Princess Zelda

Background Information
Princess Zelda of Hyrule. She is one of, if not the most important character of the Legend of Zelda series, which is also why the series is named after her. She made her first apperance in the original The Legend of Zelda, and has appeared in as good as every entry to the series after that. She is also chosen by destiny to be the keeper of the Triforce of Wisdom, which is the main reason why she plays such an integral role in the legends of Hyrule.

Throughout the history of Hyrule, there have been several incarnations of the Princess. The "first" is generally considered to be the one who was seen in Ocarina of Time, where we got to see her both as a child and as a nearly grown up woman.

Someone look this up and correct me, but wasn't Zelda named after someone's wife? Because she was pretty or something. I think that the someone might have on the original development team. Someone please look this up. (And then, naturally, delete this comment).

The Many Princesses Named Zelda
As mentioned above, there have been more than one Princess named Zelda throughout the history of Hyrule, and not even all of them have appeared in the games to this date. When Princess Zelda IV (at least to our best knowledge) was put in a deep coma by a wizard in the prologue for The Adventure of Link, her brother the Prince of Hyrule, who was partly to blame for her comatose, decided that in honour of his sister every princess born in to the Royal Family of Hyrule should be named Zelda.

The different princesses who have appeared in the games are Princess Zelda who appeared in Ocarina of Time, generally considered the first, then later the Princess Zelda who appeared in The Wind Waker, most often considered the second, and then the third who appeared in A Link to the Past. It is not definite, but the fourth Princess Zelda is generally considered the one awakened by Link in The Adventure of Link, and then the fifth is the one seen in the original The Legend of Zelda.

Zelda's Alter Egos
Warning: This contains severe spoilers from the Ocarina of Time storyline, so if you do not wish to get that spoiled, do not read this section.

In Ocarina of Time Link met up with a mysterious member of the Sheikah Tribe, fittingly called Sheik. This person taught Link a multitude of different songs and gave him tips on how to proceed in his quest. At the end of the game, Sheik revealed himself to be none other than Princess Zelda in a disguise. During the seven years Link had been asleep while maturing to become ready to fight Ganondorf, Zelda had gone underground and taken the disguise as Sheik so that Ganondorf would not find her in his search for the two remaining pieces of the Triforce, one which was held by Princess Zelda herself.

Warning: This contains severe spoilers from the The Wind Waker storyline, so if you do not wish to get that spoiled, do not read this section.

Born in to a society of pirates on the Great Sea, with the realms of Hyrule flooded under endless amounts of water, Tetra, a captain of the Pirates was completely unaware of her being a part of the Royal Family of Hyrule's bloodline. When this was revealed to her by King Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule, she was just as surprised as Link to find out that she was indeed Princess Zelda of Hyrule, and also the one destined to be the keeper of the Triforce of Wisdom.

Starred In

 * The Legend of Zelda


 * Zelda II: The Adventure of Link


 * The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past


 * The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time


 * The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask - Only seen once in a flashback.


 * The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages and The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons - In the linked game.


 * The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords


 * The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker


 * The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures


 * The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap


 * The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess