Princess Zelda

Princess Zelda (ゼルダ姫, Zeruda-hime) is a playable character in Hyrule Warriors. Her roles in the Legend of Zelda franchise vary with each incarnation, though the relationship dynamics between her and Link are kept more or less the same.

Role in Game
Princess Zelda is first shown playing her Harp in an open meadow, enjoying the calm serenity of the grassy planes and the music from her harp. However a massive cloud made of dark mist and black slime start to approach, and her attempt to escape is futile as she is, seemingly crushed by the wave of darkness. She later wakes up in her bed, telling her body guard Impa she had the same dream again. Impa claims it must be a prophesy of some kind.

While making their rounds through the castle, Zelda and Impa make their way pass the training yard where the new recruits are taking basic combat training. There Princess Zelda makes eye contact with Link. After that it is announced that an army, led by Volga and Wizzro are approaching the castle. Zelda's forces head out to intercept this army, with Zelda her self leading the charge along side Impa.

During the battle with Wizzro's forces Zelda gets separated from the main group, and Link and Impa fight through enemy groups in order to get to her. Once reunited she suggests they seek the aid of the Great Fairy to help them win the battle. With the Great Fairy's help they were able to deal a devastating blow to enemy morale. Impa then requests Zelda leave the battlefield, and leave the rest up to her and Link.

After that it is presumed Zelda has gone missing, when in actuality she has gone into hiding, using her magic to alter her appearance and don a new persona in order to avoid being pursued by Cia's forces.

After coming out of hiding Zelda, or her alter ego Sheik. In the event players select Sheik, she will state Zelda's personal lines in various story based conversations. When playing as Zelda or Sheik, her role as commander of the Hyrulean Army is shifted over to Princess Ruto.

With her true identity revealed Princess Zelda, along with everyone else, make their way to the Temple of the Sacred Sword to get the Master Sword, believing it to be the only ideal way to combat Cia's forces. They are greeted at the temple by hostile holy spirits, however it is revealed they are being controlled by Wizzro. After his defeat, players venture to the Temple of Souls to combat Cia.

During the battle Cia uses her dark magic to harness Links arrogance, creating several Dark Links to combat the Hyrulean Army. While fighting these Dark Links Ganondorf shows up with his own army, attempting to combat both Cia and Zeldas forces. Zelda becomes immobile with fear due to Ganondorf's Dark Aura, resulting her needing to be aided by Link. Link is able to defeat Ganondorf, causing him to retreat.

Zelda's forces make one final attempt to take down Cia, again combating her at the Valley of Seers. Zeldas forces struggle at first, however the Great Fairy comes to her aid, telling them to make their home base at her Fountain. From there Zelda and the Great Fairy combine powers to create a massive magical explosion, dealing a huge damaging blow to Cia's forces.

Cia then infuses Volga with intense dark magic, causing him to go on a rampage, Zelda then attempts to approach him and reason with him. After speaking with him, she convinces him to shed the dark magic altering his mind, but dies in the process much to Zelda's dismay.

After Cia's eventual defeat, the portals finally close, and all the warriors from their alternate time lines are sent back home. It is believed that all is right with Hyrule, however none are prepared for when Ganondorf's forces arrive with Zant and Ghirahim in tow. Being caught off guard Ganondorf's forces storm the castle, and defeat both Zelda and Link, Ganondorf taking their Triforce pieces.

With her Kingdom stolen from her, Zelda, Link, and Impa flee with what little exists of her army in an attempt to regroup. Reuniting with Lana at the Gerudo Desert, they are ambushed by Zant and Ghirahim's forces. The two work to get Lana separated from the main Hyrulean army, however she uses magic to bring Darunia, Ruto, Agitha, Midna, and Fi back from their respective eras to assist Zeldas forces. From there they defeat Zant and Ghirahims forces.

With this boost in Morale, Zelda's army once again does battle with Ganondorf's forces. After a grueling battle Zeldas forces manage to defeat Ganondorf, only for him to transform into the Dark Beast Ganon. She imbues her powers into the Bow and Arrow item, permanently transforming them into the Light Arrows for the remainder of the battle.

They are eventually able to defeat Ganon, however in order to permanently seal his power the Master Sword must be placed back into its pedestal at the Temple of the Sacred Sword. Zelda travels with Link to return the sword, however his attempt at placing it in the pedestal is met with trouble as dark magic is spewing from it, preventing the Master Sword from being placed into it. Zelda moves to Links aid, and together they place the Master Sword where it belongs, permanently sealing away Ganondorf's soul fragment in their era.

