Anyone who knows me, knows that I am an out and proud gamer. I have been playing them since I was a young girl, and a lot of the games I played then I hold near and dear to my heart. But there is one game franchise that stands above the rest, and that is the Legend of Zelda series. One of the first Zelda games I ever played was The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess – which as Zelda games goes, is one of the darker entries in the Zelda series. And given that I was only 11 years old when I first played it, I was arguable too young to fully appreciate the game for what it was at the time. In fact, my first encounter with the Twilight Realm in the game scared me so much that I did not touch the game again until I was 15, where I did actually complete the game. But it was during time that I learned that there were other Zelda titles, and that they were all a part of this large narrative, that they were all connected by a timeline.
This was a first for me with regards to Video games. I had also assumed that each individual video game was its own separate entity – like the Mario games. Each game is basically the same – Mario rescue Princess peach from Bowser. But there is no timeline for the Mario games. You can’t say “Mario 64 takes place before Super Mario World”, we just don’t know. There is no lore to tell us this. They are all the same Mario, Bowser and Peach across all the games. The Legend of Zelda is different. There is in game lore to explain the narrative and timeline. Link is not the same Link across all the games: he is a reincarnation of the “Hero”. So even though we play as Link in every Zelda title, it is not necessarily the same Link, but rather a reincarnation of the Spirit of the Hero. The same applies to Princess Zelda, who is a reincarnation of the Goddess Hylia. And how does the game explain this reincarnation? By releasing The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword – which serves as the origin story for our heroes and the villain, and explains why their spirits are especially cursed in this eternal battle of good vs evil. And I love that concept so much. I love that they gave us a narrative reason as to why there are so many games where Link meets Princess Zelda and rises to become the true Hero.
I think this is why I have such a profound love for the series. On top of it being a fantasy adventure style game – which I have a strong affinity for - it stuck with me for how tender and real it felt, from the memorable musical score to the detail it paid to even the most minor characters, and I’ve followed the franchise religiously in the years since. I have not played every Zelda title out there because I do not own every console ever to play them all on, but the titles that I have played, I have resonated with so much – and that is largely due to being able to relate to the 2 main characters, Link and Princess Zelda.
In each game, the story is roughly the same: You play hero named Link and you are awoken to help the Princess Zelda defeat a great evil. Now you would assume that both of these characters were adults, given the level of responsibilities they had. In almost every Zelda title, Princess Zelda is always ruling an entire kingdom and Link is a fully trained sword fighter and usually living on his own. However, Link and Zelda in the games are actually teenagers, somewhere between 16 – 18 years old. Even in Ocarina of Time when you travel between child and adult Link, Link as a child is still bearing the entire fate of Hyrule, along with Child Princess Zelda, who is working hard to keep the Triforce safe from Ganondorf. Every game starts off with the player perceiving Link as young, but throughout the adventure and the story, we unconsciously start to view him as an adult. He grew up. Little trivia for you; Link’s iconic design of his green tunic was inspired by Peter Pan, the boy who refuses to grow up. So, I find it interesting that Link and even Zelda are in this perpetual, cycle of “growing up.” We see them taking in the responsibilities and burdens of adulthood as they are forced to leave their childhood behind. Which is something that they can never regain – in fact, at the end of Ocarina of Time, Adult Princess Zelda sends the Adult Link back in time to his younger body so that he may regain the childhood that he lost. However, Link could never regain that, instead warning the young Zelda of Ganondorf’s plans and then leaving Hyrule entirely in search of his fairy companion Navi – he is still in the adult mindset. The Legend of Zelda series really captures both the joys and frustrations of leaving you childhood behind as you face the challenges of adulthood.
I think this is why I relate so much to the two main characters – while I have not gone on epic quests to save the world from an evil king, I have felt the pressures of a society that expects you to grow up fast and shoulder all the responsibilities of the world without really any support. And that takes a mental toll on you as a person – and is in fact reflected as such in the games themselves. In the latest Zelda title, Breath of the Wild, we really get an in depth look of the struggles that Link and Princess Zelda go through. Zelda is constantly expressing doubts about her abilities and role, as there is all this pressure on her to fulfil her role when she has no guidance on how to do so – and yet it is expected of her to do so without fail. This is seen throughout Breath of the Wild via Zelda’s memories, and the struggles she faces with the pressure placed on her. And she is not the only one. We learn via Zelda’s Diary entry that Link does not talk because with so much at stake, and so many eyes on him, he feels it necessary to stay strong and silently bear any burden. This is fantastic social commentary on the game. These two are teenagers, and yet all this responsibility that they are not necessarily ready for has been placed on them since birth. When the world naturally places so much expectations and responsibilities on us, it can be overwhelming, especially because we never asked for them in the first place. But to reject that, to turn away from it, to be known as a failure, it is something we can’t do, and it is why Link and Zelda carry out their duties, not necessarily because they want to, but because it is expected that they do.
The Zelda series as a whole does a fantastic job of subtly discussing Mental Health, something that I don’t think gets enough recognition due to it being a fantasy video game. Majora’s mask is designed around the 5 stages of grief and allow Link and us to come to terms with Death in a unique way. Breath of the Wild really explores the mental struggles faced by Link and Zelda, and it really allows us the players to not only discuss these topics, but potentially help ourselves come to terms with our own weaknesses. I didn’t know this of course when I was young – but looking back as an adult, it struck me with just how much the Zelda games have been there for me, bringing me comfort and joy, and giving me a sense of worth. People say video games are just meant for kids – I think they are for anyone who can relate – maybe I will take a lesson from the Zelda games, and hold onto my childhood a bit longer until I’m ready to let go. Maybe I never will. But I wouldn’t say I’m done growing up yet, but neither are Link and Zelda.
Bibliography:
5 Times Breath of The Wild Did Great Things for Mental Health. CheckPoint.org. https://checkpointorg.com/zelda-mental-health/
Dathen Boccabella, (October 2011), THEMES IN MOTION: MAJORA’S MASK AND THE FIVE STAGES OF GRIEF, https://www.zeldadungeon.net/themes_in_motion_majoras_mask_and_the_five_stages_of_grief/
Good Blood (January 2019), OCARINA OF TIME - A Masterclass in Subtext, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyUcwsjyd8Q
Nintendo, The Official Zelda Timeline, https://www.zelda.com/about/
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