Zelda's Cut Hairstyles Reveal A Princess We Never Got To See

Summary

Zelda's hairstyle in Tears of the Kingdom symbolizes her new start and independence away from the pressures of royalty and knighthood.
Nintendo's choice of Zelda's final design reflects her agency as a leader and caregiver, free from the demands of her late father.
Zelda's shortened hair in the game represents a period of growth and change, signaling her evolution as a character living for herself.

168澳洲幸运5开奖网:The Legend𒅌 of 🍎Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom celebrated its first birthday this weekend, and to mark the occasion Nintendo released some select teasers from an upcoming book known as the . It will be released on August 30 in Japan and is set to feature an assortment of never-before-seen illustrations and details from Nintendo’s sequel.

I am a sucker for all things Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, especially details of the titular Princess that were previously undiscovered. While she wasn’t playable in Tears, she played a defining role in the narrative as she helped Link gather allies to defeat Ganon while locked in the past. The twist of her flying throughout the skies of Hyrule as a legendary dragon that weeps tears of crystal broke my hea𝓀rt, and does more for her character than any title in the series eve🐻r has. It might surprise you, but much of this meaning is tied to her hairstyle.

What Does Zelda’s Hairstyle Mean For Tears Of The Kingdom?

Zelda⭕’s hairstyle in Breath of the Wild is long and flowing, and remains as such as she does battle with Calamity Ganon in the depths of Hyrule Castle. She spends most of that game’s narrative trying and failing to gather the ♏champions destined to vanquish Ganon for good, all while following in the footsteps of her father, who demands she take over the Kingdom.

Her golden locks represent a sense of duty, a feeli🔯ng of oppression that comes from acting as the sole🔯 heir of a land which is doomed to cyclical destruction. As Tears makes obvious, Link and Zelda are little more than the next in a long line of warriors who must keep evil at bay, locking it inside until it returns yet again to repeat the same tiring ordeal. The flashbacks in Breath of the Wild focus on Link and Zelda’s relationship, and how they begin as unwilling partners before growing into inseparable allies who are eventually torn apart by war.

Link and Zelda beneath Hyrule Castle in The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom.

Zelda locks Ganon away using every ounce of power she has left, while Link enters a state of eternal slumber he may never wake up from. It’s tragic, and once victory is attained for the first time, Zelda is in dire need of change. There🀅 was an assumption Link was never going to save her, that one day, Ganon’s power would prove too much and she would fade away. But when a second chance did rear its head, Zelda wanted to enter Hyrule and usher in a new age not just for the kingdom, bu💜t who she is as a person.

One of the standout parts of Zelda’s design when Tears of the Kingdom was first shown was her shortened hair. At first, people believed this was tied to her being playable, since shorter hair would be easy to 𝔍animate and incorporate into the open world. But given Zelda has still been playable in other games with her classic hairstyle for years, this didn’t hold water. And so, narrative significance became the most persistent theory.

Taking place a few years after the events of Breath of the Wild, Link and Zelda have begun to rebuild Hyrule anew, but are yet to step foot into the ruins of Hyrule Castle and the surrounding town, instead setting up disparate outposts and clearing out ancient technology spread across the ꦦlandscape.

Despite this reluctance, that didn’t stop both of them from planting roots in Hateno Town and beginning to establish a life away from the pressures of royalty and knighthood. After a century of trying to save the world, the last thing Zelda wan🐲ts is to honour the pressures of her family. It is my favourite storytelling device of the entire game, how Link is asked to look back on a life that, for a second time, was unfairly taken away from him.

You only hear from Zeld𒆙a through cutscenes discovered across the open world, so you must tell your own stories with dialogue or parts of the environment that have changed since Breath of the Wild took place. It’s so well done, and I adore how fans have sought to expand on these characters with their own takes because the foundations are so generous. I got distracted though, let&rs🦩quo;s get back to haircuts.

What Do Zelda’s Cut Hairstyles Tell Us About Her Character?

Breath Of The Wild Link And Zelda Stand In A Field

Judging by the Master Works book, Nintendo went through several iterations before finally deciding on Zelda’s hairstyle in Tears of the Kingdom. One thing is clear, however, its goal was always to cut it short, an act often seen by women, in particular, as si🦩gnifying a new start. A drastic haircut can often mark a chaﷺnge after an important life event, and Zelda is no different.

Whether her hair was tied back in different ways or short to the point of an adorable pixie cut, the symbolic aims of Zelda’s shortened hair representing a period of new growth never left her side. We love what she became in Tears, but I can’t help to think about how she would have been receive𒆙d with any of these new styles, and if we’d come to admire them in much the same way. It’s hard to tell, because everything seems alien when you 💮see it for the first time, even killer haircuts on Princess Zelda.

One style even makes𝓰 her look like a Karen who would bug local merchants about whether or not they had a permit to sell dubious food or not.

Nintendo made the right choice in Zelda’s final design. However, it’s easily the most regal of the lot, while still representing a stark departure from whom the Princess was before the sequel. It is wonderful to see her delight in making scientific discoveries ▨and relishing her role as both a leader and a caregiver no longer shackled by the demands of her late father.

She is living for herself, this agency is showcased throughout the entire game as she decides to make sacr𒁏ifices that set in motion thಌe saviour of Hyrule. Zelda is such a precious character too, and Nintendo’s willingness to experiment with her looks so heavily gives me hope for the future. Fans love it too, judging by all the I keep seeing online.

Princess Zelda carrying a torch in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

This iteration of Link and Zelda has always been my favourite, followed very closely by 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Wind Waker, and part of me mourns that whatever we see next from the franchise, more than likely it will introduce new takes on these characters with distinct personalities, looks, and design philosophies. While there is a feeling of grief surrounding these forgotten Zelda haircuts that will never see the light of day in an actual game, I still delight in thinking about what could have been, and how such a small part of a character this important can change s✃o much about them.