The Legend of Zelda-
Zelda is kidnapped by Ganon, who hides her in his lair on Death Mountain. Before she was kidnapped, she shattered the Triforce of Wisdom into eight pieces and had them scattered throughout Hyrule to hide them from Ganon, then sent her nursemaid Impa in search of a hero. Zelda is not actually seen in this game until after Ganon is defeated. Like several character sprites in the game, her dress color reflects the tunic color Link is wearing.
The Adventure of Link (Zelda 2)-
In the sequel to The Legend of Zelda, The Adventure of Link, Link must rescue a Princess Zelda from long ago. According to the backstory, the power of the Triforce had belonged to one man alone, a great king of Hyrule. When he died, the artifact was divided, and the heir to the throne could inherit only part of it. Before his death, the king had told only the prince’s younger sister, Zelda, where the missing parts of the Triforce could be found. The princess would not give away her precious secret, even under threats from the prince and one of his counselors, an evil magician. In his anger, the magician put a powerful sleeping curse on the princess, despite the objections of the prince. The spell was successful, but the magician died in exhaustion after its casting. The devastated prince ordered that every female born into the royal family would be named Zelda in memory of the tragedy. Princess Zelda was placed in the North Palace and lay there for untold ages until Link (on his sixteenth birthday, years after the events of the original The Legend of Zelda) learned of her fate and set out to break the curse.
A Link to the Past (Zelda 3)-
Princess Zelda is one of the seven maidens descended from the sages who sealed Ganon away during the Imprisoning War. At the beginning of the game, she is imprisoned in the dungeon of Hyrule Castle by Agahnim, who plans on sacrificing her along with the other six maidens in order to break the seal between the Light and Dark World. This would free Agahnim's alter ego, Ganon, from the Dark World and allow him to wreak havoc on Hyrule. Zelda telepathically calls for help, contacting Link's uncle and then Link himself. Link rescues Zelda and takes her into the Sanctuary, where she remains, safe, for part of the game. After Link retrieves the Master Sword from the Lost Woods, Zelda is kidnapped by Agahnim’s henchmen and sent to the dark world in his final ritual, breaking the seal. She is not seen again until she is rescued by Link from Turtle Rock (the seventh dungeon in the Dark World). Saving her and the other six maidens opens the entrance to Ganon's Tower, the final dungeon of the game.
The Legend of Zelda:Ocarina of Time-
Zelda is the Princess of Hyrule, and later becomes the Seventh Sage and holder of the Triforce of Wisdom. Her destiny is tied with Link, possessor of the Triforce of Courage, and Ganondorf, possessor of the Triforce of Power. Zelda, the true heir to the royal family, is of the Hylian race. She begins the game as a young girl blessed with prophetic abilities. In a dream of symbolic importance, she senses Ganondorf's treachery and predicts Link’s arrival before either occurs. When Link meets her for the first time in Hyrule Castle Courtyard, she sends him on a quest to collect the three Spiritual Stones and protect the Triforce from Ganondorf. When Ganondorf attacks Hyrule Castle, Zelda and her attendant Impa, a Sheikah, flee the castle on horseback. The princess throws the Ocarina of Time into the moat for Link to retrieve. When Link returns seven years later, he encounters a disguised Zelda, who gives her name as "Sheik, the survivor of the Sheikah". In this guise, Zelda gives Link clues to the locations of the various temples and teaches him special songs that enable him to warp to them. After all six sages are rescued, Zelda reveals herself to Link, and explains that she is the seventh sage and that both she and Link hold pieces of the Triforce. She then gives him the magical Light Arrows, but is immediately captured by Ganondorf and imprisoned in a pink crystal at the top of his tower. After Link defeats Ganondorf, Zelda is freed, and she assists Link in escaping the collapsing fortress. After the tower is destroyed, Ganondorf uses the Triforce of Power to revive as Ganon. Once he is weakened by Link, Zelda uses her magic to hold him in place while Link finishes him, and then she and the other sages banish him to the Sacred Realm. Afterwards, Zelda uses the Ocarina of Time to return Link to his childhood, to "regain [his] lost years."
Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages-
Impa tells Link she has been sent by Zelda to guard Din, the Oracle of Seasons, and Nayru, the Oracle of Ages, and escort them back to Hyrule. The plans go awry when the Oracles are kidnapped, and partway through the second game Zelda has a disturbing vision and comes to find Link. She is briefly captured, but Link rescues her. Once both games have been completed, Twinrova kidnaps her in a plan to sacrifice her to revive Ganon. They ultimately fail and are defeated by Link, who rescues the captive Princess. The castle begins to crumble, but they are rescued by the Maku Tree.
Four Swords-
In the beginning of the game, Zelda goes to the Sanctuary of the Four Swords with her friend Link, to check on the seal containing the Wind Mage, Vaati. The seal has weakened, however, allowing Vaati to escape. He then kidnaps Zelda and takes her away to his palace where he intends to force marriage upon the princess. Drawing the Four Sword from its resting place, Link journeys to rescue Zelda and reseal the Wind Mage.
The Wind Waker and Phantom Hourglass-
A pretty and adventurous young girl named Tetra leads her band of pirates across the Great Sea in search of a legendary treasure, the Triforce, hidden beneath the waves. Her destiny becomes entwined with Link's, and eventually, King Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule explains that Tetra is actually Princess Zelda. During the final battle, Zelda helps by slowing down Ganondorf with the Light Arrows she borrows from Link. This is the second time a Zelda participates in a battle in the series, and she plays a more active role than the Zelda of Ocarina of Time.
Four Swords Adventures-
Worried about the seal on Vaati, Zelda goes with six other mystical maidens to check on the Sanctuary of the Four Sword, with Link accompanying her, only for a dark shadowy copy of Link to attack, and kidnap the maidens and Zelda. Link is forced to draw the Four Sword to fight Dark Link, allowing Vaati to escape. At the end of the game, Zelda helps the four Links fight Dark Link, and after Vaati is dispatched, the five quickly flee the collapsing Tower of Winds. Finally, the Links face Ganon, with Zelda again participating in the battle.
Near the end of the game, Zelda is led by the four Links through swarms of monsters and obstacles in order to escape the collapsing Tower of Winds, mirroring the similar element from Ocarina of Time where she and Link escape from the collapsing Ganon's Castle. However, in this game, Zelda has a four piece heart meter which, when depleted, will kill her along with all four Links, requiring the latter to defend her.
The Minish Cap-
Princess Zelda is the daughter of Hyrule’s King Daltus. She and Link are good friends, as Link's grandfather is Hyrule's Master Smith. One day, Zelda gets Link to take her to the Picori Festival in Hyrule Town. During the ceremony following the festival's swordfighting tournament, she is turned into stone by the winner, Vaati. Vaati is an evil mage searching for a legendary Light Force, and knowing Zelda has mystical powers of her own, he wants to keep her out of the way. Later, discovering that her power is the Light Force, Vaati invades the castle and kidnaps the petrified princess, planning to sacrifice her and become a god. When Link defeats Vaati, Zelda uses the Light Force to heal the damage that Vaati caused to Hyrule.
Twilight Princess-
Zelda was the young ruler of Hyrule until its invasion by Zant, the Twilight King, when she surrendered to him upon his prompt of "Life? Or death?" in an effort to protect her people. From then on, she is imprisoned inside a tower in Hyrule Castle, although she does not become a spirit under the influence of the Twilight King's magic like her people. It is here that she meets Link, transformed into a wolf by the Twilight Realm's power. Later, she apparently gives up this power, and her physical form, to aid a purified and dying Midna. Zelda regains her body later, only to be possessed by Ganondorf, but his influence is purged from her body by Midna. Ganondorf makes another attempt on Zelda's life soon after, but she is protected by the Light Spirits of Hyrule, who grant her the Light Arrows to assist Link in part of his final battle, making this her third participation in the final battle. The last time she is seen in the game is when she and Link say goodbye to Midna at the Mirror of Twilight. In Twilight Princess, Zelda, despite retaining her "Princess" title, is the matriarch of Hyrule (queen-in-waiting). Other incarnations of Zelda have featured her as the daughter and possible heiress to the king of Hyrule, as opposed to the land's ruler.
