Tears of the Kingdom Players Won’t Stop Tormenting Koroks [IGN]

The latest instalment in The Legend of Zelda franchise brought with it a range of exciting new abilities including Ultrahand, the godlike power that allows players to build all manner of creations.

No doubt Eiji Aonuma felt a sense of excited optimism when directing his team to implement the new gameplay mechanics. After all, Breath of the Wild had shown that the Zelda community was incredibly inventive when it came to bending the game to their will. Who could foresee what they would do with this new generation of powerful tools at their disposal?

starting a thread of horrible things people are doing to koroks https://t.co/dVL83CRp2t

— Dan Kois (@dankois) May 13, 2023

What Aonuma probably didn’t foresee was the tidal wave of shenanigans unleashed by the decision to make some members of the Korok community grabbable with the Ultrahand ability. You simply need to check out the Twitter thread above to get a taste of the depravity unfolding accross Hyrule.

In the few short days since Tears of the Kingdom launched, Koroks have been dragged hapless behind Link’s speeding horse and glued to the front of fan powered mining carts before being smashed into barriers.

Other instances have seen them used as guinea pigs by players trying out new tech, while others have simply cast the mask-wearing innocents off the edge of one of Hyrule’s many floating islands.

One Reddit post saw Link calmly approach a lone Korok tied to a wooden pole as it cried out “I need to find my friend”. Ignoring the heartwrenching plee, Link calmly bent down to light the fire arranged at its feet. Thankfully, however, Koroks can’t actually be hurt in Tears of the Kingdom.

There doesn’t seem to be any one unifying reason for the all-out war against Koroks, though it is possible some players resented the gruelling challenge of collecting all 900 seeds from the woodland folk in Breath of the Wild, only to be presented with a golden turd by way of a reward.

Still, I think we can all agree that hauling the unfortunate imps up on a wooden cross, or spit roasting an entire Korok family over a raging fire is a step too far, and probably not what Aonuma intended.

And for help with everything Tears of the Kingdom, take a look at our Tears of the Kingdom Walkthrough and Guide about making your way through Hyrule. In fact, you can start here:

• 16 Things to Do First in Tears of the Kingdom
• 14 Things Tears of the Kingdom Doesn’t Tell You
• How to Uncover the Full TOTK Map
• How to Expand Your Inventory in TOTK
• PSA: Your Old BOTW Save Unlocks Something Cool in TOTK

Anthony is a freelance contributor covering science and video gaming news for IGN. He has over eight years experience of covering breaking developments in multiple scientific fields and absolutely no time for your shenanigans. Follow him on Twitter @BeardConGamer