in that project. Looking back at the development notes from that time, there are some descriptions left on the notes clearly reminiscent of Midna, including “the appearance looks like a monster or a child,” “can’t tell if she’s enemy or ally,” “can’t really tell what she’s thinking,” “sometimes selfish, but sometimes cute and naïve.” That’s why initial design sketches for Midna looked a lot like this “goblin” character.
Initial design still a lot of that “goblin” feel.
A later concept closer to the final Midna design.
The actual Midna’s Helmet was the physical manifestation of extremely powerful shadow magic passed onto the royal family of an alternate world, but when Link equips it in the Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild game, it will add “Guardian Resist Up” to Link’s defense. This will give Link more armor options when facing Guardians, so I hope you will utilize it well. My recommendation is to use this Helmet while exploring the world with Wolf Link!
Tomorrow, Ms. Shirakawa who worked on the game design will passionately talk about the outfit of 35-year-old man who wanted to be a fairy.
— Satoru Takizawa, Art Director
Source: Zelda.
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