Link and Zelda are one of Nintendo fans' favorite couples, right alongside Mario and Princess Peach. But did you know that Link and Zelda aren’t a couple? Not always, at least. Due to how reincarnation works in The Legend of Zelda, Link and Zelda naturally end up with quite a few different dynamics, with each game changing their relationship for novelty.
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With so many games to choose from and decades of storytelling to dig into, it’s hard to pinpoint what exactly defines Link and Zelda’s relationship. There are consistencies, however, and even a few key details that can help you make sense of their reincarnation cycle. However, it’s easy to miss these moments in favor of the more apparent narrative occurring in each game. That doesn’t mean those moments aren’t there, though. They may feel like secrets, but they shine a considerable amount of light onto Link and Zelda’s relationship.
Updated April 18, 2023, by Branden Lizardi: The release of the highly anticipated sequel to Breath of the Wild draws ever nearer. One thing we've noticed about Tears of the Kingdom is how Zelda has a far more present role than before. This has given us more to think about regarding her and the hero's long-standing relationship. We also discovered some smaller details from the older games worth mentioning. With this in mind, we've updated this article, refreshing the grammar and formatting while we're here. Enjoy!
26 They Aren't Always Both There
Before we get started about this not-always-a-power-couple, It's important to note that they don't both appear in every game. While it's quite a rarity, a handful of Zelda titles do not feature Zelda at all. They are as follows: Link's Awakening, Oracle of Seasons/Ages, Majora's Mask, and Tri-Force Heroes.
The Link in Link's Awakening is commonly accepted as the same one from A Link To The Past, so we can assume the same Zelda exists, but she never appears in the game. The same connection can be made between Majora's Mask and Ocarina of Time's Zelda. The Oracle games occur outside of Hyrule, in the land of Holodrum, where Zelda never appears. The timeline implies it may be the same Link as Link to the Past and Awakening, but this isn't certain. As for Tri-Force Heroes, aside from the debacle of not knowing which Link is the real one, the entire land and royal line are shifted from the standard. The land is called Hytopia, with a Zelda-like princess called Princess Styla. Because of this, we're not sure if these count when considering their overall relationship.
25 Link And Zelda Are Always Destined To Meet
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Fate is an interesting concept, one that finds itself playing a major role in many fantasy-centric stories. The Legend of Zelda is really no exception, with fate playing a role in most of the major titles. Both Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword use the inner workings of destiny as one of their major themes. In a series where fate is so relevant, it’s only natural that Link and Zelda always be destined to meet.
Considering Demise’s Curse from the end of Skyward Sword and how it supposedly keeps the Triforce bearers together, it’s only natural we assume Link and Zelda will meet up when reincarnated in the same cycle. This isn’t to say Link and Zelda always reincarnate together, but we’ll touch upon that later…
24 Link And Zelda Rarely Have Romantic Relationships
One of the biggest misconceptions you can make as a fan is assuming that Link and Zelda are always romantically involved. In actuality, they almost never end up together or strike up a romantic relationship.
Most of the time, Link and Zelda maintain a strictly platonic relationship, with even a few instances of them simply having a professional one. The few times Link and Zelda actually wind up together are exceptions to the rule. They’re friends first and lovers second.
23 The NES Link Meets Two Different Zeldas
Considering how old and relatively obscure the first two games are in a modern setting, it's easy to miss. The very first Link, the one featured in The Legend of Zelda and The Adventure of Link, ends up interacting with two separate Princesses, both still Zeldas. How does this work? Simple, the second Zelda was actually the first Zelda! Alright, maybe it’s not that simple.
Zelda 2’s backstory explains that the original Princess Zelda was put to sleep for hundreds of years. The game's plot involves Link trying to wake up the sleeping Princess while also attempting to prevent Ganon’s revival. In the process of succeeding, Link wakes up the original Zelda meaning she now co-exists with the Zelda Link saved in the first game.
22 The Wind Waker: Link And Tetra Likely Did Not End Up Together
As much as fans want it to be the case, it’s fairly likely that Link and Tetra did not end up together after the events of The Wind Waker. While the game itself strongly implies a romantic relationship between the two, Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks work together to prevent such a pairing from coming to fruition.
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In Phantom Hourglass, largely thanks to Tetra’s diminished role and the general lack of expressions from the DS models, there’s no clear romantic link between Tetra and Link.
In Spirit Tracks, it’s clear that Tetra has ancestors within the Royal Family, but nothing implies Link does. Rather, Spirit Tracks Link looks exactly like Phantom Hourglass Link. While this is just a case of Nintendo using the same model between games, it does seem to point to a scenario where Link and Tetra don’t marry.
