Former Nintendo America COO is “incredibly touched” by possible reference to his friendship with Iwata in Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom  

Although set in a new version of Hyrule, The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom contains various fun Easter eggs for fans of the series. Eagle-eyed players of the latest Zelda entry have even started to wonder if two characters in the game are tributes to the legendary friendship between former Nintendo executives Satoru Iwata and Reggie Fils-Aimé. This rumor has gathered so much steam that even Fils-Aimé himself weighed in on the topic. 

For those who don’t remember, Satoru Iwata was the fourth president of Nintendo from 2002 until his untimely death in 2015. Reggie Fils-Aimé served as president and COO for Nintendo America for 13 years from 2006 to 2019, before retiring from the position. Their friendship became the stuff of legend among Nintendo fans, immortalized in videos like the amusing Super Smash Bros. trailer where they “fought” each other and the muppet parody. Fils-Aimé has previously described Iwata as a mentor and dear friend. 

The appearance of two characters in The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom named Rogma and Inawa has led to speculation among fans that they are homages to Reggie and Iwata, as first reported by The Gamer. The character of Rogma is an assistant to the leader of a tribe of ocean Zora, with Inawa providing support to the head of the river Zora tribe. Rogma and Inawa are trying to get their bosses to work together to save their domains, and they soon become fast friends after meeting.  

Fans have argued that this echoes the friendship and cooperation between Iwata and Fils-Aimé. The rumored Easter Egg gathered such momentum that Reggie himself commented that he was “incredibly touched” by the possibility of it being a reference to the friendship. 

Although the idea that the two characters are homages to two beloved former Nintendo heads, this has yet to be confirmed by Echoes of Wisdom’s devs. Given the watery habitat where Rogma and Inawa live, it seems just as likely that their names could simply be references to Japanese words. Rogma (spelled as “Roguma” in Japanese), becomes “maguro” when the syllables are reversed, which means tuna. Likewise, messing with the syllable order of Inawa gives you “iwana”, which means char (a type of fish). 

The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is out now on Nintendo Switch.