#i love phantom ganon i mean i love all the phantom ganons but oot phantom ganon specifically

[sergeantneko]

Hi there! I'm Neko, and I found your post as a reblog from a friend of mine. I've played all of the 3D zelda games, and I write fanfics for the series. I'll answer these as best I can!

1: I've never really thought about it, but if I were to do so, I would put Skyward Sword in Spring, Breath Of The Wild in Autumn, Ocarina of Time in Summer, and Twilight Princess in winter.

2: Assuming you mean 2D as pixelated. I haven't played any of the 2D retro titles (pretty much any of the pixelated ones), however I have played all of the 3D top-down ones. I'm gonna pick one of those, if that's okay? Defo either Link Between Worlds or Spirit Tracks.

3: Skyward Sword! She's SO FRICKIN' CUTE.

4: That's a really hard one. Of the ones I've played, I'd say Phantom Hourglass.

5: I cannot justify picking just one soundtrack, so I'll pick out a few of my favourites instead. Colgera's battle theme (ToTK), Ganon's battle theme (OoT, That 23/16 time signature is insane and I love it), Yuga Ganon battle theme (ALBW, same reason, song is set to 7/8 time signature and it's just as insane), Tarrey Town theme (BoTW), Tal Tal Heights (Link's Awakening Remake), and so many more that elude me.

6: Nope! Bring it on, I love a challenge!

7: There are too many to list, but there is one that I love that others don't. That being the Water Temple from Ocarina of Time. Most people hate it because it's confusing, but I saw it as an experience. And that experience was fucking good, for me anyway.

8: Spirit Tracks for sure. The music, the story, I love it. The controls are not fun, and using the flute was fun if flawed, but everything else makes that tolerable.

9: Hmmmm... I'm gonna go with Tingle on this one.

10: The hookshot! It can get you to many places, and it has been a staple in traditional zelda games! So fun shooting it out and then zipping to the place it sticks.

11: That ones a toss up. I love all of his incarnations. I think Wind Waker is top due to him actually having some sort of humanity. He just wanted what was best for his people, and I can understand his plight. However, the way he went abouy it was wrong.

12: Ocarina of Time. It was the first Zelda game I ever played. And I was enthralled the entire time. Since then, I have managed to play every 3D Zelda game up to now, and it's my favourite franchise.

13: Breath of The Wild. The character designs and lore is incredible. Not much more to say there, really. Nintendo did an amazing job with this entry, and the one after it too.

14: Master Sword. No question.

15: Gerudo Desert, specifically the one from Breath of The Wild.

16: I don't really have one, they're all great.

17: Twilight Princess. It's my favourite in the series for a reason, and atmosphere is a big factor.

18: Again, Twilight Princess. Quite the dark game, especially in contrast to other entries.

19: Same as above, for the same reasons.

20: Same as above.

21: Skyward Sword! The painterly style is fucking awesome. If you're further away from an object, the shader makes the object look watercolored. They improved that effect in the HD remaster on switch, and it's beautiful.

22: I don't really have a favourite. They're all good!

23: Spiritual Stones please.

24: Either Ocarina of Time or Twilight Princess for items.

25: Midna.

26: Spirit Tracks.

27: Breath of The Wild. Mainly cause it pertains to being a breath of fresh air for the series as a whole with it being open world, and the whole place being mostly wilderness at this point.

28: Skyward Sword, up to a point.

29: Hookshot!

30: Ocarina of Time title theme.

31: City In The Sky from Twilight Princess. The entire dungeon is the "I am confusion" gif.

32: Breath of the Wild.

33: Mix of both. It wouldn't be a Zelda game without either.

34: Hmmm... That's a tough one. I think overall I might have had the most trouble with the second Ganon battle that takes place within Hyrule Castle in Echoes of Wisdom.

35: I didn't really have much issue with any of them except for Demise in Skyward Sword. Took me a little while to learn his patterns.

36: that one's between Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword. Both cinematic games, and both incredible in their own way.

37: I have no idea. If I had to give an answer, the Likelike's are weird.

38: The Dead Hand, as well as the ReDeads and Gibdos from Ocarina of Time. Both EXTREMELY creepy.

39: Echoes of Wisdom.

40: Tingle.

41: I have three. Song of Storms, Serenade of Water, and Requiem of Spirit.

42: The Couple's Mask.

43: Goron Mask.

44: The Anju and Kafei quest.

45: Tarrey Town.

46: Skyward Sword HD

47: Each game fulfills something different for me, and so I can't say that any one game is the most fulfilling for me.

48: I love the one incorporated in Breath of The Wild and Tears of The Kingdom. Amazing shading style that blends Cel shading with semi-realistic graphics.

49: Fairy.

50: Modern Hylian Shield, BoTW and ToTK style.

Hope this gives a little bit of insight into my views on the series!

🌟 TLOZ asks 🌟

1. Is there a Zelda game(s) that you associate with each season or time of year?

2. Favourite 2D title?

3. Favourite incarnation of Zelda?

4. Least favourite entry in the series?

5. Favourite LOZ soundtrack?

6. Is there a Zelda game that intimidates you/looks too hard?

7. Favourite dungeons?

8. Most underrated Zelda game?

9. Least favourite character in the series?

10. Favourite item?

11. Favourite Ganon characterization?

12. Which Zelda game has the most sentimental value to you?

13. What Zelda game, in your opinion, has the best character design?

14. Master Sword, the Four Sword, Great Fairy's Sword, the Koholint Sword, or the Biggoron Sword?

15. Favourite location within Hyrule?

16. Favourite location outside of/parallel to Hyrule (Termina, Lorule, Holodrum, Subrosia, the Dark World, Labrynna, the Great Sea, etc)?

17. Most atmospheric game?

18. Which Zelda game feels most mature to you?

19. Which Zelda game has the darkest story to you?

20. Favourite 3D title?

21. Prettiest Zelda game?

22. Favourite incarnation of Link?

23. The Pendants of Virtue, the Spiritual Stones, or the Goddess Pearls?

24. Game with most impressive/useful lineup of items?

25. Favourite companion (Midna, Ezlo, Navi, etc)?

26. Favourite handheld title?

27. Game with the best title (Breath of the Wild, Twilight Princess, Link's Awakening, etc)?

28. Most wholesome Zelda game?

29. Favourite item to use (aside from the sword & shield)?

30. Favourite title theme from a Zelda game?

31. Hardest dungeon played?

32. Game with the best map design?

33. Do you prefer puzzles or combat?

34. Game with the hardest boss?

35. Game with the hardest final boss?

36. Which game had the most engaging story, in your opinion?

37. Least favourite enemy?

38. Creepiest enemy?

39. Which Zelda game, in your opinion, had the most satisfying ending?

40. Most out-of-place thing in the series?

41. Favourite ocarina song?

42. Favourite non-transformation mask from Majora's Mask?

43. Favourite transformation mask from Majora's Mask?

44. Hardest sidequest in the series?

45. Best sidequest in the series?

46. Favourite remake/remaster (Ocarina of Time 3D, The Wind Waker HD, Link's Awakening for the Switch)?

47. Most fulfilling Zelda game?

48. Favourite graphical style within the games (cel-shading, realistic, 16-bit, etc)?

49. Favourite thing to keep in a bottle?

50. Favourite shield?

[kagoutiss]

self immolation

[linderosse]

✨ Wisdomverse x Smash ✨

< Prev | 15 | Next >

Masterpost

It’s time.

I finally get to talk about Smash and the Zeldas :).

How this wacky little fighting game series represents the LoZ gals and influences them in Wisdomverse— explained under the cut!

Exactly four Zeldas make an appearance as playable characters in the Smash Brothers franchise, spanning different games and decades.

[OoT] Lullaby: Melee (Zelda and Sheik), Smash4 (Sheik), Ultimate (Sheik)

[TP] Dusk: Brawl (Zelda and also Sheik somehow), Smash4

[ALttP/ALBW] Fable: Ultimate

[ST] Phantom (a special case): Smash4, Ultimate

Funnily enough, there have also been four Links in Smash, although they’re not quite from the same games as the Zeldas.

