Fans have wanted a playable Zelda for 36 years, and the latest Tears of the Kingdom trailer is giving them hope

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

(Image credit: Nintendo)

After three-and-a-half decades of hoping to finally play as Zelda, longtime series fans have found new reason to believe with the final trailer for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.

Zelda herself plays a major part in the trailer. We see her with a new haircut in a mysterious temple, speaking to an ally whose face we never see. That person describes Link as their "last line of defense." After a bit of watching Link adventure, the trailer returns to Zelda on what appears to be the surface of Hyrule.

Zelda says "Link, I know why I am here. It's something only I can do," as she holds a teardrop-shaped object (perhaps a Tear of the Kingdom?) over the Master Sword. Another voice says "Link, you are not alone" as the protagonist fights alongside a number of NPC allies. Then we return to Zelda as she grasps the Master Sword and calls Link "our final hope."

Fans are picking apart every one of those details, and the implications made by Zelda saying stuff like "something only I can do" are giving players ideas. As one Reddit user puts it, "It would be a very weird choice for Nintendo to see so many people BEGGING to play as Zelda, then put in a line about her having to do something all by herself," and that sentiment is starting to gain traction among the community.

Personally, I can't decide whether or not I believe it. I could see a world where certain story-driven segments of the game will put you in control of Zelda, and that temple area we see her in is rife with possibilities for puzzles to solve. We see a lot of Zelda in this footage, but remember the legendary pre-launch Breath of the Wild trailer? It showed off a ton of what looked like major story events that only ended up being a part of small flashback cutscenes. This could be a similar sort of teaser.

Despite being the series namesake, Zelda has never been a playable character in any of the mainline games. You could direct her using the touchscreen in certain sections of Spirit Tracks on the Nintendo DS, and she has been a playable option in spin-offs and crossovers like Hyrule Warriors, Smash Bros., and the infamous CD-i games.

Today's trailer confirmed that Ganondorf's back, and he's hot.

Dustin Bailey joined the GamesRadar team as a Staff Writer in May 2022, and is currently based in Missouri. He's been covering games (with occasional dalliances in the worlds of anime and pro wrestling) since 2015, first as a freelancer, then as a news writer at PCGamesN for nearly five years. His love for games was sparked somewhere between Metal Gear Solid 2 and Knights of the Old Republic, and these days you can usually find him splitting his entertainment time between retro gaming, the latest big action-adventure title, or a long haul in American Truck Simulator.