The Legend Of Zeldaseries has many defining traits, from its memorable characters and incredible dungeon design. In terms of iconography though, the Triforce is one of the most recognized in all of gaming.
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Split across Power, Wisdom, and Courage, Zelda is often the one to characterize the latter. She is the voice of reason, the one who plans ahead for seemingly hopeless scenarios. That’s meant to be the case, anyway. Except sometimes Zelda is, well, not the wisest after all.
9The Wind Waker
It is important to start this entry off by saying that The Wind Waker is one of the best Zelda games, and its incarnation of each of its tried-and-true characters is actually very fun. That said, its version of Zelda is maybe the least wise character in the series.
Spending much of the game as Tetra, she isa headstrong, carefree pirate- not the caring, calculating princess of previous games. It’s a breath of fresh air, but let’s not act like the literal pirate is making the smartest decisions.
8The Adventure Of Link
Despite the Adventure of Link being a sequel to the original Legend of Zelda, even featuring the same Link, it shares just about nothing else. Featuring dramatically different gameplay and a widely loathed experience overall, it also features a hilariously less capable Zelda.
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She is a different Princess Zelda from the prior game, and loses just about all her agency. She is put into an eternal sleep by her princely brother after being misled by a Wizard, with her only awakening after Link acquires the full Triforce. To her benefit, she had the foresight to not reveal the location of the Triforce to the Very Evil Wizard.
7The Minish Cap
The Minish cap, rather ironically, goes unnoticed by much of the fanbase. Featuringthe miniature Minish, the Minish Cap has Link travel across a world both big and small to restore the power to the Picori Blade.
Notably, Zelda wasn’t mentioned there. At the beginning of the game, being a close friend of Link, she sneaks out to bring him to a festival only for it to be crashed by Vaati. After revealing her power, he turns the Princess to stone. It was a selfless decision to protect the people around her, though you could argue there might have been a wiser decision to make in such a situation.
6A Link To The Past And A Link Between Worlds
The game that defined so much of the series' musical and artistic traditions, A Link To The Past has Princess Zelda as one of the Maidens. Sensing her life is in danger, she uses telepathy to contact Link to tell him to save her and the other Maidens from Agahnim. She still gets captured, but at least this time she had a plan in place.
In A Link Between Worlds, she plays a similar role. This time, she is the sole ruler of Hyrule and aware of her own status as a Sage, as well as the identity of others. Though she gets kidnapped by Yuga, she gifts Link her Pendant of Courage in advance to help him succeed in her quest. Finally, some actual planning.
5The Legend Of Zelda
The original Legend of Zelda is a game many would claim is too open-ended these days, forgetting that the game came with a manual to guide you. It’s a distinct lack of wisdom, something this game’s Zelda actually has some of.
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Though she is ultimately kidnapped by Ganon, she first scatters the Triforce across all of Hyrule to prevent its theft, and sends her handmaiden Impa to locate a suitable hero to rebuild the Triforce and defeat Ganon. And because of all this foresight, she is saved and Ganon vanquished. The Triforce of Wisdom served her well here.
4Ocarina Of Time
Ocarina of Time defined The Legend of Zelda, taking so many of the foundations of A Link To The Past into a 3D environment for the first time, to great success. Split across two timelines, we primarily see Zelda in the child timeline. At least that’s what the game wants you to believe.
Princess Zelda did not let a day of her capture go to waste this time around. Masquerading as the mysterious Sheik, she bulked up immensely and is basically the one guiding Link to her freedom even though she seems plenty capable of defeating Ganondorf in hand-to-hand combat. She’s equal parts Power, Courage, and Wisdom here.
3Skyward Sword
Skyward Sword was an important entry in the series because it actually made an effort to establish a firm timeline, something Nintendo was firmly opposed to prior to this. In it, you see the birth of many things, from the personifications of the Triforce to the growth of the Master Sword.
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Through intensely noble sacrifice, this Zelda proves herself as one of the most Wise. Her fate as the mortal reincarnation of the Goddess Hylia is not known until her life is put in danger, and she wistfully but dutifully takes up the mantle. She even chooses to watch over the Triforce on the surface after her intended task of sealing away Demise was completed.
2Breath Of The Wild And Tears Of The Kingdom
Breath of the Wild marked a dramatic departure for the series, vying for a full open world that encourages player interaction over hand-crafted tools. A similar sentiment was given to Princess Zelda as well. Unable to awaken her ancient powers, she wanted to set out into the open world to help defeat evil first-hand rather than being stuck behind locked doors because of ‘tradition’.
In Tears of the Kingdom, we see her wishes come to fruition. Thrown into the past far from anything she understands or any of her allies, she’s forced to take events into her own hands. Through manipulation of time, she guides Link across his journey through a will of her own. It was breaking from what she was told and making decisions of her own that allowed her Wisdom to shine.
1Twilight Princess
For many people,Twilight Princess is the definitive rendition of The Legend of Zelda. Link caught between two worlds, antagonists beyond just Ganondorf, and a darker atmosphere that showcases the horror of Hyrule’s impending doom.
As such, Zelda has to take the fate of her kingdom seriously too. Saved from the Twilight by her Triforce of Wisdom, she instantly enacts a plan. Sneaking away from Hyrule Castle, she meets with Link and transfers her soul to Midna to aid her and remove her own power in the process. As a result, both the Queen of Twilight and Princess of Hyrule were protected, left to rest until they were capable of saving their respective kingdoms.
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