Legend Of Zelda: Every Princess Zelda Design, Ranked

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’s various designs for Princess Zelda has a definitive ranking. Over 20 original games, Zelda’s look has changed more drastically than it might first appear. While she’s generally associated with pink and flaunting a beautiful dress, deviations from this formula always serve to tell the player what particular personality quirks each princess has. Given that Zelda is the titular character and appears in every single main game except and, her design quirks are incredibly diverse.

Although these Zeldas all have different backstories which will be touched on, the main focus is their designs. The designers need to make the character stand out time and time again while also keeping a consistent through line for fans of the series. To that end, each design will be ranked on its aesthetic appeal, originality, execution and its ability to convey personality.

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This Princess Zelda design from the Game Boy’s and is illustrated beautifully, and the artist’s drawing for the game manual should be commended. However, design-wise, it is a near perfect copy of Princess Zelda’s design from a previous game,. Additionally, the actual sprite used in the game has no resemblance to the guide’s illustration. Instead, it looks like Marin’s sprite from but with a crown tacked on. Overall, the design lacks the verve needed to make an impression.

This is Zelda’s original design, a prototype for the Zelda everyone knows now. It hasn’t aged well, dripping with 80s design sensibilities like the big hair and timid pose — understandable given that and came out in 1986 and 1987 respectively. This could be forgiven if her design had more detail, but it simply looks plain and lacks