Spoiler Favorite Incarnation of Princess Zelda.

[arkvoodle]

I absolutely loved the Twilight Princess version of Princess Zelda. It was the only incarnation that I could empathise with or even remotely relate to. She seemed so alone and sad, yet elegant at the same time.

The others were either the stereotypical "Oh help. I've been captured!" kind. Unlike the TP version, that stood her ground and fought.

 

[Michael Heide]

The others were either the stereotypical "Oh help. I've been captured!" kind.

With the possible exception of the Oracle games and Four Swords (which weren't big on characterization anyway), I don't think Zelda has ever been depicted that way. Nintendo has a great way of subverting that trope on a regular basis.

In the original Legend of Zelda, she is the macguffin that gets the plot rolling, but she hardly appears at all.
In Adventure of Link, she's playing the part of Sleeping Beauty.
While Link to the Past has Agahnim's troops kidnapping her twice, she still isn't characterized as the classic ankle clinger type. She commands Link around, helps him moving obstacles out of the way and provides telepathic exposition.
She doesn't appear at all in Link's Awakening.
She is a very capable character in Ocarina of Time, to the point where I could imagine a spinoff game showing her side of the story.
Her appearance in Majora's Mask is more of a cameo.
In Wind Waker (and by extension, Phantom Hourglass), she is the captain of a pirate ship. And even when she gets kidnapped, she struggles and fights. She even actively helps Link in the final boss battle.
A feat she repeats in Four Swords Adventures.
She spends the majority of Minish Cap as a statue. She couldn't complain o ask for help even if she wanted to.
You said yourself that she stood her ground and fought in Twilight Princess.
And in Spirit Tracks, she's even a playable character, at least in the sequences where her spirit possesses one of the armored phantoms.

And in two of the non-canon CD-i games, she even is the main character.

 

[Petman1325]

*WARNING*This post contains spoilers!*WARNING*
Don't say I didn't warn you...because I just did.

Aye, which version do I like the most...that's quite difficult. I'm automatically excluding The Legend of Zelda, Zelda II, and A Link to the Past, because she doesn't really do anything in those games besides become prisoner to Ganondorf. That narrows it down to Ocarina of Time, Wind Waker, Twilight Princess, and Spirit Tracks. When it comes to the princess helping in conflict, all four titles win, but in Wind Waker and Spirit Tracks, Zelda is on the battlefield fighting with Link. Ocarina of Time and Twilight Princess, Zelda looks onto the fight (Well, in Ocarina of Time, Zelda holds Ganondorf down, and in Twilight Princess, Zelda shoots light arrows at Ganondorf.), rather than be in a direct battle.

In terms of diplomacy, Wind Waker's Zelda really didn't do anything during the time she was Zelda, but then again, this Zelda ended up founding the new Hyrule. Ocarina of Time an Twilight Princess's Zelda has to deal with restoring the kingdom to it's glorious, original state after Ganondorf's wrath, especially when Ganondorf kinda destroyed the castle and the Castle Town Market in both games. The young Princess Zelda in Spirit Tracks seems to be doing the most during the game, such as dubbing Link an engineer at the beginning and passing laws and such at the end.

However, I'm going to say it, it's a tie for me between the Zelda shown in Spirit Tracks and the Zelda shown in Twilight Princess. Even though Ocarina of Time's Zelda was directly involved in conflict by holding down Ganondorf for Link to make the final blow. Spirit Tracks' Zelda was definitely into fighting and taking down Maladus, almost like her grandmother. Twilight Princess's Zelda definitely had a hard life, like trying to choose between killing everybody in Hyrule or making the land of Hyrule turn to Twilight.

 

[Hanyou]

With the possible exception of the Oracle games and Four Swords (which weren't big on characterization anyway), I don't think Zelda has ever been depicted that way. Nintendo has a great way of subverting that trope on a regular basis.

[...]

You pretty much nailed it.

The trope itself seems somewhat sexist, but I don't think it's particularly damaging--few people complain about Peach, though they might joke about the plot point being used over and over. It IS nice to see it subverted in classic Star Wars fashion.

Zelda is neither an Amazonian warrior nor the classic damsel in distress. When she's captured, it's generally after she's earned some amount of respect as a character; Ocarina of Time and The Wind Waker are the best examples of this. I like the fact that they avoid both of the tropes. She's noble and strong, but she's also vulnerable and kind. In this sense, Zelda often comes off as a profoundly human character, much more so than a lot of the crazies in the franchise, and there's a real depth to the choices she makes.

My favorite Zelda is probably Tetra for this very reason. I think it's hard to label exactly what she is, but all of her actions are consistent with her personality and her personality itself is very deep. At first, she seems selfish and tough, but even at early points in the game it's clear she's intent on helping Link. At the end of The Wind Waker, the contrast between her and her father is magnificent. While she dropped off from the plot after she became Zelda, the final moments see her truly assuming her role as Princess and protecting her kingdom, rendering the King kind of obsolete. This all culminates in his death.

