Link is (usually) left-handed.

Link, much like The Simpsons‘ Ned Flanders, is a southpaw.

Or, at least, he’s a southpaw in most of the Zelda games. The Wii version of Twilight Princess (notoriously) features a right-handed Link, because that’s how most players hold the Wiimote.

He’s a lefty in the Gamecube version, though.

(Image credit: Nintendo)

The original prototype NES cartridge is worth Its weight in Heart Containers.

The shiny gold plastic NES cartridge was special at time of release, but a more mundane yellow prototype cartridge recently sold on eBay for a cool $150,000.

(Image credit: U-T San Diego/ZUMA Press/Corbis)

The first Zelda game is one of the last, chronologically speaking.

That’s not all! The first two games take place in an alternate universe where Link failed to defeat Ganon in The Ocarina of Time, which was released later.

Of course, given the series’ penchant for time travel, it’s not a surprise that Zelda chronology is … complicated.

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Zelda is … Zelda Fitzgerald?!

The wife of Great Gatsby author F. Scott Fitzgerald was named Zelda, and she indeed inspired Nintendo’s most famous princess.

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Robin Williams named his daughter after Princess Zelda.

The late actor was such a huge Nintendo fan that he expressed interest in voicing the villainous Ganondorf if a film was ever made.

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Link and Mario share the same father.

Nintendo genius Shigeru Miyamoto (shown), creator of the Donkey Kong and Super Mario Brothers franchises, is also credited with creating The Legend of Zelda franchise.

Rather than encouraging gamers to achieve a high score, Miyamoto’s game was focused on exploration and completion — a relatively unique gaming concept at the time. His inspiration came from the joy and wonder he felt while exploring fields, woods and caves as a child.

In his own words, Miyamoto wanted to give gamers a “miniature garden that they can put inside their drawer.”

(Image credit: Ralf-Finn Hestoft/Corbis)

Japan got a 16-bit remake of the original NES game.

Owners of the Satellaview peripheral for the Super Famicom system got quite a treat in the 1990s — a 16-bit remixed version of the original The Legend of Zelda, complete with voice acting.

#jealousy

Link is based on Peter Pan. (Kinda.)

Link wears a green tunic, hangs out with fairies and has pointy ears. Game designer Shigeru Miyamoto has said in interviews that his team turned to Disney characters for inspiration.

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The Ocarina of Time almost had a first-person view.

That idea did float around for a while. But ultimately, the idea of a first-person game was scrapped because Nintendo feared gamers would hate not seeing Link. They were dead-on about that one.

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The Japanese version of Zelda used a mic.

The instruction manual for The Legend of Zelda suggests that the rabbit-like Pols Voice creature has a weakness to sound. That’s absolutely true — but only in Japan.

See, Nintendo of Japan’s Famicom system features microphones built in to the game controllers. You can defeat a Pols Voice in the Japanese version of the game by making noise into the mic — a neat game mechanic that was scrubbed in the U.S version.

No one told the translator of the instruction manual that, however.

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We almost had ZeldaCraft: Dungeon Building.

Originally, the game was set to launch on floppy disks, so players could use the memory storage to create and share the dungeons they created. Once Nintendo decided on cartridges for the officially named Nintendo Entertainment System, that idea was ditched.

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Young Link is voiced by a woman.

In Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask, Link’s famous “hyaaaaah!” is voiced by professional voice actress Fujiko Takimoto.

She’s also the voice of Taki in Soul Caliber, and the voice of Young Mewtwo in the Pocket Monsters anime.

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A Link to the Past has a super secret bonus room.

Prior to the release of the SNES classic The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, the now-defunct Nintendo Power magazine held a contest to put one lucky fan’s name inside a Nintendo game. Little did participants know that the winner, Chris Houlihan, would be featured in one of the greatest video games of all time. (We’re super jealous.)

There are a number of tricks to finding the secret room; most require the use of Pegasus Boots and self-inflicted bomb damage.

(Image credit: Nintendo)

The Triforce was almost from the future.

Time travel was first introduced into The Legend of Zelda universe in Ocarina of Time. But according to game designer Shigeru Miyamoto, time travel was part of the series’ DNA from the very beginning.

One early idea for the original Legend of Zelda game called for the hero to travel between the future and the past; Link’s name suggests that he is the connection between the two worlds.

In this original concept, the pieces of Triforce that Link collects are actually computer microchips.

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Tingle is hugely popular! (Just not here.)

Link’s cartographer “friend” Tingle has gotten mixed reviews from U.S. gamers, in part because he’s so incredibly strange and flamboyant.

But in Japan, Tingle is actually quite popular. He’s starred in his own stand-alone games there, including Tingle’s Balloon Fight DS, Too Much Tingle Pack, and Color Changing Tingle’s Love Balloon Trip (shown).

(Image credit: Nintendo)

Link’s Awakening was inspired by Twin Peaks.

As it turns out, the oddly suspicious and distinctive characters Link encounters in the classic Link’s Awakening were inspired by David Lynch’s ’90s television series Twin Peaks.

“At the time, Twin Peaks was rather popular,” explains game creator Takashi Tezuka. “The drama was all about a small number of characters in a small town.”

“I wanted to make something that,” Tezuka adds. “While it would be small enough in scope to easily understand, it would have deep and distinctive characteristics.”

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Link almost had a sword from the start.

The original The Legend of Zelda starts with Link obtaining a cheap wooden sword from an old man in a cave. But that’s not the way the game was originally designed.

Early versions had Link starting the game with his sword already in his inventory. When game testers reported confusion over what to do in the game, Miyamoto responded, interestingly enough, by taking away their sword.

The move was designed to get players thinking about how to proceed in this new type of non-linear game, and to encourage communication between players about the game’s many secrets.

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You can beat the original game in under 30 minutes.

The current world record speedrun time for The Legend of Zelda is 28 minutes, 50 seconds, set by LackAttack24. Beating the game that quickly requires you to exploit a glitch, however.

You can view a video the entire run on LackAttack24’s YouTube channel.

(Image credit: Nintendo)

It wasn’t originally called The Legend of Zelda.

In the U.S., the original NES game is simply known as “The Legend of Zelda.”

In Japan, the game’s full title is “The Legend of Zelda: The Hyrule Fantasy.”

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Yoshi appears in Majora’s Mask, sorta.

The happy mask dude, for reasons unexplained, has a mask of Yoshi in his wallet in the second Zelda game for the Nintendo 64.

But that’s hardly the only Super Mario Bros./Zelda crossover. Goombas, Thwomps, Pokeys, Cheep Cheep, and Piranha Plants can all be found in Link’s Awakening.

(Image credit: Nintendo)

You can visit Link’s grave in Final Fantasy.

In the original U.S. version of Final Fantasy, you can find Edrick, the hero of Dragon Warrior, buried in Elfheim. In the original Japanese version, the grave belongs to Link, instead.

Re-releases of Final Fantasy in the U.S. have since rolled back that change.

(Image credit: Square)