There is a Petition to Honour Robin Williams in the New Legend of Zelda

Following the recent tragic and untimely death of comedy icon Robin Williams, one fan, Nick Shaedel of Adelade, Australia, has started a petition for Nintendo to name an NPC in the upcoming Legend of Zelda for Wii U after him. Robin Williams was a huge fan of the series since back in the 80s, even going as far as to name his daughter Zelda Williams after the princess herself.

In Shaedel’s words:

"… in a day where there aren't many words, what can we do? Well, there's a new Zelda game on the horizon. A bold reinvention, a fresh new open world adventure for Wii U. I would like to suggest that when the game is localised to English, Nintendo of America and the Treehouse name one of the characters "Robin" in his memory.
He won't get to play it, but he'll live on forever in a universe he always loved.’’

In 2011, Robin and Zelda appeared together in a series of ads for The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D that exuded Williams’ trademark warmth as well as a sentimentality and true love for the franchise.

In my personal opinion this is a very fitting tribute and something I very much hope Nintendo considers. At the time of writing the petition has already garnered 82,963 signatures with 67,037 needed.

A similar petition to have him honoured in the online game World of Warcraft was also started and has been successful. When asked by a fan on twitter one of the games technical game designers tweeted in response ‘’Yes, we’re taking care of it.’’

I’m optimistic that Nintendo will follow Blizzard’s example and include some nod to Williams in an upcoming Zelda title, even though they’re not really known for referencing anyone from the real world in their games explicitly. It’s a pretty simple request to have a small character with only a few lines bear the first name ‘Robin’, no one is asking for Mrs. Doubtfire to be a boss battle or for the Buzz blobs to be retconned as being made out of Flubber.

[Update:] Since time of writing, a spokesperson for Nintendo has commented on the petition but the company has yet to commit to naming an NPC after Robin in the upcoming Wii U title.

"Robin Williams was loved at Nintendo. Our hearts go out to his entire family, and especially to Zelda Williams who we've worked with multiple times."
"We appreciate the outpouring of support from the gaming community, and hear the request of fans to honor him in a future game. We will not be discussing what might be possible for future games during this difficult time, but we will hold our memories of Robin close."

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