Renowned Nintendo developer and producer of the Zelda series, Eiji Aonuma, has disclosed that The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom was nearly named Tears of the Dragon instead.
Aonuma stated in the Japanese art book for Tears of the Kingdom that the team decided against using that name in case it would give away a significant story aspect to fans. Nintendo Everything translated his remarks.
Nintendo believed the Tears of the Dragon would overshadow the Light Dragon that soars above Hyrule and diminish the impact of the unexpected revelation that (spoiler alert!) Zelda is indeed the dragon.
It would have been problematic to reveal that the Light Dragon is Zelda, and this also affected the title. Tears of the Dragon was one of the finalists for the title, according to Aonuma.
“However, we opted against including the term “dragon” in the title because it would be a horrible concept. We also intended to include dragon designs in the logo. After all, it would highlight the Light Dragon. But we were running out of development time, and nothing else worthwhile was coming to mind.”
Of course, the title Tears of the Kingdom still makes sense, since players explore the Kingdom of Hyrule in quest of tears to uncover memories that lead to the huge dragon’s true identity.
One of the most popular video games of 2023, both critically and financially, was Tears of the Kingdom. In our 10/10 review, Gamexta stated, “The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is an unfathomable follow-up, expanding a world that already felt full beyond expectation and raising the bar ever higher into the clouds.” Nintendo revealed that the Breath of the Wild sequel sold 10 million copies in three days.
