The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wildremains 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 theZeldafranchise, and it’s full of memorable new takes on old characters. For instance,The Legend of Zeldais littered with Great Fairies, butThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wildmakes 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 thantrue gods like Hylia. Still, Malanya stands out both because of his erratic personality and his special relationship withBotWmechanics. The horse god blends these things wonderfully to stand out as aBotWlandmark. FutureZeldatitles would be wise to use Malanya as a blueprint for other fairy characters, as his unique design shows that theZeldaseries ought to return to its fairy-rich roots.
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Malanya’s Case for More Fairies in Zelda
Most ofBreath of the Wild’s Great Fairiesare 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 futureZeldagames.
Malanya’s involvement withBreath of the Wild’s horsesalso 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 eachZeldagame’s mechanics.BotWcould’ve featured Great Fairies that loved cooking or offered rare weapons, for instance. While that game has missed its chance, otherZeldagames could still follow Malanya’s lead.
While Malanya himself makes a great self for more creative fairies in the future, theZeldaseries 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 isNavi fromOcarina of Time.Further fairy companions inMajora’s Mask,Phantom Hourglass,and evenHyrule Warriorscemented the tradition, but today, fairies great and small mostly appear as sources of healing and protection.Breath of the Wildseems 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 Zeldano 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 theZeldatrend of unique fairies ought to mean making them all memorable, rather than fitting them all into the same archetype. It remains to be seen howTears of the Kingdomhandles fairies, but hopefully it does something special with them in the same vein as the Horse God.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wildis available now for Nintendo Switch and Wii U.
