As I began yet another playthrough of Ocarina of Time recently, I was surprised how often Ganondorf was referred to as the “man from the desert” in the opening hour or so of the game. Each time, it seemed like the game was almost trying to tie the arid desert land with the death and destruction that Ganondorf spread. It all seemed a little too simple. Perhaps it was simply that the speaker of these lines is the Great Deku Tree who is rightfully upset at having the lush foliage of his life destroyed by the Gerudo King. To those whose life IS the forest, perhaps the desert seems only to be a place of death.
It got me thinking about what Link or Zelda might be like if they were to live in the harsh Gerudo region. Would the desert heat and dangerous creatures cause our heroes’ civility and kindness to evaporate, or would their courage and wisdom still bloom? Sapphirelullaby’s piece of art titled “Desert Raider – Zelda”, gives us one possible glimpse through the swirling sands to see a princess of the sands.
This piece gives us a very different interpretation of Zelda. She wears a deep red cloak and keeps a ready hand on her sword. That’s in keeping with her titled profession of raider, but does it hint towards a turn away from the wisdom she’s normally associated with? It’s hard to say. Her clothing is dyed a dark, bloody red which is a color we normally associate with the Triforce of Power in the Zelda series. We also see plenty of characters who are on the side of the Goddesses sporting red though, such as Urbosa and Darunia. Zelda is also carrying a sword, but who wouldn’t in such a dangerous land? Surely nothing could be wiser than being ready for a potential attack by a Molduga or an ambush by the Yuga Clan. An item just to the left of Zelda’s head looks either like a decoration for her mount or a potential gourd or flask for holding water. Surely, she’d give some to a passing traveler? Or would she just hoard it for herself as she wanders the deserted sands and let the desert claim the unprepared fool?
Perhaps the title can shed some light on Zelda’s alignment. The act of raiding doesn’t exactly glisten with morality, but at the same time, it might depend on what you’re raiding. If a group of Lizalfos have hoarded all the food or water in the Gerudo highlands, you might be justified in raiding their camp to save the reclusive women you’ve left back home. On the flip side, that places greater value on the lives of the Gerudo while denigrating the lives of the Lizalfos. On initial inspection, there are no easy answers to the kind of person this Zelda is, at least until we take a closer look.
If we look at Zelda’s right hand, we see two interesting details. First, the way that she is resting her hand upon its side implies a kind of relationship we never see between Ganondorf and his mounts. There is a kindness there. There’s a feeling that Zelda and this creature have seen a lot together. They’ve bonded in a way that reminds me a bit of the connection between a bantha and the Tusken Raiders of Star Wars who shared a close, spiritual bond as they tried to eke out a living among the sands.
The other interesting detail that hints that this sunburnt Zelda might still side with the light is a familiar symbol that appears on both the back of her glove and the bridle of her mount. The Triforce. While Ganondorf’s hand often glows with the light of the Triforce, it is not a symbol he usually emblazons on his clothing. He will not celebrate the Goddesses who have left him and his people to endlessly toil in the desert just to survive. This Zelda’s gear does feature the Triforce multiple times, though. Perhaps despite all the pressures of desert life, Zelda hasn’t let it twist her towards evil. Perhaps it has only strengthened her as it did Urbosa. It has taught her to be resourceful, tough, and shrewd, but through it all, she seems to still see the hands of the Goddesses at play in her life. This respect for the beings that she holds so dear when born in Hyrule may be the biggest clue. That underneath the cloak, sand, and grime, this is still the same Zelda at her core.
I love pieces of art that invite interesting analysis. Sapphirelullaby’s piece does just that. It invites the audience to imagine a Zelda just a bit askew from the one we know. To sift through the details to discover for ourselves if she is a desert bloom or a desert blight.
