#no one knows I have BotW on 100%

[grimae]

happy Zelda day y'all. Here's the dragons I drew from BotW some years ago because I basically always loved Zelda's dragon designs.

[mysteryfeesh]

I sat and stared right where you left me.

@woulduknowmore’s Ganlink fic has me in shambles and I think everyone should go read it and it’s sequel!

[situationallyintelligent]

I sure love being normal and having at least 440, but likely actually 500 hours within the botw/totk/age of calamity universe(s). Surely my connection in my mind with Link and the ways I have played in ways that specifically meant I was trying to think like him for the story of the game has not altered the way I think.

surely I am normal for dying all my botw clothes to match the environment they are worn in (to hide in an unfamiliar world) and dying all of my totk clothes in exactly Link's colors (sky blue and tan babyyy) to show how he has come into his identity in any environment and is now the one hunting down Ganondorf

[phoenixcatch7]

Love how every zelda has a special interest and that special interest saves the world.

[autistickaitovocaloid]

I haven't done all the sidequests etc that I still want to do in my inital playthrough but I kind of want to replay totk...

[gottagobuycheese]

there’s got to be a faster way to play this game but How

[this-user-has-been-erased]

Master works actually says he remains by her side after botw though, along with her diary and an interview with fujibayashi. In fact the direct quote he says he still escorts her 💀 People literally aren't making shit up, it's literally a canon fact.Not liking certain facts doesn't make them not facts and everyone's somehow just bsing because you haven't seen the sauce.

And I also disagree he's not a character either. He's not a well fleshed out one sure. He has been given characterization. Again, just because you haven't seen the canon text people are using to base this stuff on doesn't make it non-canon all of a sudden. Like, it's official text...

Okay but if it really was so obvious that he's in love then why didn't they make it clearer in game, in every language? And yes he has been given like one or two bits of characterization, especially during the actual game, i.e. when he's cooking he's smiling and happy. But otherwise the only characterization we actually get is from reading other characters' diaries and hearing other characters talking about him, like in the tea party memory from TotK where Zelda just lists off Link's personality traits. I admit that a lot of my issues with these games are because of the god awful writing but it feels like such a step back from previous games like WW and SS where Link has so much personality throughout the entire game, without anyone having to TELL you about his personality.

For example, in the cutscene in SS where Zelda seals herself in the crystal, Link doesn't have to say a word, no one has to tell you what he's feeling, because he's visibly devastated and clearly cares a lot about Zelda. Compare that to TotK where, even after seeing memories of Zelda literally irreversibly turning herself into a dragon, Link literally just. does not react. To his supposed beloved girlfriend permanently sacrificing her humanity to get the Master Sword back to him. This is what's presented in the game. Even if it's different in the Japanese version, if they really wanted Link's feelings to be clear then they should have translated it correctly, but they didn't, and you shouldn't have to play the game in 2+ different languages and see every single interview to get a full picture of the story and characters. And ultimately, if Link is barely a character, then I just can't see how he's so in love with Zelda, let alone any character (because tbh I don't like most BotW Link ships).

But like I said, I think it more boils down to the fact that BotW and TotK simply do not have good writing, and a lot of my problems with this era's Zelink would be solved if they actually cared at all and put any modicum of effort into making decent characters and story. And of course, part of my frustration is also because it feels like no one even considers the possibility that Link and Zelda are... Friends. That's how I see them, as very close friends, and others don't have to agree with me but it's still irritating when people act like friendship isn't as deep or special as romance.

[suniix]

one bed | (botw) link x reader

synopsis | you and link stop by an inn to rest, but there’s one small problem

word count | 1.3k

note | thought about it too hard so i wrote a fic about it (based on this little comic! pls look at it it’s so cute)

As the moon rose, the world beyond your hotel window fell into a peaceful slumber. The faint sound of crickets could be heard singing their calming melody. The peaceful night ambiance would’ve been enough to put you to sleep had it not been for your frantic beating heart.

In front of you lies your traveling companion, Link, whose back was practically against the wall, arms wrapped around himself as if afraid to accidentally touch you.

The silence in the room was deafening, neither of you knew what to say in this situation. After sleeping on the hard ground for weeks the two of you had agreed to spend the night at The Great Ton Pu Inn. The rain that quickly followed your decision only fueled your excitement for a comfy bed as the two of you rushed up the hill leading to Hateno Village. What neither of you expected was for every room to be booked, every room but one with a single bed.

Despite both of you being tired from traveling, neither of you could fall asleep because of the awkward tension that hung in the air. Ignoring it was proving to be impossible, someone had to say something, but you were hesitant to break the silence for fear of making things awkward (as if they weren’t already). You had been traveling with Link for weeks, months even! The two of you have shared several nights close together under the comfort of the stars, what makes now so different?

Maybe it was the smirk the front desk lady had given you both after handing you your key, maybe it was because despite how much you prayed for a room with two beds to miraculously become available you were secretly happy to share a bed with the Hylian boy, or maybe it was because despite you looking everywhere but him you could feel his eyes on you.

