The Legend of Zelda
The Legend of Zelda has an odd relationship with characters. Often taking cues from fairy tales, the series rarely establishes any one location or time period, instead telling the same story from different perspectives. It only makes sense, then, for us to just keep seeing the same characters over and over again. Zelda is particularly guilty of this, as evidenced by the countless versions we’ve seen of Midna, Lana, and the Skull Kid over the years.
Those are the obvious ones, though, the direct sequels like Majora’s Mask and Tears of the Kingdom. We only see the handful of characters mentioned above show up in the same game because their storylines directly connect, but there are other Zelda characters that appear in more out-of-the-way places. Some show up once or twice in only one game, maybe a particular side quest or mini-dungeon, before vanishing. Others hop around like the Great Sea’s wind. Today, we’re dealing with the more scattershot ones, the ones you might recognize but can’t quite place beyond their vague familiarity.
The sheer number of Hyrule’s denizens means I’ve had to narrow this list down to Zelda’s more commonly-known characters, so you might expect to see some major entries. I can’t promise you’ll agree with them, but I’ve tried to put together a pretty diverse list. We’ve got characters who have consistent lore, others with a key role to play in different Zelda games, and one or two surprises that might be completely new to you. So, here are 15 major Zelda characters you’re probably going to dismiss immediately.
The Skull Kid
For whatever reason, a lot of players tend to just dismiss Skull Kid. Perhaps it’s because Ocarina of Time was one of the series’ big N64 entries and thus lends new players less fault. There’s a lot more to the dextrous and mischievous imp than meets the eye, though. Just look at him, and you can instantly tell this is no ordinary member of the cast. He’s the kind of character I wish we got to know more, with an apparent disregard for the universe’s more pressing issues.
Perhaps he’ll get more attention when the next Zelda game finally releases in 2021, so for now, check out our list of the best Zelda games if you haven’t already. You’ll surely find plenty to keep you entertained until that fateful day.
