There have been rumors circulating for a while that The Legend of Zelda would be brought to the screen in some way, and with the recent news that there was a live-action Legend of Zelda TV series in the works at Netflix that was canceled because of leaks, it seems like a definite, near-future possibility that fans could be getting a Zelda adaptation at some point.
However, bringing the epic stories of Hyrule to the screen is easier said than done. Adapting content from a video game into a TV show or movie is a difficult task on its own, but adapting The Legend of Zelda specifically would be quite the challenge. There are a number of issues that a TV development team would have to work through in order to bring Zelda to the screen in a satisfying and believable way.
The first issue that the series would have to tackle is the question of how to make a show that revolves around a protagonist who notoriously never speaks. While that approach works well in a video game because it means that the player can more easily relate and insert themselves into the character, it’s a little less helpful for the main character of a television show.
This could be solved by either eliminating this element completely and having Link speak in the series (which would be the easy choice to make, but might feel a bit jarring for fans of the franchise to watch, as it’s not what they’re used to), or by incorporating the silence into the character. Perhaps Link is physically unable to speak, and must communicate with characters in other ways. This, while a slightly more difficult path, could also be an interesting and unique approach for a TV show to take.
As Ganon, or some version of him, is the villain in a large chunk of the Zelda games, it’s likely that he would be the main big bad of a TV series. The problem with bringing Ganon to the screen is making him look and feel appropriately threatening, without being cheesy. It would be easy for Ganon to feel like a two-dimensional, mustache-twirling villain without any real depth if the TV show characterized him improperly or designed him to look too cartoony.
He can’t look too campy or silly, or else the threat he poses to Hyrule won’t be believable. The show would need to find a way to ground him and make him scary and intimidating, without losing the sense of grandness that surrounds the evil of his character. The series will hinge on how good it’s three most important characters – Link, Zelda, and Ganon – are, and the main villain of the series needs to feel like the biggest threat possible.
One of the most well-known and well-loved elements of the Legend of Zelda games is the temples. Other than Breath of the Wild, which doesn’t quite follow the normal Zelda structure, one of the main staples of the Zelda games is making your way through dungeon puzzles and boss fights. If the possible Zelda TV series were to take the more traditional approach and include dungeons, they would need to find a way to work them into the show in a way that feels natural.
Doing a one-dungeon-per-episode approach would feel too tedious and repetitive, so perhaps dungeons could appear in the series mid-season and as a season finale, in order to have the right pacing. A big boss fight would be the perfect season finale if the finale was not to fight Ganon directly (since that seems like more of a series finale kind of fight), and all the episodes in between dungeons could be about other parts of Link’s adventure, like traveling, meeting new characters, and the smaller quests he has to do to complete his goals. They could even include a few filler episodes with side quests, as a way to bring in some levity and give a nod to the concept of side quests in video games.
Bringing The Legend of Zelda to life is going to require a large budget, and if the one they’re given is not large enough, it might be enough to tank the show. The series needs grand sets, and perhaps a travel budget if they were to shoot on location out in nature. The wardrobe needs to be elaborate and realistic without feeling like Halloween costumes. Perhaps most importantly, the special effects need to be incredible.
With the number of odd creatures, different fantasy races, and battle scenes in the series, a Zelda TV show would need to have a huge special effects budget in order to make it all feel realistic. If races like the Zora or Gorons look bad (whether it’s due to bad CGI or prosthetics that aren’t up to par, depending on which direction the show decides to take), the show would lose its grounding. The effects need to look realistic, while still retaining that classic Zelda fun and whimsy. The show can’t be low budget, because the story demands that everything be grand. Luckily, since this is Nintendo, and because Zelda is one of their flagship series, hopefully, this isn’t a concern.
One of the main plot points of Ocarina of Time is that Link, who is at first just a child, needs to travel into the future where he is an adult in order to defeat Ganon. This time travel element comes into play in the other games as well. As the timeline of the Zelda games diverges, some games feature a child Link, while others center around a slightly more grown-up (or at the very least, teenage) version of the character.
A potential series would have to decide which route to take. Of course, if they were doing a straight adaptation of Ocarina of Time, they would probably use both child and adult Link, but otherwise, they would have to decide what age to have their main character be. Even if they adapt a game where Link is supposed to be a child, will they instead age him up to be a teenager or young adult? It might make his fighting skills a bit more believable if he were older, rather than watching a young child swing a sword around.
Adapting video games into stories that can be told in a TV show or movie is always difficult, and the showrunners for any potential future Legend of Zelda series will certainly have a lot of things to consider if they’re bringing Hyrule to the screen. Hopefully, they’ll be able to make the best story decisions and create something that really honors the original work, and that can be beloved by the fans.
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