For as little characterisation as he gets, Link is one of the most likeable people in Hyrule. Maybe it is his cute tunic, his unending willingness to save Hyrule over and over, or his weird guttural shrieks when he gets hit, but everyone seems to love the guy. I, however, have always thought he's a bit of a menace because when Link is around no porcelain is protected, and no plates are safe because The Hero of Time loves nothing more than cracking ceramic.
Link has proven his adeptness for smashing pottery over the course of almost 40 The Legend Of Zelda games and spin-offs, but where else would his destructive nature thrive? Once he has broken all the crockery and smashed every ancient vase, what video games have the best pottery for the stoic wielder of the Tri-force to venture forth into and break?
10 Master Of Pottery
Okay, this might actually be the worst game to let Link loose in. Master Of Pottery is a game about just that: becoming a master of the ceramic arts. It's a chill and easygoing Steam game where you simply take your time, sit at your potter's lathe and sculpt a piece of fine art. After that, you roast it in a kiln, and can even paint your new vase once it has cooled.
Who knows? I like to think he could restrain himself. Maybe dropping Link into Master of Pottery would be like the time my parents brought me to a pottery workshop. Maybe Link, just like seven-year-old me, would grow an appreciation for this exquisite craft instead of breaking everything in sight. Or maybe he would do what I wanted to do the entire time I was in there and just start picking up plates, mugs and jugs and dropping them on the floor.
9 Hades
I really hope Link would be a good enough house guest to contain his smashy-nature if we allowed him to explore the underworld. Firstly, these are important historical artefacts, some of which have Greek mythology painted onto them. Secondly, it would just be exceedingly rude for a strange little man from a far-off land to come into Lord Hades' home and start breaking his decor.
I like to think after all these years of acting as Princess Zelda's guard that Link would at least have the manners not to disrespect the Lord of the undead. But who knows, maybe the fact that those vases definitely (occasionally) have coins in them might get the better of him. As long as Link is nice to Cerberus, I think it will be okay.
8 Spyro The Dragon
There is nothing like a good collect-a-thon if you are looking for excuses to break things. Whether it be Crash, Sly, Mario, Banjo, or Ratchet, all these heroes share something in common with Link. They love breaking valuable goods on the off chance they contain a scrap of useable currency or useful material.
No collect-a-thon would suit Link better than Spyro though because while most of these games would have their characters break cheap barrels to satisfy their destructive needs, Spyro knows the real joy comes from breaking something irreplaceable. Throughout the series, there are countless expensive vases and pots that this troublesome purple dragon can headbutt into smithereens. Link might choose to use a sword or just roll through these, but he would smash them nonetheless.
7 Okami
Speaking of games that Link would do well in, who could forget the Zelda-inspired Okami? Link would not only enjoy breaking every precious pot in this game, but he would share plenty in common with the game's protagonist Amaterasu.
Not only do they both love breaking pots, but they could compare notes on travelling through beautiful open-worlds looking for dungeons and items that will help them reach new areas. On top of that, Link has some firsthand knowledge of life as a wolf, so they'd be sure to have plenty to talk about.
6 God Of War
Link and Kratos might not have much in common, aside from a somewhat muddy canon in the time between games, but they do both love fine china. And when I say that, I mean the God Of War has destroyed just as much delicate pottery as The Hero of Time. Mythology's saddest dad has wreaked havoc on everything from Greece vases to Norse urns over the year.
If you thought Kratos didn't care about damaging his surroundings while he whips his Blades of Chaos around, you'll be shocked to see Link take time after his battles to break everything in a room. At least when Kratos travelled through time he knew his actions would affect the future. When Link goes to the past, he continues to break things like the butterfly effect doesn't even exist.
5 The Terrible Merchandise Area Of A GameStop
You know, if you really think about it, all those terrible Fortnite and PlayStation mugs and cups they sell at GameStop are a type of "Pottery In Gaming". Just because they are real-life objects and not inside a digital world, doesn't disqualify them from this list. So why not? Let's drop Link in a GameStop and see how long he can go without throwing a Mario coffee cup against the wall.
Honestly, once he gets over the shock of being in the real world, I think Link would quite enjoy the act of destroying the competition. Whatever happens though, don't let him see his own merchandise; that might break his brain. And also don't let him near Funko Pops. If Breath of The Wild has taught me anything, he already has a bad habit of collecting useless rubbish that just clogs up his inventory.
4 Resident Evil Village
Lady Dimitrescu's castle is full of delicate china but, if we were Link, we wouldn't feel too bad about breaking it. After all, she is a bloodthirsty evil vampire. More importantly, however, this is where Lady D apparently hides her herbs from Mother Miranda. I'm sure Link would never tell on her, but I think he might need their regenerative properties while fighting monsters more than the already undead owner of the mansion.
Yes, we did say in an earlier entry it would be rude to destroy a Lord or Ladies' decor in their own home, but Dimitrescu hardly takes care of her house that well in Resident Evil: Village. From throwing her own make-up table to letting her basement flood with blood to hanging Ethan Winters from hooks in a guest bedroom, she clearly doesn't care about keeping things neat in her home.
3 Dragon Quest
After some very sketchy research, I think the original Dragon Warrior might be the first game where you can smash pots for the coins potentially inside. This minor act of vandalism has become such a series staple that Square Enix even briefly sold a cracked-pot-piggy bank in Japan.
If all the heroes of Dragon Quest get away with breaking pottery on their grand quests, then The Hero of Time is sure to be allowed to smash away to his heart's content. And if not, and someone tries to stop him, we might finally get to see Link partake in turn-based combat and fulfill our dreams of a JPRG Zelda game.
2 Dark Souls
For many people, when they think of breaking pots in video games, they think of The Legend of Zelda, but for me, I think of the original Dark Souls. Diving through ornate vases in Anor Londo and rolling into chipped pots in Sen's Fortress is my comfort place. It's the first time I encountered physics in games, and the overdramatized crash each bit of ceramic makes in that game is still embedded deep in my memories.
There are very few joys like barrel-rolling into pottery in Dark Souls. There was never any respawning health in there, or currency; you just did it for the sake of doing it. For the sake of utilising the Havoc physics engine and causing havoc yourself. It was a cardinal joy in a game full of sorrow. Link would love it in Lordran.
1 Elden Ring
Oh... Oh, no. This has gone too far.