Do you like The Legend of Zelda?
Do you think it would be cool to play as Zelda herself?
Do you think there's a chance this could happen in the sequel to Breath of the Wild?
If you answered yes to these questions, this thread is for you. But if you're not here to be optimistic and have fun, you've got the wrong attitude! This thread is a co-production between myself and Llyrwenne, brought together by our shared unbending optimism that playable Zelda will happen and that we can help make her happen through our sheer collective force of will.
This thread consists of two major parts:
1. An exploration of why playable Zelda in the Breath of the Wild sequel seems more likely than ever. This is to provide a speculative basis for the topic as we slowly get more information on the new game.
2. A brief history of past playable iterations of Zelda. This is to provide a frame of reference for Zelda's skills and powers, canon or otherwise, and how she might be portrayed in future games.
In this thread, we will enthusiastically wait for the confirmation that Zelda will finally be a starring playable character in a mainline Zelda game. Maybe we'll only have to wait a few months. Maybe we'll have to wait years. Maybe our future heirs will have to take up this thread in our place. But playable Zelda will happen someday, and we look forward to it here in this thread. For now, we are setting our sights on the Breath of the Wild sequel. You will read why below.
This thread also serves as an appreciation thread for its titular character and as a hub for discussion on her past and future presentations. Feel free to post fan theories, prerelease speculation, fan art, and anything else you think pertains to our goal of making playable Zelda happen.
Some of you may be wondering: Why do this? Why set ourselves up for disappointment? Why fool ourselves with these false hopes?
These are the wrong questions! Abandon your reservations and let's get wild!
2013: The Changing Vision of the Zelda Series
In 2013, Eiji Aonuma was doing some soul searching. What should the next Zelda game be? Where should the series go next? He'd been working on the games for nearly twenty years and felt players were getting tired of convention. He recognized that change was necessary to keep the series interesting and compelling, but he was not without his reservations. While he repeatedly expressed his interest in change, he also shared some concern about changing too much. How far he should go, or even could go, was not yet clear:
He would still go on to reaffirm his commitment to defying conventions. Later that year, he said he was willing to even challenge expectations people have for the title characters. Specifically, he challenged the idea of "Princess Zelda":
Before the year ended, he emphasized how social media and the internet have greatly increased his proximity to fans and their feedback. He explained how interested he was in this fan feedback and how it motivated him to create a new experience. He wanted to increase his interaction with fans and incorporate their feedback into the series:
2014: Zelda Games Like You've Never Seen
PART 1: THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE LEGEND OF ZELDA FOR THE WII U
In June 2014, the game that would become Breath of the Wild was revealed in full motion for the first time and demonstrated exactly how much Aonuma and his team were committed to challenging people's expectations of the franchise.
It was unlike any Legend of Zelda we'd ever seen and featured a hero nothing like we'd come to expect. This was going to be a very different Legend of Zelda and a very different Link.
But was it even Link?
In a fateful quote later that day, Aonuma made a joke that would change the way people talked about The Legend of Zelda for the foreseeable future. He could not have known the conversation he was starting, or the impact his comment would have, but his little jab had massive consequences for the fandom:
And if it wasn't Link, who was it?
This little joke, unbeknownst as a joke at the time, dominated fan theories and speculation surrounding the new title. The conversation was explosive, widespread, and fueled by the possibility of the series changing the way players interacted with the universe. Was it a new hero? Was it a female Link? Could it be Zelda herself? With what fans had just seen, anything was possible.
The following day, ideas of who this new hero could be took the Zelda community by storm. While no singular explanation was ever decided upon, the most dominating theory was that our new androgynous mascot was in fact a woman. Not just any woman, but a female incarnation of Link:
Because hell hath no fury like a Nintendo fan scorned, Aonuma addressed the confusion the following day and admitted he'd simply made a joke that had been misunderstood:
This laid to rest any confusion over who our trailer hero was, but conversation surrounding The Legend of Zelda had changed forever. The Legend of Zelda, as a series, was maturing into something new. And the legend of Zelda, the playable character, was only just beginning.
