2D Zelda Stage Roster

2D ZELDA ROSTER

And here's the stage roster for anything representing the 2D Zelda games. If this were a real roster from a real game, which one would you pick to play on first?

Palace of Winds

PALACE OF WINDS

Four Swords and Four Swords Adventures both shared a lot of the same locations, the latter mostly building off of the ideas in the former. The most common location in both of these was the Palace of Winds, a huge floating fortress that Vaati called his home.

This stage would be set on that palace, more or less recreated from its appearances in the game, with lots of wind effects in various areas and moving platforms. I would like for there to be a bit of a co-op gimmick, parts of the stage that require two or more players to activate. Don’t know how well that would work though.

Potential theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNtr4sR6hI8

2D Zelda Roster

2D ZELDA ROSTER

And here we have it, the full roster for all Legend of Zelda first appearing in a 2D top-down game. As asked before with previous rosters, if this were a real roster from a real game, who ya mainin'?

Four Links

FOUR LINKS

Vaati breaks free from his prison, kidnapping Zelda and escaping to reign terror across Hyrule once again. Link is forced to pull the sword that was used to seal him, a magical sword that splits the user’s soul into four separate pieces.

The Four Swords series had the distinct gimmick of being a multiplayer Legend of Zelda game, that required one to four people to work together, as four separate Links, to work through the various dungeons and save Zelda. This gimmick would return once more in Tri Force Heroes, except with three players instead of four.

Honestly, you could have it be three Links or four Links, I’m just listing it as four because that’s the more iconic set. Either way, the character will be a tandem character with the three/four Links working together and their moves built upon all of the cooperation moves from both the Four Swords games and Tri Force Heroes.

Likelihood rating: Could happen.

Vaati

VAATI

With the premiere of the Game Boy Advance came a remake of A Link to the Past, which came bundled with a new short adventure titled Four Swords, that saw Zelda taking Link to check on a shrine where an ancient evil had been sealed away for years.

This ancient evil was Vaati, a Picori wind mage who had used a magical cap in order to become a powerful sorcerer, eventually becoming overwhelmed by the magic and letting it transform him into a shadowy monstrous form. Vaati would go on to become one of the only villains besides Ganon to recur, acting as the villain of both Four Swords Adventures and Minish Cap.

As a fighter, he will be primarily in his Picori form, but his monstrous form will emerge as part of various attacks. He will be light and floaty, fitting of a wind mage, and his moveset will pull from his various boss battles.

Likelihood rating: Good possibility

Manhandla

MANHANDLA

Once you beat the third dungeon of the game, you will find a giant plant with four flame-spewing heads waiting to fight you as the game’s third boss.

Manhandla is another of the most recurring bosses throughout the series, often taking the form of a four-headed plant with various attacks, Hyrule Warriors even going so far as to flesh out its plant based abilities, and Four Swords making it so its heads can only be harmed by its respective color.

As a playable fighter, the Manhandla will lack somewhat in mobility, but it will make up for it in its reach and its ability to attack in four directions at once. Its moveset will pull from across the series, but most especially from Hyrule Warriors.

Likelihood rating: Never gonna happen.

The Legend of Zelda (Himekawa)

THE LEGEND OF ZELDA (HIMEKAWA)

Himekawa Akira is probably the most prolific mangaka out of all that have ever written for the Legend of Zelda, starting all the way back with an adaptation of Ocarina of Time and still writing for them even today. Most of them have stuck pretty closely to the plots of their respective games, not taking the massive liberties the previous works had done, but he still found ways to work in new characters or give characters focuses they wouldn't have otherwise gotten.

First up, we have his adaptation of Ocarina of Time. The story follows the plot of the game pretty much to the letter, with maybe a bit more focus on Sheik's character development, and so on. The biggest newcomer we have to focus on came from a special bonus chapter, where Link and Navi encounter a young Watarara (basically Ritos before Ritos were a thing) named Rouro, the prince of his tribe who hadn't learned how to fly yet. He could eventually fly, peck with his beak, smack with a flyswatter, and trap people in a bag, all part of him acting out due to his insecurities about flying.

