Why Revenge Against Zelda’s Fastest NPC is a Bad Idea

Subscribe for more Zelda videos ► www.youtube.com...
The Running Man in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time was a cruel mystery that punished kids. If we knew we were facing off against an unbeatable opponent then it would be a different story. However, this man would taunt and look down upon us regardless of how fast we were. Little did we know he had a trick up his sleeve, but today we're coming back for vengeance.
#zelda #ocarinaoftime #swankybox #outofbounds #gamingmystery
Game breaking and editing by SwankyBox.
Running Man boss fight footage and creation by rankaisija.
Thanks to Sauraen for the river path insight!
Music credits:
Songs from various Zelda titles
"Cucco House Game" - Majora's Mask
"City in the Sky" - Twilight Princess
"Herd Game" - Twilight Princess

[@bgamer5124]

I love how Swanky sounds like he is genuinely enjoying seeing the running man suffer

[@harrisonmoore3841]

Just deserts is the best kind of desserts

[@luigimaster111]

I like how BGamer loves how Swanky enjoys the suffering of the running man.

[@jameskeeling5278]

That's because he is

[@oodlethedoodle9328]

I find it funny that Luigimaster111 likes that BGamer loves how Swanky sounds like he is genuinely enjoying seeing the running man suffer

[@Davian2073]

Obviously he does, that running man ruined almost 20 hours of my life trying to beat him :)

[@hannahblespecter5325]

This is the most genuinely vindictive I've ever heard Swanky get. Like we've heard "Its fun to mess with you" but this is like an entire childhood's worth of game trauma longing to see this man suffer. This is so funny.

[@drunkenmoken]

Wait so if running man follows other paths in the game then could we make him latch onto the path the Poe takes to get you to the spirit temple?

[@V1nn798]

That seems interesting

[@averagegaming3900]

Sounds pretty helpful

[@anlev11]

Or maybe in the Zelda's path during the Ganons castle colapse too

[@zachary7136]

Or the path the rolling Goron takes in Goron city

[@zachary7136]

I wonder if he would latch onto the paths set for the guards in the courtyard

[@danielburleson563]

Spawn him in the title screen to see if he follows links preset path!

[@zachhawkins5005]

Do this

[@SAZERU]

bump i need to see this

[@Theioeio]

Who's faster, Epona or Running Man? It would be hilarious to see one chasing the other.

[@Cmoney-jw2my]

People who never played ocarina of time would think this is overkill no no no this is not even enough he deserves more

[@BlazetheCat130]

8:58. "No! Nananananooo! Hooooow!? How did he survive?!" Hearing Swanky's reaction to the Running Man after he survive the ship ride was pretty funny, lol!

[@challengeaccepted5613]

Never piss off swankybox, or he will send you directly to limbo

[@Aaa-vp6ug]

Unless you’re running man, then you sit on it.

[@Greywander87]

Amazing. The running man is so fast he can clip through walls. No wonder we could never beat him.

[@walls_of_skulls6061]

He explained how to beat him, just reverse the flow of time

[@jerodmcallister1974]

He still lost that time tho. 0/ seconds.

[@LilacMonarch]

You can do it too if you hess in the right places

[@walls_of_skulls6061]

@@jerodmcallister1974 I call that cheating on the running mans part

[@AsilarWindsailor]

He's four parallel universes ahead of us

[@aisadal2521]

Each ensuing video is a step in Link's evolution to being Public Enemy/Nuisance No. 1, and I am HERE for it 🤣

[@dominicbonogofski]

"This is payback for all the bullshit I've been put through. From skull-faced spiders, giant, fire-breathing lizards, and rock-spitting octopuses, to mummified zombies, giant bongo-wielding hand-monsters, electrically charged sea anemones, dragons, water-bending amoeba, and, worst of all, old, senile hags, there's a lot of shit that I've seen that I won't stand to be put through anymore. And you, you little sprinting bastard, are just my first target. I'm coming for you, you fat, blabbering owl. You'll regret all those times you asked if I wanted to hear what you said again."

