BOTW Zelda; The Most Relatable Princess of Hyrule We’ve Had

~Spoilers ahead, fam~ (for Wind Waker, Ocarina of Time and BOTW)

I love the Zelda series, and Breath of the Wild for me takes the perfect Triforce shaped cake. At this point, there’s not much left to be said about BOTW in terms of both a genre defining, and breaking, game that’s not already been put out there. Like the all other Zelda fans, I was so excited for this game, and was there on day one, skipping work to pick up my copy. Though I’ve always liked Princess Zelda as a character, like most players I’ve felt more of a connection with Link as you journey with him through his trials and tribulations. His lack of speech is massively compensated for by his actions, which then coupled with compelling story lines make him a sympathetic hero that you root for throughout the series. There’s no doubt that this dude is not only badass but also a total dork, and we love him all the more for it. Up until BOTW the only Zelda that came close to my love of Link was Tetra in Wind Waker, because she was dynamic, authoritative and funny within the story.

Tetra is clearly a strong character; she’s the captain of the pirates who respect her, she throws Link around and her mannerisms are very confrontational. Conversely when she’s transformed into Princess Zelda, along with bizarrely changing skin colour, Tetra/Zelda’s face becomes significantly less animated. She’s staring into the middle distance and holding her hands to her chest, and doesn’t kick back against the King of Red Lions when he says the following to her;

“Zelda, it is far to dangerous for you to join us in this task. Fortunately, this sacred chamber is not yet known to Ganon. It is my wish that you wait here in hiding until we return.” King of Red Lions to Zelda/Tetra

She doesn’t say anything to him at all actually, which in itself is very out of character for Tetra. After the King leaves and Link goes to follow, she gives the following passive statement to Link; “Everything that’s happened to you and your poor sister… it’s all been my fault. I’m so sorry. Link… be careful”

The first time I played Wind Waker I was expecting Tetra/Zelda to turn around and say something like “let’s go kick some ass, we’ve got two pieces of the Triforce”. For a long time I thought she was duping Link somehow and would appear again before the end of the game. The significant character shift here could be due to the recent transformation, however considering her usual antics include putting Link into a canon and then firing him at an island amongst other things, this felt like an odd story beat. She then just hangs out underground for a bit before getting her mojo back at the end of the game. In the final battle with Ganon we do have a reappearance of Princess Zelda, now with more of Tetra’s personality and mannerisms, who shows up and assist you with the classic bow and light arrows.

In Ocarina Of Time, we got the wonderful twist of the elusive and powerful Sheik actually being Princess Zelda in disguise, who’s been living in hiding for seven years and guiding you on your quest to free the seven sages. However once this discovery is made, And Zelda appears before Link, she’s almost immediately captured by Ganon and used as a tool to force Link to fight. We see Sheik back flipping around and is heavily influenced by the idea of a lone ninja so likely can fight well, however once she’s in the pink dress again we don't even see a fighting stance throughout the whole final escape and battle. When we found out that BOTW was going to have voice acted cut scenes, there was definite fear that ‘everything would be ruined’ – up to this point, asides from reaction noises, there was no voice acting at all. Then there was the bait and switch of the E3 trailer where everyone thought that Link was Zelda (because no dude can have long hair and beautiful eyes), but once we got over all of that, it was finally March 3rd 2017 and we could fall head first back into Hyrule with nothing but a pair of swim shorts and amnesia.

Zelda is the first voice you hear, coaxing you back into the world of the (mostly) living, and she is the focus of both King Rhoam and Impa’s monologues throughout the game. Zelda in BOTW is clearly frustrated, stubborn and headstrong with the weight of Hyrule and her history on her shoulders that she’s trying to carry, despite all the problems being thrown her way. Link in BOTW is essentially static in terms of character development; he’s frozen in time, even after he wakes up, and though you slowly uncover the story of Hyrule since you’ve been asleep, we discover very little about Link himself asides from through the memories you discover along the way. Zelda, however, is the focus of all of the memories you uncover, with Link as a foil to her growth. They’re even referred to as Zelda’s memories as your Sheikah slate once was either owned by or heavily used by her, and she took all the photos that you can flick through. These are her recordings of the world around her, moments she kept for posterity, that reflect her character arc.

