Ever since I was young, “The Legend of Zelda” has been the spark behind my art journey. This project has been a personal pursuit since 2017, a world I keep reimagining and refining with each revisit. Through ongoing redesigns of iconic characters and places, I aim to honor Hyrule’s legendary lore while adding fresh storytelling elements. This is a tribute that blends years of study, research, and a true passion for visual storytelling within a universe that sparked both my love for drawing and my dream to become a concept artist.

Link was designed to be both practical in battle and when crafting. His many belts were added with the thought that the player could carry more crafting tools the more they progress throughout the game for greater weapon improvement. To add on to his lack of will to comply with his swordsman duty, his outfit is loose and comfortable without any chainmail that takes defense into account. Link gets summoned to the palace often, so since it's quite messy, the cloth on his waist is to wipe the oil and dirt from his face before meeting with Zelda.

Zelda was designed to look high in power through her mostly triangular shape design, yet has rounded edges to show she's still kind. However, some sharper features aim to foreshadow how her character later on becomes dangerous. Once Malice takes over the castle, it possesses Zelda and turns her into Puppet Zelda. From the shadows, she impersonates the Queen and tries to send Link to his downfall.

Palace of Hyrule

The very heart of the Kingdom isn't just home to the Royal Family, but the many guards and soldiers that serve them. It is a source of great beauty to many, but also of envy to the wealth it represents.

Most Zelda games have depicted this building as a Castle. I wanted to explore the possibility of a Palace due to Hyrule's advancements and to show the Royal Family was no longer as relevant as in the past. They are much more private nowadays.

CENTRAL BLOCK

When the prophecy was fulfilled and Demise's curse returned in form of Malice, it aimed to target Queen Zelda, therefore it blocked off any entrances from guard posts and trapped Zelda inside. The Palace gradually became more infected as time went on by, signaling Zelda had lost control of the Malice. The dome has a large Eye within that will keep watch for any intruders; Link in particular.

The design aims to show the deformity and chaos of Demise's curse.

EXPLORATION OF THE INFECTION

ZELDA'S STRUGGLE AGAINST MALICE

YOUR ROLE AS HERO

RISE OF THE BLOOD MOON

MALICE ATTACK EXPLORATION

guard quarters

Royal Guards live in the extensions at the sides of the Palace. Royal Guards are in charge of in-castle security and the protection of the Royal Family.

RIGHT SIDE FOR REFERENCE

The giant bell is to alert inhabitants if the Palace is under attack.

THRONE ROOM

GRAND STAIRCASE

ZELDA'S ROOM

ROOM FOR ZELDA'S MAID

DINNING

HALL

KITCHEN

SERVANTS HALL

PIGEON POST

ATTIC

ZELDA'S OFFICE

BALCONY ROOM

ENTRANCE

TRAINING GROUNDS

GARDEN

LIBRARY

the palace

VIEWED FROM THE SIDE

Seat for Queen Zelda and framed by many stained glasses that decorate the throne room. The stones have been decorated with the colors and symbols of the royal family. It was designed so when the sun sets in the afternoon, the golden light makes the Hylian crest glow.

Throne

While Ganondorf is no longer a threat after his bloodline was separated with that of Demise's Curse, most of the elements in his design are aither rounded or square for stability. The goddesses don't favor Ganondorf at all, so any male Gerudo throughout the last 500 years has been born with rounded ears. Most of Hyrule's inhabitants present pointed ears that allegedly, allows them to hear the voices of the Gods.