The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Remake has officially clarified the true nature of ReDeads, putting an end to a heated debate sparked by Super Smash Bros.
Anyone who has played Majora's Mask knows that The Legend of Zelda series excels at horror. Ocarina of Time is a prime example: its eerie and unsettling ReDeads are infamous, far more terrifying than any other monsters Link encounters on his journey, and arguably the scariest in the entire series.
There are countless aspects of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Remake that players are excited about, and the revamped ReDeads are high on the list. Everyone was curious whether Nintendo would recreate their original sense of dread. Now that the game has officially launched, the answer is yes—their terror remains undiminished, and it also debunks a misconception brought about by Super Smash Bros.
Twitter user maliceguardian previously started a now-deleted thread discussing the true identity of ReDeads. While most people believed they were zombies or mummies, maliceguardian claimed, based on their appearance in the remake (especially the masks on their faces), that they were "humanoid clay golems." Some might wonder where this idea came from—it actually stems from the trophy descriptions in Super Smash Bros.
In Super Smash Bros. Melee, the ReDead trophy description reads "ugly humanoid creatures powered by magic"; while in the Western versions of Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS, they are described as "clay monsters shaped into human forms." Although the main Zelda games had long clarified the nature of ReDeads, these trophy descriptions sparked endless debates, leaving many unsure whether they were actually corpses.
After maliceguardian shared their opinion, Twitter user VibeSharer put an end to the debate. He pointed out that the enemy compendium in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Remake explicitly describes ReDeads as "walking corpses with masks on their faces." If the official lore of this latest Zelda title wasn't conclusive enough, user AlTurkiei added that you can even see their eyes through the masks in this version.
Honestly, I'm surprised this even became a point of contention—the trophy descriptions in Super Smash Bros. were never meant to be Nintendo's official lore encyclopedia, and there have been plenty of discrepancies before. Fortunately, this long-standing misunderstanding can finally be laid to rest. Everyone can just go back to being scared by ReDeads without worrying about what they're "made of."