Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom May Unfortunately Reduce the…

Though Princess Zelda's role has always been hit-and-miss at best across the series, many are anticipating that much like its predecessor The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom will be another game in which the titular princess is kept tangential to its story. After her role in Breath of the Wild was split between backstory told through flashbacks to her imprisonment with Ganon, there were hopes that Princess Zelda might be more involved with Link and Tears of the Kingdom's story. But as the game's release nears, it's becoming unlikely she will finally break with tradition.

Predictions about Zelda's role within The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom have ranged from her becoming a playable character as a series' first to wilder theories about being potentially killed in-game. Despite long-running hopes among many fans that Zelda will sooner or later take on a more engaged role in the series named after her, it seems Tears of the Kingdom will continue to focus on Link, a renewed war with a revived Ganondorf, and potential revelatory secrets unearthed throughout Hyrule and the sky above. Details from Link's arm to snippets of trailer footage all seem to indicate that Zelda will once more take a backseat in the upcoming sequel.

Link Always Takes Center Stage in Zelda

It has become a running gag online that Link is often called "Zelda" by unwitting outsiders due to the incongruence of the series' name where he's the main character. But ultimately this demonstrates that most, if not all games in the series have always put Link front and center and not Zelda, where the story is told through his eyes and gives him the most agency. Therefore, Tears of the Kingdom is highly unlikely to suddenly change this, especially when several of Zelda's previous direct sequels follow stories that omit Princess Zelda entirely, such as Majora's Mask or Link's Awakening.

However, there are already early signs that Tears of the Kingdom will also be putting the spotlight on Link, not just because he's the main character but because the game's story could be intrinsically linked to him and his relation to Ganondorf. For instance, Link's corrupted arm is one detail that indicates Tears of the Kingdom's story could be about Link battling an infection of malice or fulfilling a purpose forced onto him by those who sealed Ganondorf away. Additionally, Ganondorf's revival could also hint at Tears of the Kingdom returning to Zelda tradition, possibly bringing with it expanded roles for the Triforce and the Master Sword. A return to tradition, then, would not bode well for any possible fan theory regarding the princess.

Zelda's Fate Has Already Been Hinted At

As with most Zelda games, players will typically see the princess sidelined throughout the majority of gameplay. While she is invariably a central part of the game's story, Princess Zelda's relationship with Link usually has her holed up off-screen while he adventures away. Breath of the Wild, for instance, saw her trapped in Hyrule castle alongside Calamity Ganon, and other games consistently show Zelda being abducted by the game's antagonist from Agahnim in A Link to the Past or Ganondorf in The Wind Waker. Judging by early trailers for Tears of the Kingdom, it seems Zelda could also be absent for much of the game since she ends up separated from Link once again.

One such trailer released back in 2021 at E3 has a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment where Zelda is seen falling down a chasm in an environment similar to the caverns from other trailers. Though some theories parallel Tears of the Kingdom to Majora's Mask as darker direct sequels and suggest that players will see Princess Zelda fridged, it could just be an early part of the game that sets up Zelda becoming Ganondorf's prisoner once more. The story might explore how Ganondorf became mummified below Hyrule and how Link can defeat him, but ultimately Zelda's involvement is likely to be reduced to the damsel in distress all over again.