Rumor: Daruk’s Italian Voice Actor May Have Revealed An Interesting Plot Detail About Breath of the Wild’s Sequel
Posted on May 05 2022 by Charles Xavier
This article contains content that potentially spoils an aspect of Breath of the Wild 2‘s plot.
This past weekend, the Italian voice actor for Breath of the Wild‘s Daruk, Pietro Ubaldi, participated in a meet and greet at the Milano’s Comics and Games convention in Italy. During this event, Ubaldi talked briefly with Emanuele Baserga of Lega Hyrule, an Italian Zelda fan community. The voice actor was asked about the upcoming sequel to Breath of the Wild, to which he replied with an interesting piece of information.
Ubaldi told Baserga that he had not only finished recording his lines days before the convention — voicing Daruk once again — but he also provided the voice for “Daruk’s ancestor” as well. The video above shows a partial recording of the exchange from the meet and greet, and here is the translation of the interaction:
Lega Hyrule: “So, you said you voiced Daruk’s ancestor?”
Ubaldi: “Yes, but unfortunately I don’t remember his name. However, he was a more serious Daruk. More…”
LH: “Darunia, perhaps?”
Ubaldi: “No… I started to forget the names, you know, the age… I can’t remember anything.”
LH: “So Breath of the Wild’s Italian voice acting is done?”
Ubaldi: “Yeah, recently. It’s a game that has yet to come out.”
LH: “Yes, next year.”
Ubaldi: “Or a version that has yet to come out.”
LH: “Thank you.”
On its face, Ubaldi’s claim seems pretty clear cut. We should expect to one day meet an ancestor of Goron Champion Daruk.
However, the voice actor’s responses should definitely be taken with a grain of salt, as the exchange was clearly very brief and casual. More concrete details and context about this character and their role in the upcoming game would have more firmly substantiated the claims made. Furthermore, Ubaldi’s inability to recall certain details, like this character’s name, casts further doubt on at least some of the responses.
Until we get more information from Nintendo themselves, it’s always better to err on the side of caution. We all probably remember back in 2020 when the Spanish voice actors for Breath of the Wild joked about finishing lines for a then-upcoming game, (presumably the then-unannounced Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity), causing misinformed speculations on Breath of the Wild 2‘s release. That incident definitely demonstrated the importance of incredulity in situations like this.
Many of the key details presented in this exchange have already been the subject of scrutiny. GameXplain, for example, recently explored the possibility that Ubaldi meant “descendant,” rather than “ancestor,” indicating the character Yunobo. They concluded that this possibility is unlikely, given that the Italian word for “ancestor” was clearly used and that Ubaldi didn’t voice Yunobo in previous games. Meanwhile, some have focused on the word “version” used by Ubaldi, leading to speculation that, however unlikely, the voice actor actually recorded lines for new Age of Calamity DLC or some other unannounced title.
Based on Ubaldi’s claim, there is actually also fan speculation that Breath of the Wild‘s sequel will have more characters voiced, or possibly voice lines for all the characters. This has furthermore led some to wonder if Ubaldi was actually voicing lines for Bludo, the Goron Chief, during the present-day events of Breath of the Wild. He may have only known that Bludo is more elderly than Daruk and simply assumed that he is Daruk’s ancestor. This is obviously reaching, but it’s at least worth considering. The point is that there is very little clarification provided in this short clip, leaving far too much room for interpretation.
Now, if this information does relate to Breath of the Wild‘s sequel, it could imply quite a few interesting things. Considering international voice acting is completed or close to completion, the game could be very far along in production, as voice acting typically comes later in a game’s development. The game’s current target release window of Spring 2023 would be more set in stone in that case, making further delays less likely. And we can guess with reasonable certainty that the entirety of the game’s plot is finalized, meaning that the game’s recent delay was caused by other areas of development.
As for what the inclusion of Daruk’s ancestor could mean for the plot of the sequel, it could confirm what fans have been speculating since the 2019 E3 reveal: that this game will, in some way, recount what happened during the Great Calamity 10,000 years before the events of Breath of the Wild. The plot of the sequel might revolve around finding memories related to the past, and those memories will contain interactions with Daruk’s ancestor who piloted Vah Rudania. I’m sure this possibility will re-spark theories that the mysterious hand that attached itself to Link is the spirit of the hero seen in the tapestry depicting the first use of the Guardians and Divine Beasts to seal away Calamity Ganon. Alternatively, Link may end up coming across the spirits of previous Champions, similar to how he encountered the spirits of Daruk, Mipha, Urbosa, Revali, and the King of Hyrule.
All of these would be a very interesting developments, but I will once again remind you that nothing is for certain until we finally get an update on the game from Nintendo. Are you staying cautious of this rumor after past burns, or has this re-sparked your interest in speculating on the game? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!
Source: Lega Hyrule (via NintendoWire, GameXplain)
Translation by Lorenzo Saltutti
Charles is a Senior Editor at Zelda Dungeon. He is a Visual Development artist focused on enviroments and pitch paintings. Check out his Instagram and Twitter to see his latest artworks, a lot of which is Zelda fan art! His favorite candy is Skittles – he feels the world should know this.
