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General Zelda Fantasy Cliches Zelda Must Avoid

Joined
Feb 5, 2011
So, we'll be learning the name of Zelda Wii U at E3 (hopefully). Until then, I see people come up with ideas for what could happen, but sometimes I see an idea that's been done to death, a cliche. I for one am not against cliches, only how poorly they could be used. I say this because, really, nothing is original anymore. Anything you think is original has been done before, you can have a different twist to it, but that's it. That said, there are some cliches I wish people used less and less of (Best example is the breath mint joke). So with that in mind, there is one fantasy cliche I hope the series never uses.
The Princess has to marry someone she doesn't love

Even in something I like, like Avatar: The Last Airbender, this trope still lives. Unlike some people, I accept that cliches are going to exist no matter what, but this is one I get tired of, especially when the princess, or high status person or whatever, has to marry someone she doesn't love, especially when she is the hero's love interest. Now, I don't mean when she's being forced to marry a villain (Vaati in Four Swords kidnapped Zelda for this reason only) I mean political reasons or status reasons, like The Last Airbender example I gave.

Is there one fantasy cliche the series hasn't done yet you hope will not be done?
 

Mangachick14

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The damsel in distress.
I'm really not sure why Nintendo feels ever so attached to this trope, but they rarely don't use it for Zelda. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the attempt of changing it up a bit like with having Zelda be Tetra or Shiek. But, come on. We've gotten seventeen games spanned over nearly 28 years, and almost all of them use this cliche in one way or another. I feel like it's time to branch off a bit more.
I think we're pretty safe from the marriage trope the OP mentioned. Zelda's never really been very romance-centered and that cliche is usually used to add drama to a romance.
 

Ocarina_Player

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I don't know why people say SS had a lot of romance anyway. I didn't see it. Link and Zelda were just really good friends.

But yeah, if they could some how give Zelda a little more agency and not have to rely on Link to get saved, that would be awesome. I know that's the whole point of the game but I think they can figure out how to make Link the hero without having to make Zelda seem so weak.
 

Tatltael

Site Staff
Joined
Oct 24, 2013
To address the damsel in distress trope: If memory serves, Zelda in Skyward Sword had more of a backbone than Link did in the beginning of the game, and it was evident throughout the game that Zelda was overcoming her own trials as Link looked for her. This portrayal of Zelda's character suggests that Nintendo is moving away from this cliche bit by bit.

As for a cliche I hope Zelda never goes near is something akin to "The hero is always successful/always gets the princess in the end". As far as I know, the Zelda franchise tends to stay away from this for the most part, but I feel like if Link were always triumphant over the evil, or if he always got the princess in the end, Zelda would begin to lose the subtleties that make it feel like a Zelda title.
 

Salem

SICK
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May 18, 2013
Any "chosen one" cliche, or "it's your destiny to save Hyrule", enough of that, just make Link a regular guy who decides to save the day because YOLO.
 
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Of all things that are going to be wrong with future Zelda games, the princess marrying some other guy is the least of my concerns, it'd be nice for me to see Zelda suffer for once anyway. If you hate this cliche, you don't have anything to worry about; the princess marrying the jerk prince or whoever would mean an unhappy ending, Nintendo rarely goes for that kind.

I want the Zelda series to get rid of the dried out tropes it's already using; specifically "You are hero, godess say so" and reviving another demon king.
 
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Ocarina_Player

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Any "chosen one" cliche, or "it's your destiny to save Hyrule", enough of that, just make Link a regular guy who decides to save the day because YOLO.

Uh. If you hate that cliche, you need to find a new franchise. LoZ is all about that trope, and that's not a bad thing. The entire series revolves around destiny and the fact Link is always chosen to be the hero. The struggle comes from the player/Link being able to rise up and meet that challenge.
 

Salem

SICK
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May 18, 2013
Uh. If you hate that cliche, you need to find a new franchise. LoZ is all about that trope, and that's not a bad thing. The entire series revolves around destiny and the fact Link is always chosen to be the hero. The struggle comes from the player/Link being able to rise up and meet that challenge.
No, not all Zelda games have that cliche. The series did not even begin that way, it sort of stared with alttp, and escalated in OoT, TP and it reached its logical conclusion with SS, cause in that game, nearly EVERYTHING is planned by the Goddess.

No, I don't have to go look for a different franchise, because this destiny trope is NOT what Zelda is all about.
 
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Musicfan

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No, not all Zelda games have that cliche. The series did not even begin that way, it sort of stared with alttp, and escalated in OoT, TP and it reached its logical conclusion with SS, cause in that game, nearly EVERYTHING is planned by the Goddess.

No, I don't have to go look for a different franchise, because this destiny trope is NOT what Zelda is all about.

It may not have started as that but most of the games follow the cliché. Skyward sword even says that it is the destiny of Zelda's and links (opposite of ancestor) kin(?)to fight an incarnation of evil.
 

Salem

SICK
Joined
May 18, 2013
It may not have started as that but most of the games follow the cliché. Skyward sword even says that it is the destiny of Zelda's and links (opposite of ancestor) kin(?)to fight an incarnation of evil.
I know most of the games follow this trope, but all I'm saying, it does NOT have to be the ONLY and DEFAULT story that Zelda games follow.
 

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