Although they played an important role in 'Breath of the Wild', the Divine Beasts have disappeared in 'Tears of the Kingdom'. But what happened?

There’s no shortage of mysteries to unravel in Tears of the Kingdom, but one of the most perplexing relates to the Divine Beasts from Breath of the Wild. These mechanical giants were scattered throughout Hyrule in the previous game, but are nowhere to be seen in Tears of the Kingdom.

So, what happened to Divine Beasts in Tears of the Kingdom? Can you actually find them lurking in far-flung corners of the map? Or have they simply vanished? Here’s everything we know about their disappearance.

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What happened to the Divine Beasts in 'Tears of the Kingdom'?

There is no official announcement from Nintendo about what happened to the Divine Beasts in Tears of the Kingdom. The same goes for the old Ancient Shrines and Sheikah Towers, which have also disappeared and have been replaced by Shrines of Light and Skyview Towers.

All three of these structures played a massive role in Breath of the Wild — and now they can’t be found anywhere on the Tears of the Kingdom map.

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This has led to dozens of intriguing fan theories about their disappearance. One theory claims that the Divine Beasts were simply decommissioned by Zelda after the defeat of Calamity Ganon. After all, the giant machines did get corrupted and played a large part in the fall of Hyrule. Decommissioning them makes a lot of sense, although it’s never been confirmed by Nintendo.

Other theories say that the Divine Beasts, Ancient Shrines, and Sheikah Towers simply receded back underground. The three were all required to defeat Calamity Ganon and train Link, but now that the threat is neutralized, they simply returned underground and entered their dormant state.

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To make things more confounding, none of the NPCs in Tears of the Kingdom seem to talk about the Divine Beasts. You’d think that the disappearance of such massive landmarks would cause a stir among the population, but players are yet to discover any NPC that even hints at them.

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Will Divine Beasts return to the 'Zelda' franchise?

Because of their rapid (and mysterious) disappearance, many fans are wondering if Divine Beasts will return to Tears of the Kingdom as DLC or even as part of the next Zelda game. At this time, it’s impossible to say. Divine Beasts weren’t very popular in Breath of the Wild, and the return to dungeons in Tears of the Kingdom has been met with much applause.

Of course, there’s a chance that they’ll show up in The Depths, as their own Sky Islands, or in some other form as DLC, but Nintendo isn’t making anything official. For now, it’s best to just image that Divine Beasts are gone, and they aren’t likely to return. There are plenty of mysteries that are solvable in Hyrule – but this doesn’t seem to be one of them.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is now available on Nintendo Switch.