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Greetings, how have you been? I hope fine and swell

I'm doing nicely as well, even though a bit tired. For these months I paused myself, willingly or not, to start taking exams again next years. I hope I can finally get a degree after all this time!

Nonetheless, I spent the entirety of this last month on this drawing. Aside from the firstand the second design, which I still retouched a bit, I wanted to explore some different ideas with the concept of Princess Zelda. I regret to not have explored more body or hair types, though.

One of the aspects of Zelda lore I love the most is how much the Triforce wielding trio is destined to be tied between themselves and even their kingdom, so that Hyrule's history unravels itself from millennia. There's something so fascinating about how, despite the very same story structure, every Zelda game has something unique to offer, even how their character behave! I particularly love how much Zelda is allowed to do and present herself as! She can be a dainty princess as much as she can be a common girl, a ninja or a ghost, among other things!
I may not have the same inventive as Nintendo, but I wanted to experiment my fantasy and I hope you'll like it as well!

I don't think I will fully develop each of them, just the first, the second and maybe the fourth, but I love each design! Which is your favourite? I personally have a soft spot for a. (do you remember her? She still ranks among my favorite character designs I made, even though I'm retouching her story), b. and e.

I hope you'll like this drawing and see you soon!

Now, let's talk about some concept synopsis I wrote for each of them!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

a. 18 years old

The first princess born in 100 years, Zelda was raised by well meaning but overwhelming parents, thus living sheltered and highly dependent on the mother.
Unfortunately, a phantom of Ganondorf who came from another version of Hyrule broke out into the castle. Zelda sent her help with the weak telepathy she had. Link, the only one who heard her, came to the castle. Together they fought the monstrosity, in vain. In fact when Ganondorf seemed defeated he immediately regenerated himself, mortally wounding Zelda’s mother and destroying Hyrule’s castle in the process.
Without knowing what else to do, Link and Zelda fled towards Kakariko village, where they could be protected by Impa, Zelda's old caretaker.
This Zelda is a shy and compassionate person who holds a great sense of duty but is easily overwhelmed by her feelings and is prone to not listen to her needs in fear of disappointing anyone.
During the course of the story Zelda found a job by assisting Impa in her role as the village’s mortician and developing some meaningful friendships. Since then she gradually accepted her grief, enhanced her values, she developed her spirituality further, to finally help Link throughout his journey, thus defeating Ganondorf for good.

