Tears of the Kingdom players end up with cursed statues after failing to take this side quest seriously

Bubbul Gems Zelda Tears of the Kingdom
(Image credit: Nintendo)

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom players are learning the hard way that Kilton's side quest is much more literal than you think.

As spotted in the Tears of the Kingdom subreddit, some players are accidentally creating cursed pieces of art after not realizing NPCs Kilton and Hudson will stick very closely to their source material. If you didn't know, the 'A Monsterous Collection' side quest sees Link taking photos of certain enemies and items so that the pair have something to base their sculptures on. 

The way it works is that Link will take a photo of a Bokoblin, for example, and Hudson will create a statue that looks identical to the one in the photo - even if the creature is partially obscured or in a weird position. What this means is that if you take a photo of a Bokoblin lying on the ground, you'll end up with a statue of what looks like a dead Bokoblin, as the player below discovered firsthand.

I could not stop laughing. I had not realized that the sculpture would be made exactly like the picture so I just used a pic that happened to have a Boko in it. from r/tearsofthekingdom

"Yeah I thought they would take some liberties in the pose," another Tears of the Kingdom player replied, "I took a photo of a Horriblin hanging from the ceiling and the model's center of mass is its horn so I can't position it any other way," they explain linking to the photo below. "It's like one of those toys that always tries to stay upright," they add, making reference to Weebles from the 70s and attaching a clip of the statue refusing to stand upright. 

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom statue

(Image credit: Nintendo / Reddit user: zoian)

These two players definitely aren't alone when it comes to creating less-than-perfect statues with Hudson and Kilton. "I had a similar situation with my Horriblin," another Reddit user adds in the comments, "I was luckily able to get it to stand on its arms and legs somehow, and I tried attaching a stake to it to hang it upside down inside the cave. It was unsuccessful."

Thankfully, it's not too difficult to scrap the cursed statue you've accidentally created, as some of the replies in the thread have said that you can "recycle" the statues and replace them with ones you're happier with. However, as another player suggested, you could instead "make a diorama consisting of nothing but monsters that look like they're dead now to complement this one." I know which exhibit I'd rather see. 

Already got your fill of Tears of the Kingdom? Take a look at our games like Zelda list to find out what you should play next. 

Hope Bellingham
News Writer

After studying Film Studies and Creative Writing at university, I was lucky enough to land a job as an intern at Player Two PR where I helped to release a number of indie titles. I then got even luckier when I became a Trainee News Writer at GamesRadar+ before being promoted to a fully-fledged News Writer after a year and a half of training.  My expertise lies in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, cozy indies, and The Last of Us, but especially in the Kingdom Hearts series. I'm also known to write about the odd Korean drama for the Entertainment team every now and then.