Gamers everywhere were enamored when 2023’s The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom was released. The highly anticipated sequel to 2017’s Breath of the Wild brought both familiarity and novelty. Players were ecstatic to embark on another adventure in the sprawling world of Hyrule. While the Zelda series has amassed a huge following over the years, fans may be surprised to hear that Tears of the Kingdom was not always the game’s intended name.
The Original Name for Tears of the Kingdom
The recently released Master Works book for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is a treasure trove of information. While the 464-page tome mostly functions as an art book, it also contains a plethora of development notes, concept pieces, and an encyclopedia. Master Works has yet to be localized, but the studious people over at Nintendo Everything have provided translations of select passages. An intriguing piece of information they have produced comes from a series of comments made by Eiji Aonuma, the game’s producer. Aonuma reveals that the original title of the game was to be Tears of the Dragon. Be warned as story spoilers are incoming, but here are just some of his statements from the book:
“Letting it slip that the Light Dragon is Zelda would have been a problem, and this had an effect on the title too. One of the candidates for the title that made it to the end was ‘Tears of the Dragon’.
But it would be a bad idea to have the keyword ‘Dragon’ in the title, and we wanted to have dragon patterns in the logo, but decided otherwise. It’d emphasize the Light Dragon, after all (laughs). But nothing else good was coming to mind, and we were running out of development time…
We went through many words, and then one time a staff member suggested, ‘What about Kingdom?’. With ‘Tears of the Kingdom’, it felt like the phrase could connect to the Light Dragon to us, and we could use dragons in the logo. With the title decided, the logo finally became what it is now.”
Pushback on the Name
As suggested in Aonuma’s notes, there was inner turmoil among the staff regarding the name and logo of Tears of the Kingdom. Those who have played the game know how integral dragons, particularly the Light Dragon, are to the plot. As exposed during the story, the Light Dragon traveling the skies of Hyrule is in actuality, Princess Zelda. After being sent into the past, Zelda swallows a Secret Stone and transforms into a dragon to repair the broken Master Sword. The sword can be retrieved from the forehead of the Light Dragon, allowing Link to defeat Ganondorf. The Light Dragon reappears during the climactic final battle with Ganondorf’s Demon Dragon form to aid Link in an epic sky battle.
Tears of the Dragon would have doubtlessly fit with the overarching narrative and set pieces of the game. But as Aonuma states, this title would have drawn more attention to the relevance of the Light Dragon to the story. The revelation of the dragon’s true identity as Zelda was designed to be a significant plot twist. Having the game’s name reference this would have made the twist more predictable. After some lengthy debates and considerations, the team finally decided on the name Tears of the Kingdom. This would maintain the spirit without making the reveal obvious. The final logo would eventually feature a pair of dragons encircling the text, a more subtle nod to the game’s events.
Zelda’s Next Adventure
The title for any game is important, both for thematic cohesion as well as marketing purposes. Naming conventions for Zelda games often give insight into the mechanics or lore of the world they explore. While Tears of the Dragon may have arguably made for a more logical name, it would have likely lessened the emotional impact of uncovering the princess’s fate. Learning of Zelda’s sacrifice only compels Link—and by extension, the player—to push further in his quest.
While Zelda is used to playing a supporting role to Link, the next title in the series will mark a major shift for her. Rather than awaiting Link to save Hyrule, it will be up to Zelda to overcome evil and protect the land. Fans have been waiting patiently for years to play as the series’s namesake, with some opportunities never coming to fruition. We will finally have that opportunity in The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom. Echoes of Wisdom is set to be released on September 26, 2024, for the Nintendo Switch.
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