Poll: Female Link in the next Zelda game - Your thoughts?

[Sigmund Av Volsung]

Where's the 'meh' option?

It'd just be another Zelda game minus one notable Y chromosone.

Unless Link suddenly became Shakespearean in character depth/development, it won't make much difference.

 

[SUPA FRANKY]

Would rather he was not. I guess I wouldn't mind if it was optional or you could switch between characters that are female in gender or something.

But in my book, Link is a dude.

 

[nomotog_v1legacy]

See the thing about Link is throughout all of his incarnations he's designed with one thing in mind. Neutrality. He's intentionally featureless. This way the player can project themselves and kind of assume the role of the hero. Switching his gender is going to do the opposite. You'll know he's different enough to do and therefore you won't be able to project onto him. And before anyone says "How can women project onto a male character?" Link is intentionally designed to look pretty much gender neutral.

Why dose link have a gender? He is made to look gender neutral, so how did we all find out he was a he and not a she?

Link has enough gender related accents that we know he is a male (hips as wide as shoulders, squared face, relatively lagre hands). Thing is he's got enough accents to know he's a man but not enough to look hypermasculine enough to make it so female players can't project their persona onto him.

So he isn't gender neutral then. He is just a normal man. I was rather excited about the prospect of a female link, but you know i think I might be more excited by the idea of real gender neutral link. One that isn't defined as a man or a woman. This new link sure has the look of a gender neutral link. If they play things vague in dialog and such, they could pull it off.

 

[Genocidicles]

I voted no. The whole change in gender thing just seems weird.

I'm all for a LOZ game where you play as Zelda though (I mean a good one).

 

[MiriaJiyuu]

There's really no reason Link can't be female since, other than Majora's mask, it's always been a new Link with each game so I suppose as long it isn't a continuation... it'd be weird to think of link as an actual girl though.

I guess I would have to play it to know

 

[Ygrez]

Female link? Voted no... they already have Zelda, so why not play as her instead?

Just have an unknown commoner(Link) be the bearer of the Triforce of Wisdom in hiding, and Zelda has the Triforce of Courage and she has to find who it is before Ganon does.

 

[Texas Joker 52]

You know, something that comes to mind, looking at other posts, is that I never actually put much thought into whether or not I personally relate to a character. In fact, I put so little thought into it that even if I do relate to the player character, or any character really, it doesn't appreciably impact my enjoyment of said character. I enjoy characters because they're interesting, or funny, or sometimes because they happen to be unrealistically cool.

As for the actual topic, fuck yes I'd play as a female Link. As it is, I have a ton of fun playing a male Link, it's just that I imagine a female Link would have a better figure and a slightly more feminine battle cry. That would be the only real difference, and it's mainly aesthetic if you get right down to it in practical terms. Still, a female Link would be an interesting change, and one I'd welcome.

Still, I have to say that regardless of gender, new Link looks pretty good, and the style they're going for is gorgeous.

 

[Signa]

Is she a motherfucking badass? Yes then.

I'm not going to have fun if she runs away screaming at every moblin that crosses her path, but if she plays like male Link, then there is little reason to care. In fact, I probably would like it more just because it's something new. Hell, I'd just be happy playing as Zelda in a Zelda game. She's proven her worth so many times as a warrior princess, yet we still have to tag along in her footsteps as Link. If she's capable of going on adventures herself, then we are missing part of the adventure while shoehorned into playing as Link

 

[StriderShinryu]

I would not only like it, but I'd actually be way more interested in playing it if it had a female Link.

 

[Kricketz]

Honestly, No. I would much rather play with a female character that wasn't Link. In my mind, Link will always be a male. It is very well possible for a decedent of Link's to be a female instead of a male. But, she should be her own person, not just a female version of Link. Or incorporate another playable character into the gameplay or story.

 

[Scarim Coral]

Yes but only if it is justify, well not just a simple genderswap (like if the female Link will be named Zelda or something which also mean you now have to save Prince Link etc).

