The Legend of Zelda series has been around for 28 years now and over that time, the game’s heroes and villains have been redesigned again and again. But let me be frank here, when it comes to Zelda character designs, there are none I like more than those from the newest spin-off game in the series, Hyrule Warriors.
So let’s look at the series’ official character art and see how these characters have evolved over the years.
Link
(The Legend of Zelda, The Adventure of Link, A Link to the Past)
(Link’s Awakening, Ocarina of Time, Majora’s Mask)
(Oracle of Ages, Oracle of Seasons, Four Swords)
(The Wind Waker, Four Swords Adventures, The Minish Cap)
(Twilight Princess, Phantom Hourglass, Spirit Tracks)
(Skyward Sword, A Link Between Worlds, Hyrule Warriors)
Zelda
(The Legend of Zelda, The Adventure of Link, A Link to the Past, Ocarina of Time)
(Oracle of Ages/Seasons, Four Swords, The Wind Waker)
(The Minish Cap, Twilight Princess, Spirit Tracks)
(Skyward Sword, A Link Between Worlds, Hyrule Warriors)
Ganondorf
(Ocarina of Time, The Wind Waker, Twilight Princess, Hyrule Warriors)
Impa
(The Legend of Zelda, The Adventure of Link, Ocarina of Time,
Oracle of Ages/Seasons, Skyward Sword, A Link Between Worlds, Hyrule Warriors)
Sheik
(Ocarina of Time, Hyrule Warriors)
Darunia
(Ocarina of Time, Hyrule Warriors)
Ruto
(Ocarina of Time, Hyrule Warriors)
Fi
(Skyward Sword, Hyrule Warriors)
Midna
(Twilight Princess, Hyrule Warriors)
Zant
(Twilight Princess, Hyrule Warriors)
Ghirahim
(Skyward Sword, Hyrule Warriors)
Hyrule Warriors was released on August 14, 2014, in Japan for the Nintendo Wii U. It will be released in Australia on September 20, 2014, and in North America on September 26, 2014.
Comments
5 responses to “My, My Zelda, How You Have Grown”
My favorite is the Twilight Princess look on both Link and Zelda for sure.
I also love the evolution of Links shield and the front of Zeldas dress.
Did you need to add the other characters after Sheik? They haven’t changed at all. 😛
I’d forgotten how good Twilight Princess’ art is. And Sheik’s body shape looks a little more realistic for what it is now, I guess.
Have these been toned down at all? I remember Impa being rather top heavy in some previous articles. And Ruto is more modest than Nintendo’s own art.
Impa got the best out of the generations