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The Legend of Zelda series has been around for 28 years now and over that time, the game's heroes and villains have been redesigned again and again. But let me be frank here, when it comes to Zelda character designs, there are none I like more than those from the newest spin-off game in the series, Hyrule Warriors.


So let's look at the series' official character art and see how these characters have evolved over the years.

[*Update: The original article had a picture of the Link to the Past GBA remake art instead of original the NES art and the Link's Awakening art actually came from Link to the Past. This has been corrected.]


Link

(The Legend of Zelda, The Adventure of Link, A Link to the Past)


(Link’s Awakening, Ocarina of Time, Majora’s Mask)


( Oracle of Ages, Oracle of Seasons, Four Swords)


( The Wind Waker, Four Swords Adventures, The Minish Cap)


( Twilight Princess, Phantom Hourglass, Spirit Tracks)


( Skyward Sword, A Link Between Worlds, Hyrule Warriors)

Zelda


( The Legend of Zelda, The Adventure of Link, A Link to the Past, Ocarina of Time)


( Oracle of Ages/Seasons, Four Swords, The Wind Waker)


( The Minish Cap, Twilight Princess, Spirit Tracks)


( Skyward Sword, A Link Between Worlds, Hyrule Warriors)

Ganondorf


( Ocarina of Time, The Wind Waker, Twilight Princess, Hyrule Warriors)

Impa


( The Legend of Zelda, The Adventure of Link, Ocarina of Time,

Oracle of Ages/Seasons, Skyward Sword, A Link Between Worlds, Hyrule Warriors)

Sheik


( Ocarina of Time, Hyrule Warriors)

Darunia


( Ocarina of Time, Hyrule Warriors)

Ruto


( Ocarina of Time, Hyrule Warriors)

Fi


( Skyward Sword, Hyrule Warriors)

Midna


( Twilight Princess, Hyrule Warriors)

Zant


( Twilight Princess, Hyrule Warriors)

Ghirahim


( Skyward Sword, Hyrule Warriors)

Hyrule Warriors was released on August 14, 2014, in Japan for the Nintendo Wii U. It will be released in Europe on September 19, 2014, and in North America on September 26, 2014.


Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in every morning from 4am to 8am.