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

[Micalas]

I would totally be down for playing a female Link. They could get around the implied romantic angle between Link ans Zelda by making FemLink and Zelda be either best friends or even sisters. This would give the new protagonist more depth and motivation to rescue Zelda.

You'd think it would do that, but you'd be woefully incorrect. It's the internet, bro

 

[Asita]

No.

But if they want to create a new playable female character that REPLACES Link, then sure. Think P3P for the right way to do this. A gender swap of an established character, just to please the femnazis, is stupid.

BTW, I usually pick female characters when I play games.
I just don't agree with gender swapping for no real good reason.

Uh, technically that is what it would be. The Zelda lore has it that the three central characters are repeatedly reincarnated over the course of the franchise. The Link you play in Ocarina of Time is not the same Link that you play in Twilight Princess, neither is the one you play in Skyward Sword...you get the picture. A female Link would simply be a new incarnation of the hero's spirit, the "Link" of that generation, as it were. It's roughly equivalent to a franchise tracking the firstborns of a family line in that it's not tracking a single person, it's tracking a series of people with a similar root. Or in-universe, you could perhaps draw a comparison between Impa and Impa. Same name, similar role, different characters.

 

[DarthSka]

Willing? Yeah. Link's sex is nothing that would keep me from playing since the gameplay of the Zelda series is reason numero uno that I play. Do I want him to be a girl? Not really. I don't really like the practice of taking established characters and swapping out constants just because. When it comes to female characters in games, I say adjust and improve current ones or create new ones.

 

[superpandasauras]

I don't see why they should make Link a girl as opposed to playing as Zelda, or a new female character. My problem with Female Link is it's fucking lazy. People (rightfully) complain all the time about how female characters in a lot games are just dudes with tits, and making Link female would literally make him a dude with tits. He has no character, so he wouldn't be effected by it.

 

[Risingblade]

No, I'd rather play a new character with their own identity instead of just link with boobs

 

[Scott Rothman]

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.

I assume you're saying this as a male even when there are thousands of females who have been talking about how much it would mean to them to see a female link...

Empty gesture to you, but meaningful to many many more people.

And it works with the lore (not that that is even a good excuse) so there's literally no reason not to.

Yes, I am a guy talking about this. However I am a guy who care deeply about gender equality so thanks a lot for judging me without knowing me. Yes, I know a lot of people, men and women, care about Link's gender and would like to see him as a female. I just don't see how that would be a victory for feminism. We want to see a strong female character lead in a successful game and to see the industry shift their focus, but would a female Link really be a step in the right direction? If we made Gordon Freeman a woman nothing would change. If we were to change the character models in any Zelda game to make Link a female we would have the exact same game. That's why I call it an empty gesture, because it would take them almost no effort at all to take the already feminine Link and add a hint of breasts and just mak the same damn game. The reason people want this to happen isn't because it would be a meaningful gesture from Nintendo, it's because we have too low expectations. So let's say they annouced that Link would be female in the next Zelda game, well, I wouldn't care. Let's say they allowed us to play as Zelda, I would be really fucking thrilled.

However you can demand to get the bare minimum, I will keep demanding for adequate or good.

My point is in this scenario, it doesn't matter what you think it an important gesture or what would excite you. It's what would appease the thousands of women asking for a female Link. They say it's important, then it's important. Your academic breakdown or derived opinion doesn't matter. If women say it's important than it's important.

 

[Adeptus Aspartem]

I'm in the: Don't really care-camp.

It's not important for the game if Link has something dangling between his legs or not. So whatever they want to go with im fine, it wont impact the game anyway.

 

[Random Argument Man]

I wouldn't mind. I'm interested to know if they would make Zelda a male or keep her a female.

I'd also be interested to see a older Link. He doesn't need to be gritty or harsh. Just concerned and willing to do the right thing.

 

[Tsun Tzu]

Of course.

The erotic fiction practically writes itself, folks. We need this.

 

[Michel Henzel]

I'd rather they focus on fleshing the characters out better and being more engaging rather then whether or not Link should stay male or be female. But here is an idea, let's just have the option to choose the gender, how about that. There, problem solved, everybody happy.

 

[Sunrider]

Where is the "I don't give a shit, just let me play a new Zelda game" option?

 

[deshorty]

Does it really matter? Link is a silent protagonist and isn't really much of a character if you really think about it.

 

[V da Mighty Taco]

I'm in the "Nope" category for a variety of reasons. Not only is going Rule 63 on a character the most lazy way possible of getting a female protagonist in a game, but for all intents and purposes each character in these games is essentially meant to be the exact same person, even if they're technically just reincarnations of each other. It's basically the running theme of the entire franchise, from what I can tell (Admittedly, I've only actually played Majora's Mask, and that was a mere one or two years ago).

More importantly though, the franchise is already filled with very notable female character's that would make excellent protagonists - with Zelda herself being the prime example (she's a magical ninja-princess for crying out loud. Someone get Platinum Games on this already!). It's be far more meaningful and interesting to have someone like Zelda be the main character rather than just gender-flipping Link and calling it a day.

(Seriously, Platinum needs to make a Zelda game, preferably with a playable Zelda. That would be so fucking awesome! XD )

 

[Yopaz]

My point is in this scenario, it doesn't matter what you think it an important gesture or what would excite you. It's what would appease the thousands of women asking for a female Link. They say it's important, then it's important. Your academic breakdown or derived opinion doesn't matter. If women say it's important than it's important.

