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

[Treblaine]

Sure let's do it. But let's do it full bore, make sure we please everyone. So let's make Link a BLACK WOMAN and we'll make Samus a Venezuelan gay male. I mean, why stop at just one thing?

That doesn't make sense as there aren't any black people in Hyrule, but the Hero legend say that they are born of the people of Hyrule. So you'd first have to establish there is a black population in Hyrule, and for what?

Link is not one person. Link is the name bestowed on a child born in Hyrule who is the chosen one to be the land's saviour. Considering ANY child born in Hyrule may become savour, and with 50% of offspring being female, the odds are pretty high that there will one day be a female Hero of time. Link is not a gendered name, the role does not depend on having a penis, there is no reason why Link couldn't be a girl.

See this is not being PC, this is about actually following the Legend of Zelda mythology, a Female Link is inevitable from ESTABLISHED LORE. Unless an explicitly sexist rule is added that spitefully states "oh the chosen hero can NEVER be a female, because this is a privilege reserved for males, a 9 year old boy would make a better fighter than any woman".

But Samus being a woman is a key part of the Samus character, who is ONE character, not a role played by many different individuals like Link in the LoZ series. Specifics have been made about this one fictional individual that are dependant on her gender.

I don't really see the point in swapping the character's gender around if its going to be the same character anyways. I feel like all it's doing is just pandering to the "gender-bender" fetish.

Besides, there are a few cases where changing a character's gender would destroy the whole narrative dynamic of the game. Samus Aran in particular would go from one of gaming's greatest female characters to just another generic Space Marine if the developers stapled a penis onto her.

SO again I ask, why?

It's amazing how many people on this threat are so IGNORANT to assume that there is only one Link across all the Legend of Zelda games, as if it is one character that would actively have to be retconned.

No.

Almost every Zelda game there is TOTALLY DIFFERENT INDIVIDUAL who is born, and is named Link. They take on the green tunic and adopt the role of adventurer and saviour.

Samus is one characters who's role arcs across the narrative of many games.

But the Link in Wink Waker it is EXPLICITLY STATED as a totally different and totally unrelated (by blood or anything) to the Link of Ocarina of Time.

Considering HALF of all children ever born are female, and ANYONE could take up the role or the Saviour of Hyrule, now YOU have to explain why another Link in another time (as Zelda games often are) WOULD NOT ever be a girl.

PS: Samus does not depend on the gimmick of having a vagina, she's not "good for a girl, but mundane for a guy" that utterly belittles all women as the most impressive achievement of a woman is nothing compared to men's achivement. She's impressive for her decisions, actions and achievements regardless of her chromosomes.

 

[Scarblade]

I cannot see the purpose of a female link, as far as I am concerned the Legend of Zelda contains a male hero named Link and a female princess named zelda. If there is nothing to gain from making Link female, then I don't think it is a good idea to change his gender.

To give Zelda a more prominent role however would be a good idea, she could do with some more screen time to show us why the game is called the Legend of Zelda.

I would not oppose to a completely gender swapped game however, if it would follow through in all aspects; female Link, male Zelda, female Ganon, male gerudo and so on. That could be entertaining, if a bit pointless.


So I am not against it if there is some meaning to it, instead of just doing it because of market developments or some such. If that's the case then I would recommend them to create a new game with a female hero, instead of just changing a already established male character to female.

 

[German Borbon]

]I'd actually liked to see a Zelda game with Zelda as the main character. She has proven herself to be a capable fighter in several of the games, at least more so than someone like Princess Peach. Instead of items she could gain different spells to get around dungeons and solve puzzles. Just as Link has to face several trials to prove that he's a true hero, She should also be facing several trials to prove herself as well, or perhaps a more traditional setting where Link's the one in trouble and Zelda has to save him instead. I think this would be more of a breath of fresh air than just simply genderbending Link.

Does the cdi games count, because 2 of those had Zelda as the protagonist, yeah they sucked, but you could play as Zelda!

 

[pvaglueman123]

Personally, i don't see this working. I know that games have to more progressive these days and stuff but as a gamer who plays games for the Story around them, i just can;t get my head around the Hero of Time (Or a descendant or new incarnation thereof) being a girl. The lore has been built, retconning the character would make no sense, Speaking of which, why can't we do the same to Mario or Samus or Fox or Sonic or Solid Snake or any video game character for that matter? Because we have a preestablished backstory of the world and every one of those characters retains their gender. Granted, the characters i mentioned are not different incarnations of the same character, in fact, Zelda is the only game that springs to mind where this occurs. So, basically, I don't really want this to happen. I'm not being sexist here, i'm just saying, from a lore perspective, Link (Or all of his incarnations) have been Male. Zelda has always been a Female.