Himekawa's Majora's Mask followed the story pretty much as is, if maybe a bit more blatant about the Happy Mask Salesman's evil intentions. His Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages adaptations came as a consecutive series, with the same Link acting as the hero. Through the first, Maple the witch and Ricky the Kangaroo acted as full-time companions, with Maple flying on her broom, casting spells to create cushions, lift things, summon a demon, and create false monsters, and using a crystal balls to see visions. Ricky could leap really high, throw a tornado punch and multi-jabs, tuck into his own pouch, and ski. In the second, Link met his own ancestor, a hero named Sir Raven, who could wield a sword, ride a horse, go fishing, use a fish hook as a lockpick, plant mystery seeds, and use an axe and a peashooter. The Pirate Captain from the game also got a bit of focus, with him throwing a dagger, and using a sword and hook. I'll need to think on him for a bit.

Four Swords was fun, giving the four Links their own distinct personality and having a bit of a TMNT dynamic among them. Minish Cap was also good, though apparently they don't exist in the same continuity, seeing as Vaati ended up being redeemed at the end and going back to being Ezlo's apprentice, while Four Swords still had him as the sealed demon. A Link to the Past had probably my favorite out of all the original characters. Probably taking inspiration from Ishinomori's Roam, Link gains a companion in Ghanti, a thief girl who shifts between being an ally and adversary of Link, who learns her destiny is to wield the silver arrow. She wields a sword and dagger, and the silver arrows of course, turns into a wolf when in the Dark World due to her impure heart, gets transformed into a monster by the villains, and is healed by an apple.

Phantom Hourglass leaned a bit more focus on Jolene, being much more open about the romantic aspect of her and Linebeck's relationship. She does all the things she did before, but it does get me thinking a bit more about her, and even wondering if she might not be at least a semi-clone for Linebeck. Skyward Sword is basically just a short little prequel to the game included in the Hyrule Historia, and Twilight Princess is still ongoing, which made it a bit harder for me to look into, but as far as I can tell, there are no new original characters there, at least none that give the possibility of a moveset.

That should be it. Here's what we've got so far:

Characters:

Manga Link: slingshot, sword, shield, bow, boomerang, bombs, magic wand, Watto, become a fairy, healing magic, thunder, fly on shield, raft, Link to the Past-related stuff

Zelda: club, rope, sword, flute, spells, transform, sea monster, magic

Biri: sword, torches, pitchforks, battering rams

Raska: palm thrust, knee, jab, two-palm strike, shield thrust, throwing spikes

Captain Arjuna: Hylian Soldier moveset

Maple: broom, create cushions, lift things, summon demon, false monsters, crystal ball

Ricky: leap, tornado punch, multi-jabs, tuck into pouch, ski, flying bear

Ghanti: sword, dagger, silver arrows, wolf, monster, apple

Sir Raven: sword, horse, fishing, fish hook lockpick, mystery seeds, axe, peashooter

Marin

Link's Uncle: sword

Kanika

Tou: same as Raska

Couscous: spells, claw, bite

Birina

Gump: trained Link, sword, training staff, flip

Shemlon: forge, enchant swords, sword, reflect

Rouro: fly, peck, flyswatter, bag, storm

Jolene: ship's cannons, twin swords, lunge, block, Linebeck-related moves

Pirate Captain: dagger, sword, hook

Ganon/Ganon's Minion: burn, magic blast, disappear, fly, shock, storm, teleport, shapeshift, Ganon's hand

Agahnim

Stages:

Ganon's Statue

Thanks for reading! Next up, a . . . Legend of Zelda manga in name only. And special thanks to my best friend, Trent, who provided this series for me to read. I loved them.

