Interview:Ocarina of Time Development - Characters

The original interview can be found in its entirety at <a href="http://www.1101.com/nintendo/nin1/nin1-5.htm" target="new">1101</a>. Translation thanks to <a href="http://www.glitterberri.com/ocarina-of-time/1101-interviews/characters" target="new">Glitterberri</a>

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time news, direct from the production area! The Zelda team chosen by Shigeru Miyamoto created Zelda 64 with surprising stubbornness! One part of that stubbornness was to do a stubborn interview. We'll pass on a small part of that interview from the top of Hobonichi's nearby tree.

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(1-5) Looks Like You Have to Pay Attention to the Characters in This Zelda

Yoshiki Haruhana (Character Design): I was in charge of the characters, but it was a lot of trouble because of how many there were. It was difficult to make compromises when something went wrong. There were even things that gave me indigestion, but I think we were able to do it in the end.

There are more than 60 characters in Ocarina of Time! One character takes about 2-3 days to make, so our schedule is always uncertain. We just have to go from one to the next.

Fellow staff-member Takano once told me "all the people you make turn out to be freaks!" I never intend to do that! My response is always "oh, is that so?" *laughs* For example, Dampe the gravekeeper is a hunchback, right?

In Kakariko Village, there's a guy sitting by himself on top of a house. It was also never my intention to make a character similar to myself, but afterwards 5 people said to me "Hey, that's you!" I definitely wasn't aiming for it, I swear. To the contrary, I didn't even want to make a character after myself! But even so…

Satoru Takizawa (Character Design): I never meant to fuss over the characters, but still I was inclined to treat them as if they were real.

We designed them to be real, so we were also attempted to make them have interesting and realistic animations. Because they were interesting and elaborate, we wanted the animation to be honest, serious.

Sort of like the Poes, grudgingly running away from the player… Other enemies, when defeated, will burst into flames and disintegrate… little things like that.

There's even a guy who looks like Kimutaku (Kimura Takuya, Japanese celebrity)! The medicine shop man really clearly resembles him. *laughs* If I told you my favorite character in Zelda: Ocarina of Time, it'd have to be him, the Kakariko Village medicine man with sparking teeth and long hair.

Haruhana: The medicine shop man's character stands out because of the resemblance. In short, it means he's too good of a person, making him a freak. While making him, I was thinking "Hey, this guy reminds me of someone…", but I might have been unconsciously channeling Kimutaku all along, I don't know.

A good example of a female in the game would be Kakariko Village's Chicken Lady. Pretty and completely inoffensive! Fellow staff member Onozuka was very pleased with her.

Aside from her, everyone else is a freak. *laughs* Ingo looks a little like a fag, don't you think? He's a pigeon-toed weakling. *laughs* I'm happy there were people who noticed the pigeon-toes. It's a little unkind, but because he is weak inside, him being pigeon-toed casts a bit of a weak image.

Other exemplary characters would be the Bean Seller who resides at Zora's River, forever eating beans; Dampei, who I mentioned before, the gravekeeper; and the Magic Medicine Shop's grandmother. Those three are the cutest examples, in my opinion.

Naoki Mori (Cinema Scene Director): I was in charge of Princess Zelda's demo movies. The games feature Zelda, the heroine, and Link, the knight. Now we also have the appearance of Saria, the forest girl. Though someone else was in charge of creating her, I've taken a liking to her. I was, however, conscious of the fact that I had to make it so that Saria's character didn't eclipse Zelda's in the series.

"(1-5) Looks Like You Have to Pay Attention to the Characters in This Zelda" has ended. The interview continues from here, so please check back for updates!