The vast tracts of Hyrule in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild are littered with Korok Seeds, collectibles for completing puzzles and getting into hard-to-reach places like mountaintops. Giving Korok Seeds to the large, maraca shaking, dancing Korok named Hestu will reward the player with more slots to carry swords, shields, and bows. There is an absurd amount of Korok Seeds in Breath of the Wild - 900 in total, but its not really worth it to get all of them.
In order to max out Link's inventory capacity, only 441 need to be collected. A very sizable amount will be found through the exploration required to complete the game, but getting to 441 will require some searching. Getting all 900 Korok Seeds in Breath of the Wild is a whole other story, though, either requiring players to use a Korok Seed guide and map, or spend dozens of hours combing the landscape.
Getting all 900 Korok Seeds, though, is nearly pointless. Finding every Korok in Breath of the Wild and bringing the Seeds back to Hestu will award Link with an item called Hestu's Gift, which resembles a golden pile of feces. In fact that's exactly what it is, according to an IGN interview with game director Hidemaro Fujibayashi. The developer said, "We just kind of thought it would be funny to make that a big joke," when asked about rewarding players with a golden poop after ignoring Ganon in Breath of the Wild and collecting all 900 Korok Seeds. Although that's a hilariously unexpected rationale, it may not be the whole truth, since it appears Hestu's Gift has a connection with Japanese culture.
The only practical use for Hestu's Gift in Breath of the Wild is to make the giant Korok perform his signature dance on command, but Hestu may have given it to Link as a good luck charm. According to the Japan Times, a small, golden pile of poop is known as a "kin no unko," and is often seen as a token of good luck. The little golden trinkets became popular in the early 2000s, when they were bought as funny souvenirs designed to lighten the mood and bring luck amidst an economic depression, but the concept may be much older.
The idea behind a golden pile of feces bringing good luck comes from a pun involving the spoken Japanese language. The Japan Times notes, "the Japanese word for poop (unko) starts with the same “oon” sound as a completely unrelated word that means 'luck.'" The article goes on to mention that puns of this nature are pretty common in traditional Japanese storytelling, and that similar word play was often used in ancient religious contexts because it would make learning and remembering easier.
Hestu's Gift may be virtually useless in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, but it actually has some very nice sentiment. The item's description calls it "a gift of friendship," which is ultimately a nice gesture, even if a little, poop-shaped trinket isn't much of a reward for collecting all 900 Korok Seeds. The developers behind Breath of the Wild may have made the reward for an arduous task more or less a joke, but at least it's in spirit with its Japanese cultural inspiration.
Sources: IGN, Japan Times
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