General Zelda Is Zelda Thought-provoking?

[ihateghirahim]

The Zelda series is not known for having a particularly deep story. You run across Hyrule, beat monsters and dungeons, and save the Princess from Ganon. That's what many people tell me they think Zelda is. I find it to be so much more. It has actually made me think hard about things and examine various themes and ideas about how people live.

For example, there's are many people who proclaim that this series is a glorification of sexist ideology. Link has to save a weak and helpless princess from her evil captor yadda yadda you've heard it all before.. I really thought about this one. I don't think this series is at all sexist. It instead explores themes of man struggling to rescue the world and the woman he may love (#ZeLink) from all the evils of the world, which manifest themselves in Ganondorf and other evil creatures. I find this to be a largely good moral message to teach people. The world is full of wrongs and evils, and we as well as our loved ones, may fall victim to some sort of problem or issue brought on by the cruel realities of our world. We've each faced these wrongs in unique ways in our unique lives, yet fans can all feel its resounding metaphorical tone. That's why I love how the series teaches us to ultimately honor the ideal of the Triforce of Courage and face all the power of our problems of our world. It teaches us to never give up and overcome whatever great problem may lay before us. As a man, I find it especially meaningful in its portrayal of the male protagonist and the female love interest being the one facing the evils of the world. It's bad enough that all the various people of the world and you yourself were damaged by Ganondorf, but Zelda's distress despite her best efforts makes it a much more personal issue. It's a sort of call to the ideal role of man in protecting and overcoming evil.

Yet, this isn't even a masculine issue, as MM demonstrates Link's courage to find a lost friend and save the world from the pure insanity of Majora.

I could do more on other themes and the overall brilliant story-telling of the games, and maybe I will sometime. Anyway, how has zelda made you think deeply? What sort of things has it made you reflect on?

 

[Sydney]

To say that the series has made me reflect deeply on my life and morals would be a bit of an overstatement. I've thought about some aspects and hidden meanings some of the games could present to players, but it's never really gone beyond that. If anything, one of the things I like to think about is which part of the Triforce I would hold, because I find that I could fall into any of the 3 parts easily. Judging by my personality, analyzing my thought process, and understanding my goals, I could see myself obtaining really any part of the Triforce. It's a bit stupid (I guess) to think that way, but it's not like I make it my daily goal to walk in Link's footsteps, or something. If someone was doing that, I'd be a little concerned.

 

[Farore's Chosen]

I honestly never thought of it being thought provoking

 

[DarkestLink]

The exact opposite.

 

[Random Person]

No. While it does send messages, most are very basic level.

 

[Kylo Ken]

Hell yeah, it provokes thought! I've been playing the Legend of Zelda since I was a child and since then, multiple themes haves help shape my decisions (believe it or not). There's has always been things that I get from Zelda games that I get from few other environments.

The theme of Good vs. Evil is the underlying theme of the game. It feels good to know that the hero wins. That good triumphs over evil. That everything will be okay. It made me ask myself, "Do I want to be good, or bad?" Simple question, simple way to present, but to a child, it's different. It comes down to desire. When you have power, you get to do what you want. Everyone likes that. But in LoZ, that means being evil. If you want to save people's lives, you won't get to have power or get to do what you want; but you'll be a good guy, and you can be a hero, but that takes sacrifice. Thinking about this as a child can prove to be a conundrum. Trying to weigh pros and cons and such.

There's also a theme of nationalism. Someone gets call to fight for a country in need. It brings up JFK's saying, "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country." Also, I think serving one's country is honorable, so Link has honor. yay.

The last one is another "serving" theme, but it is to one's religion. The goddesses have protected the people and provide them with prosperity and hope. But when an evil tyrant, bearing the goddesses power, enslaves the land and takes their protection, prosperity, and hope, everything seems lost. That is, until a servant of the goddesses show up and restores peace. One could ask why they would let terrible things happen in the first place. Maybe the reasons might be because they'd like to show the world that they are there, affecting the peoples lives, either good, or bad. Maybe it was temporary punishment, for some popular and horrible deed. But there's one thing to agree on, the people are glad they sent a savior to rescue them all. And he is never far from them, ready to answer the goddesses' call to action.

Any of this sound familiar? It applies directly to our lives, and makes us act on our beliefs. THAT is why The Legend of Zelda is the greatest game of all time.

