OneLegend of Zeldafan shows off their amazing fan art of what Link would look like as a samurai.The Legend of Zeldais a series that likes to encompass multiple cultures into its settings, and usually makes each game have a differing culture compared to the others, giving players a new world to explore with each title, even if the series is supposedly set in one timeline. Despite this, while there are some connections with Japanese culture, there hasn’t been much in the way of utilizing the imagery of the samurai, which one artist decided to try themselves.
Back whenThe Legend of Zeldawas first developed, its creator, the famed Shigeru Miyamoto, was influenced mostly by exploring around rural Kyoto, Japan. Many have been able to feel this in how the very firstLegend of Zeldacapitalized on feeding the player little information and allowing them to explore, an aspect which made up the building blocks that led to thefreedom inThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. But as the games went on, it borrowed more and more from other cultures like those of South America, Egypt, and more.
RELATED:Zelda Fan Creates Impressive Wood Carving of King of Red Lions From Wind Waker
One artist wanted to borrow from the culture of Pre-Modern Japan by turning Link into a samurai, and the result can be viewedhere. Reddit user BuBDraw posted a beautiful drawing ofTwilight PrincessLink donning the attire of the samurai, hair tied up, with thelegendary Master Swordbeing turned into a katana instead of the usual double-edged long sword it usually is. By his side is a wolf, similar to his wolf form fromThe Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. It is drawn to look like it was made of a multi-colored mist or smoke, giving it a mysterious appearance.
Many in the comments praised the artist’s ability, some even saying it was so good they thought it was a part of theLegend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomart book leak. Others talked about how they wished for a more fully Japanese inspiredLegend of Zeldagame, which others agreed with, while saying some locations and characters throughout the series are inspired by Japan, such as Kakariko Village fromBreath of the Wild. The artist loved all the reception, but said they would like to fix it up before making wallpapers of it.
As the release date forThe Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomnears, it wouldn’t be too outrageous to think of where else the series will go next, be it continuing theBreath of the Wildsaga or trying something completely different.According to the file size ofTears of the Kingdom, it is set to be a truly ambitious games, perhaps even more so than its predecessor. After this game releases,The Legend of Zeldagoing in an unlikely direction with a setting akin to Pre-Modern Japan, fit with samurai Link, could be an interesting turn for the series.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomlaunches May 12 for Nintendo Switch.
MORE:The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Needs to Get Sound Design Right