[@SonicJrandSarah]

I find it funny that you tried sinking the Running Man on the boat in the Shadow Temple and laughed when the Running Man was still there at the bottom of the pit. I was kind of thinking in my head this... Running Man: You got here in zero seconds, but I beat you by one second! My time is slash seconds! Link: I'm banishing you to the shadow realm! Running Man: NOOO! (Disappears) Link: Much better! Thanks for wasting my childhood!

[@kestron]

The fact that there really isn't even a point to this video, it's just Swanky spawning the Running Man into random spots and laughing his head off because the Running Man is "bothered" by the location had me dying of laughter the entire time. I never screwed with the Running Man - at all, I dropped a bunny hood on him and went on my merry way, since I knew ahead of time due to his "high reputation" that it was a waste of time. Looking over how he works now I do believe that; since he's ALWAYS claiming to be one second ahead, it makes it appear as if the intention was that he cheats - he teleports straight there, and then lies to you about getting there first. Also, his kind of folding out from under the bridge, when you played it, to me almost looked like he was starting below the bridge and then jumping up, pulling himself onto the bridge.

[@SAZERU]

you should look up "Triforce%"

[@kestron]

@@SAZERU Already know about it LOL.

[@SAZERU]

@@kestron LOL LMAO ROFL cool was just trying to help out

[@SAZERU]

@@kestron might know about it doesnt mean youve seen it

[@Neoloky]

In the ASCII table the slash sign is just before the zero character. Maybe it could explain why he beats you in 0/ seconds.

[@LilacMonarch]

Basically yeah, the game doesn't know how to display a negative time value so it does that. Running man just said he did the race in -1 seconds.

[@omegahaxors9-11]

And in Super Mario it's an M

[@krisswolf2011]

@@LilacMonarch maybe the game didn't deal with time as a number, but as a sequence of characters directly. If it was numbers, I would expect 0-1=a really big number, underflow. But it seems the game just manipulates the character value? Thus 0-1=/

[@LilacMonarch]

@@krisswolf2011 That seems unlikely, it would only underflow from 0 if it used an unsigned number. I think it was probably a signed integer value counting seconds and then there was a function to format that as a time display

[@John-mz6ig]

@@LilacMonarch It could be something like 0:0-1 where the -1 gets changed to / during the string conversion.

[@hattoripool1533]

If the early Zelda games had voice acting I imagine that the Running Man would be voiced by one of the many people who voiced Sonic the Hedgehog and he would taunt you by saying some lines that refrence the blue blur by saying your too slow or Im waiting

[@superzigzagoon]

To quote a Sonic game "He's like a running man..."

[@ZilRockbottom]

Sega was still in competition with Nintendo in 1998, so they might not have allowed that 😅

[@rym99]

Ryan Drummond as the Running Man... (I think I might have misspelled the last name...)

[@bejitostk]

@@ZilRockbottom Well it’s just a voice actor

[@beardedragonboi]

@@ZilRockbottom I’m gonna sound stupid for saying this but I always thought sega was a branch of Nintendo from the start lol

[@GaybrohamStinkton]

Consider this. What if the cult of the mask covers both games? If we accept that skull kid is the one we give the mask to and that the happy mask salesman is the same, why assume that the running man isnt literally trying to lure you to your death? I mean, the forest is known to be hyper cursed and he is the one that you give the bunny hood to.

[@Sigma6987]

What a fucking name👏

[@saphiriathebluedragonknight375]

So the mask cult leader in Lorule is the Running Man?

[@toxickle]

My sheer thirst for revenge on this speed demon has earned you a like 10 seconds into this video.

[@apollolux]

Video game veterans like us grudge against very few characters as hard as or harder than this Running Man right here. While it was already explained during the GDQ ACE run and in your accompanying video, Swanky, it's nice to once again get confirmation that he was indeed programmed to cheat and we weren't crazy after all.

[@geekley]

My head cannon (sic) is that he has a twin. Simple.

[@Stachelbeeerchen]

The running man just bends the rules of calculating time.

[@pat7917]

That’s a lot of words just to explain the race is un-winnable.

[@fernbedek6302]

None of those attempts at torture phase the power of the Running Man.

[@Jegber]

The graveyard boy, the castle town girl chasing the chicken, and dogs all share the same pathfinding logic and will behave the same way

[@thepackable]

Thank you for spending extra time with a game we all love. It was there when we needed it most.