21 The Minish Cap: The First Real Romance
Not only does The Minish Cap deserve more praise than it gets, but it also deserves more acknowledgment. Despite being a rather short game, The Minish Cap is easily one of the more memorable adventures in the Zelda series, with some top-notch dungeons, a surprisingly great story, and the first real romantic arc between Link and Zelda.
These two are quite clearly in love in The Minish Cap. Honestly, it is so obvious that it goes from cringe-y to downright cute. Zelda has feelings for Link, and their relationship is rooted deeply in childhood. Forget that The Minish Cap was once the series’ origin point; its most interesting feature is developing a romance between Link and Zelda long before Skyward Sword.
20 Link And Zelda Aren’t Always Friends
Even though Link and Zelda are always destined to meet, they aren’t always destined to get along. While it’s quite rare, there have been two notable instances where Link and Zelda meet but fail to become friends.
In Twilight Princess, Link and Zelda don’t even know each other until the events of the game and never bother building a substantial relationship. In Breath of the Wild, Zelda outright hates Link for most of the game, only becoming friendly with him shortly before Link falls into his century-long coma. Destiny’s not always the nicest thing.
19 Twilight Princess: A Most Professional Relationship
To expand further on Link’s relationship with Zelda in Twilight Princess, they have quite a businesslike dynamic. The two don’t dislike each other by any means, with Zelda even showing Link a bit of friendliness by the end of the game, but they’re very much only associated by circ*mstance.
Were it not for Midna, Link and Zelda wouldn’t even have a repertoire. Their entire relationship boils down to the two working together on Midna’s behalf. Zelda is, at her core, a princess first, and it shows. She’s at her most royal here, and Link has his own baggage to deal with, mainly stemming from Ilia’s amnesia. There’s just no room for a friendly bond.
18 Breath Of The Wild: The Open Disdain Of Princess Zelda
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Although Link and Zelda have a professional relationship in Breath of the Wild, there’s far more vitriol thrown Link’s way than in Twilight Princess. For most of the game, Zelda seems to hate and resent Link for his natural abilities.
This mostly stems from her own insecurities, notably her inability to awaken her powers as Princess, but it doesn’t stop her from detesting Link roughly 85 percent of the time. By the end, she grows out of it and even comes to appreciate him, but they’re not exactly friendly for a good chunk of the game.
17 Zelda Is Always Taller Than Link
You may not have noticed, but Link is a short guy. Consistently, too. There isn’t a single Link that stands out as particularly tall. For that matter, Link is always depicted as shorter than Zelda in each and every incarnation.
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She’s a few inches taller than him in Ocarina of Time, a little taller in The Wind Waker, significantly taller in Twilight Princess, and just barely taller in Skyward Sword and Breath of the Wild. This may be because Zelda is actually always older than Link too, but it doesn’t change the fact that Link is on the shorter side of life.
16 Ocarina Of Time: Zelda’s Lingering Feelings
One of Ocarina of Time’s interesting implications is that Princess Zelda has feelings for Link, at least in the future. When they’re kids, there’s very little going on between them, but it’s clear in the future that Zelda sees Link as a larger-than-life figure who can genuinely save Hyrule. When she bids him off at the end of the game, it’s clear she’s sad that he’s leaving.
If you think about it, this makes quite a lot of sense. Princess Zelda’s entire plan relied on Link showing up to save the day. She waited in hiding for seven years, specifically on the chance that Link would return. When he does, she watches him throughout the game as Sheik, witnessing his heroics firsthand. You’d probably fall in love too.
15 Spirit Tracks: An Overlooked Romance
Spirit Tracks features one of the best depictions of Princess Zelda in the entire franchise. Her character is so good that it’s not hard to see why Link would fall for someone like her. In fact, like The Minish Cap, it’s implied that they have a strong romantic connection in the game.
The two are completely inseparable because Spirit Tracks makes Zelda Link’s main companion for the whole game. The two actually work together and bond with one another consistently. Zelda has a character arc that sees her grow while also growing closer to Link. It’s obscured even further since Skyward Sword was the very next game in the series, but it does a great job of developing a natural romance for Link and Zelda.
14 A Link To The Past: Link Has Secret Feelings For Zelda
Link and Zelda don’t really have a discernible relationship in A Link to the Past. Link’s uncle implies a connection between the two in the English release of the game, but their dynamic boils down to Link saving her once in the Light World and once again in the Dark World.
There’s absolutely nothing going on between the two of them. That is until you take Link’s Awakening into consideration. Link’s Awakening heavily implies that Link has feelings for Zelda, and it’s done all through Marin.