[OoT/MM] Time: SSB64 (Adult), Melee (Adult and Young), Brawl (Young), Ultimate (Young)

[TP] Twilight: Brawl, Smash4

[BotW/TotK] Wild: Ultimate

[WW/PH] Wind: Brawl, Smash4, Ultimate

Now, Smash is just about as non-canon a game as Hyrule Warriors— and we all accept Wars and Artemis. And some Zeldas arguably have more of a chance to display their skills in Smash than in their own games.

Therefore, I’ve peripherally incorporated Smash into Wisdomverse:

Characters who have met each other in Smash will sometimes recognize each other from there, as if they’ve met in a vague dream. They may also forget. Such is the ephemeral world of Smash to its players.

To keep things fair, Smash connections and story will not be relevant to the plot of Wisdomverse.

Each mainline Smash Zelda also gets one of the three Golden Goddess skills from their Smash moveset to use in Wisdomverse, based on their personality and events from their actual games.

Charismatic, dramatic Fable gets to blow things up with Din’s Fire — like how Fable and the sages blast through Ganon’s barrier in ALttP

Steady, calculating Dusk gets to defend against attacks with Nayru’s Love — reminiscent of the twilight pyramid encasing her in Hyrule Castle in Twilight Princess

Quiet, stealthy Lullaby gets to teleport short distances with Farore’s Wind — like how Sheik (technically Requiem, not Lullaby) vanishes ninja-style in Ocarina of Time

And there you have it! Rebalancing the Zeldas, one skillset at a time :).

Extra:

For the truly dedicated folks, here’s a further analysis of interesting (and intentional on the part of the devs) Smash x Zelda facts:

Despite clearly looking like Dusk and not Lullaby, Brawl Zelda is able to turn into Sheik in both the plot of Subspace Emissary and in battle in Brawl. She loses this ability and goes back to normal in Smash4.

Despite clearly looking like Twilight, Brawl Link is shown with Navi in Subspace Emissary.

Wind is clearly Wind, and not Spirit, because he has the Wind Waker as a taunt in all three Smash games he shows up in.

Wind uses some of Legend’s attacks. And some of Time’s attacks. Wind is a dirty rotten move stealer (affectionate).

Phantom isn’t technically playable, but both Fable and Dusk summon a phantom to fight alongside them, and neither of them have seen a phantom in any of their games. Also, while their phantom summoning skill is recharging, they have a purple glow around their hand. Therefore, I’m inclined to believe they’re literally summoning Spirit Tracks Zelda (Phantom), like Robin summoning Chrom for his Final Smash, and you technically control her, so close enough.

In Melee, Young Link is clearly from MM, while Link is from OoT. This means Young Link is older than Link (just Time things).

[promqueen78]

!TOTK SPOILERS!

Idk if that's still a necessary disclaimer it's been out for a while but I wanna talk about it and something that annoys me concerning enemy/boss variety.

I love totk but they really milked tf out of that phantom Ganon boss battle. The first time you encounter gloom hands you probably freak out and run away, and then later go back to kill them. You assume you can just kill the hands and be done with it, but upon doing so you see the "PHANTOM GANON" boss health bar appear. It's a really surprising and scary moment, and the phantom Ganon fight is plenty engaging on its own. But now you know the hand's secret, and killing them in the future no longer surprises you, which is fine.

But later, in your search for the master sword you'll probably head to the lost woods, and once you get there you realize you can't get in through the fog like you could in botw. Finding an alternate route via the depths and realizing the deku tree is possessed was really cool, and I was excited to see what sort of monster was hiding in its roots. It was a neat callback to Gohmas role in oot and I was hoping for a similarly interesting parasite miniboss. So you ready yourself, jump into the depths below the tree, and... oh. It's phantom Ganon again. Kind of lame but oh well, I suppose it was a bit silly to expect a whole new enemy just for this one area. (Granted older zelda games would probably have no problem doing this but oh well these games take a lot more resources elsewhere.)

Later, you ascend to hyrule castle and have the encounter with ganondorfs zelda puppet. You make your way all throughout the whole castle fighting enemies until you reach the throne room, ideal spot for a boss fight. But again, instead of a unique fight with puppet zelda, it's phantom Ganon. In fact it's actually several phantom Ganons, all operating independently. I.. if your not already tired of this fight your almost certainly going to be after this.

To top it all off, at the end of the game you reach Ganondorf at the heart of the depths. After fighting off his army you enter his boss chamber, (this is slightly off topic but he's still a mummy? I sort of assumed he'd be lying in wait throughout the game, building his strength to return to his human or demon king form, but he's just been chilling in a state of basically dead? And when you enter he changes back on command? Why didn't he do that before? What?) Anyway, you start the fight with ganondorf, and waddya know he uses the same weapons and moves as his phantom Ganon fight. Granted, I believe he does change things up a bit and I thought it was kind of cool that they were connected in that way, and overall I really enjoyed the fight, but it still just sits wrong with me.

Overall I still enjoyed the game and I don't consider myself a totk hater by any means, and anyone is free to disagree with me on anything, but I've been thinking about this and I wanted to post my thoughts even if no one bothers to read this. (Also I didn't proofread sorry if it's confusing)

[theglitchmaster]

IT IS DONE

I have FINALLY beaten Ocarina of Time (3D) and I have Thoughts.

I can honestly say that I dislike the game a lot less than I did before.

For context I've tried at least half a dozen times to beat oot throughout my childhood, but could never get farther than the Forest Temple before becoming bored out of my mind, putting the game down, and then just not picking it back up. I've never been able to get attached to any of the characters (Sheik being the exception 🏳️‍⚧️), I wasn't a fan of a lot of the background music or sound effects, the gameplay was pretty clunky, and in general just did not find the game fun (to be fair i did play it mostly on gamecube back then).

The gameplay still feels clunky but since the game is older than me I'll give it a pass there, and the 3ds controls are a hell of a lot better than the gamecube version.

Navi is as annoying as everyone makes her out to be you were right.

The first three dungeons are still a drag, and I think Jabu Jabu's dungeon is my least favorite dungeon of every zelda game I've played so far. Awful thing.

This is one of the few games that has made fishing almost fun.

The Forest Temple was fine, I liked the poe sisters and I thought Phantom Ganon's fight was fun. Stalfos personally own me money fuck those guys.

The Fire Temple was long as hell and I kept getting lost. Volvagia hits like a truck but is otherwise a fun boss.

I know the fandom has ongoing memes about how every water dungeon is confusing and a pain in the ass, especially the oot Water Temple, but it was fine? I didn't get lost and most of the puzzles were fine. I got more pissed off at the Ice Caverns than I did the Water Temple. I loved the eerie vibe of the illusion room and the Dark Link fight was easy but fun. Morpha was annoying but not too bad.

Bottom of the Well was very cool and spooky, I can see how this would have traumatized children, and probably would have traumatized me if I had ever gotten that far as a kid.

Shadow Temple was cool. Big surprise that there was two Dead Hands. Very freaky torture chamber. Bongo Bongo was a bitchass mother fucker. Yes he looks cool but was not a good fight. It was easier to kill him by chasing him down with my sword than it was to try and shoot him with the bow.

I think in general I don't like playing as kid Link in oot but I thought how they mixed both kid and adult requirements into the dungeon was clever. The darknuts/Iron Knuckles also owe me money fuck them as well but less than the stalfos. Also fuck floor/wallmasters. The Iron Knuckle Nabooru reveal was pretty cool though.

