7 Princess Zelda Facts From Tears Of The Kingdom

A New Look

Zelda’s look changes from game to game, but Tears of the Kingdom takes this a step further. Zelda looks pretty much the same as she did in the last game, but her hair is the biggest change. Even though a haircut might not seem like much, it’s a big change from the many Zeldas who have lived in Hyrule in the past.

Players have only seen the princess with such short hair once before, and that was in the artwork for the original Famicom game. Other than that, the princess has always been shown with long hair that flows. Zelda looks more like a real person now that her hair is shorter and more current. This Zelda doesn’t look like the Princess of Hyrule. Instead, she looks more like the Hero of Hyrule.

A New Trait

Wisdom has always been the thing that stands out most about the Princess of Hyrule. In fact, she is the only one who has the Triforce of Wisdom. Tears of the Kingdom builds on this character trait by introducing a version of Zelda who is obsessed with her country’s past and legacy.

This is most clear in the way she is interested in the paintings she finds under Hyrule in the opening scenes of the game, but it is also hinted at in other ways. Zelda not only knows a lot about wars from hundreds of years ago, but she also goes to the trouble of making a secret room where she can study this history without being interrupted. She even helps run a new school in Hateno Village, where she can teach others what she knows.

A New Home

Players who know Hateno Village will also know that in a side quest in the last game, Link can buy an abandoned house there and become one of Hyrule’s youngest real estate moguls. This house is still there in Tears of the Kingdom. But there seem to have been some big changes in who owns it.

The house used to be known as Link’s main home, but now it is known as Princess Zelda’s. As she worked to fix up her kingdom after the big disaster, she lived in this house and used it as a private office. Many fans think this means that the two heroes are in love with each other. Either way, the princess will find it strange to live somewhere other than Hyrule Castle.

A New Place In History

Early on in the game, where Zelda is is one of the most important things to figure out. In the beginning of the game, she disappeared in a flash of golden light. Link’s main goal is to find her. He soon finds out that she went back in time to some of Hyrule’s earlier times. Here, she meets her ancestors from long ago and sees them face the Gerudo King Ganondorf.

Now that Zelda is stuck in the past, she sees the Queen of Hyrule, Sonia, die and becomes the Sage of Time. Even though she has played similar parts in games like A Link to the Past and Ocarina of Time, this is the first time the princess is shown to have had an impact on how Hyrule came to be.

A New Ability

Princess Zelda hasn’t been so closely tied to time before, but this is the first time she’s been shown to be able to control it. Zelda becomes close to her ancestor, Queen Sonia, after she goes back in time by mistake. Sonia can tell that Zelda has special powers that come from the fact that she can control time and that Rauru can control light.

Sonia wants to teach Zelda how to use her powers so that she can go back to her own time. After Sonia dies, Zelda is seen helping Rauru and the other elders with her Recall power. Zelda uses this skill in the ongoing fight against Ganon and his forces, even though she gives it to Link in the end.

A New Form

Fans of the long-running Legend of Zelda games will know that monster forms are a big part of the games. Link and Ganon have both taken on non-human shapes in different games, most famously in Twilight Princess. But in Tears of the Kingdom, Zelda’s story takes a turn that shows her as a beast as well.

Zelda knows it is her job to fix the broken Master Sword and give it to Link in the future because she got it in the past. The only way for her to do this is to eat her Secret Stone and turn into a dragon. When she does this, she loses all of her humanity. But since this is the only way to make sure the sword gets to its destination safely, she does something she can’t take back and changes into the same Light Dragon she was earlier in Drift Boss game.

A New Legacy

Princess Zelda is one of the most well-known characters in the series, and she is also known as one of the best queens from Nintendo. But for most of the history of her franchise, she hasn’t been much more than a damsel in trouble. Some Legend of Zelda games have tried to change this, but Tears of the Kingdom does it in a very unique way.

The main goal of the game is for Link to find Princess Zelda. Don’t save her; find her. In this game, Princess Zelda is the one who saves the day. After being taken from her home and left in the past, she decides to spend the rest of her life stopping Ganon. She talks the other teachers into making a promise to help Link succeed thousands of years from now.

When she has no other choice, she gives up her mind to make sure that Link gets the Master Sword safely. She gives herself hundreds of years of crazy to save a home she may never see again, and when the game is over and she goes back to being herself, she makes it her mission to bring peace to Hyrule forever.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is now available on Nintendo Switch.