PART 2: HYRULE WARRIORS FOR THE WII U AND 3DS
Hyrule Warriors is a Dynasty Warriors crossover title that is stuffed to the brim with Legend of Zelda fan service. As a game meant to appeal to fans of the whole franchise, Hyrule Warriors made no concessions with just how far, wide, and deep it would go to represent the wish fulfillment of every type of Zelda fan. The first version of Hyrule Warriors was set to release on the Wii U a couple of months after E3.
But as a major new installment to the Zelda series, and against the backdrop of the recent E3 confusion, something in particular stood out about Hyrule Warriors:
The conversation about playable women in The Legend of Zelda was not going to stop any time soon. In fact, it would only pick up more steam as time went on. Aonuma was asked about this just days later in an interview and he seemed to be caught off guard by the question. Ever since the reveal of The Legend of Zelda Wii U the week earlier, this seemed to be all anyone wanted to talk about. Excitement surrounding the game that would become Breath of the Wild was sky-high, but Aonuma found himself repeatedly up against a question he wasn't sure how to answer: how would shifting a woman to the protagonist seat change the series and its broad appeal?
Aonuma said he'd be interested to see how the female heroes in Hyrule Warriors were received and left it at that. Hyrule Warriors enjoyed great success and high popularity among Zelda fans. But the story got another wrinkle sooner than later. In August, a Japan-only artbook for Hyrule Warriors revealed scrapped concept that the team had decided not to implement: a female version of Link.
At this point, it was clear that fans were not the only ones flirting with the idea of a female Zelda heroine. Hedging their bets on making this character a reality, fans threw their support behind this new and mysterious female Link.
Wish fulfillment proved to be a very profitable endeavor. Seeing the potential of the game as a sort of platform, Nintendo and Koei Tecmo opted to continue supporting the title and port it to the 3DS. A year later, the team behind Hyrule Warriors and Aonuma implemented our first female Link-alike based on feedback and enthusiasm from fans:
Reactions to Linkle have been mixed. She is not very much like Link as we know him. She has a weird name. Her personality leaves a lot to be desired. It's hard to say if Linkle could ever satisfy the dreams of the fans who first saw her in the artbook. The general sense remains that she should stay in her own spun-off world. Linkle might be a good fit for Hyrule Warriors, but compared to the true Legend of Zelda, Linkle was no Hero of Legend. If the mainline series was ever going to strike out in this direction, something would have to be different. For some fans, this just meant a more stoic female interpretation of Link. Others, however, began to turn their imagination elsewhere…
2016: The Cycle Continues
E3 2016, this time through no fault of Aonuma and company, would prove another weird time for The Legend of Zelda Wii U. On the first day of the convention, before any new news officially dropped, images of a Legend of Zelda lanyard began circling social media alleging that two versions of Link were featured, one male and one female:
Could it be Aonuma had heard the cries of the fanbase and done the impossible? Would this be the first mainline Legend of Zelda with a female fighter in a starring role?
Of course not.
This was extremely silly. There was only one character depicted on the lanyard and it was the Link we all know and love. Fans had a good laugh at their own expense, but discussion about how incorporate a female hero into The Legend of Zelda once again dominated another E3. When Aonuma took to the press cycle this time, he knew a simple correction would not be enough. The hunger for a female lead to the series was reaching a fever pitch. Aonuma attempted to address why Link remained the hero of the series and why, at least in this title, it was not going to change.
The first explanation, in a now infamous interview, provided two terrible answers as to why a female Link - and also playable Zelda - theoretically could not happen:
For a while, this interview was a goodwill-killer. While Aonuma had seemed flexible and receptive to fans and their wants for this sort of thing in the past, Aonuma took a strangely conservative point of view on the kinds of roles men and women - and therefore Link and Zelda - can fulfill. While he considered making Zelda an eponymous hero before, he opted not to do so, because Zelda fighting would leave Link with nothing to do.
The disappointment over these quotes was widespread and it remains the most referenced quote of the bunch when it comes to why the series remains focused on the endeavors of Link himself. While the reasons Aonuma gave were not compelling or convincing, they indicated that this was not an accommodation Aonuma was interested in making at that point.
