Zelda

Zelda's design in Twilight Princess.
Zelda
Species	Hylian
Hair color	Blonde
Debut	The Legend of Zelda

More often than not the damsel in distress of the Zelda series, Princess Zelda of Hyrule is a character who comes forth in various incarnations in order to use her magical prowess to seal away evil (usually Ganon) and not protect herself at all. Her virtue is wisdom.

Background

The Princess from Ocarina of Time

In Ocarina of Time, Link first met Princess Zelda when he snuck into Hyrule Castle, hoping to find her permission to enter Death Mountain (They were both children at the time). Zelda related to Link her concern over the growing influence of Ganondorf. Believing Link to be the hero she saw in a prophetic dream, she hatched a scheme with Link so that they could use her Ocarina of Time and the three spiritual stones (which Link would gather) to beat Ganondorf into the Sacred Realm. But after Link had found the three spiritual stones, Ganondorf attempted to enter the Temple of Time with Zelda, but she and her nursemaid Impa escaped, dropping the Ocarina of Time for Link to pick up. Using some form of telepathy, she taught Link the Song of Time and helped him gain entrance to the sacred chamber. Because of Ganondorf's impure heart, the Triforce split apart, and one piece (the Triforce of Wisdom) came to Zelda.

Zelda had disappeared after Link woke up seven years later. She had in fact disguised herself as Sheik, a descendant of the Sheikah, to hide from Ganondorf. She continued to aid Link by watching his progress and teaching him songs that, when played on the Ocarina of Time, would allow him to return to the Temples of the Sages at his leisure. However, she took a slightly more active stance when she saw Kakariko Village burning and helped to defend her former nursemaid's town.

When Link had awoken all of the sages and returned to the Temple of Time, Sheik met him there and revealed that she possessed the Triforce of Wisdom and was the seventh sage. She then revealed her identity as Zelda, gave Link the Light Arrows, and was captured by Ganondorf only moments later. Link rushed to Ganon's Castle, faced Ganondorf, and rescued Zelda. They escaped from the collapsing castle and faced Ganon in its ruins, where Zelda used her magic combined with the other sizx sages' magic to trap Ganondorf in the Sacred Realm. Once things had settled down, Zelda used the Ocarina of Time to send Link back to his childhood.

In Majora's Mask, Zelda was seen once in flashback (during Link's childhood). She gave him the Ocarina of Time when he left Hyrule to search for a lost friend.

Tetra

The Wind Waker introduced Tetra, a descendant of the Princess Zelda. She was oblivious to her ancestry, but seemed to show a great interest with Ancient Hyrule lore. She seemed bossy and strong-willed, but she was actually rather kind-hearted. She inherited the ship (and its crew) from her late mother, leaving her orphaned at a young age. Though she seemed to be mean to Link, she was actually rather fond of him. She was kidnapped by the Helmaroc King, but dropped in the forest above Outset Island. She was rescued from the monsters by Link. When Link's sister, Aryll, was kidnapped by the Helmaroc King, she grudgingly agreed to take Link to the Forsaken Fortress.

They parted ways afterwards when Link was thrown across the ocean by the giant bird. They met up again when Link was trying to meet Jabun and get the last pearl. Tetra was already in the middle of stealing the supply of bombs from Cannon when she noticed Link spying on their operation. Seeing this, she intentionally stayed another day at Windfall Island to let Link get the pearl first. When Link infiltrated Forsaken Fortress again, she and her crew helped rescue the trapped girls (with the intention of ransoming them off). She tried to help attack Ganondorf, but only revealed to Ganondorf that she had half of the Triforce of Widsom. It was then she was revealed to be Princess Zelda. Link and the King of Red Lions took Tetra to Hyrule Castle, where the king (her ancestor) gave her the remaining piece of the Triforce of Wisdom. As Zelda, she was left in Hyrule Castle, where she would be safe from Ganondorf.

When Link returned to Hyrule Castle, he found that Ganondorf had invaded despite and taken Tetra to his castle, to wait for Link's arrival. Link made his way to the highest point of Ganon's Tower, where Ganondorf took the pieces of the Triforce. His wish for world domination was prevented by the king, so he decided instead to kill Link and Tetra and make his mark on their future. Tetra took Link's bow and Light Arrows (apparently Zelda's magic isn't genetic, although The Minish Cap suggests otherwise) and helped him defeat Ganondorf. Tetra and Link returned to the surface of the Great Sea, Tetra no longer required to hold her Princess Zelda position, and she departed with Link to sail to new lands.

