Don't even bother reading this. This is me being an incredibly huge nerd and getting video game nerdery out of my head. Basically, these are the Zelda games I wish existed and oh my god why am I even posting these.
A middle-aged Impa wakes up the princess in the castle. A village on the edge of the kingdom, near the Lost Woods was attacked. She worries about the princess's safety, but is brushed off as the princess grabs her bow, dons an outfit of hardened leather, and mounts a horse. Together they ride to the village, still smoking in the wake of a destructive force. They survey the damage and talk to the villagers- a lot was destroyed but only one person died. A young man whom everyone loved, who was kind, and generous, and always willing to stick his neck out to help someone else. They were always cheered up when they saw his green hat flopping up to them.
Their description of the attackers troubles Impa. She remembers stories of a similar force. She urges the princess to seek out the sages for guidance. The first sage is confused by their arrival, but advises them to seek out the Master Sword in case Impa's worries turn out to be founded. Together they gather the necessary objects to break the seal to the hidden grove, but each sage is equally bewildered- they were expecting someone else.
As the princess arrives at the Master Sword, she reaches out and grabs it, lifting with all her strength-
...nothing happens. It doesn't budge. Suddenly a dark voice laughs behind her:
"That's not for you, little girl."
She turns, and there stands Ganondorf.
"You see, I found a mirror. It changed my life, quite literally. I learned that no matter what I do, I will be defeated. Every single time- by a cursed boy in green. So I fixed that problem first. And now I will fix you."
He attempts to kill the princess but she's protected by Impa. Ganondorf strikes hard, killing Impa as the princess barely manages to escape. But his words ring her her ears: a mirror changed his life. She heads to the desert to learn of the Mirror of Destiny, an ancient and sacred object that can tell you what is supposed to happen- or change what will. Ganon has shattered it and spread it across Hyrule.
The princess gathers the shards, assembling them and holds it in front of her- and all she sees is herself. Nothing has changed. It holds no special image for her. Disappointed, but lacking no resolve, she decides to head back to the grove, where Ganondorf has erected a magical fortress to guard the sword. She fights deep into it and eventually returns to the Master Sword. She takes hold of it and lift again...
...but still nothing. Then the mirror glows, hovering behind the sword. She sees a reflection of a boy in green, his left hand glowing with the Triforce of Courage...which suddenly leaves the mirror and grabs the Master Sword, lifting it from its resting place. As he steps through the mirror, Ganondorf arrives and attacks. The princess fires volleys of arrows at Ganondorf as the hero reflects his shots back at him, eventually grievously wounding him. Enraged, he grows into an enormous monster- causing the ground to collapse into a cave below.
As they fall, the mirror falls too, shattering into thousands of shards raining down on them. The princess, reaches for her bow with her right hand, groggily, the Triforce of Wisdom shining on the back. Then reaches for the Master Sword with her left, the Triforce of Courage shining on that. Horrified, she realizes that she is both the princess and the hero- and that in the same cave there is a merging of Ganon and the princess and Ganon and the hero. She fights them both off, fatally wounding them, forcing them to split back into their correct forms, and ripping the hybrid princess/hero apart to joint heir other halves. The hero attack the enormous reformed Ganon as the princess shoots hails of arrows at him- to no avail. They bounce harmlessly off the beast's thick hide. Then she notices the shards of mirror everywhere and remembers the fate of Ganon- arrows of silver, arrows of light. She ties a shard to an arrow and, as the hero carves a might gash in the beast's chest, sends it flying into Ganon's heart.
Suddenly Ganon is tormented and wracked with pain- not just from this wound but from every wound that has ever been dealt to him and will ever be dealt to him. He experiences every death he ever felt, ever will feel, or ever might have felt all at once- then disappears.
The princess returns to her castle. She appoints the hero who died as the new captain of her guard and sits upon the throne of Hyrule, having written herself her own legend.
Gameplay notes: Zelda isn't a hand-to-hand fighter by nature. I'd imagine the game would lean heavily on bow combat mechanics and the use of Sheikah abilities, resulting in a different, but not too different, Zelda game that is a bit more fluid and a bit more acrobatic in addition to using bows in unique and clever ways.
Why? Because I’m tired of hearing “Zelda is the girl.” Zelda IS the girl. She’s in the title of every game, including games she’s not ever in. Smash Bros. made her a very capable fighter and she’s been a combat companion in quite a few Zelda games now. Why not actually let her star in her own game for once?
