BotW Lakna Rokee Shrine Exterior
Image: Zelda Wiki / Croxodile / Nintendo

Listen, maybe I'm late to the party and everyone else knows this, but did you know there's a very likely explanation for all of Breath of the Wild's weird shrine names?

This whole time, I've been thinking that there must be some explanation for the really weird shrine names, like Bareeda Naag and Daka Tuss Shrine, which both sound like a Sim ordering a curry. Eventually, though, I gave up on trying to figure it out — only to have the answer dropped on me like a bombshell, five years after finishing the game.

Subscribe to Nintendo Life on YouTube764k
Watch on YouTube

They're anagrams of the developers' names!

Here are some examples, courtesy of the Zelda Wiki (bolded = anagrammed part):

Shrine Name Developer Name Developer Role
Goma Asaagh Masatoshi Ogawa System Tool Developer
Zuna Kai Eiji Nakamura Sound Designer
Zalta Wa Satoru Takizawa Art Director
Oman Au Eiji Aonuma Producer
Kaam Ya'tak Takashi Yamamoto Gameplay Animator
Ja Baij Hidemaro Fujibayashi Director

Of course, it's more obvious in Japanese, which is a more syllabic language than English, but still — it's very cool to untangle a puzzle, finally.

Did you know this? Did everyone know this? I need to go lie down.