Tri Force Heroes

“Uncouth or not, she is still my sister. I feel a bit guilty about helping to hunt her down. But what can be done?”

— Madame Couture

Tri Force Heroes
Developer	Nintendo Grezzo
Publisher	Nintendo
Genre	Action, Adventure, Multiplayer
Platform	Nintendo 3DS
Release dates	October 22, 2015 October 23, 2015
Chronological Order
Previous	"A Link Between Worlds"
Next	"Breath of the Wild"
Map

The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes is the eighteenth installment in the The Legend of Zelda series, released in 2015 for the Nintendo 3DS. It is preceded by A Link Between Worlds and succeeded by Breath of the Wild. The New Hero of Hyrule is the main protagonist and Lady Maud is the main antagonist. Hytopia's monsters are the villainous faction.

It is the eighteenth game in the series, and the sixth set in the Downfall Timeline. A direct sequel to A Link Between Worlds, featuring the same Link. After saving Hyrule and Lorule and defeating Ganon, Link hides his identity and journeys to Hytopia where he discovers that Princess Styla has been cursed by a witch from the Drablands. Accompanied by two other heroes, the Links make their way through the Drablands to defeat Lady Maud and save Princess Styla.

Chronologically this game takes place between A Link Between Worlds and Echoes of Wisdom.

Synopsis

It stars the same Link as its predecessor, A Link Between Worlds, who has fled Hyrule and disguised himself in order to avoid recognition. He stumbles across the land of Hytopia, whose princess was cursed to wear ugly clothing by a villainous witch. Link teams up with two similar heroes to journey through the Drablands and stop Lady Maud to free Princess Styla.

Summary

Tri Force Heroes takes place in the fashion-forward land, Hytopia. The kingdom's princess, Princess Styla, was adored by all except for Lady Maud, the Drablands witch, who despised the princess's cute fashion sense. The witch sent Styla a beautifully wrapped gift; however this was merely a trick, as when Styla opened it, she found herself cursed to wear an irremovable ugly jumpsuit. In her misery, the princess isolated herself as the rest of the kingdom wept for her fate. Fear began to rise among the populace of Hytopia, as people grew afraid of fashion in fear of being cursed as well. As only chosen heroes could enter the Drablands, her father, King Tuft, sent out a notification to kingdoms near and far asking for heroes to assemble, promising a great reward. A prophecy within the kingdom, however, tells of the Tri Force Heroes, who are described as having pointy ears, sideburns, and side-parted hair, who come together to form a Totem. The prophecy goes on to say that once the Tri Force Heroes have overcome all challenges, the kingdom of Hytopia will be blessed with everlasting peace and style. The king firmly believes in this legend, and believes only those who possess these Three Noble Attributes of Courage are the true Tri Force Heroes. But there is more than one person claiming to be that hero.

While passing through the land on his travels, Link notices King Tuft's sign asking for heroes to assemble. He is then spotted by the apprentice of Madame Couture, who immediately recognizes his Attributes as indicative of being a hero of legend. Pressed into helping the kingdom and its princess, Link joins the Witch-Hunting Brigade and assembles with other Links as they enter the Drablands and fight its guardians. Following this point, the exact progression of the story depends on when and if Link takes a break from the Drablands to return to the kingdom of Hytopia, and to whom of its residents he speaks.

After defeating Margoma in the Forest Temple and discovering a pair of glasses much like those worn by Lady Maud, Link is summoned to King Tuft's throne room, where the ruler makes a personal plea for him to rescue Princess Styla from her predicament and fulfill the destiny of the Tri Force Heroes. Styla, unable to contain her shame, runs from the scene and appears to lock herself in her chamber, though she later sneaks out and takes to the shadows of Hytopia's village, from which she offers Link her moral support. Link also learns that Madame Couture, a tailor of fashionable Outfits with magical properties, has designed an ultimate Outfit that would allow the wearer to undo the curse placed on Princess Styla. Convinced of Link's heroism after he presents her the Lady's Glasses, Madame reveals that Lady Maud is really her older sister, corrupted by jealously of Princess Styla's adoration and fashion sense, and that in order to craft the Outfit that would lift Styla's curse, two more of The Lady's Materials must be recovered.

