This is my set of mixed media handmade artisan keycaps inspired by The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. These are story keycaps; to learn more about this philosophy of keycraft, please read this blog post. This is my third full set of matching keycaps based on a theme. You can see the Studio Ghibli-inspired Miyazakeys (and full Miyazakeyboard) here and the North American Fossil Dig Site here.
Explore Mihi’s Zelda keycaps in the gallery and videos below, and check out the final project: a Zelda mechanical number pad. I sculpted all keycaps in this set entirely by hand.
Remote Bomb Keycaps
The Remote Bomb rune keycaps were the first ones that I made for this set. The cube and spherical bombs are both present. These 1u Cherry MX keycaps were made with a mixture of translucent polymer clay mixed with blue dye pigments, then glazed with gel medium with mica powder. They look particularly nice in natural sunlight! A pity that I don’t really take my keyboards outside. 🙃
Sheikah Slate Keycap
The Sheikah Slate is an essential in Breath of the Wild, so of course it needed to be included in the Zelda keycaps. The design of the Sheikah Slate is tough to execute using only hand-sculpting techniques due to its mechanical nature. I have a strong preference for organic themes when using clay, so this one was particularly challenging for me.
Korok Leaf and Korok Seed Keycap
The Korok Leaf and Korok Seed keycap goes very nicely with the Korok collectible dioramas that I made a while back. I carefully replicated the Korok leaf pattern from reference photos from the game.
Derelict Guardian Keycap
There’s a nice naming symmetry with the Derelict Guardian Zelda keycap and the Miyazakeys Castle in the Sky keycap of the same name. This was another of the more challenging keycaps to make in this series, given the detailing necessary for the ancient technology designs and patterns.
Cooking Ingredients Keycap
I selected specific cooking ingredients for the food keycap based on color palette and visual interest. The keycap features a Big Hearty Radish, Hearty Truffle, Raw Meat, and a Swift Carrot — but don’t cook all these ingredients together or you’ll nullify the special effects! I tried to maintain a balance between both realism and the cartoon / animated style of the Breath of the Wild game. As a result, the ingredients are not hyper-realistic, but are detailed carefully to represent the in-game food in “real life.”
Monster Parts Keycap
One of my favorite Zelda keycaps is the monster parts keycap. The parts included are a Lizalfos Tail, Lynel Horn, and an Octo Balloon.
Prayer Statue, Heart Container, & Stamina Vessel Keycaps
I made these three all together in one session: the Goddess Hylia prayer statue keycap, heart container keycap, and stamina vessel keycap. I used mixed media for the goddess statue with polymer clay and resin.
Monster Treasure Chest & Stalkoblin Keycaps
The next pair of Zelda keycaps were the monster chest and Stalkoblin skull. During the process of creating the Breath of the Wild keycaps, I experimented with and refined several new mixed media techniques, and am happy to have added them to my crafting repertoire. You can also check out a short process video below the photos:
Glowing Eyeball / Malice Eye Keycap
Glowing Eyeball enemies are present where the Malice has taken over areas in the world of Breath of the Wild. A making-of process video is available for this Zelda keycap below the gallery.
Cryonis Rune Keycap
Cryonis is an essential rune in Breath of the Wild. Link can create climbable blocks of ice on liquid surfaces with this power. I made the Cryonis keycap with polymer clay, resin, ,miniature paints, and interference mica powder mixed into glaze. A process video is also available below.
Pot Lid & Soup Ladle Keycap
No Champion of Hyrule should ever leave home without his trusty Pot Lid and Soup Ladle because he must always be ready for food or foe!
Great Fairy Fountain Keycap
The Great Fairy Fountain was a fun keycap due to its colorful composition. This is also a mixed media keycap with resin water in the polymer clay fountain.
Farosh Dragon Keycap
I love the presence of the dragons in Breath of the Wild, and wouldn’t have had a complete Zelda keycap set without including one. Farosh emerges from Lake Hylia every night in the game, so I made a Farosh keycap as one of the two 2u keycaps I needed for a full numpad layout. I used polymer clay, miniature paints, resin, and diorama water effects to make Farosh. He looks rather creepy in the game but turned out pretty cute in miniature.
Master Sword Keycap
My final 2u keycap was Link’s Master Sword, otherwise known as The Sword That Seals the Darkness. The Master Sword is an icon of the Zelda games, and no keycap set could be complete without it! Symmetrical, inorganic objects are the hardest designs for me to sculpt by hand, but I’m quite happy with how the Master Sword keycap turned out.
Zelda Keycaps Number Pad
This project culminated in a mechanical number pad, as can be seen below. It’s not the most comfortable to use, but it looks really nice and I love having it on my desk!
But Wait — There’s More!
Bomb Arrow Keycap
After I’d finished the layout of keys for the initial Yampad numpad, I decided to get a new Leopold numpad with more keys on it, and embarked on a continuation of this project. I then made a 2u Bomb Arrow keycap for the 0 key:
Tough Meat-Stuffed Pumpkin Keycap
Tough Meat-Stuffed Pumpkin is a meal that Link can make with Kakariko Village’s signature Fortified Pumpkins. Making Tough Meat-Stuffed Pumpkin is part of the Koko Cuisine side quest.
Dragonbone Boko Club
The final 1u keycap in the Leopold numpad is a Dragonbone Boko Club, a weapon wielded by Bokoblin enemies in Breath of the Wild.
Expanded Breath of the Wild Keycaps Number Pad
The expanded number pad looks like this:
Zelda Keycaps Availability
Zelda keycaps inspired by Breath of the Wild are exclusives and are not available for sale. I create these keycaps for a personal project and will most likely not reproduce any for public sale. I do have more ideas though, so you can follow my updates on Instagram to see new keycaps as they are created.
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