A game where you PLAY as Zelda? That i can see working. Definitely more puzzle based as opposed to the adventuring action we get with Link (When i'm talking about puzzle based, i don't mean "Dr. Mario: Hyrule Edition"). Like somebody earlier said in the thread, she has the Triforce of Wisdom, her character leans towards a more puzzle centric experience.

Anyway, that's my personal opinion, i can sense already i may get some flack for this but meh.

 

[Treblaine]

Nope. Link is male. That's been established quite clearly many times. Now, you could make a Zelda game starring someone other than Link, and that might be a very interesting direction to take the series. Perhaps the game starts off with Link going to save the day, but then he's injured and his little cousin has to take his place. But maybe she's too small to lift the sword, so she has to rely on different skills in order to progress.

It could also of course star Zelda herself, which would also be a fun thing to experiment with.

Nope. Link isn't one person. That's been established quite clearly many times.

But it's good to know the opinion of people who hardly played any of the Zelda series on what is suitable for the Zelda series. Of course it's and opinion that is not going to be taken at all seriously, but it's kinda cute to see how out of touch people are with something yet care so much about it how it should be.

"But maybe she's too small to lift the sword"

Of the various heroes to go by the name Link in quests to save Hyrule, many were young a 9 years old when they took up a sword and shield. Don't give me "ooh, weak woman can't fight with a sword" if a freaking 9 year old boy is up to the task then a fully mature woman certainly is.

No, Link isn't one person but he is, consistently, male. I really have no idea why you're being so hostile towards me, suggesting that I haven't played the games (you really don't get to be Editor in Chief of a gaming site without playing Zelda), or that I'm suggesting she can't lift the sword because she's female. My thinking was that she was a child (as words like "little" and "small" imply). You're making a great many assumptions about my intent that are simply unfounded.

It's incidental that so far we have only seen male heroes of Legend of Zelda, just because every child that would be saviour of Hyrule (that we have seen) has been male doesn't mean that they will ALWAYS be male.

Every President of the United States has been male. Does that mean a woman cannot run for office hoping to win? Before Barack Obama there had never been a non-white US President but Barry O got elected twice. And you cannot say that's irrelevant, like Presidents, the idea of the Hero of Hyrule is that they rise from anywhere by the inherent qualities of character, not any privilege of birth (apart from where they were born, like Presidents they can't be outsiders, they must be born in their land).

I am being hostile towards people who say the way things should be about games they have little-to-no vested interest in other to enforce a hegemony that denigrates the entire Hero Lore. Because what you are saying with the assertion of him being "consitently male" is that the hero lore in LoZ is sexist or that it should be sexist, that the elders should never select a girl as Saviour of Hyrule... or worse, that they WOULD NEVER chose a girl! That no girl would ever be worthy.

Because "well it was a boy the other few times" IS ABSOLUTELY NO REASON AT ALL that it will always be a boy.

But I suppose you'll say "I didn't actually say" yeah yeah, whatever, you implied what you liked.

REMEMBER, it's a Hyrule child who takes up the challenge to save Hyrule, there is nothing in that which is is necessarily for a boy.

You said in reply to OP's talk about a female Link her being too small to use any sword, to spite how Ocarina of Time and Wind Waker's Link were fighting very well with swords from age 8-9. Considering they were boys and we are talking about a girl, you DID just say a girl cannot do what a boy can do. Swordplay is an essential part of Legend of Zelda games and you crapped on the idea of a girl taking up that role.

I made no assumptions, the connotations of what you said are inescapable, only excusable by you not meaning to say what you did in fact say.

 

[Flutterbrave]

I'm leaning towards no, because I feel that regardless of whether all the links are or are not the same person, they are, to some extent, the same character - see Doctor Who, although not really because the doctor could plausibly be a woman because his incarnations vary physically to a large degree. Links incarnations may not appear identical, but they are all physically similar - blonde haired, pointy eared, fairly slight and vaguely elfin. Gender is a big physical difference to suddenly throw in there. Imagine if the next link was a red-head. Most players would consider them to be very 'not link' in appearance, regardless of the presence or lack of ginger prejudices.

Besides the physical, it's also worth considering that masculinity and femininity are important parts of how we receive any character. Link might not be the manliest man to ever have manned, but he is very clearly male and to change that is to change who he fundamentally is.

That said, a spin-off series focused on Zelda would be very welcome.

 

[Treblaine]

i just can;t get my head around the Hero of Time being a girl...

