Time for Zelda to Man up and Grow a Pair

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Ever since it was revealed that Zelda would be playing an essential role in the recently released Spirit Tracks game for the Nintendo DS, fans of the series began to wonder just how integral her part in the story would be. Would she help out and be part of the action? Or would she resort to a Navi like character from The Ocarina of Time?

Many fans saw this as the answers to their prayers. “Finally,” they said, “Zelda will actually be part of the game. After all, the series name is The Legend of Zelda yet she had yet to play more then a basic role in any of the games and in many cases is absent from the games with hardly no mention at all. However, when The Spirit Tracks was released last Monday what we saw was not what many were hoping for. Yes Zelda played a much larger role then ever before, but it was still lacking in many ways. She was not a Navi-character, but she was also not the Zelda that many fans were hoping for.

In most of the game, Zelda is not actually a playable character. Control of Zelda is limited to the Tower of Spirits and nowhere else. That means that throughout the rest of the game, she merely hides in your pocket and will make random appearances in spirit form when she has something to say. Sadly, this did not happen enough which still left her as a fairly useless character.

spirit tracks zeldaNow, for those who are not familiar with The Spirit Tracks yet. In The Spirit Tracks Zelda’s spirit is ripped from her body so her ghostly form is what actually follows you around. And at no time do you get serious control of Zelda in her body form. Therefore you must make Zelda possess the armor of Phantoms. I personally found this worthless. In The Phantom Hourglass multi-player you already got to control Phantoms so this felt like a rip off. This was nothing new. All Nintendo did was take an already existing idea and say, “oh wait Zelda is in the Phantom this time.” How lame is that?As a longtime Legend of Zelda fan I want Zelda to finally be involved in one of the games. And I mean really involved, not this junk that was thrown together to keep us happy until Zelda Wii.

In The Ocarina of Time we all saw that Zelda was quite capable of performing some magic and spells. She spent a good majority of the game under the guise of Sheik and demonstrated some of her magical prowess in the final battles of the game. But from there on after we never get to see what Zelda can do. In Twilight Princess we once again see some subtle signs of her magical capabilities but for some reason Nintendo chooses to limit her in every way possible.

This probably is due to the fact that the Zelda series originated as a “save the princess” kind of game that was popular back in the 1980’s, but times have changed and we want to see Zelda. And more importantly we would like to see Zelda with an attitude. No more of this Damsel in Distress I’m so weak save me crap. Zelda has the Triforce of Wisdom for christ sake. Why doesn’t she use it already? Is it really wise to put yourself in situations where you get caught all the time? Or is it wise to sit back and let your magical powers go to waste? I think not.

For all you fans of the Super Smash series you guys know that Zelda can sure pack a punch in the Melee and Brawl releases of the games. In fact I would dare to say that she could be one of the best fighters in the game. Just look at some of these pictures. She is kicking some major butt and guess what? She is doing it with her wide array of magic and powers.

shiek in brawlzelda in brawlshiek in brawl

So Nintendo, if you want to make us happy, please let Zelda play a bigger role in the upcoming Legend of Zelda game. Do not let her sit on the side-lines the entire time. Yes the game revolves around Link but there is no reason not to let Zelda get involved in more ways. Let her in on more of the action and give us some Zelda who has manned up and grown a pair.

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About Author

Noah Glaser is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati where he majored in Information Technology with a minor in awesome. Noah has worked in web marketing for over 5 years and has built a reputation that has followed him both professionally and independently. He is the founder and lead content contributor for The Hidden Triforce.In the 5th grade he bought Link’s Awakening for his brother as a Christmas gift. Since stealing it back, he has been hooked to the Zelda series and has never looked back. In his spare time you can find Noah frolicking with his Porygon and Kiwi Birds. He dislikes chocolate, cheese, and bacon.

  • farore

    Zelda has a great attitude as we have seen in Super Smash games, I want Sheik and Zelda back in a very awesome and creative way!

  • Shadow Link

    Zelda should have a more central, active role in future releases–I agree completely.

    Here's an idea that have had for a Zelda game for some time: basically, rip off the movie Ladyhawk. In Ladyhawk a fantasy movie from the '80s(starring Rutger Houer, Michelle Pfieffer, and Mathew Broderick), a spell is cast on the heroes, a pair of lovers, causing the woman to turn into a hawk everyday at daybreak and back again at sunset while the man turns into a wolf at night and back into himself at sunrise. Thus they are "always together; forever apart". I think it would be great to have something similar happen to Link & Zelda and make Zelda a playable character along with link. It would probably work better if they could transform back and forth at anytime rather than at sunrise/sunset. And perhaps Princess Z could be an Owl or something. But I think this would fit in well with the transformation theme in Twilight Princess and create some interesting puzzles. My understanding is that the Zelda series was influenced by the movie Legend that came out around the same time that Ladyhawk did, perhaps Miyamoto could benefit by going back to the '80s cult fantasy film classics for more inspiration…

  • Beware

    While I agree that Zelda should have played more of a role, but I felt they did a VERY good job developing Zelda's personality. That's really what matters in this case. One very specific case that pops into my mind is the first time Zelda is freaking out about Malladus have to use her body. She's freaking out and acting as though Link has to be the one to be all noble and such. I found that bit riveting and a great representation of who Zelda was going to be in this game and of the general attitude of the game itself.

  • Daddy

    @Shadow Link:
    "My understanding is that the Zelda series was influenced by the movie Legend that came out around the same time that Ladyhawk did"

    Legend: December 13, 1985
    The Legend of Zelda: February 21, 1986

    I know development cycles were sorter back then but seriously, considering Miyamoto lived in Japan, and this movie came out a scant two months before LoZ was released makes this highly improbable.

    @Noah:
    You made some good points. I hadn't even bothered to play PH multiplayer, so I would have never known. That does seems pretty lazy on Ninty's part. I'll have to actually play through the game before I could give a more informed opinion on this matter.

  • Dark Link

    I hated Zelda's personality in ST. It was the same thing you would expect from all lame stories like this.

    The princess starts off immature and kind of all drama like and grows up as the game continues to where she is mature. It was not good.

  • Daddy

    Most forms of entertainment follow an archetype set in place long before their time. This is especially true with video games. Though there are certain extreme forms of this, it is generally an accepted flaw within the medium.

    This has led me to be very skeptical of people when they criticize a video game for being cliché. Considering the majority of "enjoyable" games out there today could be labeled as such, this complaint loses much of its weight. The way I judge a game is whether it is what it sets out to be. For example, if I play a game and right off the bat I notice it is based on linear progression, I will judge the game on how well it is executed within its class. Video games within different classes require a multitude of different expectations to be judged fairly.

  • Procles

    The Legend of Zelda: Eye of Truth

    Play as Zelda during the interim period in which Link is sleeping inside the Temple of Time during Ocarina of Time. Take on the guise of Shiek, learn Shieka Fu, collect items such as the throwing needles, chain whip, and vanishing powder. As Zelda comes to understand her role in the greater picture, master the Triforce of Wisdom and it's associated powers. There's a wonderful chance to employ a dual game-play style here as one alternates between Shiek's sneaky combat and the undisguised Zelda's vulgar magic here.

  • Great article :D I'm totally looking forward to seeing more articles.

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