I did find how Ganon's Castle requires you to solve puzzles themed after each sage to be pretty clever and cool in theory, unfortunately I did not find it all that fun. I did have to leave at one point to get Fire Arrows because I could not continue without them. (This one is completely on me, I have a terrible ability when playing a zelda game for the first time to somehow completely miss important things and unknowingly make the game harder for myself. Examples including: first time playing tp and only learning 2 skills from the Golden wolf and no others, how I ever beat darknuts without a backslash ill never remember; somehow playing through all of albw and never once coming across any sword or armor upgrades. That yuga fight was hell. So obviously any extra difficulty i experienced in oot for not having everything is def my fault) Ganondorf's first fight was a pain in the ass, it wasn't hard I just kept falling and he wouldn't stay down long enough for me to get more than one hit in at a time. Not a fan of the no floors. Ganon's pig form is cool in this one, I like his design. This fight was actually fun, not hard by any means but cool.

Still not a fan of a lot of minor sound effects, most of the music was nice. Everyone is a lot less ugly (and triangular) in the 3ds version, can't say I'm gay for this Ganondorf though. Still didn't get attached to many characters. Sheik is still my beloved but most of his Cool Character points go into 1.Mysterious and 2.Transmasc coded as fuck. I like Impa. I would still personally throw hands with Mido. I really like the zoras' design in general but Ruto is as annoying as I remembered. Nabooru is cool. Malon and Saria are okay.

I think if I was older and this had been my first loz game I would have liked it a lot more for Nostalgia Points alone (or I never would have gotten into zelda idk), but as one i grew up with later it was okay. I don't hate it, but its definitely still one of my least favorite 3d titles, and there were times when I played it where I actually missed playing Skyward Sword and its dogshit motion controls. If I were to have tried to beat my gamecube copy I think it would have been a repeat situation of picking it up, putting it down, and then never beating it; and I don't see myself replaying it from the beginning unless I were to do it for a youtube channel or a twitch stream or something.

Ocarina of Time was aight butman do I wanna go replay Twilight Princess. Ganon sorry I killed your moms.

[gloriousmonsters]

ok i loved that cemeterything post about the different types of spellcasters. it actually reminded me of your original short stories (or two of them at least), taking place in that world with the soul-tearing magic. since you’re my fave ganondorf writer and the resident magician around here, what’s your take on the way ganondorf from the various titles “does magic” (interpret that as you’d like since that could mean a lot of things i guess) and what it says about him in your opinion. do you see differences across the titles?

no pressure to answer this for us, just got me thinking and i’m very curious to hear your takes if any on this topic

ooh interesting! I feel like... of the ones I've actually watched a playthrough of (I really want to play/watch the early games with Ganon sometime, esp ALttP) Ganondorf's magical body language is theatrical and the forms of magic he chooses are strongly inclined toward flaunting his upper hand, so to speak. He doesn't need to fight you, he has phantoms and puppets to do that. Okay, maybe he'll fight you, but he's going to lob magic at you with extreme drama, from a distance, probably hovering even though he's already twice your height at least, because he's an asshole. (And like, look at Twinrova. It's obvious where he gets it from.)

To me, it speaks heavily of either disdain or the need to pretend at it. When Ganondorf gets genuinely angry or decides he's going to treat an opponent seriously, he gets in there with a sword/goes beast mode/both. There's some variation--OoT opts more for the theatrical drama vibe, whereas to me TP reads as still theatrical, but more gritty in energy, colored by him having been through a(nother) war and gotten older--but Ganondorf's magic is just all about showing the way he views himself. he is Better Than You and he is going to throw lightning balls at you about it.

(An indulgent side-note into the way I've expanded on his magical... body vocabulary? in more intimate settings :P (but seriously, just. indoors. with more nuance than throwing lightning.) AtG Ganondorf, whether it comes across or not, uses gestures that I picture as stage-magician-y--a lot of close focus on his hands, gestures that read like distraction or like he's handling something invisible, making it appear or vanish. He's at Peak Duplicity in that fic, working on a very small stage, so it just felt right. and though i'm still working with getting him onstage, lol, my initial take on our hearts Ganondorf is that his magic both has a more... science-y and/or ritualistic vibe, reflecting his princess scholar in a tower type situation, and his magical gestures tend to be expressed with his whole body--more grounded and straightforward than AtG. anyway! thanks for the opportunity to ramble :P)

[golvio]

I can’t wait to actually get a better idea of what TotK/BotW Ganondorf is like so I can start going off on another tangent about him being an artist.

Like...art’s always been a personal interest of his, as a character, even if the game doesn’t really actively embrace that and use that to make a point about him as a character because the man is not allowed to have Traits.

We’ve seen him do stuff like playing the organ in OOT, and then there’s the basement full of portraits in the Forest Temple that were also very likely his own works. OOT3DS took this a step further by adding assets that turned the hallway leading up to Phantom Ganon’s room into a little gallery of impressionist paintings that don’t jive with the style of the portraits outside of the basement, suggesting that they were a later addition brought in by you-know-who.

And then there was that whole bit in Wind Waker, where his primary passion was theater and performance. He performs multiple soliloquies for Link, which are among his most famous and oft-quoted lines among the fandom. He puts on a puppet show with this giant marionette that expresses his own frustration with his destiny. Even his fighting style looks like a dance.

And in Cadence of Hyrule, where he picks up music after being inspired by watching Octavo through the window, building his own instrument and refusing to come out even after the door to his home is unblocked so he can devote himself solely to practicing.

Yet…he doesn’t get to define himself as “an artist” the way other characters do. Ganon’s own interests outside of the boss room are unimportant. At best, they’re treated as set dressing to hype the player up for the boss fight.

Yuga gets to define himself as an artist. His self-esteem is wound up in his own work. His work is his only love and is used to say something about him as a character, even if that something is just “he’s a pretentious jerk who thinks he’s better than everyone else.” Ganon’s own love for art and how his relationship with it compares/contrasts with Yuga isn’t brought up at all. ALBW Ganon is barely even a character. All the passion and creativity comes exclusively from Yuga, while Ganon himself is a mere tool, a medium through which Yuga sculpts himself.

Octavo, too, is allowed to define himself through his art, his relationship with his music, his personal passions. His climactic boss fight is a literal recital, performed before an adoring audience of monster soldiers. Ganondorf, on the other hand…the audience is given the impression that he sees his art merely as a tool with which to dominate others. He’s just a big mean thug with a weapon that happens to be musical for you to stomp down to prove how far you’ve come and save the world. His personal feelings about his work, his development as an artist (including his foray into experimental electronic music and building his own synthesizer), the profoundly autistic way he expresses his passions, how his beast form that’s used as shorthand to depict him giving in to his worst impulses is defined not by traditional animalistic warlord behavior but by him devoting himself entirely to his music and forsaking all else, and how other people feel about his art is completely unremarked upon by the other characters by comparison. When you fight him, there is no audience. He’s not allowed to perform or want to perform. He’s not “supposed” to hold recitals or want people to understand and appreciate his music. He’s not expressing interest or passion in the “correct” way, and therefore his internal life is completely ignored. As the BBEG who exists solely to be killed in a test of strength, he’s not supposed to have an internal life in the first place.

TotK has this strange, dissociated reprise of the “puppet show” in WW. He’s made all these puppets in his own likeness, has sent them aboveground to perform on the great stage of Hyrule in a display that’s impossible to ignore. But the artist himself is absent. He doesn’t lend his voice to the characters he’s created, and all they can do is growl and scream, maybe occasionally darkly chuckle to themselves. None of them have faces. Even Calamity Ganon, at best, only has a distorted, unrecognizable likeness of the man whose image he was made in.

TotK itself is a game about creation and creativity. Not only that, but it seems to be pulling back the curtain on Ganon’s artistic process, the media he used to create his myriad marionettes and hostile sculptures in his own likeness. But until we actually meet the artist himself, we have no way of knowing what his relationship with his whole body (bodies?) of work is, much less whether Nintendo is actually interested in answering this question and making this association with art and the act of creating a work a more integrated part of his character instead of mere set dressing that’s breezed past by the narrative to get to the exciting stabby part.

[linderosse]

Fair points! Love it!

I (and maybe also the original poster?) was totally counting being sealed away, and events from history.

