Penn
Penn is a Rito reporter for the Lucky Clover Gazette who recruits Link to investigate reports connected to Princess Zelda in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
Key Takeaways
Penn is a Rito reporter whose investigations connect the Lucky Clover Gazette to several of Link’s encounters across Hyrule.
Rito journalist
Penn works as a reporter for the Lucky Clover Gazette, gathering information about unusual events and alleged sightings of Zelda.
Recurring quest contact
He appears at stables throughout Hyrule as part of the Potential Princess Sightings! series, giving Link investigative assignments tied to local rumors and incidents.
A partner in the investigation
Penn works with Traysi, the Gazette’s editor, and his reports help advance the newspaper’s search for information about Zelda.
Non-playable ally
Penn is a non-playable character rather than a combat companion, Sage, or merchant; his main importance comes from dialogue, investigation, and quest direction.
A mobile presence in Hyrule
His stable-to-stable route makes Penn a recurring surface-world contact and gives the Gazette’s investigation a wider reach than a single settlement.
Overview
Penn is a Rito journalist for the Lucky Clover Gazette in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. He travels across Hyrule investigating reports connected to Princess Zelda, giving Link a central role in the Gazette’s field investigations and related quest content.
Penn is introduced as an energetic reporter working with the Lucky Clover Gazette, the newspaper based near the entrance to Hebra. Unlike characters who remain tied to one village or region, Penn moves throughout Hyrule in search of leads. His investigations give him a recurring role in the game’s world and connect him to rumors, unusual sightings, and reports involving Princess Zelda.
Penn’s main importance comes from the Gazette’s investigation series, in which Link helps him examine reports at stables across Hyrule. These encounters are presented as field reporting rather than a single conventional mission: Penn gathers information, follows promising clues, and reacts to what the investigation uncovers. His appearances therefore support exploration while giving several locations a shared narrative thread.
As a Rito journalist, Penn also broadens the game’s depiction of the Rito beyond their home settlement and Regional Phenomena storyline. He is a mobile civilian with a profession, a recognizable workplace, and a clear reason to travel. His distinctive enthusiasm and reporting-focused role separate him from ordinary stable visitors, quest givers, and members of the major factions involved in the main conflict.
Penn matters because his investigations encourage Link to revisit settlements and stables while pursuing a question that remains important to Hyrule’s people. The character is primarily an ally and quest-associated NPC rather than a combat-focused companion or Sage. His full significance is developed through the Gazette’s quest appearances, while this overview establishes his identity, occupation, and place in Tears of the Kingdom’s broader network of investigations.
Background
Penn's Work at the Lucky Clover Gazette
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom provides little confirmed information about Penn's childhood, family, or life before his work as a journalist. Before Link's investigation reaches the newspaper, Penn is already a reporter for the Lucky Clover Gazette, a publication based near Rito Village. His professional role places him among the Gazette's traveling journalists, who investigate unusual events and gather information about the changes affecting Hyrule. This established occupation explains why Penn is prepared to follow reports of strange phenomena across the kingdom when the newspaper begins investigating the upheaval.
Role in the Story
SpoilersPersonality & Motivations
A Curious and Energetic Reporter
Penn approaches journalism with conspicuous enthusiasm. As a reporter for the Lucky Clover Gazette, he actively seeks unusual stories across Hyrule and treats rumors, sightings, and unexplained events as leads worth pursuing. His reactions are often expressive and theatrical, which gives his investigations a lighthearted tone even when the subjects involve danger or supernatural phenomena. This energy makes him approachable, but it also reflects a genuine professional curiosity rather than simple comic relief. Penn wants to discover what is really happening and turn scattered reports into information that can be shared with readers.
Professional Curiosity in Practice
Penn’s behavior during the Gazette’s investigations shows that he values firsthand information. Rather than presenting every rumor as established truth, he works with Link to examine suspicious reports and gather enough evidence for a story. He is willing to travel between stable settlements and follow leads that might otherwise be dismissed, demonstrating persistence as well as excitement. His repeated requests for help also show that he recognizes the difference between reporting a claim and confirming it. Penn’s role therefore combines the enthusiasm of an adventurer with the caution of an investigator.
Optimism, Trust, and a Serious Sense of Purpose
Penn’s upbeat manner can make him seem easily distracted by the next strange headline, yet his actions show a consistent commitment to the Gazette and its readers. He treats local witnesses and their experiences as worth investigating, giving ordinary people a way to have their concerns heard. His reliance on Link is practical rather than passive: Penn identifies leads, provides context, and remains engaged while the investigation develops. The contrast between his flamboyant presentation and his underlying diligence is central to his characterization. He brings humor and warmth to the Gazette’s work without losing sight of the importance of accurate information.
Relationships
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Traysi
Traysi edits the Gazette's reporting effort while Penn handles field investigations.
Link
Penn directs Link toward reports and local investigations across Hyrule.
Princess Zelda
Reports concerning Princess Zelda form the premise of Penn's questline.
Lucky Clover Gazette
Penn works as a reporter for the Lucky Clover Gazette.
