The Legend of Zelda

“MANY YEARS AGO PRINCE DARKNESS "GANNON" STOLE ONE OF THE TRIFORCE WITH POWER. PRINCESS ZELDA HAD ONE OF THE TRIFORCE WITH WISDOM. SHE DIVIDED IT INTO 8 UNITS TO HIDE IT FROM "GANNON" BEFORE SHE WAS CAPTURED. GO FIND THE "8" UNITS "LINK" TO SAVE HER.”

— Intro

The Legend of Zelda
Developer	Nintendo
Publisher	Nintendo
Genre	Action Adventure
Platform	Nintendo Entertainment System BS-X
Release dates	February 21, 1986 August 22, 1987
Chronological Order
Next	"Zelda II: The Adventure of Link"
Map

The Legend of Zelda is the first installment in the The Legend of Zelda series, released in 1987 for the Nintendo Entertainment System, and is succeeded by The Adventure of Link. The Hero of Hyrule is the main protagonist and Ganon is the main antagonist. Ganon's minions serve as the villainous faction.

It is the first game in the series, but it is the penultimate game set in the Downfall Timeline. Hyrule entered The Golden Era after Yuga-Ganon was defeated, in which the wise Hyrule monarchs used the Triforce to govern the land. After the king's death and the attempt of the Prince of Hyrule to assemble the complete Triforce, Hyrule was lead into the 'Era of Decline'. The Prince of Darkness, Ganon was revived, leading to the events of this game.

In 1995, the first game was remade for the NES available only via the Satellaview add-on for the SNES titled BS The Legend of Zelda.

Chronologically this game takes place between Echoes of Wisdom and Zelda II: The Adventure of Link.

Official Description

A long, long time ago the World was in an age of Chaos.

In the midst of this chaos, in a little kingdom in the land of Hyrule, a legend was being handed down from generation to generation, the legend of the 'Triforce'; golden triangles possessing mystical powers. One day, an evil army attacked this peaceful little kingdom and stole the Triforce of Power. This army was led by Ganon, the powerful Prince of Darkness who sought to plunge the World into fear and darkness under his rule. Fearing his wicked rule, Zelda, the princess of this kingdom, split up the Triforce of Wisdom into eight fragments and hid them throughout the realm to save the last remaining Triforce from the clutches of the evil Ganon. At the same time, she commanded her most trustworthy nursemaid, Impa, to secretly escape into the land and go find a man with enough courage to destroy the evil Ganon. Upon hearing this, Ganon grew angry, imprisoned the princess, and sent out a party in search of Impa."

"Braving forests and mountains, Impa fled for her life from her pursuers. As she reached the very limit of her energy she found herself surrounded by Ganon's evil henchmen. Cornered! What could she do? ... But wait! All was not lost. A young lad appeared. He skillfully drove off Ganon's henchmen, and saved Impa from a fate worse than death."

"His name was Link. During his travels, he had come across Impa and Ganon's henchmen. Impa told Link the whole story of Princess Zelda and the evil Ganon. Burning with a sense of justice, Link resolved to save Zelda, but Ganon was a powerful opponent. He held the Triforce of Power. And so, in order to fight off Ganon, Link had to bring the scattered eight fragments of the Triforce of Wisdom together to rebuild the mystical triangle. If he couldn't do this, there would be no chance Link could fight his way into Death Mountain where Ganon lived.

Summary

The story of The Legend of Zelda is described in the instruction booklet and during the short prologue which plays after the title screen: A small kingdom in the land of Hyrule is engulfed by chaos when an army led by Ganon, the prince of darkness, invaded and stole the Triforce of Power, one part of a magical artifact which alone bestows great strength. In an attempt to prevent him from acquiring the Triforce of Wisdom, Princess Zelda splits it into eight fragments and hides them in secret underground dungeons. Before eventually being kidnapped by Ganon, she commands her nursemaid Impa to find someone courageous enough to save the kingdom. While wandering the land, the old woman is surrounded by Ganon's henchmen, when a young boy named Link appears and rescues her. Upon hearing Impa's plea, he resolves to save Zelda and sets out to reassemble the scattered fragments of the Triforce of Wisdom, with which Ganon can then be defeated.

