The Legend of Zelda

This is a /v/ related article, which we tolerate because it's relevant and/or popular on /tg/... or we just can't be bothered to delete it.

The Legend of Zelda is a series of adventure games for the Nintendo system. One of the oldest franchises, alongside Super Mario, at least one game has graced every console Nintendo has put out. With its epic landscapes, focus on puzzles, and wide array of monsters and races, the Zelda series is a goldmine for an enterprising Dungeons & Dragons DM to draw from for inspiration.

The Story

You play as one of the many incarnations of Link, a (typically) green-clad Hylian youth somewhere in between 9 to 18 years of age who sets out to fight evil in order to accomplish some heroic goal, often related to rescuing someone. This most often means Princess Zelda, whom the series is named after. In pursuit of this goal he often clashes with the evil Ganon (or Ganondorf), who wants to rule the world, or some other menace ranging from a jerk wizard who kidnaps girls to a fucking terrifying mask trying to destroy everything.

Central to the series is the Triforce, an artifact of immense power that taps into a user's power, wisdom and courage to use. It has near reality-warping powers in its full form, which is why Ganon(dorf) seeks to obtain it. Link occasionally has to find bits of the shattered Triforce in his quests, or people capable of sealing Ganon(dorf) away. At some point the pieces of the Triforce became sealed within the three main characters, with Ganon(dorf) getting the Triforce of Power, Zelda getting the Triforce of Wisdom, and Link getting (or sometimes having to find) the Triforce of Courage. The Triforce is of such immense value that at one point there was a civil war over who could control it, leading to, in several games, 1) Link's parents being killed and forcing him to live in hiding, 2) a tribe of wizards getting banished into a parallel realm, eagerly waiting for a chance at vengeance, 3) causing the entire Sacred Realm to become a cursed dimension after Ganon succeeds in grabbing it, and probably even more situtations.

Note that it is not always the same Link who appears in the series: while some of them appear in several games as the protagonist (One appears in four games, and three others in two games each) there is often a new Link in every game. And while they look alike, they are not related to one another - except from one case where it is strongly hinted at that they are family (namely the one from Ocarina of Time and the one from Twilight Princess). This is because the games are constantly soft-rebooting (really it's that it takes place over a VERY long stretch of time and each Link, Zelda, and Ganon are reincarnations). Hyrule itself will change too every so often; sometimes it will feature the same familiar geography of Hyrule castle, Death Mountain, Zora Village, etc. And other times it will feature very dramatic changes, such as all of Hyrule being flooded. Even in games where the major land features are present they often get jumbled up and moved around.

The Zeldas on the other hand are related to one another: the first one was the reincarnation of the goddess Hylia and all Zeldas are her descendants, making them the Blood of the Goddess. And while the various Links might not be related they inherit something as well; the Spirit of the Hero which gives them the drive to stand up to evil and use the various tools they find despite them never having used or even seen them before.

The villainous Ganon is the same one over and over again though, being the reincarnation of the demon Demise. Occasionally, it's stated he can't truly die; he only ever suffers temporary defeat. Even while he gets killed at the end of some of the games, his followers try to resurrect him (and sometimes even succeed), making him the same guy again and again. Even so, he takes many different forms; early on he's a piggish brute (literally), though later he adopts a more human form (in this form he's always called Ganondorf) when he uses subversion as his main strategy, typically as one of the rare Gerudo males, though he can still be capable of some horrifying shit if he's in possession of the Triforce of Power. Eventually however, he gets sick of this shit and drops all subtlety, turning into an eldritch abomination called "Calamity Ganon" that curses the land of Hyrule itself, resurrecting fallen monsters and seizing control of the kingdom's automaton army. In every single case, his weakness remains the same: only the awakened Master Sword and/or special arrows (Silver Arrows or Light Arrows depending on game)can seal him away.

The fact that the timeline also branches off into multiple paths simply makes it more confusing to keep track of. Fortunately, Nintendo not only printed a game-by-game explanation of the timeline, they also gave a definitive starting-off point in Skyward Sword, taking place just prior to the founding of Hyrule and the establishment of Link, Zelda, and Ganondorf as perpetually reincarnating characters.

