History of Hylian Shields

In this thread, I will be studying the various shields seen in the Zelda games and will try to show the general progression and evolution of them. First, I'll show pictures of each shield from every Zelda game that I intend to analyze in the order that they appear, along with anything I would like to point out about them.

The Legend of Zelda

Nothing special here. Just take note of the angled bottom and flat top.

Zelda II: The Adventure of Link

This was really the best picture I could find, but it's also got an angled bottom on it. The shield also has a convex curve to it that faces outward.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

Very good picture of the shield. Note the field azure, wings, Triforce emblem, angled bottom, and flat top.

The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
The best I could find wasn't very good, and I already reached my ten image limit, so I just took this one out. It was either this or a shot of the back of the shield and nearly seeing up Link's skirt, er, tunic. Since this game has the same Link in it, then just go by the image for ALttP.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Note the blue field, eagle, Triforce emblem, slightly curved but angled bottom, and the angled top.

The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask

Note the bird, Triforce emblem, and a shape very similar to that of the Hylian Shield from OoT.

The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages and Seasons

Note that this shield is identical to that of ALttP. But, note that this Link is obviously younger. Direct relative, perhaps? Anyways, the shields are identical.

The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords

This is the best image of the shield I could find. Note the blue field, eagle, Triforce emblem, angled bottom, and flat top.

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker and The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap

This is your standard post-Great Flood shield. It'll block just about anything you can throw at it. Note the brown field, bird, Triforce emblem, curved bottom, and flat top.

The Mirror Shield. Not really anything I can say about it here, but it's absolutely identical in appearance between TWW and TMC. Coincidence? I say not. We also see the statue of the Hero of Time wielding this shield, and since newer canon overrides older canon, it is the Mirror Shield used by the Hero of Time.

The Legend of Zelda: Four Sword Adventures

Note the brown field, bird, Triforce emblem, angled bottom, and flat top. The Four Swords shields greatly show the transition from TWW's shield to ALttP's shield.

Alright, so let's see... Let's look at what's consistent of just about every shield. Hm... That would be the Triforce emblem and bird wings. It's on all the shields we see except the ones from LoZ and AoL. This indicates their Hylian origins very nicely.

Next, let's most on to the field. The field of a shield is basically the background. Up there I said "field azure," which means blue background. So... Prior to the Great Flood, we see shields with a blue field. After the Great Flood, we see shields with brown backgrounds. Shortly after the discovery of New Hyrule, we go back to fields azure. This makes perfect sense. People's tastes change over time, and trends will tend to repeat themselves.

Next, I'd like to look at the shape of the shields. From OoT to MM, we see that the shields have angled tops. However, in every occurance later on, shields have flat tops. This was probably for combat advantages, such as being able to make contact with the top of your shield without cutting yourself open.

On the bottom of pre-flood shields, we see a curved but definately pointed bottom. After the flood, we see shields with curved bottoms for a time, and then we see shields with completely angled bottoms some time after that. This makes perfect sense. Hylians may have wanted to test the advantages of curved-bottom shields, and then decided to go with angled-bottom shields.

Well, this thread really wasn't meant to prove anything other than the general grouping of games based on shields. Shields were very important in medieval times, as they allowed knights to tell each other apart. This is because they had their family's coat of arms on it, which is unique to each and every family. You could research yours if you've got European origins, but your results may depend on your last name. Well, let me hear what you all think!

Edit:

Originally Posted by Master of ALttP @ The Hylia

I didn't intend to point out which game was first. I intended to group them. I guess I never got around to it... Anyways, I'll go do that right now. First, though, I'll group the games based on their shields. When shields match up for the most part, then they will be placed in a group.

Group 1: OoT, MM, TP
Group 2: TWW, PH, TMC
Group 3: FS, FSA
Group 4: ALttP, LA, OoA, OoS
Group 5: LoZ, AoL

Later on, I'll give these groups names as the eras of Hyrule. Now, just by looking at that, does it seem like all the games flow together very well? What I'm trying to do is since there's no proof that TMC isn't before OoT, I am trying to persuade people that TMC isn't first with common sense in terms of how things have progressed over time. Okay, and just for the heck of it, I'll group the games based on art styles.

Group 1: Realistic anime; OoT, MM
Group 2: Super realistic anime with noticeable cel shading;TP
Group 3: Cute, bug-eyed chibi; TWW, TMC, FS, FSA
Group 4: Realistic yet still cartoonish anime; ALttP, LA, OoA, OoS
Group 5: Since I have yet to give this a style, I call it 1980's anime; LoZ, AoL

See, the artwork flows very well. You don't have a sudden change in art styles without small hints leading up to it. Also, if you look at the games, you'll see that it isn't just random placements of them. They are all grouped according to their actual grouping (OoT/MM, ALttP/LA, etc.). Now, let's compare these two to my actual timeline.

