Crucified Korok

About

Crucified Korok refers to a series of videos in which gamers bully NPC characters known as Koroks from The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. The trend was popularized in May 2023, with players torturing the forest spirits known as Koroks by gluing them to sticks shaped like crucifixes and posting them on Twitter and TikTok.

Origin

As soon as The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom was released on May 12th, 2023, players began to share their tests with the game's unique building abilities like "Ultrahand,"^[1] which allows Link to pick up, move and create new objects.

Twitter^[2] user @5os4ku was one of the first players to crucify the forest spirits known as Koroks. The post (seen below), uploaded on May 12th, shows Link riding a vehicle while a crucified Korok is seen behind him. The video garnered 12,100 likes and 1,977 retweets in four days.

Spread

Players from all over the globe soon joined in the trend to torture the game's NPC in creative ways. For instance, on May 14th, 2023, TikTok^[3] user @huntevs posted a video (seen below, left) of Link riding a horse while a crucified Korok is being dragged in a wagon. The post garnered 1.6 million plays and 259,000 likes in one day. The same day, TikToker^[4] @airbagged posted a screenshot of the game showing the NPC crucified and the overlay text "and on the seventh day he crucified the koroks." The video (seen below, right) received 4,500 plays and 365 likes in a day.

Bullying Koroks

Other formats showing bullying against the Koroks have been posted by players on social media. For example, Twitter^[5] user @pory_leeks shared a rotisserie machine invention created with the game's abilities filled with Koroks. The video (seen below) garnered 23,400 likes and 6,300 retweets since it was uploaded on May 11th, 2023.

Ladies and gentlemen, I present you the Korok Rotisserie machine. #ZeldaTearsOfKingdom pic.twitter.com/LCtsRdfGov

— Pory (@pory_leeks) May 11, 2023

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References