Tabletop Games

Officially, there are no Zelda tabletop games (no, the Zelda version of Monopoly doesn't count). Unofficially, homebrewers have tried their hand at making some. A Legend of Zelda D20 system has been floating around the net for years, and /tg/ has been busily working on a Legend of Zelda RPG and Four-Sworded Adventuring. There's also Megaton, which is a wargame set in the Zelda setting.

A more recent fan game that's gained some popularity is Reclaim the Wild which draws most of it's ideas and setting lore from Breath of the Wild, though with some notable exceptions such as playable Twili characters. The game is a skill-based one, with a number of skills each tied to one of the Triforces (Power, Wisdom and Courage). Completing major tasks such as quests or defeating powerful foes awards the player Tokens of Heroism they can use to level up these skills or other attributes such as Stamina and Health.

Vidya Games

There's been A TON of them, but the one that gives most nostalgia is the first one, which you can see here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrn8RBxM4W0

All of the games share the same basic gameplay: Link needs to stop Ganon/Ganondorf (or whoever the big bad is supposed to be for the game) by visiting various locations in Hyrule (or wherever the game takes place), collecting various artifacts or rescuing people before finally confronting the main boss. Each location typically has a dungeon that is heavily puzzle-oriented; Link will usually have to fight his way to a mini-boss, which will drop a new gadget that he'll use to complete the dungeon and fight the final boss. Each game will usually also feature an additional gameplay feature unique to the game, whether it's commanding your own little ship, turning into a wolf, or hopping between the real world and a mirror world.

In every game, though, you play Link though, that is the one constant across any of them (except for those creepy Tingle games and the CD-i spinoffs). Even the Hyrule Warriors spinoff games have much of their focus center on Link, though they do allow you to also play other characters as well including fan favorites such as Impa or fan banes such as Tingle.

• The Legend of Zelda – The game that started it all and introduced many of the ideas the future games would take: Princess Zelda, Ganon, the Triforce, going around and defeating dungeons, things like that. That said, the game is fairly difficult to play due to how cryptic it can be, with secret caves and overly short messages from the handful of NPCs in the game making the game just awkward to play these days.
• The Adventure of Link – The original black sheep of the series and far more RPG compared to the more action adventure of its predecessor. Is NOTORIOUS for the combat and even more cryptic messages from the NPCs (“I am Error” being the meme probably most well known from this game, an ironic translation error as the NPC should actually be “Errol” and is actually an important NPC in the game).
• A Link to the Past – This game is what really put Zelda on almost every gamer’s radar. While most can agree the original was a decent start and that even the second game had some good ideas, this game fully embraced its action RPG role and truly established what it was to be a Zelda game – great puzzles, a strong story, and a number of twists that make the game far more expansive than it appears at first glance. Almost every game after this one used it as a basis for how a Zelda game should be, even the 3D ones. The story is the first Prequel to the saga, and introduces the Master Sword to the Mythos.
• Link’s Awakening – When a bunch of game programmers at Nintendo got bored, they decided to make their own Zelda game but for the handheld Gameboy. The higher ups liked the idea so much they gave them a wide berth and the end result is one of the best 2D Zelda games ever to the point it’s been redone twice now (Link’s Awakening DX adding color and a bonus dungeon while the Switch remake overhauled all of the graphics and added just a few quality of life improvements to make it not just a carbon copy). This game actually started the trend where a dungeon has an item you use to clear and beat the boss used in future games, in prior games sometimes a dungeon would have this trait, and sometimes it wouldn't.

It is also the first Zelda game to have a mysterious and dark undertone to it with the player eventually learning that all the NPCs they’ve been getting to know and care for aren’t even real, just parts of the Wind Fish's dream and that by beating the game and waking up the Wind Fish they will all disappear. Needless to say, it showed that Zelda games could be just as deep and complex on handheld as they were on a regular console.

