The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild remains a star title on the Switch years after its release for a lot of reasons. Its open world is littered with things to discover, its post-apocalyptic storytelling remains unique within the Zelda franchise, and it's full of memorable new takes on old characters. For instance, The Legend of Zelda is littered with Great Fairies, but The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild makes them special through their unique ability to upgrade Link's armor. BotW's Great Fairies also feature Malanya the Horse God, a strange character who can bring Link's dead horses back to life for a small fee.
Malanya is largely presented as a deity, but his fairly grounded, approachable place in Hyrule and his Fairy Fountain home make him far more comparable to fellow fairies than true gods like Hylia. Still, Malanya stands out both because of his erratic personality and his special relationship with BotW mechanics. The horse god blends these things wonderfully to stand out as a BotW landmark. Future Zelda titles would be wise to use Malanya as a blueprint for other fairy characters, as his unique design shows that the Zelda series ought to return to its fairy-rich roots.
Malanya's Case for More Fairies in Zelda
Most of Breath of the Wild's Great Fairies are women with an aloof, flirtatious attitude towards Link, but Malanya couldn't be more different. He often threatens to smite Link if he mistreats horses before waving off his own threats as jokes, which makes him seem fairly jolly overall, if a little strange. He's also much less humanoid than the Great Fairies, bearing a horse mask for a head and two floating, Great Fairy-like hands. Malanya's design implies a great depth of possibility in fairy designs overall, meaning he could inspire more abstract fairy appearances and personalities in future Zelda games.
Malanya's involvement with Breath of the Wild's horses also makes him special. Nobody else provides the special service that the horse god does; he uses his magic as a Great Fairy in an entirely unique way. Given how this makes Malanya stand out, there's a clear case for future Great Fairies or other fairy character providing exclusive services that highlight each Zelda game's mechanics. BotW could've featured Great Fairies that loved cooking or offered rare weapons, for instance. While that game has missed its chance, other Zelda games could still follow Malanya's lead.
While Malanya himself makes a great self for more creative fairies in the future, the Zelda series itself has traditions in place that demand more fairies. The franchise used to have a habit of including major fairy characters, the most famous of which is Navi from Ocarina of Time. Further fairy companions in Majora's Mask,Phantom Hourglass, and even Hyrule Warriors cemented the tradition, but today, fairies great and small mostly appear as sources of healing and protection. Breath of the Wild seems to herald a return to fairy-rich roots, but ideally Nintendo will double down on Malanya, rather than the other, largely identical Great Fairies.
The Legend of Zelda no longer needs fairy companions to explain camera controls, but it could still use fairy characters to inject a little mystique into the franchise's stories. Malanya's design could lead to unique merchants who offer special magical services, or even recurring characters who offer Link cryptic lore that helps or hinders him. All the while, Nintendo ought to diversify the personalities of fairy characters, rather than sticking to cookie-cutter Great Fairies. Reviving the Zelda trend of unique fairies ought to mean making them all memorable, rather than fitting them all into the same archetype. It remains to be seen how Tears of the Kingdom handles fairies, but hopefully it does something special with them in the same vein as the Horse God.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is available now for Nintendo Switch and Wii U.
