Of all Nintendo’s franchises, few stand out as more significant than The Legend of Zelda franchise, an epic story that has transcended generations of gamers. But just what is this legend, this story? It is a story of a princess named Zelda, who has all kind of amazing powers – like magical abilities, a kick-ass alter ego in Sheik and incredible skill with a bow and arrow – who is somehow constantly bested by Ganondorf/Ganon and forced to be saved by the oh-so-heroic and bland Link. Over and over and over again.

No matter what Nintendo does to make Zelda better, it does nothing to change things. She is the most under-utilized character Nintendo has ever created, and to this day, she continues to be cast as the stereotypical damsel-in-distress, no matter how strong she has become. And that, my friends, is what fuels a large part of my fury and disgust at The Legend of Zelda series.

Come with me, and I will show you where both gamers and Nintendo have gone wrong, and what exactly they can do to fix it.



Over the years, Zelda has grown from a young little princess to a noble leader of Hyrule. She has gone from having some unknown mystical power to being able to control magic and having an alter-ego that she can turn into on command. She has gone from being weak and powerless to theoretically being able to hold her own. Unfortunately, the theoretical part is where the problem lies, because Nintendo has never bothered to put that theory into practice.

At the same time, while ignoring Zelda all together, Nintendo has taken another damsel-in-distress, Princess Peach, and given her a life all her own. No longer just a background character for Mario to save, Peach has starred in her own platforming title (Super Princess Peach on the DS) and had playable roles in both Super Mario RPG and Super Paper Mario. In fact, while it didn’t have the most complex game play in the world, there was a lot of praise for Super Princess Peach’s role reversal, which featured Mario being captured by Bowser and Peach having to save his sorry little ass for once.



But rather than call Nintendo out on this and ask that Zelda be treated the same way as Peach, gamers and hardcore Zelda fans balk at the idea of the princess getting the spotlight. Their reasoning? Two very old games on the CD-i, Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon and Zelda’s Adventure. Both were commercial failures of the utmost degree and both starred Zelda as the heroine. Therefore, according to this logic, any game starring Zelda will fail miserably because they did in the past. On the CD-i. Of course, they never stop to think that the CD-i’s Link: The Faces of Evil also bombed, and thus, Nintendo has no business making game starring Link, either.

Let’s face it – every important gaming series has a few mistakes they’ve made, a few bad games which, under the same principle that make people say no to Zelda starring in her own game, would end many popular franchises. Bomberman, Mario, F-Zero, Final Fantasy and Mega Man would be among those gone simply because they had one or two games that weren’t up to snuff. Or, if not entire series, then many popular characters, including half of Nintendo’s line-up, would be gone by now: Mario, Luigi, Wario, Donkey Kong, and Link are just among the few we’d never see again. It’s silly to say one bad game dooms an entire idea and hypocritical to only apply it to certain characters or ideas.



So I’m sure you all know where this is going. Yes, I am advocating that Zelda be taken out of the background and given a chance in the spotlight, a real chance. Her own game? Maybe not yet, as we should take some baby steps first. But in the next Zelda game, give her some time on-screen. Let Link get captured and have Zelda have to rescue him. It not only makes Zelda a better character, but it actually makes Link human instead of the invincible demi-god he’s become. Put that swordsmanship and those magical powers to work for once, not just in Smash Bros. Give her a level or two and make them important parts of the story, not just side-missions we can pass up or that are throw-away chunks of the storyline. Make us actually believe that Zelda has a big part in her own legend for once and that the title of the game isn’t a misnomer. If you want her to get captured after that, that’s fine with me.

My opinion is not a popular one amongst the Internet crowd, nor do most Zelda fans see the need for anything in the franchise to change. They would gladly take a prettier Twilight Princess with a few more levels as the next Zelda Wii game if Nintendo offered it to them. But I am tired and angry at the status quo, especially one that makes the title character look pathetic. I no longer hope this is remedied in the next Zelda title for the Wii – I expect it will be. Otherwise, for the first time I can recall, I will be skipping the next Zelda game entirely.

Your move, Mr. Miyamoto.