The Legend of Zelda series is one of the most influen♓tial and well-known video game series of all time. It has had 16 main titles and a number of HD remakes and spin-off games. However, despite the fact that the games are titled The Legend of Zelda, you actually play as Link. Zelda is the Princess of Hyrule (most of the time) that typically needs saving. However, 1♈68澳洲幸运5开奖网:not all of ꧃her incarnations are helpless.
I’ve gone through and examined all of the various 𝔍Zeldas from all of the main titles (when present) and a few spin-off games (i.e. Hyrule Warriors and the CD-i games). There are a couple of cases where one ve🦹rsion of Zelda shows u✱p in multiple games and there are some games that don’t feature her at all.
Each Zelda was ranked on one of three aspects: agency, characterization, and presence. For agency, I looked at how much she did of her own volition. Did she spend most of the game unconscious or was she running around and kicking butt? When it came to characterization, I looked at how strong her character was. Now, this doesn’t refꦗer to how mentally or physically strong she is. It has more to do with the number of strengths and weaknesses. Does she actually have a personality? Finally, I looked at how present she was in the game itself. Does she spend most of the game 🐻locked in a tower or can you actually play her? If you can’t play as her, how often does she appear on screen?
Fair warning, there are spoilers ahead. Also, keep in mind that I did not factor the quality of the game into my analysis. Check out our Zelda 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:games ranking if you want to know which one is the best.
15 Fast Asleep: The Adventure Of Link
Out of all of the incarna༒tions of the goddess, the Zelda in Zelda II: The Adventure of Link completely encompasses the damsel in distress trope. She is so bad that she was actually in need of rescuing before the events of original game o𓃲ccurred.
In order to separate her from the previous Zelda,♑ The Adventure of Link Zelda was granted the title of Zelda I. Her father, the King of Hyrule, hid the Triforce of𒉰 Courage before he died and only told Zelda where to find it. Zelda’s brother, an unnamed Prince, wanted the piece so that he could claim the title of King. However, when Zelda refused the Prince hired the Magician to extract the information from her. When that didn’t work, the Magician placed a sleeping curse on Zelda. Stricken with grief, the Prince locked his sleeping sister in one of the towers of Hyrule castle. He also decreed that all women in the royal family would be named Zelda, after his fallen sister. The plot of The Adventure of Link revolves around Link trying to undo the curse.
This Zelda is simply atrocious. She spends 99% of the game completely unconscious. She has no character and zero agency.ﷺ All she gets is a single line at the end of the game w🐬here she thanks Link for rescuing her. That’s it.
14 The Ditz: Four Swords
This Zelda isn’t much better. She and Link are childhood friends and she drags him into the Sanctuary of the Four Swords in order to check on the seal that keeps Vaati imprisoned. Like a lot of the Zeldas in the series, she has some future sight and sensed that the seal was weakening. Of course, Vaati’s already free when they arrive and he kidnaps Zelda almost immediately because she’s pretty and he wants to make her his bride; which is gross. While this particular Zelda isn’t the youngest incarnation, the oldest is around 18 and she’s certainly ♛not the oldest. So there’s that horrifying thought.
Honestly, not only is this Zelda useless, she’s kind of dumb too. When Link and his three clones finally rescue her at the end of the game sh⛦e notices something is different about him, but it takes her a minute to realize that Link had split into 4 versions of himself. Honestly, the fact that being a complete ditz is considered a character trait is the only thing that kept her from being the worst Zelda. Much like the Zelda from The Adventure of Link, the Four Swords Zelda has zero agency, no presence, and her only defining ch🍒aracter trait is that she’s dumb.
13 What Personality? Four Swords Adventures
Now, there actually is a diffe𓂃rence between in plot Four Swords and Four Swords Adventure. Basically, Ganon is in Adventure and is behind everything. In the first Four Swords Vaati is just a monumental jerk because he can☂ be. Zelda also gets a slightly larger role in this game too. She pulls Link to check on the Four Swords, but this time she actually bothered to hide the Sanctuary away. Zelda and six other maidens unlock the Sanctuary first and then Vaati breaks free and kidnaps them all. Prog𝔍ress!
