There are many great ‘inside jokes’ within the gaming space, but few are as prominent or as well-known as that of The Legend of Zelda and its “naming irony. After all, the title is named after Princess Zelda, and yet the main character in every game is Link, the one who is destined to help her/save her from the situation she’s in. In fact, some people forget that Zelda isn’t the main character or think that Link is a girl because of the “naming confusion.” The various people behind the franchise have tried to explain why this is the case and even note that it is “Zelda’s legend.” It’s just being told from a different perspective.
Either way, especially in recent times, gamers have wanted Zelda to get her due by being a playable character in a mainline title. Games like Hyrule Warriors allowed you to be Zelda and vanquish foes, but that was in a Warriors-style title and not truly canon. But with games like Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, we got stories that greatly expanded Zelda’s character in ways we hadn’t seen before, which made fans desire her to have a more starring role in the franchise she’s named in.
Enter Papa Genos, a well-known Nintendo leaker who posted some concept art from the “Master Works” art book that’s coming soon and made the following message:
At first, that might just seem like a plea from a fan who likes Zelda a lot. However, when you look at the message and string together the capital letters, you get the message, “This is a hint.”
That seems to imply that he knows something that’s going on behind the scenes and that The Legend of Zelda could feature her as a playable protagonist in the next entry. If so, many fans will be happy about that.
As noted, the last two games heavily increased Zelda’s screentime, including showing her as a more scientific persona via the ancient technology that was littered around Hyrule and someone who wished to ignore the lineage she had because she wasn’t as gifted as Link in areas of the Tri-Force. Then, in the most recent entry, we saw her true legend be born as she risked everything to save Hyrule twice over and even transformed into a dragon so that Link could have the Master Sword at full power so he could beat Ganondorf.
There are many ways to make a title about Zelda interesting, we just need to wait and see if Nintendo pulls the trigger.
