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Eiji Aonuma (born Eiji Onozuka; March 16, 1963) is a Senior Officer at Nintendo EPD. He is best known for his work on The Legend of Zelda series, taking directorial roles on the early 3D Zelda titles on Nintendo 64 and GameCube, and eventually becoming producer of the whole series.
History[]
Aonuma originally joined the company on the Nintendo R&D2 department as a graphic designer. After working on a few projects, the first game he directed was Marvelous: Mōhitotsu no Takarajima for the Super Famicom, which was influenced by The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past.
When Shigeru Miyamoto noticed Aonuma's work on Marvelous, he got him to move to Nintendo EAD; after supervising a few titles by third-party companies, he was appointed as assistant director on The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time; he joined the project in the middle of development and designed six dungeons (including the Water Temple), enemy characters and boss battles.
Later on, he acted as co-director on Majora's Mask along with Yoshiaki Koizumi, where Aonuma acted as the main supervising director and was in charge of the overworld areas. Later on, he was the sole director of The Wind Waker and Twilight Princess. Aonuma eventually became the main producer and supervisor of the Zelda franchise, a position he still holds to this day.
Until Ocarina of Time, he was credited by the name Eiji Onozuka; he changed his surname to Aonuma upon his marriage.
Game Works[]
- NES Open Tournament Golf (1991) - Designer
- Super Game Boy (1994) - Screen Design
- Marvelous: Time Athletic (1996) - Director
- Super Mario USA Power Challenge (1996) - Graphic Design
- Marvelous: Mōhitotsu no Takarajima (1996) - Graphic, Director
- Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire (1996) - Nintendo Co., Ltd.
- Blast Corps (1997) - NCL Staff
- GoldenEye 007 (1997) - NCL Staff
- The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998) - Game System Director
- The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (2000) - Game System Director
- The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (2002) - Director
- The Legend of Zelda: Collector's Edition (2003) - Producer
- The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures (2004) - Producer
- The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap (2004) - Supervisor
- The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (2006) - Director
- The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (2007) - Producer
- Link's Crossbow Training (2007) - Producer
- The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks (2009) - Producer
- The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D (2011) - Producer
- The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Anniversary Edition (2011) - Producer
- The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (2011) - Producer
- The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD (2013) - Producer
- The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds (2013) - Producer
- Hyrule Warriors (2014) - Zelda Franchise Supervisor
- The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D (2015) - Producer
- The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes (2015) - Producer
- Hyrule Warriors Legends (2016) - Zelda Franchise Supervisor
- The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD (2016) - Producer
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (2017) - Producer
- Expansion Pass (2017) - Producer
- Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition (2018) - Zelda Franchise Supervisor
- The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (Switch) (2019) - Producer
- Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity (2020) - Zelda Franchise Supervisor
- The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD (2021) - Producer
- The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (2023) - Producer
Special Thanks[]
- Pilotwings 64 (1996)
- Super Smash Bros. Melee (2001) - Original Game Staff (Director: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time)
- Super Smash Bros. Brawl (2008) - Supervisor (Original Games)
- Tekken Tag Tournament 2: Wii U Edition (2012) - Collaboration Contents Advisor
- Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U (2014) - Supervisor (Original Games)
- Bayonetta (Wii U) / Bayonetta 2 (2014)
- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Switch) (2017) - Nintendo Co., Ltd.
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (2018) - Original Game Supervisor
- Cadence of Hyrule (2019)
Interviews[]
- Marvelous: Mouhitotsu no Takarajima: Developer Interview (via Gosokkyu)
- 1101: Ocarina of Time (translated by Glitterberri)
- 1101: Majora's Mask (translated by Glitterberri)
- 1101: The Wind Waker
- N.O.M.: Four Swords Adventures
- Iwata Asks:
- The Making of Breath of the Wild
- Ask the Developer Vol. 9: Tears of the Kingdom