Just say something, anything!

You clear your throat, shuffling nervously under the blanket. “Um.. Rupee for your thoughts?” You asked in a hushed voice, an awkward smile making its way onto your face.

Link blinked rapidly in response, likely surprised by your sudden question. He continued to stare at you in silence, now tense as his cheeks turned a bright red.

Thinking you made him uncomfortable you quickly rise out of the bed. “Sorry! You know what maybe I should just sleep on the couch—”

Before you had the chance to remove the blanket from your body Link quickly sat up in bed and reached out to grab your wrist, shaking his head furiously. You stop when he does, slightly surprised to see how fast he had reacted when he looked so tired earlier. Your eyes fall on his hand which, despite the quick reaction, holds your wrist just tight enough to keep you from leaving but loose enough for you to pull away if you so wished. Realizing what he did he slowly pulls away. You immediately miss the warmth.

He looks down, blush remaining on his cheeks as he nervously fiddles with his fingers. “Don’t go, I..” he pauses, unsure if he should finish his thought. He looked up to see you staring at him patiently, waiting for him to finish. That was one thing he loved about you; you were always so patient with him. Although he was more talkative than he was 100 years ago he often found himself struggling to express what he wanted, likely an unconscious habit that stayed with him through his century-long sleep. Despite this you never hurried or pressured him into talking, allowing him to do it at his own pace. Taking a deep breath he continued. “.. I like being close to you.”

As soon as the words left his mouth you felt your cheeks burn. Did you hear him right or was it just a hallucination caused by the late hour of the night? You thought about pinching yourself, but the way he nervously played with his fingers (a habit you found adorable) and the way the ends of his hair curled up just a bit revealing a small scar on his shoulder made it too real to be a dream.

After a few moments of silence Link looked up, seeing your shocked expression. He quickly backtracked, thinking he made you uncomfortable with what he said. “Unless you don’t! That’s fine!—”

“I do!”

Link freezes upon hearing your response. You awkwardly clear your throat. “I-I mean, I also like being close to you..” you nearly whisper, feeling your ears burn with the embarrassment of blurting it out earlier.

Then the room went silent. Your heart was frantically beating against your chest; you hoped Link couldn’t hear it.

Your fear was proven false (unbeknownst to you) as Link was currently lost in his own mind. Link had become so accustomed to seeing you in that golden campfire glow that the current sight of you left him breathless. He thought you looked even more captivating in the moonlight.

He slowly nodded his head, eyes refusing to leave your form. “Ok.” He responded in a daze. It was the only thing Link could think to say as his mind was still elsewhere.

“We should probably sleep now..” You looked past Link and out the window, seeing the moon high in the clear sky. “It’s getting late.”

Link hummed, snapping out of the trance he was in and nodding his head in agreement. You settled back under the blanket and he followed your actions. Despite your earlier conversation, there was still a good chunk of space between the two of you on the small bed.

Wanting him to come closer, you begin to think of a way to convince him. “You know, it’s kind of cold in here.” You whispered (a small lie, it was the middle of summer), but you knew Link heard you when he looked back at you. Deciding to take a chance you scoot closer to him and you hear his breath hitch. “So I wouldn’t mind if.. you came closer.”

Hesitantly, Link listened and with a smile scooted just a little bit closer. You breathed out a sigh of relief you didn’t even know you were holding, moving closer to him again. Beneath the blanket, your hand slowly moved to reach his. As your fingers slowly grazed his he flinched. You were about to pull away before he intertwined his hand with yours. There’s that familiar warmth.

He pulled your hand close to his chest, gently tugging you closer. You complied, wordlessly moving closer to him once again. The distance between your bodies was minimal now; you were so close you could see the faintest freckles gracing his cheeks.

“Are you still cold?” He asked in a low whisper. You nodded your head (another lie, you were already beginning to feel sweaty). You couldn’t help it, now that you’ve experienced what it’s like to be close to him you crave more. Being greedy just this once wouldn’t hurt.

Link lets go of your hand, wrapping his arms around you to bring you against his chest. Your eyes widen at the sudden action, but you don’t pull away.

“Better?”

You nodded, slowly wrapping your arms around him in case he flinched away. When he didn’t you fully wrapped your arms around his torso and snuggled into him, a painfully large grin stretching across your face when he did the same. Your palms were sweaty as they tightly gripped his shirt. He smelled earthy, like damp dirt with a hint of smoke. You sighed in contentment, not caring that the two of you would likely wake up sweaty tomorrow. You didn’t release your grip and neither did he.

You silently thanked Hylia for not answering your prayer earlier before falling into a deep sleep.

thank you for reading till the end! :D

masterlist

[sleepyskeleton-0]

Nooooo bc Time and Wild have such SIMILAR traumas it’s not even funny, like what do you MEAN both are afraid of waking up and having no one remember them?? (Wild post-totk especially).

