tingle

Tingle

Artwork of Tingle in Freshly-Picked Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland
Series	The Legend of Zelda
First game	The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (2000)
Created by	Takaya Imamura
Designed by	Takaya Imamura
Voiced by	Hironori Miyata (The Wind Waker, Super Smash Bros. Brawl) Kazuyuki Kurashima (Freshly-Picked Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland)

Tingle (チンクル, Chinkuru^?, also romanized Tincle in Japanese materials)^[1] is a fictional video game character of The Legend of Zelda series, first appearing in Majora's Mask in 2000. Since then, he has appeared in each installment of the series up through The Minish Cap, except for Oracle of Seasons and Four Swords. Since then, he has not made in-person appearances in the main The Legend of Zelda series, due primarily to the evident unpopularity of the character among Zelda fans in the United States.^[2] Instead, he has gone on to star in his own video games for the Nintendo DS: Freshly-Picked Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland, currently released in Japan and Europe, and Tingle's Balloon Fight DS, Irozuki Tingle no Koi no Balloon Trip, as well as the DSiWare application Dekisugi Tingle Pack, all exclusive to Japan.

Creation and conception

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Tingle was created by Takaya Imamura, a game designer at Nintendo EAD.^[3] According to an interview with Kensuke Tanabe, producer of Freshly-Picked Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland, character designer Imamura created Tingle in a "very relaxed manner." He was also in charge of the character design of the games F-Zero and Star Fox.^[4]

Characteristics

Tingle is a short, paunchy 35-year-old ^[5][6] man who is completely obsessed with "forest fairies"^[6] and dresses up in a green costume, slightly resembling that of the main character, Link. He also wears tight red shorts and a necklace with a clock that is permanently stuck at four o'clock. Tingle is normally seen floating around on his red balloon, drawing and selling maps for his father, who runs the Southern Swamp pictograph contest and sees Tingle as "a fool". He is also known for his catchphrase: "Tingle, Tingle, Kooloo-Limpah!" kururinpa~ (くるりんぱっ^?). Tingle appears to have a fixation for Rupees and other similar collectibles, such as Force Gems in Four Swords Adventures and Kinstones in The Minish Cap. In Majora's Mask, Tingle can be found around Termina selling maps, and in The Wind Waker, he translates Triforce Maps for a high price, among other things. Tingle's fixation for Rupees is explained in the Nintendo DS game Freshly-Picked Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland, where it is stated that Tingle needs Rupees to live, as a result of a curse placed on him by Uncle Rupee. Tingle has many brothers. And in the Wind Waker and the Minish Cap there are various secrets of his bros.

Tingle's siblings

Ankle is Tingle's younger brother and Knuckle's twin. In The Wind Waker, he is found turning the grinding wheel at Tingle Tower with David Jr.. The reason he does so much work is to support his brother, Knuckle. He also has a love of gardening. He also appears in Four Swords Adventures and later in The Minish Cap, where he fuses Kinstones behind Lon Lon Ranch. His outfit is faded purple.

Knuckle is Ankle's twin and the one who built Tingle Tower. In The Wind Waker, he is largely a side-quest character, requiring use of the Tingle Tuner to find. By doing so, Link can gain the Hand-Me-Down Tuner which provides additional options. He also appears in Four Swords Adventures and later in The Minish Cap, where he fuses Kinstones in Trilby Highlands. His outfit is light blue.

David Jr., although similar in appearance to Tingle and his brothers,^[7] is from Windfall Island and is unrelated to Tingle. After getting shipwrecked on Tingle Island, he was forced by Tingle to work turning the wheel. Unenthusiastic about his role, he does it anyway, although he is prone to complaining. He also appears in Four Swords Adventures and The Minish Cap, the latter in which he fuses Kinstones in Lake Hylia. When reading his inscription in the Nintendo Gallery, it implies that his father was the one who made the ghost ship chart, but died immediately after doing so. His outfit is white.

Appearances

The Legend of Zelda series

Tingle made his debut in the Nintendo 64 game Majora's Mask. Throughout Link's adventure, Tingle helps Link navigate the land of Termina by selling him maps of various areas (although Link has to shoot down Tingle's balloon with the bow and arrow or the bubble technique used in Deku form). His maps come cheaper if bought in their respective areas. Tingle appears in several areas, including Clock Town, Romani Ranch, Snowhead and Ikana Canyon. His father operates the pictograph contest at the Woodfall Swamp, and is ashamed by his son's antics, although he admits that perhaps he spoiled him too much.

Tingle appears in the land of Labrynna in Oracle of Ages and gives Link a chart that he needs to cross the sea. He also gives Link an upgrade to the Seed Satchel in a linked game, which can hold 99 of every seed.

Tingle doesn't appear in Oracle of Seasons, but he is mentioned by a fairy who thinks he should grow up. However, the fairy is too busy and asks Link to tell Tingle her message in the form of a secret.

