![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 in quote:
- Satoru Takizawa, age 39. Enemy Designer for Ocarina of Time.
- Satoru Iwata, age 51. President of Nintendo.
- Kazuaki Morita,, age 45. Boss character engineer for Ocarina of Time.
Quote: "Takizawa: Volvagia [in Ocarina] is a dragon, so it wriggles and undulates. I only gave Morita-san the dragon model parts, but he set it in motion immediately. It was mysterious how he could do that. I couldn't help but ask how he did it. He said it was the same as the programming for Star Fox 64. There's this scene when another fighter aircraft is tailing Arwing and…
Iwata: … Oh, that? That's right! It's the same! … The way the fighter moves as it flies and Volvagia's movements are exactly the same.
Morita: I could do it easily by switching in the dragon for the fighter."](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:2e7f2uvcguv4d5qxqnyjmk32/bafkreigfruoymlf3lg34g54lb34gv3dhu6ebp3znqsmhdy4llew5jkxil4)
