Tingle

Tingle in his own game.
Tingle
Species	Human
Hair color	Black
Eye color	Blue
Age	35
Relatives	Ankle, Knuckle (brothers)
Voiced by	Unknown
Debut	Majora's Mask

An extraordinarily odd fellow who is a recurring character in the Zelda series, as well as starring in several spin-off games. He loves to make maps and charts. But more than that, he is obsessed with getting his own fairy one day. For this reason, he often forces his friend ship on Link since they dress in similar attire. But his endeavors are not always alone, in fact he has two brothers (and another cohort). Knuckle and Ankle are his younger twin brothers; David Jr. was a fellow who was more or less 'forced' into service.

Background

Tingle made his original debut in Majora's Mask with a small part. In Northern Clocktown he was found idly floating with his balloon above the ground. After meeting Link, he introduced himself as the 'very reincarnation of a forest fairy'. He quickly befriended him and started selling him maps. His selling range was all over Termina where he sold specialized maps for that area. Link also met Tingle's father in the swamp, who spoke disapprovingly of his son's whims and fancies.

Tingle made another brief cameo in Oracle of Ages for his mapmaking skills. Link needed a way to cross the sea which required a rather precise course. Tingle introduced himself in a manner similar to his previous appearance and provided a map. He also provided Link with a larger Seed Satchel if Link talked to him after obtaining at least three types of seeds, and he could upgrade the Seed Satchel again when told a secret from Oracle of Seasons.

In The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, Tingle was imprisoned in Windfall prison due to his eccentric behavior. He was fortunately (or unfortunately) rescued by Link. In exchange for his rescue he entrusted him with a 'Tingle Tuner' so that Link could have his services anywhere. Later on Link met him at Tingle Tower (he has his own tower) where Tingle charged high prices to decipher the Triforce Charts that Link found.

In Four Swords Adventures he was once more he was rescued by Link (four of them this time) from being trapped under a rock. Afterwards he started hunting Force Gems, even ones that the Links left alone. He also ran minigames from Tingle Tower where Link could compete (against himself) to win Force Gems.

He again reappeared in The Minish Cap along with David Jr. and his brothers. All of them were hard at work fusing kinstones hoping that it would lead to them finding fairies. They fused kinstones with Link multiple times and provided him with 'expert advice' on fusion. Fusing kinstones with all four of them would unlock the path to the Magical Boomerang.

Trivia

• In The Wind Waker, there is a Tingle quest where he mentions the exploits of his ancestor who helped out Link. This alone has caused some confusion, since Tingle only appeared in Majora's Mask (which was in Termina), yet The Wind Waker takes place in Hyrule.
• Tingle also appears in Super Smash Bros. Melee as a trophy and in the Great Bay stage. Like in Majora's Mask, you can pop his balloon and cause him to fall.
• The character Purlo in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess was designed to resemble a realistic Tingle. The actual Tingle's absence from recent games seems to be a combination of his unpopularity in America as well as the attempts to spin him off into his own games.