Forget Link..... let's make Zelda!

[CTurbo]

What class do you think Zelda would be?

I assume she would be either Half-Elf or Elf

[Naanomi]

I like half-Elves to represent Hylians.

Depends a lot on the game but... Divine Soul Sorcerer is my first inclination (that whole ‘Goddess reincarnated’ thing)

[iTreeby]

I just replayed ocorina of time and zelda definitely can cast knock (in ganons tower like a million times) , disguise self (to be shiek) and possibly hold person? (to deku nut link a couple times)

If you went by super smash brothers it could give justification for mist step, probably shocking grasp, fire bolt and probably a few other spells.

I'd say in 5E zelda has a few bard levels just for the list flexibility.

[dgnslyr]

Lore Bard is a real possibility too, I think. Not necessarily a direct damager, but capable of strong support magic. And although Zelda isn't primarily known for her strength of arms, she's still capable with a light blade or bow when the situation calls for it. Also, LoZ has always had a strong association with music, so it's a nice extra touch.

[Mana Opal]

Well, in my attempts to be thorough with my line of logic and fold as many versions of our fair Princess into the build as I'm aware of, it seems I've made quite the wall of text. Hey, you can't say I didn't try! :smalltongue:

My first thought was to go Pact of the Celestial Warlock (keeps the holy theme, and if the Goddesses are deemed too divine for it, one could just say that she's pulling from one of the spirits in TP instead). More importantly, the Improved Pact Weapon and Eldritch Smite Invocations allow you to pop the Light Arrows upon whatever poor sap had managed to earn your ire.

Master of Myraid Forms allows you to switch into Shiek mode (visually, anyway), which ties into her OoT incarnation (you can also do Tetra, unless there's something about size I've missed).

Tomb of Levistus might be the closest thing to the crystal Zelda seals herself inside of in OoT, and happens to be pretty neat. Granted, it has a hilariously short length in comparison, but it doesn't exactly work too well as a Nayru's Love representative, IMO.

On the spell side, we've a couple things working for us. In terms of the expanded spell list, we have Flaming Sphere (the OoT version of Din's Fire), Guiding Bolt (remember how she had her own version of the Ganondorf Volley in TP? This works well here, and makes the next "Arrow of Light" easier to land to boot!), and Guardian of Faith (the Phantom, anyone?). Not bad, for a bunch of things we get for free.

First level spells give you Armor of Agathys, which is sorta like having the OoT version of Nayru's love with the melee portion of the spell's SSB version tacked on as a bonus. That's kinda neat, methinks! You also get Protection From Good and Evil, which arguably is something Zelda natively has. At least, I doubt that most people would argue against her having it...

Second level spells grant add Misty Step to your repertoire (SSB's version of Farore's Wind), as well as Spider Climb to give Shiek a bit more maneuverability. You also fain Shadow Blade for when you want to go in swinging as Tetra, but don't want to change our Pact Weapon from its longbow form, but I imagine that that's a bit more of a niche situation.

So, uh, Zelda's kinda into that purification thing, right? Well, 3rd level spells let her do that in spades: You get Counterspell, Remove Curse, and Dispel Magic as available options! Magic Circle allows you to keep those corrupters out of an area proactively, so you don't have to clean up the mess in post- though if she did that more often, there wouldn't be quite as many games, now would there?

Spell level four's first entry in alphabetical order also happens to be a highly pertinent one- how many times has Zelda had to cast some form of Banishment now? To be fair, the duration of this spell is nowhere near as long as sealing Ganondorf away in the Celestial Realm, but it's also longer than her Final Smash in Smash Ultimate, which has a similar thematic basis. Sickening Radiance gives you a bigger generic light spell to work with in addition to your free cantrips (and a light-flavored Eldritch Blast, I guess), as well as having the added bonus of revealing the invisible. Not exactly a specific skill she's displayed (that I'm aware of), but one that kinda makes sense. Lastly, Dimension Door is here to serve the same thematic role as Misty Step earlier, but with a more 'tech' type flavor- fits in with those crazy Smash strats, no?

Speaking of stepping all over Misty Steps toes as the SSB!Farore's Wind rep, 5th level adds Far Step for about half a round's worth of Smash-like teleport spammability! In a completely different direction, you also get access to Dream and Scrying, which are perfect for guiding you chosen hero along his path and making sure he isn't off playing hooky stays on that path from a distance! Don't forget about Wall of Light on this level, either- this thematic bit of battlefield control also renders a few foes far easier to handle and gives you extra firepower in the form of laser beams should you be on the opposite side of the wall from your enemies (which you probably should be)! Shame it can't get as big as the barrier she put up around Hyrule Castle in TP, though...

Unfortunately, Mystic Arcanum makes choosing her Lv. 6+ spells a little bit trickier. At least Lv. 6 makes it easy by making Conjure Fey the most Zelda-like option here (Great Fairy, anyone?).

