 Several years after the events of The Legend of Zelda , the now @-@ sixteen @-@ year @-@ old Link notices a strange mark on the back of his left hand , exactly like the crest of Hyrule . He seeks out Impa , who responds by taking Link to the North Castle , where a door has been magically sealed for generations . Impa places the back of Link 's left hand on the door , and it opens , revealing a sleeping maiden . Impa tells Link that the maiden is Zelda ( not the Zelda from the first game ) , the princess of Hyrule from long ago , and the origin of the " Legend of Zelda " . Zelda 's brother had tried to force her into telling their recently deceased father 's secrets concerning the last of three sacred golden triangle treasures of his kingdom , known collectively as the Triforce . Princess Zelda refused to reveal its location , and the prince 's wizard friend , in anger , tried to strike her down with a spell . Zelda fell under a powerful sleeping spell , but the wizard was unable to control the wildly arcing magic and was killed by it . The prince , filled with remorse and unable to reverse the spell , had his sister placed in the castle tower , in the hope that she would one day be awakened . He decreed that princesses born to the royal family from that point on would be named Zelda , in remembrance of this tragedy . 
