Spoiler Warning:
The rest of this article contains significant spoilers for Tears of the Kingdom about the story, gameplay mechanics, etc. that you might not wish to see. Continue reading at your own risk.
Link faces all sorts of monsters and foes — both great and small — throughout his heroic journeys across Hyrule and many other kingdoms. He has even faced one of the hardest monsters of all: his own fears and flaws manifested into a dark, mirrored version of himself. However, fighting one’s self is nothing compared to the horror of facing the very princess that Link is desperately trying to save.
Before Tears of the Kingdom, there had only been two iterations of a dark or ‘puppet’ Zelda. The most popular being the possessed Princess Zelda from Twilight Princess, corrupted by the dark magic of Ganondorf. With the release of Tears of the Kingdom, Possessed Zelda might just have some competition with a new ‘Evil’ Zelda coming to life. Or, as artist Marta suggests in her piece, they may team up to make a truly terrifying force.
Like many artists in the Zelda community, Marta participated in the popular art event Linktober; using prompts from a daily calendar as inspiration for artwork through the whole month of October. While the calendar suggests drawing a new piece every day, sometimes it’s not possible to find time, energy and motivation to draw everyday. Marta instead got creative doing weekly art pieces inspired by multiple prompts of that week. Her piece of the Puppet Zeldas was taken from the prompts ‘Ganon’, ‘Zelda’ and ‘Phantom’, and what a spooky combination they make.
Marta’s piece depicts the Phantom Zelda from Tears of the Kingdom and the possessed Puppet Zelda from Twilight Princess, held up by blood red puppet strings as the Blood Moon rises behind them. While both princesses were created or corrupted by the works of Ganondorf, there are clear differences to how each princess acted under the thrall of darkness.
Consuming the left side of the piece, Phantom Zelda from Tears of the Kingdom sits with grace and poise. Her face seems soft — just like the princess Link remembers — but there’s a twist to her lips and shadows in her eyes. She is an illusion meant to lure and corrupt all those in Hyrule. Her appearance matched with her charismatic words convinced many down the path of darkness. Marta’s choice of pose and expression for her reflect just how good of a phantom Ganondorf created. For if it weren’t for the red strings wrapped around her wrists, one might not think she’s a phantom at all.
The wicked and dark princess on the other side of the piece contains a different aura entirely. Unlike her Tears of the Kingdom counterpart, the Puppet Zelda in Twilight Princess was not a phantom and was actually the princess consumed by Ganondorf’s dark magic. Marta’s composition reflects the different nature of the two princesses. Twilight Princess Zelda leans back, and red eyes look forward with her head hanging upside down. The position is similar to one of Zants, one of the antagonists of the game, but it also reflects the limp nature of being a puppet with strings. There are no charismatic or manipulative games at play here. She knows only one thing: destroy.
Imagine a calm and intelligent Zelda teaming up with one of violence and destruction, both pulled from time and space to eliminate the hero. They would be a force to reckon with and they would only be the beginning of a darker force behind. Backdropped by the Blood Moon, Marta does the imagining for us, crafting just how terrifying a team they would be.
