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The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom
Nintendo

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All 15 The Legend of Zelda subtitles, ranked

The Legend of Zelda series is full of evocative, mysterious, and fun subtitles.

Everyone — we got it. We got the title. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 is no more. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is here. In honor of the title reveal, I decided to rank all the subtitles in The Legend of Zelda series. Not the games as a whole, but their actual subtitles, taking into account their emotional resonance, what imagery they evoke, their relation to the game, and most importantly, how cool they are. This will not only tell us how Tears of the Kingdom stacks up, but also refresh our memories about all the great titles Zelda has had over the years. 

15. The Adventure of Link

All 15 The Legend of Zelda subtitles, ranked
Nintendo

The lowest ranked is actually the first true subtitle in The Legend of Zelda history. Yes, I’m ranking it 15th out of 15th, but I don’t mean it as a knock. It’s the first one Nintendo created, so it’s unsurprisingly pretty bland. I mean, it’s “The Adventure of Link.” The subtitle doesn’t say anything about what the actual adventure is, doesn’t hint at a greater theme, and honestly could serve as the subtitle for nearly every other Zelda game. So, while understanding its place in history, I can’t put it higher than last place. 

14. Oracle of Ages/Oracle of Seasons

All 15 The Legend of Zelda subtitles, ranked
Nintendo

These subtitles aren’t bad, but they’re not great either. They’re specifically alluding to the main mechanic in their corresponding game (in Ages you travel through time, in Seasons you change the seasons), and unfortunately they’re not doing much more than that. They don’t evoke much emotion or carry much weight, and I say that as someone whose first experience with The Legend of Zelda series were these two games in particular. 

13. A Link Between Worlds

All 15 The Legend of Zelda subtitles, ranked
Nintendo

On the surface, A Link Between Worlds is fine. It uses “Link” as a pun, hints at the game featuring multiple worlds, and serves as a callback to a title much higher up on the list. But due to its similarities to the original title I have a hard time ranking it any higher. When I see this title, I only think about how it’s paying homage to A Link to the Past. I may have put this title higher if it stood more on its own and incorporated Link’s wall-merging mechanic.

12. Spirit Tracks

All 15 The Legend of Zelda subtitles, ranked
Nintendo

Spirit. Tracks. I don’t know. For a game in which you explore a world via trains, I think Nintendo could’ve done much better than Spirits Tracks. How about Conductor of Spirits? Trains of Torment? A Link to the Tracks, anyone? Spirit Tracks may be better than all of those, but still near the caboose of our subtitle rankings. 

11. Minish Cap

All 15 The Legend of Zelda subtitles, ranked
Nintendo

A title where the less you think about it, the better it is. Minish Cap, by itself, rolls off the tongue and is a little evocative. It makes you ask, “What does that mean?” The problem is that when you answer the question and receive the further context — in the game Link uses a hat (read: cap) that shrinks (read: diminishes) him — it becomes a lot less cool. It falls just outside the top 10 Legend of Zelda subtitles for that reason. 

10. Phantom Hourglass

All 15 The Legend of Zelda subtitles, ranked
Nintendo

I must admit, Phantom Hourglass is a dope name. Too bad I associate it with one of my least favorite Zelda games ever. Putting that aside though, “Hourglass” is one of those words that doesn’t do much on its own, but when placed next to the word “Phantom,” you suddenly got yourself a deadly two word combo. Phantom Hourglass. If only the title didn’t trigger memories of returning to that awful “The Temple of the Ocean King” dungeon time and time again I may have put it higher.

9. Skyward Sword

All 15 The Legend of Zelda subtitles, ranked
Nintendo

Despite how significant swords are to the series, this is surprisingly the only subtitle with “Sword” in it. Still, they made it count by placing a cool word like “Skyward” in front of it. Also, if you think about how significant moving the sword around was on the original Wii version, and how significant the iconic sword was to this game’s story, then Nintendo couldn’t have chosen a better time to have “Sword” in Legend of Zelda subtitle. 

8. The Wind Waker

All 15 The Legend of Zelda subtitles, ranked
Nintendo

The Wind Waker is a good title. It’s one of the few Zelda titles that uses alliteration and is associated with a game that has aged like fine wine. But the biggest thing holding The Wind Waker back is that its colloquial one-word name, Windwaker, is a much better title. The Legend of Zelda: Windwaker is what this game should’ve been called. Because it wasn’t, I have to dock it a little. 

