Universe of The Legend of Zelda

The Legend of Zelda is a video game franchise created by video game designers Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka and mainly developed and published by Nintendo. The universe of the Legend of Zelda series consists of various lands, the most predominant being Hyrule. The franchise is set within a fantasy world reminiscent of medieval Europe which consists of several recurring locations, races and creatures. The most prominent race in the series are the Hylians, a humanoid race with elfin features identifiable by their long, pointed ears. The series' lore contains a creation myth, several fictional alphabets, the most prominent being Hylian, and a fictional universal currency, the rupee. Most games in The Legend of Zelda series follow a similar storyline, which involves the protagonist Link battling monsters to save Princess Zelda and defeat a villain, which is often the series' main antagonist, Ganon. Nintendo developed the series' lore into a timeline that spans thousands of years across its history.
Hyrule was created as the original setting for The Legend of Zelda and has remained the main environment for successive games in the series. Inspired by dungeon crawlers, Miyamoto and Tezuka developed a high fantasy world in the form of a 2D map filled with monsters, puzzles and dungeons. Hyrule transitioned to a 3D environment with the development of Ocarina of Time. For Breath of the Wild, released in 2017, Nintendo developed Hyrule into a seamless open world. Since the launch of the original game, the series has been a commercial and critical success and introduced landmark innovations in world design that have influenced numerous developers in the video game industry.
The Legend of Zelda series is set in a fantasy world that first appeared in the original The Legend of Zelda, which was developed and published by Nintendo. The game introduced Hyrule as the series' primary setting and series protagonist Link, a Hylian boy or young man who is the player character. The storyline of each game varies, but follows a common overarching plot that involves Link travelling through Hyrule to rescue Princess Zelda and save the world from evil, which is typically the series' main villain, Ganon. A recurring plot element in the games is Ganon's attempts to obtain the Triforce, a mystical artifact that will enable him to possess ultimate power. Although Link and Zelda have similar appearances in each game, they are different characters who reappear whenever evil threatens the world. Skyward Sword was established as the beginning of the series' history and involves the antagonist Demise cursing the first incarnations of Link and Zelda so their descendants appear in an endless cycle to protect Hyrule from evil.
Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto conceived the land of Hyrule as the setting for the original The Legend of Zelda, describing it as "a miniature garden that you can put into a drawer and revisit anytime you like". He drew his inspiration from the Kyoto countryside that he had explored in his childhood and wanted to recreate the experience of adventure and discovery. Alongside writer Takashi Tezuka, Miyamoto created a fantasy world in the style of fantasy authors like Tolkien, which was viewed from a top-down perspective. It was populated with colourful characters, monsters and dungeons for the player to explore.
Miyamoto and Tezuka started working on The Legend of Zelda during the development of Super Mario Bros. Initially, the game did not feature an overworld. In Hyrule Historia, Miyamoto said that Nintendo aimed to develop a launch title for the Famicom Disk System. An early game was initially designed to make use of the Disk System's ability to rewrite data, allowing players to create dungeons and explore other players' creations. He explained: "We made a one-player game with dungeons under mountains that surrounded Death Mountain, but we couldn't shake that "I want to play above ground, too!" feeling, so we added forests and lakes, and eventually Hyrule Field".
The first specifications were drawn up on a whiteboard by Miyamoto and then copied onto a document on 1 February 1985. The document detailed early concepts for items and enemies that would later feature in the game, such as a compass, bows and arrows and a boomerang, and "Hakkai", an early name given to Ganon. This was developed into rough sketches for various items and enemies within the following two weeks. The name for the game had not yet been decided, so the title was simply labelled "Adventure". Long paper was used to create the first land map of Hyrule, which was developed by Tezuka and Miyamoto sitting side by side and drawing together. Miyamoto said that the name "Hyrule" seemed like the perfect choice during a discussion to find a name for a high-fantasy region. In Japan, The Legend of Zelda game was released as The Hyrule Fantasy, which was almost chosen as the name for the entire franchise, but was dropped after the first game. Miyamoto said this could have been due to the name being too similar to Final Fantasy, which was released soon afterwards.
