The Legend of Zelda is a 1986 video game developed and published by Nintendo, released in North America in 1987 and designed by Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka. Set in the fantasy land of Hyrule, the plot centers on a boy named Link, the playable protagonist, who aims to collect the eight fragments of the Triforce of Wisdom in order to rescue Princess Zelda from the antagonist, Ganon. During the course of the game, the player sees Link from a top-down perspective and must navigate him through the overworld and several dungeons, defeating enemies and finding secrets along the way.

The inaugural game of the Legend of Zelda series, it was first released in Japan as a launch title for the Famicom Disk System peripheral. More than a year later, North America and Europe received releases on the Nintendo Entertainment System in cartridge form, making the game the first home console title to include an internal battery for saving data.

The Legend of Zelda was a bestseller for Nintendo, selling over 6.5 million copies; it was the first NES title to sell over 1 million.