1. OoT/MM
2. TP
3. FPTRCRL
4. TWW/PH
5. TMC
6. FS/FSA
7. ALttP/LA
8. OoA/OoS
9. LoZ/AoL

Again, artwork runs together. Again, the shields make a gradual progression into what we see in Hyrule's later history. Again, items such as the Fire Rod and the Staffs are all grouped together. Hyrule has definate eras in its history, and that's one of things that I look for based on Hylian technology and artifacts.

With disregard to the possibility of there being a split timeline along with the finer points of time travel around OoT's ending, would you not say that I have a perfect timeline? All I've got to do now is wait for Twilight Princess to come out to look for anything that could influence there only being a single timeline.

Interesting. Good work MoAlttP.

Its funny how the sheild style stays completely the same in the centuries between tWW and TMC, and yet changes slightly in the short number of years between LoZ/AoL, and FS/FSA. (Putting the changes between MM and OOT down to world hopping)

The "bird" on all official Hyrule crests has always made me wonder. What is it? Why does it sometimes have full wings, and other times not? Why sometimes arms? You think such a reoccuring object would have some signifigance by now.

You could research yours if you've got European origins

My Maternal Grandfather has all the markings of his Scotish Clan. Its kinda cool, but, as it turns out, my family emblem is a rat. Lovely...

Originally Posted by mmmmm_PIE

Interesting. Good work MoAlttP.

Its funny how the sheild style stays completely the same in the centuries between tWW and TMC, and yet changes slightly in the short number of years between LoZ/AoL, and FS/FSA. (Putting the changes between MM and OOT down to world hopping)

The "bird" on all official Hyrule crests has always made me wonder. What is it? Why does it sometimes have full wings, and other times not? Why sometimes arms? You think such a reoccuring object would have some signifigance by now.


My Maternal Grandfather has all the markings of his Scotish Clan. Its kinda cool, but, as it turns out, my family emblem is a rat. Lovely...

I've heard somewhere that it's disputed whether it's an eagle or a phoenix. Given that the bird has both open and closed wings throughout history and Hyrule will often fall and reemerge, I think it's safe to say that it's a phoenix. Phoenixes are said to be born from their ashes, which would fit Hyrule very well.

Good job MoALttP. This obviously can help with the timeline, regarding that the sheild in ALttP and the oracle series are identical.

Hmmm.... I hate to start a debate, but the WW shield is sheild used by the Hero of Time... this could be untrue due to the fact that WW is hundreds of years after OoT and the statue in Hyrule castle, but who knows.

Also, the sheild the statue is holding is probubly the Hylian Shield. First of all the mirror shield is extemely simular to the Hylian sheild. Plus we don't know if its the mirror shield or not. So...

Originally Posted by HeroOfTime5

Good job MoALttP. This obviously can help with the timeline, regarding that the sheild in ALttP and the oracle series are identical.

Thanks. I told the people over at GameFAQs about this, and hopefully they'll think the same way as you two do.

Actually, the WW mirror shield is not the shield the statue is holding. It shares the same shape but if you look you'll notice that thwe designs on it are different and that the shield on the statue i more like the shield from Tp. which you failed to mention. And it is not the hylian shield though almost the same, the Tp shield does not ahve and upside down triangle on it below the bird like the Oot one. But regardless of that, you did a good job.

Originally Posted by Freedom G

Actually, the WW mirror shield is not the shield the statue is holding.

I will address that later. If you could give me some pictures that I could use, then it'd be greatly appreciated.

It shares the same shape but if you look you'll notice that thwe designs on it are different and that the shield on the statue i more like the shield from Tp.

Details will differ. The people were doing the statue from memory. Remember that the Hero of Time vanished from the land that made him a legend. Since he wasn't there, he couldn't stand still for three months while the statue of him was carved out of solid steel.

which you failed to mention.

The design on the shield could change at any time between now and mid November.

And it is not the hylian shield though almost the same, the Tp shield does not ahve and upside down triangle on it below the bird like the Oot one.

The shield in Twilight Princess is a Hylian Shield. The Knights of Hyrule use them, whenever a Link wields the Master Sword he is a Knight of Hyrule, and the shield he uses is nearly identical to the Hylian shield. I'm sure that if OoT were being remade with current graphical standards then the Hylian Shield would be identical to that of TP whereas the Mirror Shield would be identical to that of TWW.