And its direct sequel:
The Legend of Zelda: Hero’s Requiem
The Hero Who Died awakens from a horrible nightmare. Flashes of a ruined city, pain and torment, and some great shadow lurking from beyond. Peace has returned to Hyrule after Ganondorf’s defeat 5 years ago and Queen Zelda is preparing an anniversary feast. That night as they celebrate their victory, a small blue spark flies in the window of Hyrule Castle. It bounces from guest to guest, each ignoring it, until it comes up to the hero. It continually bounces off him, but he swats it away and ignores it. Finally, it flies up high in the air and an enormous voice fills the castle:
”HEY! LISTEN!”
Everything stops as everyone looks at the little blue light- a fairy. She flies down to the hero and tells him- a great threat is trying to come to Hyrule and it has the power to unmake everything. He knows the threat. He’s seen it before. He agrees to follow her to a faraway land to defeat it.
As they travel through the woods, he makes his way down a long, dark shaft, eventually coming out the other end inside a large clock tower. He exits it and immediately recognizes the ruined town from his dreams. The windmill is behaving oddly…sudden starts and stops as if no wind could produce. The fairy tells him that the threat is at the top. He gathers up his courage and climbs it, but physics seem to have failed here- time itself is warped. Sometimes it stops, sometimes it goes fast, sometimes it goes backwards. Eventually he reaches the top and finds himself facing a man- a man whose face he saw once, in his nightmares…but someone even earlier than that. He floats in the air with a twisted sword, a ghastly painted face, long silver hair, and a green cap. The man turns and attacks the hero- the hero can’t react, he’s frozen in time as the sword pierces right through him and he blacks out.
He wakes up gasping to a terrifyingly calm face. The hunched man looking over him simply smiles:
”You’ve met a terrible fate, haven’t you?”
The hero checks his body- no wound. The Happy Mask Salesman tells him that death now behaves strangely here. Time has become unwound. Everyone lives and dies and is undying.
”It was all the fault of a mask…masks have great power. They can be what you fear…or hide you from what you fear the most.”
He tells you that to defeat the man on the clock tower, you’ll need to take control of time itself and calm the forces that are ripping this world apart. The fairy flies down to make sure you’re okay and tells you her name is Navi. She once knew the man on the windmill, a long time ago…before he was like this. She needs your help to save him.
The Hero Who Died searches the land for the Ocarina of Time, fractured and broken. As he travels the land, he helps people come to terms with great sadnesses that the timequakes have wrought upon them, learning about their lives and, sometimes, their deaths. He comes to learn that this land isn’t a normal land- it’s not meant for the living. He suddenly remembers where he saw the man and why the nightmares have been haunting him- he was here before. After the flames. Before the mirror. This land is a stopping point before what lies beyond.
He repairs the Ocarina and arrives back at the clock tower. Navi warns him that once he repairs time, there’s no going back- his death will be very permanent. The hero gathers his strength and calms the time shifts, making his way back to the top. The man at the top attempts to freeze time again, but to no avail- they must fight. As they battles, the hero eventually gains the upper hand, knocking his opponent’s sword away and preparing to deal a final blow. Suddenly Navi yells for him to stop and gets between the two. She tells the hero to play the ocarina again- the Song of Healing. As the final note echoes, the mask on the other man’s face falls off…and there stands the Hero of Time- just a boy in green. He falls to his knees, crying. Navi flies over to him and consoles him.
”I know you’re scared. I am too. But it’s our time. We’ve been here too long…”
He nods and stands, as they turn behind them a shining pillar of light descends…the Happy Mask Salesman beckons to them to go into it. The Hero of Time walks calmly into it and Navi flies back to the Hero Who Died.
”I guess I’ll be seeing you again- in a long, long time. Thank you for helping me…and him.”
She flies into the light and the Happy Mask Salesman walks over to the Oni Mask, and carefully stows it away, then walks to the hero.
”Well. This place isn’t for you yet. I’ll show you the way back home.”
The hero returns to Hyrule, having fulfilled his title.
Gameplay: Heavy emphasis on uncontrollable time mechanics. Also, the undying part isn’t just a plot device- Link is incapable of truly dying. This would need to be used to solve several puzzles, where Link must sacrifice himself to figure something out, then come back to life.
Why? I actually conceived of this plot immediately after I finished Wind Waker, envisioning the Hero of Winds’s exploration shipwrecking him in Termina and finding that the place was now under the control of a cruel leader- the Hero of Time corrupted by the Oni Mask. However, that no longer fits with the official chronology, so I adapted it to the first posted game. The whole death thing just seems like a natural story to tell.
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