The Legend of Zelda series



The Legend of Zelda (ゼルダの伝説, Zeruda no Densetsu) is a high fantasy action-adventure video game series developed and published by Nintendo and created by the famous game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. The gameplay consists of a mixture of action, adventure, puzzle solving, role-playing, and occasional platforming, stealth, and racing elements. The series centers around Link, the sole playable character and hero. Link is often given the task of rescuing Princess Zelda and the most common setting of the series, Hyrule, from Ganondorf who is the primary villain of the series. However other settings and antagonists have appeared throughout the games, with Vaati having recently become the series' secondary antagonist. The story commonly involves a relic known as the Triforce, a set of three golden triangles of omnipotence. The hero in each game is not always the same iteration of Link, although the same character sometimes appears across multiple games.

The Legend of Zelda is widely considered one of the most influential video game series in history, along with Mario, Pokémon, and Metroid. The series consists of fourteen official games across multiple platforms as well as several spin-offs. Most games in the series have been met with critical acclaim and commercial success. As of October 2007, The Legend of Zelda series has sold over 47 million copies in total worldwide.

Gameplay
The Legend of Zelda games feature a mixture of puzzles, strategic action gameplay, and exploration. These elements have remained constant throughout the series, but with refinements and additions featured in each new game. You are frequently rewarded for solving puzzles or exploring areas. Most Zelda games involve locating and exploring dungeons, in which puzzles are solved and enemies fought, then defeating the dungeon's boss. Each dungeon usually has one major item inside, most of which are required to advance to the boss. Some items are found in almost every game (such as the boomerang), while others are exclusive to a single game. In later games in the series, items found in each dungeon are usually used in some way to fight that dungeon's boss.

Chronology
The precise chronology of the Zelda universe is commonly debated among fans, although some fans do not feel the games are definitively connected. As the series progressed, and more games were released, the exact order of the games in an overall timeline became complex and heavily disputed.

In the instruction booklet for The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past it is revealed that this particular Link is an ancestor of the Link from the NES games. Also the Nintendo 64 The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time does the same thing in relation to theSuper Nintendo Entertainment System Link. Also, In The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker it mentions that the flooded Hyrule is a result of "the hero" going on an adventure in another kingdom, possibly alluding to the child Link from Ocarina of Time's adventure in Termina in The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask. It is not known how much time has passed in Hyrule between each of these games.

In an interview conducted by Nintendo Dream with Eiji Aonuma in December 2006, he mentioned that there exists two different Zelda universes. The split in the timeline occurs during Ocarina of Time, when, at the end of the game, Link is sent back in time by Princess Zelda. Once returned to his original time, Link goes to see her again, and the result of this meeting is an alternate future in which the villain Ganondorf is arrested and tried by the ancient sages, which causes him to be banished to the Twilight Realm; The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess then occurs over one hundred years after the Ocarina of Time child Link's era. Meanwhile, The Wind Waker occurs in the "adult Link" timeline, hundreds of years after the adventure of the adult-Link in the future of Ocarina of Time.

Development
The Legend of Zelda was principally inspired by Shigeru Miyamoto's explorations as a young boy in the hillsides surrounding his childhood home in Kyoto, where he ventured into forests with secluded lakes, caves, and rural villages. According to Miyamoto, one of his most memorable experiences was the discovery of a cave entrance in the middle of the woods. After some hesitation, he apprehensively entered the cave, and explored its depths with the aid of a lantern. This memory has clearly influenced Miyamoto's work, as cave exploration is often a major component of most Zelda games. Other than Miyamoto's childhood, Norse and Japanese mythologies have played a large role influencing the series. Miyamoto has referred to the creation of the Zelda games as an attempt to bring to life a "miniature garden" for players to play with in each game of the series.

Hearing of F. Scott Fitzgerald's wife Zelda, Mr. Miyamoto thought the name sounded "pleasant and significant." Paying tribute, he chose to name the Princess after her, and titled his creation The Legend of Zelda.

Universe

 * See also: Hyrule, Triforce, Great Sea, Termina

The Zelda series has developed a deep story and wide universe over its many releases. Much of the backstory of the creation of Hyrule was revealed in the games A Link to the Past, Ocarina of Time, Wind Waker, and Twilight Princess.

History
According to the in-game backstories, long ago, three goddesses descended and created the land of Hyrule. Din, the goddess of power, with her powerful, flaming arms, cultivated the empty space, and created the red earth. Nayru, the goddess of wisdom, bestowed her divine wisdom upon the land, and created the world's laws to give a sense of justice and order to the world, and to guide the people in the goddesses' absence. Farore, the goddess of courage, endowed Hyrule with her powers, creating life to follow this justice.

After their work was completed, the goddesses left a magical artifact called the Triforce, which could grant the wishes of the user. It consisted of three golden triangles, each also called a "Triforce" &mdash; one of Wisdom, one of Power, and one of Courage). However, because the Triforce was not divine, and could not judge between good and evil, the goddesses placed the Triforce in an alternate world called the Sacred Realm or the Golden Land, hoping that a worthy person would one day seek it.

According to legend, if the discoverer of the Triforce has a balance of power, wisdom, and courage, they will receive the Triforce as a whole. If they are unbalanced, they will receive the part of the Triforce that represents the characteristic they most demonstrate, with the remaining parts of the whole transferring into the people in Hyrule who most exemplify the other two traits. The Triforce was first distributed as such starting in Ocarina of Time, as the Triforces of Power, Wisdom and Courage were each held by Ganondorf, Princess Zelda, and Link, respectively. While the Triforce of Power and Wisdom have been part of the series since the original The Legend of Zelda, it was only in Zelda II: The Adventure of Link that the Triforce of Courage was first introduced, being obtained by Link at the end of his quest. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, released after The Adventure of Link, but before Ocarina of Time, featured the Triforce, but made no mention of its three qualities or distribution, beyond Ganondorf obtaining it.

