Retro Studios, the team behind Metroid Prime and Donkey Kong Country Returns, once pitched a Zelda game for the Nintendo DS akin to Final Fantasy Tactics.
This project was dubbed Heroes of Hyrule, and would not have had Link as the main character. Rather, the Hylian hero would have turned up as an NPC.
Per YouTube channel Did You Know Gaming, which got its hands on Retro Studios’ original pitch, Heroes of Hyrule would have told the story of a magical book.
The titular heroes of Hyrule would have been Dunar the Goron (a “gruff, tough fighter” who “embodied the triforce of power”), Seriph the Rito (a “patient [and] warm-hearted rito” who embodied the triforce of courage”), and Krel the Zora (yes, you guessed it, he embodied the Triforce of Wisdom and is described as being “cynical” but with a “warm heart”).