Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is a massive game that's full of weird little secrets. There's so much to discover in the lands of Hyrule that it's taken gamers, modders, and glitchers years to discover it all. Players are still voraciously tearing apart BotW apart in search of new secrets, and we're going to talk about some of our favorites.
From importing Miis to create NPCs to discovering all the other animals you can interact with, these discoveries are fun, weird, and completely surprising. Even if you've been playing for over 150 hours like me, some of these secrets are going to be mind blowing. Especially if you've been playing this long.
And we're not even talking about our favorite glitch that lets you fly around in a minecart.
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#1. NPCs are made with Miis
In early 2022, modder "Alice" discovered something awesome - every NPC in Breath of the Wild is essentially an upgraded Mii. Breath of the Wild was originally developed for the WiiU, which at the time was a much more Mii-centric console. If you're new to Nintendo consoles, you might not even have a Mii on the Nintendo Switch! Miis are small avatars that you can create and use in games. The best part about learning that the Mii system was basically used to create NPCs in Breath of the Wild is that modders can actually import Miis into Bott, creating your very own BotW character!
Alice, the modder who figured it all out, even does Mii import commissions so you can see your little avatar in full Breath of the Wild glory. If you look closely at the other NPCs in the game, you're sure to start to recognize some of the very specific hairstyles and facial expressions...just recreated in a cell-shaded style. I have to admit, after playing this game for over 150 hours, I never recognized that the NPCs looked like Miis. But now I can't help but see it!
#2. You can also feed the squirrels! (With tassels)
Shared by @caoki8 on Twitter, it's a find I can't believe we haven't discovered sooner. In Breath of the Wild, you can drop food on the ground and feed the dogs for their approval. Feeding the dogs will make them love you so much they'll even lead you to nearby buried treasure! But dogs aren't the only animals you can feed. Squirrels will happily nibble on what you drop, but they are much tougher. To see a happy squirrel, you must drop a gland. The description of the acorn even hints that squirrels might just eat these treats!
But I had no idea. It's just one of those little details that most of us will never notice. The squirrel absolutely has a special eating animation – the tail jumps and the squirrel nibbles. Squirrels aren't as helpful as dogs, so don't expect anything in return. Now I wonder what other animals have special animations that I have never seen? Can you befriend the Ostriches?
And speaking of weird animals in Breath of the Wild, did you even know about blurpee? They are strange moths that drop rupees when you attack. I have never seen any!
#3. Underwater is incredibly detailed too
You can't swim underwater in Breath of the Wild, but nobody told Nintendo artists that. By swiping and using the in-game camera, @eu_rasi_a_3678 on Twitter was able to get an overview of what the underwater world of Hyrule looks like. And it's incredibly detailed – there are full reefs, seaweed and rock formations covering nearly every inch underwater. It's a breathtaking sight that would be even better if you could swim underwater. This leaves us with an obvious question – swimming underwater originally planned for BotW?
Perhaps BotW 2 will feature underwater adventures to go along with flying in the sky. Or maybe it's just for a soft beach-side aesthetic. You can see all of these reefs and rocks from the beautifully clear water in this section of the map. You can't see perfectly clearly like here, but the clues are there. It just shows the extreme detail the artists put into every aspect of this game.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=watch
#4. Barrel Sneaks & Riding
Barrels are always present in BotW, and you'll smash them left and right. But rarely in the whole game can you actually find giant barrels. These barrels can be interacted with in two fun ways: you can hide in them and you can ride them. And I didn't know you could do either of those things! Some players with even more time in the game than I ever knew, so I consider this a long-time discovery.
- Want to find a giant barrel to play with? There is one outside the The old man's cabin on the Large Tray, from the start.
If you pick up a giant barrel, Link will hide inside like solid snake – if you stop moving, you fall to the ground and enemies will ignore you. If you roll a barrel on its side, Link can balance himself on it and run around to spin that giant barrel. There is also a special barrel roll animation! Check out the proof in this tweet. It's a fun way to travel long distances! But seriously, I had no idea the giant barrels were meant to be used as a stealth device. You can watch a video of a barrel leak in action here.
