Daily Debate: Which Fantasy Series Would You Like Zelda to Draw Inspiration From?
Posted on November 15 2018 by Sean Gadus
The fantasy genre is a diverse and vibrant area of literature. Thousands of authors have published stunning and imaginative stories. Any of those could possibly influence current and future film, television, and other literature. Within The Legend of Zelda series, one can see the influence of the classic play and story Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie, whose title character clearly influenced another famous green clad hero.
The influence of other properties is an essential part of all creation. All creators are drawing from, diverging from, and responding to the creations of others. With this in mind, if you could pick one fantasy novel or book series for the Zelda series to draw inspiration from, which would it be?
Some fans might jump to classic fantasy series like The Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, or the myths of King Arthur. However the looking outside the tradition swords and sorcery novels could also prove exciting for the franchise. One example would be V. E. Schwab’s novel A Darker Shade of Magic.
The novel explores a powerful young magician who can move between four different, alternate versions of London. The idea of parallel worlds is one that Zelda has played with before. The designers and writers could learn a lot about how to differentiate different worlds and settings by examining Schwab’s lush and distinct London’s.
Which fantasy novel or series do you think could be a useful influence for the Zelda series? Let us know in comments below!
Featured art by E-f-e-u
Sean Gadus is a Senior Editor at Zelda Dungeon. His first Zelda game was Ocarina of Time, and he loves all of the 3D Zelda games from 1998-2011. The final battle of Tears of the Kingdom is one of his favorite final battles in the entire series. He wants to help build a kinder, more compassionate world. You can check out his other written work at The-Artifice.com.
