The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom will introduce Zonai in a new way: Link’s abilities.
Nintendo has unveiled a new look at The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom gameplay, featuring series producer Eiji Aonuma. As one eagle-eyed Reddit user noticed, for a brief moment in the new demo, Link has a mysterious ability called “Zonai Charge.”
(TotK) Zonais is confirmed as a main part of the game. r/zelda
This paves the way for the enigmatic Zonai to have a bigger role in Tears of the Kingdom than expected. Last September, fans of Research spotted a reference to Zonai on a new part of the in-game Hyrule map, the first hint that the race has a new role to play.
In other words, Tears of the Kingdom could be tapping into a very old Zelda lore. The Zonai are a race of people that existed long ago in Hyrule, long before the events of Link, Ganon, and Zelda occurred in any of The Legend of Zelda games or iterations of Hyrule.
The Zonai has always been poorly defined by Zelda lore, much like the series timeline that fans constantly argue over. With this new trailer ready to burst and previous evidence taken into account, perhaps we can expect a brief trip to a Hyrule of the distant past.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom will be released later this year on May 12 for Nintendo Switch. Speaking of consoles, Nintendo also unveiled a special Tears of the Kingdom-themed Switch, which will launch a few weeks before the game itself.
Here is our guide to where to pre-order the Legend of Zelda Nintendo Switch OLED if you wish to reserve a unit.