This returning Zelda character looks a little different in Tears of the Kingdom

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
(Image credit: Nintendo)

A returning character in the Legend of Zelda series has made their way into Tears of the Kingdom, but they look nothing like they did in previous games. 

Now that Tears of the Kingdom has officially released, players are finding more and more things to get excited about. The latest thing to come out of the Breath of the Wild sequel is the return of a series regular who has appeared in several of Link's previous adventures. What's got a lot of people talking however isn't the fact that the character is back, but that they've gone through a complete makeover and look nothing like they did before. 

** To avoid mild Tears of the Kingdom spoilers, we suggest coming back when you're a couple of hours into the game ** 

The character in question is Rauru from Ocarina of Time and The Wind Waker. For those who have played those previous Zelda titles, you'll probably remember Rauru as the guy in the robe with white hair and a mustache. Well, in Tears of the Kingdom, the Sage of Light takes on a completely different form. 

Within the first hour or so of Tears of the Kingdom, players are met with a large human/goat/dog creature that's also called Rauru. Just like his human counterpart, this Rauru also has white hair, it's just located along his long fennec fox-like ears instead of decorating his half-bald head. 

The reactions to the new Rauru seem to be pretty positive for the most part. Once players get their head around the character's new look, they've been very quick to call him their "cute goat dog husband" or share their plans to "take him out to dinner" - these were some of the more wholesome reactions I saw to Rauru, as you can imagine the character has got Zelda fans down bad. 

About to get started in Hyrule? Take a look at our Zelda Tears of the Kingdom tips

Hope Bellingham
News Writer

After studying Film Studies and Creative Writing at university, I was lucky enough to land a job as an intern at Player Two PR where I helped to release a number of indie titles. I then got even luckier when I became a Trainee News Writer at GamesRadar+ before being promoted to a fully-fledged News Writer after a year and a half of training.  My expertise lies in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, cozy indies, and The Last of Us, but especially in the Kingdom Hearts series. I'm also known to write about the odd Korean drama for the Entertainment team every now and then.  

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