As is inevitable with any open-world game, the Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild has seen its fair share of glitches and unintended game-breaking slowly uncovered by curious players and determined speedrunners alike. To its credit, it did last longer than most open-world titles before the floodgates opened, but now that they have, who knows what’s in store.
Of course, other Zelda titles that have had years or even decades to gestate in the crowd-sourced throes of glitch-dom have seen far more ridiculous results come forth, be it hurtling across the ocean sans a boat in Wind Waker or assassinating the well-meaning Postman who wanted nothing more than to simply deliver the mail on time in Twilight Princess. Such extreme measures can be annoying when you’re still fully immersed in the game’s plot, but once that’s over all bets are off.
Below I’ve compiled some Zelda glitches that have stood out to me, as well as two examples of what’s been uncovered so far in Breath of the Wild. It is by no means meant to be a comprehensive list (there are wikis for that), but it does offer an amusing look into what’s possible.
Breath of the Wild: I Broke My Horse
It's clear that ecently-tamed animals just can’t be trusted to perform as well as good old fashioned Epona. A number of players has managed to discover various horse issues in Breath of the Wild, including but not limited to steeds that get stuck partially in the water or tread the air like a wrecked vehicle spinning its wheels.
This also ties nicely into clipping exploits that have been discovered so far, also horse-centric and allowing for passing through solid surfaces as if they aren’t there, and climbing thin air as if it were a rock face or snowy peak. An example of this can be seen below, and there are many more if you look for them.
Twilight Princess: Killing Postman
A true classic, the elimination of that irritating Postman who’s always jogging about can be accomplished with careful planning and pinpoint execution. Link simply needs to engage nearby foes on a ledge or precipice when expecting mail, and once defeated, the Postman will come running. Poor guy never knew what hit him.
What’s especially amusing is that not only does he plummet into what might be Twilight Princess’s deepest, darkest abyss, but he’s also subject to endless torment in a hellish glitch-scape that only subsides after excessive waiting or turning off the console entirely. Regardless, surely that'll teach him to be so overzealous when delivering the mail next time.
Wind Waker: Item Sliding and Super Swims
Item sliding is more a speedrunning trick than anything else, but it makes for some hilarious results if toyed around with purely for amusement. Through a tricky combination of pausing the game and wielding an item, Link can acquire sudden overwhelming momentum and slide across terrain, up hills, through objects, and more.
Related to this are “super swims,” essentially rendering Link a human motorboat that can propel across vast bodies of water faster than the King of Red Lions ever could. It’s comical to say the least, and not the sort of thing you’d want to tinker with while trying to immerse yourself in the game’s world. Given that Wind Waker has been around for well over a decade, though, my general advice is “have at it.”
Wind Waker: Floating Pigs and Morth Collecting
Continuing the chaos in Wind Waker, the video below demonstrates a substantial variety of glitches both amusing and simply odd. To start, Link can send an oversized pig softly floating with the wind when a jar of Forest Water expires and becomes normal, while later in the video an exploit allowing excessive Morth accumulation first slows then actually freezes the game. There are other glitches on display in the video also, and it’s well worth a watch.
Ocarina of Time: Battling Ganon as Young Link
Here’s something I wasn’t familiar with; the ability to reach Ganon’s Castle and challenge his beast form as Young Link in Ocarina of Time. Given that it’s a glitch, Zelda nor any of the other characters actually react to this, but it’s a fun thing to try nonetheless. Somehow being a child makes the encounter all the more fearsome.
Breath of the Wild: Underwater Glitch
Sometimes glitches are simply practical, and with Breath of the Wild’s relative newness that’s often exactly what we’ve been seeing. By intentionally exploding himself into a nearby lake or stream, Link stands up beneath the flow of water fully able to walk around and maneuver, almost as if he were wearing Iron Boots. There’s certainly nothing in the game that explicitly requires this capability, but at the very least it provides an added means of getting around if you spot a rare fish or non-magnetic chest shimmering beneath the waves.
