Zelda: Ocarina of Time Remake Finally Gives Its Best Boy the Happy Ending He Deserved Decades Ago

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remains largely faithful to the original, but its remake adds a host of small changes that give Hyrule extra depth. Many of them are bleak. If the Kokiri’s reactions after the Great Deku Tree dungeon don’t make that clear, try speaking to people while wearing the Mask of Truth. This is a sad game, and it wants you to feel that sadness. One change, however, offers a welcome burst of happiness: it concerns Richard, the best boy in Hyrule.

Richard is a dog, and a very good one at that. His owner, Mamamu Yan, would surely agree. At the beginning of the game, she lives in Castle Town, where she spends her time watching Richard play and telling anyone who will listen how much she adores him. Her devotion is charming, even if she can be rather unkind about the town’s other dogs. Richard can hardly be blamed for that, though. He’s an innocent angel.

In the 2011 Nintendo 3DS version of Ocarina of Time, Richard appears to have become an angel in another sense. After young Link spends seven years in the Sacred Realm, he returns to find Castle Town devastated by Ganondorf and overrun by ReDead, the series’ zombie-like monsters. Navi never confirms where the creatures came from, but given the game’s many horrors, it’s easy to imagine they were once Castle Town’s residents.

Not everyone in town perished. Some escaped to Kakariko Village, Mamamu Yan among them. In the 3DS version, though, she talks about Richard in the past tense, recalling him as a wonderful and even famous dog. She doesn’t seem especially upset, but learning that Richard was gone certainly saddened me.

The Switch 2 remake has a happier outcome: Richard lives! He can be found happily trotting around Kakariko Village during the day, and he manages to stay safely accounted for at night. Apparently, his earlier misadventure in Castle Town taught him a thing or two.

At first, I wondered whether Mamamu Yan simply gave every dog the same name. Perhaps this was Richard the Third. But her affectionate praise suggests he’s the very same little companion as before, with no mention of predecessors or departed Richards.

After the grim spectacle of Castle Town’s future, finding Richard alive in Kakariko is a lovely little comfort. Good boy, Richard. May you live forever.

Source: Polygon