7. Link’s Awakening

All 15 The Legend of Zelda subtitles, ranked
Nintendo

Clean. Simple. To the point. And yet, there’s a lot to unpack with Link’s Awakening. Its meaning is uncovered throughout the entirety of the adventure, and it isn’t completely revealed until the very end. Not only that, the title captures the illusory tone of the game and the dream-like weirdness that incorporates Koholint Island. It’s the highest ranked subtitle from a handheld Zelda game for those reasons. 

6. Breath of the Wild

All 15 The Legend of Zelda subtitles, ranked
Nintendo

Leaving Breath of the Wild out of the top top may seem sacrilegious, but I’m not doing it out of spite or ignorance. I recognize it as a great Legend of Zelda title and know that it fits the first open-world game in the series perfectly. The title captured the spirit of wandering freely, unraveling mysteries, and stumbling upon mythical creatures in the sky. The wilds were indeed wild, and the sure breadth of the game was breath-taking. The only reason Breath of the Wild is at six is because the final five are just a tad better.

5. Majora’s Mask

All 15 The Legend of Zelda subtitles, ranked
Nintendo

There’s such an ominous feel to Majora’s Mask. It could be the name “Majora” (a word, from my understanding, that was invented for this game). It could be the harsh sounding “Mask” with that hard “sk” at the end of it. It could even be the alliteration that gives this title an evil incantation feel. Whatever it is, the words come together to create a grim title that reflects the tone and spirit of the game. You see it and immediately hear a bell chime indicating it’s the start of the third day. Shivers. 

4. A Link to the Past

All 15 The Legend of Zelda subtitles, ranked
Nintendo

The original title that uses Link’s name as a pun was a great one. Even though A Link to the Past doesn’t make sense in the context of the game (spoiler alert: Link really never travels in time), it still feels epic, important, and timeless. Each word is one syllable long and it glides out of your mouth when spoken aloud. A Link to the Past. Not to mention, this game has probably topped the most “Greatest Games of All-Time” lists in the series, second only to another game a little higher up. 

3. Twilight Princess

All 15 The Legend of Zelda subtitles, ranked
Nintendo

The word “Princess” evokes a certain image. Even in Legend of Zelda games, it’s usually reserved for a young blonde girl with a flair for pink. In this title, however, it’s paired with the word “Twilight,” a word which evokes dusk and shadows. In a vacuum, you would think the two words would clash, but they actually come together harmoniously, similar to many other elements in Twilight Princess. Link, as a farm-boy, turns into a wolf. The kingdom of Hyrule is overlaid with a dark Instagram filter. And the title conjures up the question of who the so-called “Twilight Princess” might be. Is it Zelda? A darker version of Zelda? Someone else? Only by playing the game can you answer that and see all the ways Twilight Princess is perfect for the game. 

2. Tears of the Kingdom

All 15 The Legend of Zelda subtitles, ranked
Nintendo

This is what the whole article was really about — how much I love this new title. Say it with me, Tears of the Kingdom. It’s just so cool. I have no idea what it means, but it evokes so much. Tears? Or tears? A whole kingdom is involved? Is the kingdom crying? Is it falling apart? The scope feels so large. It hints at an epic scale. It stirs up excitement and should have everyone stoked to play the game when it comes out next May. And, if the game turns out to be good, it might even dethrone the top subtitle on this list. 

1. Ocarina of Time

All 15 The Legend of Zelda subtitles, ranked
Nintendo

Can you comfortably do a Zelda ranking from any angle without putting Ocarina of Time number one? This name carries so much gravitas. Ocarina of Time is synonymous with “Greatest Game of All Time.” It’s Link’s first foray into the 3D realm. It gave us the Water Temple, Shiek, and Epona. And then, when you remove all of that and just focus on the title alone, you’re still left with an evocative set of words. “Ocarina” is a sick name for a sick instrument and when paired together with a word as all-encompassing as “Time” you got yourself a subtitle that will forever be the best in the series. 

Good luck to Tears of the Kingdom.

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