The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 is a bold sequel in that it uses exactly the same location as the previous game. Although that may sound like a trivial obstacle, lots of previous Zelda sequels opted to introduce new settings. The Wind Waker was followed by new horizons in Phantom Hourglass, and Ocarina of Time's Hyrule got left behind completely when Majora's Mask introduced the world of Termina. Whenever any given incarnation gets a second journey, that Link generally travels somewhere completely new where he can meet new friends and enemies. In contrast, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 is still set in its predecessor's Hyrule, meaning Link will probably see many of the same characters, like the Champions' descendants.
The four heirs to the Champions that Link and Zelda once befriended played a major role in Breath of the Wild's plot. Each one grapples with the legacy of the fallen champion in their own way before helping Link free the Divine Beasts and lay siege to the corrupted Hyrule Castle. Although Sidon, Yunobo, Rija, and Teba all have solid character arcs within Breath of the Wild, there's room to make new use of them. They could become the vehicles for a follower system used by RPGs like Skyrim. By giving these characters new roles as recurring sidekicks for Link, they could make major contributions to Breath of the Wild 2's mechanics and plot.
Breath of the Wild's New Champions
Considering what Nintendo has revealed so far about Breath of the Wild 2's plot, it doesn't seem like there's any way to justify the Champions' heirs staying out of the picture. Each of them went through character arcs that taught them to be heroes like their ancestors and encouraged them to work together to protect all of Hyrule from Calamity Ganon's wrath. Breath of the Wild 2's antagonist apparently physically tears up Hyrule at the start of the game. A threat like that seems like it would naturally spur the Champions' descendants into action.
However, it's also hard to imagine Nintendo writing new individual plot arcs for all four of these characters again. For one thing, four new character arcs built into four regional plot arcs would be far too similar to the first Breath of the Wild. The last thing that the BotW sequel needs is to feel repetitive, especially when it's already reusing many elements of Breath of the Wild. For another, Link and Zelda are finally reunited in BotW 2 now that Zelda is freed from the prison she shared with Calamity Ganon. BotW 2 ought to use that opportunity to focus on Link and Zelda's relationship rather than putting Zelda in the background to vastly spotlight Sidon, Rija, and the rest again.
Luckily, there's a perfect potential compromise available to Nintendo. Turning these new Champions into followers who can join Link at certain points in the story would give them an opportunity to join the fight against the mysterious threat that lies below Hyrule. At the same time, as followers, these characters wouldn't distract from Breath of the Wild 2's plot. They could offer commentary and insight on the game's events without dominating the story as they did before. It's a perfect balance of old and new.
Turning Zelda Characters into Skyrim Followers
Skyrim followers offer some really valuable services that could easily translate into Breath of the Wild. The most obvious is that followers will fight alongside the Dragonborn, valiantly helping them lay waste to enemies through whatever fighting style the Dragonborn equips them for. What's more, Skyrim followers are famously helpful in that they can carry tons of items for players. In a game where inventory size can feel pretty limited compared to the amount of plunder that's out there, a follower with deep pockets is indispensable.
It'd be fantastic to get Link some backup in combat. Throughout most of the Zelda franchise, Link fights completely alone. Adding a loyal follower who's capable in battle would be a welcome change of pace in Breath of the Wild 2, especially if Link's followers are the Champions' heirs from the first game. Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity established potential fighting styles for these four characters, so Nintendo could just take some notes from that game and adjust those fighting styles for Breath of the Wild 2. With a friend at Link's side, Nintendo could consider cranking up the intensity of BotW 2's combat too.
Breath of the Wild 2 would hugely benefit from some extra inventory management options via followers too. Anyone who's played Breath of the Wild can attest to the disappointment of finding a treasure chest, only to realize that chest holds a weapon or a shield that the player just doesn't have the inventory space to pick up or replace. If players could get a little extra inventory space by giving items to followers to hold, that would be a huge relief. Having some spare gear in a friend's back pocket would be especially valuable if Breath of the Wild's durability system goes mostly unchanged in the sequel.
New Roles for Breath of the Wild's Characters
All in all, turning Breath of the Wild's supporting characters into followers for Link sounds like a great way to give them more screentime. Skyrim and other Bethesda RPGs have long proven the potential of building followers as characters without giving them important roles in the game's story, so if Breath of the Wild 2 introduced followers, it could still characterize and develop the Champions' heirs through dialogue or sidequests. There's a lot of mechanical value and fun story accents that Breath of the Wild 2 could get out of Link's allies helping him defeat Hyrule's enemies while commenting on how Hyrule is changing.
It doesn't seem likely that Nintendo will spring for the follower angle. Followers could be too much of an RPG element to add to Nintendo's next action-adventure Zelda game. Still, the first Breath of the Wild surprised fans in tons of ways before and even drew some comparisons to Skyrim at the time. There could be value in borrowing another idea from Skyrim, even if Breath of the Wild 2 doesn't go full RPG by adding things like skill trees. Breath of the Wild's supporting heroes could get a lot out of new lives as followers.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 releases in 2022 for Nintendo Switch.