Talking Point: Is Legend Of Zelda's Link Left Or Right-Handed? Let's Look At The Evidence

The Zelda series has a passionate and devoted fanbase. Over the years, timelines have been debated, settled, shaken up, or outright ignored. Storylines have been contested, shredded apart, put on a pedestal. But nothing, not even recovering the Triforce, is more important than making sure Link is holding his sword in the right hand.

'Right? You mean left, right?' Okay, perhaps 'correct' is the right better term.

Upon his debut in 1986, our favourite green tunic-donning hero wielded his sword in his left hand and his shield in his right. And in the North American manual for Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, it even states: "Then, with a magical sword in his left hand and a magical shield in his right, he set off alone on his long travels." And the Hyrule Historia touches on why Link is (largely) left-handed, stating on page 138 that:

"Link was depicted in early art examples as right handed. However, in order to aid in the creation of the pixel art and for the purposes of configuration in game screens, he was altered to be left handed."

Pretty definitive, right? Well, no.

Things have changed, and Link has proven himself to be a little more ambidextrous over the past 20 years. Some whippersnappers out there might not have even seen Link wield his sword in his left hand at all, but I promise, it was that way for a long time.

Recently, the debate over Link's dominant hand crept up after the upcoming Legend of Zelda movie's Director of Photography shared (and promptly deleted) a clipboard with what looks to be our best look at Link yet, played by Benjamin Evan Ainsworth, in the full green tunic and the Master Sword in his right hand. *gasp*

So, what's the story behind Link's hand-swapping mastery? Is it really a case of inconsistency, or is Link just ridiculously talented and can defeat Ganon with whatever hand he pleases?

So, is Link a lefty or a righty?

As you'll see, it depends on the game!

For a long time, Link held his sword in his left hand. The very first game to break that pattern was Twilight Princess, but only the Wii release (we'll get into the reason in a moment). Since then, he's swapped between the two. But as recently as 2023, Nintendo has said that "Link is left-handed…mostly."

Link has been in a lot of video games, but for this table, we're going to stick to the Zelda series itself. No Smash Bros. — though, if you're curious, he's left-handed in every game except his adult version in Smash Ultimate.

And, you'll see below that are many games where Link is left-handed. (Well, unless you're someone who thinks the shield should be held in the dominant hand, in which case, swap that around. More power to you!)

We're going by official art, Link's in-game model, and by Link's front-facing sprite where appropriate. And unless there's a difference in a port or a remaster, we've listed the original releases only.

So, there's an overwhelming winner here, but it still varies.

What seems to be consistent is that most modern games starring adult Link show him as a right-handed sword user, while the top-down games, and appearances from Young Link, show him using the sword in his left hand.

The CD-i games (yes, I'm going there) show Link holding his sword in his left hand in official art, but in-game, his sprite is holding the sword in whatever hand is facing the screen.

In the Warriors games, it flip-flops. Hyrule Warriors has Link as a lefty, while Age of Calamity has him as a righty, which makes sense as that one's in the same canon as Breath of the Wild.

Cast your mind back to 2003, and you might remember that SoulCalibur II on GameCube (which is also playable on Switch 2 NSO, by the way) depicts Link as left-handed.

Oh, and the, ahem, rough Legend of Zelda cartoon from the '80s presents Link as right-handed.

Got a handle on it?

Why did they change from left to right for some games?

The answer is pretty simple, at least for two of the games: motion controls.

In an Iwata Asks interview from 2006, lead enemy designer Yoshiyuki Oyama explained that the change for Twilight Princess — which infamously mirrors the entire game (so basically, whatever is east on the GameCube is West on Wii) — is because of the Wii Remote. With the majority of players favouring their right hand, Nintendo decided to flip everything.

Even so, there was still fan demand to keep things faithful: "I think that was the best solution, but even looking at this one point, there were people who said they thought Link should still hold the sword in his left hand."

(When Twilight Princess was remastered in HD on Wii U, the original GameCube orientation was used, so Link was once again a lefty.)

That right-handed decision stuck for Skyward Sword for similar reasons (remember Wii Motion Plus?), but Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom have stuck to adult Link's right-handed ways.

Back in 2016, series producer Eiji Aonuma told IGN and GameSpot explained the decision:

"With the gamepad, the buttons you'll be using to swing the sword are on the right side, and thus he's right-handed."

To which my response is... well, that's how it's always been? Buttons have never been in your left hand, unless you like to live dangerously and hold your Wii Remote in your left hand and nunchuck in your right.

Amusingly, because Tears of the Kingdom understandably stuck with Link's right hand, that means Link's magical hand and sword hand are one and the same.

Hold up, is Zelda left or right-handed?

Oh goddess, we're not doing this, are we?

She's right-handed in every game she wields a weapon or wand. There. An easy answer, for a series that doesn't always have easy answers. I love that.

Does it really matter?

Ultimately? No, not really. Link is going to defeat Ganon/Ganondorf/Vaati/Ghirahim/whoever, with whichever hand he's using.

But I have to admit, as much as it doesn't bother me, there is something unique about having a left-handed hero.

To some, Link being a lefty is a big deal — there aren't many left-handers out there in the video game world. Raphael from SoulCalibur, Sephiroth in Final Fantasy VII, and Crono from Chrono Trigger are just a few. That means Link is one of the first.

Of course, in motion-controlled games, it might feel a bit weird to have a character swing with his left hand while you're using your right; that's the kind of thing that would throw me off. But the changes haven't stopped fans coming up with theories as to why some Links are right-handed which concerns their training as a knight.

Will Wes Ball's 2027 Zelda movie finally address Link's ambidexterity? Will it say why he's right-handed? Or is the shot on the banner misleading? We'll need to wait until trailers start dropping, and the full release on 7th May 2027 to find that out.

Does it matter to you? Do you think Link is a lefty or a righty? Vote in our poll below and get discussing the hot topic of Zelda's 40th anniversary in the comments.