As the sequel to Breath of the Wild, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom builds upon the foundation of its predecessor both mechanically and from a story perspective. Link's new abilities like Fuse and Ultrahand feel like a natural progression from those of Breath of the Wild, but the way the world of Hyrule and its inhabitants seem to have grown following the events of the previous title are very minimal overall. While there are some characters who have changed from the previous game to The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, the progression of time is best represented by Master Kohga.
Master Kohga makes an appearance in both Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom as the leader of the Yiga Clan, a group who swears allegiance to Ganon and seeks to prevent Link from defeating him. After Kohga's defeat in Breath of the Wild, it appeared that the clan was disbanded for good, but with the rise of the Demon King in Tears of the Kingdom, Kohga and the Yiga clan were reinvigorated and took on a new purpose in service of Ganondorf. Although tackling the Yiga Clan quest line is optional in Tears of the Kingdom, it provides one of the clearest connections to Breath of the Wild.
Master Kohga Ties Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom Together Better than Any Other Feature
After defeating Kohga in Breath of the Wild, the Yiga Clan leader falls down a giant pit in the middle of the arena where Link battles him, promising to hunt Link to the ends of Hyrule. Although it was not known at the time, this pit seems to have led to the Depths below Hyrule. Now that the Upheaval from Tears of the Kingdom has revealed chasms leading to the Depths, players are able to head down there for themselves where they will find Kohga and the Yiga clan waiting to exact their revenge.
Picking up right where he left off, Master Kohga appears to attack Link after discovering the Great Abandoned Central Mine and acquiring the Autobuild ability. Kohga claims to be seeking the power to build devices from Zonai parts much like Link in order to create a machine worthy of aiding the Demon King. To this end, the player will have to face off against Kohga in several battles wherein the Yiga Clan leader will build various different contraptions to try and squash Link with.
While Tears of the Kingdom does give the world of Hyrule some connecting elements showing its growth from Breath of the Wild, such as the Rito's Tulin growing up between games, none are quite as clear of a connection as that of Master Kohga's status between games. His circumstances in Tears of the Kingdom are directly related to his fate in Breath of the Wild, and he even references the fact that he has been training in order to get his revenge on Link for his actions in the previous game. It's interesting to see one of the clearest connections between the two games come from a side antagonist like Master Kohga.
Master Kohga acts as the perfect bridge between the two titles both from a story perspective and a mechanical perspective. His quest line in Tears of the Kingdom not only directly follows up on his fate at the end of Breath of the Wild, but he also serves to introduce the player to Tears of the Kingdom's important vehicle crafting mechanic through his boss battles.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is available for Nintendo Switch.