The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals have spoken out against the abuse given to Koroks by The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom player base. This is well warranted, as many fans have abandoned their quest to save Princess Zelda and wiled away the hours torturing the poor, lost Koroks of Hyrule.
Tears of the Kingdom is the perfect vehicle for video game cruelty, to the point where it has reached memetic status. Tears of the Kingdom fans are inventing ways to hurt Koroks, which are encountered on the overworld, as they’re lost and trying to make their way to their friends. The Koroks are invulnerable, and they’ll respawn if thrown off a cliff, so players have been tormenting them with all kinds of hilarious Ultrahand creations.
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PETA Wants You To Transport Your Korok With Care In The TotK
The Internet thinks that the attempted Korok murder is hilarious but PETA has decided to be a stick in the mud on its official Twitter page in a tongue-in-cheek post that offers guidance on transporting them across Hyrule safely. Unfortunately, things don’t go as planned, and the Koroks go the way of Team Rocket in the Pokémon anime.
It’s odd to see PETA joking like this, as the organization has criticized violence against fictional animals, most notably with the Pokémon franchise. They have also released parody titles related to gaming franchises to bring attention to real-world issues, such as a Super Mario one that addresses the hunting of raccoons dogs.
In the case of the Koroks, it’s a lot easier to joke about them, seeing as they don’t resemble animals and are more like magical plant people. The fact that they’re invulnerable and that the game treats their suffering as comedic also helps, which is why so many fans delight in building elaborate inventions to try and destroy them. Also, Tears of the Kingdom is a massive game, selling over ten million copies in its first three days of launch, so it’s another example of a company jumping on a social media bandwagon.
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It’s still too early to call Tears of the Kingdom the best game of 2023, as there are still titles like Final Fantasy 16, Baldur’s Gate 3, and Starfield to come. The one front in which it’s the winner is in the “Most Memeable” category, as Korok cruelty has enflamed the imagination of fans, and it could very well be the most memorable part of one of the best entries in The Legend of Zelda series.
