The series is called The Legend of Zelda, but unless you’ve played something like Hyrule Warriors or Super Smash Bros., it’s rare that you get to control the Hylian princess herself. That doesn’t mean it might not happen someday in the main franchise, however, as producer Eiji Aonuma pulled a Justin Bieber and said “never say never.”
In an interview with IGN just before The Game Awards, Aonuma, accompanied by director Hidemaro Fujibayashi, talked about Zelda’s role in Tears of the Kingdom. Link is always the main character in a series that isn’t named after him, so IGN asked the two developers what’s up with that and if Zelda will ever be playable. Neither game maker gave a straightforward answer, instead leaving the response relatively ambiguous. However, Aonuma did say that “maybe,” one day in the future, you’ll be able to play as the princess rather than merely saving the princess.
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“Yeah, it is interesting when you think about the name of the series, The Legend of Zelda, but Link is always the main character,” Aonuma said. “And Link has been the main character, and Zelda has always been involved, and they have a relationship and their own rules in each of the games. But it is true that, I think there’s always room for thinking about this type of thing and Zelda’s role. And there may be some sort of possibility for something like that in the future.”
Zelda plays a somewhat bigger role in Tears of the Kingdom than in Breath of the Wild. Without spoiling too much, the descendant of the Hylian Goddess is mostly there with Link in some capacity, though her presence is especially felt at the end of the game. She’s got some flashy moves in both Hyrule Warriors and Super Smash Bros., and her alter ego is the badass kunoichi Sheik. (She’s also the star of Zelda’s Adventure for the CD-i but the less said about that, the better.) Whatever guise a playable Zelda might take in the future, it could make for a welcome change from Link’s brooding, quiet stoicism.
Kotaku reached out to Nintendo for comment.
Tears of the Kingdom has been a smash hit for Nintendo since its May 12 launch. In November 2023, the company announced that the game had sold almost 20 million copies in just four short months. (That number’s probably much higher now.) And at The Game Awards, the open-world game was nominated for copious trophies, including Game of the Year (which went to Baldur’s Gate 3), but walked away as the winner of the Best Action/Adventure accolade. Zelda may not be playable—not yet, at least—but her games are doing very well.