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One of Link’s oldest enemies returns in new Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom ad

A new ad for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom confirms that a boss from the original The Legend of Zelda is returning in the highly anticipated sequel, and the trailer even teases that there might be multiple variants of this enemy.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom | You Can Do What?!

We first got a look at a three-headed dragon during the final moments of Nintendo’s bombastic final trailer for Tears of the Kingdom earlier this month. Fans speculated at the time that this was Gleeok, a recurring multiheaded dragon boss that first appeared in the original The Legend of Zelda, but has only made a couple of appearances since. These suspicions were confirmed today when Nintendo released the new You Can Do What?! ad for Tears of the Kingdom.

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While the trailer’s main purpose is to emphasize the endless amount of possibilities players have when completing a challenge, it also includes a quick snippet of gameplay featuring Link fighting that dragon enemy from the last trailer. Its name is Flame Gleeok.

Link fights a Flame Gleeok in a The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom ad.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

On a surface level, it’s great to see that Tears of the Kingdom is delivering somewhat of a deep cut with this enemy, as we haven’t seen Gleeok in a Zelda game since The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass. More notable, though, is its name. As Twitter user Stealth40K points out, this naming scheme seems to suggest that players will be able to encounter Gleeoks with different elemental types in Tears of the Kingdom’s vast open world. Don’t be surprised if you’re also fighting dragons that can spout lighting and ice when this game finally drops next month.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom will launch exclusively for Nintendo Switch on May 12.

Tomas Franzese
As a Gaming Staff Writer on Digital Trends, Tomas Franzese reports on and reviews the latest releases and exciting…
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