Cerise Magazine

Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess is a game with incredible respect for its characters. In the Wii and GameCube installment of a flagship Nintendo series, the female characters especially shine. If there isn’t really any particular reason for a character to be male in Twilight Princess, she isn’t. At the risk of mild plot spoilers, I’ll walk by a few of the game’s characters and examine why they are such a successful component of Hyrule’s most inclusive incarnation.

Ilia, Girl-Next-Door

If there isn’t really any particular reason for a character to be male in Twilight Princess, she isn’t.

Ilia is the polite and mild-mannered mayor’s daughter from Link’s hometown, Ordon Village. Through the game, she scolds Link for neglecting his horse Epona, still needs to be rescued long after Link saves the other kidnapped village children, and has to be cured of amnesia. So why doesn’t Ilia’s helplessness (and her aura of sugary sweetness) drive me crazy? Because, although I found Ilia helpless and drab, she isn’t the only type of female character we meet in Twilight Princess. Even if I don’t identify with Ilia’s traditional femininity paired up with her helplessness, some players will, and it’s okay to be the girl-next-door as long as that isn’t one of the few roles available to women in a story; there are plenty of other characters (female and male) that I can identify with.

Princess Zelda, Ruler of Hyrule

Even more than in previous games, the series’ namesake is both absent and a quest destination through much of Twilight Princess. For the first time, however, Princess Zelda is the sole ruler of Hyrule rather than an heir or king’s daughter. Although Link only interacts with her three times, from what players do see of her, Zelda certainly is competent and worthy of leadership, and she’s dressed practically for the job, too: sophisticated and classy, but not unnecessarily sexy. She’s a brunette this time around, too.

Zelda is anything but a passive princess; she uses her powerful magic to aid Link and Midna on their quest, and I especially enjoyed a battle near the end of the game where Zelda rides on Epona with Link and her light arrows are essential in beating a key boss. Zelda is intriguing enough that I wish I could get to know her better, but the positive allusions to her character are fodder enough for filling in the blanks with my imagination.

Telma the Barkeep

Unlike the typical fat, nurturing archetype, Telma is also sexy. She’s the only person in the game to show cleavage.

Telma is a barkeep in Castle Town and member of an underground adventurers’ guild and resistance group. She helps Link throughout the game, the most memorable instance of which is when she drives a wagon across Hyrule field amongst flaming arrows because a group of male vigilantes were too afraid. Telma is big, nurturing, and dark skinned, but she is by no means an asexual, racist, “mammy”-type character. Unlike the typical fat, nurturing archetype, Telma is also sexy. She’s the only person in the game to show cleavage, and has an open interest in dating Renaldo, the shaman in Kakariko Village. There are too few fat, sex women of color in any narrative, let alone in video games. I hope for more characters like Telma.

Knight Ashei

Ashei is a blunt, practically-armored knight and the other female member of the adventurers’ guild. She was raised and trained by her father in the mountains and came to Hyrule because she heard that the men were lacking in valor. Although we don’t get to spend much time with Ashei, she’s one of many pleasant ancillary characters that make me, as a woman playing in Hyrule, feel welcome.

Animals in Twilight Princess

One of the biggest delights in Twilight Princess is talking to nonhumanoid animals, who dialogue on behalf of Link when he is in his wolf form. The critters are personable and have delightful comments appropriate for their quirky species’ perspective. Just as is true for the humans, the animals in Twilight Princess are female if there is no particular reason for them to be otherwise. Among others, there is Link’s horse Epona, the monkey leader in Forest Temple, Telma’s cat Louise, and the bird-like Ooccoo who teleports you and her son out of dungeons (and yes, even she comes to play a part in the story later on).

Midna: The Twilight Princess Herself

Twilight Princess’s Hyrule is full of compelling, wonderfully-characterized women and female critters. Princess Zelda is just one of many benevolent female power figures in Hyrule. Throughout Twilight Princess, Link serves Telma, the Zora queen, the goddess, and of course, the game’s other namesake, the Twilight Princess.

Midna, the mischievous shadow imp, is easily the star of the game… Midna is a princess-in-peril done right.

Midna, the mischievous shadow imp, is easily the star of the game; Link’s quest ultimately becomes about helping Midna restore her world. She’s smart, cheeky, and often ambiguously motivated. It’s easy to see the game through her eyes, especially when she’s guiding and riding wolf-Link from her perch on his back. Midna is a princess-in-peril done right. She needs help, but she’s the ultimate instigator in getting it, and she’s there working with Link for the entire game.

Conclusion

Let me be another one of the throng of voices praising The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess as an excellent launch title for the Wii. The regard this video game gives women, by developing them as not characters but inhabitants of a living world, greatly complements the Wii’s accessibility and approachability.

At first glance, the characters in Twilight Princess follow worn-out tropes: the dismal girl-next-door, the nurturing fat woman, the unseen princess in need of rescuing. But through careful writing and design that respects both the players and the characters, the women in Twilight Princess are deeper than any stereotypes, and are the most active, interesting people Link meets on his quest. And, for a save-the-princess series, the game has given me plenty to love.

Have something to say about this article? Discuss it in our forums!

Current Issue:

Browse by Issue:

Categories

Search

The Women of Twilight Princess

July 2007 Issue

Features

Interviews

Articles

Gamer Stories

Reviews