#5. Yiga will steal anything including the main sword
The Yiga Clan is a constant annoyance in Breath of the Wild. In Link's journey, these red-clad fools will ambush you out of nowhere - and they'll pick up any guns lying around on the ground. They are so happy that Youtuber ThornyFox only had to answer one question. Will the Yiga clan steal the Master Sword?
It turns out these villains will absolutely take the Master Sword. Worse still, the sword is removed forever if they take it – you won't be able to get it! They claimed it forever! It takes a lot of trouble to bring a Yiga Clan villain to the Lost Woods, and we can see why. They were absolutely not supposed to appear here. It would be an end game. It's just fun to learn how the characters behave, especially where they're not supposed to go.
#6. Secret Debug Room
Debug rooms are common in video games - they're simple spaces where developers can test out all sorts of things. It took fans a bit longer to find the debug room in BotW because it had to be recreated from scratch. Modder extraordinaire Waikuteru used clues found in text files buried in the BotW game files to recreate the piece. All the weapons in the game are present, including a giant ruby, many animals that jump to see how they behave and a unique boss!
The unique boss is an absolutely huge bug. It's not the only giant bug in the room – Link can also inspect a giant dragonfly. They're so small that it makes sense that they're enlarged so developers can take a closer look at their animations. Other than that, the most interesting little surprise here is a bull in a large crate. Destroy the crate and a bull appears! Maybe it was to test enemy ambushes from crates? Or just item spawning in general? We'll have to kick down Nintendo's door and start demanding answers to find out.
#7. What's inside Dungeon136?
Speaking of super-modder BotW Waikuteru, we now have a pretty good look at some cut content. According to the game files in BotW, there are 136 Sheikah shrines in total. These areas are called "Dungeons" in the files that fans obsessed over to find something interesting. Dungeon 136 is not accessible in-game, although you can find it referenced in the in-game files for the base game and its DLC.
But, thanks to Waikuteru, we can now explain Dungeon 136. It's a standard blessing shrine - there are a lot of identical shrines in BotW, so it makes sense that they start from here. Waikuteru speculates that this may be the pristine shrine used to develop (or debug) other shrines in the game. Perhaps this model will continue to be used in BotW 2! Perhaps modders will be able to create their own dungeons using resources from the shrine and share them with the world. Just Imagine Mario Creator — Dungeon Designer, anyone?
#8. Whistle for fast fishing
Here's a fun discovery made by Redditor charlieboy95 - the fastest way to catch fish is to whistling! No, you don't whistle to call you the fish, rather the whistle scares fish into running aground. Stand on a nearby crate or spawn a Cryonis platform in the water and whistle! The fish will go the opposite direction – and if you whistle at the right spot, the fish will head for dry land, where you can easily pick up a dozen or more.
What a strange discovery! It's also just fun to try out. If you need a lot of food for the long journey ahead, this is a pretty optimized way to do it. You'll be able to do this on just about any beach or river by the ocean. We don't recommend the lake – the cliffs are far too steep to catch fish there.
#9. Get the main sword early
Why wait when you can unlock the Master Sword instantly in Breath of the Wild? This glitch was literally discovered and shared a few days ago, and it's what gave us the idea for a full list of secrets that fans didn't find out until years later. Players are still discovering hidden wrinkles all over BotW, and this glitch is simple (and fun) enough that we should put it here.
How it works? Plant a campfire right next to the Master Sword in the Lost Woods and rest. As the game loads, quickly press [A] — if you are close enough to the Master Sword and press [AND] at the right time, Link will collect it without having to earn enough hearts. It's a fun little find that might help players who really don't like BotW's weapon durability system. You can now get an infinite weapon from the start!
#ten. The final chest
A treasure chest has irked BotW fans for years. A chest that only spawns when you're within a certain range, then sinks into the ground within seconds. Basically, it's an impossible-to-collect chest - but dedicated players have worked together to complete the challenge. Youtuber Kleric has finally opened the chest we all thought couldn't be opened, and it might just be the last chest in the game.
This isn't the only hidden chest that is (normally) inaccessible to players. Check out this video with tons of more secret chest finds - and how to get them for yourself. Don't get too excited, as these chests don't contain any secret special weapons. Most likely, these were just mistakes or leftovers that weren't pruned. And yet, we still want to open them. Legend of Zelda has taught us for decades that we need to open chests, and by God, we will open them by any means necessary.