[@TheCheat420]

"Sending you to the underworld." You could say he's, running with the devil.

[@RossLemon]

You remember that one story about some guy that left his N64 or 3DS on for a week and that's how he beat the running man?

[@ariesdemiurge]

Running Man: Beats Link Link: *"You are going to Brazil."*

[@Dunkebon]

Did I just watch a man heal his childhood trauma by torturing an npc?

[@bluekinopio9390]

It was beautiful

[@AsilarWindsailor]

This man sent the Running Man to the Shadow Realm! --Also, my best time was 01:21. Never could get it any better than that

[@BelieveIt1051]

He was actually leading you to the Triforce during that last bit.

[@theyawningari]

“As for most of you, I believe there is peace and perhaps, warm, waiting for you after the smoke clears. Although, for one of you, the darkest pit of Hell has opened to swallow you whole. So, don't keep the Devil waiting, friend,” - Swanky making this video probably

[@ExalinExcels]

"over, and over again" The way this line was delivered is enough to convince anybody that you actually have gone insane

[@toxickle]

This is seriously the funniest video I've seen you post yet. Your hatred would make palpetine proud.

[@ServantProfessional]

I was today years old when I discovered that this guy was legitimately unbeatable 😅

[@kyu1380]

Legends say the running man is still running

[@RaphBlade7]

I don't know if Swanky knows this, but you can use Epona during the unwinnable race, as the guy isn't around to call you out for it! Mind you I had the Nintendo Power player's guide so I never wasted too much time with him cause I eventually realized you couldn't beat him and that there was no rewards tied to racing him! Considering he secretly appears as the guy dressed as a Pinata thaf you race in Super Mario Sunshine and there is a winnable Foot-Race mini game in Breath of the Wild, I feel they were Nintendo's attempts to makeup for that unwinnable race in OoT! Unfortunately they never thought to actually make it winnable in the 3DS Remake! I'd love to see some videos of Swanky messing around in Majora's Mask like he does in OoT. Also I have a few locations to suggest spawning the Running Man! 1. Zora's Fountain 2. Hyrule Castle *wanna see if the guards react* 3. Death Mountain (or anywhere their is lava)! 4. The tunnels under Dampe's Grave (also would like to see if it is possible to make a video about exploring the Dampe's Grave, presumably with the race timer removed as I've always been curious about what is down there off the beaten path)! 3. Inside Link's House (like to see him try to run in there)! 4. Inside various dungeons

[@isaacquerendoalegrarseudia123]

"Are you a vengeful person?" Swankybox:

[@isaacquerendoalegrarseudia123]

@Luis Suazo pasive?

[@Clbull118]

The Running Man is truly the strongest being in the Zelda universe, or any universe for that matter. Dude could give Shaggy Rogers a run for his money...

[@Ophidicus]

so cool to see things in the game you never knew existed, when I played this game when I was younger and I still play it I never paid attention or talked to that guy in the tent

[@Wiimeiser]

About the Shadow Temple thing, I believe that's the Death Barrier, which is just a special floor that triggers a void out if you get within a certain distance. Since it's just a floor, things can stand on it. In fact, Master Quest Spirit Temple requires you to run a Bombchu over it.

[@TheOmegaDragon]

I would have erased him from the game entirely. Slip on the Infinite Gauntlet and snap him from existence.

[@dusk2573]

I tried so hard to beat this guy as a kid! Now I’ve come to learn he’s a big cheater.

[@TheCatWatches]

Is the Running Man a descendant of Groose? They look similar

[@Vic_714]

yoooo. You might be right! They do have resemblance

[@Errorfile404]

what if the running man running through a wall and into nothingness is actually a metaphor representation of him going into flow state and forgetting about the struggles thus defeating us once again through his sheer will power

[@DerIzayoi]

If you spawn King Zora near the water path, he should be Mweeping along the river

[@MerkhVision]

That’s actually hilarious lol

[@RoninCatholic]

As a kid I used to think the key to beating him was to _not_ give him the bunny hood as a kid, but was disappointed to find this wasn't the case. I do think it's actually really cool to subvert the idea that _all_ competitions in a game can be completed by having just one thing the hero can never succeed at because an NPC is just better than him at it regardless of the player's skill. You're _supposed to_ walk away from this with a lesson in humility or a good natured laugh at the nature of challenges in games.

