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

[TallestGargoyle]

There's no good reason to just Rule 63 a character in an established canon. Making Link female for the sake of making him a girl is just plain stupid, and would only serve to satisfy a few of the more twisted fantasies people have regarding the characters, not adding anything to the canon.

Link is always male, Zelda is always female. You want a female protagonist in a Zelda game? Suggest one where you play as Zelda, and not those CDi pieces of shit. Given her abilities in magic it could lend to a very different style of action puzzler. And that would serve to be a much better experience than just playing another LoZ game with Link as the main character, that just happens to have boobs.

 

[userwhoquitthesite]

This contradiction you don't explain well, you just seem to be working backwards from the presumption that female link would be bad and picking contradictory reasons for it.

Actually this contradiction you've inadvertently highlighted proves the most important aspect of the "Link Character".

"To have a female Link, it'd have to be an entirely different INDIVIDUAL. "

Because Link IS an entirely different individual! Some LoZ games are direct sequels following the same individual, but most are set hundreds or thousands of years apart and each time it is depicted as the young protagonist's first adventure after being born and growing up in a village.

"Having a female Link would change nothing"

Exactly. Your contradictions prove my point, Link is about a courageous one rising from the common people of Hyrule, Link being a girl wouldn't change that. That anyone could be the courageous one to vanquish evil is the important theme, which could (and should eventually) go to a woman. Even if it was a winding path of inheritance, who says a female can't inherit? Deliberately changing the character illustrates Link's stated nature.

Also I think it would do a lot to reaffirm why Link fights, not as a romantic gesture to Princess Zelda (which is distancing from selfless courage) but for all the people of Hyrule, that Princess Zelda petitions Link to do.

Link being MALE doesn't mean Ocarina of Time is about him being male. Why would Link being female mean it's about her being female? Why the double standard? This expectation of maleness is the contradiction from the stated Zelda-lore.

The bottom line: having a new Legend-of-Zelda game where Link is female won't forever make Link female, it won't retcon anything. It will however FULFIL the Zelda lore that the Link-Role is for the courageous one, not dependant on gender.

They aren't contradictions, at all. But, given the unedited nature of my post, I can forgive you forn misunderstanding. Let me explain to you where you went wrong

"female "link" has to be entirely different individual": because she can't be "Link". Because Link is a man. for all the reasons already listed. Yes, it's a different link in most games, but its still the same CHARACTER, and link is a man. Yes, in the real world men can become ladies, but that hinges on very personal issues and when they do, they don't keep their male names.
"female character wouldn't matter": because it wouldn't. If, in a perfect world, Nintendo made "Legend of Steve" starring Sarah the Hylian, and Sarah saved the world and nothing but incidental things had to do with her gender, then it would be the same game (only minus the iconic characters, which is a stupid idea in terms of marketing).

Now do you understand? its not two contradicting thoughts, its two separate ideas with nothing related to eachother.
One is about how the female character would have to be made, the other is about why it shouldn't matter either way

 

[josemlopes]

See *most* men aren't insecure any more, they can play the role of a female without it puncturing their inflated male ego, just like women can play so many FPS games without the idea of being a Male Marine challenging their femaleness. I mean who marked down Portal 2 because the protagonist wasn't a dude?

That is another thing, why is this "More female protagonists" thing such a hot topic? The gender of the character is so fucking meaningless to the game that I really dont understand why should anyone be bothered with it. Yeah, there could be a bit more balancing and all but going after already popular characters and due a genderbender really doesnt seem to be the right way to do it. Why not just use already popular female characters or create new ones?

 

[bificommander]

I don't really see the point of making Link female. But I would be very happy if they gave Zelda a decent role in the game named after her. Twilight Princess might as well have been called Legend of Midna and Skyward Sword started promising with some actual Link-Zelda attraction and character dynamic, but then Zelda is absent for most of the game.

 

[upgrayedd]

He should be a 30 something white male with short brown hair, giant arms and an american voice.

Wouldnt bother me to much, however with the Image of Link it's pretty iconic, would be a pretty brave move however i think People will buy Zelda for what it is, not because suddenly Link is a black female called apiffany of whatever they would want to do

 

[Treblaine]

They aren't contradictions, at all. But, given the unedited nature of my post, I can forgive you forn misunderstanding. Let me explain to you where you went wrong

"female "link" has to be entirely different individual": because she can't be "Link". Because Link is a man. for all the reasons already listed. Yes, it's a different link in most games, but its still the same CHARACTER, and link is a man. Yes, in the real world men can become ladies, but that hinges on very personal issues and when they do, they don't keep their male names.
"female character wouldn't matter": because it wouldn't. If, in a perfect world, Nintendo made "Legend of Steve" starring Sarah the Hylian, and Sarah saved the world and nothing but incidental things had to do with her gender, then it would be the same game (only minus the iconic characters, which is a stupid idea in terms of marketing).

