Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Hyrule Historia - The Designs of Link and Zelda



Hey guys.  Heh... been a while since I've posted.  Sorry, I've been WAY too busy with school work.  Luckily, this coming weekend is a long one!  Yeah!... one day off..... Oh well, it's better than nothing.

Anyway, today I will be getting into the designs and concept art of Link and Zelda, our favorite protagonist and... um... princess-y... semi-tagonist?  Just ignore that.  I never said that.  So yeah, I will be going over their designs, and how they've changed over the years.

Just in case you haven't been here yet, there's a full translation of Hyrule Historia here:

http://www.glitterberri.com/hyrule-historia/

First, we start out with the original Link:



LoZ Link

Link from The Legend of Zelda (1986)
The Link that started it all.



AoL Link

Link from Link's Adventure (1987)
His face looks a bit... scrunchy.



ALttP Link

A Link to the Past (1991)
This was the first time the famous "triforce and bird" design was added to Link's shield.




LA Link

Link's Awakening (1993)
Link looks younger, happier, and maybe a bit more cartoon-ish here.




OoT Child Link


OoT Adult Link

Ocarina of Time (1998)
Young Link and Old Link here.  The concept art here is more realistic.  This is where that modern "Link look" starts, as he has a different looking face than in previous games.  His hair is also a bit less wild.



MM Link

Majora's Mask (2000)
In the game, Link looks pretty much the same as Ocarina of Time.  In the concept art, however, his face bears some sort of creepy, almost possessed look.



OoX Link

Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages (2001)
His hair gets longer again, and his face is sort of a mix between the original Link face and the OoT/MM
face.



TWW Link

Wind Waker (2002)
Toon Link makes his first appearance!


FSA Link

Four Swords/Adventures (2002/2004)
Toon Link is back.



TMC Link

Minish Cap (2004)
...Aaand he's back.




TP Link

Twilight Princess (2006)
...Aaand he's b-- WOAH!  Didn't see that coming.  Here Link looks very realistic, except for the fact that his hat is blowing one way and his hair the other.

(What?  That was a bad joke?  It wasn't even a joke at all?  But...




       











PH Link

Phantom Hourglass (2007)
And he's back.  Well, sort of.  As a sequel to Wind Waker, which came out 5 years back, in-game Link looks pretty much the same.  However, the concept art looks a little more 3D and a little less paper-ish.



ST Link

Spirit Tracks (2009)
Here, Link looks the same as Phantom Hourglass.  (Same platform, same graphics, some of the same gameplay - but 100 years later.)



SS Link

Skyward Sword (2011)
Lastly, we have SS Link.  In the concept art, he looks kind of like Twilight Princess Link.  However, in the game, he looks a little more cartoony.




"Zelda Wii U" (2014?)
And as a bonus, we have Link from The Legend of Zelda: -------------------.  Okay, he's not in Hyrule Historia, but I just felt like I should include him.  After all, he looks pretty cool, even though they've already confirmed that the graphics will not look like this.  Let's just hope they look even better.




And... sorry, guys, but I'm gonna have to cut it short.  I just ran out of time for Zelda.  She's gonna have to wait.  BUT: I'll make a promise to you now.  I will finish this post no later than this Saturday.  If you're impatient, then you can go ahead and find these pictures yourself, but that would kind of ruin the point of reading my article later.  

Remember, I keep my promises.

So long for now.  See you sometime before Saturday night.  :)

2 comments:

  1. I must appologize for my lack of commenting, my Wi-Fi router broke, so my whole house was down on internet D-': it was horrible. but its back now! YAY!
    Anyway, when I first saw OoT3D Adult Link, I fell in love. He's so cute! 8-D but you wouldn't get it :-S....(I feel the same about TP and SS Links 8-P ) But back to the point, my favorit Links in official artwork, would be Minish Cap, certain poses of OoT3D, and SS...ok and TP. And I very much adore the incredible HD graphics of the "Zelda Wii U" Link...I wonder what Zelda will look like! I love the papery graphics in Minish Cap artwork, and same but more with the watercolor-esque look of SS artwork. As for TP, I like the realistic yet Anime look, and his hat and hair are blowing the same way...was that the joke? I'm really bad at noticing jokes...ok, well that's all. bye now!

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    1. As for the commenting, it's totally ok. I know how you feel. I have this crappy slow wifi that barely works. Most of the time, I have to plug my laptop into a little ethernet cable. Sad, huh. About the TP Link, I just noticed that the front part of his hair was going the opposite way as his hat. Not really blowing, just there, I guess. Again, not even a joke. Just... pure randomness. Let's leave it at that. :D

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