IGNcube's 2004 "Die, Tingle, Die! Die!" Campaign

You know and hate him. That nutty clown freak that spoils the lands of Hyrule like a poison. That eerily happy, giggling annoyance whom always pops up at the wrong time and floats away with a deceitful smile plastered across his lying, lunatic face.

Of course we mean Tingle, also known as the most hated entity in the Zelda universe, a label the prince of puke proudly wears.

This is IGNcube's 2004 "Die, Tingle, Die!" Campaign.

Tingle first appeared in the psychedelic adventure Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask for Nintendo 64, which was directed by the bongo-playing genius Eiji Aonuma. Though the tights-wearing fairy annoyed and frustrated young Link to the point of madness -- we know because he told us -- the hero nonetheless put up with the character for he did provide one useful function: Tingle sold world maps to Link, who could then use them to get as far away from the disturbing jester as possible.

Tingle unfortunately returned to haunt the ocean-covered world in Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker and his sexual orientation remained a great, dark mystery -- one that not even Nintendo could illuminate. "Is he a future fairy or just a regular guy? Tingle might seem a little confused..." the company wrote of the hideously deformed figure on its official Zelda franchise website.

Tingle's role in Wind Waker seemed initially harmless. However, as the cel-shaded adventure progressed Tingle's selfishness led Link on a number of tedious fetch quests -- a truth that also caused IGNcube's editors to lower their review score of the game.

Fans of the franchise never forgave the giggling goon for corrupting the experience and neither did Link. This fact -- no real secret -- was evidenced in Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures. In the multiplayer centric title, four different Links attempted to shoot down Tingle as he floated merrily around the 2D universe.


	Should Tingle Die?

Which about brings us up to date. There's another GameCube Legend of Zelda title in development and it's set for release late next year. This time Link has grown up. He rides his horse through a gritty, realistic new Hyrule filled with glowing red sunsets and fierce, evil foes. And so far there is no sign of Tingle. Our hope is that he's dead. Murdered by a Bokoblin, perhaps. But just in case -- on the slight chance that game directors Shigeru Miyamoto or Eiji Aonuma think about tormenting Link with the character once more -- this article exists.

It's just a simple reminder: we hate Tingle, we want him dead, and we're not going to stand for him in another Zelda game. In fact, if he shows up in the next Zelda, we vow now to spend half of the adventure attempting to murder him. It has to be done. He cannot be allowed to frolic around Hyrule again or all is surely lost.