Former Nintendo CEO Memorialized In The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild

Satoru Iwata, the programmer-turned-executive who ran Nintendo for almost 15 years, passed away a couple of years ago, but his spirit lives on through the Nintendo DS, the Wii, and, yes, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. While Iwata died in 2015, he was a big influence on Breath of the Wild, and in tribute Nintendo's developers snuck a small memorial to the respected CEO into the game.

A video posted by YouTube broadcaster Seaniccus highlights a non-player character named Botrick who patrols the area around the Outskirt Stable and, pointy ears aside, happens to look a lot like Iwata. Seaniccus calls out Botrick's glasses in particular, as the eyewear doesn't fit with Breath of the Wild's established art design, but does resemble the frames that Iwata used to wear. Additionally, if players talk to Botrick a few times, he'll tell them about a location called "Satori Mountain," which isn't exactly how you spell Satoru, but it's awfully close.

There isn't actually a quest that takes Link Satori Mountain, but that hasn't stopped players from venturing to the location, where they've discovered a pond surrounded by cherry trees and a few other surprises. Nintendo hasn't officially confirmed whether or not Botrick is intended to be in-game memorial to Iwata, but given the character's design and his dialogue, it seems pretty likely.

Even after his death, Iwata continued to motivate and inspire the Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild developers. Director Hidemaro Fujibayashi tells The New Yorker that the Zelda team "had the sense that [Iwata] was watching over our work. That became a source of motivation, a drive for us to improve and be better." While creating the game, Nintendo's designers (including Mario and Zelda creator Shigeru Miyamoto) would often come up with ideas that they were excited to show Iwata, only to remember that he was no longer around. "The sadness runs deep," Fujibayashi says.

Iwata isn't the only Nintendo executive who pops up in Breath of the Wild, either. In one of the game's many easter eggs, a monk named Oman Au sits in one of Hyrule's many shrines—rearrange the letters in his name and it spells Aonuma, which just happens to be the surname of Eiji Aonuma, the manager of the Legend of Zelda series.