Yosuke Hayachi: Hyrule Warriors Will Have Original and Surprising Characters

In an interview with Zelda Dungeon, Yosuke Hayachi revealed that Hyrule Warriors would include original playable characters in addition to characters from previous titles.

Mases Hagopian: I got to play the game. I got to play as Zelda and Link, but we also saw Midna and Impa. Is there any plan to perhaps introduce characters that are not part of the Zelda world. Perhaps something from the Dynasty Warriors games. A crossover character?

Yosuke Hayachi: So in Hyrule Warriors, there is inevitably going to be a connection to the Legend of Zelda world. So because of that connection we have characters like Midna that appear, and Link, and Princess Zelda. As part of this world, there are also original characters that will be introduced soon. I’m hoping everybody is looking forward to seeing them.

The recent E3 demo of Hyrule Warriors had nine character slots, four of which were taken up by the already announced Link, Zelda, Impa, and Midna. That leaves five slots open for other playable characters, barring any secret characters. It appears that original characters, like the girl on the cover who is probably not Nayru, will take at least one or two of these slots, but the rest are fair game for fan favorites. You know, like Tingle.

Mases: So Tingle… (laughs)… Can we see Tingle in Hyrule Warriors?

Hayachi: I really like Tingle. I’ve played all of the Tingle games.

Eiji Aonuma: Do you like Tingle?

Ben Lamoreux: Of course!

Ben: Princess Zelda herself will be playable in this game. How was that decision reached and did fans influence the decision at all?

Hayachi: One of the main basic concepts of the Dynasty Warriors series is that you have a large roster of players to play as. The same is true with Hyrule Warriors. Initially our thoughts were that Link and Zelda had to be playable characters. From there, again, Zelda has such a long history, there are so many vibrant characters in the Zelda universe that we could have chosen from. So we took ideas from the team and we listened to opinions of fans. We definitely did our research. Another thing that we thought about was is which player would be fun to play as. You probably saw on the show floor, the roster. There are many many open spaces. Those will be filled in and we’re hoping that you are looking forward to see them. I think there will be some in there that you will be surprised.

Mases: Tingle!

(Room erupts in laughter again)

Now Tingle certainly wasn’t confirmed, but Hayachi did not deny his inclusion either. It has been shown that Tingle has a dark side in The Wind Waker, so the biggest man-child in the Zelda universe may be able to lay down some hurt on the scores of enemies in Hyrule Warriors.

Even if I don’t get to drive my enemies before me shouting: “TINGLE, TINGLE, KOOLOO-LIMPAH,” there are sure to be many interesting characters in Hyrule Warriors. Who would you like to see?

Source: Zelda Dungeon