During the course of the tale, Link locates and braves the eight underworld labyrinths, and beyond their defeated guardian monsters retrieves each fragment. With the completed Triforce of Wisdom, he is able to infiltrate Ganon's hideout in Death Mountain, confronting the prince of darkness and destroying him with the Silver Arrow. Obtaining the Triforce of Power from Ganon's ashes, Link returns it and the restored Triforce of Wisdom to the rescued Princess Zelda, and peace returns to Hyrule.

Characters

Hero of Hyrule

Zelda

Impa

Bosses

Image	Enemy	Description	Dungeon
	Aquamentus	In The Legend of Zelda, Aquamentus appears as the Boss of Level 1 and Level 7 of the First Quest as well as Level-1 of the Second Quest. It guards a fragment of the Triforce of Wisdom. Aquamentus also appears in Level 4 and Level 8 of the Second Quest. Aquamentus slowly walks back and forth and periodically shoots a group of three fireballs out of its mouth. Link can block the fireballs with a Magical Shield. Link can damage an Aquamentus with his Sword or Bombs, but can also attack from a distance by throwing his Sword, shooting the Bow and Arrow or using the Magical Rod. Aquamentus cannot be stunned by the Boomerang and is invulnerable to Fire. When it is defeated, a Heart Container will appear and Aquamentus may drop either a Heart, a Fairy, or one Rupee.	The Eagle
	Dodongo	In The Legend of Zelda, a single Dodongo appears as the Boss of Level 2 of the First Quest. In addition, Dodongos appear in a group of three as the Boss of Level 3 and Level 8 of the Second Quest. Each group guards a fragment of the Triforce of Wisdom. Dodongos also appear in Level 5 and Level 7 of the First Quest as well as Level 1, Level 4, and Level-8 of the Second Quest. Link must use Bombs to defeat Dodongos, either by placing two Bombs in their mouth or by Bombing their side and hitting them once with his Sword. If they are defeated with a Sword, Link is rewarded with four Bombs. When defeated with Bombs, Dodongos may drop either a Heart, a Fairy, or one Rupee. After defeating the whole group, Link is rewarded with a Heart Container.	The Moon
	Manhandla	Manhandla appears as the Boss of Level 3 of the First Quest in The Legend of Zelda. It defends a fragment of the Triforce of Wisdom. It also appears in Level 4 and Level 8 of the First Quest as well as Level 2, Level 5, Level 6, and Level 7 of the Second Quest. Manhandla is a large, spinning, man-eating flower with the ability to spit fireballs. Link must destroy all four of its hands to defeat it. Each hand has a health of 4, totaling the beast at 16 health. Manhandla is immune to the Boomerang and Fire. Link can damage it with his Sword, Arrows, the Magical Rod, or Bombs. Bombs are effective, as one Bomb is strong enough to destroy a hand, allowing Link to destroy all four hands with one Bomb if it detonates in its center. As each hand is destroyed, the Manhandla increases its speed and spits fireballs at a faster rate. The Magical Shield cannot defend Link from Manhandla's fireballs. When Manhandla is accompanied by Stone Statues, the Statues also increase their rate of fire as each hand is destroyed. When defeated, Manhandla will drop a Heart Container and may drop either a Heart, a Fairy, or one Rupee.	The Manji
	Gleeok	Gleeok makes three appearances in The Legend of Zelda, all defeated in a similar fashion. Using the Sword, Link must cut off each of the heads on the beast. Once one of the heads is detached from the body, it will float around the room shooting fireballs at Link. He must avoid the fireballs and cut off the other heads. The Magical Shield cannot defend Link from Gleeok's fireballs.	The Snake
	Digdogger	In The Legend of Zelda, a Digdogger appears as the Boss of Level 5. To defeat it, Link must play the Recorder to shrink the creature into a smaller version of itself. Link can then defeat Digdogger with his Sword. Another Digdogger appears in Level 7. Using the Recorder will split the creature into three smaller versions of itself, which can be defeated with the Sword.	The Lizard
	Gohma	A Gohma makes its first appearance in The Legend of Zelda. Its hard shell will repel all attacks, but its single eye is vulnerable to Arrows shot with the Bow. Due to this weakness, Gohma frequently keeps its eye closed, and attacks by shooting beams from a distance. There are two varieties of Gohma in this game, those being red and blue; the red Gohma can be killed by a single Arrow from the Bow, while the blue one takes three Arrows to kill.	The Dragon
	Aquamentus	In The Legend of Zelda, Aquamentus appears as the Boss of Level 1 and Level 7 of the First Quest as well as Level-1 of the Second Quest. It guards a fragment of the Triforce of Wisdom. Aquamentus also appears in Level 4 and Level 8 of the Second Quest. Aquamentus slowly walks back and forth and periodically shoots a group of three fireballs out of its mouth. Link can block the fireballs with a Magical Shield. Link can damage an Aquamentus with his Sword or Bombs, but can also attack from a distance by throwing his Sword, shooting the Bow and Arrow or using the Magical Rod. Aquamentus cannot be stunned by the Boomerang and is invulnerable to Fire. When it is defeated, a Heart Container will appear and Aquamentus may drop either a Heart, a Fairy, or one Rupee.	The Demon
	Gleeok	In the First Quest, a two-headed version guards the fourth piece of Triforce in Level 4, a three-headed version is a mini-boss in Level 6, and a four-headed version guards the piece of Triforce in Level 8. In the Second Quest, there are two, three and four-headed versions guarding the pieces of Triforce in Level 2, Level 5 and Level 7, respectively.	The Lion
	Ganon	He leads an invasion on the small kingdom of Lesser Hyrule and manages to obtain the Triforce of Power. Before he can obtain the Triforce of Wisdom, Princess Zelda is able to break it into eight pieces and scatters it throughout Hyrule, then sends her attendant Impa away to search for help. Ganon captures Zelda and holds her hostage in his lair, deep in Level-9 under Spectacle Rock, and sends his minions after Impa. Link, having outwitted his underlings and learned of the perils that the land was under, takes up a sword and goes alone to assemble the pieces of the Triforce of Wisdom. Using it, he enters Level-9 and shines it upon the King of Evil's hiding place. Ganon fights ruthlessly with his seemingly invincible Technique of Darkness, but Link is able to vanquish him with his blade and by using the Silver Arrows to deliver the final blow, reducing Ganon to ashes and revealing the Triforce of Power.	Death Mountain

