Sign guy Addison is at the mercy of cruel players in Tears of the Kingdom 

An NPC in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom named Addison has become strangely popular. Players have varying opinions on the somewhat peculiar individual, who is frequently encountered along Link’s journey. Some are even messing with the poor fellow by taking away his most important possession.  

Link encounters a variety of NPCs during his latest adventure through Hyrule. There are many unique characters who leave a strong impression, and some even show up in several different places rather than stay in one fixed spot. Addison is one such NPC.  

Addison is an NPC who continuously puts up signs for Hudson Construction, a construction company founded by President Hudson. In addition to constructing houses and other architecture, the company also supplies building materials to all corners of the disaster-stricken land of Hyrule. Addison says that he was assigned a special task by President Hudson and busily puts up signs displaying the president’s visage in different locations across Hyrule. However, the signs that Addison is trying to put up are, for some reason, unstable. By using different objects to help prop up the sign, the player can receive rupees and other rewards from Addison as thanks. 

An odd individual who displays some rather eccentric behavior, Addison’s devotion to President Hudson is nothing short of excessive. For example, when first meeting Link, Addison loses his composure and shouts, “President Hudson! Are you OK?!” when he drops his sign. He then apologizes to the sign, saying, “I’m sorry, President Hudson! I won’t let you fall over again!” Essentially, he treats the signs as if they were actually President Hudson himself. The president—or rather the sign with his face—is so important to Addison that he will angrily shout “Unforgivable!” if it is to fall. As a result, you will often find him around Hyrule, earnestly supporting the “president” to stop “him” from hitting the dirt.  

Addison’s intense personality causes players to react to him in different ways. For example, there are those who try to steal Addison’s important signs away from him, but he has a strong grip and fierce determination. Whether you try to launch the sign away with a rocket, try to hit it, or try to set it on fire, Addison will continue to support the sign even as he lets out a shriek. He is so tenacious that it’s almost like his feet are rooted to the ground.  

However, if you talk to Addison and ask him to “Try letting go!” he will do so without question. Players have taken advantage of this, along with a healthy dose of trial and error, to come up with devices that can send the sign flying away at extreme speeds. When the attempts are successful, Addison shouts his trademark “Unforgivable!” but there’s no need to worry, as no matter how far you separate the sign from Addison, he will casually collect it and return to his initial position. Other users have been seen trapping Addison inside a box or trying to use him as a shield after leading enemies to him.  

But depending on the player, there is a big difference in their impression of Addison. On Reddit, a meme with a picture of Addison and the phrase, “Find someone that supports you like Addison supports Mr. Hudson,” quickly got a lot of attention, while on the other hand, a different user posted a thread titled, “Does anyone else find Addison annoying?” That said, most players are aware that the rewards that you get for helping Addison outweigh the effort required to do so, so most see the NPC in a favorable light.  

Conversely, based on the reaction from Twitter users in Japan, Addison is treated as a weirdo, and you can see some users express their reluctance to eat the rice balls that he gives them. We wonder how downhearted Addison would be if he was to hear such harsh opinions. Or maybe he’s the kind of guy who could be fully content as long as President Hudson were to smile at him.  

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is currently available for the Nintendo Switch. Addison will be waiting for you at pretty much every place on Hyrule.  

Written by. Marco Farinaccia based on the original Japanese article (original article’s publication date: 2023-05-22 19:46 JST)