• Ocarina of Time – Widely seen by many in the industry as one of (if not THE) greatest game ever made (at least until fairly recently), Ocarina of Time was the franchise’s first attempt at 3D and to say it did it well would be an understatement. Though incredibly similar to A Link to the Past in terms of what the story is (save Zelda, defeat Ganon Ganondorf and acquire the Triforce and Master Sword along the way), it took a major departure in introducing a time travel mechanic (which inadvertently made three timelines for the games to occur in). Introduced concepts and tropes to the series still seen to this day such as the Gorons, Z-targeting and notorious Water Temples. Still well worth going back and playing to this day (though you might want to play the remake on the 3DS for small quality of life improvements).
• Majora’s Mask – What happens when you get an absolute smash hit of a game and your boss tells you to make a game that is just as good but you’re only given one year to finish it? Well, in most cases you fail miserably, but in this instance it was done phenomenally. Set not in Hyrule but the lands of Termina (only the second time a Zelda game did not take place at least partially in Hyrule), Link must stop the machinations of a crazed Skull Kid who is being warped and manipulated by the titular mysterious ancient mask to drop a moon onto Termina.

During the game Link will gather a vast collection of masks, each with their own abilities from making him run faster, helping solve a missing person’s case, and to MAKE HIM THE EMBODIMENT OF A PRIMAL DEITY. Oh, and he has only three in-game days to stop the moon from crashing into Termina and killing everyone, so no pressure. This game is practically a horror story the amount of creepy stuff you come across, albeit one where you play as the hero who ensures a happy ending.

• Oracle of Seasons/Ages – For the first time, Nintendo gave another company the rights to make a mainline game using the Zelda franchise. The company was Capcom and they were originally told to just remake the original Zelda but they quickly changed those plans to make a trilogy of game. A trilogy proved too much, though, and they pared it back to just two games but made sure the two could interact in specific ways. Seasons focuses more on action, getting Link into melee proving to usually be the best option much of the time, but Ages focuses more on puzzle solving and figuring things out across the map and within dungeons.

When you complete one game you get a code to take much of your save data to the other. Both games are also set outside of Hyrule, Seasons taking place in Holodrum and Ages in Labrynna. If you do carry your save data over to the second game (doesn’t quite matter which but canonically it is Seasons and then Ages) you unlock the secret true ending and face off against Ganon once again.

• Four Swords – A quirky co-op game that was on the same cartridge as the Gameboy Advance’s version of A Link to the Past. Link has taken up the Four Sword and is beside himself in confusion. You and up to three friends have to traverse semi-randomly generated dungeons to eventually fight and defeat a new villain in the franchise named Vaati. Would later get a full sequel.
• The Wind Waker – Another 3D Zelda game, this time on the Gamecube. At its launch it was received with a very mixed response due to the idea that the game would actually have looked more like a traditional “realistic” fantasy game rather than the rather cartoony cel-shaded one we got with this one. Over time though the game has gotten more positive responses with most agreeing the look helped the game age incredibly well. Its main gimmick this time is that Hyrule is no more, drowned under the waves of the Great Ocean.

Despite the apocalyptic inundation, Ganondorf is back and ready to find the full Triforce once more so he can attempt to again subjugate the people (though he admittedly has a lot more nuance this game than previously). Link must sail across the ocean and fish up clues (usually quite literally) to help save his sister first and foremost and the world by extension. Oh, and be sure to go home every now and then and make sure your grandma is safe, okay? She even makes you yummy soup.

• Four Swords Adventures – The sequel to Four Swords on the GBA, this Gamecube game is much the same as the first but with the added function to play solo properly. Once more you must fight Vaati but you also get a shot at fighting Ganon. Despite this the game is still basically just a series of fast dungeon crawls.
• The Minish Cap – Ever wonder why Link wears a green hat? Well this is the game for you then! Vaati(this is a prequel to Four Swords) interrupts a festival and ruins everyone’s day and it’s up to Link and his magical talking hat named Ezlo to save the day. The unique gimmick this game is the ability to shrink Link down to miniscule size which has the odd effect that monsters that would typically pose little to no threat to a normal-sized Link are suddenly massive and double as boss fights. Also details the reason why Link always finds money and items when they cut grass and smash bottles – A Picori (a miniscule fairy person) put it there for Link to find! Regarded as one of if not the best handheld Zelda game by most fans.
• Twilight Princess – After the backlash to The Wind Waker over its cutesy design, Nintendo knew they needed to get in the good graces of fans once more. Twilight Princess went for a more traditional looking Zelda game with a fuck ton of brown and gray smeared over your screen(it was the late 2000's, when most vidya makers decided that color was for little babies). Link must save his childhood friends with the help of the snarky shadow being named Midna.