Now do you understand? its not two contradicting thoughts, its two separate ideas with nothing related to eachother.
One is about how the female character would have to be made, the other is about why it shouldn't matter either way

"Because Link is a man."

No. Link isn't even one person. Being male is not a definitive part of the Link Persona, and if it was it's such a trivial aspect it would be easy to change.

And I don't mean changing gender after birth, because each new Zelda game begins with another Link being BORN in the mean time, why would the courageous one not be born a female? It's a 50/50 chance.

Prince Steve sounds dumb. At least something like Prince Stewart or something like that.

"nothing but incidental things had to do with her gender"

That's ALWAYS been the case with (male) Link in every LoZ game. Nothing is dependant on Link being a man, simply a courageous, daring and idealistically driven adventurer.

And why would Link being female remove iconic characters? You just threw that assertion in for no reason.

"One is about how the female character would have to be made"

The character wouldn't have to be made in any significantly different way as nothing about the Link persona is dependent on maleness. Link isn't even a distinctly male name. The attire of green tunic isn't even distinctly male

The fact that it shouldn't matter either way needs to be ILLUSTRATED BY EXAMPLE, by ACTUALLY HAVING a female Link.

Otherwise the series leaves the impression of a Male Prerogative with "just so happens" every time a courageous adventurer rises from the population of Hyrule to save them, is a male. You may want that impression, but the public (not executives) in all other matters are generally opposed to Male Favouritism.

 

[Quellist]

They could have Link played by Hayden Panettiere and i still wouldnt play another bloody Legend of Zelda game. Seriously, Nintendo should do something new with the licence instead of churning out the same game every couple of years.

 

[Treblaine]

See *most* men aren't insecure any more, they can play the role of a female without it puncturing their inflated male ego, just like women can play so many FPS games without the idea of being a Male Marine challenging their femaleness. I mean who marked down Portal 2 because the protagonist wasn't a dude?

That is another thing, why is this "More female protagonists" thing such a hot topic? The gender of the character is so fucking meaningless to the game that I really dont understand why should anyone be bothered with it. Yeah, there could be a bit more balancing and all but going after already popular characters and due a genderbender really doesnt seem to be the right way to do it. Why not just use already popular female characters or create new ones?

It's not a hot topic. The hot-topic right now is guns, don't you know.

But more female characterisation in games always going to be something to be brought up because a full HALF of humans are female. Men don't need any sort of affirmative action guaranteeing their near total domination of leading roles in games.

This isn't "genderbending" don't use words if you don't know what they mean, you'll look foolish and totally derail any reasoned discussion.

Do you want to know what happened to the Link of Majora's Mask by the time of Wind Waker? He's dead. Died of old age or whatever he is GONE! Finito, deceased, expired, dead as a stuffed parrot. The idea that Link is "one character" and any kind of active sex-change to one individual is needed just shows your ignorance of or indifference to the series which undermines the relevant of any opinion of have of it. Most of the Legend of Zelda games begin with a WHOLE NEW CHARACTER who takes on the Link ROLE! It's a Hyrulian tradition, normally bestowed by some elder who will be the "chosen one" to be named Link and bestowed with the iconic green tunic.

Now a character like James Bond who has been remade and retconned (officially and unofficially) so many times, Yes, him being a man and a machismo man is an essential part of his character, that's what James Bond is.

But Link is no James Bond. And the whole point of "link" is that Link is not one-character, but an adopted persona of completely different individuals separated through time.

I'll tell you what Legend of Zelda IS about, it IS about a young adventurer (thematically identified by iconic green tunic) rising from humble origins to save his land, with added nobility of it being chartered by some sort of a Royal decree. That's not dependant at all on gender.

A character like James Bond, you can change a lot of things but he still has to be a suave mature guy seducing the ladies.

Link is no hunk seducing the ladies. But be courageous, loyal and adventurous, a role would fit just as well for a girl.

One thing I can't stand is the ongoing hypocrisy of:

"It doesn't matter what sex the protagonist is"

yet

"Oh but it can't be hanged from the way it is".