Alter egos-
Sheik-
Sheik is a character in Ocarina of Time, and is an alter ego of Zelda. In the game, Zelda passes herself off as a young Sheikah known as Sheik. With voice muffled and face concealed, as well as wearing a form-fitting blue suit with the red Sheikah eye in the center, the character is essentially unrecognizable as Zelda.
Sheik plays the harp and teaches Link new songs to help him on his quest. When Link arrives at the Temple of Time near the end of the game, Sheik uses the Triforce of Wisdom and reverts to Zelda. It is claimed by the character's trophy in Super Smash Bros. Melee that Zelda uses her magical skills to change her skin tone, hair length, eye color, and clothing. In addition, Sheik is voiced by a female voice actor in Ocarina of Time, Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. Brawl. However, when Link encounters Princess Ruto in the Water Temple, she refers to Sheik as "a man", and in the manga for Ocarina of Time it says that Zelda used the Triforce of Wisdom to actually become male while disguised as Sheik, and sealing away the consciousness of Zelda.
Sheik appears in Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. Brawl, in which Zelda can change into Sheik as one of her abilities. According to "Smash DOJO", Sheik's new design in Brawl is based on her model created for consideration in Twilight Princess
Tetra-
Tetra is a girl pirate who, in The Wind Waker, helps Link start his journey. Her mother died a few years before the events of The Wind Waker, and she was left to lead the group of pirates. She is the one that Ganondorf intended the Helmaroc King to kidnap, instead of Aryll. At first she did not like Link, thinking he was just some kid who was sad because his sister, Aryll was recently kidnapped.Though later noticing Link wielding the Master Sword as he advances to slay the Helmaroc King.
She periodically helps Link out during his quest, and later her true identity is revealed in Hyrule Castle: she is Princess Zelda, the last heiress in the Hylian Royal Family bloodline. Before this, Tetra did not know she was Zelda, yet knew of Hyrule, the legend of the Hero of Time, and the Master Sword, and wore a large piece of the Triforce of Wisdom around her neck as a necklace.
Tetra also appears in the Japan-only Tetra's Trackers game, a part of Four Swords Adventures, as well as in The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, where she is taken by the mysterious Ghost Ship, and Link must rescue her. Afterward, Link learns that he must also defeat Bellum to return her from being transformed into stone.
Zelda is kidnapped by Ganon, who hides her in his lair on Death Mountain. Before she was kidnapped, she shattered the Triforce of Wisdom into eight pieces and had them scattered throughout Hyrule to hide them from Ganon, then sent her nursemaid Impa in search of a hero. Zelda is not actually seen in this game until after Ganon is defeated. Like several character sprites in the game, her dress color reflects the tunic color Link is wearing.
The Adventure of Link (Zelda 2)-
In the sequel to The Legend of Zelda, The Adventure of Link, Link must rescue a Princess Zelda from long ago. According to the backstory, the power of the Triforce had belonged to one man alone, a great king of Hyrule. When he died, the artifact was divided, and the heir to the throne could inherit only part of it. Before his death, the king had told only the prince’s younger sister, Zelda, where the missing parts of the Triforce could be found. The princess would not give away her precious secret, even under threats from the prince and one of his counselors, an evil magician. In his anger, the magician put a powerful sleeping curse on the princess, despite the objections of the prince. The spell was successful, but the magician died in exhaustion after its casting. The devastated prince ordered that every female born into the royal family would be named Zelda in memory of the tragedy. Princess Zelda was placed in the North Palace and lay there for untold ages until Link (on his sixteenth birthday, years after the events of the original The Legend of Zelda) learned of her fate and set out to break the curse.
A Link to the Past (Zelda 3)-
Princess Zelda is one of the seven maidens descended from the sages who sealed Ganon away during the Imprisoning War. At the beginning of the game, she is imprisoned in the dungeon of Hyrule Castle by Agahnim, who plans on sacrificing her along with the other six maidens in order to break the seal between the Light and Dark World. This would free Agahnim's alter ego, Ganon, from the Dark World and allow him to wreak havoc on Hyrule. Zelda telepathically calls for help, contacting Link's uncle and then Link himself. Link rescues Zelda and takes her into the Sanctuary, where she remains, safe, for part of the game. After Link retrieves the Master Sword from the Lost Woods, Zelda is kidnapped by Agahnim’s henchmen and sent to the dark world in his final ritual, breaking the seal. She is not seen again until she is rescued by Link from Turtle Rock (the seventh dungeon in the Dark World). Saving her and the other six maidens opens the entrance to Ganon's Tower, the final dungeon of the game.
