The Legend of Zelda is perhaps the most famous series of video games. The story revolves around a Princess named Zelda being abducted or assailed by an evil sorcerer called Ganon, also known as Ganondorf, who seeks to twist the World of Hyrule into darkness. Rising up as a knight to help the Princess is Link, the titular hero that the player plays with his usually green tunic and cap, pointy ears, and Master Sword (Exalibur) and shield. No matter what evils await, or tribulations, Link fights Ganon and his schemes till the bitter end. At the center of this conflict is The Triforce, a triangle of triangles, each separated into a shard of Courage, Wisdom, and Power. Link possesses Courage, Zelda has Wisdom and Ganon has Power. Since A Link to A Past & Ocarina of Time, the three pieces of the Triforce are of three goddesses worshipped by Hylians, Din the goddess of Power, Nayru the goddess of Wisdom, and Farore the goddess of Courage. The Triforce is split between three, Ganon, Zelda, and Link to keep balance, probably like in Tolkien’s Rings of Power, where Galadriel mentions “one ring would dominate, two would be in opposition, but three keeps balance, not allowing domination, or a stalmate.” (Galadriel, Rings of Power Amazon Series, Paraphrase)
It may surprise many saints to know that The Triforce and its goddesses being pagan was not the intent of Nintendo. Originally Link was going to worship Jesus Christ, as seen artwork above from A Link to A Past. In the original Zelda NES Game Link had a shield with red cross, and the book of magic in American copies in Japan was The Bible instead. Wait.. what? Why was it changed in America? Well the Nintendo execs in America opposed Christian symbolism, they demanded that pagan gods replace Jesus, and spell books replace Bibles. Nintendo had made another game, Devil World (Oct 5th, 1984), and in that Tamagon (proto-Yoshi for Super Mario Bros) collects crosses and Bibles to defeat Satan, and no surprise that game was not released in America either.
So The Legend of Zelda would have had overt Christian elements, with Link even bowing to a crucifix in the chapel as seen in The Link To A Past concept artwork. Despite America Nintendo’s efforts, some Christian elements survived. The Triforce, is a triangle with three triangles inside, often seen in Celtic heraldry and designs, it is predominately used to represent our God The Father, God The Son (Jesus) and God The Holy Spirit, One God in Three Persons. So while American Nintendo blocked the cross, the symbol of the Trinity in churches today is the main symbol of Zelda.
Another major Christian influence was in the Temple of Time in Ocarina of Time, you hear Gregorian Chant:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jlMWSAcQce4
Other examples of Christian themes is The Sage Rauru who is designed to look like a monk of Christianity, Majora’s Mask which is a heart with spikes protruding out of it that invokes imagery of The Sacred Heart of Mary, particularly the Madonna with spikes coming out of her in Mexico. In Tears of the Kingdom, Zelda reads about advanced technological race of Zonai who interbred with Hylians, which reminds me of t he sons of god having children with women in Genesis 6:4-12.
There are subtler Christian themes in Zelda, with Link laying his life on line for friends, particularly The Princess, reminding us of the verses, “There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends,” (John 15:13), Link being loyal despite not being kin, “A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” (Proverbs 18:24), and a determination like that of Paul, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” (2 Timothy 4:7). No matter what Link fights to bitter end, racing from quest to quest, his faith never shaken in goodness. Ganon returns in each installment as demonic prince and monster, invoking allusions to Satan, especially that he never is fully destroyed, but must be defeated by Link in each iteration. Princess Zelda could be interpreted as The Church, that needs knights like Link to rise to defend it.
It is a shame American Nintendo blocked Christianity being the religion of Hyrule. That paganism and magic like that of Middle had to be substituted in its place. We will never know what other outright Christian elements may have been, but it is clear that some themes still bleed through. What is clear in video games in America have a antichrist blockade that will tell even Nintendo to not bring Christ into their own products in the US! That should give us pause, and caution parents that if this is what they did over Zelda, what else will they water down or erase to hide the gospel? Amen.
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