Which is trying to have it both ways when it suits you. Any argument for going AGAINST the pointless trend of Link arbitrarily being male with a gender-blindness attitude. Then any deviation from the pointless trend is labelled "genderbending" and "doesnt seem to be the right way to do it".

So it simultaneously doesn't matter if Link is a guy or a girl, but does matter if he wasn't a guy.

 

[Treblaine]

He should be a 30 something white male with short brown hair, giant arms and an american voice.

Wouldnt bother me to much, however with the Image of Link it's pretty iconic, would be a pretty brave move however i think People will buy Zelda for what it is, not because suddenly Link is a black female called apiffany of whatever they would want to do

The image of Link is hardly an icon of masculinity. It's a young feign elvish looking person in a green skirt who hangs around with a pixie.

Link would be unlikely to be black as the Link Mythos is he is from the Hyrulian people and they quite homogenously look white/asian/err... well they look like this:

The elf look.

The point is Link is a challenger who rises up from the people, and that could just as well be a girl as a boy, and the role is hardly one that only a male could do. That is SUCH a strong theme of Legend of Zelda games, that it could be anyone born in Hyrule who rises up to the challenge, saying that that role could NEVER go to a girl...

... that is being unreasonable.

We're not saying "change everything to suit political correctness". The Zelda Lore ITSELF naturally leads to a female Link.

It's not the case at all that "well Link *just so happens* to be a guy so will always be a guy" Link isn't one individual character!

 

[userwhoquitthesite]

"Because Link is a man."

No. Link isn't even one person. Being male is not a definitive part of the Link Persona, and if it was it's such a trivial aspect it would be easy to change.

No, the links from the various games are not one person. As I have said. But Link is a man. There is ONE character, Link, who is and always has been male. You can put some else in his ROLE in the story, and they can be female, but they can't be LINK. Jesus. how do you not understand this? It's like saying Dante from Devil May Cry should be female.

CHARACTER AND ROLE ARE NOT THE SAME THING


I'm not even going to address the rest of whatever you're saying because I don't think you're worth the effort

 

[Angelblaze]

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...

That wouldn't make sense since Master Chief and Duke Nukem are the same person in the same lifespan.

Since Link is the re-incarnation of the same 'soul', it's perfectly logical for link to be born as a female at least once. Zelda could be turned into a guy - or not. Not sure how that would work.

"Because Link is a man."

No. Link isn't even one person. Being male is not a definitive part of the Link Persona, and if it was it's such a trivial aspect it would be easy to change.

No, the links from the various games are not one person. As I have said. But Link is a man. There is ONE character, Link, who is and always has been male. You can put some else in his ROLE in the story, and they can be female, but they can't be LINK. Jesus. how do you not understand this? It's like saying Dante from Devil May Cry should be female.

CHARACTER AND ROLE ARE NOT THE SAME THING


I'm not even going to address the rest of whatever you're saying because I don't think you're worth the effort

Link is a 'soul' not truly a 'character'. 'He' barely has 'his' own voice dude. 'He' is literally a re-incarnating being, having 'him' re-incarnated as a 'she' would be perfectly fine.

And sure, why not have Dante be female if 'he' gets re-incarnated? ...Except we kind of did that and called it Bayonetta.

Funny ain't it?

Also: calm the hell down.

See *most* men aren't insecure any more, they can play the role of a female without it puncturing their inflated male ego, just like women can play so many FPS games without the idea of being a Male Marine challenging their femaleness. I mean who marked down Portal 2 because the protagonist wasn't a dude?

That is another thing, why is this "More female protagonists" thing such a hot topic? The gender of the character is so fucking meaningless to the game that I really dont understand why should anyone be bothered with it. Yeah, there could be a bit more balancing and all but going after already popular characters and due a genderbender really doesnt seem to be the right way to do it. Why not just use already popular female characters or create new ones?

It's not more female protagonists that we want - it's less sexualized, more independent ones.

If you can think of a female superhero that is currently in the marvel/dc cannon that isn't put into a sexual pose and/or is wearing an ARMOR- like a WARRIOR should, you will have surprised me.

 

[Sonic Doctor]

That is canon, which means in all games it must be so.

...Are you being ironic here? I honestly can't tell.

Nope, entirely serious. I can't stand it when people tinker and mess up the canon of a well established series. I also feel the same with just about any structure of well established franchises. I've seen hardly any franchises stay successful when people make drastic changes to established characters and/or story structures.

