To close this feature, Pedro looks at the one Zelda character that has caused the most ruckus in the legacy.
Out of all the characters that have been created for each and everyone of the Zelda games, the one that has created the most controversy, hate and confusion has to be the one and only Tingle. Why is that? Because unlike the other characters, Tingle has broken away from the Zelda mythos in order to expand his own universe, and that drives some people nuts.
Tingle first appeared on The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask as an auxiliary character. He would sell Link the maps he would paint for his father. But rather than just being another shop keeper, he was very exuberant about it. He claimed to be a fairy boy just like Link (even though he is really a guy in his thirties), jumps around pretending to be someone magical, wears green tights and red briefs, and has a balloon that allows him to fly around.
For most players, meeting Tingle for the first time was scarier than the moon
Weird, right? Regardless, he didn't seem to cause much ruckus till after the release of Majora's Mask. Since then he has made appearances on other Zelda games, most notably Wind Waker. In that game, he has a bigger role as far as supporting characters go. One of the sidequests you could partake in was freeing him from captivity in an island. Once you did, he gave you the Tingle Tuner, a device that allowed Tingle to help Link out during his adventure. This was a neat gameplay mechanic that used the Game Boy Advance to GameCube link cable presented as a guidance tool for younger players unfamiliar with the Zelda gameplay. Not only that, the Tingle Tuner yielded some quests that revealed that Tingle has brothers that work on a desolate island.
If Tingle is your assistant, then you are better off adventuring on your own
Much like their sibling, they dress up in colorful suits and share the same liveliness that has made Tingle...unique in the franchise. Some of them spent their days working hard by spinning the giant Tingle totem in the middle of the island. No reason, just cause they could.
Yes, much to our shock, Tingle was indeed normal once...as normal as he could be of course
Tingle was apparently so popular that he got his own DS game, Freshly-Picked Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland in 2006. The game serves as an explanation as to why Tingle exists in the Zelda series, why he is obsessed with Rupees and why he dresses up as a fairy. Tingle then appeared in Tingle's Balloon Fight, an update of the classic NES game Balloon Fight featuring the character for the DS, a DSiWare App and a sequel to the first DS game.
With this in mind, you would think that Tingle is a very beloved character. Well, in Japan he may be popular, but in North America? Not so much. The other question is, why? I would explain it, but it would mean I would have to dive into some very controversial and messy topics. The short of it all is that he is weird and flamboyant, TOO weird and flamboyant for some.
The other reason players might hate him is because they feel that he has gained underserved popularity. The entire Zelda franchise is filled with some amazing characters, some are of the supporting kind, others have a big role in the development of the story. And yet, these deep, complex and genuinely fascinating characters have been left to stay in their respective games forever, while the little weirdo just keeps appearing time and time again with no real or defined characteristics other than he is just a creepy man with a thing for Rupees and fairies.
If you dress up as Tingle for Halloween, prepare to get hit with rotten eggs
Such is the hatred for Tingle that it prevented the release of his first DS game in North America, and Nintendo even had to confirm that he wasn't in Twilight Princess (though the character of Purlo resembles Tingle in a way).
Long story short, Tingle is a character everyone loves to hate, and because of that he has been around for a long time. Love him or hate him, he is proof that a minor Zelda character can be so captivating in his or her presence that on a rare ocassion they can break away from the boundaries of the game and into out gamer culture, whether we like it or not.
