The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap is a 2004 action-adventure game developed by Capcom and Flagship and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy Advance. The twelfth entry in The Legend of Zelda series, The Minish Cap was released for the Game Boy Advance in Japan and Europe in 2004 and in North America and Australia the following year.

The Minish Cap serves as a prequel to Four Swords and Four Swords Adventures, telling the origins of the titular Four Sword and the villain Vaati. The game retains many elements common to previous Zelda games, especially top-down predecessors such as A Link to the Past, and includes new features and mechanics. Chiefly, the protagonist Link acquires a magical talking cap named Ezlo, who can shrink Link to the diminutive size of a Minish.

The Minish Cap was well received among critics. It was named the 20th best Game Boy Advance game in an IGN feature and was selected as the 2005 Game Boy Advance Game of the Year by GameSpot. The game was re-released on the Wii U Virtual Console in 2014 and on the Nintendo Classics service in February 2023.

The Minish Cap features gameplay similar to previous Zelda installments. Link must explore an overworld and complete multiple dungeons, acquiring new items and abilities throughout the game.

The titular "Minish cap" refers to a new ability that allows Link to transform into "Minish size" using portals throughout the world. Link's smaller size changes his ability to traverse his environments. For instance, a small portal inaccessible to Link in his normal size can be used by Minish-sized Link. A puddle that Link can normally walk over will be too deep for Minish-sized Link to traverse.

Along with items common to Zelda games (such as bombs and arrows), The Minish Cap introduces three new items: the Mole Mitts (allowing Link to dig through earthen walls), the Gust Jar (which sucks up enemies and other objects), and the Cane of Pacci (which flips objects upside-down). In certain areas, the player can create multiple copies of Link; although The Minish Cap is a single-player game, this ability is inspired by the multiplayer-focused Four Swords games. The player can also collect "Kinstones", artifacts that are broken into two fragments. Finding matching Kinstone pieces can progress the game or award other prizes.

Within the Zelda chronology, The Minish Cap takes place between Skyward Sword and Four Swords, making it the second story in that timeline. As a prequel to Four Swords, The Minish Cap tells the backstory of Vaati and the creation of the Four Sword, which both feature in Four Swords and its sequel Four Swords Adventures.

Centuries ago, Hyrule was ravaged by evil forces until the Picori, a race of tiny creatures, bestowed a young hero with the Picori Blade and the Light Force, using both to trap the world's evils in a chest. The grateful people of Hyrule would hold an annual Picori Festival, with legends stating that a door between their worlds would open every 100 years, allowing the Picori to return. In the present, Link accompanies Princess Zelda to the Picori Festival. The festival's sword fighting champion, Vaati, destroys the Picori Blade and opens the chest, releasing monsters across Hyrule. Not finding the Light Force he seeks, Vaati turns Zelda to stone and leaves. As only children can see the Picori, King Daltus orders Link to find them so that the sword can be reforged to stop Vaati and restore Zelda. Traveling to Minish Woods, Link encounters Ezlo, a magical hat, who decides to accompany Link and grants him the ability to shrink to Picori size. The Picori, who call themselves Minish, then task Link with retrieving the Four Elements, magic stones needed to restore the Picori Blade.