Editing Princess Zelda (section)

=== Character design ===
[[File:Fc zelda.jpg|thumb|upright|right|alt=Artwork of Zelda wearing a long pink gown |Zelda was depicted in promotional artwork for the original ''[[The Legend of Zelda (video game)|The Legend of Zelda]]'' video game as a princess wearing a pink gown.]]
Official artwork created for the original game depicted the character dressed in a long pink gown wearing a necklace and tiara.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/TheLegendOfZeldaArtAndArtifacts/page/n13/mode/1up|title=The Legend Of Zelda Art And Artifacts|date=17 February 2017|publisher=Nintendo|pages=11}}</ref> Artwork for ''Zelda II: The Adventure of Link'' was similar and depicted her with red hair.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Aonuma|first1=Eiji|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZfzKDwAAQBAJ&dq=there%27s+a+famous+american+author+whose+wives+name+is+zelda&pg=PP8|title=The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia|last2=Himekawa|first2=Akira|date=2020-04-14|publisher=Dark Horse Comics|isbn=978-1-5067-2138-5|pages=104|language=en|access-date=2021-11-19|archive-date=2023-04-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230408085829/https://books.google.com/books?id=ZfzKDwAAQBAJ&dq=there%27s+a+famous+american+author+whose+wives+name+is+zelda&pg=PP8|url-status=live}}</ref> For the development of ''[[The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past|A Link to the Past]]'', Zelda was originally designed wearing a sci-fi themed outfit to correspond with an early multi-world game concept, but this was eventually scrapped.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Sahdev |first=Ishaan |date=2019-06-26 |title=Zelda Wouldn't Be Great Without Its Wild 2D Experiments |url=https://www.kotaku.com.au/2019/06/zelda-wouldnt-be-great-without-its-wild-2d-experiments/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211104101315/https://www.kotaku.com.au/2019/06/zelda-wouldnt-be-great-without-its-wild-2d-experiments/ |archive-date=4 November 2021 |access-date=2021-11-04 |website=Kotaku Australia |language=en-AU}}</ref> For ''Ocarina of Time'' her royal dress was designed with a tabard featuring the Sheikah coat of arms and the Hyrule royal family crest.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Aonuma|first1=Eiji|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZfzKDwAAQBAJ&dq=there%27s+a+famous+american+author+whose+wives+name+is+zelda&pg=PP8|title=The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia|last2=Himekawa|first2=Akira|date=2020-04-14|publisher=Dark Horse Comics|isbn=978-1-5067-2138-5|pages=146|language=en|access-date=2021-11-19|archive-date=2023-04-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230408085829/https://books.google.com/books?id=ZfzKDwAAQBAJ&dq=there%27s+a+famous+american+author+whose+wives+name+is+zelda&pg=PP8|url-status=live}}</ref>

In the [[anime]]-inspired video game ''The Wind Waker'', Tetra's hair was designed as a swirl to mimic the wind and smoke in the game. Her alter ego contrasts with Zelda's traditional appearance in the game as princess wearing long hair and royal dress.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Aonuma|first1=Eiji|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZfzKDwAAQBAJ&dq=there%27s+a+famous+american+author+whose+wives+name+is+zelda&pg=PP8|title=The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia|last2=Himekawa|first2=Akira|date=2020-04-14|publisher=Dark Horse Comics|isbn=978-1-5067-2138-5|pages=155|language=en|access-date=2021-11-19|archive-date=2023-04-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230408085829/https://books.google.com/books?id=ZfzKDwAAQBAJ&dq=there%27s+a+famous+american+author+whose+wives+name+is+zelda&pg=PP8|url-status=live}}</ref>

During the development of ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess|Twilight Princess]]'' illustrator Yusuke Nakano tried to portray the princess as a pensive character, "as if she's wondering about something". He drew illustrations of Zelda with feelings of "hopelessness and anxiousness", but tried to avoid depicting her and Link "too full of gloom and doom".<ref>{{Cite magazine|title=Inside Zelda part 3|url=http://www.zelda.com/universe/game/twilightprincess/inside03.jsp|magazine=[[Nintendo Power]]|publisher=[[Nintendo]]|access-date=2015-09-07|volume=194|year=2005<!-- August 2005 -->|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100502065943/http://www.zelda.com/universe/game/twilightprincess/inside.jsp|archive-date=2010-05-02}}</ref>

