Find the crystals, rescue the princess.

This was the first in what would become one of the most beloved action adventure game franchises of all time.

The Legend of Zelda continues.

Zelda! Zelda!

Zelda!

However, it must be said that not all Damsels are created equal and Zelda is occasionally given a more active or integral role to play than her counter part in the Mushroom Kingdom.

Indeed Zelda is at her best when she takes the form of Sheik in Ocarina of Time and Tetra in The Wind Waker.

Disguised as Sheik, she is a helpful and active participant in the adventure and she is shown to be more than capable.

Later she is turned to stone and then kidnapped for a second time.

I call this variant on the theme, The Helpful Damsel.

In 1986, Shigeru Miyamoto doubled down on his Damsel in Distress formula with the NES release of The Legend of Zelda.

More like funions and 12packs of jolt from the vintage soda store while my roommates and I hacked Zelda 3.

Over the course of more than a dozen games, spanning a quarter century, all of the incarnations of Princess Zelda have been kidnapped, cursed, possessed, turned to stone or otherwise disempowered at some point.

It is noteworthy that, in the very last stage of the boss battle, she does help Link fight Ganondorf for a few brief minutes, which is a refreshing change.

The good news is that there is nothing stopping developers from evolving their gender representations and making more women heroes in their future games.