Okay, the real progress with this Zelda is that she actua💫lly assists Link in the final fight. She creates a ball of light while Link distracts him. Once complete, the ball of light defeats him and the day is saved. Her ability to be something other than a pretty face is only marginally higher in Four Swords Adventures and her presence lasts a few seconds longer. Even so, she’s still basically a cardboard cutout of a character. I’ve met sacks of potatoes with more person🐓ality than her.
12 Could Be Worse: The Legend Of Zelda
Even at number 12 on t🌺his list, the original Zelda, from the very first Zelda title, The Legend of Zelda, is only marginally better than the previous ones. Her personality is completely non-existent. You don’t even see her in the begi🧸nning of the game! All you get is a wall of text that tells you she’s been kidnapped and you need to save her. When you finally do rescue her, she has one line that is used to thank you for saving her. Honestly, I wanted to put her on the bottom of this list for just how little of a presence she is in her g𓄧ame. However, this Zelda has one saving grace; her backstory.
After the Demon King Ganon stole the Triforce of Power, Zelda took it upon herself to split the Triforce of Wisdom and hide the eightꦺ pieces throughout her kingdom. After that, she ordered her nursemaid Impa to find someone who could defeat Ganon. Although these events don’t unfold in th𒅌e game itself and we only know about it through the scrolling text at the start, it is more than I can say about any of the other Zeldas on this list so far.
11 The Disney Princess: The Minish Cap
The Minish Cap Zelda suffers a bit from Princess Jasmine syndrome. The game starts with her sneaking out of the castle to wake Link up so that they can go to the Picori festival together. She leads Link to the festival and then proceeds to drag him around in🧸 her unbridled excitement. Zelda ends up winning a lottery contest and is presented with three choices: a heart, a gem, or a shield. She chooses the shield. Although the shopkeeper tries to talk her out🐼 of the shield, she insists on taking it and gives it to Link as a present. Of course, Vaati attacks at the end of the festival and turns her into stone for the rest of the game. To add insult to injury, he kidnaps the stone Zelda. So not only does she need to be rescued, Link also has to break the curse on her. Eventually, Link does rescue her and Zelda uses the Mage’s Cap to restore the damaged Hyrule and its citizens.
This Zelda still has pretty low agency and a fairly low presence in the game as well. However, she gets a few points because of her excitable and stubborn character. It’s no🦩t much, but it’s enough to⛄ put her at number 11.
10 Three Games, Tot𒉰all💃y Wasted: A Link To The Past/Oracle Saga
This Zelda was featured in not one, but three games.♌ We fir♏st meet her in A Link to the Past. She also has a small role in both The Oracle of Ages and the Oracle of Seasons. However, Zelda only shows up in those two ꧒games if you hav♍e the linked version of the Oracle Saga.
This Zelda also starts off A Link to the Past game in captivity, but she’s a lot more proactive about her rescue. She telepathically calls out to a descendant of the Knights of Hyrule, which just so happens to be Link, and informs him that the wizard Agahnim has kidnapped her and the other female descendants of the Seven Wise Men. Agahnim is using them as sacrifices to break the seal between Hyrule and the Dark world in order to resurrect Ganon. In the Oracle Saga, her entire job is to be kidnapped by Tw꧅inrova so that Link caꩲn save her.
Zelda’s character in these games is generic. She’s nice and worries about others. However, she does call out to Link and, after he saves her the first time, she leads him through a secret passage in the castle. After Link saves her a second time, she and the other maidens combine their power to break the seal on Ganon’s tower so Link can defeat him. She's basically a non-entity in the Oracle Saga. This Zelda is okay as far as Zeldas go.