For large parts of the game Link is transformed into a wolf, which no doubt made plenty of furries happy, during which he has several heightened senses and scares the shit out of normal people. Otherwise it’s a typical “go to X dungeon, get Y item and defeat Z boss, then use the new item to help progress to the next dungeon, rinse and repeat.

The new villain of this game, Zant, is actually just a puppet to a downright menacing Ganondorf (who even temporarily mind-enslaves Zelda). There is a good reason why every Smash game still uses this Ganondorf. While the game was incredibly well received (some fans legit broke down into tears at the announcement), it’s seen some growing resentment over the years over how poorly its aged in terms of looks and how seemingly by-the-books a lot of the game turned out to be. It even has the dungeon boss largely regarded as the easiest in the whole franchise, a giant eel monster thing named Morpheel who basically cannot kill Link and is easily dispatched in just moments.

• Phantom Hourglass – A sequel to The Wind Waker, it was not very well received for a multitude of reasons, chiefly the absolute shit controls where you’re forced to use the touch screen of the DS for most things in the game, including moving Link around. Has some interesting dungeons but is incredibly clunky and awkward to play.
• Spirit Tracks – A sequel to Phantom Hourglass, it literally is a railroad game, with Link needing to conduct a train from point A to point B for much of the game. It does however let players play with Zelda though! Kinda. Well, mostly. See, Zelda is basically a ghostlike figure for much of the game and can possess phantoms to help Link solve puzzles and fight enemies.

While fans were quite happy to finally play with her, the game is viewed as fairly subpar overall due to basically the same mechanics from Phantom Hourglass being in the game as well as the on-the-rails approach to the overworld.

• Skyward Sword – One of the better Zelda games storywise but with a somewhat awkward control scheme which forces the player to use a Wiimote (the main controller for the Nintendo Wii) to swing a sword and solve certain puzzles, Skyward Sword broke a lot of new ground in terms of story for the Zelda franchise. Among other things it set a new standard for the visuals by combining Twilight Princess's realistic designs with Wind Waker's cel-shaded graphics to give the series a distinct anime look.

Canonically the earliest game in the series, it finally tells the story as to why Link wears Green and why so many of the characters always seem to show up in the games and more, namely the feud between an incredibly powerful demon named Demise and humanity’s patron goddess Hylia.

While many laud it for the deep story and wonderful characters (Groose is one of the best new characters to the franchise, and Fi eventually starts to warm on you), most agree the game was fairly weird to handle due to the forced Wiimote swinging and toggling. The HD remake for the Wii U is much better in that regard but really? Who the fuck even owned a Wii U? Thankfully, Nintendo later released a Switch version which features more traditional controls.

• A Link Between Worlds – Part sequel and part pseudo-remake of A Link to the Past, A Link Between Worlds is a rather curious take on the Zelda series. In this game, Link must save Zelda and a number of other Sages from a mysterious villain who is also a painter named Hitler Yuga. In the process Link acquires the ability to merge himself into a wall and take on a stylized painting form and move across certain locations in the overworld and in dungeons in this fashion to solve puzzles and get by enemies. Eventually Link appears in a dark a twisted otherworld version of Hyrule called Lorule (real original, Nintendo) and best dungeons in both realms to save the day.

Another unique trait of the game is that almost all of the dungeons can be done in whatever order the player chooses, something not seen in quite some time (if ever) in the franchise thanks to the item rental system. No longer do you need to conquer a dungeon or perform some weird trade sequence to acquire the various tools needed to move from one dungeon to the next. Now all you need to do is talk to the guy who suddenly made your house into a shop and rent (and later buy) the items you want/need to deal with the next dungeon of your choosing. Basically took what A Link Between Worlds introduced and made it all better.

• Tri Force Heroes – Hot garbage that no one played.
• Breath of the Wild – Probably the most anticipated game of all time (I’m not joking about that either), the game had been hyped by Nintendo for quite some time, with snippets of gameplay released and small nuggets of information slowly leaking out from them about the game. Did not help that the game got delayed multiple times which only drove fans crazy. When it finally released it quickly garnered MASSIVE praise from critics and fans alike, with most agreeing it topped Ocarina of Time as the best Zelda game of all time.

