History WesternAnimation / TheLegendOfZelda1989

** Ganon employs an entire ''army'' of ditzes, as proven in "The Moblins Are Revolting." The {{mooks}} are so hopelessly incompetent that Link and Zelda don't even need to defend Hyrule Castle when they attack - they wipe each other out.

** As the first person to give the villainous Ganon a voice, Creator/LenCarlson gave Ganon a raspy, monstrous voice that was often very high-pitched. He did sometimes briefly lower his voice [[GutturalGrowler for creepy effect]], though.

* GutturalGrowler: Ganon's normally high-pitched, raspy voice sometimes lowers in pitch to a deep, growling voice.

* SwordBeam: Part of the reason for Link's enduring success is his ability to fire these at distant enemies. He declares a different sword to be useless because it can't shoot beams, although that one was a fake given to him by a ConMan.
* TeleportSpam: Ganon teleports around his lair while monologuing out loud to himself. It seems he'd rather do that then pace.

* AccidentalAimingSkills: In [[JustForPun "The Missing Link"]], [[spoiler:Ganon uses a special wand that zaps humans to the underworld with the intent of taking Zelda with him. She uses Link's shield to deflect the wand's magic fireball, which ricochets off the castle walls while Link watches, until it falls onto its accidental target. Although he tries to dodge, parts of the fireball hit Link, but because of the magic being weakened, only his body is zapped to the underworld.]]

* ArmiesAreUseless: Played with by the good guys and badguys near the end of the series. When more than one of the Hyrule guard finally show up, all they do is run from monsters made from water that was unknowingly taken from Spryte's people. When Ganon's minions attack Zelda's castle en masse, they have no coordination since they overthrew him.

* {{Catchphrase}}: Link has "Well [[Creator/SteveMartin excuuuuuuuuse me]], Princess!", for when Zelda gets annoyed at him. He also repeatedly demands that she "Kiss me!" - and, on those occasions when she agrees, they are invariably interrupted, prompting him to lament, "This ''always'' happens!"

* OncePerEpisode: Link's most famous CatchPhrase, "[[WellExcuseMePrincess Well, Excuuuuuuse Me, Princess!]]", is uttered ''twice'' per episode on average - three times if you count the opening.

** Link's catchphrase is OlderThanTheyThink. It was originally Creator/SteveMartin's[[note]]Back when he regularly did stand-up comedy.[[/note]], although without the "Princess" at the end.

* {{Tsundere}}: Zelda (Type A/Tsun tsun) loves Link but denies it and gives him a hard time - usually resulting in the {{catchphrase}} we all know and love.

* AdaptationalIntelligence: Zigzagged with Ganon. While not much is shown of Ganon's personality in the first two games, he doesn't do a whole lot besides invade Hyrule, get the Triforce of Power, and kidnap Zelda. In fact, he's retroactively made ''dumber'' by ''Literature/HyruleHistoria'' confirming that his previously cunning intelligence had degraded over the centuries with every resurrection he underwent in the Downfall Timeline where these games takes place. Here, Ganon is at least able to come up with an evil plan every week, and he knows how to take advantage of his enemies' weaknesses (such as [[PrinceCharmless Prince Facade's]] fear of getting dirty, or Link's infatuation with Zelda). That said, due to the nature of [[IneffectualSympatheticVillain cartoon villains in the 80's]], [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption his plans are always doomed to fail]].

* OffModel:
** In "Doppleganger," after Link and Zelda fall, Zelda is drawn in her evil twin's [[ColourCodedForYourConvenience red and black]] color scheme for a second.
** In "The White Knight," when Zelda is lying in the mud after Link dispatches the Zola, she is briefly seen in her regular outfit instead of her formal dress.
** "Fairies in the Spring": the infamous scene in which the [[MonsterOfTheWeek Water Monster]] ''has no claws''.

* TheSociopath: Prince Façade has no emotional connection to anyone, does not care if people are harmed by his putting top priority on his appearance, has enough superficial charm to sway anyone sans Link, and has a need for stimulation expressed not only by his wandering lifestyle, but by his need to preserve his image and receive praise from everyone else.