Link and his companions battle their way through the Drablands, eventually reaching the Fortress and confronting Lady Maud inside her Lair. Insulted by the Links' presence, Lady Maud unleashes her three monstrous, mechanical "Pets" on the trio, but one-by-one they fall to the young heroes' teamwork and abilities. Lady Maud retreats, warning Link to never come near her again; he then finds the Lady's Collar inside a Treasure Chest. Link continues on his adventure in the Drablands, eventually following Lady Maud to the farthest reaches of the Sky Realm. In an epic battle against her three different forms, the Links finally prevail, putting a stop to Lady Maud's campaign against the princess and recovering the final Material, the Lady's Parasol. Back in Hytopia, Madame Couture can now tailor the Lady's Ensemble. Link dons the Outfit and performs a magic ritual that removes the ugly jumpsuit, restoring Princess Styla to her former beauty and bringing fashion back to all of Hytopia. The kingdom's people rejoice, as King Tuft holds a ceremony for Hytopia's newest hero.

Characters

The New Hero of Hyrule

Madame Couture

Princess Styla

Lady Maud

Bosses

Image	Enemy	Description	Dungeon
	Margoma	Margoma will twirl around the pit that it is encountered in, eventually stopping to spin around rapidly and target one of the Links. When it has chosen a target, two holes on its side will glow the color of the targeted Link, prior to Margoma sprouting spikes from around its body and rushing towards that Link. The Links must trick Margoma into ramming into a wall, temporarily incapacitating it. While paralyzed, the center hole on Margoma will open, making it receptive to Bombs thrown from atop a Totem formation. If a Bomb successfully enters the center hole, Margoma will be stunned by it, exposing its eye from the aperture, making it susceptible to Sword strikes. There is also a small, raised outcrop on the arena's right that is reachable via a ramp. If a Link tricks Margoma into slamming into this platform, the other Links can throw Bombs at it from the platform with little danger of taking damage, and then simply drop onto Margoma to attack.	Forest Temple
	Arrghus	In Tri Force Heroes, Arrghus appears as the Boss of the Water Temple Level. It appears as a watery, blue jellyfish surrounded by eyeballs protected in water barriers. When the Links arrive, eight eyeballs will emerge from the pool in the center of the room. These eyes will attempt to dive at the Links, and will alternate between submerging and surfacing. The submerged eyeballs can be resurfaced with a blast of water from the Water Rod, which will also stun them. They can also be stunned with the Water Rod while diving towards the Links. The surface eyes can be pulled apart with the Gripshot. Once stunned or pulled away, they can be attacked with the Sword before trying to reunite with their group. Once all the eyes are defeated, the pool will drain as Arrghus reveals itself.	Water Temple
	Moldorm	In Tri Force Heroes, Moldorm appears as the boss of the Fire Temple Level. In a first for the series, this giant Moldorm appears to be mechanical in nature rather than organic—including with bright, colored headlights for eyes and sounding as though it runs on treads. It is fought in a caged enclosure suspended over a pit of lava. Like its other incarnations, it crawls around the area while making sharp turns. Moldorm's eyes will emit green, red, or blue light, and it will pursue the Link whose tunic matches the current color of its eyes. If this Link is hit, Moldorm's will briefly retract its segments and it will follow a differently colored Link. Three lava pillars beneath the platform will also periodically rise through the red, circular grates that appear on the floor of the platform. They will harm any of the Links who come in contact with them.	Fire Temple
	Blizzagia	In the first battle phase, Blizzagia emerges from one of the five caves at random and targets one of the Links, as indicated by a colored flash from its eyes. It will then make a powerful lunge toward that Link in an attempt to bite him. If the Links are able to dodge Blizzagia, they will have a brief moment to strike its head with a Magic Hammer before it retreats back to the cave. After four hits from the Magic Hammer, a large crack appears in Blizzagia's mask, followed by the creature roaring loudly and using its cold breath to cover the ground with a layer of Ice.	Ice Temple
	The Lady's Pets	When the battle begins, Lady Maud first summons her pet resembling Margoma. This pet changes direction more frequently than Margoma when chasing the Links, and uses a whirlwind maneuver in which it spins in place, hovering for several seconds while blowing gusts of wind in all directions. Like Margoma, this pet will charge after the Links when it approaches them, and will briefly get stuck when it hits the wall. At this point, the Links can throw a Bomb into the opening on its upper body. Bombs can be obtained by using the Boomerang or Gripshot toward one of the platforms containing Bomb Flowers on either side of the battle area, which otherwise cannot be reached due to a gap between the platforms. After throwing a Bomb into the pet’s opening, it will be stunned as a purple crystal appears in its opening and the spikes on its body retract. The Links can then throw the top Link onto the pet to slash at the crystal with the Sword.	The Lady's Lair
	Stalchampion	Stalchampion is fought on a stone platform in the center of desert Quicksand, inside a Colosseum-like stadium. Its left arm is a large mace that it uses to attack the Links with by powerfully slamming it onto the ground. Its weak spot is the heart-like core inside its rib cage, however it cannot be attacked directly. To fight it, the Links must first stun it by hitting its vulnerable backside using either the Sword or the Boomerang. This will stun the boss as it humorously hops around while holding its foot in pain. The Links can then attack it during this state using either the Sword or Boomerang, causing it to come crashing down and fall apart. Its red core then becomes vulnerable to the Magic Hammer. While attacking it, the Links must be careful of the mace that will roll towards them. One of the Links can lure it away, so the others can continue attacking. Eventually Stalchampion will reemerge and launch itself into the air, creating a shock wave as it lands that will send the Links flying if they are caught in it. Its shock waves will grow larger the more it is weakened.	Desert Temple
	Prismantus	Prismantus is a three-pronged creature with a large eyeball at its center, and a differently-colored light bulb at the end of each prong, matching the three Links' colors. It attacks by spinning quickly in place for a few seconds, then dashing toward the Links at a high speed. After each dash, Prismantus briefly spins more slowly, before repeating the attack pattern. The colored light bulbs at its sides are its weak points during this stage, and can only be damaged by the Link whose tunic corresponds with the bulb's color. As its body is constantly spinning, the Links must carefully time their Sword attacks to strike the right bulb. After a bulb is struck twice, it will shut off. After all three bulbs are shut off, Prismantus will be stunned and its spinning halts, exposing its eye. The Links can then form a Totem of two, and either strike the eye directly, or throw the top Link on top of its prongs to strike the eye from there. If the eye is damaged enough during this time, the battle will move on to the next phase; otherwise Prismantus will eventually recover and resume its attack pattern.	Grim Temple
	Lady Maud	During the first phase, The Lady will stand in the middle of a raised altar while a magical floor barrier circles around her. To pass the barrier, the Links must form a Totem and throw each other over. However as soon as the Links are on the other side of the barrier, The Lady will retaliate by throwing parasols at them. One Link must then be thrown onto The Lady's platform; however, she will push him away with her parasol. The thrown Link must be quick to attack her with the Sword before she can push him back. The Links can also wait until she is distracted while throwing parasols and throw one Link behind her. Eventually, after taking enough damage, The Lady will begin to throw a fit as her platform lowers and the barrier dissipates. She will then charge after the Links while waving her parasol wildly. One Link can lure her away while the other Links attack from behind. After several more hits, she will disappear and begin the next phase.	Sky Temple