You don't seem to understand the possibilities here.

Nintendo could make a female Link, which would basically be Link with almost no changes.

The outcome could be that the game is praised for it. This could show developers that we don't care about getting a good well written female character. Any empty shell will do if they label it as a female. No need to make an effort for a female character. That would be bad for the future of female characters.

Nobody cares. Developers could get the impression that if they do make a female character nobody will pay any attention, so why make the effort at all? This would be bad for the future of female characters.

Annoying Zelda fanboys that hate change would protest, whine and cry (they did do that when they made Link right handed in Twilight Princess so this isn't an unlikely scenario) and it might show other developers that people will not take kindly to a female protagonist. This would also be bad for the future of female protagonists.

So excuse me if I don't think "Some people on the internet wants it" is a good reason to make Link female. Also STOP saying that women want it. There are several men in this thread, several men have stated they would play the game with a female Link, several men have said they were disappointed to hear Link would be male.

I also want your reasoning for why this isn't an empty gesture. People would appreciate it, but does that really mean it's not an empty gesture? If I offer my condolences to someone if they have just lost a relative that's an empty gesture. People still appreciate it. It doesn't make the gesture any less empty. Making Link female would be just like that. It wouldn't be a female character. It would be a palette change. Changing the colour of the leaves in Lost Woods in Ocarina of Time wouldn't be making a new area. It would be a palette change.

I demand an actual attempt rather than something that demands 10 minutes attention from the art director. So yeah, I care about things with actual meaning rather than superficial change. If they did decide to make Link female I wouldn't complain about it. Sure, it would seem like a victory for feminism, but it literally is the least they could do.

Edit: Also "Women think it's important thus it is important" is an argument now? Some JRPG fans think that Japanese voices are important, does it make it so? Some Zelda fans think it's important that Link is left handed, does that make it so? Some people think it's important that there is no electromagnetic radiation present, does that make THAT important? There is lots of things that people want that's completely unimportant. Do you have any actual arguments to why a female Link is important or are you just grasping at straws.

 

[DementedSheep]

No, you know what likely happen if they made a female link? It wouldn't be link. They wouldn't stop at changing the gender, they would have to add shit. Maybe show being afraid and crying, shove in a heavy handed romance, make her animations hyper and girly or remove or play down combat. Gender swapping an established character is bad idea because its tends show up all the bullshit ideas they have about what being of the opposite gender is.

and If they did just gender swap it be bit gimmicky though I wouldn't hate it.

 

[Lilani]

No, you know what likely happen if they made a female link? It wouldn't be link. They wouldn't stop at changing the gender, they would have to add shit. Maybe show being afraid and crying, shove in a heavy handed romance, make her animations hyper and girly or remove or play down combat. Gender swapping an established character is bad idea because its tends show up all the bullshit ideas they have about what being of the opposite gender is.

and If they did just gender swap it be bit gimmicky though I wound't hate it.

Does Nintendo have ANY tendency to do this with their female characters, though? They've had Zelda for just as long as they've had Link and I don't think they've ever gone that direction with her personality. I think the most radical thing they ever did was give her a male alter-ego she switches to when she wants to wander outside the castle and be a badass.

Anyway, I think it would be fine. The two basic routes they could go with it are Link is, for some contrived reason, turned into a female and is aware of the difference, or it's just a Link from yet another version/reincarnation of Hyrule that happens to be a female and they play it straight. And then the question is do they make Zelda a prince or leave her a princess.

The first would be a bit more comedic, but comedy and Zelda have never been too far from one another anyway, so the mood of that game wouldn't be too foreign to Zelda games, I think. The second would just be a chance for them to rethink a few other of their mainstays, like Gannondorf and the like. Again, Zelda's a flexible enough of a game series that I don't think they'd have trouble thinking of a direction to go with it that's both new and interesting and true to the spirit of Zelda games.

 

[CaptainMarvelous]

Female Link is Samus, that's pretty much my whole opinion on this.

Samus is an absolute cold blooded badass and, this is the thing, while I say I'd play a female link I think I'd have a problem with a male Samus and it seems hypocritical to say I wouldn't hold them to the same standard. Personality wise, they are essentially the same person (personality VOIDS) and while I love Metroid to pieces, I wouldn't want to play as a guy there, Samus is just pure badass.

Now, if there was a section where you play as, I dunno, RIDLEY, that would be awesome.

If there was a section in Zelda where you play AS Zelda (like how she sometimes gets cameos at the end rocking out the Light Arrows) I mean, hell, a whole game where you play AS Zelda would also be awesome. Shit, an RTS game or action game where you control the army with Zelda playable and (Hyrule Warriors, I'm just describing Hyrule Warriors, I'm gonna stop...)

I mean... I like how Peach is a character in Mario because she's legitimately the best character in Mario 2 (her floating thing is way better than Toad being an olympic sprinter), I think I'd be down for playing as Zelda, or Midna or Impa (Hyrule Warriors, jesus, I'm apparently super psyched for that game).

That and it rings kinda hollow... I mean, no-one ever seems to want a Female Donkey Kong, if it's just about the gender thing then that should mean as much as a Female Link.