Today marks the 40th anniversary of The Legend of Zelda. Originally released for the Famicom Disk System in 1986, Nintendo’s ambitious adventure kicked off the most beloved high-fantasy video game series of all. Over the decades, the tuniced hero has killed stalfos, wiped out octoroks and harassed cuckoos. But beneath all the sword and sorcery lies another campaign waiting to happen, one that Link has never braved but is about to undertake: space shit.
In 2017, Breath of the Wild director Hidemaro Fujibayashi, artistic director Satoru Takizawa and technical director Takuhiro Dohta gave a speech at the GDC. It offered a rare and candid insight into the production behind the latest (and for some, best) Legend of Zeldareleased a few days ago. Getting a peek behind the curtain at how the toybox of physics and elemental effects came to be was a treat, but one of the most bizarre parts of the conference involved an earlier pitch.
In a segment titled “Trial and Error,” Takizawa goes over the concepts of a version of the game called The Legend of Zelda: INVASION. “That’s where things got a little dodgy,” Takizawa said. “And here comes an invasion from space.”
As the laughter grows in the crowd, strange slides of this potential Zelda ride a bike. It features a UFO descending on Hyrule, a storyboard for an alien autopsy, space suits, and Ganondorf in what appears to be a Metallica t-shirt. Most offensive of all were the slides of the most asshole Link ever developed. Dressed like a New Week volunteer, Link dons baggy denim pants, a striped winter hat, a Triforce guitar, and a motorcycle. To think that we came so close to a Link with a Super bad poster in his room still gives me chills.
The Legend of Zelda is 40 years old today 🤯
*check notes on space*
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (2017): UFO concept, unknown artist
Art Director Satoru Takizawa: “Some of our young designers came up with very unique suggestions, like the idea that UFOs could invade space and abduct livestock. »
— The spaceship 🚀 (@thespaceshipper.com) 2026-02-21T10:15:00.535Z
Luckily we got the amazing game we got instead, but it’s probably no coincidence that Takizawa brought up INVASION when discussing the design of Breath of the Wildancient ruins and Guardians. Sheikah technology has a strong, supernatural, and out-of-place appearance. Mechanical octopus arms. Bright, menacing spotlights. A metallurgy so far removed from masonry anywhere else. Hell, Link’s main weapon is a damn smartphone. It always felt like some science fiction elements remained deeply rooted in the soil of Hyrule, constructed by past visitors.
This Stargate-besides, that wasn’t the case The Legend of ZeldaThis is the only near miss with a different gender. The fact is that since day one, Shigeru Miyamoto considered giving The Legend of Zelda a harder sci-fi bent. In an interview with the French publication Cult of the gameMiyamoto confirmed that the original idea for the series revolved around time travel.
Time travel is obviously common, but this initial concept is less Ocarina and more Back to the Future Part II. This plot apparently concerns a bygone era where steel and shield rubbed against strange future devices, and the source of the Triforce’s incredible magic being microchips and computer parts. In this same conversation, Miyamoto even thinks that Breath of the Wild producer Eiji Aonuma could have added the Sheikah Slate as a sort of callback to this original idea. 1992s A link to the past became so close to Link battling flying cars that concept art was drawn up for a tubular 90s cyberpunk Princess Zelda, resurfaced in 2013 History of Hyrule. Come to think of it, the title A link to the past would make a lot more sense for a game about time travel than a game where you just jump between a good dimension and a scary dimension.
After 40 years, it seems unlikely that Nintendo will send Link, Zelda, Tingle, all our friends from Hyrule hurtling into wormholes and distant nebulae. When the Hylians land on the moon, it usually means that the moon has arrived on Hyrule. Nintendo has already reigned in its style guide. As they venture in the movies, Netflix shows and theme parks, I expect they will only become more conservative about what their IPs do and don’t do. However, as much INVASION’s Link… bothers me, I’m so unwavering Jackie Brown And Ed Bois are their best films, a kind of hack that discovers that great artists often do their greatest work beyond the comfort zone. Throughout the ages, people who work on Zelda seem to dream of one day launching Link into the cold void of space. Maybe one day their wish will be granted.
