If you’ve ever looked at one of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wildrandom villagers and thought, “Hey, this looks like a Mii,” it may be because the two may be related.
Overnight, Twitter user and self-proclaimed Mii expert HEYimHeroic I wrote that certain non-player characters in Breath of the Wild are based on an advanced version of existing Mii designs, which are used for player avatars on Nintendo consoles and some games. According to HEYimHeroic, this means that in addition to Breath of the WildIf NPCs look like more detailed Miis, it is also possible to modify players’ existing Miis directly in hacked versions of the game.
“Basically, [Breath of the Wild NPCs] use an evolution of Miis, which the game files call ‘UMii’s (which is what I’m going to call them from now on ”), wrote HEYimHeroic in a Reddit topic. “UMiis has almost all of the same parameters as Wii U / 3DS Miis, with some minor differences here and there, as moles are no longer supported.” Although all NPCs in the game are apparently based on “UMiis,” only Hylian (human) characters have physical characteristics that mimic those of a traditional Mii.
For example, with the help of Zelda Mod Discord, HEYi’mHeroic was able to modify the recently added Smash Bros. Ultimate Mii to Barret’s Final Fantasy VII inside Breath of the Wild, as well as Matt, one of the first Mii opponents you faced in the original Wii Sports. They were able to successfully insert their own Mii, Alice, into the game as well, although their original hair style is not compatible with Breath of the Wild“UMii” designs from the company, he took on another role. In theory, this means that modders can also “backport” Breath of the Wild NPCs in Mii characters, although this process is much more confusing.
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HEYimHeroic, who could not be reached immediately for comment, is responsible for both WiiFactsPlus Twitter account and Tumblr, which collect and share hyperspecific information about Miis, as well as Mii Library Project, which seeks to document all the official Mii that appeared in a game. Nintndo has been using the avatar format, which allows players to personalize faces, body types and accessories since the launch of the Wii in 2006. As HEYimHeroic documents, there are also dozens of pre-made Miis with names that appeared as real characters in the games.
Much work remains to be done to analyze exactly how Breath of the Wild‘S UMiis’ compares to traditional Miis. “[N]not all value is known, there are still many interactions that we are not sure of, etc. ”Wrote HEYi’mHeroic, adding that they will provide more complete documentation of the discovery and how people can inject their own Miis into Breath of the Wild as soon as you’re ready.