The Legend of Zelda is a video game franchise created by video game designers Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka and mainly developed and published by Nintendo. The universe of the Legend of Zelda series consists of various lands, the most predominant being Hyrule. The franchise is set within a fantasy world reminiscent of medieval Europe which consists of several recurring locations, races and creatures. The world was also partially inspired by Miyamoto and designer Hidemaro Fujibayashi's home town, Kyoto. The most prominent race in the series are the Hylians, a humanoid race with elfin features identifiable by their long, pointed ears. The series' lore contains a creation myth, several fictional alphabets, the most prominent being Hylian, and a fictional almost-universal currency, the rupee. The games involve the protagonists Link and Princess Zelda battling monsters to rescue the various lands they are in, and defeat a villain, which is often the series' main antagonist, Ganon. Link is usually the main player character in these settings, but players primarily play as Zelda in 2024's Echoes of Wisdom. Nintendo developed the series' lore into a timeline that spans thousands of years across its history.