The original Hyrule map was designed to encourage exploration and discovery, requiring up to several hours to navigate. The map is nonlinear, so players are free to choose from several unmarked paths, with just a few areas being inaccessible at the start. Miyamoto was influenced by The Black Onyx and Ultima, two games that centre around fantasy dungeon crawling. The Zelda world was defined by its mazes, hidden rooms and treasures. The game's nine dungeons were designed to be difficult to locate, forcing players to uncover the secrets of the map with little help. In addition to its underworld, the Hyrule map consists of a large overworld created out of a grid structure that is much larger than can be displayed on a single screen. It is 16 blocks wide and eight blocks high and comprises 128 areas. Miyamoto said that maps for the game were included in North America: "The maps included various hints, but to be honest, I thought it would be more enjoyable to play the game without any help. So we sealed the map, with a message reading 'You should only use the map and strategic tips as a last resort'". Players were required to begin their adventure in the centre of Hyrule and use instinct alone to find an old man inside a cave who gives Link a sword and declares, "It's dangerous to go alone!". While navigating Hyrule's overworld and its many dangerous enemies, players must eventually find the dungeons, which each feature various enemies, items and a boss.
The concept of a role-playing game was a new experience for players in the 1980s. The gameplay diverged from the fast-paced games typically found in arcades like Super Mario Bros, by offering players an open world to explore, puzzles to solve and a fantasy story that centres on a protagonist embarking on an adventure to save a princess from an evil villain and bring peace to Hyrule. The new game concept caused concern with Nintendo's management. In 2003, Miyamoto stated in an interview for Superplay magazine: "I remember that we were very nervous, because The Legend Of Zelda was our first game that forced the players to think about what they should do next. We were afraid that gamers would become bored and stressed by the new concept". During the testing phase, players complained about getting lost inside the game's dungeons, but rather than making the game more simplistic, Miyamoto decided to make it more challenging by removing Link's sword at the beginning of the game and forcing players to locate it. He wanted to encourage players to communicate with each other while solving the game's puzzles.
Hyrule continued to evolve over the course of successive games. The transition from a 2D to 3D world occurred with the release of Ocarina of Time, due to the capabilities of the Nintendo 64, which gave players the opportunity to experience a more realistic game environment. The 3D world was also accompanied by an expanding fictional lore that laid the foundation for other games in the series within an official fictional timeline. The game's dungeons were each unique and connected to a specific area of Hyrule and its inhabitants. Several recurring races, such as the Gorons, Zora and Gerudo were introduced and given a distinct history and culture. Hyrule Field, an expansive open grassy area, was positioned at the centre of Hyrule, acting as a hub that connects other areas to create the illusion of a vast world. The game's time travel mechanic also introduced a dark version of Hyrule Kingdom, a land corrupted by Ganondorf's influence, with Hyrule Castle Town in ruins and Redead zombies as its inhabitants.
Due to concerns about the limitations of the Nintendo 64, Miyamoto initially conceived the game taking place within a central hub in the confines of Ganon's Castle, similar to Peach's Castle in Super Mario 64. He described Ocarina of Time as a "huge project" due to the fact that it involved making the game environment from 3D polygons and was larger in scale than anything that he had previously worked on. He said that he had approached the game by first focusing on what types of characters he wanted to include, rather than on the story or the game functions. Ocarina of Time was designed with several innovations to help the player navigate the expansive 3D world and interact with the environment. The camera system was designed to integrate with the 3D world of Hyrule, giving the player a sense of perspective and tracking the movements of Link. The game's Z-targeting system was created to provide the player with a simple way to lock on and interact with objects, characters and enemies in the game world. The game also made use of context sensitive controls by using the A button for a range of interactions, such as mounting a horse or opening a treasure chest. These features were landmarks for Nintendo and influenced 3D world development within the games industry.