I'm not being sexist here, i'm just saying, from a lore perspective, Link (Or all of his incarnations) have been Male.

Ah, the old "I'm not a bigot, but..."


Yeah, if all you can say is "I'm not being sexist/racist/bigoted" then you either need to find an ACTUAL reason, or keep it to yourself.

The "lore" is that ANYONE may be hero of time, just because it was a boy before doesn't mean it always will be.

A game where you PLAY as Zelda? That i can see working. Definitely more puzzle based as opposed to the adventuring

Oh yeah, finally a female lead... and she gets to do PUZZLES instead of anything adventurous!

I cannot see the purpose of a female link, as far as I am concerned the Legend of Zelda contains a male hero named Link and a female princess named zelda. If there is nothing to gain from making Link female, then I don't think it is a good idea to change his gender.

It would be to prove that the Hero of Hyrule (those who take the name "Link" and wear the Green Tunic and use the Master Sword) is truly a role for all based on the quality of their character, not any privilege of birth like being born a male.

 

[Padwolf]

Would it bring anything brand new to the game? I really doubt it. Link is a silent protagonist, therefore a female link would be just as silent and really would behave exactly the same. However what they could do is what they did with Princess Peach; give Zelda her own official game. That would be rather interesting as Zelda already is a strong woman who has great power. Or lets have a female antagonist. Make Ganondorf a female!

 

[Treblaine]

I'm leaning towards no, because I feel that regardless of whether all the links are or are not the same person, they are, to some extent, the same character - see Doctor Who, although not really because the doctor could plausibly be a woman because his incarnations vary physically to a large degree. Links incarnations may not appear identical, but they are all physically similar - blonde haired, pointy eared, fairly slight and vaguely elfin. Gender is a big physical difference to suddenly throw in there. Imagine if the next link was a red-head. Most players would consider them to be very 'not link' in appearance, regardless of the presence or lack of ginger prejudices.

Besides the physical, it's also worth considering that masculinity and femininity are important parts of how we receive any character. Link might not be the manliest man to ever have manned, but he is very clearly male and to change that is to change who he fundamentally is.

That said, a spin-off series focused on Zelda would be very welcome.

Link was originally very obviously with Brown hair and Dark eyes. Now he has bright blond hair, blue eyes and much sharper features.

And look at the huge stylistic change between Majora's Mask and Wind Waker, and from there to Twilight Princess.

There is nothing fundamentally male about being courageous and going adventuring.

 

[Susan Arendt]

Nope. Link is male. That's been established quite clearly many times. Now, you could make a Zelda game starring someone other than Link, and that might be a very interesting direction to take the series. Perhaps the game starts off with Link going to save the day, but then he's injured and his little cousin has to take his place. But maybe she's too small to lift the sword, so she has to rely on different skills in order to progress.

It could also of course star Zelda herself, which would also be a fun thing to experiment with.

Nope. Link isn't one person. That's been established quite clearly many times.

But it's good to know the opinion of people who hardly played any of the Zelda series on what is suitable for the Zelda series. Of course it's and opinion that is not going to be taken at all seriously, but it's kinda cute to see how out of touch people are with something yet care so much about it how it should be.

"But maybe she's too small to lift the sword"

Of the various heroes to go by the name Link in quests to save Hyrule, many were young a 9 years old when they took up a sword and shield. Don't give me "ooh, weak woman can't fight with a sword" if a freaking 9 year old boy is up to the task then a fully mature woman certainly is.

No, Link isn't one person but he is, consistently, male. I really have no idea why you're being so hostile towards me, suggesting that I haven't played the games (you really don't get to be Editor in Chief of a gaming site without playing Zelda), or that I'm suggesting she can't lift the sword because she's female. My thinking was that she was a child (as words like "little" and "small" imply). You're making a great many assumptions about my intent that are simply unfounded.

It's incidental that so far we have only seen male heroes of Legend of Zelda, just because every child that would be saviour of Hyrule (that we have seen) has been male doesn't mean that they will ALWAYS be male.

Every President of the United States has been male. Does that mean a woman cannot run for office hoping to win? Before Barack Obama there had never been a non-white US President but Barry O got elected twice. And you cannot say that's irrelevant, like Presidents, the idea of the Hero of Hyrule is that they rise from anywhere by the inherent qualities of character, not any privilege of birth (apart from where they were born, like Presidents they can't be outsiders, they must be born in their land).