Shards of the Triforce of Wisdom

The Hero of Hyrule's goal in The Legend of Zelda is to acquire the eight shards of the Triforce of Wisdom so that he may be strong enough to defeat the Prince of Darkness, Ganon. The shards have been scattered throughout all of Hyrule by Princess Zelda.

Title Screens

The Legend of Zelda	BS The Legend of Zelda

Media & Spin-Offs

Japanese

USA

The Legend of Zelda Volume 1

The Legend of Zelda: The Hyrule Fantasy

Manga adaptations (1989)

There were three manga adaptations based on The Legend of Zelda released in 1986, one by Maru Ran, published in September 1986 by Wanpaku Comics in Japan, and the other by Kobayashi Susumu. Ran's manga begins as Princess Zelda is abducted and taken to Ganon's stronghold. Ganon, who speaks to her through a monolithic statue in his likeness, demands that Zelda surrenders the Triforce of Wisdom to him. Link then appears to her aid, alongside his parrot companion Watto. He defeats and drives the monsters off with his Slingshot, blinding their were-boar leader in the process by shooting a splattering seed. In her dying breath, Impa entrusts Link with a magic pendant and instructs that he find an Old Man living in a cave. As Link holds the pendant it gives off a brilliant light, signifying that he is the chosen one Impa hoped to find. Happy to have fulfilled her task, Impa again tells Link to find the Old Man and save Zelda before passing away. Ganon furiously demands his henchmen to find Link and kill him.

The Legend of Zelda (Mishouzaki)

The third adaptation, drawn and written by Yuu Mishouzaki and was published in September 1989. In this manga adaption, Link is an apprentice gardener living in Hyrule Castle who has pointed ears due to him being half-elf. Impa is also drastically younger. An interesting detail about this manga is that it names Zelda's mother, also named Zelda, and gives them numerical denominations, telling us exactly which number Zelda they are. Zelda's mother is Zelda XVI (16th) which makes her the XVII (seventeenth.)

Zelda (Game & Watch)

Zelda Game & Watch (1998)

A multiscreen Game & Watch game that was only released in English as a stand-alone system pre-loaded with the single game. It has dual screens which fold in a clamshell design, similar to the Nintendo DS. As the eight dragons cannot live in peace with humans, they decide to take over the world. Eventually, they kidnap Princess Zelda and lock her in a dungeon which can only be opened with the Triforce. Each of the dragons is located in their own labyrinth, and each guards a different fragment of the Triforce. Link sets out to destroy all eight dragons and reassemble the Triforce to free Zelda from the dragons' dungeon. Once Link defeats the last dragon, he reassembles the Triforce and frees Zelda from her prison.

