North of Hyrule, the kingdom of Hytopia thrives on its passion for fashion. From the fabulous designs found in Madame Couture’s shop to a prophecy that states the strict requirements of a hero, this city lives and breathes the life of fashion. Their doting Princess is no exception. Loved by all, Princess Styla is said to have the most beautiful designs in the kingdom, inspiring all her subjects and bringing life to Hytopia. But just because she has a way of knowing what dresses best suit her pale skin and golden hair, doesn’t mean she has the best common sense.
Princess Styla is introduced in the opening sequence of Tri Force Heroes. She’s depicted as a beautiful princess adorned in a pink and purple ball gown, white gloves and flower headpiece. While many loved her, one witch despised her “unbearably cute” fashion sense. Said witch sent her an anonymous gift. It was beautifully wrapped, complete with a nice bow, but also shaking (and not because it contained a puppy). Princess Styla saw this strange gift and didn’t suspect there was anything wrong with it. Not a single thing. So she opened it, and purple magic streamed out, heading straight for the Princess’s fashion sense. Gone was her gorgeous ball gown and perfectly brushed golden hair. In its place, an ugly, shapeless, irremovable brown tights. “A perfect outfit for a perfect princess,” the witch teases.
The curse of ugliness fills Princess Styla with shame, humiliation and sadness. She hides, locking herself away in her tower. Hytopia weeps for their princess and grows a fear of fashion, scared they’ll be cursed next. Just next door, Hyrule is dealing with another rise of Ganon, but here in this little kingdom, the most upsetting and fearful circumstance is losing the ability to wear utterly fabulous clothes. Does Princess Styla do anything to ease her people? No. She puts all her faith into the prophecy of a hero, a knight who can get away with wearing anything and prays that she’ll be rescued soon.
Cursed to wear brown tights every hour of the day is nowhere near the horror of being kidnapped, but it doesn’t exclude Princess Styla from falling into that classic damsel-in-distress trope. Over the years we’ve seen Princess Zelda take a more prominent role in her stories, leading armies, fighting with Link and refusing to stand around and do nothing. Not Princess Styla. While the hero Link fights through the Drablands, finding a way to break Princess Styla’s curse, the young princess watches from a distance, crying, sniffling, and just wishing she could wear pretty dresses again. For the most part she is nowhere to be seen but occasionally Link can find her watching from the castle. The townspeople mistake her for a black ghost, always vanishing as quickly as she is spotted.
All is not lost, for what game would this be if Link didn’t get to save the princess. Once Link conquers the Drablands and defeats the wicked witch, Lady Maud, he is rewarded with the Lady’s Ensemble: a replica of Lady Maud’s outfit with the power to break curses. That’s right, Princess Styla is saved by the power of fashion. With the magic of walking in a circle, Link frees Princess Styla from the cursed brown tights and she can once again wear the cute, adorable, colorful dresses that she loves.
Her story doesn’t quite end therefore neither does the game. After the credits roll, Link can return to Hytopia now in fashion paradise and talk to Princess Styla once more. As a reward for saving the princess and all of Hytopia, Link receives the… Kinda Cursed Tights. I guess they didn’t have the budget to give him something fitting of Hytopian fashion. Strangely enough, Princess Styla expresses that she misses how perfectly the tights fit her. Ballgowns and corsets aren’t, after all, the most comfortable items of clothing to wear. But there are some sacrifices a princess has to make to be gorgeous and fashionable.
Princess Styla might not be leading any armies soon, but she lives up to her name, embracing a life of style in pretty dresses. Let’s just hope that Link isn’t busy with more important life-saving issues the next time a jealous witch comes prowling around.
