Princess Zelda is rarely given a chance to be a playable character in the series that bears her name, but she can take the starring role as a party member in a campaign.
Like Princess Peach in the Super Mario Bros. franchise, Princess Zelda started out as a damsel in distress. Zelda's role was to prompt the hero to action and have them take up the sword, rather than having any agency of her own. As time went on, Zelda's role in the series was expanded and she was given more to do in the story. As the bearer of the Triforce of Wisdom, Zelda has access to a number of magical abilities, many of which are necessary for defeating Ganondorf. She is also beloved by her people and commits her life to her royal duties, even putting them beyond her own desires, as was the thrust of her storyline in Breath of the Wild.
There have been many different versions of Princess Zelda throughout The Legend of Zelda franchise and some of them are vastly different from the others. Tetra from The Wind Waker and the ghostly version of Zelda from Spirit Tracks possess different abilities from the others in the series. The version of Zelda that we are creating is the spellcasting version that can be seen in games like Twilight Princess, Hyrule Warriors, Cadence of Hyrule, and the Super Smash Bros. series.
Zelda's Ability Scores, Class, And Background
The version of Princess Zelda we have created uses material from the Player's Handbook. Zelda is a high elf cleric who takes on the Knowledge domain at level one. Using the basic stat spread listed on page 13 of the Player's Handbook and taking her race into consideration, Zelda's starting stat🦩s would be STR 8, DEX 14, CON 10, INT 14, WIS 15, and CඣHA 14.
The fact that Zelda is a Princess suggests that she would have the Noble background, but her royal standing puts her beyond the normal expectations of the class. As the bearer of the Triforce of Wisdom, Zeldaᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚ would be a Sage. Taking her class, background, and Knowledge benefits into consideration, her starting skills would be Arcana, History, Insight, Religion, Nature, and Medicine.
If the variant Feat rules are used, Zelda would benefit from Healer, Inspiring Leader, Keen Mind, or Spell Sniper. Her alignment is easy to work out, as she belongs to Lawful Good. Zelda fights for what is right and will risk her life to save her subjects without hesitation. There are some versions of Zelda that are brattier and are more likely to bend t✅he rules, which could easily accommodate the Neutral Good ♚alignment. In terms of gear, she would fight with a rapier and short bow.
Zelda's Spells
Zelda demonstrates a range of magical spells throughout The Legend of Zelda series, all of which are easily replicated by entries on the cleric list. She has used magical effects that involve healing, creating/destroying barriers, magical communication, and conjuring fire. A D&D version of Zelda would benefit from guidance, light, sacred flame, spare the dying, bless, cure wounds, healing word, sanctuary, augury, calm emotions, prayer of healing, lesser restoration, spiritual weapon, beacon of hope, clairvoyance, daylight, magic circle, sending, spirit guardians, death ward, divination, guardian of faith, commune, hallow, scrying, mass cure wounds, heal, heroes' feast, true seeing, divine word, regenerate, symbol, holy aura, astral projection, mass heal, and true resurrection.
In game terms, it's easy to replicate Princess Zelda's abilities, as she fits many aspects of the standard D&D cleric. A character who specializes in healing, buffing, and using magic to reveal knowledge will fit in well with most D&D parties. The issue with using Princess Zelda in a D&D group is that the DM likely won't allow a player to play a member of royalty. Princess Zelda is usually dragged into Link's adventures by an enemy so powerful that regular castle guards can't stop them, but this won't always be the case in a D&D campaign.
It's possible that the DM will allow the player to use every other aspect of the character except for their royal status, but there are other ways to include her nobility without it becoming an issue. It's possible that this version of Zelda is living in exile (like Daenerys at the start of Game of Thrones), or that she is hiding her true identity as part of a secret mission. Perhaps this princess is the last survivor of her kingdom and she is seeking revenge on those responsible, which is why she is slumming it with an adventuring party. Maybe this version of Zelda is a charlatan, or she believes she is a princess when she actually isn't, like a D&D version of Anastasia Nikolaevna. There are lots of different approaches to the character that can be used without introducing problems to the game, so make ൩♏sure to check with your DM first before trying to create a version of Princess Zelda in the D&D multiverse.