If you don’t count sealing away, what you’ve said makes total sense! And you don’t have to count sealing away, so that’s totally fair!

The reason I originally counted the sealing away parts is that ‘sealing away’ is framed as being for all eternity. It’s always portrayed as irreversible, isn’t it? Like, hey, you sealed him! You won! And it’s not under Ganon’s volition (as opposed to Ghirahim freely warping away when he loses).

So if you want to include sealing, here’s the breakdown that explains the three Links you mentioned being left out:

- At the end of OoT in the Adult Timeline, you’re implied to have saved the day by sealing Ganon away ‘forever’. But Ganon somehow breaks out later and goes on to fight Wind, and Wind knows the story of the ancient hero and Ganon’s revival, so that’s Wind’s ‘villain who shouldn’t be back.’

- Meanwhile, Time has won in the adult timeline, but his choice to rewind to the Child Timeline means Ganon is also back again, and Time has to deal with that, which is Time’s own ‘villain who shouldn’t be back.’

- Fortunately Time manages to prosecute Ganon and though the Sages later fail to execute Ganon, they do manage to seal him away ‘forever’ in the Twilight Realm. Which Twi eventually learns and has to fight Ganon himself, so that’s Twi’s recurring villain, although it’s weaker than the other two because you can totally make the case that Twi didn’t know much about Ganon before having to fight him. Fortunately, Twi has other recurring villains like King Bulbin, so he probably still fits.

And there you go! That was my reasoning, at least. You’re totally right too, though— sealing doesn’t have to count for a recurring villain if you don’t want it to! And honestly, I think all your points are great!

…Aaaaand it’s 5:30AM here, haha. While you wake, I must sleep. :)

(Also Phantom Hourglass was my first Zelda game and Wind will therefore also always be one of my favs, heck yeah more Wind appreciation >:)

None of them are new to a reoccurring villain

[shekorla]

Linked Universe Zeldas

So last December I decided to draw my idea for the Zeldas on a whim. Found the WIP recently and decided to finish it.

Also, I typed up all my headcanons for them because I have a lot. They are below the cut. 

And I put down nickname ideas, because I'm bad at naming things, and I think the LU discord has already decided on a set of nicknames that they like. Personally, I really dislike most of those though.

❖Corresponding Link: Four

     o Age: Teen, just older than Four. Not a major difference, just enough that she can tease him about it.

     o Status: Officially still holds the title of princess, acts more like a queen. Her father is extremely protective of her, but after Vaati he conceded that he couldn’t protect her forever. Since then she has been learning to fight, forge (not good at it), and taking over more and more responsibilities from her aging father

     o Nickname ideas: Light, Picori, Force

     o Fighting style: Mostly fights with a sword and shield. Has extremely strong innate light magic. (light force, although weaker now) Doesn’t necessarily know how to focus it yet (magic bomb, some healing). If you are going to be on the battlefield stop running around like that.

     o Current relationship to Link: Best friends, practically siblings. When they were kids there was definitely some major crushing going on. Then everything with Vaati happened and things got… complicated. Neither she nor Link really knows what type of romance they want for the future. They still play lots of pranks on people. She helps keep him stable on the days when his colors get a little too wild.

     o Random stuff: Hyperactive and cheery. Always something new to see or learn and she wants to do it. hates sitting still, she is always moving somehow (got turned to stone). Top is hers; Link made the sword (gift), rest is extras from four’s parts (stolen). Hair is naturally extremely curly, lets it down for formal things, tied up for adventuring. Helped four get back to functioning as Link after being four people. Will attack him to get him to take care of himself. Is taller than both four and wind.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

❖ Corresponding Link: Hyrule

     o Age: At least a hundred. Was 18 when she was cursed to sleep, no one is exactly sure how long she was asleep.

     o Status: Was a princess before falling asleep, offered the crown once woken up. Really over being royal. Link helped her get a job and lodging on a farm at the edge of Hyrule. Really likes that.

     o Nickname ideas: Legacy, Farmgirl, First, Ancestor.

     o Fighting style: Healer. Lots of bandages to patch everyone up. Doesn’t like to fight, but will stab a man if the need arises. The world is cruel, be kind. Has weak magic, a little bit of healing, and lots of prophetic. Knows the best places to hide on a battlefield.

     o Current relationship to Link: They are good friends. He checks up on her from time to time, and she makes sure that he always has a place to rest and relax in safety. Their world is a little bit of a mess, everyone needs a support system.

     o Random stuff: Has insomnia. Afraid of not waking up. Extremely wise, or maybe just world-weary. On tense but good terms with current queen Zelda of Hyrule. Forgives her brother, has come to terms with her fate. Taciturn and calm, probably depressed. Extremely sensitive to dark magic. (like an old burn wound) Dislikes people who use it to forcefully get their way. Doesn’t outright hate the principle of it, but will actively shy away from the presence of it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

❖ Corresponding Link: Time

     o Age: Adult, mentally/physically the same age.

     o Status: Queen of Hyrule. She is married and has a daughter.

     o Nickname ideas: Destiny, Sheik, Queen, Lyre/Harp (what is that thing?), Sage.

     o Fighting style: Fights mostly with magic. Uses the harp to play songs (ironically fights like HW sheik) has basic sheikah skills. Has only been training to fight for a short time, is still fairly physically weak. One of the most proficient magic users all round. Can take down the basic mooks, but won't last long against a bigger enemy. Knows how to fight alone.

     o Current relationship to Link: Strained. Not OOT sheik. Is MM Zelda. Only knows link as the boy who showed up to save the day, then left. Has had occasional interactions, she visits the ranch, he works with the guard. Only in the past year or two, she has had dream glimpses of the alternate timeline. She knows that she and link killed Ganon side by side, that she helped link disguised as sheik. Does not know about the seven years or most of the trauma. Basically, seen like five cutscenes and nothing else.

     o Random stuff: Prophetic dreams. Knew she would be leaving on a quest. Kingdom is well set up to work in her absence. Loves her family, is an idiot who doesn’t know the importance of checking in via letters for anything other than politics. Snobbish, proud, put too much stock in titles. Best manager, not a great leader (doesn’t have the personal skills for it). Sees the world as extremely black and white.

❖ Corresponding Link: Twilight

     o Age: Young adult.

     o Status: Newly coronated queen, has been running the show for a few years now, it's just barely official

     o Nickname ideas: Dusk, Dawn, Shadow

     o Fighting style: Uses mainly rapier to fight. Also, a great archer. Because of temporarily sharing a soul with Midna, has access to powerful twilight magic. Not as strong as Midna, still strong. Has goddess magic (channel through weapons). Tries to hide twili powers mostly since it's “dark magic”, but only technically. She knows it's not true dark magic and really just wants to avoid a lecture (does not get along well with time’s Zelda). Knows her way around the edge of a battlefield.

     o Current relationship to Link: They barely know each other. Only really interacted through saving the world things. Then they went separate ways. She considers Midna a sister and wants to slap both Midna and Link for not realizing they like each other. Once she knows Link better, she will probably tease him a lot.

     o Random stuff: Unlike most of the other Zeldas, sees the world as being mostly shades of grey, rather than stark black and white. Somber and stoic. Secretly a massive gremlin. Has a few habits picked up from Midna's soul along with the magic. Is awkward around ‘normal’ people. Has spent almost her entire life in political settings. One of the best politicians. Rather open about her feelings, it's just small and easily missed. Feels guilty for the troubles that befell both Hyrule and the twilight realm. Hates having to stand back unable to help. Screw rules she is going to help.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

❖ Corresponding Link: Wild

      o Age: 118-120ish(?) I don’t know how long it has been since the events of BOTW.

      o Status: Technically queen, currently is focused on rebuilding Hyrule. Has no intention to take up the throne any time soon.

      o Nickname ideas: Scholar, Architect, Champion, Urbosa, Scientist, Little Bird.

      o Fighting style: Not a great fighter but she is learning. Decent with a sword. Gets a crossbow from twilight and then makes her own out of sheikah tech. (currently has no magic and good riddance). Learning to navigate a battlefield.