I know it isn't in the world of gaming, but in television, big changes are the reason Stargate Universe failed and probably killed the Stargate franchise dead. Compared to Stargate SG-1 and Atlantis, Stargate Universe's story structure, story style/character dynamic, and filming style were different. It just barely got two seasons and ended on a cliffhanger. It's obvious the vast majority of Stargate fans didn't like it, and even though fans explained to SyFy why they didn't care for the new show, SyFy was ignorant or feigned ignorance by saying that the reason it didn't do well and people didn't watch was because they aired it on a bad night.

I tell you right now, if Nintendo just up and changed Link into a girl, that game would be the worst selling Zelda game of all time. I use to be a huge Zelda fan back in the day when I only had Nintendo systems, and if they had done that, I would have ignored that the game ever existed and waited till they brought the franchise back to what it is suppose to be.

If you want a playable female character in a Zelda game, used established female characters(there are plenty of them) or make a new female character. Maybe a Zelda game where the female character is a selectable character to play alongside Link. Link will still be male and selectable. The female character will have a different play/control style or different weapon setup.

 

[kgpspyguy]

OK sure and next year lets make "Santa Claus" a woman too...that was sarcasm a spin off title about zelda might be fun but replacing link with a girl is stupid.

 

[sageoftruth]

My only objection is that since we've known Link as a guy for so long, I feel that even if the new hero is female, people will just think of the character as Link's female form, which might make some gamers a bit uncomfortable. I'm sure they'd get over it eventually, but I'm also pretty sure a lot of gamers wouldn't even give the game a chance.

 

[Milanezi]

Didn't answer, it would be interesting to be able to choose if Link is a male or female charcter, only to fortify the "link" between player and character.

 

[BakedZnake]

Imagine playing Ocarina of Time from Zelda's perspective?

Mario as a woman in his/her next game would be funny

 

[runic knight]

hmmm, well I could see some plot-related ideas with this

Ganon wins, knows link will be reincarnated like before, knows the time and place, kills off all male newborns of the place. Link is actually the only born female. Yadda yadda yadda

The very first "link" is a woman. Magic of finding triforce of courage for first time imbues her bloodline, so she is reincarnated in spirit by descendants. All other links are actually "dead ends" of the chain as the line only travels through women descendants, thereby explaining how he is connected to all without having kids of his own

I wouldn't be opposed just as long as the gender didn't change anything gameplay or story wise. Which, given how little link's gender means in most games, wont be a problem. Zelda as a male for love interest would be interesting though... or as female, have nintendo start a homosexual cannon in a main franchise....might be interesting.

Zelda pov game? also could be fun. Similar gameplay, more magic oriented maybe? Or perhaps pirate/ninja-training? Lots to work with and could still feel very zelda-esc.

 

[danon]

I don't see the point of making link female. Just make a legend of zelda game with another protagonist that is female. To be honest i don't care much about what gender link has but suddenly changing gender is a bit weird.

 

[Treblaine]

"Because Link is a man."

No. Link isn't even one person. Being male is not a definitive part of the Link Persona, and if it was it's such a trivial aspect it would be easy to change.

No, the links from the various games are not one person. As I have said. But Link is a man. There is ONE character, Link, who is and always has been male. You can put some else in his ROLE in the story, and they can be female, but they can't be LINK. Jesus. how do you not understand this? It's like saying Dante from Devil May Cry should be female.

CHARACTER AND ROLE ARE NOT THE SAME THING


I'm not even going to address the rest of whatever you're saying because I don't think you're worth the effort

"But Link is a man."

You keep saying this, but repeating it won't make it true. I have shown how and why maleness is not a fundamental aspect of the Link role.

Just because Link has always been male doesn't mean he always must be male. That's utterly spurious logic to keep things the same simply because they have been the same.

"CHARACTER AND ROLE ARE NOT THE SAME THING"

But everything you said acts as if they are the same thing.

Link is a role, but a Character is an individual as in "I met the strangest character on the way here".

"You can put someone else in his ROLE in the story (and they can be female) but they can't be LINK."

But that is EXACTLY what the series has ALWAYS done. The creators of Zelda have REPEATEDLY put someone else in the role and called them Link! Actually... DID they call him Link? In most of the game the default name was Link but they let you chose your name, it could be anything.

"It's like saying Dante from Devil May Cry should be female. "

But Dante is ONE INDIVIDUAL!

Link in the LoZ series is a role taken up by MANY DIFFERENT INDIVIDUALS!

These individuals come from ANY Hyrule family, 50% of offspring are female, it is totally reasonable and expected that one of the heroes to be the chosen one might be female.