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's Rosy Rupeeland

Meeting Uncle Rupee before his Tingle years.

Before his days as Tingle, he was a simple 35-year old man (named by the player) who lived outside of Port Town. His life was not very exciting, so when he was offered a chance to enter the fabled Rupeeland by the mysterious Uncle Rupee... he eagerly agreed. He was given a green getup, a starting amount of Rupees... and the unusual quality that he no longer could be hurt... but damage cost him Rupees. If he lost all Rupees, then it was the end for him. He was able to speak to Pinkle through a terminal in his home though. She was able to provide him helpful hints in his adventure.

Tingle instantly set to work to earn Rupees. He learned basic combat skills from a young girl named Aba. He soon began making his money off the citizens of Port Town. Using his cooking skills, he found he could make a tidy profit off of the merchants by selling them his dishes. He made a tidy sum by working with Teddy Todo to investigate a dungeon where he gained his first Super Rupee by defeating the Beetle Lord. Eventually he raised enough Rupees to contribute to the mysterious pond where he had met Uncle Rupee. To his surprise, the pond suddenly raised up to become a small tower. Uncle Rupee passed on some words of encouragement and Tingle was able to reach distant locations.

This would continue at that point. In the other islands he required the use of bodyguards to protect him. His adventures took him throughout the first continent where he befriended a crew of Stalfos pirates (although the Captain tried to make Tingle a Stalfos), met the hero Junglo, reunited Aba with her real father, and helped the Great Deku Tree remove the illness plaguing the Deku Sprout. He also picked up a canine companion, Barkle, who became a "Tingle" as well. Each time he would throw more rupees into the pond as the tower got bigger and bigger.

The second continent had him clearing out a poisonous fog that had been plaguing a colony of giant bees. His deed earned him the thanks of the Queen Bee. As he continued his quest, he met up with his pirate friends again and entered the Insect Cavern where, again with Teddy Todo, the two worked together to defeat the Beetle Lord. But the Beetle Lord's spirit began possessing the Stalfos pirates and Tingle helped them to combat the demons and to free Captain Stalfos, who had also been possessed. In exchange for Tingle's help, the pirates blew away a mess of fallen rock to allow Tingle to enter Mount Desma.

It was there he met Desma's Tribal King who was in a similar plight to Tingle (though Tingle himself did not make the connection). The King has been throwing as many Rupees as he could into the volcano to appease the god that he had met. The king's daughter pleaded for Tingle to enter the volcano, so in Tingle went and he defeated the Super Rupee-powered monster inside. After receiving the king's thanks (and becoming a god to his people), Tingle continued to the Fairy Garden... which had since become a vast desert. He was able to restore the five fairy spirits there and meet with the Grand Fairy.

He contributed yet another bunch of rupees, bringing the tower to its highest level. He was advised by Uncle Rupee to stay put, as his efforts had been completed. But Tingle received a message from the Grand Fairy telling him of a warning. When he met with her, she related to Tingle that Uncle Rupee was actually an evil demon whose idea of Rupeeland was where everyone was Tingles that toiled eternally to find Rupees to feed Uncle Rupee's greed. Horrified by this notion, Tingle battled through the Auros Ruins and fought the Oinker Boss there. He then found the shrine of the Master Rupee, which he was able to claim with the Super Rupees he collected. He also freed Pinkle from her prison and after a lengthy makeout session, she transformed into her true form - the daughter of the Grand Fairy. But she continued to help Tingle afterwards by using holograms of herself.

After giving some Rupees to his bankrupt uncle, Tingle climbed the tower and used the Master Rupee. As he donned a space helmet, the tower left the ground and crashed through the Moon. He found Uncle Rupee waiting, who demanded Tingle hand over all the Rupees he had earned. When Tingle refused, Uncle Rupee turned on Tingle. In order to defeat him, Tingle had to use a device to fire his Rupees as ammunition. After defeating Uncle Rupee in all three forms, Tingle fell back to the planet and landed in Port Town. As he did, all the Rupees he collected came raining down. Tingle and the other villagers tried desperately to collect as many as they could, thus ending Tingle's first adventure.

Meeting Link

Tingle made his original video game 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.

Other Major Roles

Video Games

• Tingle was the star of Tingle's Balloon Fight DS, a simple hack of Balloon Fight that replaced the hero with Tingle. It was available only in Japan as a special Club Nintendo bonus.
• Tingle was also featured in a piece of DSiWare called Tingle Dekisugi Pack, which featured five Tingle-themed applications.
• 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.
• In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Tingle appears as a normal trophy and as an Assist Trophy. The Assist Trophy Tingle dances in place to cause random items to fall from the sky. There are also two stickers of him using art from Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland and The Wind Waker.

Other Media

• Out of the various manga adaptations of Zelda games over the years, Tingle has only appeared in The Minish Cap manga during the Death Mountain chapter. He first confronts the green Link on Death Mountain after he saves Tingle from a boulder and forces his company on the green Link until finding a purple force gem and ditching Link during his battle with a swarm of Hinoxes, promising to return to help him when he becomes a Great Fairy. Later in the chapter he finds the violet Link atop the Tower of Flames and unknowingly ruins that Link's attempt to destroy the Dark Mirror, resulting in the violet Link sending Tingle flying out the window with a swing from his hammer. He is also featured in a four-panel gag comic at the end, complaining that he didn't have a role in the climax, but then was shown to be crushed by a giant force gem dropped during Vaati's destruction.

Trivia

• Given his transformation in Rosy Rupeeland, it is possible there have been multiple Tingles. 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. But this already suggests the concept of more than one Tingle. And of course, as Tingle is always described as being in his 30's regardless of time period, this indicates that there are either multiple incarnations or that he is eternally the same age.
• 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.
• Tingle's absence extends to the DS games, although he is referenced in the form of small Tingle figurines seen at certain shops in Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks, as well as an Anouki doll wearing a Tingle-like costume in the latter game. Tingle was also seen in artwork for what seemed to be an earlier version of Phantom Hourglass (likely when it was being produced as Four Swords DS), indicating that he was intended to actually appear at some point.