[@7pearlsofwinter381]

I think that the 0:00 turns into 0:0/ because of how the code calculates the bytes (or data) of the timer and goes back one byte instead of 1 number.

[@ExalinExcels]

This was cathartic

[@thevirginmarty9738]

Imagine loving Zelda as much as SwankyBox.

[@zachtwilightwindwaker596]

I beat you in slash seconds. That's under a second. NONONONONO! HOW!? HOW DID HE SURVIVE!? He's immortal.

[@sephtis]

I never thought about it after the fact, I had no idea you couldn't beat him, I just assumed my speed running was just too low.

[@mue_manny]

the og xbox tied to the running man made me laugh

[@staceyjordan2001]

there's something so satisfying about watching the running man fall into the void, maybe because he's the vain of everyone's childhood constantly mocking us for not being able to beat him

[@MerkhVision]

The *bane of our childhoods, u mean! Lol

[@MCisAwesome95]

Justice has been served

[@PS4sos21]

Oh man Zelda: Ocarina of Time is my fave all time game. I used to come home from school and the college everyday and this was the game I would play. I literally finished it hundreds of times. It's up there with Jet Force Gemini, vagrant Story, Monster Hunter World, Bloodborne, Front Missions 3, Ridge Racer 1,2,3 and 7. A few others. But Ocarina is my fave 💚🤍🧡

[@echo1eyesonly13]

Something tells me you don't ever want to race Swanky in real life and win.. Man can obviously hold a grudge for a long time, and thinks up ways to pay you back.. With interest.

[@lpfan4491]

Swankybox at 7:26:"It's time for the demon tribe's ultimate execution art, the Infinite Naraku!"

[@johnfakename1823]

how to write a swankybox episode: Step 1) write any random wackadoo thought that comes to your head. Step 2) done

[@rgerber]

when all humanity has gone extinct. There will still be a copy of OOT where this guy is still running ...for all eternity

[@prohsodie]

That wasn't a bad idea, that had to be done. Love seeing Link skipping along up above watching the running man mindlessly following the river's path over the edge of the world.

[@Gonzilla918]

I thought if I didn't sell him the bunny hood I could win that race in the future

[@dominicbonogofski]

I loved the final song that played in the background. I love the Majora's Mask soundtrack. Bremen March was always a nice tune, especially when playing it in the Igos Du Ikana boss fight while his two lackeys march around to the song. I mean, it's definitely not the best song in the game (that's a toss-up between Stone Tower because the song is just really good, Final Hours because the music fits the situation way too perfectly, Song of Healing because the song is just beautiful and encompasses the feeling of letting go of your sorrows, and the credits theme, because that song just starts going in hard midway through), but it's still a great tune, like Ikana Castle, Termina Field, Clock Town Day 1, the remix of the Clock Town theme that's used on the title screen, Pirate's Fortress, and Deku Palace are.

[@wills.364]

Running man being in the void of nothingness is canon

[@theCidisIn]

I would come back to this game over and over and always would waste time with this guy!

[@SterbiusMcGurbius]

And that's why crying because I can't keep up with the running man will always be one of my Pixel Portals

[@randomdude4816]

Would he run on Lava in Death Mountain Crater or in Fire Temple? How would guards in Castle Courtyard react to him?

[@Dukephillips88]

"Not in the files of the game. Something that was created"

[@DesecrateFlames]

I feel like there were some real childhood traumas from this character. For a lot of people, but especially swanky.

[@APCR_ECM]

the reason why it says that he beat you by a slash is that the ascii number 0 is 0x30 in hex and substracting 1 from that results in the hexnumber 0x2F which is the hex representation for the slash character in ascii

[@kristen34896]

I love how you can spawn certain things with Ship of Harkinian. It’s just wild to me how certain objects behave when you recalled them outside the loading zone. Stuff I’ve always thought about but can now try too 😊

[@maclura]

you know he's also in mario sunshine he's some sorta interdimensional traveler

[@casualverse]

Running Man Tapped into the Speed Force.

[@rickytiller31]

A bit sadistic there Swanky. I like it

[@brian8152]

i love these videos so much!