Development
When developing her character for this title, designers felt she needed to come off as a strong figure —both physically and emotionally— and was designed to have an aura of "a poised and confident ruler". The developers felt that a strong Zelda was a natural choice since they wanted to show how normal it was for someone of her character to obtain her seat of power. A powerful and playable Zelda is a marked contrast from the majority of the Zelda series, where she tends to be the damsel in distress.

Personality
Princess Zelda is a dignified figure who calmly assesses any dire situation before making a decision. She has the upmost faith in all of her allies, believing that they have the ability to overcome any obstacle. However despite her positive nature, she is a stern warrior and has no issues taking to the battlefield her self when necessary. Princess Zelda is a brilliant tactician, able to read the flow of battle and come up with the best solutions needed to ensure victory. However in the event an unforeseeable act occurs, she can be prone to light panicking, however if only for the safety of her troops fighting for her cause. In moments like these she is able to recover a minute or so after the initial shock.

Quotes

 * See also: Princess Zelda/Quotes

Gameplay
Rapier= Standard Attacks Press X while in the air during certain attacks to dive to the ground, causing a cross shaped energy blast on the ground.


 * X: Zelda holds her sword skyward and charges it with light energy, which stuns nearby enemies (completely fills her orb meter).
 * Y, X, X: Zelda performs a black flip while simultaneously performing an upwards slash that launches enemies into the air. After landing she performs a flurry of thrust attacks at the airborne enemies.
 * Y, Y, X, X: Jumps up and performs a horizontal slash at enemies on the ground, then performs a diving slash attack to quickly get on the ground. Once on the ground, she thrusts her blade upwards, causing a pillar of light energy to erupt in front of her, which launches enemies into the air.
 * Y, Y, Y, X, X: Performs a series of spinning slashes while dashing left to right many times in a zig-zag pattern, before hovering in the air and performing a flurry of thrusting attacks, ending with final powerful thrust.
 * Y, Y, Y, Y, X: Jumps forward performing a series of powerful slashing strikes, ending with a powerful upwards diagonal horizontal slash to send enemies flying.
 * Y, Y, Y, Y, Y, Y: Performs a series of fencing-esque slashing attacks that has Zelda gracefully move slightly forward with each strike. The final strike is a thrust attack that fills up one of her light orbs.


 * A: Pulls out a golden bow and arrows and fires a single powerful Light Arrow that travels straight forward and knocks back any enemies in its path.


 * Focus Spirit + A: Rapidly casts Ocarina of Time spells Nayru's Love, Farore's Wind and Din's Fire in succession. This summons a large ice crystal in front of her that shatters, then creates a tornado, followed by an explosion of flame to enemies directly in front of her.
 * Focus Spirit Finisher: Creates an orb of light that hovers over her enemies' heads, and shoots a light arrow at it. This causes an explosion of light energy causing damage to all surrounding enemies.


 * Weak Point Smash: Pulls out her golden bow and holds it horizontally, and shoots 4 Light Arrows spread out in an arch, damaging both the enemy general and the other surrounding enemies.

Light Orb Exclusive Attacks If players press X in the air while orbs are active, Zelda will fire Light Arrows towards the ground. Can be done twice in succession and uses up 1 Light Orb per attack. Players can still perform Zelda's dive X attack right after these moves.


 * Y, X, X: Zelda performs a black flip while simultaneously performing and upwards slash that launches enemies into the air. She hovers in the air and summons a large orb of light energy over her head, and then throws it towards the ground, causing it to detonate. Uses 1 Light Orb.
 * Y, Y, X, X: Jumps up and performs a horizontal slash at enemies on the ground, then shoots a light arrow towards the ground in front of her that detonates on impact. She then fires another light arrow straight downwards, which knocks back enemies. Uses 1 Light Orb.
 * Y, Y, Y, X, X: Performs a series of spinning slashes while dashing left to right many times in a zig-zag pattern. She then pulls out a light bow and shoots a series of multiple Light Arrows straight into the sky. The Light Arrows then rain down from the sky as pillars of light in two paths directly in front of her. Uses 1 Light Orb.
 * Y, Y, Y, Y, X: Hovers in place and summons a large Triforce-shaped platform of light up under her feet. It erupts in a blast of holy light all around her, severely damaging enemies. Uses 1 Light Orb.