      o Current relationship to Link: They are good friends, but it's awkward. Neither of them are totally sure how to act around the other. Basically, either gremlin adventures, or awkward small talk. Past the first road trip, only interact a few times a month. She is caught between trying to mourn her knight and accepting her new hero. Cooking shenanigans.

      o Random stuff: Loves learning new things. Can and will study and find the effects of every plant. Knows poisons, antidotes, elixirs, potions, and everything else. Still trying to come to terms with everything that happened. Frequent nightmares. Claustrophobic/minor insomnia. Knows all the languages. Loves studying sheikah tech, and finally gets the chance to as much as she wants. Hates the castle. So many things change culturally over 100 years and she has no idea what to do. Awkward, but sincere.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

❖ Corresponding Link: Wind

     o Age: Teen

     o Status: Technically the queen. Hyrule currently consists of a single town on the mainland, and lots of plans. Queenish. Anjean is teaching her how to politics.

     o Nickname ideas: Name is tetra that’s it.

     o Fighting style: Uses a pirate saber as well as the phantom sword. (IDK if spirit tracks is part of Wind’s story, but I was not passing up the opportunity to give tetra a massive sword). Decent archer, and can channel light magic into weapons…. most of the time…... It’s a work in progress. Also has general goddess magic. Big explosion of light. Knows her way around a battlefield

     o Current relationship to Link: Serve on a crew together. Best friends and partners in crime. There is a lot that needs to be done to start a country, they will do it together. It’s not going quickly. They keep getting distracted. Why do paperwork when you can steal things.

     o Random stuff: Smol. Link hit puberty and got a growth spurt. She did not. Not a politician, this child should not be in charge, whose idea was it to let a pirate child run a country. Great leader. All the social skills. Shoot first… that’s it. Sassy. Trying her best to be a good princess and live up to her lineage. It's hard. There is no book. Feels like she is letting everyone down. Hates big birds. Occasional nightmares. Really hates being cold. (turned to stone)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

❖ Corresponding Link: Legend

     o Age: Older teen

     o Status: Queen. Has ruled for a while. Amazing support system. They regularly keep things running when she gets kidnapped. Good relations with all surrounding countries.

     o Nickname ideas: Maiden, Sage, Hilda.

     o Fighting style: Doesn’t. Pacifist. She can attack with light magic, chooses not to. Healing magic, team buffs, defense. Just because she doesn’t fight doesn’t mean she will let her team die. Strongest support magic. Does not know her way around a battlefield.

     o Current relationship to Link: Good work friends. They get along well enough. No massive personal relations. She asks him for help with killing monsters, he asks her for help with laws. It works for them. Occasionally they will get lunch together and catch up. (aka make sure he didn’t get himself killed.) Can use telepathy to contact Link at any time. Keeps it to emergencies only. Because he finds it massively annoying, and a little creepy.

     o Random stuff: Massive romantic. Currently single. Misses being able to gossip with Hilda. Kind and compassionate. Does not stand for injustice. Will forgive until the end of time. Just because she is kind does not mean she is weak. Strong-willed. Good politician. Loved by her people, even if Ganon has attacked like five times. Ganon is the only person on the list of people she would happily shank. So much paperwork. Give the girl a break. Keeps craft supplies on her for long imprisonments. Scrying magic, and a little bit prophetic.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

❖ Corresponding Link: Warriors

     o Age: Adult. Older than warriors, younger than time or his Zelda.

     o Status: Queen of Hyrule, and commander of its army. Her Hyrule has been in turmoil for a while even before the war with Cia.

     o Nickname ideas: General, Commander, Tactician.

     o Fighting style: Best fighter. Can use all the weapons. Summon a bow or rapier of pure light magic. Strongest understanding of how the goddess magic works with weapons. Mostly fights as Zelda (basically her gameplay style), still uses her sheik disguise sometimes (ironically fights similar to smash bros sheik because of extensive sheikah training.) Lives on the battlefield.

     o Current relationship to Link: They work seamlessly together in battle and are friends outside of it. They haven't actually known each other very long so it's awkward sometimes. She still has to occasionally remind him that she doesn’t need a title. If they were two kids in a village then they would probably date. But they are not, and things are complicated. Duty to the kingdom comes first.

      o Random stuff: Best makeup. Amazing, if ruthless, politician. Best historian. Blunt. No time for crap. One of the best leaders doesn’t have the pure charisma to outdo warriors though. Resting B Face. 90% of soldiers are scared of her. Comes across as harsh, rude, cold. Really, she is just a bit awkward and hides behind a mask. Can’t do people, can do basically anything else. Minor prophetic magic.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

❖ Corresponding Link: Sky

     o Age: Old teen/young adult. Older than Sky.

     o Status: Technically the queen, but Hyrule hasn’t been founded yet. Officially goddess Hylia reincarnated. She doesn’t go around flaunting the title, but sometimes the memories of Hylia she gained will overwhelm her. Full goddess mode. Doesn’t stand for dark magic.

     o Nickname ideas: Hylia, Sun, Swallow.

     o Fighting style: trained at the academy and knows how to fight with a sword. Not a good fighter. massive bursts of power usually win her fights. Sometimes she can channel a little bit of her power, but usually, she just gets overwhelmed by all of it. General goddess magic, cannot channel through weapons. Thinks she does, but in fact, does not know her way around a battlefield

     o Current relationship to Link: Do I need to explain? These two are head over heels. Sappy love birds all the way. Childhood friends. Everyone is surprised they're not engaged yet.

     o Random stuff: More adventure-ready style to reflect working on founding Hyrule. Fierce and determined. Kind. But she will get her way. Struggles to balance her mortality and newfound divinity. Feels bad that Sky had to fight for her. Loves her bird. Beautiful singing voice. She is trying her best but is in fact very bad at being an adventurer. Good at sewing. Loads of people skills, working on leadership skills. Best with children. 6th sense type prophetic magic. (aka see a shot before it is taken, but not a coming calamity.)

That's it. Congrats on making it to the end. You get a cookie. 🍪

[dentpx]

Ganondorf Hotness Masterpost

Under a read more for the weak-willed of you! I am not counting Ganon because I don’t need that sort of stress in my life.

Ocarina of Time

Start of it all! He’s a little silly looking with his big ol’ fantasy crocs. I like his piercings and sense of drama. Hairline is receding a little but that means nothing when you’re really in love. 7/10

Oracle of Ages

Even though he never actually ended up being used, there’s a lot to love about him. Mainly the DRAMA of it all, this is peak evil sorcerer design and it’s very fun and hot. The skull necklace and THEN the belt with fangs? Unmatched. 9/10

SSBM

Apologies for the gif, he needs to be seen in motion I think. I like the touch-ups to the OoT armor with the gold detailing, but I don’t like the cape and the hair adjustments. Worth noting you can change the color of his earrings with in-game skins which is important to me. 7/10

Wind Waker

Love the shape of this guy. Big sleeves are always in. He also has a nice sense of approachability, which is important in a partner. 10/10

Twilight Princess

Really love this design, feels very regal and mature. All of the decoration is lovely. He does look like he might be a little mean but I’m sure we could work things out. 8/10

SSBB

He may be last on the tier list but he’s first in my heart. Just sort of a flashier, blockier Twilight design, not much of an improvement or downgrade either way. 8/10

Phantom Hourglass

As adorable as this little card is, I can’t form a relationship with a cut-out. However he is the Wind Waker design which is still great. 5/10

OoT3D

Ughhhhhhh this new art is so good..........dynamic....colorful....beautiful.......his cape with the gold lining is just killing me. 9/10.

SSB4

GREAT upgrade to the Twilight design by making him be POST STABBING???? The drama of the ripped cape and the literal hole in his chest....makes it quite easy to steal his heart. The outfit and hair has been refined a lot too and he looks great. 9/10

Hyrule Warriors + Hyrule Warriors Legends

EASILY one of the sexiest Ganondorf designs ever, and it’s non-canon! The hair. The gems. The earrings. The smoky eye. The headpiece is sooo elegant too. And he kinda seems like outside of battle he would be so nice to grab coffee with and have a date! And maybe it’ll blossom into something more! Who knows!!!!! 12/10

Breath of the Wild

Even though by my own guidelines he doesn’t count, I’m putting him on here just to say I miss my man :( Ganondorf in BOTW2 please Nintendo. The gem is a nice touch though. 3/10

SSBU

OoT Ganondorf has never looked better, which is crazy at this point. He could gently carry me with ease and that’s great. Would love to grab dinner. 10/10

[only-by-the-stars]

the annotated Tome of the Wild

Part four: Into the Night!

- The cart driver is, of course, the ubiquitous Beedle.

- Aryll is now calling the frog Ravio, after the character from Link Between Worlds.

- Mipha does indeed call Link reckless, in the “Mipha’s Touch” memory in BOTW as well as in her diary.

- Telma runs a bar in Hyrule Castle Town in TP, so naturally she’s got one here too.

- “No imps in my establishment! You're all bad luck! Harbingers of calamity!” Foreshadowing that Midna is unknowingly leading Link and Aryll to a servant of the Beast.

- “The Scholar” is Shad, a member of the Resistance in TP, who gathered at Telma’s bar. The Bean Seller is... the Bean Seller from OOT. And the Fortune Teller is of course Astrid from PH.

- Oh hey, Astrid drew the Two of Cups from her deck! A water card that, when upright, is a great portent for romantic relationships. Hmmm...

- The Highwayman, of course, is one of the Gorman Brothers, who try to rob Cremia’s cart and steal her milk in a memorable sidequest in MM. Now, in the show it’s implied, and confirmed in the comics, that the horse the brothers abscond with belongs to the Highwayman, which explains the desire to steal. So, too, is Epona the Highwayman’s horse here.

- Her eyes narrowed. “Rhoam... of course.” And we have a name drop for the woodsman, who up until now was only seen through Link’s eyes, and of course he doesn’t know the guy’s name, which means I didn’t use it. This little moment confirms that Midna and Rhoam have some past connection that isn’t friendly, to say the least.

- “You have the strangest life line I've ever seen, young man... I cannot seem to get a read on it at all.” Because he is, again, hovering between life and death in the river as this is happening.

- “On the bright side, your heart line is very promising. All signs indicate that you are a devoted and intensely passionate lover.” His love for Mipha is indeed very deep and intense, which just flusters him and reminds him again that he’s not courting her (yet) because of his fears.

- The Happy Mask Salesman, Rhondson, and Bolson, all have their services offered to him.

- She held up a card with a depiction of a bearded old man, peering out of a cave. The Hermit card, which often is depicted as an old man with a lantern. Not to mention that in the original Legend of Zelda, Link goes into a cave and gets a sword from an old man. Its meaning of isolating oneself is also a neat bonus that alludes to Link isolating himself from Mipha and all his other friends, and in a love context the card can also mean coming out of the other side of such a period of loneliness and being ready for a fresh start. It’s the reference that keeps on giving, folks.

- “So you think.” Telma shook her head slowly. “The Beast's lies are insidious, child, and will lead you down the wrong path before you realize what's happening. Listen not to him—he preys on lost, hopeless children, seeking to turn them into dekuwood trees for his lantern. Beware!” Link is gonna remember this all later during his decisive encounter with the Beast.

- “Midna?” The old man's eyes darted over to where Midna lay on the ground. “Is that—” He knows that name! But he took off before Midna got transformed, so he’s more than a little startled to hear it in this context.

- And of course, Epona is the beloved horse belonging to Link, that was first introduced in OOT.

- Cap’n and Ambi are from the Oracle games; you meet Cap’n in Oracle of Seasons, and Ambi in Oracle of Ages, and you only see them interact and learn of their love for each other in a linked game. The OTGW character that Cap’n takes the role of implies that he’s done some pretty shady stuff to get all his money, and a background of piracy would fit into that, eh?

- In the show, their goal is to steal two pennies, which is a reference to the toll required to pay Charon, ferryman of the dead in Greek myth. So here it’s two rupees.

- Fun with paintings! The three Aryll takes an interest in are of course references to other series entries. The egg atop the mountain is the Wind Fish’s egg from LA, the creepy path through dead trees is the painting that Phantom Ganon erupts from in the Forest Temple in OOT, and the painting of the broken automatons is the one on Impa’s wall in BOTW, depicting where Link fell in Blatchery Plain. You can put those all together for a double, linked meaning too: Link and Aryll are in a sort of dream they must awaken from, a deadly phantom is stalking them through this forest, and Link is having a near-death experience at the moment.

- “You haven't been any worse than this jerk I know back home.” He’s talking about Revali, of course.

- “I was in the middle of my search, wandering the woods, when I came upon a old beggar woman.” I mentioned Koume’s full title, “Good Woman of the Woods”, earlier in the tavern, and now we have Midna talking about meeting an old beggar woman in the woods. A subtle hint as to who cursed her. She is being mostly honest with Link here, she’s just omitting key information like that. Further, if you’ve read enough fairy tales, you know just HOW bad an idea it is to refuse to help the random strangers you meet by the side of the road. Bad things happen when you do that. Midna fucked around and found out, in the tradition of many unfortunate souls in the old stories.

- Link confides in Midna about his love for Mipha and what he’s been doing, revealing the existence of the mixtape that was hinted at back in chapter one, what he heard from Riju and Medli about Revali planning to ask her out, and just generally wallows in his own guilt. She gives him great advice about the situation, but sadly her own betrayal is about to temporarily undercut its effectiveness and set back his progress.

- “Detective Aryll is on the case, but you gotta give me something to work with here! Where were you on the night of—” The first appearance of her calling herself a detective, which came from Riju thanking her for helping her and Medli solve the mystery of Link’s hurtful behavior recently.

- He uncovered a plaque of his own, that read 'Captain Misko's Tea Company'. Misko is the bandit mentioned but never seen in BOTW. I felt it an appropriate first name to give Cap’n.

- “You will have to collect many of them, but I think you will find yourselves up to the task.” A reference to the message that you’ll have to collect a lot of them that pops up when you grab a green rupee in some of the games.

and that does it for part four!

[a-truth-universally-acknowledged]

Some Breath of The Wild Sequel Thoughts and Theories

I haven’t been able to stop thinking about the Breath of The Wild Sequel it’s like I desperately have to solve whatever was happening in that first look trailer.

So here’s a brain dump of things I’ve been thinking of. A lot of this I’m saying is kinda a lot of little theories, but make of it what you will.

Also this is may be quite long…

Brain Dump 1:

So at the moment I’m assuming that the Ancient Barbarian Tribe is closely associated, if not the same as the Zonai Tribe. Note that the Ancient Barbarian Tribe are from the Faron region and the Zonai Ruins are also found in the Faron region. The Zonai Tribe were also said to worship a dragon which is likely to be Farosh due to the region, and of the other dragons Farosh is associated with courage.

The Zonai Ruins also show structures of animals which symbolise different parts of the Triforce, pointing out that dragons in general represent courage, and boars/pigs represent power. (Should also mention that they have structures of owls which represent wisdom, but this won’t be my focus since I feel that the other two have been more prominent for the tribe(s), or for what I’ve seen at least)

But I’ll talk more about this later.

Brain Dump 2:

Just a random thing, this kinda looks like those long structures are Guardian legs haha. I guess this could sorta be linked to the idea that Guardians are stored in the pillars that once rested beneath Hyrule Castle (which we know have risen from the ground now), given that this place we see is in fact underneath Hyrule Castle.

Anyway, this overall structure also kinda reminds me of

this one, and it may be the Ancient Barbarian Tribe’s/Zonai Tribe’s own sort of Shrine of Resurrection?

