Zelda

Early Zelda design in Twilight Princess.
Zelda
Species	Hylian
Hair color	Blonde
Voiced by	Jun Mizusawa (1998-2006) Hikari Tachibana (2002)
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's alter-ego, Sheik.

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.

Twilight Princess

The Princess Zelda of Twilight Princess appeared to be ruling over Hyrule, with no sight or mentioning of a king. She had led the forces of Hyrule in defending Hyrule Castle from Zant and his invaders from the Twilight Realm. But Zelda ultimately surrendered to Zant, when he made her choose between a surrender and the death of her people. Zelda was confined to her room in Hyrule Castle, but she was able to make an alliance with mysterious Twilight imp Midna.

Midna later introduced Zelda to Link, a young farm boy whom had been trapped in the form of a wolf. Link later returned to her with Midna, who was dying of a curse infilicted by Zant. Under Midna's wishes, Zelda instructed Link on how to find the Master Sword, which reverse his transformation into a wolf. However, Zelda felt pity for Midna and began to realize just what she really was (the princess of the Twilight Realm). So Zelda put her power into curing Midna and disappeared.

Zelda under control by Ganon.

Zelda was not seen again until near the end of the game. She was unconcious and on display in the throne room of Hyrule Castle, which was being inhabited by Ganondorf. When Link and Midna arrived, Ganondorf possessed her, making her into Ganon's Puppet: Princess Zelda. This possessed Zelda used three basic attacks: swooping down with sword in hand, tossing dark magic blasts and summoning a triangle-shaped field of energy. To defeat her, Link had to reflect her dark magic blasts back at her (in the same vein as Aganhim). Ganondorf's spirit was then forced out of Zelda's body. Midna caught Zelda's body and rested it in the throne. Zelda was then restored to life as light flowed to her from Midna's body.

Afterwards, Midna teleported Link and Zelda to safety while she held off Ganon. Zelda than called on the power of the four light spirits and humbly asked Link to lend them the remainder of his power. Link and Zelda rode together atop Epona in battle with Ganondorf. Zelda fired light arrows to stun Ganondorf while Link attacked him with his sword. Zelda was seperated from Link during the final phase of his battle with Ganondorf, however. After Ganondorf was killed, Link and Zelda saw Midna (whom had been restored to true form) off to the Twilight Realm. Zelda told Midna that light and darkness needed each other to exist, and said she believed that the goddesses had left behind the Mirror of Twilight because it was their will that they should meet. However, as Midna entered the Twilight Realm, she destroyed the Mirror with her tear and shut off the gates between the worlds of light and twilight forever.

Tetra

Main Article: Tetra

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 Hyrulian Adventure, 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 as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Melee and has been confirmed as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. In Melee she uses 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 in Melee.
• 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.