I’m playing oot and there are so many parallels to botw/totk :(

Waking up and seeing the castle in shambles, waking up from a years long nap, being told immediately that they gotta save the world, the MOON (that’s mm but still), losing loved ones is a trauma they all share but listen -

Wild obviously is a little more insecure about his losses bc he thinks they’re his fault (due to his own incompetence - he doesn’t consider circumstance I imagine).

In Majora’s mask, there’s NO WAY Time would go who knows how long without making connections of some kind, even if they restart after 3 days, so watching the people he cares about be crushed by the moon??? I’d imagine he has nightmares where he just sees them die over and over again.

Wild would probably have nightmares of the champions dying over and over as well (possibly in the context of his 100 year sleep).

Not to mention they both died before.

Damn…

Edit for slight inaccuracies

[botwstoriesandsuch]

HEYA WHO WANTS TO LEARN ABOUT GRASS AND VOLCANOES

Yes I'm alive and yes I'm making posts and music again. Ok so moving on HAVE YOU SEEN THIS GRASS???

This patch of grass is from a Youtube video by Quincyvhs ranking grass in Tears of the Kingdom. He's a cool guy and has a similar video on Breath of the Wild and I highly recommend you watch it cause his editing is very cool.

HOWEVER. He made an egregious error today by ranking this patch of grass, this lovely, magnificent, extraordinary patch of grass upon Death Mountain as a mere B Tier. It clearly is an S Tier.

How do I know this? Well this patch of grass indicates miracles. It indicates determination. It indicates the spirit of adventure, of change, of liberty and mayhaps even the purest form of happiness the world round...

...and as later corroborated by the actual geologist that I am dating, it is an indication of the massive shift in Hyrule's ecosystem and climate.

Let's Begin.

Using my ace detective skills I have located the site in question in both Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom (Botw and Totk). The general consensus is that there is a 5~ year time gap between the two games.

Given that the grass does not exist here in Botw, this means that this patch of grass took at maximum 5 years to grow. However, I'm going to prove that it probably took even less time than even that.

Below is the site on Botw's Map:

We are unable to get an accurate temperature reading of the area because the Sheikah Slate decided to give up. So we're going to use science to determine this soon to be important number

Given that wood near instantly ignites at this location in Botw, we can conclude that the temperature in the air is around 370 degrees Celcius or 700 degrees Fahrenheit.

Now typically, rock and soil serve as good insulators of heat, so the air temperature around a volcano itself isnot usually that much higher than the ambient temperature (unless you are actively within a Pyroclastic flow, which would be a more pressing problem than analyzing grass to say the least)

However, when near the presence of lava, that temperature of the air can actually reach up to 1000 degrees Celcius (1800F) so this reading is actually even more reasonable when you note that we are in good distance of the Medingo Lava Pool.

Conversely, we can actually grab an active temperature reading of the area during the time of Totk thanks to the Purah Pad.

It's 102 degrees Fahrenheit.

Easy. Simple. Fantastic. I love when my job doesn't require four hours of research for every single question!

Anyhow, here are some figures from the Oregon State Volcanology Laboratory on the rate of lava cooling

Yes this post is still about grass, stay with me.

To truly appreciate the glory of science and the glory of this patch of grass, we are going to calculate the exact amount of time needed for the temperatures to lower on Death Mountain to one sustanable for growth (That being around 100 degrees Farenheit).

SPOILER ALERT: It takes less than 5 years. This is insanely impressive considering grass of this type* typically takes DECADES.

Anyhow, The Figure 2 and 3 have to do with the depth of the lava, and Figure 4 deals with the thickness. (Many thanks again to my partner for providing their geological expertise and resources)

The thickness of the Medingo Lava is very easy to calculate given that Link can literally jump in with a splash and drown in it like the world's worst hot tub--the bitch ain't thick at all. So we use the lowest listed reading for that.

The depth of the lava is more tricky, but comparing the lava pool in Botw and Totk, and using Link as a marker of around 5 feet, we can say that the pool is around 10 feet deep.

Therefore, the Medingo Lava Pool took around 2-3 years to cool after Death Mountain stopped erupting.

Now when exactly did Death Mountain stop erupting?

According to the catalog of Volcanoes of the World by the Smithsonian Institution, 93% of volcanos stop erupting within 3 years.

Now I know that Death Mountain only started erupting because of the return of the Divine Beast Vah Rudania, and Link only "stops" the eruption of Death Mountain by defeating it. So one could argue that Death Mountain's "eruption" had to be less than a year or something.

My rebuttal to that would be 1) Within the game's canon, I don't see how we could justify Link taking one day, or even one month to wake up from the Great Plateau, travel immeidately all the way to Death Mountain. and then tame the Divine Beast in less than a month, and 2) Link didn't really stop shit because we can clearly still see active lava flow after taming Rudania. He only stopped the rock falls caused by the Divine Beast, the actual activity of Death Mountain still continues.

Given its insane size, I am going to say it took the full 3 years for its active lava flow to stop on Death Mountain. Volconologists in the notes, feel free to correct me.