b. 16 years old
The golden child of her family, as well Link's older sister, this Zelda is born in Hiruela, a small village said to be found by Link and Zelda of Skyloft, by a farmer family. When she was a child, she had a dream thanks to which she found a well which saved her village from a drought. Since then she was regarded almost as a deity and was sent to study in Kakariko with Impa in order to fully master her powers.
Although she seems a cheerful, generous and brave person, her confidence is built on frail foundations: after many years she didn’t manage to control her magical abilities, as they seem to appear and disappear without any reason. She compensated for her lacking by mastering swordplay and languages, her true passions, even showing off these sides of her.
It seems that some mysterious race from space spied on Zelda for a long time, looking for the perfect moment to take advantage of her weaknesses and taking her with them to fully experiment with her magic.
c. 80 years old
In a now tropicalized Hyrule, many millennia after the first game's events, Queen Zelda ruled peacefully for a long time. However, widowed and with her sons patrolling distant places in Hyrule, she felt lonely, until she found two abandoned newborns in front of her castle: an Hylian and a Gerudo she called respectively Link and Miregan, who she lovingly raised as her own.
Zelda is a kind and protective person who can also be abrupt and strict. Unbeknownst to most, Zelda has an extensive knowledge of witchcraft, which she used to protect her kingdom in the past and to cover up the bad results of her culinary attempts.
Unfortunately, when Link and Miregan were eight, the latter got sick and passed away shortly after. Since then many mysterious events are plaguing Hyrule and Link, willing to help his grandmother, left the castle to find out what happened there.
d. 25 years old
Many centuries before the events, all Hyrule’s races united and revolted against the Royal Family, founding a republic in its place, giving life to an apparently strong government.
This Zelda, known with the name of Gilda, is the legitimate heir of the Royal Family but she’s more interested in acting, as she’s part of a traveling company. After years of apprenticeship, she was about to debut as the protagonist of a play about a knight princess who, with her bow, would protect her kingdom.
While her company was in the midst of the premiere, Castle Town was invaded by an army of monsters commanded by Vaati, leading everyone to flee, Zelda included, losing sight of her fellow actors.
Zelda felt forced to collaborate with Link, a police officer with whom she argued before regarding the contents of her play, the one brave enough to find a solution to save the republic. During the adventure, Zelda playfully teases Link about his beliefs, especially after she revealed to him about her true identity. Nonetheless, she guides him where they could find the Aulos of the Stories, a magical instrument said to recall what happened in the places around before. However, it seemed to be cursed…
e. 40 years old
The newly crowned Queen, Zelda is the daughter of the late King of Hyrule and Impa, taking proudly the latter’s heritage and culture. She rules her kingdom together with her husband Link, with whom she had two daughters named Linkle and… Zelda. She’s also the director of the major hospital of the kingdom. She rarely goes out of her castle, preferring to spend her time in her huge laboratory to experiment as an alchemist, trying to develop a fluid capable to create endless energy.
While may appear aloof, she’s actually an enthusiastic person who loves to think about her experiments, admittedly her only interest.
Lately Hyrule is afflicted by a terrible plague which was hurting each race in the same way, leaving the patients seriously debilitated and endlessly agonizing, without causing the patient to die.
While Zelda stays in the City to care about her patients and her daughters, she now struggles night and day to find a cure, which she found the recipe but which ingredients are rare to obtain, being located in the most remote angles in the kingdom.
So, she pleads with Link to find the ingredients for the medicine she would later enhance with her light magic, with the hope of strengthening its effect.
f. 60 years old
Formerly the Gerudo matriarch, Zelda left her role in the favor of the newly came of age Ganondorf, who leads the tribe with the same if not more charisma than her.
However she still retained a certain authority there, as she now is the fortune teller, using her special cards to advise the king whether or not to engage in a battle or to conquer a territory.
However one day they foretold to her not trust the king anymore, as he began to hold some dangerous ambition to conquer all of a now scattered Hyrule, an ambition that could cause her tribe’s destruction and a civil war with another Gerudo Tribe. Devastated by the prognostications, Zelda does her best to use her influence to change Ganondorf’s mind before and later outright lying about consulting the cards in order to keep him in his place.
This Zelda doesn’t interact much with Link and is too old to fight but she perceives his good intentions, offering some food, a bed and some advice disguised as prognostics, in which she tells him some important information about Ganondorf and some treasures he hid around Hyrule.
Her cards would later reveal themselves as the Triforce of Wisdom, passed from generation to generation of leading women.
g. 6 years old
The little princess of a fully industrialized New Hyrule, this Zelda was lovingly raised by Link, her babysitter and Impa, who also rules the place as a regent in place of her mother, who is said to have mysteriously disappeared some years prior.Zelda is an energetic and carefree little girl, with a pronounced tomboy streak and a curious attitude. She’s pretty fascinated by clockwork gears and the air, dreaming to pilot an aircraft one day. She always carries with her a korok shaped plush, which she claims to be gifted by her mother.
One day, she also disappeared suddenly, leaving a message to Link in which she said she dreamed about her mother on the verge of dying. Link immediately sought for her and found the child crying in front of a mysterious statue depicting a beautiful woman covered by all sorts of plants.
h. 37 years old
The Princess whose statue Link and little Zelda found in the cave, a statue which she uses to communicate with people. This Zelda renounced her title and her throne to meditate as a monk and trap within herself a seed in which contained the spirit of an evil sorcerer who attempted to possess the kingdom many years prior. She evacuated the people of New Hyrule from reality to a virtual world she created for the scope, letting them live safely while she let grow within herself the evil sorcerer's seed, fighting him alone in meditation.
In order to concentrate better, Zelda rejected every part of herself she deemed distracting to her duty, sacrificing her humanity in the process. Unable to completely eliminate them, they assumed the form of the little princess, a testament of this separation.
This Zelda doesn’t directly speak with her alter ego or Link until she defeats the sorcerer, after she can break her vow of silence. She instead communicates with them with telepathy.