** Although he is still a talented sorcerer and schemer, Ganon here is pretty incompetent in comparison to his video game counterparts (although the original Ganon that he's based on didn't have much to go off of, later portrayals would make him far more cunning and evil). He's also of roughly human physique, compared to the towering, brute he's usually portrayed as in the games. And to an extent, most monsters - in the cartoon, ''everything'' takes one hit from any weapon to get defeated except for Ganon. He takes 3, but from ''any'' weapon, not just the Magical Sword and the Silver Arrows. In one episode, Zelda delivers the third hit with a boomerang.

* DoesNotLikeShoes: Spryte, along with the other fairies in Hyrule, do not wear any shoes.

* VitriolicBestFriends: Link and Zelda cannot go for 2 minutes without any form of snark or mockery towards one another, but they don't hesitate to have each others back when Ganon makes a move.

** Princess Zelda is often depicted in the cartoon as haughty and often feisty, in contrast to the typical depiction of her as a benevolent ruler. Her relationship with Link also varies between PlatonicLifePartners and [[ImpliedLoveInterest potentially being in love with each other]], while never going to the realms of VitrolicBestFriends.[[labelnote:*]] The only exception was in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'', but even then it was a one-sided kind of relationship due to her mistakenly thinking Link looked down on her. Once he saved her from the Yiga clan, she drops the hostility entirely.[[/labelnote]] Additionally, contrasting the common DamselInDistress role Zelda has in the games, she is a very active participant in battles, something she's usually never involved with save for the occasional FinalBoss battle.

** Princess Zelda is often depicted in the cartoon as haughty and often feisty, in contrast to the typical depiction of her as a benevolent ruler.[[labelnote:*]] The only exception was in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'', but even then it was due to her mistakenly thinking Link looked down on her. Once he saved her from the Yiga clan, she drops the hostility entirely.[[/labelnote]] Additionally, contrasting the common DamselInDistress role Zelda has in the games, she is a very active participant in battles, something she's usually never involved with save for the occasional FinalBoss battle.

* YoungerThanTheyLook: According the VHS box of the series released by Tempo Video, Link and Zelda are both 15 years old. Their design and voice acting come across more like people in their 20's.

** Where Link, especially in future installments, is often depicted with InnocentBlueEyes and blonde or goldish brown hair (which extends to the manual of the original game), he has dark brown[[note]]black in "The Ringer" and "Cold Spells"[[/note]] hair and brown eyes. Personality-wise, Link is often depicted in later games as a HumbleHero who often travels the land of Hyrule to slay monsters and retrieve magical items to help him in his quest, though here he's assigned to live in the castle and is an arrogant wise-cracker who is madly in love with Zelda and can be rude, lazy and perverted at times, though he is shown to genuinely care about Zelda and the kingdom of Hyrule.

* EarlyAdaptationWeirdness: This cartoon was made roughly around the time the second NES game was released in America. As such, with so little to work with, needless to say, the show is quite different from what later games like ''A Link to the Past'' or ''Ocarina of Time'' would establish for the series.
** Where Link is often depicted with InnocentBlueEyes and blonde or goldish brown hair (which extends to the manual of the original game), he has dark brown[[note]]black in "The Ringer" and "Cold Spells"[[/note]] hair and brown eyes. Personality-wise, Link is often depicted in later games as a HumbleHero who often travels the land of Hyrule to slay monsters and retrieve magical items to help him in his quest, though here he's assigned to live in the castle and is an arrogant wise-cracker who is madly in love with Zelda and can be rude, lazy and perverted at times, though he still does genuinely care about Zelda and the kingdom of Hyrule.
** Princess Zelda is often depicted in the cartoon as haughty and often ill-tempered, in contrast to the typical depiction of her as a benevolent ruler.[[labelnote:*]] The only exception was in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'', but even then it was due to her mistakenly thinking Link looked down on her. Once he saved her from the Yiga clan, she drops the hostility entirely.[[/labelnote]] Additionally, contrasting the common DamselInDistress role Zelda has in the games, she is a very active participant in battles, something she's usually never involved with FinalBoss battle.
** Ganondorf was not a concept at the time as neither ''Ocarina of Time'' nor the mention in the manual of ''A Link to the Past'' existed. The Ganon in this series is also not very large, depicted as a more comical villain as seen in many cartoons at the time. He's not much of a fighter either, relying on his minions to do the job for him. He also seems to have an interest in Zelda and attempted to make her his bride, whereas Ganondorf in later games has no such interest, only wanting to seize his hands on power and displays outright hate for her and her family.

