The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is a game full of surprises. The breadth of those surprises is indicative of how brilliant the game is. Some, like Hestu’s new dance, are absurd and delightful. Some, like Rauru’s sexy voice and the amount of loosely-defined “shirts” Link has in his wardrobe, are surprising and, honestly, a bit horny. Some, like the very existence of the Depths, are kind of terrifying. And then, to perhaps top them all, is the truth behind Korok seeds.
In both Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, little leaf friends called Koroks are hiding and pulling little tricks all around Hyrule. These adorable rascals have stolen all the seeds from the maracas of their local endeavoring musician, Hestu. When Link finds a Korok, he gets a Korok seed. Tears of the Kingdom introduces backpack Koroks who packed for their camping trips far too over-zealously. When you reunite them with their friends, you’re given two seeds. You give these seeds back to Hetsu, who plays his magic maracas in a lovely song and dance which upgrades your inventory.
Well, guess what? All those Korok seeds Link has jangling around in his pockets? Which he worked so hard to collect? And which give Hestu’s maracas their sweet, sweet sound? They are poop. Korok seeds are poop.
You find this out by collecting all 900 Korok seeds in Breath of the Wild. It’s something the developers clearly didn’t expect many people to actually do, because the reward is completely ridiculous. Especially when compared to getting all 120 Shrines, which gives you the coordinates of the “traditional” Link costume. Instead, when you collect all 900 seeds in Breath of the Wild, you go to Hestu and receive “Hestu’s Gift.”
“Hestu’s Gift” looks like a giant golden turd. Because it is a giant golden turd. The item description tells you as much: “A gift of friendship given to you by Hestu. It smells pretty bad.” What is Link supposed to do with that? Put it on the mantel of his home?!
The team behind it thinks this is all freaking hilarious. IGN approached Breath of the Wild director Hidemaro Fujibayashi about Hestu’s Gift, and Fujibayashi just started laughing. “We just kind of thought it would be funny to make that a big joke,” he said. “It’s just the backstory, the kind of hidden kind of thing in the game the whole way is that the Korok seeds are actually Korok poop.”
In case you’re wondering whether this is still canon in Tears of the Kingdom—it is. Knowing about Hestu’s Gift gives very key context to part of the item description of Korok seeds in TotK: “This small seed was given to you by a Korok. It has a very distinct smell.”
This, to me, is peak Zelda. I love Zelda at its most completely and utterly ridiculous. And what is more ridiculous than finding out, after over a hundred hours of playtime, that Link has been carrying poop in his pockets?
(Featured image: Nintendo)