Legend of Zelda 2D Roster

SUPER SMASH BROS. UNIVERSE

2D LEGEND OF ZELDA

So, my general rule of thumb is basically that I will never allow a roster to exceed one hundred fighters before splitting it if I can help it (we'll deal with Pokemon when we come to it). Boy, did we pass it. So, seeing as we have so many fighters from Breath of the Wild and Age of Calamity, my first thought was to break them off into their own. However, that still didn't do the trick and left Zelda Proper with 103 remaining fighters. So, we're going to get a little experimental today, and split our main roster into all those characters that debuted in a top-down 2D game, and all characters that debuted in a 3D game. It makes sense to me. They do almost feel like two different series at times, so let's do it!

1.       Link

2.       Dark Link

3.       Four Links

4.       Ravio

5.       The Youth

6.       Princess Zelda

7.       Princess Hilda

8.       Toon Zelda

9.       Ezlo

10.   Minish/Picori

11.   Din

12.   Nayru

13.   Marin

14.   Ralph

15.   Linebeck

16.   Alfonzo

17.   Madame Couture

18.   Yves

19.   Subrosian

20.   Monkey

21.   Sahasrahla

22.   Oshus & Ciela

23.   Old Man

24.   Hylian Soldier

25.   Great Fairy

26.   Ganon

27.   Yuga

28.   Agahnim

29.   Nightmare

30.   Onox

31.   Veran

32.   Vaati

33.   Bellum

34.   Chancellor Cole & Malladus

35.   Lady Maud

36.   Byrne

37.   Moblin

38.   Octorok

39.   Stalfos

40.   Darknut

41.   Wizzrobe

42.   Poe

43.   Vire/Keese

44.   Armos

45.   Thunderbird

46.   Lynel

47.   Hinox

48.   Gohma

49.   Dodongo

50.   Manhandla

And there we go! Almost a full 50/50 split. I think it works. Next, let's cover the 3D games roster!

Legend of Zelda Roster, Updated

SUPER SMASH BROS. UNIVERSE

THE LEGEND OF ZELDA

And now, here is our full roster listing for every single main-line game, excluding all spinoffs and remakes.

1. Link

2. Dark Link

3. Young Link

4. Toon Link

5. Wild Link

6. Four Links

7. Wolf Link

8. Hero's Shade

9. Ravio

10. Princess Zelda

11. Princess Hilda

12. Tetra

13. Toon Zelda

14. Sheik

15. Impa

16. Midna

17. Fi

18. Ezlo

19. Minish/Picori

20. Din

21. Nayru

22. Saria

23. Darunia

24. Daruk

25. Ruto

26. Mipha

27. Nabooru

28. Urbosa

29. Medli

30. Revali

31. Makar

32. Marin

33. Malon

34. Happy Mask Salesman

35. Ralph

36. Beedle

37. Ilia

38. Yeto/Yeta

39. Linebeck

40. Groose

41. Alfonzo

42. Madame Couture

43. Subrosian

44. Mogma

45. Ancient Robot

46. Monkey

47. Sahasrahla

48. Oshus & Ciela

49. Old Man

50. King Daphnes

51. King Rhoam

52. Hylian Soldier

53. Great Fairy

54. Ganon

55. Ganondorf

56. Toon Ganondorf

57. Beast Ganon

58. Calamity Ganon

59. Yuga

60. Agahnim

61. Nightmare

62. Skull Kid

63. Majora

64. Onox

65. Veran

66. Vaati

67. Zant

68. Bellum

69. Ghirahim

70. Demise

71. Chancellor Cole & Malladus

72. Lady Maud

73. Twinrova

74. Byrne

75. Moblin

76. Bokoblin

77. Octorok

78. Stalfos

79. Lizalfos

80. Darknut

81. Bulblin

82. King Bulblin

83. Wizzrobe

84. Poe

85. Vire/Keese

86. Deku Scrub

87. Deku Baba

88. Chuchu

89. Armos

90. Thunderbird

91. Garo

92. Yiga Footsoldier

93. Lynel

94. Hinox

95. Gohma

96. Dodongo

97. Gekko

98. Master Kohga

99. Ancient Guardian

Wow, that's a lot. If we get more (and we will) I may have to consider where to put some splits. Until then, next week, we split all the remaining non-remakes into two groups. First, all the general miscellaneous games (Hyrule Warriors, Cadence of Hyrule, so on), and then two subgroups, both of which are rather . . . infamous. Either way, Hyrule Warriors is first.