The reason that BOTW Zelda is still ringing through my head two years after this game came out is because she struggles and fails at the role that has been laid out before her. This isn’t something we’ve encountered in a Zelda game previously, especially not from a holder of part of the Triforce. Princess Zelda represents Wisdom, but all the Zelda’s we’ve seen actively using the Triforce have no difficulty whatsoever; they’re already in possession of the Wisdom required to wield their piece of the Triforce. This is likely why Zelda often appears sombre, like Tetra’s significant character shift once she was ‘revealed’ as Zelda, with her speech and actions weighed down by her responsibility. BOTW Zelda however, though studying and preparing more than any other Zelda to use the Triforce of Wisdom, does not have the ‘easy’ path that her previous iterations had.

On Mount Lanaryu, Zelda is seen praying to the goddess statue, asking for help and for her power to come forth so she can seal away the darkness. The goddesses, who often reflect the bearers of the Triforce, are silent in response. For Link, whenever you approach a goddess statue in the game, they literally talk to you and light shines down from above. It is heavily implied that Link is in full possession of the Triforce of courage throughout the game and 100 years before. Zelda is shown to be very aware of her own failings at awakening her power, which not only her Kingdom but her father regularly point out. With Link as her appointed knight, his presence became a continuous reminder to her of this, as she wrote in her diary;

“What does the boy chosen by the sword that seals the darkness think of me? Will I ever truly know? Then, I suppose it's simple. A daughter of Hyrule's royal family yet unable to use sealing magic... He must despise me.”

In the memories you unlock, the Champions note how stiff she is when she’s knighting Link. It’s understandable; she’s been working towards something that will save her people and it is perpetually out of her grasp, but this guy who never speaks seems to be so gifted that he’s breezed through all of his own trials. Later, as Zelda works to recognise Link as his own person rather than the hand holding the master sword, their friendship develops and she learns that her judgement of him was inaccurate. She writes;

“Bit by bit, I've gotten Link to open up to me… When I finally got around to asking why he's so quiet all the time, I could tell it was difficult for him to say. But he did. With so much at stake, and so many eyes upon him, he feels it necessary to stay strong and to silently bear any burden. A feeling I know all too well...”

Zelda has shouldered the burden of her nation’s fate and attempted to unlock an ancient power without any kind of teacher or training since the age of seven (Rhoams diary) Her spare time is spent researching ancient technology to be used against Ganon when he reappears to save her people. She likely throws herself into this work as it gives her a tangible way to progress, despite her inability to unlock her piece of the Triforce. She also works to rebuild the shrine of resurrection, “feeling uneasy” until it’s complete, just in case it is needed; without Zelda’s commitment to a project she hoped to never use, Link would’ve died where he fell in Hyrule field.

In the final memory (13), where Zelda’s power is finally unlocked, the catalyst is her putting herself between Link and certain death. She has no weapons, no shield and likely no hope that her power will come to her; but it does. Blinding light comes from her body and the Guardian falls. Link then collapses and is taken to the shrine of resurrection, and Zelda won’t see him again for another 100 years. Zelda continues to the castle to battle Calamity Ganon, alone. She then spends the next century mystically duking it out with the embodiment of evil, containing his power within the castle that was once her home to stop it spreading across the land.

BOTW Zelda benefits from being the most fleshed out Princess Zelda we’ve seen as she has human struggles that we can empathise with. She expresses her frustrations and her pain in a way that feels so genuine, especially considering she’s only seventeen when all of this is happening, that you can see why Link follows her into battle. We get windows into what she held most dear in the memories she saved of her life before the Calamity. She gives up her whole childhood in pursuit of a power she doesn’t understand, she puts her life on the line for her closet friend, and even exhaustion and lack of a physical body don't stop her from fighting back against the evil that toppled her kingdom. Ultimately, this is the route of her character; she’s a fighter, whether that’s against Ganon, destiny or herself. As soon as she can wield the Triforce, she’s stepping up against its ultimate enemy. She doesn’t give up, and is guiding you every step of the way for the final showdown.

Giving us a flawed but determined Princess Zelda added a layer to the Hylian monarchy that we’ve not had previously; she’s got the same dogged scrappiness to her that Link has, that means she never gives up. Her failings at unlocking her power took the shine off of both her title and mannerisms that are consistent in the other games, giving us an empathetic character who you’re genuinely concerned about throughout the game. This is the start of a Princess Zelda that I wish I had had as a child. I’m not saying she’s perfect, there’s definitely room for improvement, but it certainly brings me hope for whatever Nintendo are cooking up to come next for the next new Zelda title. Who knows, maybe there’ll come a time when we can play as her in a something other than Smash Bros. All I’m asking for is a full game modded out so I can run around exploring Hyrule with Zelda & her sweet horse; Is that so much to ask?

#games #Zelda #BreathoftheWild