SO! The Timeline is:

3 years for Death Mountain to stop actively flowing

2 years minimum for Medingo Lava Pool to cool

= >1 year for temperatures to be right for grass to grow!

This is an insanely quick time period for grass to thrive! The literal instant that the conditions were correct, we are able to see not just grass, but stoloniferous grass as well other types of shrubbery thrive! We would usually need several years for the volcanic rock to erode to rich soil (such as the soil in the Akkala region)

Allow me to elaborate:

This is Fountain Grass. Fountain grass is usually the fist type of grass that you would see in a volcanic region. They grow from a rhizome root system, which is a very vertical downward root system as you can see. This is good for young volcanic regions where only specific dotted areas are good enough for plants to grip onto and grow.

They grow something like this:

This patch of grass below I would call some sort of rhizome. (Botanists feel free to correct me in the notes)

THIS. however. (amazingly) is an example of stoloniferous grass!

This is thick bladed grass (as opposed to the more thin, fine-bladed grass with rhizomes) that grow in a stolon spreading pattern that is much more horizontal. It's a lot like the grass that might grow in your front lawn, if you're rich enough to have one of those in this economy--

They grow a bit more like this:

This type of grass need soil! Especially if we want to classify that other red flower behind the rock there as some sort of volcanic flower

We're basically talking about mass, rapid volcanic erosion in less than a year for this to happen. For context, the soil necessary for the region of Akkala to grow could have taken anywhere between a decade to thousands of years. The weather and erosion necessary for this patch of grass to grow took, at most, 3 years.

And all this in the period of time following an actual apocalypse. How quickly the tides have turned for Hyrule's ecosystem!!!!

IT'S A VERY IMPRESSIVE AND COOL PATCH OF GRASS AND THUS IS DESERVING OF THE S TIER RANKING

Also here's some behind the scenes of what my much smarter than me partner had to say about it ["Last pictures referencing the rhizome grass which, indeed, would be the oldest grass among the patch given it needs the least specific conditions to thrive/less soil to get started]

Growth is cool.

[babbletaels]

Before tears of the kingdom came out, I was watching a video on youtube that talked about volcanic signs around hyrule. As they pointed out what different structures around death mountain and akkala could've been, I started seeing those kinds of structures and shapes everywhere and I realized..

Hyrule is on top of a very large volcanic area

I started looking for signs. I realized there were hot springs in tabantha, and hot springs is not just something that cold regions have, no, it's something volcanic regions have.

When tears of the kingdom came out one of my top priotities was to get to the depths and see if there's lava underneath these hot springs, and sure enough there they were! Not only that, I found volcanic shapes in the depths themselves, as well as lava in other places I didn't know about.

Why am I talking about this?

Because they're not just there as decorations, at least not to me.

Look at Hyrule great forest. It obviously used to be a big forest spanning from above hyrule castle all the way to the top of the map, covering the west part of death mountains foot. Now the trees are all burned down from a volcanic eruption, except for in two regions that have strangely moat-looking "rivers" around them.

I'm not going to pretend I believe these are rivers. I'm 100% sure they are man made. These moats were dug in order to protect important land marks, because the people knew that they live on a volcanic region. It's no coincidence that the castle has a huge moat around it as well. They are trying to be safe from their inevitable doom.

But it's not just this. Moats don't always save you, and volcanoes eventually go dormant.

I imagine if you're the least interested in zelda lore and the zelda timeline, you've asked yourself the question, "Why does the map change so drastically?". Well, here's your answer.

Death mountain isn't just any mountain, it's always the most recently active volcano and the place where the gorons live! The gorons move around, when there's a new volcano they move there!

Towns safety become threatened, and so they move. Look at the ruins on the sides of death mountain, they're not burned, they're abandoned. So the people move around, they literally have no choice but to do so, unless they take to drastic measures, like raising your town high above the ground and building a wall around it, like the great plateau.

Why are the sheikah towers buried under ground and designed to shoot up with incredible force? Why not just build them in place and why do they need to be so tall? Maybe they were preparing them to be able to function even after lava has covered the ground.

The extremely mountainous nature of all of hyrule is honestly the best sign we have of this. By looking at the mountains we can conclude where the latest volcano was, and I think it was in Hebra.

So when trying to piece together how the maps work together, you can't look at things like a town, a castle or a volcano, because those things are constantly moving. I'd say maybe the desert could be the way to go, but we've seen very clearly that deserts used to be oceans. If you look to the horizon in gerudo desert in botw, you'll see water.

I think that the gorons migrate when their volcano gets too cold. If we look at majoras mask and assume that termina is in fact a real place, this is the first time we see gorons living in a cold place, and they don't seem to be thriving. Gorons like the warmth that the volcano provides.

So why does death mountain switch places?? Because it's not the same mountain! Death mountain is always the volcano! So one volcano goes dormant, another one pops up and the gorons move there. And this also explains a loooooot of other geographical questions. The people of hyrule are living under a constant threat of destruction by volcano, and that's why they need to move their castles and everything. If we were to assume the temple of time from ocarina of time is the same as in breath of the wild, we clearly see they moved/abandoned the castle and castle town because of the close proximity of death mountain in ocarina of time. It all makes a lot of sense and makes me feel like the map changing isn't such a big problem to me anymore.