Players take control of an amnesiac Link who is thrust into a vast and dangerous world and must use their wits and an arcane artifact known as a Sheikah Slate to overcome the odds and eventually defeat the Calamity Ganon. There are only 5 real dungeons in the whole game, over 100 mini dungeons called shrines (though some are barely more than “defeat this one monster” or “walk to this one part of the shrine with no traps or puzzles”, but still there are a fuck ton of them!) as well as hundreds of little side quests and puzzles to ponder over. Or you could just go running naked and armed with just a tree branch to fight Ganon, it’s up to you (no joke, you can get inside the final dungeon right after the start of the game - good luck surviving).

The world is enormous and is filled to the brim with things to do, sites to see, people to meet, quests to complete and more. It was so successful that Nintendo almost immediately announced a sequel

• Tears of the Kingdom - The as-of-this-typing still-in-development sequel to Breath of the Wild. Taking place a few years after BotW, with Link also travelling to some floating islands in the sky(the remains of Skyward Sword's world? who knows?). Oh, and Link appears to get a new hand-based magic power but no one outside of Nintendo really knows what’s up with that.
• Hyrule Warriors and Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity - A spinoff series of games by Koei Tecmo and modeled on their Dynasty Warriors games. In the original Hyrule Warriors game, a mysterious sorceress named Cia fucks with all of the timelines (yes, all of them) after getting corrupted by darkness after she starts straight up lusting after all of the Links in the timelines. That's right, she gets so fucking horny for Link's ass she throws all of the timelines out of whack to try to sleep with him.

Hyrule Warriors, being a Dynasty Warriors clone, has it's main focus be taking control of a unique hero unit (sometimes multiple units to swap between in the various levels) and just demolishing waves of hundreds upon hundreds of enemies with each hero's unique abilities and weapons.

Age of Calamity steps back from the "all timelines" bit but still fucks with time anyway. See, in Breath of the Wild when Calamity Ganon starts his, well, calamity over Hyrule, a little guardian robot Zelda built as a child wakes up, realizes what is going on and jumps back in time to try and stop it, causing two timelines to form - one where the little robot did nothing because it ran to the past and which is the same timeline Breath of the Wild takes place in, and the other being the one where it shows up and helps rally the Champions of Hyrule (present and future because "fuck how timelines should really work, amirite?") to stop Calamity Ganon.

The first Hyrule Warriors game has a lot going for it, mostly for being the first (good) Zelda game where you can actually play the titular character as well as a whole slew of other characters from the franchise such as Agatha the Bug Princess from Twilight Princess, Skull Kid from Majora's Mask and even a new version of Ganondorf himself. Age of Calamity is a bit more restrictive in heroes to choose from but with a much more focused story tied directly to the newest and possibly most popular Zelda game in decades. Age of Calamity is now widely considered to be at least partially canon thanks to the depth of its story and how Nintendo's team worked with Koei Tecmo to ensure the game was as faithful as it could be to Breath of the Wild, right down to helping guide them on level design.

Major Races

Humans/Hylians: Humans are, of course, everywhere in the games. Certain humans are depicted with elf-like pointy ears; known as Hylians, in universe this is supposed to represent a divinely blessed subrace who have a strong innate connection to the divine, which usually manifests as a greater affinity for magic. Indeed, Skyward Sword addresses the how the Hylians got their name, basically it meaning "the people of (the Goddess) Hylia." The most famous Hylians are the titular Princess Zelda and Link.

Zoras: The first non-human race to debut in the series, showing up in the very first game, Zora were originally a race of vaguely kappa-like fireball-spitting fish people. Ocarina of Time would reinvent the race with a sleek, gracefully inhuman look and a culture more akin to Aquatic Elves than anything, making them non-hostile NPCs who the Link of that game actually needs to save from the evils of Ganondorf. This redesign proved really popular, and with the exception of A Link Between Worlds, this has been the portrayal of them used going forward, even if the design has been tweaked and retweaked between editions. Both Ocarina of Time and Breath of the Wild introduced Zora waifus for Link, although the latter's Mipha is the only one fans have ever really taken seriously.