Brain Dump 3:

As amazing as it would be that this hand could be associated with the Twili (would totally love to see Midna again!!!), it sorta does seem to have Aztec-like designs on it which we also see on Zonai structures. Could be a bit of a stretch though if no one else sees it.

Also wanna raise the idea that the hand is green, commonly associated with courage within TLoZ games.

Brain Dump 4:

The Barbarian helm kinda reminds me of Ganon with the red hair and the horns. Particularly OoT Ganon. This one could be a stretch, probably just from thinking about the teaser trailer too much and trying to make sense of it.

Also OoT Phantom Ganon rode a horse and wielded a trident and we also see a figure wielding a trident and riding a horse in the paintings on the wall in the teaser video.

Bringing these brain dumps together:

I think the symbolism of the colours could be quite important. Honestly, I don’t think the green hand is bad and when we see Link’s hand turn green in the teaser trailer it could be to do with the Triforce of Courage.

I personally had interpreted the teaser trailer as the green hand (courage) preventing the red malice (power) emanating from the body, presumably Ganondorf, to spread further. We also see Link’s hand turn the same green. Maybe he obtains some sort of power from the green hand. Maybe this is Link truly awakening his powers, just like we had seen Zelda do before.

As for the stuff about the Ancient Barbarian Tribe and the Zonai Tribe, this is what is making myself confused. Assuming they are the same, why would they appear to largely worship dragons (once again noting that they represent courage), yet also pigs/boars (also noting again that they represent power) as seen by an entire armour set (Barbarian Armour) being created possibly with this animal in mind?

Honestly, I don’t have an overarching theory of this, but for the moment, I do believe that the chosen hero we see in the tapestry depicting The Legend of the Calamity 10,000 years ago is Ganondorf (I mean not just the reddish hair colour but that’s definitely a Gerudo nose too!), and this could be part of the plot of the Breath of The Wild Sequel as I think we would have to learn things that went wrong with the Ancient Barbarian Tribe/Zonai Tribe. Perhaps there was confusion and conflict between tribe members in regard to the Triforce of Courage and the Triforce of Power that caused a rift in their relations and led to their downfall? Maybe the Ancient Barbarian Tribe are a small group who were once of the Zonai Tribe but established themselves due to different values, similar to how the Yiga were once Sheikah?

Obviously, there are flaws with all this but just some thoughts.

[sweetchcolate]

Zelda, relationship with Link, and companion characters

With BotW throwing many Zelda conventions aside, I think one that struck me the most in comparison to big Zelda games (SS, TP, WW, OoT) is the lack of a companion character.

It works fairly well for BotW, considering that it’s about exploring the land of Hyrule, a first experience largely unmarred by other characters’s opinions/expectations/advices.

Another thing I’d like to adress is how Zelda’s relationship with Link was addressed in the last two big games (SS/BotW) in comparisons to others: in both of them, Zelda and Link aren’t just the Gods’ chosens who must team up in order to defeat Ganon. SS portrays them as closes childhood friends, giving Zelda’s disappearance an even more personal feel to the “rescue her!” drive the game gives off. As for BotW, despite their rocky start, you can feel the evolution of Zelda’s and Link’s relationship from dislike/indifference to two people who genuinely care for each other (it’s at least confirmed on Zelda’s part).

So, what’s the link (ha!) between companion characters and Zelda’s and Link’s relationship?

Well, here it is:

What if, in another LoZ game, Zelda was Link’s companion character? 

(I know about Spirit Tracks, but let me explain)

So, first off, let’s consider the companion characters. What’s so special about them?

From OoT’s Navi, WW’s King of Red Lions, TP’s Midna or SS’s Fi, all these characters share a similar trait: to guide Link on his adventures. You usually meet companion characters near the very beginning of each game, as they serve the purpose of giving you advice or reminding you of your current objective. 

However, what’s most notable about those characters is that they’re the only ones who remain with Link throughout his entire adventure. Yes, you meet various people/races in LoZ games, but how many of them have been with you from beginning to end? How many of them have travelled to the past with you? Sailed through the oceans with you? Have stuck with you when you were at your lowest until the very end? Have recommended you change your Wii mote batteries (woops)?

None, except for companion characters.

And as such, you end up growing attached to them. The prime examples of this are Navi/Midna (especially the latter, as she undergoes character development of her own). Since you care about them, their inevitable departure ends up hitting you hard.

Because another trait those characters share is that they will inevitably leave you. Whether on their own accord or against their wishes, once your adventure ends, so must you companionship. And the more you care, the harder it is.

I mentioned, earlier, Spirit Tracks. What’s so special about the game?

Well, I feel that it has the best “common guy Link/Princess Zelda” relationship (platonic or not, it’s up to you) in the series.

Link, at the beginning, is a humble train conductor who must receive his permit from Princess Zelda. They meet during the ceremony, Link looks at her and blushes because she’s really pretty, and that should be the end of it if Link really was a common guy. Considering Zelda is a princess, she doesn’t have the time to entertain a relationship with Link, someone of lower status and whom she knows nothing about.

Except for this twist: as Zelda’s body is kidnapped in order to resurrect this game’s villain, her spirit remains, invisible. Only Link and a few others can see her.

Link’s tasked to, obviously, save Hyrule from the impeding doom and retrieve Zelda’s body. He has to travel all over the country, and Zelda waves him off with a “go, Link! Save Hyrule and bring my body back. I’ll cheer for you from here.”

To which the Lokomo elder goes “dear, he’s not doing this alone. You’re going with him.”

This is such an important point. Zelda, as a princess, has gone through very little struggles in her life. As expected of her sheltered POV, she expected Link to go through all the manual labor and rescue her body while she waited.

But here, she becomes a companion character. As she accompanies Link, not only is there potential for their relationship to grow, but Zelda also goes through a journey of her own (quite like Midna). She learns to overcome her fear of rats, dives into a Phantom that was about to end Link’s life in order to save him, worries about Link catching a cold. She smiles, cries, droops or screams. She hugs Link in elation as she gets her body back.

Not only does Zelda’s character develop, the fact that she’s this game’s companion character means you grow attached to her as well. As a princess, she lived a sheltered life and knows very little about her land, which is why she doesn’t impede your exploration of this game’s world (doesn’t interrupt as much, which is what most people hated about Fi).

Why did most of us care for Zelda in SS? Because she was our childhood friend. We shared some funny moments with her, saw her mad and worried or even flirty.

Why did we care for Zelda in BotW? Because of her struggles, her desire to succeed, and the way her opinion of Link changes (showing her development). We loved the strength and the passion.

And what games had some of the strongest Zelink (platonic or romantic) vibes? SS and BotW (and Spirit Tracks lol)

BotW had this princess and knight/hero dynamic going, but if we consider normal guy Link (like in OoT, WW, TP) who then turns into a hero, ST’s setting was the one that allowed for the most growth between him and the princess, but also for Zelda as a character of her own.

As a companion character, Zelda must leave Link at the end of the adventure: she retrieves her body, returns to her duties, and it’s doubtful she can live through another adventure as the one she went through.

However, unlike other companion characters, Spirit Tracks gives the impression that Link still has the means to visit Zelda. Unlike Navi leaving forever, the King of Red Lions flooded with Hyrule, Midna breaking the Mirror of Twilight or Fi sleeping inside the Master Sword, you get the feeling that this parting is only temporary.

Tldr: reasons why it’d be interesting to have Zelda be a companion character or someone you travel with for a good chunk of the game:

it allows for her character to develop;

it allows to explore her and Link’s relationship;

it allows for the player to care for her as a person;

it’s fcking called the Legend of Zelda. Let the girl have her own adventure! Let us be with Zelda for more than 10 min!

[magical-girl-04]

1. Hmm not really, maybe mm with Halloween cuz spooky yknow

2. Ooh haven't really played much of the 2D games but minish cap is super fun!

3. Favourite Zelda? Ohhh nooo they're all amazing, uhhhh, I think maybe tp and Albw might me my favs?

4. Ahhh heres where people start to hate me- my least fav would have to be botw- it's a good game and all I just got a bit bored of it 😅

5. Ohhh favourite soundtrack ahhhhhh I'd probably have to say oot! Also tho! The hyrule warriors songs are actually so underrated!! Oh and dont even get me started on the spirit track soundtrack! It's so good!!

