For nearly as many years as I have been a loyal devotee to the Zelda series, the works of Hayao Miyazaki have touched my heart and captured my imagination. Miyazaki, the mastermind behind most of Studio Ghibli’s groundbreaking cinematic marvels, is an absolute genius when it comes to visual storytelling, using imagery both breathtaking and utterly bizarre to tell deeply poignant tales with a lasting message. And it’s clear that Miyazaki has great faith in the intelligence of those in his audience; instead of delivering a long-winded lecture about the dangers of moral corruption and consumerism, he wordlessly points to No-Face’s grotesquely bloated form in Spirited Away and gives us space to process what this terrifying image truly represents.
So with the recent Breath of the Wild 2 trailer drawing strong comparisons to Miyazaki works like Princess Mononoke and Castle in the Sky, I’ve begun to wonder: If Nintendo and Studio Ghibli ever did collaborate on a title in the Zelda series, what would the final product actually look like? Would their creative visions clash too much to produce something viable, or would they end up ushering in a brand new era of visual storytelling in video games?
Well, one thing’s for certain: If such a collaborative project does commence sometime in the future, they will need artists like Krista A. Leemhuis to help lead the way.
When you take a journey through Leemhuis’ gallery, you enter a world of ethereal wonders, teeming with majestic, mysterious, and even frightening creatures that roam eerie and somewhat hostile forest landscapes. These are not the lush, peaceful woodlands where you would expect to find twittering birds, inquisitive rabbits, and graceful grazing deer; here, you have entered the stomping ground of strange primordial spirits who probably don’t take kindly to careless humans wandering about. But in one such forest, we find that the ground has been disturbed by none other than Link, the warrior we can always count on to brave even the most unwelcoming of environments.
In this Ashen Forest, very little viable life can be detected amid the charred remains of trees and black soil devoid of nutrients; some unknown catastrophe has sapped all the life energy from this sacred ground. But the sorrow one feels when beholding this tragic scene is quickly replaced by awe once one comes face-to-face with the astounding entity that lurks deep within the woods.
Rising from the sea of ashes like an ancient leviathan emerging from the abyssal plain, the colossal Queen of the Ashen Forest reveals herself to the foolish interloper who has trespassed into her realm. The sense of scale that the picture provides shows that this entity is likely the largest that Link has ever encountered by far, dwarfing both the Imprisoned and Calamity Ganon. Her body — composed almost entirely of black-corded tendrils — twists and coils like a mass of rotted vines; the only features that even remotely resemble those of a human are the sinuous “hands” and the minimalist Noh mask that adorns her “face.” With such a monstrous visage and formidable stature, surely she must be the malevolent force responsible for the utter desolation around her, right?
Well, perhaps not. My interpretation of this piece is that Link, with his noble and courageous heart, can see past the Queen’s frightening exterior and recognize her true form locked away inside. Unlike the skeletons of trees sprinkled around the landscape, which emit a dull red glow to reflect the curse that ravaged the land, the Queen’s body radiates a shimmering green light that is being suffocated by those toxic tendrils. Indeed, she is the guardian spirit of this realm, corrupted by the terrible calamity that befell her beloved land. So, instead of acting on primal instinct and fleeing from this horrifying creature, Link bravely approaches and offers her a humble gift: a single, delicate seedling that will one day grow into a healthy tree to nourish the soil and feed wildlife. Reminiscent of how Ashitaka’s selfless efforts to return the Forest Spirit’s head finally allowed the entity to heal the war-torn world of Princess Mononoke, Link’s courageous and compassionate gesture is surely the elixir the Queen needed to free her forest from the curse that plagues it. It’s a moving message of peace encapsulated in a single powerful image that Miyazaki himself would consider a masterpiece.
If you are just as impressed with Leemhuis’ work as I am, then I definitely encourage you to take a look at Endai, a high-fantasy graphic novel project that she has poured a lot of passion and love into for many years now. Please check it out and support her incredible work!
