Eiji Aonuma: In Ocarina of Time, as in most Zelda, we have created a large number of tribes, like the Goron who live in the mountains or the Zoras, people from the water. For the episode “The Wind Waker”, when we chose to situate the action in the middle of the ocean, we immediately felt the need to create a race that can move through the air. During long trips offshore, we needed faster characters capable of transmitting information to Link. It was at that moment that I remembered Watatara clan, you had invented for the adaptation of “Ocarina of Time.” In short, I digress a bit about the initials but we are inspired by your work to give birth to Rito Race, creatures that are half-man half-bird that can move very quickly with their wings.
Honda: In fact, we invented this passage to the needs of the manga. But these characters did never appear elsewhere in the world of Zelda. I think we would have been impossible to imagine all this without the great wealth of the series. When we made the decision to add this passage, we wanted to offer a new breed for the players. However, the only characteristic that we had was to fly.