[parasolladyansy]

I have a question about your LoZ AU.

LoZ as a series has a bit of a weird depiction of humans. Hylians are almost always portrayed with pointed ears, although humans with rounded ears do show up sometimes (notable example is Wind Waker, where it's an actual plot point). I know this is a weird question, but would Ingo's, and by extension Ansy's, round ears be a point of interest to the inhabitants of Hyrule? I don't remember if BotW or Totk ever mentioned any area outside of Hyrule, and since everyone there have pointed ears, no one would have any idea as to where those humans came from.

Also, if I remember correctly, I think that pointed ears are a sign of a connection to the goddess Hylia. And given the generally polytheistic society in (most) Zelda games, then that could be another odd thing about Ingo and Ansy.

At the very least, their round ears would be a very clear indicator that both of them are not from Hyrule.

I know this is a weird question, but for some reason this topic has always been an interesting one for me. Especially since I remember my first reaction to Totk Ganondorf being that he's the only character in Totk and Botw with round ears. (Me : yeah sure his character design looks cool and he looks swoll, but LOOK AT HIS EARS-)

Pardon me, a flood of Zelda lore just rushed into my head lol - I’ve been a Zelda fan EVEN LONGER than I’ve been a Pokémon fan.

Okay, so round ears, our isekai-ed friends in Hero of Bombs / Isekai-ed Artist, & Ganondorf! (Lore dump ahead!)

It’s as you said - round ears have been a minor topic of interest in Hylian history, regardless of the timeline. I remember reading the booklet that came with A Link to the Past when I was little, about the creation of Hyrule & the Triforce. In there, they talked about how Hylians heard messages from the gods with their elven ears. One of the townsfolk in Ocarina of Time says the same thing.

Meanwhile, the earliest instance of round ears I can remember appearing is Ocarina of Time: ALL of the Gerudo (including OoT Ganondorf) had round ears - more on that in a bit. Another example came a little later in the Oracle games with the inhabitants of the other countries Oracle of Seasons / Ages Link visited (Holodrum & Labrynna), then again in Twilight Princess with the residents of Ordon Village (technically just outside Hyrule’s border).

(OoT Nabooru to the left, OoA Bippin & Blossom in the middle, & TP Colin to the right)

“Oh, okay. Gerudo & these folks from neighboring countries / villages just have round ears - easy!…Right?”

Until Breath of the Wild happened, reintroducing the Gerudo people after all these years with pointed ears like Hylians (not to mention different skin tones).

The Gerudo being an all female race (except for a male born every 100 years, often some incarnation of Ganondorf), they reproduce via men from other races (Hylian, Sheikah, etc). Stands to reason they would get traits from their fathers. Why, then, didn’t they have pointed ears back in OoT? Maybe round ears & darker skin used to be a stronger gene? I couldn’t tell you.

Why TotK Ganondorf has round ears might be an example of that gene coming back in the rarely born male, though honestly I just feel like they were just making a design choice to refer back to OoT Ganondorf, the very first depiction of him we saw in the games (though he was mentioned by name in A Link To the Past) as a love letter to us older fans.

(OoT Ganondorf to the left, TotK Ganondorf to the right)

I don’t think Nintendo wanted us to think too hard on it, or why some versions of Ganondorf actually does have pointed ears, even when it was the same Ganondorf (eg. OoT Ganondorf > WW Ganondorf / TP Ganondorf). All I know is that when ToTK Ganondorf stepped into the frame, my inner 10yo saw the villain from her nightmares (in the very best sense! 878)

As for Ingo & isekai-ed me (lol), the Hylians would probably just think of us as foreign visitors, maybe from Labyrnna / Holodrum. Link & probably some other key characters would know the truth, either by being told straight out, or intuition.

Side note: as Ingo muddles with his memories & ends up spending time with isekai-ed me, he wonders if we come from the same country / world (not quite, Ingo!)

—

(Editing to add maybe it was also a symbolic thing - pointed ears symbolizing communication with the divine, maybe it’s to say “he refuses to listen to heaven”? Who knows.)

[multbasa]

Noticed this little nugget in Purah's personal notes in BotW:

Anti-Aging Experimental Trial Day 4

"[Link] was the youngest to have ever been appointed to the Imperial Guard at Hyrule Castle. He was also a gifted swordsman who was selected as captain of Princess Zelda's personal guard."

Not only was Link appointed to the Royal Guard—the ones who wear the funny outfits which I love—before he became Zelda's personal guard, he was the CAPTAIN of her guard! She had more guards that he was in charge of!

100% Zelda was a rebel who would constantly give her guards the slip leaving Link to be the only one skilled and determined enough to track her down to protect her from enemies like the Yiga Clan.