Character Sheet: Vaati

VAATI

Today, we begin a new round of character sheets, all primarily appearing in the 2D titles from Oracles to Tri Force Heroes. We have quite a few, though not as many as the 3D titles. Among them are:

1. Four Links

2. Ravio

3. Princess Hilda

4. Toon Zelda

5. Din

6. Nayru

7. Ezlo

8. Minish/Picori

9. Linebeck

10. Oshus & Ciela

11. Ralph

12. Alfonzo

13. Madame Couture

14. Subrosian

15. Onox

16. Veran

17. Vaati

18. Bellum

19. Chancellor Cole & Malladus

20. Yuga

21. Lady Maud

22. Byrne

Today, we cover Vaati, the wind mage sealed away by the Four Sword and the main villain of Four Swords, Four Swords Adventures, and Minish Cap, making him the only main villain in the main series of games to feature multiple times outside of Ganon. Somehow that wasn't enough to get him a spot on the Hyrule Warriors roster, but we can poke that sore spot later. For now, let's make him a moveset.

Now, right off the bat, I think we'd base his appearance on his more popular Minish Cap model, the edgy Minish he was before becoming the orby bat thing he is in the Four Swords games, with that form making random appearances throughout and in his Final Smash. Among his abilities, we see him fly, attack with his tentacles, create cyclones (obviously being a wind mage, an important one), throw lightning balls or differently colored energy balls when the multiplayer matters, grow claws, turn people to stone, teleport, summon flames, fire lasers from his eyes, become an eyeball and a dark blob, and grow purple spikes. I think we can do plenty here.

Here's the moveset I came up with:

Standard B: Cyclone

Given he is a wind mage, I feel like this is the most important move to include here. He will summon a swirling gust of wind and cast it forward, where it will linger for a short time and toss anyone who gets too close into the air.

Side B: Eye Laser

He will grow his singular eye design from his monstrous form on his face and fire a straight laser from it across the stage.

Up B: Bat Wings

The bat wings seen on his monstrous form will sprout from his back and he will fly upwards, able to move around erratically a little bit as he does so.

Down B: Colored Orbs

He will cast a circle of orbs out from around himself in four different colors. These orbs will do mild damage and basically no knockback in general, however, if a character wears the same color as one of the orbs, that orb will be a critical hit.

Final Smash: Wind Demon

Wind will pick up heavily around the stage as he transforms into his monstrous self. He will then attack as he does in those boss battles with his tentacles and with lightning as the wind makes it difficult for his opponents to escape.

Entrance: His essence will emerge from the Four Sword Shrine.

Taunts: Up, he will take off his magic cap and dust it. Side, he will turn away and glance back at you all emo-like. Down, he will pick up the chest he was after in Minish Cap.

Thanks for reading! Next up, the demon of the sea from Phantom Hourglass.

Character Sheet: Four Links

FOUR LINKS

Today, we begin a new round of character sheets, all primarily appearing in the 2D titles from Oracles to Tri Force Heroes. We have quite a few, though not as many as the 3D titles. Among them are:

1. Four Links

2. Ravio

3. Princess Hilda

4. Toon Zelda

5. Din

6. Nayru

7. Ezlo

8. Minish/Picori

9. Linebeck

10. Oshus & Ciela

11. Ralph

12. Alfonzo

13. Madame Couture

14. Subrosian

15. Onox

16. Veran

17. Vaati

18. Bellum

19. Chancellor Cole & Malladus

20. Yuga

21. Lady Maud

22. Byrne

Today, we will be covering the four Links, more or less based on the teams from Four Swords, Four Swords Adventures, and Tri Force Heroes. I decided to go with a quartet instead of a trio because it's more iconic, but the concept is the same: four Links in green, red, blue, and purple working together to pull off a variety of attacks. Think of it similarly to my Mario & Luigi character from the Mario RPG roster.