The Legend of Zelda:Ocarina of Time-
Zelda is the Princess of Hyrule, and later becomes the Seventh Sage and holder of the Triforce of Wisdom. Her destiny is tied with Link, possessor of the Triforce of Courage, and Ganondorf, possessor of the Triforce of Power. Zelda, the true heir to the royal family, is of the Hylian race. She begins the game as a young girl blessed with prophetic abilities. In a dream of symbolic importance, she senses Ganondorf's treachery and predicts Link’s arrival before either occurs. When Link meets her for the first time in Hyrule Castle Courtyard, she sends him on a quest to collect the three Spiritual Stones and protect the Triforce from Ganondorf. When Ganondorf attacks Hyrule Castle, Zelda and her attendant Impa, a Sheikah, flee the castle on horseback. The princess throws the Ocarina of Time into the moat for Link to retrieve. When Link returns seven years later, he encounters a disguised Zelda, who gives her name as "Sheik, the survivor of the Sheikah". In this guise, Zelda gives Link clues to the locations of the various temples and teaches him special songs that enable him to warp to them. After all six sages are rescued, Zelda reveals herself to Link, and explains that she is the seventh sage and that both she and Link hold pieces of the Triforce. She then gives him the magical Light Arrows, but is immediately captured by Ganondorf and imprisoned in a pink crystal at the top of his tower. After Link defeats Ganondorf, Zelda is freed, and she assists Link in escaping the collapsing fortress. After the tower is destroyed, Ganondorf uses the Triforce of Power to revive as Ganon. Once he is weakened by Link, Zelda uses her magic to hold him in place while Link finishes him, and then she and the other sages banish him to the Sacred Realm. Afterwards, Zelda uses the Ocarina of Time to return Link to his childhood, to "regain [his] lost years."
Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages-
Impa tells Link she has been sent by Zelda to guard Din, the Oracle of Seasons, and Nayru, the Oracle of Ages, and escort them back to Hyrule. The plans go awry when the Oracles are kidnapped, and partway through the second game Zelda has a disturbing vision and comes to find Link. She is briefly captured, but Link rescues her. Once both games have been completed, Twinrova kidnaps her in a plan to sacrifice her to revive Ganon. They ultimately fail and are defeated by Link, who rescues the captive Princess. The castle begins to crumble, but they are rescued by the Maku Tree.
Four Swords-
In the beginning of the game, Zelda goes to the Sanctuary of the Four Swords with her friend Link, to check on the seal containing the Wind Mage, Vaati. The seal has weakened, however, allowing Vaati to escape. He then kidnaps Zelda and takes her away to his palace where he intends to force marriage upon the princess. Drawing the Four Sword from its resting place, Link journeys to rescue Zelda and reseal the Wind Mage.
The Wind Waker and Phantom Hourglass-
A pretty and adventurous young girl named Tetra leads her band of pirates across the Great Sea in search of a legendary treasure, the Triforce, hidden beneath the waves. Her destiny becomes entwined with Link's, and eventually, King Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule explains that Tetra is actually Princess Zelda. During the final battle, Zelda helps by slowing down Ganondorf with the Light Arrows she borrows from Link. This is the second time a Zelda participates in a battle in the series, and she plays a more active role than the Zelda of Ocarina of Time.
Four Swords Adventures-
Worried about the seal on Vaati, Zelda goes with six other mystical maidens to check on the Sanctuary of the Four Sword, with Link accompanying her, only for a dark shadowy copy of Link to attack, and kidnap the maidens and Zelda. Link is forced to draw the Four Sword to fight Dark Link, allowing Vaati to escape. At the end of the game, Zelda helps the four Links fight Dark Link, and after Vaati is dispatched, the five quickly flee the collapsing Tower of Winds. Finally, the Links face Ganon, with Zelda again participating in the battle.
Near the end of the game, Zelda is led by the four Links through swarms of monsters and obstacles in order to escape the collapsing Tower of Winds, mirroring the similar element from Ocarina of Time where she and Link escape from the collapsing Ganon's Castle. However, in this game, Zelda has a four piece heart meter which, when depleted, will kill her along with all four Links, requiring the latter to defend her.