Gorons: The dwarves of Hyrule, gorons are a race of stone-eating rock-creatures, originally depicted with rounded, boulder-like bodies and spindly limbs, but became somewhat more proportional starting with Twilight Princess. While most of the were shorter than your average human in their debut (barring a couple huge ones), starting in Twilight Princess your average Goron is much larger than a humans. The Gorons tend to be expert craftsmen in stone and metal, as well as skilled in the use of bombs, and although they are friendly by nature, they're also immensely strong and tough, so they make formidable warriors. Like... well, pretty much every important nonhuman race, they debuted in Ocarina of Time.

Gerudo: Hyrule's Amazons; dark-skinned, red-haired female warriors and thieves who are usually depicted living in the desert (save for those in Termina from Majora's Mask, who are pirates instead). Introduced in Ocarina of Time, where they are technically a former enemy nation, but in the present are largely being forced to work against Hyrule by their king, Ganondorf, an evil wizard-thief who seeks to conquer the land. After Majora's Mask, where they were straight-up villains, they basically vanished. After a long absence the returned in Breath of the Wild as a friendly nation of tall, dusky musclegirls who make money as honest merchants. While they had rounded ears like humans in their first two appearances, in Breath of the Wild they sport pointed ears like the Hylians. As an (almost) all-female race they're highly dependent on Hylian males for reproduction; it's implied in Ocarina of Time that these are purely temporary trysts with (hopefully) willing partners, but in Breath of the Wild its more of a Rite of Passage that a Gerudo woman prepares for to go out into the world and find a suitable husband; with Gerudo now openly accepted in Hylian society, its more common to see Gerudo women settle down with families, though most tend to stay within the Gerudo valley rather than take up permanent residence elsewhere. Children are usually born female but once every 100 years or so, a male Gerudo is born, who becomes their king by law. Unfortunately for the Gerudos, it keeps being Ganondorf.

Kokiri: Only appearing in Ocarina of Time, the Kokiri are essentially the gnomes of Hyrule; forest spirits who look like unaging Hylian children. They are a MAJOR component to the story of Ocarina of Time with one Kokiri named Saria in particular being one of the Sages needed to help stop Ganondorf. They may or may not be evolved from the Kikwi beings seen in Skyward Sword.

Koroks: Debuting in The Wind Waker, these small humanoid plants are implied to be the Kokiri, or at least their descendants, who forsook their more humanoid appearance. They've only appeared in The Wind Waker and Breath of the Wild. They play a major role in The Wind Waker but the vast majority of their being in Breath of the Wild is little more than filler content that, once completed entirely, rewards the player with a stylized golden pile of shit. Gotta love that Japanese toilet humor...

Rito: Another race that debuted in The Wind Waker before making a surprise return in Breath of the Wild, the Rito are almost different races in each appearance. In Wind Waker, they appear as humans with retractile wings on their arms and beak-like noses, and are implied to be the descendants of the Zora after the fish-people were changed to not be allowed to linger in Hyrule after it was flooded. In Breath of the Wild, they are straight up humanoid birds and are simply the inhabitants of the cold northern mountain regions, with no connections to the Zora as far as we know.

Picori: A diminutively-sized (and somewhat rodent-looking but with pointy ears rather than rounded ones) race more commonly known as "the Minish" to Hylians, they were introduced properly in The Minish Cap though one of their kind (Vaati) was actually introduced in Four Swords. They are a kind and highly magical race who helped the Hylians by crafting magical artifacts in the past. They canonically are the reason Link finds rupees and items when he smashes bottles and cuts grass. The lack of such things in Breath of the Wild implies Ganon killed them all.

Monsters

Octoroks: Just like their name suggests, Octoroks are large octopuses that spit rocks at you.

Moblins: Started out as basically Orcs with bulldog faces. In more modern times, their faces have become more pig-like, similar to many common portrayals of Orcs, but they also started getting bigger, and often take the role of Ogres. They are commonly armed with spears, and may throw them at Link.

Bokoblins are the most recent form of the basic Mook once Moblins got promoted to Giant Mooks. They are typically larger than Goblins, but smaller than Orcs.