Tingle's first appearance in The Wind Waker is in a small, dingy prison cell on Windfall Island. He was imprisoned for being mistaken for a troublemaker. When freed, Tingle gives Link the Tingle Tuner, a device that can be used if the player connects a Game Boy Advance to the GameCube via the Nintendo GameCube Game Boy Advance Cable. This allows a second player to control Tingle and assist Link by selling him potions, providing him with a shield, allowing him to float and dropping bombs. Tingle also gives the player a crudely drawn map to Tingle Island, and can be found for the rest of the game on this island, near the top of Tingle Tower. According to the Tingle Tuner, Tingle is merely a native of a different island with a Tingle-centric legend, in parallel to the Link-centric legend of Outset Island. He deciphers the charts needed to haul the Triforce Shards from the ocean floor. He is also known for his extortionate prices; he demands 398 Rupees per chart, plus 201 Rupees for the IN-credible Chart that shows the location of the Triforce Charts and Triforce Shards from the charts that have been deciphered. This game also introduced his brothers, Ankle and Knuckle, who are twins, and David Jr., who is not related but was (supposedly) saved by Tingle after his ship was sucked into a cyclone.

Tingle takes on the role of a friendly antagonist in the GameCube game Four Swords Adventures. If a player leaves a good deal of Force Gems laying around for too long, Tingle will eventually float towards them on his balloon in an attempt to steal them. The players must grab them before he does (although while playing multiplayer, players are given the option of turning this off). There is also a trap in this game that causes Tingle to lead an army of lookalikes and steal the gems directly from the Links.

Tingle, Ankle, Knuckle, and David Jr. are able to fuse Kinstones with Link in the Game Boy Advance game The Minish Cap. Fusing Kinstones is an action that Link can do with many people, animals, and seemingly inanimate objects throughout the game, which influences the game world, often only in some minor way, to give Link access to an item or new area. When all four have fused Kinstones with Link, a passage will open on the Castle Grounds that gives him the Magic Boomerang. Tingle, his brothers, and David Jr. can also tell Link how many Kinstone fusions remain. Once Link has done every Kinstone fusion, Tingle will award Link with the Tingle statue.

Spin-offs

Tingle's first starring role was in the Nintendo DS game Freshly-Picked Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland. It tells the story of Tingle when he was a regular person, how he came to become Tingle, and why he is so obsessed with Rupees. The game was released in Japan in 2006 and Europe on 14 September 2007. The official Nintendo website had a poll asking if it should be brought to America.

Tingle's Balloon Fight DS (チンクルの バルーンファイトDS, Chinkuru no Barūn Faito DS^?) is a Nintendo DS arcade style platformer published and developed by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS handheld video game console, which is solely available to Platinum Club Nintendo members. The game itself is based not only on The Legend of Zelda, but on Balloon Fight as well, making this the third entry in the latter franchise (following the first title and Balloon Kid).

Tingle's Balloon Fight uses the same game design as Balloon Fight. The game has three modes: Balloon Fight (single player), local wireless Balloon Fighting Spirit (2–4 players), and Balloon Trip (single-player). Performing various accomplishments throughout the game (winning multiplayer matches, achievements in scoring, and other as yet unknown methods) unlocks artwork in a gallery of Tingle portraits, available on the Options screen of the game. According to the offer, the story is that 35 year old Tingle challenges the "Balloon Fighting Spirit" of the bosom oak. The game was released exclusively to members of Club Nintendo in Japan.^[8]

An issue of the Japanese magazine Famitsu published in June 2009 contained a teaser advertisement depicting a tiny picture of Tingle along with a line of text saying Yōsei? (ようせい?, lit. "Fairy?").^[9] On June 12, 2009, Nintendo opened a teaser website, hinting at an upcoming Nintendo DS game starring Tingle.^[10][11] Later, a DSiWare title named Dekisugi Tingle Pack (lit. "Too Much Tingle Pack") was released in Japan on June 24, which is a collection of Tingle themed applications. Another issue of Famitsu published in late June revealed a Nintendo DS game titled Irozuki Tingle no Koi no Balloon Trip (lit. "Ripening Tingle's Balloon Trip of Love"), which is a sequel to Freshly-Picked Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland.^[12] It was released in Japan on August 6, 2009.^[13]

Other roles

Tingle appears in Super Smash Bros. Melee as part of the Termina Bay stage, as well as an Assist Trophy in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. He also appears as a trophy in both games, the former based on Majora's Mask and the latter based on The Wind Waker.

Impact and reception

The editors at IGN did not like Tingle, in part because his role in The Wind Waker was an integral part of "tedious fetch quests".^[14] When development for what would later be called Twilight Princess began, IGN hoped that game directors Shigeru Miyamoto and Eiji Aonuma would not include the character, saying "we're not going to stand for him in another Zelda game".^[14] Cracked editor Tim Lovett listed Tingle as the seventh most annoying character in an otherwise great series, criticizing him for being a general annoyance and his "Kooloo-Limpah" catchphrase.^[15] Tingle ranked sixth on GameDaily's top 10 ugliest game characters list, stating that his face looks out of place.^[16] He also ranked #8 on ScrewAttack's "Pussy Ass Bitches" list^[17].

In an interview with Electronic Gaming Monthly, director Eiji Aonuma stated that he had "found out some American people didn't like him very much" and ultimately decided not to include him in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.^[18] In a later interview with Nintendo Dream, he stated that the character Purlo is his reference to Tingle in Twilight Princess. According to Aonuma, Purlo's appearance "is the result of wondering what a realistic Tingle would look like".^[19]

PALGN editor Matt Keller stated that Tingle was widely considered the weakest part of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker.^[20]

External links

• Tingle on Zeldapedia, an external wiki

References