10 Things You Never Knew About The Original Legend Of Zelda

9. Its Co-Creator Is Barely Known

Adventure Mario legend of zelda
Nintendo

There is no game developer as loved and worshipped as Shigeru Miyamoto. After creating iconic characters like Star Fox, Donkey Kong, Super Mario, and Zelda, his name is synonymous with Nintendo and video games in general.

Even though thousands of people have worked on the Legend of Zelda franchise throughout the years, Miyamoto usually gets sole credit. This is a shame since Takashi Tezuka worked on every main game in the saga.

Although Tezuka usually works as a supervisor or a producer, he had the most input on the original LoZ. Not only did he co-develop it with Miyamoto, he was the head director and he wrote all the dialogue. Just to show off, he was only 25 at the time. Tezuka was an enormous fan of JRR Tolkien's work and integrated many fantasy elements from The Lord of the Rings into the game.

Even though Tezuka is producing and supervising games to this day including New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe and Super Mario Maker 2, he is mostly unknown. Despite the fact Miyamoto's influence on the gaming world is unmistakable, he shouldn't get full credit for one of Nintendo's most defining games.

Contributor

James Egan has been with Whatculture for five years and prominently works on Horror, Film, and Video Games. He's written over 80 books including 1000 Facts about Horror Movies Vol. 1-3 1000 Facts about The Greatest Films Ever Made Vol. 1-3 1000 Facts about Video Games Vol. 1-3 1000 Facts About James Bond 1000 Facts About TV Shows