Description

Greetings, how have you been? I hope fine and swell

I'm doing nicely as well, even though a bit tired. For these months I paused myself, willingly or not, to start taking exams again next years. I hope I can finally get a degree after all this time!

Nonetheless, I spent the entirety of this last month on this drawing. Aside from the firstand the second design, which I still retouched a bit, I wanted to explore some different ideas with the concept of Princess Zelda. I regret to not have explored more body or hair types, though.

One of the aspects of Zelda lore I love the most is how much the Triforce wielding trio is destined to be tied between themselves and even their kingdom, so that Hyrule's history unravels itself from millennia. There's something so fascinating about how, despite the very same story structure, every Zelda game has something unique to offer, even how their character behave! I particularly love how much Zelda is allowed to do and present herself as! She can be a dainty princess as much as she can be a common girl, a ninja or a ghost, among other things!
I may not have the same inventive as Nintendo, but I wanted to experiment my fantasy and I hope you'll like it as well!

I don't think I will fully develop each of them, just the first, the second and maybe the fourth, but I love each design! Which is your favourite? I personally have a soft spot for a. (do you remember her? She still ranks among my favorite character designs I made, even though I'm retouching her story), b. and e.

I hope you'll like this drawing and see you soon!

Now, let's talk about some concept synopsis I wrote for each of them!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

a. 18 years old

The first princess born in 100 years, Zelda was raised by well meaning but overwhelming parents, thus living sheltered and highly dependent on the mother.
Unfortunately, a phantom of Ganondorf who came from another version of Hyrule broke out into the castle. Zelda sent her help with the weak telepathy she had. Link, the only one who heard her, came to the castle. Together they fought the monstrosity, in vain. In fact when Ganondorf seemed defeated he immediately regenerated himself, mortally wounding Zelda’s mother and destroying Hyrule’s castle in the process.
Without knowing what else to do, Link and Zelda fled towards Kakariko village, where they could be protected by Impa, Zelda's old caretaker.
This Zelda is a shy and compassionate person who holds a great sense of duty but is easily overwhelmed by her feelings and is prone to not listen to her needs in fear of disappointing anyone.
During the course of the story Zelda found a job by assisting Impa in her role as the village’s mortician and developing some meaningful friendships. Since then she gradually accepted her grief, enhanced her values, she developed her spirituality further, to finally help Link throughout his journey, thus defeating Ganondorf for good.