So, right off the bat, we will mostly be focusing on the moves that are distinct to the four working together. Obviously they will all have their sword and shield and a lot of their standard moves will build from those, but their specials will be team-specific. This means sparking their swords together, pulling things apart, picking up and throwing each other, pushing each other into position, forming horizontal and vertical lines, and stacking on top of each other. The Doppels used as stand-ins when playing alone can also factor in. From there, I think a few handheld specific regulars could also pop up if needed.

Here's the moveset I came up with:

Standard B: Doppel Switch

This will work in tandem with the Down B, being Placement (we'll get to that). What this will do will switch your player between which of the four Links they are controller, cycling through Green, Red, Blue, and Purple in that order, giving you advantages at certain points in time.

Side B: Pull Apart

Your Links will grab an opponent from two different sides and start pulling them in opposite directions, wracking up damage on the opponent without any knockback.

Up B: Stack Up and Throw

A first button press will cause the Links to stack up on top of each other. A second will cause them to throw each other into the air. If you just press the first time, they can attack as the stack.

Down B: Placement

While you will normally be playing with the three followers following around the leader and doing everything he does, you can press this to place one of the Links (going in backwards order from Purple), somewhere on the stage, where they will take up a doppel form and rest for a while. This can lead to strategies where you switch to that Link in times of danger, leaving behind a new doppel where the first was.

Final Smash: Seal of the Four Sword

The four will attack one after the other before all come together and stab down into their opponent's chest, cutting to a brief shot of the Four Sword Sanctuary, implying that the opponent is now sealed there instead of Vaati.

Entrance: Link will draw the Four Sword and split into four.

Taunts: Up, the Link's will stack up on top of each other and wobble for a second. Side, the Links will clang their swords together, causing sparks. Down, the Links will stumble all over each other and laugh.

Thanks for reading! Next up, a Lorulean variant of Link!

The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords

THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: FOUR SWORDS

Today, we're technically only covering half a game. Four Swords was released as a bonus story for the Link to the Past Game Boy Advance re-release that featured its own story of Zelda leading Link to help her reseal a shrine where an ancient evil named Vaati was kept sealed, only to find that Vaati had already started to break free. Drawing the sword there to fight Vaati, Link finds himself split into four by the sword's magic, creating a fun multiplayer adventure within the world of Legend of Zelda.

Link is our protagonist, but this time, the gameplay is built heavily around two to four of the Links working as a team. He brings with him his sword, shield, bow and arrows, boomerang, bombs, as well as items such as the Pegasus shoes, the Roc's cape, and the magnetic glove. With the other three Links, he can also spark his swords together, pull something apart, pick up and throw himself, push his companions into position, and push things together. Zelda and the Great Fairy are the only real secondary characters of note, as it's not a very deep story.

Our main villain on the other hand is Vaati, a wind demon sealed away a long time before. He is shown to fly, attack with tentacles, create cyclones, throw lightning balls and differently colored energy balls, and grow giant claws to attack with. Outside of Vaati, the only bosses are a giant Manhandla, a large sluglike Zol called Dera Zol, and a living ball of fire called Gouen. Most of our enemies are pretty standard fare, like Ropes, Ball-and-Chain Soldiers, Eyegors, Helmasaurs, Like Likes, Wizzrobes, Moblins armed with bows, Tektites, Octoroks, Ghinis, Stalfos, Moldorms, and Bob-Ombs, with newcomers like the Hikkun and Nokkun who have to be pulled apart to be defeated, and the Rupee Wraiths that steal Rupees from our hero.

This game had more of the episodic level design that Mario is more known for than Zelda, being mostly split up into five areas: the Chamber of Insight (a tutorial area), the Sea of Trees (a forest area), Talus Cave (an underground area), Death Mountain (a volcano), and the Palace of Winds (Vaati's home base).

