Zelda's Contest History

Who is Zelda?
In the beginning of the Legend of Zelda series, Zelda was the prototypical princess that had to be rescued by the hero. But as the series has grown, so too has Zelda's role within. A Link to the Past saw Zelda interacting with Link near the beginning of the game, and the revelation that Sheik is just Zelda in disguise in Ocarina of Time is perhaps the series' biggest spoiler.

Zelda went on to aid Link in the final boss battle in The Wind Waker, and Nintendo plans on making Zelda a playable character in Twilight Princess. Zelda a playable character in the series named after her... took those idiots long enough.

Though despite finally coming into her own in the Zelda series, Zelda's biggest accomplishment in gaming may be the fact that Sheik is the best character in Super Smash Brothers Melee. Tournament-level Sheiks are damn near unbeatable, though it'll suck when Nintendo decides to nerf Sheik to hell and back come SSBB. They're stupid like that.

"Link! I don't know how to say this... everything that's happened to you and your poor sister... It's all been my fault. I'm so sorry..." - Zelda

Zelda's Contest History
Win-Loss Record: 7-4

Summer 2003 Contest - West Division - 10 Seed
 * Western Round 1 --- Defeated (7) Lara Croft, 70941 [62.29%] - 42940 [37.71%]
 * Western Quarterfinal --- Lost to (2) Mega Man, 43239 [39.25%] - 65528 [60.75%]
 * Extrapolated Strength --- 19th Place [30.29%]

Summer 2005 Contest - Gear Division - 5 Seed
 * Gear Round 1 --- Defeated (4) Vivi, 62347 [59.56%] - 42324 [40.44%]
 * Gear Semifinal --- Lost to (1) Solid Snake, 48941 [45.59%] - 58421 [54.41%]
 * Extrapolated Strength --- 14th Place [30.89%]

Zelda made a decent splash in her first contest when she ripped apart Lara Croft before being the first character to actually make Mega Man look fallible. She then took a year off, but came back in a big way in Summer 2005. Vivi/Zelda was a match that many expected Vivi to win based on the 2004 stats not accounting for Sephy/Vivi SFF, but Zelda proceeded to lay a 60-40 beating on Vivi as if he didn't even belong in the contest at all. A lot of Zelda > Snake hype was borne of this (as well as the horrendous match pic that Snake received in the second round), but Snake held his own and was able to beat Zelda with a minimal effort.

Zelda being stuck facing a Noble Nine character in the second round of each contest appearance may have led to her early demise on both occasions, but the Twilight Princess herself could see herself on that level once gamers finally begin taking control of her in a Zelda title.

Summer 2006 Contest - Triforce Division - 1 Seed
 * Triforce Round 1 --- Defeated (8) Carmen Sandiego, 102509 [86.08%] - 16578 [13.92%]
 * Triforce Semifinal --- Defeated (4) Terra Branford, 92826 [79.45%] - 24005 [20.55%]
 * Triforce Final --- Defeated (2) Aeris, 71597 [56.87%] - 54300 [43.13%]
 * Elite Eight --- Defeated (1) Yuna, 77105 [57.02%] - 58112 [42.98%]
 * Final Four --- Lost to (1) Samus, 58985 [44.73%] - 72890 [55.27%]
 * Extrapolated Srength --- 4th Place [44.73%]

Zelda is a very strong character normally, but the female half of this bracket made it so that no character other than Samus could beat her. She embarrassed her first two opponents, made Aeris and Yuna look identical in strength and nearly broke 45% in an SFF loss. Pretty broken for a non-NN character if you ask me, and she'll only continue going up thanks to the hardon GameFAQs has grown for Nintendo.

Summer 2007 Contest - Division 4 - Second Group
 * Division 4 Round 1 --- 2nd place, 42692 [29.88%] - Vincent Valentine, 55265 [38.68%] - The Boss, 22633 [15.84%] - Miles "Tails" Prower, 22287 [15.60%]
 * Division 4 Round 2 --- 4th place, 11297 [7.78%] - Link, 74350 [51.19%] - Vincent Valentine, 40309 [27.75%] - Bidoof, 19278 [13.27%]

When the bracket was released, some people were upset that Zelda would have to face Link in the second round because it meant that she could beat Vincent in round 1 and still end up on the short end of the stick. Turns out that those concerns were unnecessary, as Vinny destroyed her. Zelda is one of those characters who seems to thrive on name value, and in a multiway poll, that value is not as high, and it showed here.