The origin of Tingle, according to Eiji Aonuma

Fans of The Legend of Zelda have had unanswered questions about the strange character known as Tingle. Since his appearance in Majora’s Mask as a map maker, his personality has made fans wonder what is he really. In an interview with Kotaku, Zelda game designer Eiji Aonuma shared some info about the character, from creation to personality.

According to Kotaku, Aonuma said about the need for Tingle: “So, we thought, what if you had to buy maps? Then suddenly we needed a character that you would be buying maps from. We ultimately ended up with a character here that had a little bit of humor to him that [came from] thinking of…’What sort of person would sell a map?’ And, well, we decided it would be the kind of person who makes a map. And the way that he makes a map is by floating through the air so that he can see the contours of the land and draw them.”

Players outside the US found out more about him in a Zelda parody game titled Freshly Picked Tingle’s Rosy Rupeeland, but that was still not enough to know more about him. Thanks to Aonuma, there is finally an explanation about the character’s way of being.

“So when we made the character, we had this notion that one of the ways he might be a little bit weird is that he had this notion that he never wanted to grow up. And so I think, to that extent the clothes do fit this image of him. And the whole thing comes together as a very Peter Pan kind of visual. You know, if you think about it, it’s this guy in his 30s in a green suit and is flying and never wants to grow up, it all sort of comes together around that.”

Perhaps the golden question some players have had for years, Mr. Aonuma was able to respond: “He’s not gay. He’s just an odd person.”

[Source]: Kotaku: Nintendo Explins Where Tingle Came From.