 

[JediMB]

There's really no reason Link can't be female since, other than Majora's mask, it's always been a new Link with each game

Actually, there are at least three more Links who've been in multiple games:

#1 in Zelda 1 and 2.

#2 in Wind Waker and the DS games.

#3 in A Link to the Past, Oracle of Ages/Seasons, and Link's Awakening.

Yes but only if it is justify, well not just a simple genderswap (like if the female Link will be named Zelda or something which also mean you now have to save Prince Link etc).

There is nothing in the lore that prevents a woman from being chosen as the new destined hero, but Zelda is the reincarnated avatar of the goddess Hylia and could probably not be born male.

 

[MrHide-Patten]

I'd actually buy myself a Wii-U... probably, more likely then if was just ye olde Link. If there was ever a game that could do a gender swap it would be LoZ because every Link is supposed to be a new person, a Link in the chain as it were.

Then there's also the message having a female hero in a popular game series such as this, I'm sure I'd mean a lot to female Nintendo fans (even subconsciously) to have some form of acknowledgement. But all my opinions are biased because I typically don't like male protagonists at all, so if there's any media I reccomend that has a male protagonist, you can bet that there's always something better to like about it.

 

[Yopaz]

I wouldn't not play it if Link was female, simply because I can't bring myself to care. Also what would be the point of having a female link? Nothing would change. We wouldn't have a strong female character as the protagonist of a game. We would have a dummy with boobs rather than a dummy without. A slightly more feminine Link is all we would see. It just seems kinda redundant.

What about a game playing as Zelda or Sheik? Or any game playing one of the female Zelda characters? Playing as Zelda could actually change the gamplay to a significant degree. Have it centered around Zelda using magic, transforming into Sheik and using the ninja skills when things call for that.

I just feel that making Link a female would just be an empty gesture meaning nothing, changing nothing. It wouldn't stop me playing, but that's because I don't care either way. Make Link female, make Link male, make Link gay, transgendered, as long as he's an empty husk of a character neither of these changes mean anything. If we were to be satisfied with this we don't aim highly enough.

 

[Asita]

If by contrast you mean "See this character? That's Link in this game" then I'd be far more interested in the change because the devs would evidently have been invested enough in it to presumably make it interesting and/or meaningful.

Those designs are awful (no offence).

None taken, I've got a few issues with the artist's design choices myself. The point I was trying to make is that I'd much prefer to see a female link with a unique design than one that simply apes the standard model.

 

[Charli]

The option to reverse Link and Zelda's roles.

That's all I want. I don't necessarily need some gender flipped Link when the franchise already has a kick ass lady on hand, but either or. I'll take it.

Basically my answer boils down to a 'yes, but-'

 

[persephone]

Oddly enough, for nearly all existing video game characters, I really wouldn't enjoy it if they were gender-flipped; it would just change the character too much. But in the specific case of Link, he's always been strongly effeminate in his own way, as well as virtually asexual (and possibly actually asexual, but we really don't have enough data for that) and I think it actually wouldn't change his character *at all* to make him female.

I'm actually a bit astounded at how okay I would be with a female Link, because normally I consider gender to be an intrinsic part of a character, not just something you flip around to be PC or for laughs or anything like that. I think Link is an unusual, rare character in that my suspension of disbelief would barely blink at the idea of him being born a woman. Especially because, as MovieBob puts it, he's being reincarnated over the ages; it's not like you're having to rewrite his backstory, honestly.

Heck, now that I think on it, beyond Link being possibly asexual, it's entirely possibly Link actually *is* some form of genderqueer; we just wouldn't know about it. His sexuality and gender identity just never really come up in the games. (Though I haven't played Skyward Sword, so maybe it does in that one? I've vaguely heard it sort of might, though not very strongly, I think?)

You couldn't flip Zelda, though. She's a woman, through and through. Though I would LOVE to be able to play as her; no reason she can't kick some ass hand in hand with a player!

 

[RandV80]

edit: never mind, misread the poll question