Title Screen

The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes

Media

OST

Tri Force Heroes Original Soundtrack

Boxarts

Japanese

USA

Trivia

• Tri Force Heroes is the only Zelda game to date where Link cannot make use of a Shield.
• Tri Force Heroes is also the only Zelda game to date that does not allow for multiple saved games.
• Hidden throughout the town of Hytopia and its Castle are various journals detailing the author's travels in the Drablands, collectively known as the Drablands Diary. These writings frequently make mention of scenic spots that are hidden in the Drablands' Levels.
• Link's voice in Tri Force Heroes is based on four prior Zelda games. When the player begins a new game, Link is randomly assigned a voice from either Ocarina of Time, The Wind Waker, Spirit Tracks, or A Link Between Worlds. If any Links in a multiplayer game share the same voice, they will be pitch-shifted to remain distinct.

Continuity

• Shortly after the game's reveal during E3 2015, Shikata stated that it had not yet been decided when the game would take place in the Zelda timeline, as it could easily take place in any spot. However, Julie Gagnon from Nintendo of Canada later stated during an interview that the game is not part of the timeline.
• On October 22, 2015, a day before the game's release, Nintendo revealed that the game takes place several years after A Link Between Worlds. It was also stated that it features the same Link, who dresses to hide his heroic origins.
• Some of the bosses in this game return from the previous one, and are variants from others.
  • Margoma seems to be a variant of Gohma mixed with Margomill from A Link Between Worlds.
  • Arrghus & Moldorm both return in this game after last appearing in A Link Between Worlds
  • Blizzagia seems to be an ice elemental variant of Volvagia from Ocarina of Time.

Gallery

Tri Force Heroes first announced

Tri Force Heroes ending