![PEOPLE:
- Kazuaki Morita, age 45. Programmer on Ocarina of Time.
- Yoshiki Haruhana, age 41. Ocarina of Time Character Artist.
- Satoru Iwata, age 51. President of Nintendo.
QUOTE:
"Morita: I also worked on the fishing minigame [for Ocarina].
Aonuma: You didn't just do the programming, but you also wrote the script for the Pond Owner. ...
Haruhana: … Morita-san made lots of requests regarding that character's face and movements. He requested specific movements … and even drew a rough sketch of how his face should look.
Iwata: Did you make so many requests because that character was modeled after someone real?
Morita: Yes, that's right! [laughs] I like fishing and I'm from an area near Neyagawa in Osaka, and there's a fishing store I used to go to in that neighborhood. My model was the shopkeeper there."](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:2e7f2uvcguv4d5qxqnyjmk32/bafkreigksigc3fhcybkntt6hkwnmenui47yccyi7vosfdjjid2yeoxaoma)
PEOPLE:
- Kazuaki Morita, age 45. Programmer on Ocarina of Time.
- Yoshiki Haruhana, age 41. Ocarina of Time Character Artist.
- Satoru Iwata, age 51. President of Nintendo.
QUOTE:
"Morita: I also worked on the fishing minigame [for Ocarina].
Aonuma: You didn't just do the programming, but you also wrote the script for the Pond Owner. ...
Haruhana: … Morita-san made lots of requests regarding that character's face and movements. He requested specific movements … and even drew a rough sketch of how his face should look.
Iwata: Did you make so many requests because that character was modeled after someone real?
Morita: Yes, that's right! [laughs] I like fishing and I'm from an area near Neyagawa in Osaka, and there's a fishing store I used to go to in that neighborhood. My model was the shopkeeper there."
PEOPLE:
- Takaya Imamura, age 58. Art Director of Majora’s Mask. Designer of tingle, the titular Majora’s Mask, and the Moon.
QUOTE:
"Q: So I know you’re very famous for creating Tingle - was there anything specific that really inspired you to make him?
Imamura: The background and the lore of the character was decided beforehand and I was only responsible for the visuals. Basically, I found a guy on the team and drew a caricature and there was Tingle!"
![PEOPLE:
- Yoshiki Haruhana, age 28. Ocarina of Time Character Designer.
- Mitsuhiro Takano, age 31. Ocarina of Time Project Coordinator.
QUOTE:
"Haruhana: There are more than 60 characters in Ocarina of Time! One character takes about 2-3 days to make, so our schedule is always uncertain. We just have to go from one to the next.
Fellow staff-member Takano once told me, ‘All the people you make turn out to be freaks.’ I never intend to do that! My response is always ‘Oh, is that so?’ [laughs] For example, Dampe the gravekeeper is a hunchback, right?
In Kakariko Village, there’s a guy sitting by himself on top of a house. It was also never my intention to make a character similar to myself, but afterwards 5 people said to me ‘Hey, that’s you!’"](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:2e7f2uvcguv4d5qxqnyjmk32/bafkreie46ghroc5xpe2kjlzefja5dkmcggtqnd5qwjxlarzisblexegei4)
PEOPLE:
- Yoshiki Haruhana, age 28. Ocarina of Time Character Designer.
- Mitsuhiro Takano, age 31. Ocarina of Time Project Coordinator.
QUOTE:
"Haruhana: There are more than 60 characters in Ocarina of Time! One character takes about 2-3 days to make, so our schedule is always uncertain. We just have to go from one to the next.
Fellow staff-member Takano once told me, ‘All the people you make turn out to be freaks.’ I never intend to do that! My response is always ‘Oh, is that so?’ [laughs] For example, Dampe the gravekeeper is a hunchback, right?
In Kakariko Village, there’s a guy sitting by himself on top of a house. It was also never my intention to make a character similar to myself, but afterwards 5 people said to me ‘Hey, that’s you!’"
Quotes on the real-life counterparts of some quirky characters
Via GlitterBerri's Game Translations (1998), Iwata Asks (2011), and Nintendo Life (2025)
#Zelda
#OcarinaOfTimeQuote, #MajorasMaskQuote
#MoritaQuote, #HaruhanaQuote, #ImamuraQuote, #TakanoQuote
![PEOPLE:
- Takaya Imamura, age 58. Art director of Majora’s Mask, artist and boss designer for A Link to the Past.
QUOTE:
Q: What do you love about working outside of Nintendo and how is developing [Omega 6] different now for you?
Imamura: Now I enjoy it. I’m happy.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:2e7f2uvcguv4d5qxqnyjmk32/bafkreihuisbcrfy6hkwlz7536nxlzvcjpqmtdouneaskgntdj67enqpu5u)
![People in quote:
-Takaya Imamura, age 55. Object Designer on A Link to the Past.
Quote: "Imamura: I designed all the bosses [in A Link to the Past] except for the last one and one other. It was not just the art; I also designed the mechanics together with one of the programmers. For some bosses, we came up with the mechanics just with the two of us, while for others we first received instructions from planners on what kind of enemy they wanted.
I also designed the game’s [Japanese] title logo and dungeon maps. Designing dungeon maps is a harsh job, as the dungeons consist of multiple floors and their structure kept changing over the course of development."](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:2e7f2uvcguv4d5qxqnyjmk32/bafkreicz6zpwcgnxyyu2rbwfxxrssepfvnt6qz7bskajoqycfy6eooesye)