Other Zeldas

Note: The remainder of the entry will be written chronologically by the release date of the games and under the assumption that there is a different Zelda in every game, with the exception of FSA and FS, and the Oracles games. AoL is placed before LoZ under the assumption that it's backstory (not the game itself) comes before LoZ, despite the Zelda Collection disc's attempts to make it look otherwise. The Four Sword series is ordered TMC-FS-FSA.

In the backstory of The Adventure of Link, the King of Hyrule from long ago had hidden the Triforce of Courage away, and passed only the Triforces of Wisdom and Power on to his son before he died. The prince and his magician suspected his sister, Zelda, of knowing where the Triforce of Courage was. When Zelda wouldn't tell them where the Triforce was, the magician put her into an eternal sleep. The prince left her in the North Castle in hopes that she would wake up some day, in a room that only the nursemaid and her descendants would know how to open. It was decreed that all princesses of Hyrule would be named Zelda in honor or her.

Another Princess Zelda arose when Ganon reclaimed the Triforce of Power for himself in The Legend of Zelda. Zelda took the Triforce of Wisdom and broke it into eight pieces, then left them guarded in several dungeons where Ganon's minions wouldn't be able to reach them. She sent Impa to find someone with courage and was imprisoned by Ganon as a consequence. Impa found Link, who collected the Triforce of Wisdom, defeated Ganon, and rescued Zelda.

On Link's sixteenth birthday, Impa took him to the North Castle, where he found the Zelda from long ago. Link ventured to defeat the Thunderbird and reclaim the Triforce of Courage, united it with the Triforces of Wisdom and Power, and used it to awake Zelda from her slumber. They presumably fell in love.

In A Link to the Past, Princess Zelda was attacked by the wizard Agahnim, who had planned to imprison the seven descendants of the sages and send them to the Dark World to fuel Ganon's power. She sent a telepathic call to Link and his uncle for help, but Link arrived too late to save her. She was hidden away within Turtle Rock, where Link later came to her rescue.

In Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages, Zelda doesn't appear until midway through the second game that was played. If Oracle of Seasons was played first, Zelda is being held captive by Vire in the Black Tower during Oracle of Ages, and Link must save her ala Jumpman in Donkey Kong. If Oracle of Ages was played first, Zelda is held captive by the Great Moblin in Spool Swamp during Oracle of Seasons. Here Link only has to fend off a few Moblins to save her.

Either way, Zelda was captured by Twinrova in a plot to sacrifice her so as to bring Ganon back. Link came to her rescue, but Twinrova sacrificed themselves instead and Ganon returned, though not as strong as he could have been. Link once more fended him off and he and Zelda escaped.

In The Minish Cap, Zelda was turned into stone by Vaati so as to prevent her from halting his search for the light of the Picori. Later on, Vaati realized that Zelda was the one who possessed the power (apparently it was passed down all the ladies of the royal family) and planned to extract it from her, killing her in the process. Link came to her rescue just in time and defeated Vaati, then used the power of the Picori Blade (now the Four Sword) to unpetrify her. When Hyrule Castle started to collapse, they made their way to the realm of the Picori, but were prevented by Vaati. After defeating him a final time, Ezlo gave the Minish Cap to Zelda and they combined their powers to restore Hyrule to its former glory.

Vaati reemerged at some point and was sealed within the Four Sword, which was enshrined and left in the care of Princess Zelda and six other maidens. In The Four Swords, Vaati escaped and captured Zelda, but Link used the Four Sword to rescue her and imprison Vaati again.

In Four Swords Adventures, Zelda and the six maidens were kidnapped by Shadow Link and scattered throughout Hyrule. Link took up the Four Sword again (freeing Vaati), then rescued them one by one (Zelda being held in the Tower of Winds). Zelda came to Link's rescue during his battle with the Shadow Links by removing the Dark Mirror, which was spawning the Shadow Links at a rapid rate. When Vaati was defeated, Zelda led Link back down through the Tower of Winds, but they were attacked by Ganon. Using their magic, Zelda and the maidens trapped Ganon in the Four Sword.

Trivia

• Zelda appears in "Super Smash Bros. Melee" using the magic spells that the three goddesses had given Link in OoT. She is also able to transform into her alter-ego, Sheik. Zelda and Sheik each can earn three trophies.
• A picture in Hyrule Castle in The Wind Waker shows that one of the Zeldas had a group of stewards very similar in appearance to Tetra's pirate crew.
• Princess Zelda seems to be more a title than a person's name, considering that Tetra had to change her identity when she found out that she was a descendant of the first Zelda. The same is true for the prince in Adventure of Link having all royal daughters be named Zelda.