As for the upside down triangle, that was removed for TP due to rumors of there being a fourth piece to the Triforce. Since it was removed, Nintendo pretty much said that there's not a fourth piece to the Triforce. That is why you get GANNON-BANNED for saying there is.

Lol, fourth Triforce peice...

Well, I'm with you on this one MoAlttP. With this being the only evidense at all to decide between post-LA and post-AoL Oracles, I'd say its a pretty strong case, no matter how small a detail it appears. Excellent.

As for the whole thing where granny tells tWW Link that the family sheild was used by the ancient hero, pshhh. She's just another antiques roadshow widow trying to make her past seem a little worth while. Go to bed Grandma!

LionHarted's Notes on the LoZ-AoL Shields: Note that the art style for the equipment in LoZ differs drastically from the style used in AoL, for all weapons, not just the sword(s) and shield(s). What is important to note is the design, which is a cross. While the cross as a symbol doesn't hold any credence outside of LoZ-AoL, the fact that two shields of nearly identical design are used here to denote direct sequels is important to note.

LionHarted's Notes on the ALttP-OoS/OoA Shield: I wouldn't go so far as to say that Link looks younger in the OoS/OoA picture, especially since it's obvious that the art style for the Links of that era has been upgraded/modernized slightly, yet he still retains the same physical features: his hairdo is the same, his hat brim is still yellow, he still wears the brownish sleeves, etc. etc. Since he actually seems slightly more equipped (see the white tights in the OoS/OoA pic), I would actually wager to say he's older there. Other than that, the shields are identical, so OoS/OoA are placed adjacent to ALttP/LA, and definitely not after LoZ/AoL.

LionHarted's Notes on the OoT/MM Shields: The most important thing to note, outside of the fact that the OoT and MM shields seem both to be derivatives of the same basic Hylian Shield design (I would wager that they are both types of Hylian Shield), is the similarities between the design on these and on the ALttP shield. It seems that the ALttP shield was designed to mimic this one (vice-versa in terms of release chronology), likely to establish a connection between the ALttP and OoT eras. Note that the Hyrule in both ALttP and FSA is a lot more like OoT's Hyrule than the Hyrule in TMC and FS, in terms of place names and of emphasis on mythology.

MoALttP did a great job explaining the TWW and FS saga shields.

As for the whole thing where granny tells tWW Link that the family sheild was used by the ancient hero, pshhh. She's just another antiques roadshow widow trying to make her past seem a little worth while. Go to bed Grandma!

It's important to note that the name of the starting sword and shield in both MM and TWW is the same. Remember, in the Japanese version of MM, the Kokiri Sword was actually called the "Hero's Sword." This actually further establishes a connection between the two, along with the bow's being named "Hero's Bow" and the persistence of Tingle as well as the Gyorgs.

Note that the Hyrule in both ALttP and FSA is a lot more like OoT's Hyrule than the Hyrule in TMC and FS, in terms of place names and of emphasis on mythology.

Aye, which is why it was so difficult for a couple of us to place TMC between OOT and FSA. Damn Capcom and Hylian/Human confusion. *Sigh*
Speaking of which, Capcom didn't contribute much to sheild design, did they? For both OoX and TMC they just stole sheilds from other games.

Originally Posted by Master of ALttP

The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
The best I could find wasn't very good, and I already reached my ten image limit, so I just took this one out.

Here are two pictures:



Identical to Alttp and OoX.

Notice that every shield apart from LoZ,AoL and MM has the Triforce above the bird/phoenix, like the Triforce was high up in the Sacred Realm. I wouldn't go as far to say that the ALttP/LA Link is the same as the OoS/OoA Link, mainly because when he meets Princess Zelda in the Oracles it appears as though that that is the first time they've met. Maybe the Link in the Oracles was ALttP Link's son or grandson?

Anyways, great research Master of ALttP. I've always noted the shields when compiling a timeline together, but I never thought of posting it on ZU. Strange, you do a few threads on research I've either been doing or done and about to post. You're reading my mind... ... ... pwease stop, it's scawy .

Wow, I didn't expect such positive feedback! I thought people would criticize my use of artwork, but you all seem to like that I did this! Well, just so you know, LionHarted and I are doing item comparisons throughout the Zelda games. He's doing pre-flood and early New Hyrule eras, whereas I'm doing pre- and post-New Hyrule eras. We'll probably be doing a joint thread, so look for it within the next few days.