 

[Salem]

Some NPCs say some profound statements, but the series as whole is not very thought-provoking, I prefer it to just stay that way, I don't want it to become too deep.

 

[Shadow Blade]

There are moments, events and characters that are thought provoking but as a whole the series is for the most part is not very thought provoking, that said I have pictured my self in some of the situations link has been in, and after thinking about it, there's a lot that I would do differently, I would likely end up as an antihero like most people probably would do to a number of qualities that heroes possess that I don't as well as qualities that I have that a hero like link doesn't.
Anyways that was just an example of a thought that was provoked by Zelda.

 

[snakeoiltanker]

Zelda has never influenced the way i look at things in life. yes i believe in the balance of the triforce, so maybe its principles have had an effect on how i live my life, but that story has not always been the most consistent, however, i believe the general rule. It has about as much influence as "Equivalent Exchange" from Fullmetal Alchemist.

other than that i cant say that any once situation that link has been put into has changed the way i think about anything. the way he reacts to things. saving his friends, or grabbing his calling by the horns and save the land. if something like that happened to me in life, and some mystical being came to me and told me i was the savior of the world i live in, i would do it.

I guess in the end, it all depends on clearing up what you mean by "Thought Provoking"

 

[Sir Quaffler]

For the most part, no, Zelda isn't a very moral-thought-provoking series for me. I'm in it first and foremost for the awesome gameplay, the challenging dungeons & bosses & whatnot, the interesting story, sometimes the emotional attachment to certain characters, and so on.

The overall moral the games have taught me over the years, though, is how to stand strong in the face of evil and oppression. While I still place the biggest priority on awesome gameplay, that same gameplay has had the effect of building up my courage and resolve; I've been playing as Link for so long that I've taken on a lot of his personality type. I know it sounds really corny and REALLY nerdy for me to say this, but these games have helped awaken the spirit of the hero within myself.

There were a few other singular moments in the series that caused me to put down the controller and ponder the deeper meaning behind what was going on. Like, with Majora's Mask, after a few times of starting the 3-day cycle over I began to wonder if anything I was doing really meant anything. Anju and Kafei were going to be separated again, the ranch was going to be in trouble from extraterrestrials again, the mountain was going to be frozen over again, and that blasted moon was STILL going to crash down on the town. I eventually concluded that while the acts may be reset over and over, the memories of the peoples of Termina and the events that transpired will live on in me, and that I need to take what I learned and apply it to myself, even if that lesson is sheer appreciation for a beautiful good deed like reuniting two lovers.

Another moment that provoked some thoughts in my head were when I was playing Link's Awakening. It was a very light-hearted adventure running around Koholint slaying wacky monsters and watching Tarin make a fool of himself & whatnot. For the first 3/4 of the game. Then I got to the South Face Shrine and learned the terrible secret of the island, and all of a sudden those crazy ramblings of the bosses as they were dying suddenly became crystal-clear: By moving forward with my quest to awaken the Wind Fish I was going to obliterate everyone and everything else on the island. It got harder and harder to progress forward, to the point where once I climbed the mountain to the egg I didn't want to finish the game and instead run around on the island in sheer bliss for the rest of my life. But, try as I might, I could never shake the fact that the people had no idea of the outside world or any real world concepts outside of the island. That thought would always be nagging at the back of my mind, I could never live with them. The only way out and back to the real world was moving forward. It was hard, I felt like a royal jerk for causing the island to disappear, but like with Majora's Mask, I took the memories of my time there with me.

Let's see... another one that really stuck out to me was when Zelda revealed that she had been orchestrating all the events of Skyward Sword and that I was merely acting as her puppet. This was my own "Would You Kindly" moment, I realized I had been played like a fiddle by the hands of fate. She knew I would go through hell and back for Zelda, so Hylia forced me to go through all those trials for her. I felt confused and a bit betrayed as well. It caused me to re-evaluate my actions all beforehand, asking whether I had been doing all of it of my own free will or by sheer fate/manipulation. I had to come to the realization that, though my actions did fall in line with what a higher being had ordained, I had carried them out all of my own free will. There was predestiny but at the same time free will.

There are a few other moments sprinkled throughout the series like this, but for the most part...
I just like killing things with swords & bombs & arrows & whatnot, as well as solving challenging puzzles & going on sidequests & all that other good stuff. It's what the series is best at.