6. Oh definitely majoras mask, I started it, got to the first temple, fell to the bottom of it and haven't played since- the time limit freaks me out, same with phantom hourglass! Oh and the scary trains in spirit tracks means that I stopped partway through that-

7. Fav dungeons, hmmm the forest temple in oot makes me happy, hyrule castle in both oot and albw is pretty fun too, oh oh and the tower place with the giant burger Caterpillar in albw! I love that one!! The minish cap ones were super fun too but I cant remeber much about them-

8. Most underrated game? Hmmm, honestly probably spirit tracks, I really need to actually play though all of that sometime

9. Least favourite charater in the series?? Uhhh idk, I guess tingle kinda freaks me out?

10. Fav item, hmm bow or magic rod maybe?

11. Fav ganon, ohhh defo wind waker, I actually feel bad for ww ganon

12. Sentimental value would definitely be oot, twas the first zelda game I actually finished

13. Best character designs? Maybe albw? Hilda and Irene make me very happy-

14. Hmm probably the classic master sword

15. Fav location, oot gerudo valley comes to mind, mostly for the music but also it's quite fun sneaking around and jumping the bridge with epona.

16. Lorule 😌

17. Most atmospheric.. probably botw ig

18. What game feels more mature? Hmm Twilight Princess maybe, just the dark grim vibes yknow, plus link actually looks a bit older in that one.

19. Darkest story? Probably Majoras mask, not so much the overlaying story, like yeah it's dark but its all the little stories of each character.

20. Fav 3D... oot and albw

21. Prettiest zelda game, straight up the official art for skyward sword is super pretty!! I love the water colour vibes! Albw has really pretty art aswell!! And of course theres the whole of botw aswell, it looks gorgous.

22. Favourite link, maybe toon link? But like specifically from phantom hourglass, he's very cute.

23. Spiritual Stones, I actually have necklace pendants of them! (Tho the kokeri emerald is missing which is sad cuz it's my fav)

24. Game with best weapons? Uhhh idk, I haven't actually gotten very far in them (cuz they're console games and the whole family uses the consoles) but ss and tp have some pretty cool weapons!!

25. Ooooh favourite companion! I actually have a really soft spot for navi! I love midna too tho!! Oh and of course ghost zelda from spirit tracks!!

26. Fav Handheld, defo albw cuz oot doesn't really count even tho I played the 3ds version-

27. Best title?? Uhhh idk I dont put much thought into that-

28. Most wholesome, hmm probably minish cap, its super cute!! I love the minish so much!!

29. Fav item to use? Didnt I already answer one like this-

30. Fav title theme, definitely oot!! Its a classic!

31. Hardest dungeon played, that majoras mask one, oh or the turtle one in albw, I hate that one, there was an annoying one in la aswell

32. Best map design... maybe la? It was pretty simple but nice

33. Puzzles or combat? Hmmm it depends really, I suck at both so I feel great whenever I accomplish either 😅

34. Game with hardest boss, hmm what's the hardest boss for me??? Maybe straight up ghoma in oot just cuz it freaks me out-

35. Game with hardest final boss, probably la? I think I died during that and never actually finished it- tp looks pretty hard too, and I think mc has a timer or something? Ohhh actually skyward sword looks really hard aswell, no where near that point but watched my dad do it and oomph-

36. Most engaging story to me, probably albw, it's one of the big reasons I love it 😌

37. Least fav enemy, pretty much everything in ss cuz I suck at the controls and the whole directional thing throws me off.

38. Creepiest enemy, dead hand (is that what its called, the creepy thing at the bottom of the well in oot?) And the redeads but specifically the ww ones

39. Most satisfying ending.. oooh that's a tuffy, a lot of them end pretty sadly- I think I might have to go with hyrule warriors on this one- I think spirit tracks ending is supposed to be pretty good but I haven't gotten that far yet

40. Most out of place thing in the series? Maybe those clowns in tp? Like everything's super dull and whatnot and then thwres just this giant colourful hexagon thingy??? Also that one kids shop as well in tp-

41. Ohhhhhh fav ocarina sonnngg, shit I love them all uhhh, song of storms hits really good- and I'm actually in love with sarias song aswell

42. Fave non transformation mask in mm.. gonna be real basic here and go with the bunny ears!! They're just so cute!! Plus they make you go faster!!

43. Fav transformation mask, haven't gotten that far but the zora one looks very cool!!

44. Hardest sidequest?? Uhhh ykkow those like, hey look at this photo, you need to go here to find whatever it is in botw? Yeah I hate that one. (I think it's one of the shrine ones?? Like not the sheika slate photo, those were easy to find, but there was one in one of the stables or something?)

45. Best sidequest, haven't actually played it but that one quest with that purple haired adult turned kid guy in mm seems really cool and I wanna get through mm just so I can play it-

46. Fav remake/remaster, 3ds oot!! Albw remake is really cool too tho!!

47. Most fulfilling? Probably oot, something about it just makes me really happy whenever I complete it

48. Fav graphical style... honestly probably ww- everything looks so good! Especially the swirls!!

49. Fav thing in a bottle, fairies definitely, hey have saved me sooooo many times

50. Favourite shield, gotta go with the classic oot master shield.

🌟 TLOZ asks 🌟

1. Is there a Zelda game(s) that you associate with each season or time of year?

2. Favourite 2D title?

3. Favourite incarnation of Zelda?

4. Least favourite entry in the series?

5. Favourite LOZ soundtrack?

6. Is there a Zelda game that intimidates you/looks too hard?

7. Favourite dungeons?

8. Most underrated Zelda game?

9. Least favourite character in the series?

10. Favourite item?

11. Favourite Ganon characterization?

12. Which Zelda game has the most sentimental value to you?

13. What Zelda game, in your opinion, has the best character design?

14. Master Sword, the Four Sword, Great Fairy's Sword, the Koholint Sword, or the Biggoron Sword?

15. Favourite location within Hyrule?

16. Favourite location outside of/parallel to Hyrule (Termina, Lorule, Holodrum, Subrosia, the Dark World, Labrynna, the Great Sea, etc)?

17. Most atmospheric game?

18. Which Zelda game feels most mature to you?

19. Which Zelda game has the darkest story to you?

20. Favourite 3D title?

21. Prettiest Zelda game?

22. Favourite incarnation of Link?

23. The Pendants of Virtue, the Spiritual Stones, or the Goddess Pearls?

24. Game with most impressive/useful lineup of items?

25. Favourite companion (Midna, Ezlo, Navi, etc)?

26. Favourite handheld title?

27. Game with the best title (Breath of the Wild, Twilight Princess, Link's Awakening, etc)?

28. Most wholesome Zelda game?

29. Favourite item to use (aside from the sword & shield)?

30. Favourite title theme from a Zelda game?

31. Hardest dungeon played?

32. Game with the best map design?

33. Do you prefer puzzles or combat?

34. Game with the hardest boss?

35. Game with the hardest final boss?

36. Which game had the most engaging story, in your opinion?

37. Least favourite enemy?

38. Creepiest enemy?

39. Which Zelda game, in your opinion, had the most satisfying ending?

40. Most out-of-place thing in the series?

41. Favourite ocarina song?

42. Favourite non-transformation mask from Majora's Mask?

43. Favourite transformation mask from Majora's Mask?

44. Hardest sidequest in the series?

45. Best sidequest in the series?

46. Favourite remake/remaster (Ocarina of Time 3D, The Wind Waker HD, Link's Awakening for the Switch)?

47. Most fulfilling Zelda game?

48. Favourite graphical style within the games (cel-shading, realistic, 16-bit, etc)?

49. Favourite thing to keep in a bottle?

50. Favourite shield?