 * Guarding an Attack/Taking Damage + X: If Zelda has a light orb charged up, she can counter attacks after guarding them, or taking damage by quickly pressing X right after. Zelda will slam the tip of her blade into the ground causing a dome of light energy to burst around her, causing enemies to be sent flying. Uses 1 Light Orb (each).

The rapier moveset is a fusion of control and power. Her standard charge attacks are easy to control and good for both small to mid-sized groups of enemies. It is also perfect for one-on-one battles. The Light Orb attacks are great for performing devastatingly powerful attacks that can extend to enemies beyond reach. However, her light orb attacks are fairly difficult to control and once started up, they can't be stopped through dodge-canceling. Players will need to prioritize and carefully judge the battlefield when playing as her.


 * Sword used by her Twilight Princess incarnation.
 * Energy balls and triangle-shaped blasts as Ganondorf's puppet in Twilight Princess.
 * The bow and Light Arrows from several titles (Wind Waker, A Link Between Worlds, etc.)
 * Ice, wind, and fire spells learned by Link in Ocarina of Time: Nayru's Love, Farore's Wind, and Din's Fire.


 * -|Baton=
 * X: Send forth five miniature tornadoes to damage enemies. She then sends out a small guided tornado that can be controlled and will carry any enemies it his. Guiding this tornado into enemies wrapped in other tornadoes by any of this weapon's attacks will increase the guided tornado's size. The tornado can be dispersed to damage enemies in an amount and radius proportional to its current size by pressing X a second time.
 * Y, X: Causes electricity to run along the ground around Zelda damaging enemies close to her. Ends by summoning a ball of electricity and tossing it at enemies directly in front of her.
 * Y, Y, X: Jumps up into the air and generates a musical staff along the ground made of electricity. Electric orbs shaped like musical notes run along the lines directly in front of her, damaging enemies caught in it.
 * Y, Y, Y, X: Creates gusts of wind that dart left and right directly in front of her, before spinning forward into enemies.
 * Y, Y, Y, Y, X: Zelda spins around generating a huge tornado, sending her flying into the sky, and sending enemies flying in all directions.
 * Y, Y, Y, Y, Y, X: Waves the baton around causing musical staffs to form in the air in front of her, damaging enemies within range before spinning at high speeds sending nearby foes airborne.
 * Y, Y, Y, Y, Y, Y, Y: Performs a series of stationary spinning motions while controlling the wind to attack enemies. Finishes by summoning four small air spouts, and then Zelda sending out a circular wave of wind outwards.


 * A: Summons 3 mini tornadoes to her left, and 3 to her right, and brings them together via her baton to form one giant tornado to send enemies flying.


 * Focus Spirit + A: Waves baton in front of her to generate some musical staffs before pointing it directly in front of her, causing a gust of wind to blow forward and greatly damage enemies.
 * Focus Spirit Finisher: Spins baton about then points it up into the sky, causing a dome of electric energy to form around her to damage enemies.


 * Weak Point Smash: Forms a triangle out of wind with the baton and thrusts the weapon forward, causing a gust of wind to shoot out into the enemy before her.

Zelda becomes stationary with the baton to conjure wind magic and sound attacks. The music notes can pin opponents or help with crowd clearing. It requires the player to judge distances to make the best of its attacks.


 * Her two Specials will randomly play one of 4 songs from the Zelda series.
 * The Song of Storms and Saria's Song from Ocarina of Time.
 * The Earth God's Lyric and Wind's Requiem from The Wind Waker.

DLC only.
 * -|Dominion Rod=
 * Focus Spirit + A:
 * Focus Spirit Finisher:


 * Weak Point Smash:


 * Zelda's usage of the Wind Waker and the Dominion Rod as her alternate weapons alludes to the fact that both items are Sacred Hyrule Royal Family Treasures from the Legend of Zelda franchise.

Weapons
Rapier=


 * -|Baton=

DLC only.
 * The first level weapon is both based on and named after the Wind Waker.
 * -|Dominion Rod=

Badge Materials

 * See also: Hyrule Warriors/Badges

Attack Badges=
 * -|Defense Badges=
 * -|Assist Badges=

Heart Locations
Heart Pieces=
 * -|Heart Containers=

Gallery
Images=

Trivia

 * Through a weapon glitch Zelda hums her theme song when she uses Lana's summoning gate.
 * Zelda's costume is included in Fatal Fame: Maiden of Black of Water as a costume for Miu.