ZD Top 5 – Hyrule Warriors Playable Characters

Hyrule Warriors gave fans of the Zelda series a proverbial army of playable characters with which to take on enemy forces.  So, the question naturally arose:  with so many characters to choose from, which are your favorite to play as?  We asked the Zelda Dungeon staff this week, and now we’re asking you.  Leave your thoughts in the comments.

 

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Jon Lett – View Profile

5. Ganondorf

4. Tingle

3. Zelda

2. Sheik

1. Link

I’ll be honest. I was always happiest when I got to play as Link, considering Koei Tecmo seemed to have had the easiest time designing him. His typical sword moves make him the simplest character for which to vary attacks, and therefore make him the perfect character to use when getting into the game for the first time. Also, once you get the master sword, I don’t think anyone will say that they didn’t have a great time demolishing enemies with huge, awesome attack damage. I mean come on. That thing is fantastically overpowered.

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Alasyn Eletha – View Profile

5. Young Link

4. Impa

3. Ghirahim

2. Sheik

1. Link

I don’t know about anyone else, but the spinner is my favorite weapon. I’m sure there are other more powerful ones- if not totally overpowered- but I really enjoy the destruction left behind using Link’s spinner. And of course, I really enjoy using the different combinations as either Sheik or Ghirahim. Sheik is very elegant and the moves are always so stunning, while Ghirahim is more entertaining. There is a problem with Ghirahim’s excessive need to pose after each combo, though, that makes him slow and leaves him wide open for attach. He’s clearly got a complex, haha!

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Alexis Anderson – View Profile

5. Lana

4. Midna

3. Impa

2. Sheik

1. Link

I don’t have any of the DLCs, so if you’re pinched for cash but still want to rip through enemies with ease, my list is for you. You start off playing as Link, so he’s going to be the easiest to use initially; but Sheik has some pretty smooth movements, and swinging around Impa’s huge sword deals a lot of damage. I forced myself to love playing as Midna, since I love her in Twilight Princess. And summoning the Great Deku Tree is always fun when playing as Lana.

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Kevin O’Rourke – View Profile

5. Ganondorf

4. Darunia

3. Lana

2. Midna

1. Link

Hyrule Warriors is great because it allows you to play as a huge cast of characters that you normally don’t see running around the battlefield. My favorite character to play as is Link because of the amount of fighting styles available to choose from. Out of his movesets I prefer using the Gauntlets, Epona, and, of course, the Master Sword. Midna and Lana take close second and third with unique styles that are enjoyable to play as. It’s great to see original characters enter into the Zelda series like Lana, along with the dark forces like Cia, Volga, and Wizzro.

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Aaron Suduiko –  View Profile

5. Volga

4. Ganon

3. Zant

2. Ghirahim

1. Ganondorf

One of the things I enjoyed most about Hyrule Warriors was the opportunity to play as the villains of the Zelda universe, a rare opportunity in the Zelda franchise.  I was impressed that it was actually required in the campaign to play as the Great King of Evil himself.  All of the villains are interesting characters to use, but there is something deeply satisfying to me about playing a Ganondorf who is more nuanced than a mere Captain Falcon clone.