When the Legend of Zelda series began, Princess Zelda herself was the goal: She was a princess and it was Link’s role to rescue her from the clutches of the antagonist Ganon. It may have worked then but years of gaming advancements have happened since. Thus it is now customary to have well-realised scripts and characters the player can relate to. So whilst the formula may have persisted in the lead games since, it’s interesting to note how said formula has been tampered with and how Princess Zelda has done significantly more than just sit around, waiting to be rescued. In Ocarina of Time, she provides help and assistance to Link and even gets into the thick of it through her alter ego Sheik. In Wind Waker, Princess Zelda adopts the persona of the sassy pirate captain Tetra. In Twilight Princess, Zelda is shown to be a ruler who is deeply concerned for the well-being of her people and even plays an active role in helping Link defeat Ganondorf in the final conflict. In Skyward Sword, Zelda finally gets some romantic interplay with Link which makes her assertive whilst leaving him something of a dope (or so I’ve heard). And, as established many times over, Princess Zelda forms a trifecta with Link and Ganondorf as they each represent the three aspects of the Triforce in Wisdom, Courage and Power respectively.
All of this begs the question of why isn’t there a Zelda game where we get to control Princess Zelda herself. She has her fans and many of them would like to see her as the player character. But no – the games tell the story of Link’s adventure, not hers. What is particularly frustrating is that whilst the character of Princess Zelda has had some care and work gone into making her something a bit more than damsel in distress, at the end of the day she still fulfils that function within the game itself! Such a move does bother me in that Nintendo could make really a really great heroine but seem unwilling to make the final step. Why, I heard that the makers of Spirit Tracks paid attention to the demands of wanting to use Princess Zelda as a playable character but the end result struck me more of a squandered opportunity: Yes it was nice to finally see Princess Zelda and Link working together but to have that Zelda being dead and assisting Link only in spirit does leave a rather nasty taste in the mouth.
But ultimately, the balking out may be there for good reason: For there does lie the notion that if a damsel in distress is a strong, practical and capable of looking after herself then she would’ve already rescued herself. Thus having Princess Zelda the player character may upset the afore-mentioned trifecta: If it’s Princess Zelda going out and taking Ganondorf down then what’s left for Link to do? He is the embodiment of the Triforce of Courage so thus it looks kinda silly for him to be placed in such a redundant position (which may explain how Princess Peach got her own game on the DS).
There is indeed weight to make Princess Zelda a playable character and, with enough thought, it could be made to work. If Zelda is setting up things beforehand for Link to walk into, then why don’t we see it happen? How about a Legend of Zelda game which features bonus content showing Princess Zelda going around and setting things up for particular points in the game (by way of example, consider the Ada missions in Resident Evil 4)? Or how about a Legend of Zelda game where the player can switch between both Link and Princess Zelda and show the latter using her magic and mind to overcome problems to assist Link in his quest?
Still, I personally like to think that Princess Zelda could do everything but she’s smart enough to get someone else, Link, to do it. After all, she isn’t the embodiment of the Triforce of Wisdom for nothing…
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