Controversy

Certain aspects of the Legend of Zelda series that connote allusions to the real world have been changed from their original designs or removed entirely to avoid controversy with certain communities.

The Legend of Zelda
The third dungeon (of the first quest) in the original The Legend of Zelda was shaped like a left-facing swastika. This shape is actually a "manji", which is a Buddhist symbol of good fortune. Therefore the dungeon did not cause controversy with its original release in Japan. In Europe and the United States, there were surprisingly few complaints about the manji, but complaints nontheless.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past was originally named The Legend of Zelda: Triforce of the Gods, but was changed for its US release to avoid any religious controversy. When the manga by Akira Himekawa was released, it retained the Japanese original name. The re-release of the game on GBA and the manga was distributed at the same time, but the game used the western name.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time had the most changes made to it. The Mirror Shield was changed during its GameCube release, from a crescent moon and star to the Gerudo Symbol, due to its similarity to the Islamic emblem. Also, the original Fire Temple music was changed because the chanting sounded too much like an Islamic prayer. In addition, Ganondorf's blood was changed from red to green in two of the ending cutscenes to avoid an ESRB rating of T (Teen) and retain its rating of E (Everyone).

A small controversy arose with Ocarina of Time's advertising, with its first Trailer's text being "Willst thou get the girl?" or "Willst thou play like one?" Nintendo quickly replaced the sexist humor with a minimally edited version of the television advertisement which can be seen here.

The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
In The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, the Fierce Deity's Mask was originally known as the "Ferocious God's mask", but was changed for the same purpose as Triforce of the Gods, also, this game was the victim of the accusations of very disturbing imagery, there are many obvius examples inside the game, however, this was not changed in the overseas versions.

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
There was theoretical controversy surrounding the new graphics of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. A number of devout Zelda fans thought this new installment of the series was too childish, and could perhaps steer the series in a more "cartoonish" tone.

The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks
There was much controversy in Spirit Tracks, that, due to the advancement of trains that the game will advance technology of Hyrule to a next level. This brought the fear that because of the advancement in technology, the Zelda series would have a futuristic tone to it rather than having the traditional medieval tone upon many gamers.

Zelda Wii
Wii.tv's faked preview lcvdT2C31oc A prank by a gaming website showed a Legend of Zelda game set in the future. It stated that there would be guns, hover cars, and a motorcycle called Epona. They said the Master Sword would be redesigned to look more futuristic for gaming purposes. Even though no specific title was given to this game, fans are calling it The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Future, or simply Future Zelda. However, after hearing Shigeru Miyamoto's declaration that The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess would be the last Zelda of its kind, the debate did not die down even when it was revealed to be an April Fool's Joke.

The preview's images consists of early sketches for Final Fantasy VII, some concept designs for the Star Wars prequel trilogy, and the voices of two of Wii.tv's contributors.