b. 16 years old
The golden child of her family, as well Link's older sister, this Zelda is born in Hiruela, a small village said to be found by Link and Zelda of Skyloft, by a farmer family. When she was a child, she had a dream thanks to which she found a well which saved her village from a drought. Since then she was regarded almost as a deity and was sent to study in Kakariko with Impa in order to fully master her powers.
Although she seems a cheerful, generous and brave person, her confidence is built on frail foundations: after many years she didn’t manage to control her magical abilities, as they seem to appear and disappear without any reason. She compensated for her lacking by mastering swordplay and languages, her true passions, even showing off these sides of her.
It seems that some mysterious race from space spied on Zelda for a long time, looking for the perfect moment to take advantage of her weaknesses and taking her with them to fully experiment with her magic.
c. 80 years old
In a now tropicalized Hyrule, many millennia after the first game's events, Queen Zelda ruled peacefully for a long time. However, widowed and with her sons patrolling distant places in Hyrule, she felt lonely, until she found two abandoned newborns in front of her castle: an Hylian and a Gerudo she called respectively Link and Miregan, who she lovingly raised as her own.
Zelda is a kind and protective person who can also be abrupt and strict. Unbeknownst to most, Zelda has an extensive knowledge of witchcraft, which she used to protect her kingdom in the past and to cover up the bad results of her culinary attempts.
Unfortunately, when Link and Miregan were eight, the latter got sick and passed away shortly after. Since then many mysterious events are plaguing Hyrule and Link, willing to help his grandmother, left the castle to find out what happened there.
d. 25 years old
Many centuries before the events, all Hyrule’s races united and revolted against the Royal Family, founding a republic in its place, giving life to an apparently strong government.
This Zelda, known with the name of Gilda, is the legitimate heir of the Royal Family but she’s more interested in acting, as she’s part of a traveling company. After years of apprenticeship, she was about to debut as the protagonist of a play about a knight princess who, with her bow, would protect her kingdom.
While her company was in the midst of the premiere, Castle Town was invaded by an army of monsters commanded by Vaati, leading everyone to flee, Zelda included, losing sight of her fellow actors.
Zelda felt forced to collaborate with Link, a police officer with whom she argued before regarding the contents of her play, the one brave enough to find a solution to save the republic. During the adventure, Zelda playfully teases Link about his beliefs, especially after she revealed to him about her true identity. Nonetheless, she guides him where they could find the Aulos of the Stories, a magical instrument said to recall what happened in the places around before. However, it seemed to be cursed…
e. 40 years old
The newly crowned Queen, Zelda is the daughter of the late King of Hyrule and Impa, taking proudly the latter’s heritage and culture. She rules her kingdom together with her husband Link, with whom she had two daughters named Linkle and… Zelda. She’s also the director of the major hospital of the kingdom. She rarely goes out of her castle, preferring to spend her time in her huge laboratory to experiment as an alchemist, trying to develop a fluid capable to create endless energy.
While may appear aloof, she’s actually an enthusiastic person who loves to think about her experiments, admittedly her only interest.
Lately Hyrule is afflicted by a terrible plague which was hurting each race in the same way, leaving the patients seriously debilitated and endlessly agonizing, without causing the patient to die.
While Zelda stays in the City to care about her patients and her daughters, she now struggles night and day to find a cure, which she found the recipe but which ingredients are rare to obtain, being located in the most remote angles in the kingdom.
So, she pleads with Link to find the ingredients for the medicine she would later enhance with her light magic, with the hope of strengthening its effect.
f. 60 years old
Formerly the Gerudo matriarch, Zelda left her role in the favor of the newly came of age Ganondorf, who leads the tribe with the same if not more charisma than her.
However she still retained a certain authority there, as she now is the fortune teller, using her special cards to advise the king whether or not to engage in a battle or to conquer a territory.
However one day they foretold to her not trust the king anymore, as he began to hold some dangerous ambition to conquer all of a now scattered Hyrule, an ambition that could cause her tribe’s destruction and a civil war with another Gerudo Tribe. Devastated by the prognostications, Zelda does her best to use her influence to change Ganondorf’s mind before and later outright lying about consulting the cards in order to keep him in his place.
This Zelda doesn’t interact much with Link and is too old to fight but she perceives his good intentions, offering some food, a bed and some advice disguised as prognostics, in which she tells him some important information about Ganondorf and some treasures he hid around Hyrule.
Her cards would later reveal themselves as the Triforce of Wisdom, passed from generation to generation of leading women.
g. 6 years old
The little princess of a fully industrialized New Hyrule, this Zelda was lovingly raised by Link, her babysitter and Impa, who also rules the place as a regent in place of her mother, who is said to have mysteriously disappeared some years prior.Zelda is an energetic and carefree little girl, with a pronounced tomboy streak and a curious attitude. She’s pretty fascinated by clockwork gears and the air, dreaming to pilot an aircraft one day. She always carries with her a korok shaped plush, which she claims to be gifted by her mother.
One day, she also disappeared suddenly, leaving a message to Link in which she said she dreamed about her mother on the verge of dying. Link immediately sought for her and found the child crying in front of a mysterious statue depicting a beautiful woman covered by all sorts of plants.
h. 37 years old
The Princess whose statue Link and little Zelda found in the cave, a statue which she uses to communicate with people. This Zelda renounced her title and her throne to meditate as a monk and trap within herself a seed in which contained the spirit of an evil sorcerer who attempted to possess the kingdom many years prior. She evacuated the people of New Hyrule from reality to a virtual world she created for the scope, letting them live safely while she let grow within herself the evil sorcerer's seed, fighting him alone in meditation.
In order to concentrate better, Zelda rejected every part of herself she deemed distracting to her duty, sacrificing her humanity in the process. Unable to completely eliminate them, they assumed the form of the little princess, a testament of this separation.
This Zelda doesn’t directly speak with her alter ego or Link until she defeats the sorcerer, after she can break her vow of silence. She instead communicates with them with telepathy.