Throughout the history of the Legend of Zelda franchise, players have been running throughout the fields of Hyrule as our favorite green tunic adorning elf- Link. The titular princess Zelda is usually holed away somewhere, only making token appearances until it is time for the final showdown with Ganondorf.
Several titles deviated slightly from this model, such as in Wind Waker meeting the pirate Tetra long before we knew she was Zelda. In the newest addition to the series, Breath of the Wild, Zelda appeared numerous times via in-game flashbacks to Link’s past. One thing has remained constant throughout different incarnations of the triforce wielding heroes, and that is only Link has been a playable character in main series games.
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Fans for years have been begging for a playable Zelda. Unfortunately, Nintendo as a whole has done a less than stellar job featuring their iconic female characters as main series protagonists. Princess Peach, another of Nintendo’s iconic princesses, did have her own game in 2006 called Super Princess Peach. The game was less than well-received by many, however, as Peach throughout the game used her powers of emotion (really?) to progress throughout levels.
Samus Aran is one female character who has had her chance in the spotlight. However, Samus does wear a mech-suit during the majority of her appearances and has not seen a new release in the Metroid series for some time. This goes to further illustrate the need for a playable Zelda in an upcoming title.
Luckily, Nintendo has the perfect opportunity to do so in its recently announced sequel to Breath of the Wild. The teaser shown at E3 has Zelda and Link walking side-by-side into the cave, for those who have been waiting for playable Zelda this detail teases at more than just a sequel. The Zelda model was even shown with a short haircut, preventing model clipping between her hair and weapons or equitable cloak.
So how exactly should Nintendo handle this, if Zelda were to be introduced in this manner? Well, since Zelda is the incarnation of the Goddess Hylia, rather than the goddess’s chosen, it is likely she wouldn’t be able to wield the master sword.
However, we have seen throughout Breath of the Wild’s story Zelda struggle and eventually grow in power with her use of magic. It would be a cool addition from a character development standpoint to have Zelda be magic rather than melee based in combat. A mid-range magic user and up in your face swordsman would make for good contrast and interesting new gameplay element. Here’s to hoping Nintendo decides to include this in the long-awaited sequel.
