Concept and Design
Creator Shigeru Miyamoto has stated that her name was inspired by Zelda Fitzgerald, the wife of American novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald. Ben Reeves of Game Informer explained that the "name Zelda (alternately Selda or Segula) might not be used much anymore, but this old Yiddish name means "blessed, happy, or lucky."
During the development of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, illustrator Yusuke Nakano tried to portray Zelda “as if she’s wondering about something”. He drew the illustrations of Zelda with the feelings of “hopelessness and anxiousness”, and tried to avoid associating her with “gloom and doom”.
For the development of The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks, the development team expressed a desire to have the Phantom character that appeared in The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass’s Wi-Fi battle mode working cooperatively with Link. However, the team questioned why an enemy character would work together with Link, and thought of an idea where a second character would take control of the phantom. Zelda was ultimately chosen since she was "an interesting and appropriate character". Spirit Tracks director Daiki Iwamoto had also expressed an interest to make Zelda "a more integral part of the game" when the development process began. This goal was influenced by a survey Nintendo had looked over revealing that users preferred female characters that were more independent.
Like Link, Princess Zelda has multiple incarnations in the series, varying in physical age, appearance and assumable disposition. Zelda generally has blonde or brown hair and blue-gray eyes, and often wears a kirtle of white or another pale colour, with her jewellery including a diadem. She is associated with the goddess Nayru and the Triforce of Wisdom. Most iterations of Zelda also have psychic or magical powers, such as teleportation (also known as "Farore's Wind" in Super Smash Bros. Brawl), telepathy and precognition; for example, she can cast spells and create or undo barriers and seals. Her alter egos also have their own abilities. Zelda is usually depicted as a right-handed person, except in the Wii version of Twilight Princess, where the game world is mirrored to the Nintendo GameCube version.
Read more about this topic: Princess Zelda
Famous quotes containing the words concept and/or design:
“The nearer a conception comes towards finality, the nearer does the dynamic relation, out of which this concept has arisen, draw to a close. To know is to lose.”
—D.H. (David Herbert)
“To nourish children and raise them against odds is in any time, any place, more valuable than to fix bolts in cars or design nuclear weapons.”
—Marilyn French (20th century)