And that's really it. Here's what we've got so far:

Characters:

Link: sword, shield, bombs, bombchus, boomerang, flute, ember seeds, gale seeds, Pegasus seeds, slingshot, magnetic gloves, power bracelet, Roc's feather, shovel, rod of seasons, switch hook, Harp of Ages, Tune of Echoes, Tune of Currents, Tune of Ages.

Four Links: sword, shield, bow and arrows, boomerang, bombs, Pegasus shoes, Roc's cape, magnetic glove, spark his swords, pull apart, pick up and throw, push, push together

Zelda

Din: dance, seasons

Nayru: sing, harp of ages, echoes tune, currents tune, ages tune,  time portals, fireballs, warp

Ralph: sword, (maybe?) bombs, bombchus, boomerang, flute, ember seeds, gale seeds, Pegasus seeds, slingshot, magnetic gloves, power bracelet, Roc's feather, shovel, switch hook

Farore

Impa

Ricky: pouch, leap high, pair of gloves

Moosh: fly

Dimitri: swim

Malon

Talon

Tingle

Maple: broom, crash, potions

Subrosians: shovels, hammers, boomerangs, warp points, buckets, smelt ore

Tokay: steal, swim

Pirate Captain

Great Fairy

Ganon: disappear, trident, energy balls, slam

Onox: lightning, cyclones, mace, stomp to make rocks fall, blue flames, dragon form

Veran: possession, ghostly form, summon enemies, dark Links, dark energy balls, fairy, turtle, and spider forms, time warps

Vaati: fly, tentacles, cyclones, lightning balls, colored energy balls, claws

Twinrova: combine, fly, fire and ice, lava, glaciers

Vire: fireballs, shadow balls, fly, turn into keese

Armos

Hylian Soldiers

Wizzrobes

Deku Scrubs

Buzz Blobs

Darknuts

Keese

Gibdos

Lynels

Moblins

Octoroks

Goriyas

Zoras

Stalfos: scythe

Poes

Dodongo

Gohma

Eyegor

Helmasaur

Bosses:

Aquamentus

Dodongo

Mothula

Gohma

Digdogger

Manhandla

Gleeok

Medusa Head

Facade

Agunima

Frypolar

Pumpkin Head

Head Thwomp

Shadow Hag

Eyesoar

Smog

Octogon

Plasmarine

Ramrock

Swoop

Subterror

Smasher

Angler Fish

Dera Zol

Gouen

Stages:

Eastern Coast

Eyeglass Lake

Goron Mountain

Graveyard

Horon Village

Lost Woods

Moblin's Keep

Mt. Cucco

Natzu Prairie

Samasa Desert

Spool Swamp

Sunken City

Tarm Ruins

Woods of Winter

Temple Remains

Subrosia

Temple of Seasons

Gnarled Root Dungeon

Snake's Remains

Poison Moth's Lair

Dancing Dragon Dungeon

Unicorn's Cave

Ancient Ruins

Explorer's Crypt

Sword & Shield Maze

Onox's Castle

Labrynna

Cheval's Tomb

Crescent Island

Eyeglass Island Library

Fairies' Woods

Forest of Time

Jabu-Jabu's Shrine

Lynna City

Nuun Highlands

Rolling Ridge

Sea of Storms

Symmetry City

Talus Peaks

Yoll Graveyard

Zora Seas

Ambi's Palace

Coast of No Return

Deku Forest

Sea of No Return

Black Tower

Spirit's Grave

Wing Dungeon

Moonlit Grotto

Skull Dungeon

Crown Dungeon

Mermaid's Cave

Jabu-Jabu's Belly

Ancient Tomb

Room of Rites

Chamber of Insight

Sea of Trees

Talus Cave

Death Mountain

Palace of Winds

Thanks for reading! Next up, the general idea of this game brought to its full fruition!