13 Link’s Awakening: Marin As A Manifestation Of Zelda
Since Koholint Island is the combination of Link’s subconscious merging with the Wind Fish’s dream, elements from his past creep up throughout the game. Most notably, the final boss takes on the appearances of enemies from A Link to the Past. Even more telling, however, is Marin. Link clearly likes Marin in Link’s Awakening, with the text implying a relationship multiple times.
How does this connect to Zelda, though? When Link first wakes up, he mistakes Marin for Zelda. This one line is enough to imply that Marin and Zelda look eerily similar. Given that the dream is also influenced by Link, we can deduce that Marin is a manifestation of Link’s feelings for Zelda. If there’s romantic tension between the two in Link’s Awakening, that means Link had a crush on Zelda in A Link to the Past.
12 Every Zelda Is Zelda, But Not Every Link Is Link
The way reincarnation works in The Legend of Zelda means that every single Zelda is connected to the first Zelda in Skyward Sword. She embodies the soul of that Zelda, keeping her alive throughout the cycles. On the other hand, the same can’t be said for Link. Rather than his soul reincarnating, only his spirit does. This means that almost every Link is unrelated.
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There is one outlier, though. It’s heavily implied in Twilight Princess that the Link of that game is related to the Link from Ocarina of Time. In game, it’s strongly suggested that the Hero’s Shade is the Hero of Time, a concept later confirmed in Hyrule Historia, and the Hero’s Shade tells Link that they’re related in their final training session. One has to wonder, though. Is Twilight Princess' Link a soul reincarnation or still just a spirit?
11 A Princess And Her Knight
It seems that reincarnation likes to keep things consistent. While he has had a few different professions from game to game, Link’s still a knight more often than not. This likely stems from Link and Zelda’s relationship in Skyward Sword, where Link was a literal knight sworn to protect Zelda.
Even if Link doesn’t reincarnate into a knight’s family, he still acts a knight, as seen in games like Ocarina of Time and Twilight Princess, where he doesn’t have a profession in the former and is just a farmer in the latter. Even then, Twilight Princess establishes that the former Link would become a knight anyways.
10 The Adult Timeline Doesn’t Have A Real Link
Taking place in the timeline Link left behind in Ocarina of Time’s ending, the Adult timeline features The Wind Waker, Phantom Hourglass, and Spirit Tracks. What it doesn’t feature, though, is a real Link. In having Link leave at the end of Ocarina of Time, the Hero’s spirit goes with him. That means the reincarnation cycle for Link is cut off entirely in the future.
This is actually a plot point in The Wind Waker where Link has to prove himself the hero to earn the Triforce rather than being given it. This means that Spirit Tracks Link isn’t a true reincarnation, lending more credence to the idea that Tetra and Link don’t end up together. If there’s no Hero’s spirit, how can Link reincarnate into a new Link? Simply put, he can’t.
9 Link And Zelda Mess Everything Up In Ocarina Of Time
For all the good Link and Zelda try to get done in Ocarina of Time, they mess things up quite astronomically. In the child portion of the game, Link and Zelda fail to consider that Link is probably too young to wield the Master Sword and that they’d be opening the Door of Time and leaving the Sacred Realm vulnerable for Ganondorf to invade it.
In the adult portion, Zelda sends Link back in time to his original timeline as a kindness to him. While this is meant to be a gift for Link, a way of reclaiming his lost youth, it does mean Zelda ends up cutting off Link’s reincarnation cycle in the future since his soul doesn’t exist there. This leads to the Goddesses flooding Hyrule and the events of The Wind Waker occurring. Ocarina of Time's ending isn't as fun as The Wind Waker.
8 Link And Zelda Mess Everything Up Further In The Downfall Timeline
If you thought that was bad, it gets way worse in the Downfall timeline. In an unseen timeline, Link actually fails to defeat Ganon in their final battle. It’s implied that Ganon actually defeats Link prematurely, forcing the sages to work together to seal him.
This small change leads to the Downfall timeline, where Hyrule is in ruins for the majority of the series. Compared to Ocarina of Time, Hyrule is post-apocalyptic at times. Breath of the Wild is also heavily implied to take place in the Downfall timeline, pushing the overall situation from bad to worse.
7 There Are More Zeldas Than There Are Links
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Reincarnation in The Legend of Zelda isn’t as simple as it seems. While there’s a Zelda in every generation, the Links only show up when needed, as aforementioned. The greater implication here, however, is that there are more Zeldas than Links.
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As the Links aren’t related, they don’t need to pass on their blood for there to be a new Link like the Zeldas need to. Rather, the spirit of the hero just reincarnates to whoever’s applicable. The result is that there aren’t enough Links to pair up with the Hyrule’s Zeldas. Need proof? Why didn’t the original Zelda from The Adventure of Link have her own Link?
