As Zelda fans spot a big Master Sword mistake, Smash Bros creator Masahiro Sakurai reveals how he fixed it for his fighting game series

As The Legend of Zelda fans process the revelation that one particular in-game animation of Link that we’d always accepted was never quite right, even Smash Bros. creator Masahiro Sakurai has admitted that his own fighting game’s attempts to make it fit aren’t exactly perfect.

Link unsheathing his sword from the scabbard on his back is just a thing he does. Bokoblin on the prowl? Better reach over the shoulder and remove the blade, ready for action. But it turns out that such a simple-looking maneuver was never very realistic at all, in a surprising turn that’s only now been highlighted thanks to a Link cosplayer trying (and failing) to recreate it.

Talented cosplayer @sakigake_cos on Twitter recently shared a very funny clip of them as Link, as seen in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, attempting to pull off the same move he does by lifting the hilt of the sword from behind their head. All in-game animations would suggest that this would be a smooth, effortless action, but that’s not the case – @sakigake_cos just can’t stretch their arm out far enough to fully remove the sword, so it gets stuck. 

It’s a relief that can’t actually happen to Link when he’s ambushed by a group of Moblins. Regardless though, it’s been a lot to take in, especially as animators admit that, yeah, this slick move we all know and love has never been the most realistic thing in the world. “As an animator, I apologize for misleading… we’ve been cheating this in 3D for years,” former RWBY fight animator Dillon Gu writes on Twitter.

As for Link’s appearance in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, it’s clear that the fighting game’s director was aware that the move wasn’t quite possible, as Sakurai explains a slight tweak that was made to help “match the action.” In a tweet (translated via Google and DeepL), he notes that Link pulls the scabbard down slightly when sheathing his sword. Even that “wasn’t enough,” he admits, but he felt that’s as far as things could go to make the animation work. 

Another Twitter user has shared a slowed-down clip of Link in the fighting game which demonstrates what Sakurai is referring to. It’s safe to say that the slight adjustment to the scabbard before he puts his sword away definitely helps that animation look more seamless, although it’s a different matter when he removes it again. You’d never know if you weren’t looking for it, but it’s clear that the blade clips straight through the side of the scabbard, and I imagine many of us will never be able to unsee that now. 

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