‘Breath Of The Wild’ Fans Discover A Secret Character From Link’s Past

By

Published

March 6, 2017

WARNING: This post contains mild spoilers for ‘The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild‘.

Are you sure you want to read? This definitely spoils an Easter egg, but it’s also not an easter egg you’re likely to find. You have to have a pretty hardcore Zelda fan, and if that’s you, then you probably already know about it.

[This part has been intentionally left blank.]

Alright, HERE IT IS: You can ride Epona, Link‘s beloved horse from previous games. But you have to know exactly what to do.

First things first, ‘Breath of the Wild’ has two hidden characters – Wolf Link from ‘Twilight Princess‘ and Epona from, well, the rest of the series (but really ‘Ocarina of Time‘, let’s be real).

Neither one is accessible in the game without an amiibo, these bizarre-looking figurines Nintendo releases with each game that gives you bonus content.

I love this amiibo so much!!! Link looks stunning & the detail is awesome! Can’t wait to get the others. #ZeldaBreathoftheWild pic.twitter.com/eJB395YDwA

— Icey (@IceySparkz) March 6, 2017

There’s a bunch of amiibos that exist for past games, and BotW uses them all. Most will unlock items with varying degrees of usefulness (i.e. a Hylian Shield or the ‘Ocarina of Time’ Link costume), but the Twilight Princess Wolf Link one unlocks Wolf Link as an ally. He’ll go into battle with you – extremely useful in a game where dungeon master-level monsters hide around every corner – and if he dies, you can bring him back to life the next day (one spawns every 24 hours).

Really loving this game so far. And having Wolf Link just makes the entire experience 10x better. #Zelda pic.twitter.com/xliD2BTnH3

— Darkwraith Nid (@NidtheDragon) March 4, 2017

But here’s the thing: there’s no Epona amiibo. So how do you get it?

It’s basically a reward for the most hardcore Zelda fans. You unlock Epona using the Link amiibo that came out with ‘Super Smash Bros. for Wii U‘.

BotW allows you to ride and tame wild horses, each of whom have different strengths, weaknesses and temperaments. But Epona requires no training, has maxed out stats, and a gentle temperament, i.e. is the perfect horse. Also – it’s EPONA. This entire series is laced in nostalgia, and the sight of that damn loyal horse just makes your heart sing

It behbeh Epona!

The game doesn’t let you change Epona’s name, either. This is what happens when you register the beloved horse (screenshots courtesy of Twitter user @link__blink).