Lv. 7's a different story, however. Wanna keep being offensively potent with all your Radiant Soul-boosted Light spells, while being a touch more stylish? Take Crown of Stars. Wanna focus more on putting evil beings where they belong (i.e., nowhere near you)? Take Forcecage. Wanna add some more Spirit Tracks flavor to your free Guardian of Faith? Take Etherealness, and terrorize the masses as a moe ghost~! Technically, you could nab Plane Shift to actually send Ganondorf to the Celestial Realm, but it doesn't seem to useful in a Hyrule-rooted game to me (and there's a better way to do it later anyway).

Eigth level is like Lv. 6 in that it's pretty easy to figure out, but different in that it's so easy because everything else is so unfitting (except for maybe Demiplane). Just take Glibness, and rule your kingdom with all the charm they expect you to have!

And lastly, Lv. 9 gives you a big choice: do you want to be rid of the King of Evil for realz, or do you want you hero to be the absolute best he can possibly be? If you chose the former, take Imprisonment and realize that this is kinda like what Hylia did to Demise back in the day. If you choose the latter, then go for Foresight instead, and let Link rend the poor sap fiend to pieces while dodging his every blow!

Note that getting the Lv. 9 Mystic Arcanum does leave you with three levels to play around with in terms of multiclassing. Why not take a few Bard levels to nab Knock (as mentioned by iTreeby above) and a couple extra cantrips (I guess Dancing Lights and Message? None of the ones the Bard gets and the Warlock doesn't really fit her). For other Bard spells you pick up along the way, Calm Emotions and Faerie Fire seem to be the most appropriate, though there is plenty of room for the likes of Unseen Servant or Feather Fall. Like the Warlock's list, there's a fair bit of available free space here.

I'd say take the College of Swords once you hit 3rd level- this gives you proficiency with scimitars (so you don't have to rely on Shadow Blade to swing in melee as Tetra), as well as Medium Armor (take Chain Shirt here, as that's what she wears in Hyrule Warriors if you want to stay on-theme, though it isn't the mechanically best option on the list). Since she has yet to dual-wield in the series, take the Dueling Fighting Style- it'll rarely come up in this build if all goes well, but should come in handy if it does. The real deal here, however, is the Blade Flourishes- in addition to being totally up Tetra's alley, they add a bit of versatility to what would otherwise be a standard attack routine and buffs your movement when you land a hit whether you flourish or not! Don't forget that there isn't anything against using them with ranged attacks, so they can add a slight damage boost to your Light Arrows or even Shiek's ninja shenanigans! Might as well grab something actually useful while we're busy grabbing Knock, right?

Tl;Dr: My voucher is for Celestial Warlock 17/ Swords Bard 3, probably with slipping the Bard levels in after getting Improved Pact Weapon and Eldritch Smite.

[Naanomi]

After some thought; I think she is a Cleric... domain depends on the game. She is the bearer of the Triforce of *Wisdom* after all

[Xihirli]

Aasimar Divine Soul Sorcerer shadow monk

I know she bears the triforce of Wisdom but her powers come from being descended / incarnated from a dead goddess.

[DarkKnightJin]

After some thought; I think she is a Cleric... domain depends on the game. She is the bearer of the Triforce of *Wisdom* after all

I made a Half-Elven Arcana Cleric version of Zelda.
She might lose out on things like Misty Step, she gets enough out of it to be fitting, I feel.
And she'd have a decent Zelda-ish feel to her right from 1st level, to boot.
I'll admit to this version being a bit more based on her Smash Bros Brawl incarnation, with a bit of Hyrule Warriors tossed in for good measure.

[Naanomi]

I know she bears the triforce of Wisdom but her powers come from being descended / incarnated from a dead goddess.
I agree in a way but... arguably a cleric of Nayru in a way as well. Protector Aasimar Light Cleric?

[Mana Opal]

Hmm, if we're separating them by individual appearance, maybe we could get away with having some of them be multiclassed in addition to the differing domains?

WW!Zelda (i.e., Tetra) is very much a Swashbuckler prior to being ousted.

OoT!Zelda (Shiek) has some levels in some sort of stealthy class (Shadow Monk? Thief Rogue? Maybe even some sort of Ranger?).

SS!Zelda is easily the most Bardy of the bunch (both in terms of personality, the fact that she actually plays an instrument during the game, and her greater potential for getting Jack of all Trades due to not having been raised as royalty).

HW!Zelda is an experienced swordswoman and frontline commander, and as such probably has a few levels in Battlemaster or Champion.

Of course, there are a good few that are probably single-classed (given that most of them stick to magic for their needs), and for them the different Domain is how they'd differentiate themselves somewhat. Not gonna lie, though- I kinda want to say that TP!Zelda'd run the Grave Domain, even though I know that it's a fair bit off-point thematically...

[CTurbo]

Yeah she was pretty great with a Rapier in Hyrule Warriors for sure