Mission Appearances
Penn’s principal questline in Tears of the Kingdom. After joining the Lucky Clover Gazette, he travels between Hyrule’s stables investigating reports connected to Princess Zelda. Link works with him and Traysi to determine what lies behind the sightings. The Side Adventure establishes Penn as a recurring field reporter and provides the framework for his stable investigations.
Penn investigates a report that Princess Zelda was seen with a mysterious beast near the New Serenne Stable. His role is to question witnesses and pursue the lead as part of the Lucky Clover Gazette’s broader search for Zelda. The quest shows how easily rumors about the princess can become distorted as they spread through Hyrule.
At Dueling Peaks Stable, Penn follows a troubling report involving a woman who appears to be connected to Zelda. He treats the account as a possible Gazette lead while Link helps examine what actually happened. The investigation is one of several stable assignments that highlight Penn’s persistence and willingness to chase unsettling stories.
Penn investigates the disappearance of a group of travelers associated with a rumored sighting near Riverside Stable. His assignment connects the Gazette’s search for Zelda with a separate local mystery, requiring Link to help establish what happened to the missing gourmets. Penn serves as the reporter coordinating the investigation rather than as a combat-focused quest giver.
Penn follows a report at Wetland Stable concerning missing farm equipment and a possible connection to Zelda. The investigation gives him another opportunity to interview people, compare conflicting accounts, and pursue a lead in the field. It also reflects the Gazette’s broad approach: Penn investigates apparently ordinary incidents when they may reveal information about the princess’s movements.
Penn investigates an incident involving a flute player near Highland Stable as part of the Gazette’s stable-based search. His role is to assess the report and help Link separate the local event from the rumors surrounding Zelda. The quest presents Penn as an active correspondent who collaborates with Link while gathering information away from the Gazette headquarters.
At Tabantha Bridge Stable, Penn looks into the disappearance of several white goats and its possible connection to a Princess Zelda sighting. The case adds another rural investigation to the Gazette’s growing file. Penn’s involvement keeps the quest tied to Potential Princess Sightings! while the immediate problem remains focused on the stable’s animals and their caretaker.
Penn investigates a report involving a hornist in the Tabantha region. The assignment contributes to the Gazette’s collection of unusual incidents linked, directly or indirectly, to Zelda’s disappearance. Penn acts as the field reporter pursuing the lead, while Link handles the practical investigation needed to clarify the hornist’s situation.
Penn follows a strange report at South Akkala Stable involving a cucco and a possible Zelda sighting. The investigation demonstrates the increasingly unusual nature of the Gazette’s leads as Penn and Link work through local testimony and rumors. It is another stable assignment connected to the wider Potential Princess Sightings! investigation.
Locations and Properties
Lucky Clover Gazette
Penn’s primary workplace is the Lucky Clover Gazette, the newspaper’s headquarters in the Tabantha Frontier. The building serves as his professional base and connects him to the Gazette’s investigations across Hyrule. Penn does not have a separately identified home, safehouse, or personal property in *The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom*; his other recurring locations are tied to his reporting assignments rather than owned territory.
Appearance and Design
Penn’s Rito Reporter Design
Penn is presented as a tall Rito with prominent wings, a long beak, and pale plumage that gives him a distinctive silhouette among the characters encountered across Hyrule. His upright posture and animated gestures reinforce his role as an energetic field reporter rather than a combat-focused character. The clothing and accessories associated with him identify him as a member of the Lucky Clover Gazette, visually separating him from Rito warriors and village residents. His expressive face and frequent wing movements make his reactions easy to read during investigations and conversations.
Aerial Movement and Character Presentation
Penn’s design also communicates how he operates in the world. As a Rito, he can take to the air and appear in locations connected to the Gazette’s reporting work, while his journalist attire keeps his profession visually legible wherever he is encountered. The contrast between his birdlike features and his organized reporter presentation gives him a recognizable identity without making him look like a conventional soldier, merchant, or quest-giver.
Portrayal and Voice Actor
Sean Chiplock
Penn’s English voice is credited to Sean Chiplock. This credit is based on recalled model knowledge and remains unverified for publication. Chiplock’s performance gives Penn an energetic, friendly, and slightly theatrical delivery that suits the character’s role as a traveling reporter for the Lucky Clover Gazette. His voice helps distinguish Penn from the more formal members of Hyrule’s news and political circles, while keeping the character approachable during his investigations.
No reliable information is established here about Penn’s casting process, motion capture, performance capture, or awards and nominations connected specifically to the role. Chiplock is also associated with other roles in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and related voice work, but additional career credits are omitted rather than expanded from uncertain recollection.
Trivia
- Penn is a Rito reporter for the Lucky Clover Gazette who travels far beyond the Rito village to investigate leads across Hyrule. His repeated appearances at stables make him one of the Gazette’s most mobile field reporters.
- Penn’s investigations are connected to the Gazette’s Froggy armor reward path. Progress through the Gazette’s missing-princess investigations can earn pieces of the Froggy set, tying his reporting work to a practical gameplay reward.
- Although Penn often investigates rumors involving Princess Zelda, his assignments cover a wide range of unusual phenomena, including suspicious activity, strange sightings, and alleged supernatural events.