Zelda

Zelda as depicted in Twilight Princess.
Zelda
Species	Hylian
Hair color	Blonde
Voiced by	Jun Mizusawa (1998-present) Hikari Tachibana (2002)
Debut	The Legend of Zelda

More often than not the damsel in distress of the Zelda series, Princess Zelda of Hyrule is a character who comes forth in various incarnations in order to use her magical prowess to seal away evil (usually Ganon) and not protect herself at all. Her virtue is wisdom.

Background

The Princess from Ocarina of Time

In Ocarina of Time, Link first met Princess Zelda when he sneaked into Hyrule Castle, hoping to find her permission to enter Death Mountain (They were both children at the time). Zelda related to Link her concern over the growing influence of Ganondorf. Believing Link to be the hero she saw in a prophetic dream, she hatched a scheme with Link so that they could use her Ocarina of Time and the three spiritual stones (which Link would gather) to beat Ganondorf into the Sacred Realm. But after Link had found the three spiritual stones, Ganondorf attempted to enter the Temple of Time with Zelda, but she and her nursemaid Impa escaped, dropping the Ocarina of Time for Link to pick up. Using some form of telepathy, she taught Link the Song of Time and helped him gain entrance to the sacred chamber. Because of Ganondorf's impure heart, the Triforce split apart, and one piece (the Triforce of Wisdom) came to Zelda.

Zelda's alter-ego, Sheik.

Zelda had disappeared after Link woke up seven years later. She had in fact disguised herself as Sheik, a descendant of the Sheikah, to hide from Ganondorf. She continued to aid Link by watching his progress and teaching him songs that, when played on the Ocarina of Time, would allow him to return to the Temples of the Sages at his leisure. However, she took a slightly more active stance when she saw Kakariko Village burning and helped to defend her former nursemaid's town.

When Link had awoken all of the sages and returned to the Temple of Time, Sheik met him there and revealed that she possessed the Triforce of Wisdom and was the seventh sage. She then revealed her identity as Zelda, gave Link the Light Arrows, and was captured by Ganondorf only moments later. Link rushed to Ganon's Castle, faced Ganondorf, and rescued Zelda. They escaped from the collapsing castle and faced Ganon in its ruins, where Zelda used her magic combined with the other sizx sages' magic to trap Ganondorf in the Sacred Realm. Once things had settled down, Zelda used the Ocarina of Time to send Link back to his childhood.

In Majora's Mask, Zelda was seen once in flashback (during Link's childhood). She gave him the Ocarina of Time when he left Hyrule to search for a lost friend.

Twilight Princess

The Princess Zelda of Twilight Princess appeared to be ruling over Hyrule, with no sight or mentioning of a king. She had led the forces of Hyrule in defending Hyrule Castle from Zant and his invaders from the Twilight Realm. But Zelda ultimately surrendered to Zant, when he made her choose between a surrender and the death of her people. Zelda was confined to her room in Hyrule Castle, but she was able to make an alliance with mysterious Twilight imp Midna.

Midna later introduced Zelda to Link, a young farm boy whom had been trapped in the form of a wolf. Link later returned to her with Midna, who was dying of a curse inflicted by Zant. Under Midna's wishes, Zelda instructed Link on how to find the Master Sword, which reverse his transformation into a wolf. However, Zelda felt pity for Midna and began to realize just what she really was (the princess of the Twilight Realm). So Zelda put her power into curing Midna and disappeared.

Zelda under control by Ganon.

Zelda was not seen again until near the end of the game. She was unconscious and on display in the throne room of Hyrule Castle, which was being inhabited by Ganondorf. When Link and Midna arrived, Ganondorf possessed her, making her into Ganon's Puppet: Princess Zelda. This possessed Zelda used three basic attacks: swooping down with sword in hand, tossing dark magic blasts and summoning a triangle-shaped field of energy. To defeat her, Link had to reflect her dark magic blasts back at her (in the same vein as Aganhim). Ganondorf's spirit was then forced out of Zelda's body. Midna caught Zelda's body and rested it in the throne. Zelda was then restored to life as light flowed to her from Midna's body.

Afterwards, Midna teleported Link and Zelda to safety while she held off Ganon. Zelda than called on the power of the four light spirits and humbly asked Link to lend them the remainder of his power. Link and Zelda rode together atop Epona in battle with Ganondorf. Zelda fired light arrows to stun Ganondorf while Link attacked him with his sword. Zelda was seperated from Link during the final phase of his battle with Ganondorf, however. After Ganondorf was killed, Link and Zelda saw Midna (whom had been restored to true form) off to the Twilight Realm. Zelda told Midna that light and darkness needed each other to exist, and said she believed that the goddesses had left behind the Mirror of Twilight because it was their will that they should meet. However, as Midna entered the Twilight Realm, she destroyed the Mirror with her tear and shut off the gates between the worlds of light and twilight forever.