During development, the staff spent less time on developing the dungeons. According to Miyamoto: "Instead of mapping your way through a maze, I think what's more important is a sense of dread, a sense of pressure, and of course an opportunity for finding secrets and solving puzzles—we should be pursuing an emotional immediacy, the sense that you are really there". Hyrule and its characters in Ocarina of Time were depicted in an art style that drifted towards Western fantasy, although Miyamoto said there was no intentional replication of cultural elements from one specific country. Hyrule's fantasy characters were partially inspired by the American television series Twin Peaks. In an interview, Takashi Tezuka said he had used the series as inspiration when creating Link's Awakening: "After that, in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, all kinds of suspicious characters appeared". Many assets and character models in the game were later reused for Majora's Mask, both for stylistic purposes and to save development time.
Producer Eiji Aonuma approached Breath of the Wild by breaking the conventions of previous games. He explained that in Ocarina of Time, the game world featured "routes" to help players navigate the 3D environment without getting lost, but that certain handholding and blockages had caused players to feel frustrated. By contrast, Breath of the Wild's Hyrule was designed to allow the player to explore a vast world in any way they liked. Nintendo's senior product marketing manager Bill Trinen described the game as "open air": "I look at this game and I see a world that is fully integrated into the exploration and the adventure. It's not just a world that you're passing through. It's sort of a world that you're a part of". The game world benefited from advancements in Nintendo hardware. Earlier games had been restricted by the available technology, creating the need to separate Hyrule into individual connecting areas, but the game world could now be experienced as a seamless environment. The concept of an "open air" environment began during work on The Wind Waker. Aonuma said that he wanted to remove the small connecting areas of The Wind Waker and replace them with open expanses, but the world ended up feeling smaller than he intended.
Breath of the Wild's open world was inspired by other video games. The game's director Hidemaro Fujibayashi named Minecraft and Terraria as his inspirations for "the sense of adventure, exploration and how it inspired curiosity". Aonuma also mentioned several other games that he had played, including The Witcher, Far Cry and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. He also cited Skyward Sword as the basis for many of the world's mechanics, such as the ability to climb and explore between areas. The development team began Breath of the Wild by working on a 2D prototype of Hyrule to test interactions between objects. This was developed into a complex physics and chemistry engine that would present a higher level of realism. The chemistry engine allowed for elements, such as fire, water and electricity to interact with each other and objects in the game world. This was designed to provide the player with a more interactive gameplay that was coined "chemical reaction play". Hyrule in Breath of the Wild was depicted using an art style that was based on the stylised visuals of The Wind Waker but developed into a more realistic, detailed style. The civilization of the Hylians was developed with a focus on their castle in the style of medieval Europe to return to the roots of the series, while the ancient technological features of the Sheikah were inspired by the Jōmon period of Japanese history.
Fujibayashi stated that the layout of Hyrule in Breath of the Wild was inspired in part by his hometown of Kyoto: "I took a map of Kyoto and overlaid it on the game world, and I tried to imagine going to places that I know in Kyoto. I'd think 'It takes this much time to get from point A to point B, so how does that translate to the game?' And that's how we started mapping out the world in Breath of the Wild". The development team used landmarks in Kyoto as a way of comparing the distance between landmarks in the game world, which helped staff during the development of the game. This measurement of distance allowed Hyrule to be scaled up to an enormous world that appears twelve times the size of its predecessor in Twilight Princess.
For Tears of the Kingdom, Aonuma used the same map of Hyrule as the one players experienced in Breath of the Wild to create a continuation of the same world. Hyrule was extensively expanded, by introducing Sky Islands to the map to place emphasis on vertical gameplay. In addition to its sky expansion, the game introduced the Depths, a vast pitch-black area beneath the surface of Hyrule. Aonuma said the development team had learned lessons from Skyward Sword, where Link was restricted by the hardware to descend from particular points. He explained that the team had wanted to create the ability to "traverse a world that's not only horizontally connected in a single world, but vertically connected as well", noting the sense of freedom the player experiences by diving into that.
The Kingdom of Hyrule, a medieval-based fantasy land, is the main setting of the series, which first appeared in The Legend of Zelda. Many of its areas have appeared throughout the series, such as Hyrule Castle, the Lost Woods, Kakariko Village, Death Mountain and Lake Hylia.
