Princess Zelda

Description

Overall

There are numerous Zeldas throughout the series. Each Zelda is the princess of Hyrule, and also in most games Zelda holds the Triforce of Wisdom. Zelda's physical appearance changes quite a lot considering the first three games, after OoT Zelda always seems to wear a pink dress, a golden tiara, long gloves and she also has long blonde hair. Even her Official Art for ALttP was redone for the GBA release to make her look more similar to the other Zeldas.

The Legend of Zelda

Zelda is the blond-haired princess of Hyrule kingdom.

When Ganon attacked, taking the Triforce of Power, Zelda broke the Triforce of Wisdom into eight pieces, hiding them in Hyrule, south of Death Mountain. Ganon kidnapped Zelda, imprisoning her in Death Mountain.

The Adventure of link

The red-haired princess of Hyrule. She lived with her father, the king, and her brother, the prince.

Before the king died, he entrusted his daughter with information about the Triforce. After the king passed on, the prince and a wizard questioned Zelda on this information. Because Zelda would not reveal what the king had told her, the wizard cast a spell on her. Zelda would sleep eternally.

The prince placed his sleeping sister in a shrine. So no one would forget what happened, he ordered that every female child born to royalty in Hyrule would carry on the name "Zelda".

The princess featured in AoL is actually a different Zelda than the one seen in the NES prequel. AoL Zelda's story is told in the manual as "The Legend of Zelda", and Zelda in AoL is usually called the "Sleeping Zelda." As Impa explains, the legend took place centuries before AoL. Impa is the one who actually tells Link this legend because it is his destiny is to awaken this sleeping Zelda by obtaining the Triforce of Courage and reuniting it with the other two pieces.

A Link to the Past

Ocarina of Time

The Princess of Destiny

Zelda is the beloved only daughter of the (possibly) widow King of Hyrule. As the true heir to the throne she's been instructed in all the legends of Hyrule, legends she know perfectly. She is entrusted with one of the four keys to the Sacred Realm, the Ocarina of Time. Since her birth, she has been protected by her muscular attendant, Impa the Sheikah. One of her functions was to play the ancient and mysterious melody passed down the Royal Family as a lullaby for the princess. Maybe because of this, she started to have prophetic dreams that were never wrong. The divination powers of the princess were quickly spread in all Hyrule Castle Town.

With one of her prophetic dreams began the disgrace that would befall Hyrule. In her words:

I had a dream... In the dream, dark storm clouds  
were billowing over the land of Hyrule...
But suddenly, a ray of light shot out of the 
forest, parted the clouds and lit up the ground...
The light turned into a figure holding a green and 
shining stone, followed by a fairy...

In her dream she also saw Impa, who had the role of teaching the melody she had used as Zelda's Lullaby to the boy from the forest. She also was able to understand who the dark clouds represented in the dream, Ganondorf, the leader of the GerudosShe told the dream to her father, to whom Ganondorf has swore allegiance, but he didn't believe it was nothing more than a mere dream.

When Link arrives to the Castle Courtyard looking for the Princess of Destiny, Zelda immediately recognizes him as the forest boy from her dream, and asks him whether he has the Spiritual Stone of Forest, the shining green stone of her dream. She tells her what she has dreamed and her suspects about Ganondorf. She plans how to protect the Sacred Realm from Ganondorf, so she commands Link to look for the other two Spiritual Stones while she protects the Ocarina of Time with all her power. By keeping away the four keys of the Door of Timefrom Ganondorf. That way he would never get the Triforce. When Link gets the other two Spiritual Stones, the Goron's Ruby and the Zora's Sapphire, Ganondorf attacks the Hyrule Castle. Because of this, Zelda cannot wait for Link any more and has to flee with her attendant, Impa, to a place where Ganondorf can't reach them. As Link arrives to the entrance to Hyrule Castle Town, he sees Zelda and Impa riding in a white horse escaping from Ganondorf. Not being able to give Link the last key to the Door of Time, she throws the Ocarina of Time to the city moat. After Link meets Ganondorf, he dives into the water, taking the Ocarina of Time, and receiving a telepathical message from Zelda where she appears in front of the altar of the Temple of Time and teaches Link the Song of Time.

Impa and Zelda escaping from Ganondorf OoT MQ

Zelda teaching Link the Song of Time telepathically

When Link pulls out the Master Sword from the Pedestal of Time something that Zelda didn't predict. Zelda didn't think that there was a fifth key to the Sacred Realm, the Master Sword, and that Link was the legendary Hero of Time, the only one able to pull the sword from its pedestal. Because Link isn't old enough to be the Hero of Time, his spirit is sealed inside the Chamber of Sages, leaving the entrance to the Sacred Realm open to Ganondorf.

Majora's Mask

Although Link doesn't actually meet Zelda in the world of Termina. He does remember her in a short flashback, when he learns the Song of Time again. Zelda's sprite is the same as the one used in OoT, but this time she only appears in black and white.

Oracle of Seasons/Ages

Four Swords

The Wind Waker

Four Swords Adventures

The Minish Cap

Twilight Princess

Miscellaneous Notes

ALttP SNES / GBA differences

There are actually two different pieces of Official Art for Zelda in this game. For it turns out to be that her Artwork was redone for the rerelease of ALttP for the GBA. As clearly visible this newer version looks much more similar to the Zelda of the other games.

Other Game Appearances

Zelda also appears as a playable character in Smash Brothers: Melee for the Gamecube. In this game she can use different variations of Din's Fire, Farore's Wind and Nayru's Love. Her fourth special move is Transform, which allows her to fight as the quick and nimble Sheik. In this game her voice acting was done by: Jun Mizusawa.

Relevant Quotes

Translations

Country	Name
Japanese	ゼルダ姫 (ZERUDA-hime)
English	Princess Zelda
French	Princesse Zelda
German	Prinzessin Zelda
Spanish	Princesa Zelda
Italian	Principessa Zelda

Notes

All games refer to her as Princess Zelda.

Zelda Legends Wiki