Gaming - News
Tears of the Kingdom's Ultrahand Takes Its Name From Nintendo's Past
By NATHAN SIMMONS
In “The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom,” Link creates new vehicles and weapons through an ability called Ultrahand that allows him to lift materials and fuse them together.
Tristan Cooper from The Verge and other fans on social media noted that Ultrahand seems to be named in honor of the Ultra Hand, a toy made by Nintendo in the 1960s and 1970s.
Nintendo's original Ultra Hand was built to let kids pick up items that were slightly farther away by squeezing its handles to nab things with its suction-cupped tongs.
The Ultra Hand toy was packaged with colorful balls that could be picked up with the device, although kids tried to use it to pick up other toys and objects.
Link’s Ultrahand ability is aptly named after the Ultra Hand toy because Link can apparently use this power to lift all kinds of things without breaking a sweat.
In the years since the toy’s release, Nintendo has made a number of sly references to the Ultra Hand, including giving it to Wario as a gadget in multiple games.
Link’s Ultrahand ability actually isn't even the toy's first reference in a “Zelda” game, as the original Ultra Hand can be seen in a shop in “Majora's Mask 3D.”