Hyrule was formed by three goddesses: Din, Farore, and Nayru. It is established in Ocarina of Time that Din created the physical geography of the realm, Nayru created the physical laws to govern it, and Farore created the races to uphold the law and the flora and fauna that inhabit the world. After the goddesses completed their tasks, they departed for the heavens, leaving behind three golden triangles containing their power to govern all things; this relic became known as the Triforce. The creation myth was elaborated upon in Echoes of Wisdom, with the goddesses creating the world to be a prison for a primordial chaos entity named Null that had previously consumed anything that tried to form within the void. Skyward Sword expanded on this history by detailing the rise of Demon King Demise and his dark forces, who attempt to take the Triforce and destroy the world. The goddess Hylia stays to protect the Triforce and leads an army of free people into battle to weaken Demise and seal him away from the world. The realm was eventually named Hyrule after its dominant race, the Hylians, who established a kingdom across the land. The kingdom is ruled by the Royal Family of Hyrule, into which the various incarnations of Princess Zelda are often born.
The Hylian alphabet is a cipher of either English or Japanese that first appears in A Link to the Past, where it is identified as "the ancient language of the Hylians" and is composed of symbols that Link must translate to progress. In Japan, an explanation of the Hylian alphabet was written on the back of the instruction manual for The Wind Waker with a phonographic writing system, or syllabary, like the Japanese language. Since its first appearance, five more Hylian scripts have been developed and deciphered: the Old Hylian Syllabary used in Ocarina of Time, the Modern Hylian Syllabary used in The Wind Waker, the Hylian Alphabet used in Skyward Sword, the Hylian Alphabet used in A Link Between Worlds, and the Hylian Alphabet used in Twilight Princess. The first three are used for transcribing Japanese, while the latter three are used to transcribe English, totaling six variations of written Hylian. Additional languages have subsequently appeared in the series. The language of the Gerudo was introduced in Ocarina of Time, a written and spoken language that is similar to Hylian and is written in elongated, wispy letters. The Sheikah language was introduced in Breath of the Wild and consists of a complete alphabet of square-shaped symbols. Players have deciphered these languages to translate numerous signs and inscriptions commonly found around Hyrule.
The universal currency of Hyrule is the rupee. Although it shares its name with the real-world currency, Miyamoto said in an interview that this was not intentional and that he chose the word because it seemed cute and sounded like "rubies". Rupees resemble hexagonal crystals or gems and come in various colors that determine their value. In the manual for the original game, the currency was called rubies, but this was changed to rupees in later games. Subsequent games introduced more colors and sizes for rupees, each denoting a specific value. Generally, green rupees have the least value, while gold and silver rupees have the most.
Although the geography of Hyrule varies from game to game, it typically features several recurring geographical landmarks, which appear in different locations relative to each other depending on the game.
The Triforce, also called the "Power of the Gods" and the "Golden Triangle", is a triangular sacred relic left behind by the three Golden Goddesses after they created Hyrule. It is made up of three smaller triangles known as the Triforce of Power, the Triforce of Wisdom, and the Triforce of Courage. These embody the essences of their respective goddesses, and present a power struggle and balance of morality between the central characters, Ganon, Zelda and Link. The Triforce first appeared in the original game as a focal point of the plot, which involves Ganon stealing the Triforce of Power and Link searching for the scattered pieces of the Triforce of Wisdom to stop him and protect Hyrule from evil. The Triforce of Courage was introduced in The Adventure of Link as the third piece. When united, the Triforce allows the person who touches it to make a wish that usually lasts until they die or the wish is granted. If the person who finds it does not possess a balance of the three virtues it represents, the pieces will split into its three components, leaving the finder with the one that represents the characteristic they value most.
