History YMMV / TheLegendOfZelda1989

* JerksAreWorseThanVillains: Ganon is depicted as a much more comical character compared to the more sociopathic Ganondorf of later years, but still wants use the Triforce to take over Hyrule. Despite this, some detractors of the show prefer him over Link and Zelda due to finding their personalities too jerkish, rude, and generally unlikable.

** Arguably,while still depicted as a largely kind and humble person, Link's characterization in ''Breath Of The Wild'' also has more similarities to his cartoon counterpart than ever before. This is due to him losing his memories and much of the decorum he usually would have around other people; plenty of his dialogue prompts are sassy, sarcastic or even downright rude at times. He can flirt with multiple npcs, and his shirtless idle animations even feature him flexing and showing off.

* VindicatedByHistory: Though the show does have its detractors (especially from fans of the games), the series is considered one of the best game-to-show adaptations for its time, citing the impressive action sequences and expansions to the lore of the first two games. In addition, as the "HilariousInHindsight" entries would tell you, it had a lot of elements that would be seen in future games in the franchise. As for the character portrayals (Link in particular), it's easy to forget that at the time, [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness there was no real standard set when it came to stories in the franchise]]. Link was just a collection of pixels shaped and coloured into a person, and that was all they had to work with. Neither ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast A Link To the Past]]'' or ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime Ocarina of Time]]'' even existed yet; all the story-based elements were AllThereInTheManual, and even then it was still mostly fairly simple. As a major example of this trope, Creator/JamesRolfe himself [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAjEDBlN8wI remembers the show quite fondly]].

* TheScrappy:
** Spryte isn't exactly well-liked by all fans, with her repeated interference with Link's attempts to kiss Zelda, and seeming to not serve much purpose in the show other than to have an unrequited crush on him and interrupt his relationship with Zelda. She's also considered rather annoying in general. Her extremely high-pitched and cutesy voice probably don't help. Some fans, however, think her at least a little bit cute and sexy.
** Link is not safe either. A lot of fans find his constant complaining, [[WellExcuseMePrincess his catchphrase]], and his tendency to be TheLoad in a series where he's supposed to be the protagonist, extremely annoying. He can also come off as [[DesignatedHero rude, perverted, and even sexist]] towards Zelda. Link also [[ItsAllAboutMe often seems more concerned about getting kissed by her]], than helping others.

** Arguably,while still depicted as a largely kind and humble person, Link's characterization in ''Breath Of The Wild'' also has more similarities to his cartoon counterpart than ever before. This is due to him losing his memories and much of the decorum he usually would have around other people; plenty of his dialogue prompts are sassy, sarcastic or even downright rude at times. He can flirt with multiple NPCs, and his shirtless idle animations even feature him flexing and showing off.

** King Harkinian is [[WesternAnimation/AtomicBetty Maximus IQ]] and [[WesternAnimation/SilverSurferTheAnimatedSeries Uatu the Watcher]].

** Spryte isn't exactly well-liked by fans, with her repeated interference with Link's attempts to kiss Zelda and seeming to not serve much purpose in the show than to have an unrequited crush on him and interrupt his relationship with Zelda, along with being considered rather annoying in general, being cited as points of contention. Her extremely high-pitched and cutesy voice probably doesn't help.
** Link is not safe either. A lot of fans find his constant complaining, [[WellExcuseMePrincess his catchphrase]] and his tendency to be TheLoad in a series he's supposed to be the protagonist of quite annoying. Not exactly helping with this is how he can come off as [[DesignatedHero rude, perverted and even sexist]] towards Zelda [[ItsAllAboutMe and seems more concerned about getting kissed by her than helping others]].

* ValuesDissonance: In the 80's, it was not uncommon for young men to be motivated solely by a pretty girl, which much of Link's attitude and actions with Zelda, mostly based on him motivated solely to get a kiss from her, reflects. In the modern age, much of his behavior towards the princess, such as ogling and cat-calling her in "The Ringer" or remarking that she swings his sword like a girl in "The Missing Link", would be considered sexist or sexual harassment.
* VindicatedByHistory: Though the show does have its detractors (especially from fans of the games), the cartoon is considered one of the best game-to-show adaptations for its time, citing the impressive action sequences and expansions to the lore of the first two games. In addition, as the "HilariousInHindsight" entries would tell you, it had a lot of elements that would be seen in future games in the franchise. As for the character portrayals (Link in particular), it's easy to forget that at the time, [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness there was no real standard set when it came to stories in the franchise]]. Link was just a collection of pixels shaped and coloured into a person, and that was all they had to work with. Neither ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast A Link To the Past]]'' or ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime Ocarina of Time]]'' even existed yet; all the story-based elements were AllThereInTheManual, and even then it was still mostly fairly simple. As a major example of this trope, Creator/JamesRolfe himself [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAjEDBlN8wI remembers the show quite fondly]].

* ParodyDisplacement: Link's catchphrase isn't as widely recognized among the show's target audience as an homage to an old Creator/SteveMartin bit from his stand-up comedy days.

* ParodyDisplacement: Link's CatchPhrase isn't as widely recognized among the show's target audience as an homage to an old Creator/SteveMartin bit from his stand-up comedy days.

** Zelda's characterization as a TomboyPrincess would slowly bleed into the games, with the Zeldas from ''Ocarina of Time'' becoming more and more active in the plot. In particular, ''Breath of the Wild''[='=]s incarnation of the character matches the cartoon's to a T, starting out haughty and condescending towards Link, who she's all but stated to have feelings for. In at least one flashback, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZgND4gacP4 it's easy to imagine their conversation ending with a "Well EXCUUUUUUUUUUUUSE me, Princesss!" if he did speak]].

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: Even ignoring how things have changed in the game series since the 80's, the cartoon is very much a product of its era. The plot of the series is very much a game of "capture the flag" with few new set pieces. The dialogue from Link and Zelda is very modern ([[TotallyRadical at the time]]) that makes them talk less like fantasy characters and more like teenagers.