Despite being Princess Zelda’s knight in shining armor, Link seemingly can’t save himself from experiencing some of the funniest deaths in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Not only has the newest Zelda game granted players with a slew of exciting new abilities, a reimagined map of Hyrule, and a rare direct continuation of Breath of the Wild‘s events – it has also bestowed them with a number of brand-new and hilarious ways to unintentionally (or intentionally) kill the protagonist.
Tears of the Kingdom is better than Breath of the Wild in many ways, but as some players have quickly discovered, the sequel is significantly more difficult than its predecessor. Whereas Link could have skirted by BOTW with only a few deaths to his name, he’ll be put in immediate – and lasting – danger in TOTK. Combined with a new set of mechanics, controls, and the complete reset of progress from Breath of the Wild, players are bound to die far more frequently than they did before. It’s not all bad, though, as many of these frustrating scenarios have actually spawned the funniest deaths in Tears of the Kingdom.
10 Hitting Bomb Flowers
In a Reddit post, MattBrostar shows what it means to kill two birds with one stone – the second bird being themselves. As Link swings a club at a frozen enemy, he also mistakenly swings at the pesky Bomb Flower hiding just out of sight, causing it to explode directly in his face. MattBrostar doesn’t realize their mistake until it’s too late but spares the viewer from having to witness the aftermath with a perfectly timed “To Be Continued” freeze-frame.
9 Bomb Arrows
On the other hand, Twitter user Doc_Noto_ willingly uses a Bomb Flower to take down a Worm Cave Monster, only to have it backfire terribly. As they prepare to shoot the fiery arrow, the creature suddenly sticks its neck out, closing the gap and causing them both to be caught in the resulting blast. Judging by Doc_Noto_’s accompanying caption, it doesn’t seem like this is the first (or last time) this has happened, or that Bomb Arrows made it into the many gameplay improvements in Tears of the Kingdom.
8 Disappearing Wing Glider
Another one of the funniest ways to die in Tears of the Kingdom comes from Skull_Nocturne, who may think twice about exploring the sky again after posting a hilarious video on Twitter. As Link flies above the clouds on a Wing Glider, taking in the birds-eye view and the peaceful music, the platform beneath his feet suddenly starts to glow an ominous green. Before long, the Wing Glider has literally vanished into thin air. Skull_Nocturne cuts the video at just the right moment, but it’s clear that poor Link didn’t get the luxury of a freeze-frame.
7 Crushed By Wing Glider
The only thing worse than a disappearing Wing Glider in TOTK is an outwardly violent one, as showcased by CaseyAnimates on Twitter. In the video, Link is nearing the end of his aerial journey, and he jumps off the moving Glider to start climbing the wall in front of him. However, it seems that the Wing Glider had different plans for CaseyAnimates, as it instead impales the protagonist, sending him tumbling down to the ground in a jarring, yet nonetheless comedic way.
6 Slightly Misjudging A Jump
The Great Sky Island in Tears of the Kingdom is meant to be an in-depth tutorial, which gently familiarizes players with the new mechanics and feel of the game – but TikTok user lxnk1e learned a hard, cold truth on the starting island instead. They take a leap of faith only to be ever so slightly off, watching helplessly as Link falls to his hilarious death. In the end, lxnk1e does at least make it partway into the water, as the protagonist keels over, and his body slumps into the very nearby pond.
5 Paragliding (Without The Paraglider)
One of the biggest changes that players will feel coming from Breath of the Wild into Tears of the Kingdom is the initial lack of a Paraglider, and DaysBotw demonstrates this disorientation with an amusing Twitter video. Link climbs his way up a stone structure, only to look around briefly and then jump off moments later, leading to a rather unceremonious death. DaysBotw captions their post with a sentiment that a number of BOTW veterans likely felt during their first few hours in TOTK: “Oh right I don’t have the paraglider.”
4 Angry Rockets
Ultrahand is undoubtedly one of Link’s best new abilities in Tears of the Kingdom, not only because it lets players get creative, but also because it has led to some of the funniest ways to die. Reddit user allie_k95 finds themselves the victim of a rather hostile Ultrahand creation when they hop aboard a platform powered by four rockets, only to quickly discover that only two of the rockets are actually functional. When Link abandons ship moments later, the platform comes back with a vengeance, giving him a harsh push and launching him straight into the adjacent Shrine wall.
3 A Particularly Buoyant Ball
Another one of the funniest deaths in Tears of the Kingdom comes from CptLande on Reddit, who also learned about the inner workings of Ultrahand the hard way. In an attempt to tackle the Jonsau Shrine’s aquatic puzzle, Link submerges a giant yellow ball under the water, which quickly launches itself back up past the surface. Unbeknownst to CptLande, the ball was on an unfortunate trajectory directly towards the protagonist – who gets a brutal physics lesson when he’s crushed and killed shortly thereafter.
2 Bridge Building Fail
Yet another hands-on class in Ultrahand physics is showcased by bestgamingvideostiktok on TikTok. In the clip, Link is in the process of constructing a simple bridge with two wooden planks – but as he exits build mode, he finds himself standing at the foot of an incomplete project, sending him immediately somersaulting through the sky. Before he can even fall to his death though, the half-baked bridge knocks him out with a hard whack, and bestgamingvideostiktok vents their frustration by captioning the video with “IM UNINSTALLING.”
1 Fusing A Bomb To A Boomerang
The funniest way to die in Tears of the Kingdom, however, belongs to Reddit user ClayMeta. In the video, Link makes fantastic use of his new Fuse ability, which allows him to combine two objects together to make one, unique weapon. ClayMeta’s idea of an armament doesn’t find itself along the normal lines of enemy damage and durability, though.
Instead, they Fuse a Bomb Barrel to a Boomerang – which goes exactly as expected. Link tosses his new creation out into the air with confidence, only to be met with an angry, high-speed explosive projectile coming straight for his head. The Bomb-Barrel-Boomerang Fuse combination probably won’t be a player’s weapon of choice, but it certainly makes for the funniest death in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
Source: MattBrostar/Reddit, Doc_Noto_/Twitter, Skull_Nocturne/Twitter, CaseyAnimates/Twitter, lxnk1e/TikTok, DaysBotw/Twitter, allie_k95/Reddit, CptLande/Reddit, bestgamingvideostiktok/TikTok, ClayMeta/Reddit
This story originally appeared on Screenrant
