#we deseved to have zelda as our companion

[that-one-loz-nerd]

I've been having Thoughts about Zelda being your companion in totk and mourning the fact it never happened so here's my thoughts on how Zelda would work as a companion (and if anyone else has any ideas feel free to add!!)

General

Zelda would follow you around similar to the spirits in totk but less annoying since there's not 4 of her

She'd keep the same pace as Link - if he's walking, she'll walk and if he's running, she'll run

She might occasionally point things out in the environment like "maybe we should go explore there" or "that looks interesting!" but not super often so it isn't too annoying

I think it would be cool if Zelda also had a sheikah slate but maybe one that's just for taking pictures since she seems like she'd be more interested in using it for research rather than for combat like Link

When you're idle she might wander off a bit and go look at stuff (maybe there could be animations of her taking photos with the slate, looking at a ruin etc)

When you start the game you'll automatically have the white horse from botw in the stable. There could be some dialogue about Zelda saying she's happy he's being taken care of and she's fine with Link riding him

Any horses you've got in the stable can either be assigned to you or Zelda. She'll only ride her horse if you ride yours so she can keep pace with you

When you whistle to call a nearby horse both horses will come regardless of which one was close to you

When you go directly up to Zelda there would be four button options: Stay here!, Forage, Talk and Camera

Stay here!: just what it says on the tin. If she's told to stay here and an enemy attack she'll automatically start fighting unless she doesn't have a weapon then she'll hide or run to you if she's close enough

Forage: Zelda will walk around the nearby area and collect any fruit, herbs, etc. and anything she collects will automatically go into your inventory. If there's nothing nearby to forage she'll tell you

Talk: She'll say something to do with the currently pinned quest or surrounding area

Camera: Zelda will randomly take photos of pretty areas, interesting things, landmarks etc and the camera option lets you see all her photos :)

Combat

Okay so it would be super cool if in an early game cutscene Zelda thanks Link again for teaching her some basic combat just to explain why she's suddenly good with a sword lol

In your weapon inventory you can press one button to assign yourself/Link a weapon and another button to assign a weapon to Zelda

She wouldn't be as good as the player at doing damage (just so she wouldn't be too op) but as the game goes on she'd become more involved in combat as she becomes more confident

It would be cool if by assigning her swords all the time she'd start doing more damage with them but then if you switched her to a spear she'd be back at base damage like she's having to learn how to properly use a new weapon

Maybe there could be a God of War-esque thing where she would shout to you if an enemy's behind you or about to attack (but definitely not as often cause that would be annoying)

I presume zelda still has her light powers from botw so maybe that could be implemented somehow like she could temporarily blind enemies or light up a room

OHHHH what if there was a mirror shield mechanic (like in totk but way less janky) with her light powers too but you can also set enemies on fire with it lmao

Health

Zelda would have set health and can lose it in battle or by taking damage from the environment (walking through fire, being too cold etc)

If she takes a bit of damage she might start walking a bit slower and won't be as helpful in combat, doing less damage and becoming less confident at fighting

She would also have some idle animations like a slight limp or holding her side or something

When she takes enough damage then she'll fall to the floor (sort of like ashley in re4 but less dramatic) and won't move unless she's healed

To heal Zelda you just have to press on any food (raw or cooked) and press the "give to Zelda" button to heal her

In the inventory menu there might be a smaller health bar below yours which shows Zelda's health

Clothing

Zelda is 100% not just staying in her royal outfit the whole time lol

That outfit is her default but you can change it

Each outfit in the game has a version for Zelda so all you have to do is assign one to her

You and Zelda can wear the same outfit at the same time so you don't have to buy two of the same armour each time

She's susceptible to the elements the same as you so she has to wear warm clothing in cold weather etc

It would be so cute if in the inventory she stands behind Link so you can see her trying on outfits, swinging a weapon around and maybe an eating animation too