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Hello to all you great Zelda fans out there! My name is Christopher Jenkins (Chris to my friends), also an avid Zelda fanatic, and I am a new staffer here at ZIMP. I have been tasked by my old friend and colleague Alter with starting a new line of articles for this site, and I was more than happy to accept. To speak a bit about myself, I have been a Zelda fan for basically all of my life, the series sharing an almost identical age to myself (July 1987) here in America. I loved the sense of adventure and excitement the games had to offer, as I’m sure most all of you reading this also did. I have done extensive research on the series for many long years hoping to unlock some of its secrets, a testament to how fascinated I’ve been by the series even to this day. Now, Alter has offered me the chance to come onto an actual Zelda site and discuss my ideas with all of you and to hear some of yours as well so as to share our ideas and insight into the series. You never know which topic I may pick up on each time I write for the site, though as the site’s name implies most will involve the handheld Zelda games that many tend to overlook due to the epic scope of the main console games. Each topic on which I write for the site will be chosen at random, though there may be times where some will relate to others in one way or another.

My first topic will focus primarily on one of the more curious and quite epic of the handheld games, The Minish Cap. This game seemingly tells the origin story of one of the series’ major villains, Vaati (originally a Minish sage’s apprentice who lusts for power), as well as the Four Sword that has been known to be capable of vanquishing him. In the game, Vaati comes to Hyrule from the Minish world when the portal that links it to Hyrule opens for a brief time as is customary once a century. He hopes to obtain the mythical Light Force, a source of limitless magical power…

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Tingle is often seen as a strange character because of his abnormal tendencies. No sane person of age 35 would be out looking for fairies, let alone out and wearing a green body suit and red overalls. As a result, most people find him weird, creepy, scary, etc. However, at the same time, he has three of his very own games, his own DSiware pack, and a possible future in the European/Japanese gaming market. What makes him so appealing to so many people while so many others find him to be “weird” or “creepy?”

What the heck is Tingle, anyway?

Tingle is undoubtedly an archetype of the child who can’t seem to grow up. He holds childhood dreams and hopes while ignoring the pressing matter of reality. When we are first introduced to Tingle, he seems to pay no mind to the large moon coming closer to Termina. All he cares about is finding fairies, right up to the end. While Tingle is outwardly an adult, he is certainly a child on the inside.

How does this affect the gamers?

Everyone wants to be a child a little bit longer, but is forced to come to terms with the fact that their childhood is ripped from them at age 18. This creates a sense of longing for the simplicity and innocence once held. This contributes largely to Tingle’s popularity. People see how he hangs on to his childhood and are enticed by that. It is a need to “play” and “have fun.”

What does this say about Tingle’s market?

This tells us that Tingle’s market is basically the perfect consumer base. The longing for childhood will never leave people, no matter how long we wait or how many years go by. His market, therefore, will never die out. This is partly thanks to the ways of today’s world. It’s ruthless in its ways of taking children’s innocence from them, and it reaches younger and younger children each day. This creates a void because the children have no chance to enjoy innocence and ignorance. These children grow up to become Tingle fans every day.

Is Tingle here to stay?

Certainly. Tingle has established himself as a solid character in a market which holds no quarter. Nintendo will definitely explore future options for Tingle because of his success. It may even lead to Tingle games being released in the United States one day.
Even though Tingle is strange and alien to many, he is a close personal friend to many more. They name this friend “Childhood,” and he helps them to enjoy the innocence and bliss of “being a kid.”