Not once does Zelda mention having issue with other guards, so I will take that to mean that they weren't much of an issue for her to get away from when she wanted to. The chosen hero that she felt so inadequate next to was just incredibly persistent and good at catching up to her.

It was probably likely that Link was considered a replacement for an entourage. Zelda is seen traveling with a group in the memories where she recruits the Champions before Link was assigned to her after all.

I'd also like to mention how it seems that Zelda never considered that The one with the Sword was also the most accomplished knight in Hyrule.

"You sound like Father. Here's assigning a knight to watch me wherever I go. I hear the top candidate is the most accomplished swordsman in all of Hyrule." –Zelda

Zelda didn't know Link before he was in possession of the Master Sword since she wasn't aware of what he was like prior to the weight of that responsibility. She also admitted that she didn't think he was worthy of his role as the chosen one:

"Your commitment to the training necessary to fulfill your goal is really quite admirable. I see now why you would be the chosen one." –Zelda

So for a long time Zelda thought the chosen hero didn't earn anything and was just handed his destiny on a platter by simply pulling a sword from a stone while she worked tirelessly for a decade and never received answers to her prayers. The thought that the most accomplished swordsman and the chosen hero would be the same person just didn't cross her mind.

Mipha and Daruk mention in their diaries that Link was assigned to Zelda's guard around Inauguration Day, so I assume she received the news some time after the group picture was taken.

I really adore the lore in BotW. I love finding bits of info and piecing together things like this.

[fascinati0nstr33t]

WELCOME TO ANOTHER HEADCANON SHITSHOW🗣️🔥

ARCANE CHARACTERS AND THEIR FAVOURITE VIDEO GAMES

this was requested by @beast-master-talks 🫶, so here it is pookie

Jinx

Splatoon & League of Legends

as mentioned in my first headcanon post, Jinx would be a Splatoon enjoyer

based on her weapons, the Heavy Splatling would be her go to weapon

if not, then the stringer or the dualies

she’s a Deep Cut enjoyer, 100%

enjoys the chaos of the game itself

would spam the taunts and squid party whenever she splats someone

plays with ekko

finds the salmons ADORABLE

is a toxic player…most of the time

and that also applies in League (i haven’t played it-)

would main herself

ultimate trash talker in both games

she just enjoys a game where she can absolutely demolish anyone

honourable mention: Borderlands

Viktor

i need him-

TLOZ: Twilight Princess & Minecraft

i think viktor enjoys open-world games rather than more action packed games

(i’m pretty sure his voice actor harry lloyd said something about zelda in a video)

Twilight Princess would be his favourite out of the other games mostly because of the general aesthetic and how it’s one of the more “darker” games of the franchise

THIS MAN WOULD BE FASCINATED BY THE TWILIGHT REALM, I MEAN-

the fact you can pick up cats is also a bonus

now on the calmer side, minecraft

it’s serves as a distraction

he has a pond of axolotls in honour of rio

has banned jinx from his server cus she blew up his wolf “on accident”

has lost his mind over the redstone

Vi

Street Fighter & The Last Of Us

Street Fighter is pretty much a classic in fighting games, so i think it’s something Vi would enjoy

has had a crush on at least ONE of the female fighters

would use ryu, a known character in the game

has played against Jinx, never doing it again cus they almost tore each other apart

NOW, IN THE CASE OF TLOU-

clickers and bloaters stress her the fuck out

died around 4 times in a row during the first encounter with a bloater

even though she could have weapons or even bricks at her disposal, most of the time she fights with her bare fists

died trying to speedrun the stealth sections because she didn’t have the patience

ellie and joel’s relationship hit a bit too close to home with her

i think she would take a break from the second game after joel’s death, no literally, it would leave her absolutely broken

Caitlyn

Life Is Strange & Fire Emblem

Caitlyn would enjoy Life is Strange due to its theme of moral choices

i think she’d be a bit thrown off by the more supernatural aspects of the game, but she’d enjoy nonetheless

she’s pretty much canonically a detective figure

so i think she’d be pretty satisfied if she manages to uncover something beforehand

has talked about the game to vi, in the same way a fnaf fan would explain the lore

NOW AS FOR FIRE EMBLEM (i know, i’m hilarious-)

the overall aesthetic of her design and the Kiramman house just gave me the game’s vibes, y’know?

the customization of the unit’s skills or classes would appeal to her

the lucina allegations from vi only worsened when she started playing

Ekko

Animal Crossing & BOTW

HE WOULD HAVE THE BEST ISLAND, I KNOW IT

has invited heimerdinger over, sometimes even asked for advice when it came to designing

if he was scammed by tom nook at some point, yeah, get ready for “the boy who shattered the console”

Goldie is his favourite villager (she’s mine too)

built a community similar to the Firelights

now for BOTW, Ekko would be absolutely mesmerised by every single location and sight (minus the guardians)

