Poll: Would we all be cool with a female Link?

[Rednog]

Wouldn't be cool with it. Making Link a female for no other reason then just wanting Link to be a female is pretty bad. It kind of falls into the whole Ms Male character trope doesn't it? Considering how supportive people on the escapist seem to be of Sarkeesean's work I'm surprised the current vote has 'yes' winning.

You're surprised that in a community that supports the work of someone with the point of view that it's horrifically tired that male characters are heroically rescuing hapless and helpless female ones there is a poll largely in favor of a female hero in lieu of the same horrifically tired male one?

Yeah I can see why you'd be totally shocked by that.

Heck I don't even like Sarkeesian's work and I still know that the point of her work is the call for female characters that actually have depth to them and aren't just gender swaps. Horrifically tired or not of the trope that a male character is rescuing a female character, the solution isn't just gender swapping. The solution is making a character that stands on their own merits, thus Link with a female anatomy is pretty much an insult to the female gender. Considering how devoid of an actual character link is you might as well just slap a bright pink bow on Link's head and say hey look Link is a female now! Aren't you all super happy?

 

[Sir Thomas Sean Connery]

I really wouldn't care a whole lot, but then I've never been a fan of the Zelda games at all.

As others asked, the real question is why?

That's not the kind of thing you should do purely for its own sake. If there's a legitimate reason with a story to back it up, go for it. The anger it would cause would be amusing to witness.

 

[ForumSafari]

I want a general moratorium on female characters until a generally accepted definition of 'strong and realistic female character' is reached. Nothing will ever please everybody but until a general consensus is reached on how to portray a woman in a 'realistic' way with regards to their strength and how they handle their sexuality and clothing that is actually realistic, ie. a lot of women aren't strong people and a lot of women do wear very revealing clothing of their own free will in the real world all the time but either quality would be decried as sexist or unrealistic if given to a character.

Basically I know a lot of women through work, study and social life and a reasonable chunk of them are weak, insipid, venal, manipulative and none too bright. A lot of them also wear revealing clothing in order to get admiration to boost their ego. These aren't admirable qualities per se, but they are realistic ones and a character that displayed that personality would be instantly recognisable to me.

 

[Hagi]

Wouldn't be against it really, but neither do I believe it'd be a step forward. It'd just really be keeping to the status quo, where women definitely do have a presence but it's usually secondary to that of the men. This wouldn't be any different as Link would remain male to most and this would be considered just a spin-off Link, not the real one.

You'd have the primary male Link and then you'd have the secondary female Link, the spin-off.

Considering I do believe the status quo needs changing my final verdict would be no. We don't need a secondary spin-off, we need a primary female character.

 

[Something Amyss]

Link isn't a girl????

I kid, I kid.

I would also be fine with it. I'm not even sure why it would be a bad thing.

 

[Playful Pony]

I used to think Link was a girl, so it wouldn't bother me in the slightest. I'd rather they just created a new and interesting female character, though, rather than doing the same thing but flipping the gender of one of the characters. Seems a bit lazy.

Ditto, but i also thought her (or his, as it turns out) name was Zelda... No, I haven't played any of the games X3. I just watched some friends play for a bit on a few occasions. I have seen 3 diferent ones, I have no idea which I saw! Never owned a Nintendo console.

 

[Barbas]

Ditto, but i also thought her (or his, as it turns out) name was Zelda... No, I haven't played any of the games X3. I just watched some friends play for a bit on a few occasions. I have seen 3 different ones, I have no idea which I saw! Never owned a Nintendo console.

Now that you mention it, I also remember thinking the one in green was Zelda. I had a Nintendo 64 but I never saw the attraction of the Zelda games.

 

[Eve Charm]

I'd be fine with it but do you really think Nintendo is going to go through explaining the Time-line and reincarnation theory to everyone that would ask why link is a girl now?

Also would be another one of Anita's Miss male character BS ;p

 

[MysticSlayer]

Making a character female simply to make her female because some people get a little testy when the protagonist is male is hardly the way to go. The solution to our problem is hardly to reverse the roles, making every male protagonist female. What we need is to write stronger characters, whether or not they are the protagonist, and offer a greater diversity for protagonists in newer games, rather than everyone being male. We've arguably already gotten the second part down,[footnote]Yes, yes, I know, GTAV, but it isn't like we can't have a game--or don't already have games--where every selectable character is female.[/footnote] but we're still far from the first.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

I wouldn't mind but I bet if and when they do it it'll just be a cosmetic gimmick imposed on the same game they've been ripping since ever.

 

[YunakoTheWitch]

ehh... We talked about it in mumble (me and about eight friends) it just wouldn't work for me at all (or them). It would be like a male Samus... which would also irritate the hell out of me... Link is a established character, I honestly wouldn't buy a female link game, I already saw how bad a minor change (samus talking) was in metroid other M... no way I will ruin Link for me either.

 

[chadachada123]

I think, thematically, it'd be cooler to have a female main character that wasn't Link. As in, say, Zelda going out to save Link.

I say this because "Link as a girl" would be completely arbitrary, while "Zelda being the hero" would open up many more options, like a higher emphasis on archery or Sheik-like ninja skills, or whatever.

Of course, it's partially because I'm a huge sucker for canon, and still contend that Skyward Sword's Link is either left-handed, or just plain not canon, as Link is always left-handed.

 

[InfinityX]

As mentioned before, I don't think a Female Link for the sake of gender-swapping would be a good idea. Its pointless to change him when you already have a female character that can be played; Zelda/sheik. It could be a good stealth/action RPG!

 

[Cowabungaa]

Sure.

As far as I know, someone becomes the Hero of Time when they reincarnate, I guess, the essence of handling the Triforce or something. I've never read anything of the incarnation's sex playing a role in that. So yeah why not.

 

[Foolery]

Nah. I agree with some of the other posts. Why not make a game with Zelda/Sheik as the main character? It is called the Legend of Zelda, after all. There's no need to genderswap when you have a female character to work with already.

 

[gamernerdtg2]

No, I would not be ok with a female Link.

Make a new female lead character who has nothing to do with Link, but keep the game in the Zelda franchise/world.

 

[Ryotknife]

Link already looks kinda like a female and he doesn't have a personality. I don't see anything gained nor lost by this transition. So sure, go for it, I just see it as pointless. A game about Shiek would be cool though.

 

[The Crispy Tiger]

That just screams changing for the sake of having a female character. Why not just create a Zelda like game with a female?

The reason it's not a big deal to change it is because there are a small amount of female characters compared to male. I agree, it doesn't HAVE to change, but if it does change it might give leeway to developers and publishers to make more female characters. Now if only we could get more black characters...