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Should princess Zelda be less damsel-prone in future games?

CrimsonCavalier

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Well, very true. Story-telling is not the series' strongest point. Though sometimes the stories can be interesting, the gameplay is really what sets the games apart. I would also prefer a deeper, more fleshed-out story though. I feel that few games have a truly engrossing story. The last time I played a game that really REALLY intrigued me in terms of story was Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. Other games have had good stories, but that game had a really good story. I don't mind mediocre stories, but I feel that the Zelda franchise lends itself well to story-telling, so I hope that they can do something with it in Zelda U.
 

Link Floyd

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I would love Zelda to have a more heroic role in a Zelda game. It would be interesting to have her as the main playable character, instead of Link, (which is really unlikely) or maybe have her as a partner like in Spirit Tracks.
 
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It would be nice to see a change but it seems like Nintendo is really in love with the old style fairy tale storytelling with the gallant knight rescuing the fair damsel in distress from the evil monster. They are not huge fans of change or shaking up the main narrative as it might take away from the game experience, and they have a similar policy of story not being nearly as important. So they keep on going with the overly simplistic storytelling in games since that's a "good enough" type of thing to them. Link is still an avatar, Zelda is still an end game goal, Ganondorf a boss monster.

If we were talking Mario I'd agree with you. Legend of Zelda isn't fairytale romance. It's courtly love.

Yes, there's a difference.

Don't think Cinderella in reverse, think Lancelot and Guinevere. In a nutshell, the story goes on with the understanding that any permanent relationship is impossible. There's no fairytale wedding or happily ever after. (At most, you end up with a lot of cheating and drama, and I simply can't see Nintendo going that route.)

Remember that comic of Link to the Past that was just re-released? Notice how it ends an awful lot like Ocarina of Time? The Hero and the Princess must say goodbye at the end of the adventure. Why did that guy go adventuring for years on end and literally fall in love with a dream? Notice "gramps" in Link Between Worlds? Doesn't exactly look like he's living any sort of noble life.

Notice how the Hero of Time's descendent grew up ranching rather than partying around with nobles?

Notice how most of the time, Zelda is almost portrayed as being above the hero? She's high, on a pedestal, out of reach.

Even Midna's goodbye scene...what's odd is I found anything between Link and Midna to be heavily buddy-buddy platonic, and yet, once again, the princess must say goodbye. The adventure is over. Go back to the rest of your life.

The one example where there seems to be something more, something attainable, would be Skyward Sword. In that story, Link and Zelda are portrayed as equals, both on a grand adventure of their own. The courtly love is non-existent. Instead, you have two relatively normal teens with a big destiny ahead of them. Even after the big reveal that Zelda and her descendents are demi-gods, she and Link still seem to be on the same level as each other. None is "above" the other. It speaks volumes.

Wind Waker once made me feel the same way, though some oddities about Spirit Tracks have me questioning that one now.

I think this is why Nintendo is able to be so experimental with Zelda's role in each game. They *can* shake it up, they *can* experiment, because they go in knowing that we have a different pair of people every time. Thus, they don't have to play up the fairy tale and end it with Disneyesque wedding bells. They don't even have to give them much of a relationship. Zelda can be the damsel in the tower or an adventurer in her own right. Her character is not boxed in.

Yeah, I'm a Zelink-skeptic. So sue me. ;)
 

Azure Sage

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I am a huge supporter of mixing things up, so yes. Spirit Tracks was my favorite game in the series, and that game had the most involvement of Zelda herself in the story as of yet. Heck, she was the partner character. I'd really like to see more stuff like that.
 
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I loved spirit tracks. Zelda had so much personality in that game. The little goofball won me over very quickly, and I found that having her has a playable sidekick of sorts was a good way to bring her onto the front lines.
 
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I'd definitely like to see more Zelda games sans the damsel-in-distress story mechanic. We've all saved the girl plenty of times - I think if Nintendo can be a bit more innovative and move beyond that we can get a deeper, more compelling storyline with more fleshed out characters.
 

Swordbomb

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If you can't read this, you're blind.
Making Zelda more of a fighter would lead to THIS again!
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But if they can prevent that from happening again, then yea.
 

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