The Legend of Zelda Game Watch

The Legend of Zelda Game Watch (1998)

It is a top-down game loosely based on the original The Legend of Zelda and includes such familiar foes as Aquamentus and Keese (here referred to as dragon and bat, respectively), as well as the exclusive Iron Balls.The game consists of four dungeons with four rooms each. In each room, Link has to collect a boomerang to defeat the Iron Balls. After all Iron Balls are defeated, he can get a sword to defeat the Keese, which first appear in the second dungeon. As a reward, he gains a key to the next room. When entering it, though, he loses his found items and has to recollect them, and if he does not make it to the next room within ten seconds of grabbing the key, 10 points will be deducted every second until they reach 0, at which point the game is over. The last two rooms of every dungeon also have Hearts to replenish Link's health. Once all the enemies in the fourth room are dealt with, the dungeon's boss (which is always Aquamentus) appears. To defeat him, Link has to collect a bomb and place it in front of Aquamentus. Following his victory, a Triforce fragment appears, which allows Link access to the next dungeon. After collecting all four pieces of the Triforce the game resets to level one.

Trivia

• The Hyrule Fantasy was used as a subtitle for the Japanese version of The Legend of Zelda; however, this was dropped in subsequent games as adding a third subtitle (such as A Link to the Past) would have made the title too long. This choice was also made to avoid comparisons with Final Fantasy.
• During development of the game, a rearrangement of Maurice Ravel's Boléro by Koji Kondo was used as the title theme. However, shortly before finishing the game, the developers learned that the song was still under copyright. Since they could not delay the release of the Disk System and the game itself, Kondo wrote the actual title theme in a single night.
• Most The Legend of Zelda cartridges are gold, but the Classic Series version of the game came in standard grey cartridges.
• The 1969 hit song "April" from the rock band Deep Purple is seen as an inspiration for Koji Kondo to create the title and dungeon themes of this game. It also has a slight basis for the Hyrule Castle theme in later games.
• This game was almost remade for the Game Boy Color, but was scrapped and reworked into Oracle of Seasons.

Continuity

• Zelda I is the penultimate game in the Downfall Timeline. It takes place hundreds of years after the events of Echoes of Wisdom and A Link Between Worlds. Sometime between these games, Ganon and Yuga unfused.
• The Spectacle Rock in this game was hinted at possibly being the same one from Breath of the Wild.
• Several locations return in this version of Hyrule, such as Death Mountain and the Lost Woods.
• This version of Hyrule is but a small portion of the map in its sequel, The Adventure of Link, and it is able to be ventured to by going to the furthest area south, below the Death Mountain area.
• In Encyclopedia, it tries to explain that this version of Hyrule takes place in the upper eastern corner of the map, however that makes almost no sense at all, so it is disregarded on this Wiki.
• The entrance to Level 1: The Eagle is speculated to possibly be the husk remains of the Great Deku Tree. Due to the fact that the tree appears in Echoes of Wisdom this makes it all the more possible.
• Between Echoes of Wisdom and this game, the Triforce split again, and the memory of its name is restored.
  • After Ganon is defeated in A Link to the Past, Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages and in A Link Between Worlds where Link and Zelda recovered the Triforce from Yuga-Ganon, Hyrule entered The Golden Era, in which the wise Hyrule monarchs used the Triforce to govern the land. After the king's death and the attempt of the Prince of Hyrule to assemble the complete Triforce, Hyrule was lead into the 'Era of Decline'. The Prince of Darkness, Ganon was revived, leading to the events of The Legend of Zelda.
• Since Lake Hylia dried up and moved to the east in A Link to the Past, it since flooded again and Lake Hylia in this game has two basins.
  • This would line up with the idea that The Eagle's entrance was once the Deku Tree because the easternmost basin of the lake in this game was once where Kokiri Forest was in Ocarina of Time, although the tree husk is not present in A Link to the Past.

• Due to the fact that Level 9: Death Mountain is built inside of Spectacle Rock, it is most likely that Ganon's lair is built from inside the remains of the Fire Temple from Ocarina of Time, because that was originally built inside of Spectacle Rock, hundreds of years beforehand.