The Master Sword, also known as "The Blade of Evil's Bane", the "Sword of Resurrection", or the "sword that seals the darkness" is a divine, magic sword and Link's signature weapon. It is one of the few weapons capable of harming Ganon and acts as a key to the Sacred Realm. It was first introduced in A Link To The Past, it has the power to "repel evil", which enables it to overcome powerful dark magic and slay evil and demonic beings that cannot be harmed by conventional weaponry. Skyward Sword reveals that it was originally known as the Goddess Sword, which is inhabited by a sentient female spirit named Fi. Near the end of the game, the Goddess Sword transforms into the Master Sword after being infused with the Three Sacred Flames, with Fi's spirit form ceasing to be after the Master Sword absorbs Demise's remains. The sword traditionally rests in a stone pedestal hidden in sacrosanct locations indigenous to Hyrule, such as the Temple of Time or the Lost Woods. Like the Sword in the Stone, the Master Sword can only be removed by someone who is worthy of wielding it.
Hyrule is the main recurring setting of The Legend of Zelda series, but several games are set outside Hyrule in other lands, realms and parallel worlds. The geographical relationship between Hyrule and these other worlds is not clearly defined.
Despite most games in the series nominally taking place centuries apart, The Legend of Zelda often features many recurring characters. The silent protagonist Link and the princess Zelda are reincarnated in most Zelda games, while the antagonistic force Ganon, the final boss of most Zelda games, born from the primordial evil "Demise", repeatedly returns in a new form as well. Other figures who reappear across the series include Zelda's caretaker Impa and the fairy-obsessed man Tingle. In many Zelda games, Link obtains a horse named Epona.
Link is frequently accompanied by a companion in Zelda games, starting with Navi in The Ocarina of Time. Characters like Navi, Midna, and Fi serve a tutorial function in their respective games and comment on events as they transpire in the story. The supporting cast of Breath of the Wild, featuring characters such as Mipha, Prince Sidon, and Urbosa, has proven to be popular among fans of the series.
Since the release of the original game, the series has featured several races. Alongside the Hylian race, which established the land of Hyrule, there are various other prominent races, such as the Gorons, Gerudo, Rito and Zora.
The appearance of some creatures varies across different titles of the series:
In their January 2010 issue, Nintendo Power listed Hyrule as one of the greatest Nintendo locations, citing the vast number of areas to explore, as well as referencing players' first experiences with the Lost Woods and Death Mountain as highlights of the players' adventures. Steve Watts of GameSpot praised the original game world, commenting that although it is minimalist, it, "conveys the feeling of going on a grand adventure through the wilderness, and the lack of hand-holding that would come to define later Zelda games makes the world feel that much more expansive and mysterious". Yannick LeJacq for Kotaku commented that "Hyrule is one of the most iconic settings in the history of video games. The Legend of Zelda players have been poring over it in one way or another for almost 30 years now".
Polygon's Jeremy Parish remarked on the impact that Hyrule and its centrepiece Hyrule Field had on gamers in Ocarina of Time. He commented: "Open game worlds existed before Ocarina of Time. And in truth, Ocarina's rendition of Hyrule isn't even really all that open. But the game explored the relationship between its environments, the camera's 3D perspective and Link's place in it all to create a realm that felt far more like a real location than the game worlds that had come before it". Destructoid also noted Hyrule's impact in Ocarina of Time, saying "there was nothing else like it before 1998" and continued: "The awesome thing about Hyrule is that I can honestly see a place like it existing in our world. It's not just some fantasy, flashy place like you'd find in the Star Wars universe. It's meant to look like the real world, and Miyamoto achieved that goal in a way no one would have expected without actually seeing it first".
The open world of Hyrule in Breath of the Wild has received praise for its design. Noelle Warner of Destructoid ranked all of the settlements in Breath of the Wild and chose Tarrey Town as the favourite location, because players must build it from the ground up, making it one of the longest side quests in the game. Kate Gray, writing for The Guardian, was impressed by the beauty and large scale of the game world, noting that "the greens of the open plains contrast with the dark black of Death Mountain, which is streaked with orange lava on the distant horizon". She also commented on the "range of quiet, clever techniques designed to help players navigate the environment". Andrew Webster of The Verge responded positively to the grandness of the game's massive open world: "The scale could have been daunting, but the joy of discovery and the satisfaction that comes from finding your own way make it inviting instead".
