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In a 1994 interview with the game's creator Shigeru Miyamoto, featured in the liner notes of "The Legend of Zelda: Sound and Drama" CD, he was asked what themes he was trying to convey through the series as a whole? He responded:
"An everyday boy gets drawn into a series of incredible events and grows to become a hero. Within that framework, I wanted to create a game where the player could experience the feeling of exploration as he travels about the world, becoming familiar with the history of the land and the natural world he inhabits. That is reflected in the title: “the legend of ____”"
"Adventure games and RPGs are games where you advance the story through dialogue alone, but we wanted players to actually experience the physical sensation of using a controller and moving the character through the world. We wanted dungeons to be explorable with a simple mapping system. These and similar ideas were what we wanted to experiment with in Zelda. These themes are carried forward in the SFC Zelda as well."
Contributed by ProtoSnake
According to Nintendo's Kensuke Tanabe, a horror game starring Tingle began development in 2010. It would've been developed by Vanpool, the developers of the Dillon series. Nothing else is known about the project, except that it was canceled due to "a variety of reasons".
In the German releases of the franchise the word "Rupee" is translated to "Rubin", the German word for Ruby, which the Rupee's name is based on.
Contributed by CuriousUserX90
The name of the Moblin enemies come from the Japanese words "Mori" (Forest) and "Goburin" (Goblin), an obvious nod to the fact that the enemies are Forest Goblins.
Contributed by CuriousUserX90
Ocarina of Time, The Wind Waker and Twilight Princess have trailer songs that all use the same orchestrated soundtrack. This music track is an orchestrated piece from the 1982 Conan The Barbarian movie, "Riddle of Steel/Riders of Doom", composed by Basil Poledouris, and it is played during Ocarina of Time's 1998 trailer, Wind Waker's E3 2002 trailer and Twilight Princesses E3 2004 trailer.
In the Nintendo 64 and 3DS versions of Majora's Mask, several real-life constellations can be seen in the sky as well as the rock formations on the Termina Field wall.
Contributed by Kakariko Kid
Tingle's magic words: "Kooloo-Limpah!" are actually a play on "kururinpa" the Japanese equivalent to the word "Cuckoo", which is often used to describe someone who is crazy.
Eiji Aonuma states that the name "Majora" comes from "[Takaya] Imamura, who made the design for Majora's Mask, invented the word by combining characters from the movie title Jumanji and from his name Imamura". In Japan Majora's name is "Mujura".
Eiji Aonuma started developing Majora's Mask because he had no interest in remaking new dungeons for Ocarina of Time's Master Quest mode.
The late actor and comedian Robin Williams admitted to being a huge fan of The Legend of Zelda, even naming his daughter after the Hyrulian princess as suggested by his son Zachary. Both Robin and Zelda Williams were later featured in commercials for The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures and the 3DS remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
In 2007, Imagi Animation (known for producing TMNT and Astro Boy) approached ##Nintendo## with a proof of concept trailer for a CGI animated film of The Legend of Zelda. The film ultimately didn't get approved for development by ##Nintendo##.
The act of hitting an energy ball back and forth has been used in a large number of Zelda games, starting with A Link to the Past. However, it wasn't given the official name of "Dead Man's Volley" until Phantom Hourglass, 15 years after its debut.
Contributed by Takahashi2212
WWE Superstar Cody Rhodes has a Triforce on his wrestling boots, and plays A Link to the Past on an annual basis.
"It's the Tri-Force from The Legend of Zelda," Rhodes confirmed. "You know how some people have a book they re-read every year? Well I re-play The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past for Super Nintendo every year. In the game, the Tri-Force symbolized power, wisdom and courage. I thought I could apply those qualities to my life."
Contributed by KidDivinegon
Series creator Shigeru Miyamoto has stated that inspiration for The Legend of Zelda series came from his experiences as a young boy exploring fields, lakes, woods, and caves around Kyoto Japan. Most prominently he mentions a certain small cave he would regularly explore with a lantern.
The shields of The Legend of Zelda and Zelda 2: The Adventure of Link both had crosses on Link's shield. The cross was removed in A Link to the Past, likely in order to remove any religious references.
During the Zelda portion of the Gamecube's Spaceworld 2000 trailer, Link is using the Hero's Shield of Majora's Mask, instead of the Hylian Shield which is commonly associated with Ocarina of Time's Adult Link, which the tech demo portrays.
Contributed by Takahashi2212
For The Legend of Zelda's 25th anniversary, Nintendo of America wanted to do a compilation release featuring various classic titles from the series, however series creator Shigeru Miyamoto and Nintendo's president Satoru Iwata were against the idea. This was because they already released the Super Mario All-Stars 25th Anniversary Edition a year prior and didn't want to do something similar twice in a row.
Contributed by KnowledgeBase
According to the Japanese manual of the original NES Legend of Zelda, the recurring boss Digdogger is a giant Unira, the sea urchin-like enemies from the game Clu-Clu Land.