In an interview published the following day, Aonuma explained that Link was designed to appeal to male and female players alike. As he'd said before, Link was androgynous by design and easy for the player to self-insert regardless of gender.
Which, to be fair, is true. The want for a playable Zelda isn't driven by a distaste for Link. While Aonuma's sentiment is not disputed, it did little to discourage the desire for a woman to take up the sword.
But it wasn't over just quite yet. In early 2017, Aonuma was asked once again about the possibility of a female Link or a playable Zelda in the series. This time his answer was different:
It was clear that even after all these years, the rumor he had inadvertently started was still fresh on his mind. This conversation wasn't over yet. Far from it.
2017: Coming to Terms with the Truth
Breath of the Wild came and went to much success, fame, and acclaim. While many players remain disappointed a playable woman never came to pass, few could claim disappointment in the depiction of Link we got. It's a great depiction of the character that successfully captures the androgynous ideal envisioned for him. This part of Zelda history was open-and-shut. Breath of the Wild delivered on an awful lot, but any hope of a female hero would have to wait.
Discussion about where to go from here in regards to a female lead changed and refined over time. While some people think a female interpretation of Link is the way to go, others have gravitated towards the idea of a Zelda-driven game. After all, even if he decided against it, Aonuma had considered this idea himself. When looking over the interviews and articles published during the Breath of the Wild prerelease period, a few consistent themes appear:
- Eiji Aonuma wants to change up and challenge the essence of The Legend of Zelda.
- Eiji Aonuma is connected to the fanbase through social media and wants to interact with them on a deeper level.
- Fans want to see a female protagonist in a mainline Zelda game.
- Eiji Aonuma was aware of these hopes and contended with them throughout the Breath of the Wild press cycle.
Let's cut to the chase, folks. This is the part we're probably all caught up on. It's 2019 and the trailer for the sequel to Breath of the Wild showcased quite a different tone than the previous game. It's spookier, under-groundier, and hair-shortier. It is time to throw restraint out the window and once again set ourselves up for a disappointment after a years-long hype cycle of our own creation. It is TIME. It is NOW. Playable Zelda is HERE.
Some key take-aways from the new trailer:
- Zelda sports a new short hairstyle. This is the first time Zelda has been depicted with short hair. While this could simply be a stylistic choice, fans have commented far and wide that the new hairstyle would heavily benefit animation for a combat-oriented heroine.
- Link and Zelda are both in the darkness, exploring dangerous terrain on equal terms, and clearly seeking answers to some terrifying questions. While previous Zelda games have seen Zelda follow Link through dangerous environments as a means of escape, none have put Link and Zelda in such an equally dangerous position with the same goal.
- Link and Zelda are wearing comparable outfits and dressed for the same level of activity. Zelda isn't just along for the ride.
- Link and Zelda are separated as the ground collapses.
- Link is attacked, accosted, or in some way interfered with by the glowing green hand. Whether this is empowering him or incapacitating him is not clear.
... ... ...
Let's see what series producer Eiji Aonuma has to say about it:
Here we go again! ✨
How It's Supported By the Story (Fan Theory Time)
While the majority of conjecture and speculation is fueled by hungry fan fever above all else, this hype cycle of our own misfortune has something that our previous adventure did not: canon.
As a direct sequel to Breath of the Wild, we already know who this Zelda is. We get to know Princess Zelda through the memory cutscenes Link discovers throughout his journey. Princess Zelda is the most developed and well-characterized character in Breath of the Wild. There is no real doubt over what this Zelda wants, how she behaves, and the unique challenges she faces as a princess.
In Breath of the Wild, Princess Zelda is depressed and hopeless. As the heir of the royal family, she is singularly tasked with communing with The Goddess Hylia to unlock a secret ancestral power to seal away Calamity Ganon. But despite her best efforts and extreme dedication, Zelda cannot hear the voice of The Goddess. While her father believes she is not trying hard enough, her peers recognize how intensely she has committed herself to tradition.