I am being hostile towards people who say the way things should be about games they have little-to-no vested interest in other to enforce a hegemony that denigrates the entire Hero Lore. Because what you are saying with the assertion of him being "consitently male" is that the hero lore in LoZ is sexist or that it should be sexist, that the elders should never select a girl as Saviour of Hyrule... or worse, that they WOULD NEVER chose a girl! That no girl would ever be worthy.

Because "well it was a boy the other few times" IS ABSOLUTELY NO REASON AT ALL that it will always be a boy.

But I suppose you'll say "I didn't actually say" yeah yeah, whatever, you implied what you liked.

REMEMBER, it's a Hyrule child who takes up the challenge to save Hyrule, there is nothing in that which is is necessarily for a boy.

You said in reply to OP's talk about a female Link her being too small to use any sword, to spite how Ocarina of Time and Wind Waker's Link were fighting very well with swords from age 8-9. Considering they were boys and we are talking about a girl, you DID just say a girl cannot do what a boy can do. Swordplay is an essential part of Legend of Zelda games and you crapped on the idea of a girl taking up that role.

I made no assumptions, the connotations of what you said are inescapable, only excusable by you not meaning to say what you did in fact say.

Well, I guess people see what they want to see. Enjoy your agenda.

 

[TomLikesGuitar]

Jesus Christ...

Why is everyone always trying to change characters?

You know why Link isn't a fucking girl? Because every single thing about him as a character works better if he's a guy. It's not sexist, it's just how the character has developed.

You know why Mario isn't black? Because every single thing about him as a character works better if he's white. It's not racist, it's just how the character has developed.

You know why Sonic isn't gay? Because every single thing about him as a character... Actually no I'm pretty sure Sonic and Tails are flaming homosexuals behind the scenes.

EDIT: Dude you seriously need to drop this. Susan's right, you're pushing this really hard. I dunno if you just had a women's issues class or something, but you're forced activism is kind of hurting your point.

Nobody really wants a female Link. It's stupid to change his gender at this point because that would only agonize the bullshit plot hole filler (the alternate timelines) and rip the hole back open to be filled with more shit.

Sure, they COULD do it. Nintendo has been taking retarded liberties with their IPs for years. Hell, now they're doing it with their hardware.

But you haven't presented a real reason as to why Link would ever up and be a girl in the next Zelda. It is almost guaranteed to sell worse than a normal Zelda game, the plot doesn't really call for it, and it would probably be ridiculously forced and cheesy... like that Metroid game... ugh...

But yeah, seriously man... It's like you're trying to prove, without a doubt, that this game would be cool.

You're trying to prove something that is a %100 subjective opinion.

Stop it.

 

[Calibanbutcher]

Nope. Link is male. That's been established quite clearly many times. Now, you could make a Zelda game starring someone other than Link, and that might be a very interesting direction to take the series. Perhaps the game starts off with Link going to save the day, but then he's injured and his little cousin has to take his place. But maybe she's too small to lift the sword, so she has to rely on different skills in order to progress.

It could also of course star Zelda herself, which would also be a fun thing to experiment with.

Nope. Link isn't one person. That's been established quite clearly many times.

But it's good to know the opinion of people who hardly played any of the Zelda series on what is suitable for the Zelda series. Of course it's and opinion that is not going to be taken at all seriously, but it's kinda cute to see how out of touch people are with something yet care so much about it how it should be.

"But maybe she's too small to lift the sword"

Of the various heroes to go by the name Link in quests to save Hyrule, many were young a 9 years old when they took up a sword and shield. Don't give me "ooh, weak woman can't fight with a sword" if a freaking 9 year old boy is up to the task then a fully mature woman certainly is.

No, Link isn't one person but he is, consistently, male. I really have no idea why you're being so hostile towards me, suggesting that I haven't played the games (you really don't get to be Editor in Chief of a gaming site without playing Zelda), or that I'm suggesting she can't lift the sword because she's female. My thinking was that she was a child (as words like "little" and "small" imply). You're making a great many assumptions about my intent that are simply unfounded.

It's incidental that so far we have only seen male heroes of Legend of Zelda, just because every child that would be saviour of Hyrule (that we have seen) has been male doesn't mean that they will ALWAYS be male.

Every President of the United States has been male. Does that mean a woman cannot run for office hoping to win? Before Barack Obama there had never been a non-white US President but Barry O got elected twice. And you cannot say that's irrelevant, like Presidents, the idea of the Hero of Hyrule is that they rise from anywhere by the inherent qualities of character, not any privilege of birth (apart from where they were born, like Presidents they can't be outsiders, they must be born in their land).

