When the sequel toThe Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wildwas announced at E3 2019, the trailer that Nintendo released seemed to hold many secrets, especially concerning the mummified corpse that appeared in the latter half of it. It was immediately assumed that it was Ganon’s corpse when fans first saw it, but after a few deeper looks into the trailer, some fans are convinced that Zant fromTwilight Princesswill also be making an unconventional return in the sequel.
The trailer itself creates more questions than answers regarding the setting of the sequel toBreath of the Wild.The only things that are immediately clear from the trailer is that the game will take place in the same world as its predecessor, which Nintendo confirmed, and that Link and Zelda will be adventuring together in some capacity this time around.
The trailer certainly confirmed that there is a main villain but everything else, from the strange smoke that takes everything over to the shining arm that grabs the corpse, is still a mystery. However, the arm and the mummified corpse could provide clues as to how many villains will be inBotW 2.
Ganondorf
The main villain ofThe Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wildwas Ganon and his four blight minions,
and after defeating them, Link and Zelda have to defeat Dark Beast Ganon out in the fields. Ganondorf, however, never makes an appearance in the game. Ganondorf is the humanoid manifestation of Ganon and sometimes appears in previous games in the series, such asOcarina of TimeandThe Wind Waker.
Although he never appears inBreath of the Wild,there are still some minor references to the human form of Ganon found in the game. Gerudo town has a permanently active ban on all men (except for Goron men) which Link has to circumvent by dressing more like a Hylian girl. This ban is partly due to the Gerudo’s fear that Ganon will resurrect itself as a Gerudo male, which Ganondorf is. If the idea of Ganondorf is canon inBreath of the Wild,then his appearance in BotW 2 as a vengeful villain is all the more likely.
The decayed corpse in the trailer does have the proportions of a man, as opposed to the beast Ganon. It also has the forehead gem that Ganondorf is known to wear and the red hair that the Gerudo are known for. Ganondorf wasn’t ever designed with long red hair before but he wouldn’t be the only slightly redesigned character inBreath of the Wild.The shiny arm is a different story though.
Zant
The theory behind Zant’s comeback for Breath of the Wild 2 comes from Reddit user ReroFunk. They suggest that the music in the trailer, when played backwards, is not only reminiscent of the originalLegend of Zelda,but also has hints of Zant’s theme music inTwilight Princess.They also suggest that the corpse’s particular pose at the end, and the color theme of the arm and environment, point to similarities to Zant’s motifs as well.
Although anything’s possible, there isn’t really fromBreath of the Wildthat would suggest the return of a character from another game like that (excluding Zant’s helmet which was DLC). If that arm grabbing the corpse was Zant though, that would at least explain another possibility regarding the villain inBreath of the Wild 2.
Zombie Ganondorf
There are a few parallels betweenBreath of the Wildto its sequel andOcarina of Timeto Majora's Mask.For one, the latter games have darker elements to them. TheBotW 2trailer andMajora’s Maskboth appear to be spookier versions than their predecessors. Second, the upcoming sequel is likely to come out much sooner in comparison to the traditional gap between mainlineZeldagames, just likeMajora’s Mask.It wouldn’t be surprising ifBotW 2took the villain dynamic of Majora’s Mask and applied it to the two entities that Link and Zelda discover in the trailer.
InMajora’s Mask,Skull Kid is seen as the primary villain for the majority of the game. It’s revealed at the end that Skull Kid was under the control of Majora the entire time and Link goes on to defeat it. In the trailer forBreath of the Wild 2,the shining arm appears to resurrect the corpse that it grabs, with its empty eye sockets filling up with demon-like eyes toward the end, indicating that a puppet master is the villain this time around. Nintendo producer Eiji Aonuma has even described the game as being darker than Majora's Mask because of these themes.
If the corpse is ultimately Link’s archrival, even though a new rumor suggests that it isn’t Ganondorf, then Link might have to deal with another puppet enemy, just like inMajora’s Mask.InBreath of the Wild 2though, the villain could very well be zombie Ganondorf.
The sequel toThe Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wildis in development for the Nintendo Switch.