Eventually, dark interlopers attempted to steal the Triforce and establish dominion over the Sacred Realm. In response, the goddesses sent the light spirits Eldin, Lanayru, Ordona, and Faron to seal away their dark magic within the Fused Shadows. The interlopers themselves were banished to the shadowy world of the Twilight Realm, with only the Mirror of Twilight linking the two worlds. There, they would eventually become the Twili race. The Mirror was left in the protection of ancient sages.

The fictional universe established by the Zelda games sets the stage for each adventure. Many games take place in lands with their own back-stories. Termina, for example, is a parallel world accidentally formed as a side effect of the goddesses' creation of Hyrule.

Games

 * The Legend of Zelda
 * Zelda II: The Adventure of Link
 * The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
 * The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
 * The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
 * The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Master Quest
 * The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
 * The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons
 * The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages
 * The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords
 * The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
 * The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures
 * The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap
 * The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
 * The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
 * The Legend of Zelda: Wii

Nature of the protagonist
According to the official website, Link is described as humble but brave, attributes appropriate for the bearer of the Triforce of Courage. Sometimes Link will bear a special title, such as "Hero of Time", "Hero of the Winds", "Hero Chosen by the Gods", or "Waker of the Winds". A long-eared Hylian, he is portrayed as being anywhere from 7 to 17 years old, depending on the game. Link always wears a green tunic, an undershirt and a long, floppy green cap for at least part of each adventure. All incarnations of Link are left-handed, the only exception to date being the Wii version of Twilight Princess, in which Link is right-handed due to the "mirroring" used to accommodate the right-handed control scheme. This mirroring effect flips the entire game layout from its Nintendo GameCube counterpart.

Link does not usually speak, and only produces grunts, yells, and other such sounds. One exception to this is The Wind Waker. In the English-language game, the audible phrase "Come on!" is used in dungeons to call either special statues or other characters (Medli or Makar) to follow Link. In prior games, such as A Link to the Past and Ocarina of Time, players can answer questions by choosing options from a list; no voice acting accompanies Link's answers. More typically, the character uses facial expressions to indicate mood; particular emphasis is placed on this in The Wind Waker and Twilight Princess.

Arguably, Link "speaks" two lines in The Adventure of Link. When he locates a mirror under a table, the text, "I found a mirror under the table" appears on screen. Later, if Link examines a fireplace that he can enter, "Looks like I can get in the fireplace" is displayed.

Although the character's accepted name is Link, you can name him before the start of most games, and characters will address him by that name in the text. The reason for his silence is so that the player can envision themselves as the hero.

Reception
The Legend of Zelda series has generated many extremely positive reviews within the gaming industry. Ocarina of Time and The Wind Waker have both received a perfect 40/40 score (10/10 by four reviewers) by Japanese Famitsu magazine, making Zelda the first and currently only series with multiple perfect scores. In addition, A Link to the Past and Phantom Hourglass received an almost-perfect score of 39/40. The website IGN.com also awarded Ocarina of Time, Oracle of Ages, Oracle of Seasons and Link's Awakening a score of 10/10. GameFAQs has also held a contest for the best video game series ever, with The Legend of Zelda claiming the top position.

In Nintendo Power's Top 200 countdown, Ocarina of Time took first place, and seven other Zelda games placed in the top 40. Moreover, the editors of Game Rankings, GameStats, and Metacritic, who compile major numeric reviews given to the game on its release, have both given Ocarina of Time their highest aggregate scores. Nintendo Power named Twilight Princess 2006 Game of the Year, as well as Best Story/Adventure, Best New Character, and Game of the Year for both the Nintendo GameCube and the Wii.

Cultural influence
The worldwide success and popularity of The Legend of Zelda series has led to many influences within popular culture. The series has also been parodied, including an episode of The Powerpuff Girls which features the Mayor of Townsville playing a spoof of Ocarina of Time and a season 3 episode of Robot Chicken in which there is a skit based on The Legend of Zelda which references many aspects of the series, including the existence of multiple Links, the Triforce, Rupees, and rescuing Princess Zelda. Many references to the series also exist in other video games such as Final Fantasy, which contains a tombstone with the inscription: "Here lies Link". Link cameos in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars where he appears sleeping in a bed at the Rose Town Inn, and he remains in bed throughout the game.

The WarioWare, Inc. series features micro-games throughout each of the games that are based on games throughout The Legend of Zelda series. In the original, you control Link from the original Legend of Zelda and must get him into a nearby cave. In WarioWare: Twisted! you again control the original Link, but this time you must direct his shield to block Octorok attacks. In WarioWare: Touched! one micro-game asks you to touch the pixel that is out of place, and sometimes the sprite is Link. In the most recent game, Smooth Moves, there are three micro-games featuring Link. In one, you control Link from The Wind Waker floating to Forbidden Woods on the Deku Leaf. In another, you are Link pulling the Master Sword in the Temple of Time in Ocarina of Time. In another one, you conduct a band of traditional Nintendo characters (including Link) playing well-known Nintendo songs, and on the highest difficulty level the song is the generic Legend of Zelda theme.

Ōkami director Hideki Kamiya states that he has been influenced by The Legend of Zelda series in developing the title. Both Ōkami and Twilight Princess feature a wolf as a playable character. The developers of the game Dark Sector have stated they have been heavily influenced by The Legend of Zelda series, and that the structure of the game is much like a Zelda game. Other games influenced by the series are Donkey Kong Country 3, the Animal Crossing series, and World of Warcraft.