Poll: Should Link be female in the next Lengend Of Zelda

[The_Echo]

Female Link? No. It's nothing more than a cosmetic difference and brings nothing new to the table.

Zelda as the protagonist? Yes. I can agree with that. She would play differently, the plot could be less... same-y. It'd be much closer to a 'breath of fresh air' for the series than a Link with tits.

I still wouldn't genderbend Link because someone would question why we haven't done it to Samus and then there would be a shit-ton of problems.

Why would anyone think that?

The Legend of Zelda involves the reincarnation of three key figures throughout time. Essentially, Link, Ganon and Zelda are a different avatar of the same being in each game, right? Metroid is a single continuous narrative. It's the same character each time here.

 

[Lt._nefarious]

No.

Why no? Well, the reasons are 3 fold:

Reason 1: Rule 34 still exsists and all the creepy shit with femi-Link already exsists and encouraging them isn't good.

Reason 2: You just fucked over every previous Zelda game.

Reason 3: It's stupid, it really a step backwards when the last thing you do to try and reinvigorate people's interest in a franchise is the hero lady parts...

 

[scorptatious]

What's a Lengend?

OT:Uh, isn't that like asking Duke Nukem or Master Chief to become female in the next game? Why take an established male character and genderbend them? Just have a new female protagonist (which every nintendork will go apeshit over) If you have to drink a temporary potion, then alright, but to play an entire game as a rule 63'd Link...nah.

]I'd actually liked to see a Zelda game with Zelda as the main character.

You wanna see Zelda as the hero?

Spoiler: Alright then...

Well considering it isn't the same Link every game, I don't think it would be too far fetched to think that one of Link's decedents/ancestors would end up becoming a female hero of time.


EDIT: I just realized how weird it is that every person named Link in the series ends up becoming the hero. I mean, I know that you can change their names, but canonically, they are still Link.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Well I'm sure a lot of people following Rule 63 would get a kick out of it, that's for sure.

 

[Yopaz]

Quick disclaimer: Though I am quoting and responding to Yopaz here, he is not the first or only person I've seen express this view. He's just the most recent, so I'm using his post as a proxy for every post that has expressed this sentiment.

Good. Glad we got that out of the way. Now then:

Whenever someone asks me if I want a female protagonist or a gay protagonist my answer is always the same: If it's not relevant to the plot or necessary to make the game work I don't see a reason for it.

This sentiment disturbs me deeply. It bespeaks a level of prejudice (not necessarily bigotry; I'm limiting it to prejudice for now) that is frightening in its implications. What this is basically saying is, "Straight and male is the default. Anything that is not straight and male has to justify itself, but straight and male gets a free pass. No justification is necessary for straight and male. Straight and male is okay simply on the grounds that it is straight and male."

It's not that I have a problem with it. It's more that I have problems with plot details that lead nowhere. Now you could make the protagonist of a game an Atheist and it would only be a change in character description. Just the same a female Link could be a character description. If a female Link was actually a detail relevant to the plot I'm all for it.

I have received several hilarious accusations in my time on the internet, but being accused of holding prejudice because I want a plot that leads somewhere is the silliest in a while. Honestly I have a feeling you didn't understand me (I did ramble on a lot so that's my bad).

My point is that using a female, gay, religious or fat protagonist for the sake of bragging bout how tolerant we are of religious, lesbian, fat women is idiocy. Having a protagonist like that because it's actually important to the plot is something I can appreciate. These details can give the character more depth.

 

[Souplex]

Priorities people!
First priority for the LoZ is going back to top-down. The DS ones don't count, I meana real one you can control with buttons. (Maybe have Capcom make it since with Oracle of ___s and Minish Cap, they've proven that they're better at making Zelda games than Nintendo)
After that, they're welcome to go in whatever crazy experimental direction they want.

 

[burningdragoon]

Should? I'm not going to tell Nintendo how to do their job. Not in this case anyway.

I don't really care either way, but I don't think it would actually accomplish muchwhich isn't and argument against doing so. Zelda getting more lead roles would definitely be a nice thing though.

A thought that doesn't really apply since there are plenty of male Links, but a female Link would add to the amount of female protags, but lessen the number of non-meathead male characters.

If they were to do it, what I would probably do is have something like twins and either you pick which one becomes the hero (however) or something happens to male Link and girl Lynk takes up the green tunic. Not as a bait and switch, but as bigger explanation than "lol gender-swap"not that lol gender-swap isn't valid on it's own..

