There are now enough characters, timelines, and games for a convention to literally just be full of Legend of Zelda cosplayers and not seem homogeneous. Of course, what we mostly see these days are Breath of the Wild cosplays, since it is the most recent game, and it was very, very good.
What was most fantastic and different was the open world and voice acting, but the characters obviously never lost their charm. Legend of Zelda character designs have never held back on creativity. A lot of heart and imagination is put into them, and that makes them all the more fun to cosplay. There are ten wonderful Breath of the Wild cosplays we found by talented cosplayers.
10 Great Fairy Cotera
Fairy fountains play a large role in making yourself stronger in Breath of the Wild. There are four fountains in total, each overseen by a different fairy. The easiest one to find is near Kakariko Village and it is overseen by the Great Fairy Cotera.
This cosplayer obviously put a lot of love into her cosplay from the hair, from the make-up to little details like the fairy earpiece. The cosplay was done by Besango and was worn at Arisia and Anime Boston in 2018 and Anime Boston 2019, where it won a judges award for workmanship.
9 Riju
Riju is the Chief of the Garuda, despite being very young since her mother died unexpectedly. Her character is both tough and adorable. You can see signs of her young age if you go to her room and see her stuffed animals or when you see her wear the thunder helmet and it is obviously too big for her.
This cosplay is done by kay_la_kill, and she has also done amazing cosplay for Harley Quinn, Princess Daisy, and Viera from Final Fantasy.
8 Zelda
This Zelda cosplay was made by the cosplayer, and she is in the process of making a new wig for the upcoming Breath of the Wild sequel for Zelda's shorter hair. The cosplay was done by LayzeMichelle.
While Zelda is one of the most popular cosplays from the franchise (next to Link, of course), not every Zelda is made the same. Every game gave her a different style and even somewhat of a different personality. What made the Zelda in Breath of the Wild so special was her voice acting and emotional cutscenes. She has not learned to control her powers yet. This is frustrating for her, and it is powerful to watch scenes with her trying to deal with all the responsibility put on her shoulders.
7 Beedle
Breath of the Wild's Beedle is definitely a more ambitious cosplay due to his giant backpack. This cosplay was done by model Magnus DeLions. He is a professional model, but also loves to treat himself to cosplay for fun. A lot of work was put into this outfit, too! There is so much to look at from his table to the little roof over his head to the plants hanging off the backpack. He even has the beetle symbol on his shirt. That is a ton of detail.
Due to being a model, he is pretty muscular, so that is an interesting take on Beedle. Then again, lugging around that backpack all day would make him pretty strong, wouldn't it?
6 Paya
Paya is a more minor character, but she gets a lot of love. This cosplay was done by ambearxcosplay, and she has done other cosplays like Pearl from Steven Universe and Himiko Toga from My Hero Academia.
The character Paya has only appeared in Breath of the Wild so far, but maybe she will make appearances in future games? She is a Sheikah, which are an ancient race of ninja warriors, so do not let her pretty face and easily embarrassed personality fool you.
5 Link
Obviously, we had to have a Link cosplayer in this list. Unfortunately, the cosplayer is unknown, but the photo was done by Tomitotoro Productions, which does a lot of great photography of cosplayers. To be easily recognizable as the Link from Breath of the Wild, most cosplayers choose to use his blue tunic from the game cover.
However, sometimes cosplayers like to give themselves more of a challenge since Link dresses in a lot of different armor sets in the game. Sets that would be most difficult for cosplayers would be the ancient armor set, barbarian armor, and flamebreaker set.
4 Mipha
This creative take on Mipha was done by Sorairo-Days. Usually, when cosplaying Mipha, cosplayers resort to covering their bodies in a bodysuit to look like the Zora race. However, this cosplayer relied more on make-up, a wig, and clothes to create the character. It came out gorgeous too!
Mipha is a fan favorite from Breath of the Wild because she's adorable, a powerful healer, and she has an obvious crush on Link. Of the powers you can collect in the game, hers is definitely the most useful. She saves your life a lot.
3 Yiga Clan
The Yiga Clan was a new group of villains that were introduced in Breath of the Wild, and they were quite fun. They were Sheikah who abandoned the royal family and threw themselves in with Calamity Ganon. They serve of goofy villains, however, as it is hard to take them seriously when they are absolutely obsessed with bananas.
The cosplayers are unknown, but the photo was taken by Yenra Photography. They did a great job by having different weapons and bananas. No Yiga Clan cosplay is complete without at least one banana!
2 Urbosa
Urbosa serves as a mother figure and warrior for Princess Zelda in Breath of the Wild, and she was awesome. In fact, game director Hidemaro Fujibayashi said that she was his favorite character in an interview about the Breath of the Wild. That is kind of a big deal. She also makes a small appearance in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
This cosplay was done by Zitana Cosplay. She has also cosplayed many various characters from World of Warcraft.
1 Purah
Despite her appearance, this character is even older than Impa. She is physically six years old, while her real age is 120. Due to her adorable look, she is a popular cosplay choice for anyone who wants to wear a cute dress. This cosplay was done by Svetlana Ultanbaeva, with the photography done by SeiPhoto.