Zelda's power is not awakening and she is despondent. Where Zelda struggles to take her place, Link takes his place without issue. She resents Link for this. In an early memory, she asks him if he can hear the voice inside the Master Sword. Link, as expected, does not answer. The Master Sword is never shown to speak to Link, so whether the sword speaks to him or not is not clear:
Memory 3: Resolve and Grief said:
Zelda is less and less convinced she will ever be able to commune with The Goddess and seeks other means to fulfill her duty. With the Sheikah Slate in hand, she attempts to activate the old shrines and technology throughout the kingdom. This is something she prefers to do without Link, who as Urbosa puts in Memory 1, reminds her of her own failures.
Zelda concludes that the structures only respond to the one the Master Sword has chosen. She is determined to find a work-around:
Memory 7: Zelda's Resentment said:
In one of the more on-the-nose metaphors in the game, Link and Zelda lean over a rare flower, the "silent princess." Zelda describes it in terms that parallel her own experience exactly:
Memory 9: Silent Princess said:
Later, taking shelter from the rain, Zelda again laments the futility of everything she has set out to do. Her powers aren't awakening. She can't hear the voice of The Goddess. Everyone tells her she is meant to fulfill a unique role in the world, but she thinks they are wrong. The more people tell her what she needs to be, the less sure she is she can do it. Constrained by tradition and the expectations of others, she wallows in her own anxiety.
Memory 11: Shelter from the Storm said:
Zelda's experience in Breath of the Wild is fascinating when discussed against the common conversation surrounding how characters in The Legend of Zelda are presented. Zelda herself has a sort of metatextual self-awareness to her. She is confined, burdened, and heavily restricted by the conventions of tradition. She has skills she wants to use but nowhere to use them. She does not feel her prescribed role is right for her.
She is a Zelda that wants to defy limitations. She is a Zelda that wants to be playable.
Eventually, Zelda does unlock her power. After everyone else is killed by Ganon and the Guardians, Link and Zelda flee for their lives. Just as a guardian nearly kills them both, Zelda's Triforce power awakens so she can save Link. This is the only time the Triforce appears in the game and this is extremely important.
Nobody in Breath of the Wild knows what the Triforce is. It is not part of the lore. It is not part of the adventure. It is never discussed as a means to destroy Calamity Ganon. It is never explained to be the secret of anyone's power. Neither Link nor Ganon are ever shown to possess their piece of the Triforce.
This is not the case for Zelda:
Her lifelong endeavor to awaken her powers through the path of wisdom - through research and prayer - bore no fruit. She heard nothing, and felt nothing, and knew she was meant for something different. In the end, it wasn't an act of wisdom that brought her powers out. It was an act of courage. And as soon as her powers awoke, she did not hear the voice of The Goddess Hylia, but the voice of the Master Sword. Neither Link nor the player ever hear the Master Sword speak. The only time the sword speaks is to Zelda herself.
In series Triforce lore, Link, Ganondorf, and Zelda usually each have one-third of the legendary artifact. Ganondorf has the Triforce of Power, Zelda has the Triforce of Wisdom, and Link has the Triforce of Courage. These powers are meant to symbolize their most dominant virtues and their powers, in balance, complete the Triforce. In the past, when Aonuma referred to not changing the balance of the Triforce, it was this standard he was referring to.
However, in Breath of the Wild, Zelda appears to have the entire Triforce. Historically, the Triforce has been shown to illuminate in thirds. The piece that illuminates indicates which piece of the Triforce the wielder possesses - and here all three pieces illuminate boldly and brightly on her hand. While it's possible this is a stylistic change to represent generalized "Triforce Power", the precedent for its appearance seems to indicate otherwise.
She awakens after an act of courage because it finally brings all three virtues into balance. Rather than be defined by any one virtue, Zelda is host to all three. Zelda can do incredible things, and has incredible power, and it was an act of courage that brought her strength forward. After she awakens, she is able to converse and communicate with the Master Sword. So who, truly, is "the sword's chosen hero"?
We think it is Link, because this is what we expect, but it didn't have to be. It still doesn't. Breath of the Wild ends with Link and Zelda hitting the field together again on equal terms. This dynamic is reflected in the trailer for the sequel. With everything we know about Zelda, taking up the sword simply seems… inevitable!
