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Breath of the Wild speedrunner completes first ever no-damage 100% run

It took over 100 tries, but Breath of the Wild speedrunner joedun has managed to 100% the game without taking a single hit.

Josh Hawkins

February 3, 2021 2:10 PM

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Speedrunning is already its own form of art, with many runners finding new ways to shave off time by playing the same sections of a game over and over until they have it memorized like their morning routine. Now, though, Breath of the Wild speedrunner joedun has accomplished the nigh impossible by completing a 100% run without taking a single hit of damage.

The news broke in late January, when joedun tweeted out the result, writing, “I was the first person in the world to 100% complete #BreathoftheWild without taking damage. Never again.” He followed the tweet up with another clearing up that reloading after taking damage wasn’t allowed. This was a complete run through the game without taking any damage or reloading because of damage.

I was the first person in the world to 100% complete #BreathoftheWild without taking damage. Never again pic.twitter.com/YnIbdQPb8E

— joedun (@joedunff) January 23, 2021

Calling it an impossible feat wouldn’t be that far from the truth. For those who aren’t sure what 100% beating Breath of the Wild entails, it includes killing all the game’s bosses, completing all the shrines, collecting all the container upgrades (like health and stamina), and collecting all 900 Korok seeds. There are also other things to take into account, like obtaining all the key items, finishing the adventure log, and fully upgrading every permanent weapon and armor piece. It’s a laundry list of objectives that you need to complete, and when you throw on the extra clause of not being able to take any damage, well, you’re just making it that much more difficult to pull off.

Polygon recently spoke with joedun, where he shared that it took over 100 attempts to finish the run without taking any kind of damage. In some of those tries he even managed to get over 30+ hours into the game before taking any damage and being forced to restart.

Joedun isn’t the first to take on this challenge, but he is the first to complete it, setting the record at 31 hours, 58 minutes, and 9 seconds. He told Polygon that he hopes his completion will lead to others taking up the battle and trying for the crown, and that he has even made plans to try it again, this time with some of the game’s DLC installed.

Josh Hawkins

Guides Editor

Joshua holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Creative Writing and has been exploring the world of video games for as long as he can remember. He enjoys everything from large-scale RPGs to small, bite-size indie gems and everything in between.