 

[notanick]

Had to vote no to this one - in my opinion, Nintendo should just start a new IP with the same basic mechanics but from a female perspective. After all, isn't Zelda, and Link for that matter, a worn-out concept? (Yeah I realize they won't for brand recognition sake)

 

[Abomination]

I don't even classify Link as a "Character". Rather it is just something that holds a sword, shield and sometimes throws a boomerang, or was it a hookshot?

The point is that Link can be any gender the player pleases since it is androgynous anyway and doesn't have any personality to speak of.

 

[JimB]

Well straight and male is generally the largest demographic in gaming, so why wouldn't that be the default for game character/orientation?

Because the idea that people can only be interested in a character who has the same sexual organs as the player and who wants to stick them in the same kinds of holes as the player is pathetic. Link doesn't have sexual organs, he has pixels; and he doesn't have a sexual orientation, either. I've never played the game where it's so much as implied that he's romantically attracted to any of the other characters. Even whatsername, Amnesia Chick, from Twilight Princess works every bit as well being a best friend as a love interest.

The only reason I can think of (and if someone else has an alternate explanation, I am genuinely interested in hearing it) for a straight, male gamer to be unable to relate to a gay and/or female Link is homophobia and/or misogyny; a deeply held and probably not even articulated belief that Those People Aren't Like Me.

From a game development standpoint, it makes sense to appeal to your largest market unless you have a specific idea in mind that will be furthered by a specific inclusion of a female or homosexual lead.

Probably, but since I am not making any money off a Zelda game, I am not required to cater to the preferences of people whose beliefs I find contemptible.

It's not that I have a problem with it. It's more that I have problems with plot details that lead nowhere.

You seem to be confusing "plot" with "character." "Plot" is defined as "things that happen in a story." Being female is not a part of a plot; no one will ever write, "This is the scene where the protagonist is a girl."

Now you could make the protagonist of a game an atheist and it would only be a change in character description. Just the same a female Link could be a character description. If a female Link was actually a detail relevant to the plot I'm all for it.

Then we're back to my original complaint, which I will rephrase here as a question: Why is it that a woman has to be proven relevant to the plot, but a man's relevance is taken as a given? In what sense is that not a double-standard, and more importantly, who benefits from having it in place?

My point is that using a female, gay, religious or fat protagonist for the sake of bragging bout how tolerant we are of religious, lesbian, fat women is idiocy.

It is interesting to me that you seem to think the only reason to include such a character is to brag, rather than for the sake of inclusion.

 

[Winthrop]

A lot of people in here saying that because Link isn't super masculine it would be fine to make him a girl. Isn't that a bad idea though? Its sort of a way of saying "If you don't have giant muscles and kill stuff just to watch it bleed, you aren't a man" by taking a nonmuscular man and making him a girl? Plus Link isn't masculine because he is a kid in almost every game. Most Children don't look like they are on steroids in my experience.

I'm not opposed to a Zelda centered game or a Zelda like game with a female protagonist, but genderbending a guy because he doesn't seem masculine enough seems like it is really sending the wrong message.

 

[jollybarracuda]

Eh, nah, Link has already been established as the male hero who saves the princess. That's always been the fun thing about the Zelda games; even as video game stories get more and more complex, you can still find a new Zelda game that brings back that kind of classic, simple, fantasy story that we grew up with.

However, I would definitely support Nintendo making a new franchise, and if it happens to utilize a female protagonist, neat.

 

[Zuljeet]

If I wanted to see a female in the game setting where Link resides, I would expect the game creators to make a female character; you know, be creative and stuff. ;p

 

[JimB]

The deeply held belief that "Those people aren't like me" isn't homophobia or misogyny, it is xenophobia.

That's more of a generalized phenomenon than specifically singling out gay people and women like the post I quoted, but still, xenophobia might have been the better word. Let me think about that for a while.

 

[sXeth]

I'd just go the obvious route and have them do some sort of Link & Zelda tag-team/co-op option rather then bother flipping genders

 

[Starik20X6]

Yeah I have no problem with making Link (Lynk?) female. You could make it a good story point too- She's a peasant girl whose hometown gets attacked by Ganon on his way to Hyrule castle. The Hero of Time doesn't show up, so she decides to go fight Ganon herself, and then plot twist that nobody saw coming, it's revealed that she is the newest incarnation of the hero. Probably something with better writing...