9 She Did Something! A Link Between Worlds
This version of Zelda appears i🀅n two full cutscenes before she gets captured in A Link Between Worlds! Normally they’re just snatched right out of the gate or before the game even starts. Yuga pops up and starts turning ♍people into paintings early on in the game. Link goes to Zelda where she gives him a special charm to protect him before sending him to Kakariko Village. It’s only after Link gets back 🎶that Zelda is kidnapped by Yuga and turned into a painting. Link follows Yuga into Lorule and eventually rescues her along with the kidnapped sages.
In all honesty, A Link Between Worlds is not Zelda’s game, it’s Hilda’s. So Zelda’s presence in this game is fairly low and she’s not given much of a character outside of being a generic, nice princess. Zelda does play a larger role in the finale and helps Link to restore Lorul🐓e’s Triforce. Except, at the end of the day, that’s not really a lot.
8 Getting There: Twilight Princess
Twilight Princess is one of the better Zelda games, so it’s unfortunate that it’s particular iteration of Zelda is very middle of the road. She’s not horribleไ. Yes, she is in captivity before the game starts, but it’s not kidnapping. Zant gave her two options: watch her people 🐼die in a horrible war as her kingdom is burned to the ground, or surrender herself and kingdom. She chose to surrender and Hyrule to be enveloped in Twilight. Zelda was locked away in one of Hyrule Castle’s towers. When you meet her the first time, she works as an exposition mouthpiece. However, the second time you go to her she saves Midna’s life in exchange for her physical form. Ganon uses her spiritless body as a puppet during the final battle. Once she is restored to her body, she helps Link defeat Ganon by shooting him with light arrows. This particular Zelda is brave and selfless. She places others before herself and does what she can to protect her people. She doesn’t have much of a presence and spends most of the game in a tower or incorporeal. However, it’s a step in the right direction.
7 An Actual Character: Skyward Sword
Skyward Sword’s Zelda has an actual, real personality. She’s playful and impulsive. Her friendship with Link is evident from the start. Zelda calls Link 'Sleepyhead' on a few occasions and literally pushes him off a couple of precipices. She has confidence in spades but isn’t so high on her loftwing that she doesn’t worry about others. On top of all of that, she is jealous of Link’s relationship with his loftwing. This Zelda is an actual character! While she’s ♊not a huge presence in the game, she isn’t entirely absent from it either. She’s a major player in the start of the game and shows up several times throughout. There is one rather heart-wrenching scene between her and Link about halfway through the game that showcased their relationship perfectly. It’s just too bad she 💮doesn’t have all that much agency.
Zelda doesn’t just get kidnapped, she gets kidnapped three times. Each time, she has to be rescued by either Impa or Link. Impa takes her from one place to the next, leading h🧸er through the tasks she has to perform. She does make some choices for herself, but she’s not the driving force behind a good portion of her actions. It’s a shame, really.
6 Girl Power: Ocarina Of Time
The Ocarina of Time Zelda gets a lot of props from me, especially with 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:how crazy it can get. This Zelda is a young child for at least half the game. Yet, she was able to recognize the evil in Ganondorf and instantly jumped into action. Zelda, being a child, did the smart thing and warned her father. When he didn’t believe her, she decided to stop Ganondorf herself. Zelda followed her prophetic dreams and sent Link on the task to saving Hyrule. She helped him as best she could from the sidelines while vowing to protect the Ocarina of Time. When it became clear that she couldn’t protect the ocarina, she chose to give it to Link. After that, she went into hiding and disguised herself as the Sheik. As Sheik, she used her ninja ski𒁃lls to continue to assist Link. Zelda was constantly scheming and adapting her plans as the situations changed. Granted, not all of her ideas are very good and she is singlehandedly responsible for splitting the timeline. However, Zelda is powerful. She’s also the Seventh Sage and leader of the Sages. It’s just unfortunate that her character isn’t explored very well and she only appears sporadically throughout the game. She also managed to get kidnapped shortly after revealing herself to Link and couldn’t break out despite her power and abilities.