A translation of a concept art page from Hyrule Historia. Images taken from History of Hyrule’s The Legend of Zelda art anthology. This page was translated by Patas.

Loftwings

Top Sketch:
•The red parts are not feathers, but hair
•Purple and yellow, to give it a Master Sword and Triforce vibe
•Silhouette and colour like the bird mark in the Hylian Shield
•For steering (they don’t flap) Link puts his feet near the base
•When not flying, the tail curls up, like a dog
•The tail waves

Middle Right Sketch:
Virtual Model

Bottom Left Sketch:
Ways to tell other Loftwings apart from Link’s:
•Different hairdos
•Quiet colours
•Fewer, shorter hair
•These wings are short too
•No long tail
•Do not use exactly the same colour combination, white, purple, yellow, on the wings
•Zelda’s Loftwing may also have a vivid colour and a long tail to make it look special

Click to enlarge.

Loftwings:

“Since a hero riding a red bird saved the land that would eventually become Hyrule, there’s a bird on the shield. However, that emblem was designed previously, so I guess fate was already decided. Loftwings are like shoebills, but the model for their curling tails was the designer’s Shiba dog. When it’s in a cage in the first part of the game, it wags its tail in a cute way.”

(Hiraoka, Designer)

Final Sketches For the Sacred Shield

Top Right Picture: Back

Middle & Bottom Right: Strap Color

LV1: The bird head changed a bit.

LV2: Please make the frame silver.

LV3: The pattern’s OK. To make it look more like a goddess and give it a shawl vibe, the shape of the hair was changed.

*The parts in red are to be done with polygons. I’d like to represent the other uneven surfaces with specular bumps.

Are heroes always sleepyheads?

In many games, the first scene featuring Link depicts him sleeping. It may be a representation of the hero’s awakening…

      Skyward Sword                           The Wind Waker

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