Tetra

Main Article: Tetra

Spirit Tracks

In Spirit Tracks, Zelda was the granddaughter of Tetra who seemed to rule over Hyrule with the aid of Chancellor Cole. Cole seemed overprotective in how he oversaw Zelda and never allowed her to travel alone, but she remained suspicious of him. She also possessed a family heirloom, the Spirit Flute, which Tetra had used to play her to sleep when she was young. Zelda also had bonds with her Teacher as well as the former castle guard Alfonzo.

During Spirit Tracks, Zelda was alarmed by the disappearance of the kingdom's Spirit Tracks. However, she did not trust Cole and wanted to investigate on her own. To help her, she secretly slipped the young engineer Link a note while giving him his engineering certificate (in a graduation ceremony that Cole found superfluous) asking him to sneak up to her room and meet with her. Zelda explained that she wanted to investigate the Tower of Spirits and gave Link the uniform of a recruit so that he could help her sneak out of the castle and to his train. There she met Link's master, Alfonzo, who was glad to help her.

However, the tracks disappeared beneath the train while they were en route to the Tower of Spirits, at which point Cole and his cohort Byrne attacked them. Cole revealed that his true intentions were to awaken Malladus, the Demon King who was bound by the Spirit Tracks, and used a magic spell to separate Zelda's spirit from her body, which Cole and Byrne then took with them. Zelda's ghost than drifted through Hyrule Castle in search of someone who could help her, but no one could see or hear her until she saw Link, who was the only person who could see and hear her at first. They decided to travel to the Tower by foot and work together to save Zelda's body, as well as the entirety of Hyrule.

At the Tower of Spirits, they met Tetra's old friend, the Lokomo Anjean, who told them that Cole's plan was to revive Malladus in Zelda's body, which horrified and disgusted Zelda, and motivated her to want her body back as soon as possible. However, the Tower had been fragmented by Cole's wrong-doing. So Link went on a quest with Zelda's ghost to guide him to restore both the Spirit Tracks and the Tower of Spirits. Zelda was also able to help Link more directly when they explored the Tower of Spirits, as there Zelda was able to possess the patrolling Phantoms in order to help Link solve the many puzzles of the Tower.

After the Tower was completely restored, they scaled it to the top floor and battled Byrne together. They defeated him, but were distracted by basking in their victory, which caused him to escape. They then made their way to the roof too late, just in time to see Cole reviving Malladus in Zelda's body. After the Malladus-possessed Zelda betrayed and severely wounded Byrne, Cole and Malladus escaped on the demon train. Link and Zelda's ghost regrouped in the spirit train with Anjean and the unconscious Byrne, where it was decided that Link would travel to the Sand Temple to find the Bow of Light. Zelda decided to let Byrne live, hoping to "have words" with him afterwards (said while she was punching at the air). After Link found the Bow of Light, Link and Zelda explored the Tower together once more to find the Compass of Light in a hidden area.

Once they were fully prepared, they entered the Dark Realm and began the final battles with Malladus. After stalling the Demon Train, Zelda decided that she and Link would take on Malladus alone, due to Anjean and the repentant Byrne still being injured. Anjean summoned a new Phantom for her to possess, and they then made their way long the top of the train towards the Malladus-possessed Zelda while Cole attempted to distract her by summoning ghost rats and attempting to take control of the Phantom body. Eventually Zelda reached her body and held it in place while Link fired a Light Arrow that successfully expelled Malladus from Zelda's body. They were then all deposited back in Hyrule.

Zelda attempted to re-enter her body, but found herself unable to do so at first, and Malladus than attempted to repossess the body until Byrne sacrificed himself holding off Malladus. Calling out to Tetra to find the sacred power within her body, Zelda was then finally able to enter her body again. Link and Zelda then teamed up together against Malladus, who was able to temporarily assume his original form. Zelda had Link protect her while she charged up energy, and afterwards they performed a duet together with Zelda singing while Link played the Spirit Flute. Fully prepared for the final battle, Zelda then wielded the Bow of Light while Link distracted Malladus from attacking her. She fired Light Arrows at Malladus's back which stunned him so that Link could attack him. She then came over to help Link deliver the final blow.

Together they shoved the Lokomo Sword into Malladus's forehead, seemingly destroying the demon for good. Anjean than reached them and showed that Byrne still existed as a spirit. At this point Anjean and the other Lokomos became spirits as well, ascending to the heavens as Link and Zelda had proven worthy of protecting the land without the guidance of the spirits. Zelda watched sadly while holding Link's hand. She then returned to Hyrule Castle, and in the final scene she was seen looking out the window excitedly depending on whether Link decided to become an engineer or a warrior (a choice made before the final battle) after hearing him either driving his train or fighting outside, and if Link had responded uncertainly about his future job, Zelda would simply be seen going over paperwork without any sign of Link.