Senior editor Caty McCarthy of USgamer ranked the in-game map of A Link to the Past as the best video game map, describing it as "perfect" world design in terms of the way it integrates with the gameplay. IGN ranked Hyrule as the sixth greatest game world, commenting that "few game worlds manage to leave as indelible an impression on the collective gaming subconscious as Zelda has. For that alone it ranks up there as one of the best, most fully realized worlds in all of gaming". In 2021, Evan Narcisse of Kotaku listed Hyrule as one of the richest sci-fi and fantasy worlds in video games.
Since the release of the original The Legend of Zelda game, critics have commented on the influence and legacy of The Legend of Zelda universe on the gaming industry. Ozzie Mejia of Shacknews highlighted the importance of the original The Legend of Zelda: "Before the open worlds of a World of Warcraft, a Grand Theft Auto, or a Skyrim, there was the intimidating land of Hyrule. The Legend of Zelda has done more than shape the series as it's known today. It is known for influencing many of today's best games and its formula has inspired many of today's most recognizable game developers, both in the mainstream and indie space". Liz Finnegan for The Escapist commented on the original game's influence on the RPG genre, particularly its nonlinear open world, and opined that "Zelda's design inspired countless other titles to adopt the action-adventure-exploration hybrid with a top-down perspective and expansive, cohesive overworld. These games have long since been informally dubbed "Zelda clones". Christian Donlan of Eurogamer noted the similarity and influence that Hyrule had on Dark Souls, comparing both kingdoms: "In the original Legend of Zelda, however, Hyrule feels, well, a bit more like Lordran—a place of scarred earth and wasteland, parched and rugged and filled with horrible creatures that erupt from the sands or move in staggering hops". The original game was a phenomenal commercial success for Nintendo, selling over 6.5 million copies, and has been described by many critics as one of the greatest video games of all time.
USGamer's Nadia Oxford commented on the significance of Ocarina of Time and considered it to be "a genius work of game design". She said that "it brought the traditionally top-down series into a fully 3D realm while successfully preserving the heart and soul of previous Zelda games. Its 'Z-targeting' mechanic refined the clumsy auto-targeting systems that made 3D console games of the day feel inferior to 3D action games on the PC. Finally, it presented a story about healing a broken world". Heather Alexandra, writing for Kotaku, remarked on the impact of the game's release: "There have been countless open world games since 1998, but Ocarina of Time was the moment when the concept of massive, interconnected worlds began to really crystalize". Keza MacDonald of The Guardian also commented on the influence of Ocarina of Time, noting that it was one of the first real 3D adventures and that it "remains eminently playable today because so many of the things it invented became standard for any 3D game that came after it". Tom Power of Gamesradar opined that the game is often considered to be the greatest video game due to its technological innovations: "The problems Nintendo solved back then have been influential across gaming genres and, whilst public acknowledgment of this influence is thin on the ground, it's difficult not to view Ocarina of Time as one of the fathers of modern gaming".
In the months following the release of Breath of the Wild in 2017, many video game developers were influenced by its open world design. Alx Preston, creator of Hyper Light Drifter, remarked that "the sense of freedom and experimentation is incredibly inspiring". Adam Saltsman, creator of Canabalt, commented on the consistency of the game environment and the player's ability to experiment. Vlambeer's Rami Ismail said that "no game has done verticality as well as BotW". Sam Byford of The Verge commented on the impact of Breath of the Wild's open world on the video game industry, describing it as a "revolutionary approach to open-world game design". He cited several other subsequent game worlds that bear similarities to Breath of the Wild, including Genshin Impact, Immortals Fenyx Rising and Horizon Forbidden West. Both the miHoYo development team of Genshin Impact and Sam Barlow, creator of Telling Lies have cited Breath of the Wild as a significant source of inspiration. Elden Ring director Hidetaka Miyazaki also said that he was influenced by Breath of the Wild's open world. Upon its release, Breath of the Wild achieved critical acclaim and was the biggest commercial success of the franchise and one of the best-selling video games, selling 29 million copies on the Nintendo Switch as of December 2022 and over 1.6 million copies on the Wii U.