New concept art has surfaced for what appears to be a cancelled spin-off game of The Legend of Zelda franchise focusing on the character of Sheik from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. In that game, Sheik was revealed to be the Princess Zelda in disguise, hiding from the currently powerful Ganondorf and guiding Link (and teaching him songs, when necessary) in order to unlock the power of the game's Sages.
Sheik is a character who is based off the fictional race of Sheikah people who were sworn to protect the royal family of Hyrule, and have been depicted as such in multiple The Legend of Zelda video games. The Sheikah have been featured not only in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time but also in games like The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
Now, it looks like the rumors about Sheik having their own game planned at some point are confirmed to be true, as recent unveiled concept art reveals all kinds of ideas for a The Legend of Zelda spin-off title featuring the iconic character. As first reported by Shinesparkers, a ton of new concept art purporting to be from a cancelled The Legend of Zelda: Sheik title has recently been revealed, and it shows a game "set within the bad ending of Ocarina of Time, that never made it beyond pre-production." Check out a small sampling of the images below:
According to Shinesparkers, the game would have been an "action/JRPG" hybrid which "would have explored the journey of the last Sheik while Dark Gerudo are giving their 100-year birth to Ganon." This detail means that players would not have been taking on the mantle of Sheik as displayed by Zelda in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, but rather a new character in the franchise's mythology.
The Sheikah are an indelible part of The Legend of Zelda lore, and their logo blazes such iconic The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time gameplay items as the Mask of Truth, Lens of Truth, and the game's massive amount of Gossip Stones, as well as multiple items in other The Legend of Zelda titles. While players may never get to see a solo Sheik game come to fruition, these concept artwork depictions do a fantastic job at showing interested fans what could have been, and if enough people get excited about it perhaps Nintendo could change their minds and green-light a solo The Legend of Zelda game focused on a Sheikah character after all.
Source: Shinesparkers