Other Zeldas

Note: The remainder of the entry will be written chronologically by the release date of the games and under the assumption that there is a different Zelda in every game, with the exception of FSA and FS, and the Oracles games. AoL is placed before LoZ under the assumption that it's backstory (not the game itself) comes before LoZ, despite the Zelda Collection disc's attempts to make it look otherwise. The Four Sword series is ordered TMC-FS-FSA.

Early Games

In the backstory of The Adventure of Link, the King of Hyrule from long ago had hidden the Triforce of Courage away, and passed only the Triforces of Wisdom and Power on to his son before he died. The prince and his magician suspected his sister, Zelda, of knowing where the Triforce of Courage was. When Zelda wouldn't tell them where the Triforce was, the magician put her into an eternal sleep. The prince left her in the North Castle in hopes that she would wake up some day, in a room that only the nursemaid and her descendants would know how to open. It was decreed that all princesses of Hyrule would be named Zelda in honor or her.

Another Princess Zelda arose when Ganon reclaimed the Triforce of Power for himself in The Legend of Zelda. Zelda took the Triforce of Wisdom and broke it into eight pieces, then left them guarded in several dungeons where Ganon's minions wouldn't be able to reach them. She sent Impa to find someone with courage and was imprisoned by Ganon as a consequence. Impa found Link, who collected the Triforce of Wisdom, defeated Ganon, and rescued Zelda.

On Link's sixteenth birthday, Impa took him to the North Castle, where he found the Zelda from long ago. Link ventured to defeat the Thunderbird and reclaim the Triforce of Courage, united it with the Triforces of Wisdom and Power, and used it to awake Zelda from her slumber. They presumably fell in love.

In A Link to the Past, Princess Zelda was attacked by the wizard Agahnim, who had planned to imprison the seven descendants of the sages and send them to the Dark World to fuel Ganon's power. She sent a telepathic call to Link and his uncle for help, but Link arrived too late to save her. She was hidden away within Turtle Rock, where Link later came to her rescue.

Oracle Games

In Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages, Zelda doesn't appear until midway through the second game that was played. If Oracle of Seasons was played first, Zelda is being held captive by Vire in the Black Tower during Oracle of Ages, and Link must save her ala Jumpman in Donkey Kong. If Oracle of Ages was played first, Zelda is held captive by the Great Moblin in Spool Swamp during Oracle of Seasons. Here Link only has to fend off a few Moblins to save her.

Either way, Zelda was captured by Twinrova in a plot to sacrifice her so as to bring Ganon back. Link came to her rescue, but Twinrova sacrificed themselves instead and Ganon returned, though not as strong as he could have been. Link once more fended him off and he and Zelda escaped.

Four Swords

In The Minish Cap, Zelda was turned into stone by Vaati so as to prevent her from halting his search for the light of the Picori. Later on, Vaati realized that Zelda was the one who possessed the power (apparently it was passed down all the ladies of the royal family) and planned to extract it from her, killing her in the process. Link came to her rescue just in time and defeated Vaati, then used the power of the Picori Blade (now the Four Sword) to unpetrify her. When Hyrule Castle started to collapse, they made their way to the realm of the Picori, but were prevented by Vaati. After defeating him a final time, Ezlo gave the Minish Cap to Zelda and they combined their powers to restore Hyrule to its former glory.

Vaati reemerged at some point and was sealed within the Four Sword, which was enshrined and left in the care of Princess Zelda and six other maidens. In The Four Swords, Vaati escaped and captured Zelda, but Link used the Four Sword to rescue her and imprison Vaati again.

In Hyrulian Adventure, Zelda and the six maidens were kidnapped by Shadow Link and scattered throughout Hyrule. Link took up the Four Sword again (freeing Vaati), then rescued them one by one (Zelda being held in the Tower of Winds). Zelda came to Link's rescue during his battle with the Shadow Links by removing the Dark Mirror, which was spawning the Shadow Links at a rapid rate. When Vaati was defeated, Zelda led Link back down through the Tower of Winds, but they were attacked by Ganon. Using their magic, Zelda and the maidens trapped Ganon in the Four Sword.

