Trivia / Hyrule Warriors

• Ascended Fanon: Rule 63 Link is a thing in parts of the Zelda fandom, a topic of which became more prominent when the now since been debunked by Word of God rumors that the Link from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was female came about. Another thing in the fandom that's related to previous one is Linkle who originally appeared in the official artbook as a Distaff Counterpart of Link that was scrapped from the original game. Come Hyrule Warrior Legends, both Linkle and the general basic idea behind her has become real (that said, in the game proper, she is her own character who merely thinks she's Link instead of being an actual female version of him).
• Colbert Bump: Through the Zelda branding, many fans have admitted to being brought into the flagship Dynasty Warriors series through this game.
• Defictionalization:
  • Link's scarf was made as a preorder bonus for Japan, Europe, and the Nintendo World store in New York. Level Up Studio also has one, made by Ruffneck Scarves.
  • Linkle's compass was made into a real watch and packaged with a limited edition bundle of Hyrule Warriors Legends.
• Development Gag: Linkle was originally conceived as a "little sister-like" character, a concept that was scrapped partially because it was too similar to Link's actual sister Aryll in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. Come Legends and Linkle's 'Great Sea' alternate costume has the same design as Aryll's dress from said game.
• Flip-Flop of God: Team Ninja's Yosuke Hayashi commented in an interview that Zelda would be a queen in this game, instead of a princess. However, the official English trailer still refers to her as the latter. Ultimately, Zelda is called a princess in the game, despite being portrayed as the sole and ultimate ruler of Hyrule in every way.
• The Other Darrin: Link, Zelda, Ganondorf, Impa, and Sheik all have different voice actors like they usually do, but Zant is the only other returning character who is confirmed to have a different voice actor from his original appearance, being voiced by Masashi Tamaki instead of Junji Kitajima.
• Pre-Order Bonus: Link and Zelda had their appearances from Ocarina of Time, Twilight Princess, and Skyward Sword available as pre-order bonuses at select stores, as well as for members of Club Nintendo. Ganondorf just had his appearances from Ocarina of Time and Twilight Princess. All of these pre-order sets have since been made available for purchase on the eShop. Dark Link from Ocarina of Time is also available as a Season's Pass pre-order bonus palette swap. For Legends, it's the Wind Waker robes for Ganondorf instead (given that all the pre-order costumes from the Wii U version are already includd in this version, by default).
• Role Reprise:
  • Akiko Komoto, Ayumi Fujimura, and Anri Katsu reprise their roles as Midna, Fi, and Ghirahim, respectively.
  • With the DLC characters of the Wii U version, we can add Fujiko Takimoto and Hironori Miyata reprising Young Link and Tingle, while Akiko Komoto (once again) reprises Twili Midna.
  • With the 3DS version's own characters and DLC, Sachi Matsumoto reprises as both Skull Kid, Toon Link and Aryll while Hikari Tachibana reprises as Tetra, Heiji Maruyama as King Daphnes, Chiaki Takahashi as Medli, Akane Omae as Toon Zelda (like in Spirit Tracks), Mitsuki Saiga as Ravio and Seiro Ogino as Yuga.
• What Could Have Been:
  • The game was planned to have a stage where all you do is mow down grass, but it didn't make it into the game.
  • According to some concept art from the official artbook, certain ideas were scrapped. There was apparently going to be a female version of Link aptly named "Linkle" (described as being "little sister-like"). Eventually, with the release of Hyrule Warriors Legends for the 3DS, Linkle became a full-fledged character for the game, almost entirely because of how much the fans liked the idea of her once they found out about her through a Japanese-only artbook.
  • One of Linkle's concepts included having a closer resemblance to Link than she does now. This included looking noticeably older (and possibly taller than the current incarnation of Linkle), using a sword and shield instead of a crossbow, and a variation of Link's standard green tunic (instead of the green hooded cloak she wears), which included a green cap ^note Though most of these "tunics" were more or less Chainmail Bikinis, and would've resulted in Linkle being more of a Ms. Fanservice-type character in design had they been used..
  • Cia and Lana were originally going to be fairies, and Link was going to have a Zelda-looking spirit aid him in battle. Additionally, some concepts of Zelda's look before her final design had her looking like a Valkyrie.
  • According to an interview, the original proposal by Yosuke Hayashi of Koei Tecmo for the game was that it would be more of a traditional Zelda game such as having boss battles in dungeons and certain characters in the games. Miyamoto however rebutted by saying that it should be Zelda grafted onto the Dynasty Warriors experience, a complete reversal of what was proposed. A balance, though, was reached in development so that the game would be different from a typical Zelda but still retain some familiarity.
  • At a WonderCon panel, the devs described a level considered for Linkle's story. It was to be themed after a dance-off, featuring Lana and Darunia vs Ghirahim; and Linkle would have been trying to stop Ghirahim from cursing Link and stop everyone's crazy dancing. And then at the end, she would have found that Ghirahim's victim wasn't Link, but Tingle; before waking up and realizing it was All Just a Dream. The level was ultimately cut because it was just too silly and clashed with the rest of Linkle's storyline.

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