Tears of the Kingdom players are using Link’s new powers to bully Koroks

Consider yourself warned: The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom was just released on Friday, and players are already devising evil and cruel ways to bully the forest spirits known as Koroks and posting videos of their exploits online. Platforms like TikTok have viral videos showing the unique ways the building elements of the game can be used to punish the poor hapless creatures.

Koroks — and their seeds — are back in Tears of the Kingdom. There are quite literally hundreds of them scattered across Hyrule. And while many of them remain hidden, you can now find some out in the open. When you encounter them, they have these ludicrously large adventure packs that are multiple times the size of their tiny bodies. The Koroks strapped into the bag, so when Link finds them tipped over, they’re helpless and unable to get back up. They look like bugs flipped onto their backs. So, in other words, they’re already an easy target.

Link has a new power called Ultrahand that allows him to essentially glue objects together and build larger structures or construct machines. He can’t use these powers on living creatures, but he can use them on inanimate objects. Link can use the ability to adhere the Koroks’ bags, and therefore the Koroks themselves, to a larger structure.

However, this is a sandbox game, and fans are now exploiting the freedom to bully the Koroks. One person used an extra long stick along with some open fires to create a Korok rotisserie.

Another player collected 10 rockets with the sole intention of strapping them all together and firing the Korok to kingdom come.

Some of the videos appear to be taking revenge for the number and tedious nature of Korok puzzles required to collect all the seeds, and the results are devastating. This video shows a person burning a Korok at the stake.

I don’t know what to think of it all. It seems a bit cruel. Sure, collecting so many seeds is tedious, but it’s not the Koroks’ fault. It’s all making me think that Link could be the real supervillain after all.