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Rescuing Princess Zelda

For Earth it’s hard to solve the problem of evil outside of the logical setting presented in the beginning of this chapter. Hyrule has Link, who is clearly marked as a divinely-selected hero throughout the game and was chosen to stop Ganon, reclaim the Triforce, and return peace to Hyrule. Earth lacks such people as clearly and absolutely devoted to the eradication of evil as Link is—not to mention that defeating evil is not as easy as simply reclaiming the Triforce and making our deepest desire come true. The case that God has put people such as Link on Earth could be made, but without the clear indicators of divine selection that are connected to Link, the case would be relatively weak.

The Triforce acts as a representation of free will in Hyrule and shows how the existence of evil in the world can be reconciled with the existence of the divine. Link acts as a solution for the problem of evil in Hyrule in that he proves the existence of divine intervention when evil becomes excessive. Not only that, but we can have a damn good time helping him in the process.

19

The Legend of Feminism

JOYCE C. HAVSTAD and IRIS M. JAHNG

It would be easy to direct many of the usual feminist criticisms at the series of videogames that form the Zelda franchise. For instance, most of the series relegates the character of Zelda to a bleak and boring existence as basically a plot object. And, very little is done to develop the character of Zelda, despite the fact that she is frequently the chief motivating force for the adventures of the main character, Link. Then, of course, there are the circumstances of her existence as a motivator for Link’s adventures. Predictably, she is a princess. Even more predictably, she usually needs to be rescued. And to compound all the insults and injuries, the series features what might be interpreted as one of the earliest forms of videogame prostitution: Link’s ability to “replenish his life” by vanishing into cottages with frocked characters who seem to exist solely to lure him into their, uh, homes. (This was a feature of The Adventure of Link.)

But this picture paints only one side of Zelda’s story. Throughout the series of games, Zelda exhibits real strength of character. In particular, she is often associated with the Triforce of Wisdom, and usually acts as a sort of moral compass to guide Link, motivating but also directing his adventures to the appropriate targets. If Link’s perpetual enemy, Ganon(dorf), represents evil, then it is certainly fair to say that Zelda represents good. All this makes Zelda a very consistent character, and one with a lot of integrity. And besides, there are other female characters whose roles, although more peripheral than Zelda’s, still go beyond those of simple villagers or idealized prostitutes. There are the occasional disguised versions of Zelda, as well as other, more distinct female characters. As is the case in many actual mythologies, the creators of Hyrule are usually depicted as three Goddesses: Din, Nayru, and Farore.80 And the Twinrova sisters, who appear in several games in the series, demonstrate a sort of malicious intent as well as some arcane spell casting that is often associated with witches in traditional story forms. But all of these portrayals are very typological.

There is a long tradition, one that began with oral histories, proceeds through literature, and now continues on in videogames and other modern digital media, of placing women in certain stereotypical roles: as maidens, mothers, or crones. This phenomenon of portraying women as iconic characters in certain roles is worth noticing, as well as exploring a little further. What unites these depictions is that they are all figures with spectral but rather passive roles in their society. The chief example of this in the Zelda games is Zelda herself. There are also examples of the other typologies in characters from The Legend of Zelda series, the mothers (like the goddesses of Hyrule) and the crones (like the Twinrova sisters). Why are women