Other Roles

Video Games

• Zelda appeared in the three Zelda games for the CD-i. In the first, Link: Faces of Evil, she was again captured by Ganon and eventually rescued by Link. The follow-up sequels, Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon and Zelda's Adventure featured Zelda as a playable character for the first time rescuing Link from Ganon.
• Zelda appears as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Melee its sequel, Super Smash Bros. Brawl. In Melee she uses the magic spells that the three goddesses had given Link in OoT. She has three unlockable trophies in Melee, while in Brawl she has five. Her Brawl trophies are one normal trophy, one depicting her Final Smash and trophies for Robed Zelda (from Twilight Princess), Zelda's Wind Waker appearance and Tetra. There are also stickers of Zelda as seen in A Link to the Past, Ocarina of Time, Twilight Princess, as a child in Ocarina of Time and The Minish Cap, as Tetra from The Wind Waker and as Sheik from Ocarina of Time.
  • Zelda is also able to transform into her alter-ego, Sheik, in both Melee and Brawl (since Sheik was not in Twilight Princess, Sheik's design in Brawl was based on unused designs when Sheik was considered for Twilight Princess). Sheik each earn three trophies in Melee and two in Brawl.
  • A text dump of Super Smash Bros. Brawl lists two new fighters as Toon Zelda and Toon Sheik, though neither made the final cut of the game. These were most likely intended to be a cel-shaded clone of Zelda (as seen in The Wind Waker), though whether Toon Sheik would be Tetra or a new Sheik design is unknown.
  • Within Brawl's "The Subspace Emissary", Zelda was first seen with Princess Peach watching over the battle between Mario and Kirby in the Mid-Air Stadium. Afterwards, both were captured and held in cages by Petey Piranha. Kirby freed one, with the other being turned into a trophy and captured by Wario, which was later taken by King Dedede until Bowser took it from him. The princess Kirby did rescue accompanied him until she was turned into a trophy by Bowser, and the shadow bugs then formed a shadow clone of the princess that was soon defeated in battle. The two princesses were held aboard the Halberd until rescued by Meta Knight, Lucario and Solid Snake, who first had to defeat shadow clones of both princesses. Zelda then turned into Sheik and with Peach they fought their way to the deck of the Halberd during an aerial battle between the Halberd and Fox McCloud's Arwing. After one of Arwing's lasers went off close to Peach, Sheik defensively jumped onto the Arwing and tore Fox from the cockpit. After landing on the Halberd's deck, the two nearly broke into combat until Peach instantly resolved the combat by offering tea. The three then returned to combat when the massive Duon attacked them. After this, they all joined with the game's main party for the final battles in Subspace. If Link and Zelda were saved from trophy form, they then chose to revive Ganondorf from his own trophy form so that he could help them in the final battles.

Other Media

• Zelda appeared as a main character in the 13-episode Legend of Zelda cartoon series, where she frequently had to be rescued by Link and would often refuse his attempts to kiss her, prompting his catchphrase of "Well excuuuse me, princess!", and she had the role of protecting the Triforce of Wisdom from being stolen by Ganon. This is also the first time Zelda is shown as being skilled with a bow, and her costume reflected her more active physical role in the series. Her father, King Harkinian, also appeared. Link and Zelda also appeared in an episode that crossed over with Captain N: The Game Master.
• Zelda appeared in the Valient comics Legend of Zelda comics, which mixed elements of the cartoon series with stuff that was introduced in Zelda II and was shown in a somewhat more serious light.
• Zelda appears in the 1992 comic adaptation of A Link to the Past, which expands on her relationship with Link in a tragic light. They communicate primarily over telepathy to defeat Ganon. Zelda becomes queen afterwards, while Link becomes guardian of the Triforce. Their duties force them to be distant after they used to be so close, with Zelda reflecting on the irony that they were at their closest when fighting Ganon, and that she would never forget when they were together in their dreams.
• Zelda appeared throughout the manga adaptation of Ocarina of Time which expanded on her game role. She was shown as a tomboy and met Link in Hyrule Castle Town in her first appearance. Her transformation to Sheik was also expanded upon and involved hypnotism performed by Impa to truly make her like a different person. She teams up with Link in the Gerudo Valley, and it is here where her true identity is revealed and she is captured by Ganondorf in this continuity.
• Zelda makes a few appearances in the Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages manga, but does not play a prominent role due to Twinrova attempting to sacrifice her being cut. She also appeared in the 2005 manga adaptation of A Link to the Past and the The Minish Cap adaptation, with mostly identical roles as in the original games.
• Zelda appears in the Four Swords Adventures adaptation, where she is shown to bond with Shadow Link while being held captive by Vaati.

Trivia

• She is named after Zelda Fitzgerald (novelist and wife of novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald]]), as Shigeru Miyamoto liked her name.
• Princess Zelda seems to be more a title than a person's name, considering that Tetra had to change her identity when she found out that she was a descendant of the first Zelda. The same is true for the prince in Adventure of Link having all royal daughters be named Zelda.
• According to Masahiro Sakurai on the official Brawl website, Sheik's appearance in Brawl was based on concept designs for Twilight Princess, indicating that Sheik was originally intended to make an appearance in the game at some point.
• A picture in Hyrule Castle in The Wind Waker shows that one of the Zeldas had a group of stewards very similar in appearance to Tetra's pirate crew.
• The Zelda in Spirit Tracks is shown to have an acute fear of mice, and even when possessing a Phantom will freeze up when a rat is near.