What’s the Legend of Zelda all about? It’s about being a hero and rescuing the princess, it’s about the adventure and saving the world going on an epic quest to stop all of the evil that threatens Hyrule with your trusty sword boomerang and other weapons. And amidst all of this epicness, there’s one thing, in particular, that seems to get highly overlooked which is the game’s secret message of love. I know it’s probably not the most action-packed thing to talk about when it comes to The Legend of Zelda, but it’s honestly one of the most overlooked lessons of the entire series and heck it’s one of the most overlooked lessons in all of video gaming.
The hero of time Link and the princess of Hyrule Zelda teaching us the player about the most realistic portrayal of true love. Sound cheesy enough good, let’s begin. I guess the first thing we should cover is whether or not Link and Zelda are actually a thing. So, let’s go through some games and see what we can find in The Adventure of Link on the NES. After Princess Zelda is awakened she calls Link a real hero for saving Hyrule the curtain. Then slowly falls in front of them and once it completely falls the two supposedly grow closer to one another in the Ocarina of Time.
Link and Zelda are floating in the sky together with Zelda’s Lullaby playing in the background, Princess Zelda then holds Link’s hands for a while sharing a very precious moment. Then we have Majora’s Mask right before Link departs the land of Hyrule. Princess Zelda gives the Ocarina of Time to Link as a memento to remind him of the time the two spent together, moments which she mentions that she’ll never forget. She also teaches Link the song of time, a melody which reminds her of all of the wonderful times the two of them spent together in the Oracle games on the Gameboy.
After defeating Ganon, Princess Zelda rewards Link with a kiss on the cheek causing Zelda to turn away blushing and for Link to get all flustered with hearts floating over his head. And, of course, we have Skyward Sword, the cutest iteration of the two in this game. Link and Zelda have been close friends since they were kids always hanging out with each other. Zelda, in particular, is shown to giggle a lot while talking to link. But my favorite thing is that in almost every Legend of Zelda title there will always be those tender moments between Link and Zelda, where they just stare at each other.
No words, no actions yet you know that there’s something going on here now, these small innocent acts of compassion may not seem like much at all, especially since there’s plenty of other games out there that have more flushed out relationships between characters that we actually get to see interact and grow together as one. We get to witness their actual emotions by seeing them talk to one another, and tell the other person why they’re so special to them and that that right there is what makes Link and Zelda’s relationship so different. So real everyone who plays The Legend of Zelda knows that these two share an unbreakable connection with silence and seemingly small acts of endearment.
Link and Zelda have arguably become the most popular game couple to ever exist. This is one of the most important lessons in love that a video game can possibly ever hope to teach us. Have you ever been around someone that you just truly cared for someone you liked, you might notice that you both don’t always have something to say you’re sitting there in silence, yet it doesn’t feel awkward or uncomfortable. It feels normal, it feels right. You may also be doing little things that may not seem like that big of a deal to others, but it means the absolute world to the two of you and in the end, that’s all that matters. Actions speak louder than words, but sometimes silence is able to express everything that’s in your heart because when you’re with that person – and you see them the number of emotions and feelings that you’re experiencing there are no words you can use to describe it but hey I know it sounds cheesy. I know it sounds really really lame. But when you find your Princess Zelda or you find your hero, Link then you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about you.