Chuchus are slime enemies, more like the Slimes of Dragon Quest than Oozes. Many Chuchus are elemental(Ice, Fire, Electrcity, etc...), and their slime can often be harvested.

Keese are annoying goddamn bat-like enemies. Usually nuisances, unless there are a lot of them. Often come in elemental varieties, and rarely associated with Demon-like enemies called Vires.

Like Likes are weird tube-like enemies that look like a semi-gelatinous length of intestine. They have a habit of swallowing Link whole and eating his shield or other equipment. One variant has a lure with a Rupee-like grown on the end, and will eat your rupees if they catch you.

Wallmasters are giant disembodied hands that will grab Link and carry him off, dumping him at the beginning of the dungeon or another pre-designated location.

Cuccos are... Chickens? Yes. But hurt one, I fucking dare ya.

Wizzrobes are humanoid creatures that resemble men, and attack by casting spells of varying kinds. They may also teleport or run on thin air.

Dodongos are large dinosaur-like monsters with tough hides. Don't bother trying to kill them with your sword, just throw bombs down their throats.

Peahats: are flowers that fly around like helicopters.

Lynels are Centaurs with Lion heads. They're typically among the most dangerous enemies found in the overworld.

Major Items

The Triforce: An object referenced in nearly every single game, sometimes referring only to one of the three pieces that make up the whole. In any case, the Triforce is the single most powerful artifact in all of Zelda with many games focusing on Ganon trying to get hold of it because it grants whoever possesses it massive amounts of power and a wish. It's been used several times in series as well and each time it's power is truly awe inspiring. Typically it is split into three pieces, each piece also being called a Triforce (a bit confusingly at times, admittedly), each named after a certain aspect of character - Wisdom (most often associated with Princess Zelda), Power (most often associated with Ganon), and Courage (most often associated with Link).

The Master Sword: Nicknamed "the Sword that Seals the Darkness," this is the most iconic weapon in Zelda and is in nearly every game. Occasionally it's the most powerful sword in the game and other times it's not quite the most powerful and needs to be upgraded. Link usually acquires this ancient and powerful blade between 1/2 and 2/3 of the way through the game. The reason it's so mighty is that it is the sword that needs to be used to kill Ganon most of the time.

The Silver Arrows/Light Arrows: Depending on the game the name changes but the overall effect is the same - these arrows are incredibly powerful, often able to one-shot nearly every enemy in the game and are used very often in the final boss fight to help stop the big bad of the game who gets wrecked when hit by one.

Boomerangs are common sub-weapons Link uses in many games. They typically kill smaller monsters while stunning larger ones, and can also pick up items form a distance.

The Mirror Shield: A powerful shield with a shiny face that can be used to reflect light or magic, often usable in combat.

The Sheikah Slate: Introduced in Breath of the Wild, this multitool is incredible. It is capable of summoning bombs, freezing objects (and enemies) for short periods of time, conjuring pillars of ice from nearly every watery surface in-game, marking locations on your map, takes pictures, calls a magical and ancient motorcycle, and is also the game's menu screen to access weapons, armor, gear and quest logs. Used in combination with the wide variety of objects that the Sheikah Slate can interact with, creative players will be able to use it to not only solve complex puzzles, but also for ambushing enemies.

The Ocarina of Time: A musical instrument that gives its name to one of the most popular video games of all time. Playing various notes on it can do all sorts of magical effects, time manipulation being merely one of them. Songs can call your horse to you, summon a rainstorm, warp Link to a number of locations on the map, as well as wake up and put people to sleep (depending on game).

The Hylian Shield: A powerful shield that is almost as iconic to the series as the Master Sword. It was nothing special when it first appeared in Ocarina of Time, Link buys it early in the game and it doesn't burn like his initial wooden shield. Late in game the Mirror Shield replaces it. But since Link is so frequently depicted with this shield in artwork it became an iconic part of his look, so when it reappeared in Twilight Princess it became the best shield (still because it doesn't burn, but Link can reflect stuff with any shield). Skyward Sword started a trend where it became a shield Link has to unlock because it's just that good compared to other shields.

