A brief history of Nintendo not letting you play as Zelda

The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is a big deal for the franchise because it’s finally the first mainline game where you get to play as Princess Zelda. Yes, despite her name being the dang title of the series, she’s never been the main character in a mainline Zelda game until Echoes of Wisdom came along.

But I have to say mainline because it’s actually not the first game where you can play as Zelda. Not by a slingshot.

Famously, or perhaps infamously, players got their first chance to control Zelda in two games for the Phillips CD-i. If you’ve never heard of this sort-of-a-media-center that’s also kind-of-a-game-console, don’t feel bad, these are some of the worst games in the franchise! Later, Zelda fans would get the change to play as her and her alter ego, Sheik, in the Smash Bros. and Hyrule Warrior’s franchises, but beyond that she was rarely cast in any role beyond the “damsel in distress.”

There are bright spots, including the aforementioned Sheik, and Zelda’s other alter ego, Tetra, even if in both cases she still gets damseled eventually. She also gets a central, fully voiced role to play in Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. However, Zelda’s larger part to play in the Switch games made it even more painful when rumors of her being playable Zelda turned out to be nothing but rumors.

Behind the scenes, there were debates about how to make her the main character without diminishing Link’s role or simply making her Link in a different outfit. To that end, Echoes of Wisdom seems to have fully realized Zelda as a main character while giving her a identity all her own. You can find out exactly how in the video above, which covers the entire history of Nintendo NOT letting you play as Zelda.