** Various important aspects that became important staples in the series do not exist. Non-human races like the Gorons are absent, making Hyrule only a land of humans. In fact, the term Hylian did not exist either, so Link and Zelda are not called that. Iconic locations like the Temple of Time or Zora's Domain were not established, with Hyrule Castle and Death Mountain being the only locations the show reuses. Most notable, the Master Sword, one of the most iconic swords in fiction, was not a thing, making Link's smaller blade, which is mostly used for shooting beams, his only real way to defend himself.

* EarlyAdaptationWeirdness: This cartoon was made roughly around the time the second NES game was released in America. As such, with so little to work with, the final product can come across as bizarre and rather difficult to watch for people who were not familiar with it until after games like ''A Link to the Past'' or ''Ocarina of Time''.
** The most notable is the appearance and characterization of Link. He has brown eyes, whereas Link is often depicted with InnocentBlueEyes. He also very dark brown hair, which was black in the first two episodes, whereas the game counterpart is often blonde or a goldish brown, even in the manual of the original game. Link is often depicted as a NiceGuy HumbleHero who often travels the land of Hyrule to slay monsters and retrieve magical items to help him in his quest. By contrast, this Link is assigned to live in the castle and often depicted as a rude, ego-driven braggart who is more interested in a kiss from Zelda than anything else, whereas later games make his feelings for her more ambiguous than exact. In short, this Link is the exact opposite of what the character is known as today, making him come off as someone who would envy or resent the game version than Link himself.
** Princess Zelda herself is depicted as very haughty and often ill-tempered, contrasting the young girl who is often gaming's most notable PrincessClassic who values the safety of her people and doesn't show a hint of rudeness or distaste for Link. [[labelnote:*]] The only exception was in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'', but even then it was due to her mistakenly thinking he looked down on her and, once he saved her from the Yiga clan, she drops the hostility entirely and becomes very close to him.[[/labelnote]] She also is a very active participant in battles, something Zelda never does outside of an occasional FinalBoss battle. She's also not an UngratefulBitch to Link if he seems to take too long on stopping a threat like this Zelda is.

** There are only two pieces of the Triforce, which are depicted as glowing triangular structures of two differing colors rather than flat, golden triangles. The Triforce of Courage did not become known until the second game, which was at the time this cartoon was made, making it too late to add.

** The most notable is the appearance and characterization of Link. He has brown eyes, whereas Link is often depicted with InnocentBlueEyes. He also very dark brown hair, which was black in the first two episodes, whereas the game counterpart is often blonde or a goldish brown, even in the manual of the original game. Link is often depicted as a NiceGuy HumbleHero who often travels the land of Hyrule to slay monsters and retrieve magical items to help him in his quest. By contrast, this Link is assigned to live in the castle and often depicted as a rude, ego-driven braggart who is more interested in a kiss from Zelda than anything else, whereas later games make his feelings for her more ambiguous than exact. In short, this Link is the exact opposite of the character is known as today, making him come off as someone who would envy or resent the game version.

** The most notable is the characterization of Link. Link is often depicted as a NiceGuy HumbleHero who often travels the land of Hyrule to slay monsters and retrieve magical items to help him in his quest. By contrast, this Link is assigned to live in the castle and often depicted as a rude, ego-driven braggart who is more interested in a kiss from Zelda than anything else, whereas later games make his feelings for her more ambiguous than exact. He also has brown eyes, whereas Link is often depicted with InnocentBlueEyes. He also very dark brown hair, which was black in the first two episodes, whereas the game counterpart is often blonde or a goldish brown, even in the manual of the original game.
** Princess Zelda herself is depicted as very haughty and often ill-tempered, contrasting the young girl who is often gaming's most notable PrincessClassic who values the safety of her people and doesn't show a hint of rudeness or distaste for Link. [[labelnote:*]] The only exception was in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'', but even then it was due to her mistakenly thinking he looked down on her and, once he saved her from the Yiga clan, she drops the hostility entirely and becomes very close to him.[[/labelnote]] She also is a very active participant in battles, something Zelda never does outside of an occasional FinalBoss battle. She's not an UngratefulBitch to Link if he seems to take too long on stopping a threat.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The first episode is the only time the Triforce of Power speaks, and it’s to remark on Ganon attempting to join the Amateur Magician’s Contest as part of his scheme to get the Triforce of Wisdom despite him being very proficient in magic.