Heart Containers: Found either complete or in pieces. Complete Heart Containers immediately increase Link's heart count (his health) by one. Pieces of Heart Containers need to be combined in order to increase Link's heart count by one. Usually the pieces are sets of 4 pieces except in Twilight Princess which required 5. Breath of the Wild also opted out of giving heart pieces and only rewards Link 4 Heart Containers through the whole game, instead requiring Link to complete multiple shrine quests to acquire Spirit Orbs which he can then trade in to either increase his heart count or increase his stamina, both requiring 4 Spirit Orbs to do so.

Rupees: Zelda's main currency through all of the games, these little gems come in a variety of colors, each denoting a different amount it's worth. Almost always green rupees mean only 1, but beyond that it's changed several times through the series. In the original Zelda there were just Rupees worth only 1 or 5, but subsequent games have increased that amount with the most common colors being green, blue, red, silver, gold, purple and orange, with gold or silver usually being the most valuable (typically worth 300). You can almost always find them by killing enemies, cutting grass, breaking pots, opening chests and completing certain quests. In Breath of the Wild, Rupees are almost impossible to find in the wild outside of some chests, so players generally make money by selling loot, crafted potions or cooked food.

Magic Armor: While Link's most iconic armor is just a set of green clothes with varying amounts of detail to them (he was designed to look a lot like Peter Pan after all), Magic Armor is probably the best armor in any game, though it usually has a major drawback to it as well, that being rupees. Despite being called "Magic Armor," it's powered by pure energy of money. In Wind Waker you can wear it as much as you want but every time you're hit it depletes your rupee count. In Twilight Princess it also depletes your rupee count if hit, but it also drains it at a rate of 2 rupees per second, meaning it should only ever be worn at the very last moment to stop an attack or else you're going to go broke fast. That said, both armors block 100% of all damage while worn (and powered, in TP's case).

The Hookshot/Longshot/Clawshot: A fairly simple item in concept, it's effectively a grappling gun which pulls some objects towards Link or pulls link towards an object. Most of these objects are wooden or have a metal mesh, but it can also be used to pull some items or even enemies to Link. Twilight Princess gave players not one but two Clawshots, allowing Link to jump around more easily in some environments not unlike fucking Spiderman.

Masks: Depending on the game a mask can have a variety of abilities and powers. Beginning with the Bunny Hood in Ocarina of Time which does nothing for Link but when traded to one NPC it makes them run like a bat out of hell, most of the masks do nothing and the few that do are fairly minor. The next game, Majora's Mask, made masks vitally important (the Bunny Hood gives him super speed), with some granting Link the ability to transform into another form while most give him new abilities such as literally blowing up (taking damage in the process even). Masks continued to make varied appearances in future games up to even Breath of the Wild where they are a costume piece that confuses certain enemies depending on the mask worn.

Trading Sequence Items: These items almost never help link directly, merely being small parts of a semi-long quest in games which will reward Link with something at the end of it with an item that will help him such as a big ass sword or a magnifying lens needed to read one magic book in the game. Most TTRPG Zelda games will omit these unless the GM is a massive prick.

Bottles: Filled with milk, water, fish, fairies or otherwise, these objects are somewhat notorious in canon since for whatever reason they seem almost indestructible, incapable of breaking and can often be used in place of a sword to smack balls of energy tossed at Link by his foes. That's right, a little glass bottle is able to tennis whack a fucking lightning ball around like it is nothing. Also, despite being, you know, glass bottles, there are usually only about four that can be found anywhere in the world, and Link usually has to jump through fucking hoops to get each one. Breath of the Wild is the first 3D game to stop using them since what Link carries is only limited by his inventory space.

Bombs: One Link's most used items, you use them blow open walls or other specific locations meant to be blasted. Sometimes Link gets a type of super powerful bomb that he can only carry one of at a time that is meant to blast open a super tough target. Certain enemies have a vulnerability to bombs that is exploited by throwing the bomb at them or placing it where they will get too close. Breath of the Wild stopped using traditional bombs, however the The Sheikah Slate has a feature that takes their place where Link creates a bomb. Unlike in older games these don't have fuses and are detonated remotely; damage against enemies is nerfed but they're still great for stuns and knockbacks, and are commonly used in various physics puzzles.

Gallery

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  Many of the Links so far (though some are the same)

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  And many Zeldas