In ''Skyward Sword'' Zelda was presented as a student of the Knight Academy instead of her usual role as princess. The designers wanted her to look like a "typical village girl" and aimed to "establish her as a heroine". They removed the royal ornamentation from her head and designed her wearing sky blue and a red dress. They also created Zelda in her goddess form, in which she was designed, "dressed simply, and in white".<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZfzKDwAAQBAJ&dq=there%27s+a+famous+american+author+whose+wives+name+is+zelda&pg=PP8|title=Hyrule Historia|date=14 April 2020|publisher=Nintendo|pages=10–11|isbn=9781506721385|access-date=19 November 2021|archive-date=8 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230408085829/https://books.google.com/books?id=ZfzKDwAAQBAJ&dq=there%27s+a+famous+american+author+whose+wives+name+is+zelda&pg=PP8|url-status=live}}</ref>

For the release of ''Breath of the Wild'', a variety of concept art was considered for Zelda's character design. Fujibayashi commented that Zelda's character was the most difficult to define because while the planners had approached her by thinking about what kind of person she is, the designers took a different approach and considered how Zelda's design could make players feel. The team was so concerned that they repeatedly made refinements to her design until the end of development.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Hernandez|first=Patricia|date=14 March 2017|title=At First, Nintendo Couldn't Agree On How To Depict Zelda In Breath of the Wild|url=https://kotaku.com/at-first-nintendo-couldnt-agree-on-how-to-depict-zelda-1793256607|access-date=2021-10-22|website=Kotaku|language=en-us|archive-date=2021-10-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211022201934/https://kotaku.com/at-first-nintendo-couldnt-agree-on-how-to-depict-zelda-1793256607|url-status=live}}</ref> Alongside various dress designs, Zelda's image was updated to include outfits that showed her ready for combat, including the final blue blouse and pants that complemented Link's primary outfit.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Frank|first=Allegra|date=2017-03-14|title=Check out Breath of the Wild's Link and Zelda transition from weird to wonderful|url=https://www.polygon.com/2017/3/14/14921780/breath-of-the-wild-concept-art|access-date=2021-10-16|website=[[Polygon (website)|Polygon]]|language=en-US|archive-date=2021-10-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211016193919/https://www.polygon.com/2017/3/14/14921780/breath-of-the-wild-concept-art|url-status=live}}</ref> Fujibayashi said that Zelda's shorter hairstyle in ''Tears of the Kingdom'' was designed to make her feel more realistic, due to being actively mobile while restoring the kingdom after ''Breath of the Wild''.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-10-26 |title=革命の、その先の冒険。『ゼルダの伝説 ティアーズ オブ ザ キングダム』 開発者インタビュー – ページ 3 |url=https://www.ndw.jp/totk-interview-231026/3/ |access-date=2023-11-26 |website=Nintendo DREAM WEB |language=ja |archive-date=2023-11-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231126094918/https://www.ndw.jp/totk-interview-231026/3/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In ''Echoes of Wisdom'', Zelda is the avatar for the player, so Aonuma felt it was necessary to keep her appearance balanced so that she was neither too cute nor conspicuous. The development team at [[Grezzo]] spent a long time finalising her appearance to enhance her character appeal. Her facial expressions were designed to match the feelings of the player, so Aonuma made subtle changes to her eyes and mouth so that her face evolves from a serious expression into a smile as the story progresses.<ref>{{Cite web |title=『ゼルダの伝説 知恵のかりもの』開発者インタビュー。主人公が戦闘中にベッドで寝てもいい。カリモノを使った"本物の冒険"はこうして生まれた {{!}} ゲーム・エンタメ最新情報のファミ通.com |url=https://www-famitsu-com.translate.goog/article/202411/23485?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=fj&_x_tr_hl=en-US&_x_tr_pto=wapp&_x_tr_hist=true |access-date=2024-12-21 |website=ファミ通.com |language=ja}}</ref>