[@cody3504]

I hated the running man as a kid so much I made a dart board with his face glued to a pizza box top and there we’re like a thousand holes in his face and then I grew tired of it tore it in half and threw it away.

[@TheDracioN]

I was mad about this because as a kid, I always thought this was a way to get a heart piece.

[@KitsuneFyora]

heheheh, I'll just insta teleport to the end zone Running guy: *time beat: -1 sec* 😳

[@itz-electro]

You should check the code for the running man in oot Its available now because the game has been 100% decompiled

[@terrygreene5942]

The running man was originally planned out to be beaten. Due to the 64DD being canned, they forgot about tieing up the running man quest, and simply programed it last minute to never be beaten. That's my theory.

[@zelatoth]

As someone who hates racing in any game I never even tried. The moment I saw race I just noped out and went on my way.

[@probenfetchak8076]

The running man looks like he’s possessed did any of you see his eyes they look black completely black

[@JeremyL1991]

Technically if the timer is going down during the Ganon glitch then the running man admits to arriving at a slower time than you.

[@JeremyL1991]

@Luis Suazo no but since he always says one second lower than if the time goes down then he was one second slower I think

[@JeremyL1991]

Tru

[@robo3007]

What happens if you spawn him on the bridge and talk to him as a child?

[@CarissaNomadic]

It takes a special kind of autorunner to break a SwankyBox

[@bluekinopio9390]

“Killer instinct “ we see u Nintendo

[@mjross007]

I always thought running man beat you using the water somehow, maybe you're onto something big here.

[@HoneybeeSorceress]

"Why Revenge Against Zelda’s Fastest NPC is a Bad Idea" No Swanky, I think this was the *BEST* idea.

[@Sackless_Jack]

More "getting revenge on video game characters" videos plz

[@genuinesaucy]

As a kid I just assumed I couldn't beat the Running Man in the future because I gave him the Bunny Hood in the past, which makes him run so fast he knocks Link on his ass if you touch him. Imagine my disappointment when I eventually re-played the game on a new file a few years later and deliberately avoided finishing the mask sidequest so I could finally beat him and see what kind of awesome reward he gives you, only for the bastard to STILL beat me by 1 second every single time. That's when I realized that beating him was genuinely impossible. Fucking bullshit.

[@kylemaclellan3891]

To the untrained eye he’s falling into nothing for all eternity. But in reality he’s falling into the land of Termina, so he can complete his mail man duties.🤪🤪

[@jessicag4132]

This was hilarious! Thanks swanky 😅

[@VerdeMorte]

Any chance you could do a video someday about OoT characters compared to their bizarrely different MM counterparts?

[@retrokoh]

I never thought I would hear genuine hatred from Swanky... 😮

[@fatalwaffle1715]

Awesome video!

[@matthewgerlach5775]

what about playing the song of time after starting the race, going to the bridge and playing the song again???

[@gamerfourlife64]

Ah the running man so many memories of anger an hate for him ironic i later would become a track student XD soooo thanks running man?

[@TheMegatonBomb]

2:50 That's probably his spawn and static pose. The game didn't register the trigger. 4:00 The Running Man just "Divided By Zero" it's game over. Also, you can't send The Running Man on a "Wild Goose Chase" no geese are present in these lands. (sarcasm)

[@ElijahW2003]

You know, it never DOES say why it's a bad idea...

[@Treiden21]

I knew about the slash seconds from a youtuber Jeremy Wishengrad. Good stuff.

[@Wishengrad]

That's me! Hahaha :)

[@Treiden21]

@@Wishengrad WOAH LOL!

[@Wishengrad]

@@Treiden21 It's still a trip that people still remember me from a video I made in high school!

[@Treiden21]

@@Wishengrad lol good times.Older times!

[@Pressplay_Media_EU]

Thanks Link!! I hated that running man.. He lied to us all. wasted our time and now karma has returned .. Payback's a bizznitch

[@bennycolson763]

The Chuck Norris joke made the whole video.

[@DiamondEpsilon]

Hey buddy you good? XD letting off some childhood running man Trauma today?

[@LuisCarlosAlvarezRebaza]

I just streamed this challenge last night, this game is truly eternal.