Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom devs on the writing of Rauru and his place in the game's story

One of the most compelling aspects of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom’s story is the Dragon’s Tears questline. It’s through this quest that you discover cut scenes depicting Zelda’s personal adventure. Most importantly, this includes a deeper dive into an ancient civilization of the Zonai, and Rauru, the first King of Hyrule.

In a new interview with Polygon, Eiji Aonuma and Tears of the Kingdom’s director Hidemaro Fujibayashi discuss their motivations behind the writing of the character of Rauru, and how he and the Zonai fit into the larger world of Zelda.

For a summary of the juiciest tidbits from this interview, see below. Warning: Spoilers for the Dragon’s Tears quest will follow.

• The Zelda team always begins development with gameplay ideas first, before later justifying it via the story
• The ability to create objects with the Ultra Hand was a key part of the initial stages of Tears of the Kingdom
• Linking the Ultra Hand to Breath of the Wild and Zonai devices seemed like a natural fit for the story, which is what led to their inclusion in the main plot
• Rauru was intended to be depicted with “two different sides”, one from the past and one in the present, as Link also experiences his spirit form
• Because Rauru has a relationship with both Link and Zelda in two different timelines, he has a unique perspective on his present, past, and future, as well as that of his people
• Fujibayashi notes that past Rauru is aware of “his own tragic end, as well as the end of the Zonai”
• The two sides of Rauru were intentionally kept separated, because the devs wanted to be able to focus on his different relationships and expectations during each time period. This is why there’s never any attempt to merge the two sides or have them acknowledge each other heavily.

Click here to read the full interview for more insight.