Rito Village reminds him of the hideout

did try to fight Ganon without the necessary equipment but lost

dyes everything green or brown

a little timebomb thingy, he would name one of his horses after Jinx/Powder, especially if it’s one of the blue horses

gets irritated when the stable won’t accept a peculiar horse (skeleton or lord of the mountain)

bonus: tony hawk pro skater (i don’t need to elaborate)

Mel

Sims 4 & Pokémon Scarlet

she would make the most beautiful houses

her sims would have absolutely LETHAL face cards

however, that doesn’t mean it wouldn’t be absolute chaos from time to time

assassinating her sims would amuse her tbh

YOURE GONNA HAVE TO HEAR ME OUT FOR POKÉMON-

she chooses either fuecoco or quaxly as a starter

her team is full of the most GLAMOROUS pokémon i just know it

gardevoir would be on there for sure

has a shitload of coins and diamonds for evolution

Jayce

(he looks like a wet dog here-)

Detroit: Become Human & FIFA

the story of DBH would have him hooked

just the entire theme of technology would have him interested

but similar to himself, he would have good intentions yet make the most dogshit choices

he would try getting the “good” ending

similar to my headcanon of him quoting Captain Falcon, he would, unironically, say “28 STAB WOUNDS” out of the blue

Jayce is a fife, i just see it that way

despite the game being far more straight to the point, he would enjoy it casually

again, COCKY

if he’s playing with other people, then things will get heated

his team is Barça, it just is

bonus: he plays minecraft with Viktor

I THINK SOME ARE MORE ACCURATE THAN OTHERS BUT EITHER WAY I HOPE YOU ENJOY THIS!

[ellascreams]

One thing the translating of ancient languages in TOTK always gets me thinking about is that, in BOTW, Link was comatose for 100 year. Can you imagine how much language would’ve evolved during that time? Like you can read something from 100 years ago and it’s pretty different, but I also imagine that the fast changes in society caused by the calamity would also cause languages to change faster.

Zelda’s diary entries say that Link can be kind of talkative but only around people he knows well. He has some close friends in BOTW but he still doesn’t really talk, and besides the obvious meta reasons, I kinda like to think that’s because he can’t exactly speak modern day Hylian. He learned to understand it pretty fast but if he talks a lot it might be obvious that he doesn’t speak normally. His ghost friends and Zelda would still speak to him in old Hylian I think.

And in between BOTW and TOTK, when he’s more comfortable with the modern language, it’s fun to think that he might’ve helped out some of the scholars by explaining older texts to them. He might not be able to help too much with like 200 year old texts, but he’d probably still have some more context for certain things.

[ivaalo]

Introduction

This is a fan analysis about the results of 24 polls posted on Tumblr by the user @zeldatourney. Huge thanks to them to have organized this tourney.

(Keep in mind my first language isn't English, so I might make some minor mistakes)

This is a long post with multiple graphs, so I'm putting a "Read more" button here!

For each game, the question asked was "How high does [game] rank?" with 7 answers possible to choose:

S tier (One of the greatest)

A tier (A favorite)

B tier (I like it)

C tier (Meh)

D tier (I'd rather play something else)

F tier (AWFUL)

I haven't played this game

The poll started on the 2nd of December 2024 and ended the 9th of December 2024.

Disclaimer: This is not a representation of the Zelda community as a whole, but a result of people who saw and voted for the polls between those previously quoted dates.

For the rest of this post, I will simplify each game's name by its abbreviations. For example, "A Link To The Past" will be named "ALTTP". The polls didn't specify if it contains the original games or both the original games and the remakes. They will be named as such:

[TLOZ] The Legend of Zelda

[AOL] Adventure of Link

[ALTTP] A Link to the Past

[LA] Link's Awakening (DX) (+ the unnamed 2019 remake)

[OOT] Ocarina of Time (3D)

[MM] Majora's Mask (3D)

[OOS] Oracle of Seasons

[OOA] Oracle of Ages

[FS] Four Swords (Anniversary Edition)

[TWW] The Wind Waker (HD)

[FSA] Four Swords Adventures

[TMC] The Minish Cap

[TP] Twilight Princess (HD)

[PH] Phantom Hourglass

[ST] Spirit Tracks

[SS] Skyward Sword (HD)

[ALBW] A Link Between Worlds

[HW] Hyrule Warriors (Legend / Definitive Edition)

[TFH] Tri Force Heroes

[BOTW] Breath of the Wild

[COH] Cadence of Hyrule

[AOC] Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity

[TOTK] Tears of the Kingdom

[EOW] Echoes of Wisdom

Collected data

Each poll being independent from each other, the number of votes varies from one poll to another.

For each games, I added the percentage (as picked up from the HTML for a better precision). The result is either 99.999, 100 or 100.001, so I sometimes cheated to add or remove 0.001 somewhere. Tumblr doesn't give you access to the exact numbers of vote per option.

So before ranking the games, I have to show you first what games are the most played. Adding all answers and doing:

Played (%) = 100 - "I haven't played this game" (%)

I'll use colours to differentiate 2D games (in terms of gameplay) to 3D games. I'll also highlight spin-off games and multiplayer games.

