The debut of the Hyrule Warriors series was a surprise to fans of both Zelda and Dynasty Warriors alike. The historical-fiction, army warfare format of the latter seemed ill-fitting for a traditional fantasy-RPG tale. But on closer inspection, the sprawling history of Hyrule and its plethora of recognizable characters were exactly the ingredients Koei Tecmo needed to cook up a worthwhile Zelda adventure in their own style.
With the surge of Zelda fever that followed Breath of the Wild, Nintendo thought to give the Warriors line another go – this time set in the BotW timeline(s) – and in doing so blessed everyone with a fount of meme material. Scroll on for some fan-favourite Age of Calamity comics from around the web.
10 Dubious Delicacies
Despite effectively belonging to a whole different series, mechanically speaking, there’s a lot about Age of Calamity that BotW fans will recognize. Some features had to be abandoned, some were carried over whole-cloth, and others got a slight remix from Koei Tecmo.
“Dubious food” is one such remixed item. In AoC this censored culinary catastrophe is still dangerous to consume (stealing 20% of your max HP) but has the bonus of doubling your rupee collection rate. DeviantArt user xMitsukami’s tasteful minimalism spares the reader a rendering of this dish-most-foul, and captures the sense of apprehension everyone feels when afflicting their party with food poisoning for quick cash.
9 The Gang and The Ganon
In this simple, two-frame homage to It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia’s title sequences the champions of Hyrule get a smack down the likes of which has not been seen since Dayman’s mythical clash with Nightman. The meme format was already popular prior to AoC, but the comical allusion to the fate of our doomed heroes fits here and helps relieve some of the sting of knowing what awaits them.
8 Holding Out For A Hero
Technically this is more of a Breath of the Wild comic than an Age of Calamity one, but a fact common through both titles is that most people would rightfully be concerned to learn that the survival of their civilization depends on the aptitude of a young man just barely managing to feed himself. At least Sidon will always believe in Link. Credit to artist megjoyart for this great piece.
7 Impa To The Eighth Power
What’s better than one Impa? Eight Impas. Better than eight Impa’s? Eight frogs. She’s one of Zelda’s oldest companions in each game she appears in, she’s also one of the longest running recurring characters in the series, AoC provides a different take on Impa though.
Instead of playing the role of wizened sage or handler of the princess, this time Impa’s a young ninja who’s only recently mastered Sheikah martial arts. With that said, she’s still plenty powerful and can summon enough clones and toads to make Naruto blush, as this Reddit post points out.
6 Shenanigans with Zelda
If impersonation is the highest form of flattery then fans of Moon Knight will appreciate Zelda’s combat style. The consensus has already formed, Age of Calamity is a better game than the first Hyrule Warriors, but the original game features the better Zelda.
The BotW parallel universe princess is strong, no doubt, but hardly measures up to her previous knightly counterpart. Moon Knight fans are unsure if the frame that this comic mimics is authentic or not, but what is certain is that new Zelda has quite the bag of tricks, thanks for u/Mantoinette for capturing the chaos.
5 Purah’s Aunty Energy
As much as the fandom enjoys making fun of Link’s inadequacies as a brave hero of legend, he isn’t the only unlikely savior in his entourage. Birth-order theory apparently doesn’t apply for the Sheikah, as Impa is undoubtedly more responsible than her older sister Purah, who’s known by fans as “the vodka aunt.” As artist Brellom depicts, if every drunk aunty was as fun as Purah then perhaps thanksgiving would be a less trying affair.
4 Revali’s Recompense
Why say thanks with a thousand words when zero words will suffice? The pride of the Rito people is best known for his… well… pride. Revali brings many things to your party, humility is not one of those things, however.
For someone who sees Link’s lack of expression as insulting, Revali sure does have difficulty showing any appreciation towards his own peers. ZeTrystan shows Revali trying his hardest here.
3 An Overly Ambitious Crossover
The fine artists at Berds & Nerds offer a grim reminder of just how unnatural a crossover between Dynasty Warriors and BotW seems on paper, and how gruelling the resulting experience could have been if more of the latter’s unforgiving mechanics had been adopted. Imagine trying to mow down 10,000 bokoblins at a time with weapons that snap like toothpicks.
2 “That Ain’t Falco”
It’s hard to understand why Revali would take offense at being compared to a cucco, after all, there are few recurring characters that get Zelda veterans’ hearts racing faster than cuccos and their roaming murder squads. If Revali wasn’t so wrapped up in his own ego maybe he could see Z-Raid’s comic for the compliment that it is.
1 Bokoblin War Stories
Tales of the intrepid warrior Link echo across Bokoblin civilizations… For what reason? No one really knows. Apparently in his generation-spanning slumber Link forgot how not to break your own weapon on the side of your enemies’ heads. Wooden Plank Studios asks you to consider if “Calamity Link” would really be as infamous as Calamity Ganon… probably not.
