Princess Zelda

Princess Zelda
The Legend of Zelda character
Promotional artwork of Zelda for The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past and Four Swords
First game	The Legend of Zelda (1986)
Created by	Shigeru Miyamoto
Voiced by	English Cyndy Preston (The Legend of Zelda) Bonnie Jean Wilbur (Link: The Faces of Evil and Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon) Patricia Summersett (The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom) Brandy Kopp (Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, World of Light only) Stephanie Marton (Cadence of Hyrule) Japanese Naomi Fujisawa (BS The Legend of Zelda) Mariko Kouda (The Legend of Zelda: Sound & Drama and BS The Legend of Zelda: Ancient Stone Tablets) Yayoi Nījima (The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past commercial) Jun Mizusawa (The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time,[a] The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, Super Smash Bros. Melee,[a] The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Super Smash Bros. Brawl,[a] and Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U[a]) Hikari Tachibana (The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker,[b] The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords, The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures, The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap, The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass,[c] and Hyrule Warriors[c]) Akane Omae (The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks and Hyrule Warriors[d]) Yū Shimamura (The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom) Ayumi Fujimura (The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate[a]) Saori Seto (Hyrule Warriors[a]) Chiyuki Miura (The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom[a])
Portrayed by	Diane Burns (Zelda's Adventure)
In-universe information
Alias	Sheik (Ocarina of Time) Tetra (Wind Waker, Phantom Hourglass)
Race	Hylian
Origin	Hyrule

Princess Zelda^[e] is a character in Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda video game series. She was created by Shigeru Miyamoto for the original 1986 game The Legend of Zelda. As one of the central characters in the series, she has appeared in the majority of the games in various incarnations. Zelda is the elf-like Hylian princess of the kingdom of Hyrule, an associate of the series protagonist Link, and bearer of the Triforce of Wisdom.

Zelda's role has often been that of a damsel in distress or donor who assists Link. In many games, she is captured by the antagonist Ganon, necessitating Link to come to her rescue. In several games she is one of the Sages whose heroism is essential to defeating Ganon; in others, like Ocarina of Time and The Wind Waker, she adopts alternative personas to take a more active role in the story. The Zelda featured in Skyward Sword, the earliest game in the series chronology, is revealed to be the mortal reincarnation of the goddess Hylia, which establishes her descendants (and thus all other Zeldas in the series) as having the blood of the goddess, which gives each of her incarnations a range of magical powers. In Echoes of Wisdom, she is featured as the playable protagonist.

Zelda has been described as one of the most recognisable princesses in video gaming. She has appeared in branded merchandise, comics and manga, and an animated television series. In addition to The Legend of Zelda series, she has appeared as a playable character in a number of spin-off games and other game series, including Hyrule Warriors, Cadence of Hyrule, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, and the Super Smash Bros. series. Critics have responded positively to her development into a strong female character and have listed her as one of the greatest female video game characters of all time.

Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).