Here are the games played by more than 75% of players:

We can already see a huge pattern. All the 3D games are there. And the only 2D Zelda game to be played by 75% of players is ALBW. BOTW and OOT are the most played games of the sample, as those were huge turning points and both cultural and commercial success.

We can also notice the difference of 5% between the least played 3D game (MM) and the most played 2D game (ALBW).

Let's continue to look at the other played games:

EOW is most likely low as it's the most recent game, at this time, but also because it's not a 3D game. And the hype train was low compared to TOTK. (3 months of anticipation compared to 4 years)

And finally, the multiplayer games are the least played games, excluding COH. Also worth noting that all the spin-off games cited can also be played with another player, but it wasn't the main focus of the communication. COH being a musical tactical rogue-lite only appealed to a specific part of Zelda fans.

If these polls contained the CD-i Zelda games, Link's Crossbow Training and Tingle games, the score would probably be under COH, but we never know!

I'll keep these colours as labels, to recognize them better in the next images.

Alright. Time to share the ranking. Here is the global result, sorted by release date in North America:

It's kind of a lot to see! Overall, the games are pretty liked. So first, let's take a look at the disliked games:

Please note that the X-axis was zoomed, so we can see the result better.

We can already notice that AOL makes a huge contrast. As this game is considered as the black sheep of the franchise because of how different it is, its reputation mostly came from the difficulty of that game.

Almost a factor of 0.5 divides the first disliked game to the second. TFH the second disliked and the original TLOZ follows.

ALBW is the least disliked, with under 1%, counting D tier and F tier.

But notice the F-tier (red) line. It varies a lot, so let's take a look at the most hated games:

Yep, TOTK is third, this time. As I don't personally think it's awful, it definitively disappointed many by being too close to BOTW and having a lot of issues BOTW didn't have.

Nobody voted "F tier" for ALTTP nor OOT. Same for OOS but keep in mind this game was the least voted one too!

Alright, enough for the hate! Let's look at the most appreciated Zelda games.

Yep, the majority of Zelda fans like 22.5 out of 24 of the games! (TFH being exactly 50, I half-counted it!)

TWW is being almost unanimously appreciated, with almost 97%, and the second one to get this score is TMC, a 2D game, with more than 96%!

You can notice some gaps, like between ST and COH, and then between the Oracle games and TOTK.

Now let's look at the most loved games:

5 3D games are in the top 5, except for SS and TOTK. TMC is very close to beat BOTW and remains the most loved 2D Zelda game. Notice how SS and TOTK make a huge gap between the game before and the game after, like voters use them as references. The two Hyrule Warriors games are, in a funny way, between the Oracle ones.

Let's add a step forward and look at the S tier only:

Nothing changes for the top 9 games. However, EOW seems more nuanced and is less considered as best than TOTK.

Final results

And finally, let's rank them using the Majority Judgment:

The Majority Judgment was created to propose a more democratic way to vote. Each candidate has multiple mentions, and you (the elector) must attribute one mention to each candidate. Since this poll uses this exact method of vote, I decided to rank them all using the Majority Judgment. To count using the Majority Judgment, you must focus on the 50% axis, and look at the category that crosses it (more than 50%). That gives you the tier, and the best tier wins.

When two or more candidates get the same tier, there are multiple ways to rank:

The first way is to put a line at the middle and see which line has the higher percentage. (Less precise but more simple)

The second way is to divide it into multiple tiers by doing the first method again and again until each candidates has a unique tier. (More precise but less simple)

But since I didn't want to compare B++++ to B+++-, I used the first method. It's my democracy and I do whatever I want!

Just keep in mind that depending on the way to count these games may be swapped:

ALTTP and LA

OOA and PH

AOC and HW

SO, for the data. Top 5 is TWW, MM, TP, OOT and BOTW. To be honest, I imagined MM to be a more nuanced game, or at least more controversial, since it has a unique concept.

The A tier only contains 2D games, except SS. TMC, ST and ALBW are the favourite 2D games. ALTTP and LA are always very close. The last one of the tier is EOW.

Only mainline games are in the S and A tier.

The first game of the B tier is a spin-off game, followed by TOTK.

TFH was one vote away from being in the B tier. And no surprise, AOL is the last one.

To sum up, according to the participants who voted for these polls:

S tier

🥇 The Wind Waker

🥈 Majora's Mask

🥉 Twilight Princess

⭐ Ocarina of Time

⭐ Breath of the Wild

A+ tier

The Minish Cap

Spirit Tracks

A- tier

A Link Between Worlds

Skyward Sword

A Link to the Past

Link's Awakening

Echoes of Wisdom

B+ tier

Cadence of Hyrule

Tears of the Kingdom

Oracle of Seasons

Oracle of Ages

Phantom Hourglass

B- tier

Age of Calamity

Hyrule Warriors

Four Swords Adventures

Four Swords

The Legend of Zelda

C+ tier

Tri Force Heroes

C- tier

Adventure of Link

Thank you for reading! ~