You slowly step into the highest room of Hyrule castle; the Blood Moon rises beyond the stone arches. Her voice calls, a golden light pulsing above you. Apologies are on her lips, her power fading until it vanishes, consumed by the malice that has been rotting Hyrule for 100 years. This is it. This is the battle you’ve been destined to fight. But when you look up, it’s not Calamity Ganon ready to strike you down. It’s the Princess, malice crawling up her arm and consuming her eyes. Before you fight Calamity Ganon, you must strike down Ganon’s Puppet: Calamity Zelda.
Puppet Zelda first appeared in Twilight Princess as the first boss Link has to fight in the Throne Room of Hyrule Castle. Ganondorf possesses Princess Zelda, Twilight taking over her design with black line patterns scrawling across her skin. She’s no longer the princess we got to know and now a dark creature in Link’s path. Theskywaker takes this concept and brings it to Breath of the Wild, but instead of Twilight, there is dark malice consuming Princess Zelda’s body.
The swirling malice draws you into the piece, where an eye sits at the center of Zelda’s belt, watching with the darkness that now reigns. Her soft green eyes have been replaced by the same slitted pupil staring you down and ready to strike. Theskywaker cleverly uses the color palettes of Calamity Ganon to her advantage, darkening Zelda’s dress and painting a glowing red through her hair, aiding the malice that crawls up her right arm.
Black and reds are not the only colors to be found. Glowing from the ends of her fingers of her left arm, the blue light of Guardian technology takes over her left arm and the back of her neck leading to a Guardian’s eye in the middle of Zelda’s forehead. The combination of malice and Guardian technology in her design turns the precious Princess Zelda into a boss perfect for the aesthetic of Breath of the Wild. Against the Blood Moon rising above, Ganon’s Puppet, Calamity Zelda is a force to be reckoned with.
Altogether she is a terrifying sight and a boss I wish I got the opportunity to fight, what would the fight with Calamity Zelda look like? Would it be the standard tennis match as known in Twilight Princess or would she adopt a unique fighting style drawing inspiration from the various blights in the Divine Beasts? With the Guardian and malice combination, she could adopt many fighting styles. In Twilight Princess, Ganon was able to adapt Princess Zelda’s abilities of light. Would Calamity Ganon have the same access in Breath of the Wild? There are many possibilities.
After 100 years of fighting, Princess Zelda has lost her light, and now Link must raise his sword and fight the princess he wasn’t able to save. Theskywaker’s creation is a beautiful interpretation of what could have been. I’m a sucker for dark interpretations of good characters and theskywaker hits the mark. From the colors to all the details of malice and Guardian technology, the elements twist Princess Zelda’s goddess design, creating a dark and dangerous incarnation that now must face the light of the Master Sword.