The Minish Cap-
Princess Zelda is the daughter of Hyrule’s King Daltus. She and Link are good friends, as Link's grandfather is Hyrule's Master Smith. One day, Zelda gets Link to take her to the Picori Festival in Hyrule Town. During the ceremony following the festival's swordfighting tournament, she is turned into stone by the winner, Vaati. Vaati is an evil mage searching for a legendary Light Force, and knowing Zelda has mystical powers of her own, he wants to keep her out of the way. Later, discovering that her power is the Light Force, Vaati invades the castle and kidnaps the petrified princess, planning to sacrifice her and become a god. When Link defeats Vaati, Zelda uses the Light Force to heal the damage that Vaati caused to Hyrule.
Twilight Princess-
Zelda was the young ruler of Hyrule until its invasion by Zant, the Twilight King, when she surrendered to him upon his prompt of "Life? Or death?" in an effort to protect her people. From then on, she is imprisoned inside a tower in Hyrule Castle, although she does not become a spirit under the influence of the Twilight King's magic like her people. It is here that she meets Link, transformed into a wolf by the Twilight Realm's power. Later, she apparently gives up this power, and her physical form, to aid a purified and dying Midna. Zelda regains her body later, only to be possessed by Ganondorf, but his influence is purged from her body by Midna. Ganondorf makes another attempt on Zelda's life soon after, but she is protected by the Light Spirits of Hyrule, who grant her the Light Arrows to assist Link in part of his final battle, making this her third participation in the final battle. The last time she is seen in the game is when she and Link say goodbye to Midna at the Mirror of Twilight. In Twilight Princess, Zelda, despite retaining her "Princess" title, is the matriarch of Hyrule (queen-in-waiting). Other incarnations of Zelda have featured her as the daughter and possible heiress to the king of Hyrule, as opposed to the land's ruler.
Alter egos-
Sheik-
Sheik is a character in Ocarina of Time, and is an alter ego of Zelda. In the game, Zelda passes herself off as a young Sheikah known as Sheik. With voice muffled and face concealed, as well as wearing a form-fitting blue suit with the red Sheikah eye in the center, the character is essentially unrecognizable as Zelda.
Sheik plays the harp and teaches Link new songs to help him on his quest. When Link arrives at the Temple of Time near the end of the game, Sheik uses the Triforce of Wisdom and reverts to Zelda. It is claimed by the character's trophy in Super Smash Bros. Melee that Zelda uses her magical skills to change her skin tone, hair length, eye color, and clothing. In addition, Sheik is voiced by a female voice actor in Ocarina of Time, Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. Brawl. However, when Link encounters Princess Ruto in the Water Temple, she refers to Sheik as "a man", and in the manga for Ocarina of Time it says that Zelda used the Triforce of Wisdom to actually become male while disguised as Sheik, and sealing away the consciousness of Zelda.
Sheik appears in Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. Brawl, in which Zelda can change into Sheik as one of her abilities. According to "Smash DOJO", Sheik's new design in Brawl is based on her model created for consideration in Twilight Princess
Tetra-
Tetra is a girl pirate who, in The Wind Waker, helps Link start his journey. Her mother died a few years before the events of The Wind Waker, and she was left to lead the group of pirates. She is the one that Ganondorf intended the Helmaroc King to kidnap, instead of Aryll. At first she did not like Link, thinking he was just some kid who was sad because his sister, Aryll was recently kidnapped.Though later noticing Link wielding the Master Sword as he advances to slay the Helmaroc King.
She periodically helps Link out during his quest, and later her true identity is revealed in Hyrule Castle: she is Princess Zelda, the last heiress in the Hylian Royal Family bloodline. Before this, Tetra did not know she was Zelda, yet knew of Hyrule, the legend of the Hero of Time, and the Master Sword, and wore a large piece of the Triforce of Wisdom around her neck as a necklace.
Tetra also appears in the Japan-only Tetra's Trackers game, a part of Four Swords Adventures, as well as in The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, where she is taken by the mysterious Ghost Ship, and Link must rescue her. Afterward, Link learns that he must also defeat Bellum to return her from being transformed into stone.