Contributed by gamemaster1991
In the Japanese manual of the original NES Legend of Zelda, the recurring boss, Manhandla, is described as a "four-limbed, jumbo-sized Piranha Plant". A Piranha Plant is a kind of enemy from the Mario series.
Contributed by gamemaster1991
According to Eiji Aonuma, the director for most of The Legend of Zelda games, the CD-i titles "Link: The Faces of Evil" and "Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon" (and presumably also "Zelda's Adventure") aren't considered part of the series canon and don't really fit in the franchise.
Contributed by KnowledgeBase
Excluding Twilight Princess, the Octorok enemy has been in every canon Zelda game. This has also made them the most reappearing enemy in the series.
Contributed by gamemaster1991
From the years 2000-2007, a Zelda game was released every year.
Contributed by Takahashi2212
A quote from Super Smash Bros. Melee offers an origin to the Like Like's name:
Supposedly, their name comes from an old, almost indecipherable Hyrulian proverb: "Shield-eaters and world leaders have many likes alike.
Before the timeline of The Legend of Zelda series was revealed in Hyrule Historia, there were attempts of releasing an official document detailing the order of when the games took place.
Nintendo first published a page on the official Zelda.com website which told how up to "Oracle of Ages and Seasons" each Link was the same, but was later taken down.
The second attempt was by Dan Owsen, one of the English script writers for Nintendo and the Legend of Zelda games, who presented a document to Nintendo of Japan, however they vetoed the idea so to keep the timeline open to interpretation.
Nintendo first published a page on the official Zelda.com website which told how up to "Oracle of Ages and Seasons" each Link was the same, but was later taken down.
The second attempt was by Dan Owsen, one of the English script writers for Nintendo and the Legend of Zelda games, who presented a document to Nintendo of Japan, however they vetoed the idea so to keep the timeline open to interpretation.
Contributed by KnowledgeBase
The Triforce was possibly based on the real life Hōjō Clan's symbol, the Mitsuuroko or "The Three Scales."
Contributed by gamemaster1991
The Water Land theme from Super Mario Bros. 3 was later used as the theme for the Fairy Fountains in the Legend of Zelda series.
Whilst most manga and comic adaptions of The Legend of Zelda feature Link as the main protagonist, there was one where he instead served as a minor role. "Zeruda no Densetsu: Riruto no Chikai" which translates to "The Legend of Zelda: Oath of Lilto" featured Lilto as the main character whom Link teaches about swordsmanship.
The manga ran for 4 volumes, was written by Jin Munesue, drawn by Junya Furusawa and published by Shounen Oh Comics, and although it was officially licensed by Nintendo, it's considered to be non-canon.
The manga ran for 4 volumes, was written by Jin Munesue, drawn by Junya Furusawa and published by Shounen Oh Comics, and although it was officially licensed by Nintendo, it's considered to be non-canon.
Contributed by KnowledgeBase
There's a recurring phrase through-out the Zelda series where variations of "It's a secret to everybody" are put into games. This includes Zelda 1, Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, Oracle of Ages, Oracle of Seasons, Twilight Princess, Skyward Sword and A Link Between Worlds.
Contributed by DidYouKnowGaming
In the Hyrule Historia, it is revealed that there are three timelines sprouting off of Ocarina of Time. It's revealed near the start of Ocarina of Time that the great Deku tree dies, leaving a sprout to grow and one day replace him. The original Legend of Zelda takes place in the timeline in which Link is defeated in Ocarina of Time, and the first dungeon takes place inside a tree in a secluded area, likely to be the remains of the Great Deku Tree. In the timeline of Ganon being defeated and Adult Link remained, the Deku Sprout grew into a new Great Deku Tree which we see in Wind Waker. It makes sense that Ganon would have destroyed the sprout once he gains control of the land.
Contributed by DidYouKnowGaming
In an interview between Shigeru Miyamoto and "Gamekult", Miyamoto states that he loves Disney, and their interpretation of Peter Pan inspired Link's design. This inspiration could also be why the Kokiri never age.
Contributed by DidYouKnowGaming
In the Japanese games, Super Mario World's "Forest of Illusion" and The Legend of Zelda's "Lost Woods" share the name, "Mayoi no Mori" (Lost Forest). All the standard exits in the Forest of Illusion send you around in circles which is comparable to the Lost Woods circling you back to the entrance after a wrong turn.
Contributed by DidYouKnowGaming
Princess Zelda was named after Zelda Fitzgerald, the wife of American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald.
When asked about the name, Miyamoto said, "Zelda was the name of the wife of the famous novelist Francis Scott Fitzgerald. She was a famous and beautiful woman from all accounts, and I liked the sound of her name. So I took the liberty of using her name for the very first Zelda title."
When asked about the name, Miyamoto said, "Zelda was the name of the wife of the famous novelist Francis Scott Fitzgerald. She was a famous and beautiful woman from all accounts, and I liked the sound of her name. So I took the liberty of using her name for the very first Zelda title."
