One thing I adore about Zelda games are the ever-shifting roles of recurring characters. In Twilight Princess, Link is an edgy twenty-something farmboy turned-warrior, while in Skyward Sword he’s an effeminate, caring, and selfless hero (and no, I’m not saying those traits have anything to do with each other by nature). Likewise, Zelda’s role has varied even more widely over the years, from commandeering a pirate ship in Wind Waker to the forceful removal from her body as an invisible spirit in Spirit Tracks. Like any Zelda, Hyrule Warriors appears to have tricks up its sleeve, one of which we now know: Zelda will not be merely a princess, but an outright queen.
The confirmation of “Queen Zelda” comes via a recent interview with MMGN, in which Tecmo Koei development producer Yosuke Hayashi and Zelda producer Eiji Aonuma discuss how characters’ roles are determined for each Zelda game.
Hayashi: In Hyrule Warriors Princess Zelda is actually Queen Zelda. She has an army, as a Queen would, and Link is a trainee, but as the story unfolds the relationship between the two greatly changes.
Aonuma: With regard to Princess Zelda and her position in each story, we always position her where it’s best suited for that story or theme. We always try to achieve her best position within the story with each game or iteration. Just because she’s one way in one game, it doesn’t mean she’ll be the same way in the next game. We definitely change how Zelda is used and position her where it’s best for the experience. That’s as Queen and one of the playable characters in Hyrule Warriors.
Queen Zelda may be a new phenomenon for American gamers, but the Japanese have seen this before; the recent Link Between Worlds noted that Zelda did in fact hold the status of Queen, but this was subsequently removed during English localization. In that game the difference was negligible (and in fact, Zelda’s appearance suggests a younger age), but with Hyrule Warriors it stands to alter the typical Zelda plot substantially.
How will a scenario where Zelda begins far more powerful than Link play out? As a trainee, what exactly is Link’s business interacting with the queen in the first place, and how will their relationship develop? There are endless questions, but given that this is still Hyrule Warriors and not the next actual mainline Zelda, it’s probably best to simply wait and see — or check out our E3 preview instead.
