It’s The End of an Era For Link in The Legend of Zelda

For nearly 40 years, Link has traversed the Kingdom of Hyrule to rescue Princess Zelda from the terrible power of Ganon. As the hero of Hyrule, Link was an inseparable staple of what made The Legend of Zeldaseries special, but that time has come to an end. With the release of Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment, the latest canonical Zelda storyline, the series has passed a threshold there’s no going back from.

2024’s The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom was the first mainline Zelda game that featured Princess Zelda as the main hero, as that was a monumental moment in its own right. Still, Link at least played a part in that story, and was essential to Zelda’s journey in the game. While not technically a mainline Zeldatitle, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment marks the first canonical Zelda game that does not feature Link.

Age of Imprisonment Proves Zelda Doesn't Need Link Anymore

Age of Imprisonment marks the second Zelda game in a row that made Princess Zelda the main character, but that hasn’t come as a major surprise for any Zelda fan who has been paying attention. Placing Princess Zelda in the protagonist role has been a natural evolution for the Zelda series that didn’t exactly come out of nowhere. It’s not as though Zelda took on this more prominant role overnight.

The thing that’s most notable about Age of Imprisonment is not that it made Princess Zelda the hero once again, but that it did so without even including Link in the equation. The Mysterious Construct effectively replaced Link as a character in every way that matters, showing that Link’s main importance in the series is nothing more than a familiar move set at this point. It makes sense. As the Zelda series has shifted into a more story-oriented direction, the need for a character who is effectively mute (yes, everyone knows he technically can talk in most games) has apparently become less and less sensible.

Instead of giving Link real lines of dialogue, Nintendo has taken the path of increasingly pushing Link away from the spotlight. Even though he was the main hero in both BOTW and TOTK, it’s notable that the actual stories of both games were largely told through Princess Zelda’s perspective. Link may have been the most iconic face of the series, but Princess Zelda has increasingly become the most important personality.

While early Zelda games didn’t place as great an emphasis on story, the storyline has increasingly become a crucial part of what makes the Zelda series special. It at least partially explains why a character who never speaks might have fallen out of favor in more modern Zelda games. Adding to that is the nebulous nature of Link’s character design, whose consistency has become a less essential part of who he is in recent Zelda games. From donning a blue tunic in BOTW to have having the equivalent of tattoos in TOTK, Link’s green tunic has increasingly faded from significance. Between his diminishing place in Zeldastorylines, and the watering-down of his iconic character design, it was really only a matter of time before Zelda did away with Link entirely.

Link's Story Isn't Over, But His Time as Zelda's Main Hero Is Long Gone

Link is not the sole hero of Hyrule anymore, and he’s not even the definite main character of the Zeldaseries anymore. In fact, Age of Imprisonment proves that he may not even need to appear in a Zeldastoryline anymore. It’s not all doom and gloom for Link’s future in the Zelda franchise, though.

At the very least, Age of Improsonment’s Knight Construct does prove that Nintendo is well aware of the value of keeping that iconic Link move set in Zelda games. Additionally, there’s no indication that the Zelda franchise has completely left behind the series’ greater lore of the Triforce, meaning that Link’s role alongside Princess Zelda and Ganon as a member of that legendary trinity should keep him relevant in some capacity no matter what.

There’s also the upcoming Zelda movie, which fans can rest assured will definitely feature Link, who has already been confirmed to be played by Benjamin Evan Ainsworth. With the Zelda franchise’s official 40-year anniversary coming up at the start of 2026, it’s safe to assume that Link will show up in force for fans who have swung his sword and aimed his bow for the better part of their lives.

If nothing else, Link may go on to represent a bygone era of Zelda games, from a time when dungeon crawling and puzzle solving was the standard for Zelda. As the series moves more toward action, open-world exploration and dialogue-heavy storytelling, Link (at least in his traditional form) seems to have become obsolete. No matter what comes next for The Legend of Zelda, it won’t change the fact that, for multiple generations of gamers, it was Link who taught them what courage truly means.