Spirit Tracks' Zelda is a runner up because she's amusing and probably my favorite of all the helper characters in the franchise. She doesn't quite have the depth that Tetra does, though.

 

[Heros Temporis]

Ocarina of Time Zelda, for one reason, and one reason alone:
Shiek. Besides that, she was "meh". Her gasping in the escape from the castle when you got hit by a rock and her screaming when you got hit in the final battle were a bit annoying, but, eh...

 

[Dou6le Rain6owz]

Twilight Princess definitely, she is the prettiest in this game and she is a brunette instead of a blonde


Beaten- Oot, MM, WW, TP
Working on- TP- 3 heart challenge, Alttp, Loz, and Aol

 

[TFWTH]

Hmm... If I had to make a list...

3. Zelda from Twilight Princess (Probably the "coolest" I guess)
2. Tetra from Wind Waker (not so much when she became Zelda, but it was pretty obvious that she was freaked out and scared when the reveal happened and couldn't keep up the brash persona)
1. Zelda from Spirit Tracks

She comes in at number 1 simply because she goes against the entire "damsel in distress" idea. Sure, other incarnations did it to an extent before her, but she was the complete polar opposite, pretty much.

And while I agree she isn't as deep as, say, Tetra, if they made a sequel to Spirit Tracks (which is entirely possible, really) I could see them going further into her backstory, especially now the limitations of the DS software are out of the way. After all, Tetra was her grandmother. That relationship in itself would be pretty cool to look into.

EDIT: Oh, and as for Zelda's that don't really "count" since they made minor appearances...

Minish Cap's was kinda cool, but she was only there for the intro and ending. Would have been nice to see more of her, she was more naive and child-like than the other incarnations.

Link To The Past's was... Well, meh. She essentially stayed inside most of the time, understandable considering the entire kingdom was searching for her but it didn't allow for much development.

Same goes for LoZ 1 and 2, but to a much greater extent, naturally.

Oh and Ocarina of Time (which does count, before someone flips out ) was interesting in that it showed "naive and carefree" young Zelda alongside "serious and rebellious" adult Zelda, and the whole Sheik thing was cool.

And I think that covers all of them...

 

[quordlepleen]

I like the zelda from Spirit Tracks because she was actually trying to help link. I'll admit that exept in the tower she was fairly useless but hey at least she tries.

 

[TreeHuggerPanda]

My absolute favorite is Tetra, who probably does count as Princess Zelda, because SPOILER ALERT! (Wanted to try out the Spoiler tags :3)

Spoiler

she is Princess Zelda in disguise. (Though, one should not call it a disguise, because she actually does not know she is Princess Zelda).

She goes on the top of my list, mainly because of her personality. She might sound tough when you first meet her, but she actually seems like a kind and thoughtful person in the inside. She's not as useless as before in the final battle with Ganondorf (which I liked, since you shouldn't always fight alone :3), and because she has this complex personality, she's really fun to write about.

My next favorite is Princess Zelda in Twilight Princess. I don't like her as much as Tetra, but I respect her wiseness and elegance a lot. She's a little more "princess- like" that Tetra, but she does seem to have depth in her character. Well, at least she isn't a prissy princess that's either very shallow and bratty, or truly kind and hopeful. At least Zelda in Twilight Princess is more on the "kind and hopeful" side... >_>

My last favorite is Princess Zelda of Spirit Tracks. Instead of a "stupid" fairy, Link gets the Princess as his helper for a change. Zelda of Spirit Tracks seems to have a goofy personality, but still have a couple streaks of elegance. I wouldn't really call her a princess, mainly because she isn't kidnapped or is "proper," but she does know when to be serious and hopeful for her kingdom's future. Because she actually helps Link for once in the entire game and her side comments and such, she goes as one of my favorites.

 

[Ghosi]

I thought that she was the best in OoT and TP. It showed her being treated like a royality, like a princess should. The designs also showed her looking more "intelligently" and her behavior seems a little fitting for her role as well.

 

[Caeda]

1. WW/PH- I just love her personality
2. TP- Best design, and the fact that she... you know...
3. ST- She's with Link the entire time
4. OoT- She helps you out the entire time as an adult

Then all the rest after that.

 

[Tony]

I would absoloutely saw Wind Waker Zelda. Her style was elegant yet not boring and she was more part of the plot in that game also she helps you beat Ganon.

 

[Nye Pendragon]

Sheik/Zelda has become my favorite, since beating Ocarina of Time. c:

I really like the idea of alter egos, and Sheik is just so neat and mysterious. He/she wasn't in it enough to be a bother, and whenever he/she did appear, it was useful, not a bother.
(-cough-Kaepora Gaebora-cough-) I also love the design of the two, and the whole backstory and such. Tetra/Zelda would have to be my second~

 

[PhantomTriforce]

Design wise, it would be TP Zelda. Her design in that game was very beautiful.
Character wise, it would be OoT Zelda, because of what she does for you throughout the game, and how she is involved in the plot.

 

[LANZZ]

Mine is FSA. I loved the way she looked in that game, very beautiful...