I am being hostile towards people who say the way things should be about games they have little-to-no vested interest in other to enforce a hegemony that denigrates the entire Hero Lore. Because what you are saying with the assertion of him being "consitently male" is that the hero lore in LoZ is sexist or that it should be sexist, that the elders should never select a girl as Saviour of Hyrule... or worse, that they WOULD NEVER chose a girl! That no girl would ever be worthy.

Because "well it was a boy the other few times" IS ABSOLUTELY NO REASON AT ALL that it will always be a boy.

But I suppose you'll say "I didn't actually say" yeah yeah, whatever, you implied what you liked.

REMEMBER, it's a Hyrule child who takes up the challenge to save Hyrule, there is nothing in that which is is necessarily for a boy.

You said in reply to OP's talk about a female Link her being too small to use any sword, to spite how Ocarina of Time and Wind Waker's Link were fighting very well with swords from age 8-9. Considering they were boys and we are talking about a girl, you DID just say a girl cannot do what a boy can do. Swordplay is an essential part of Legend of Zelda games and you crapped on the idea of a girl taking up that role.

I made no assumptions, the connotations of what you said are inescapable, only excusable by you not meaning to say what you did in fact say.

Well, I guess people see what they want to see. Enjoy your agenda.

I say we take this a few steps further.
If lore dictates that any child may be the reincarnation of the Hero of Legends, then why can't it be a cripple?
Think about the gameplay implications this would bring with it.
You could play a black, deaf woman, which would leave you without any sound in the game whatsoever, since Link wouldn't be able to hear.
You could also be a venezuelan gay blind Link, which would force you to play the game using the wii-mote (Wii-U-Mote?) as your white cane in order to explore the world, relying only on the feedback the Wiimote gives you in conjunction with sounds and the help of a "helpful" fairy (Looking at you Navi, you better get your sh*t together, Link really f*ckin needs you) which could later on be replaced by a companion animal, which could then guide you through the world.
Or you just go full f*ckin Hellen Keller on Link's ass, giving the user an asian protagonist who can't do diddley-squat and whose contribution to saving the world is heroically falling before Ganon's feet, thus causing the evil mastermind to stumble and breack his neck or something.
Hell, make Link a cross-dressing hermaphrodite with a conjoined-twin who takes the role of a sidekick and can be detached to solve riddles, whilst Link himself can't taste nor smell, thus making a riddle based around wine-and-cheese tasting incredibly hard, since the player now has to manage to sneak his conjoined twin the good without any of the present members of the high society noticing.
The solution to said riddle would of course be to detach and hide your conjoined twin somewhere out of sight whilst using a trained mouse to carry the wine (in one of your precious bottles of course) and cheese to your twin, whose answers the mouse brings you in morse form, since mice clearly can't write and your conjoined twin suffers from dyslexia, which is also why the messages you receive sometimes appear somewhat scrambled upon receiving them, forcing you to make for the library to find a dictionary, which will help you unscramble the messages.

I may have gone overboard with this..

 

[theheroofaction]

There wouldn't really be a reason for it, and the fanrage would be terrible so I think a no would be the best answer.

 

[Treblaine]

Well, I guess people see what they want to see. Enjoy your agenda.

Oh how charming. I use reason and ethics against your claims and assertions, then you drop an illogical allegation that I am the one with some sort of ulterior motive and delusional as well.

That's the thing about the internet, you can put so much effort into a reasoned explanation then they'll just ignore it all and throw out a snide irrelevant response that totally misrepresents your position.

Well, I guess if it makes you feel good, knock yourself out. You've only come into a thread, skipped over most of the post, asserted what you think should be done with a series you know little about then accuse anyone who challenges you of delusions and a self-satisfying agenda.

You know why Link isn't a fucking girl? Because every single thing about him as a character works better if he's a guy. It's not sexist, it's just how the character has developed.

Tell me why - for the characteristics of courage, daring and duty towards one's land - it would be WORSE for a woman to have those characteristics than a man?

Because those are the vital characteristics of the many different heroes of Legend of Zelda, who went by the name Link, and saved Hyrule. But you're saying it would be better if a male had those characteristics than a female?!?!?!? Yet not sexist. How?

 

[Treblaine]

I say we take this a few steps further.
If lore dictates that any child may be the reincarnation of the Hero of Legends, then why can't it be a cripple?
Think about the gameplay implications this would bring with it.
You could play a black, deaf woman, which would leave you without any sound in the game whatsoever, since Link wouldn't be able to hear.
You could also be a venezuelan gay blind Link, which would force you to play the game using the wii-mote (Wii-U-Mote?) as your white cane in order to explore the world, relying only on the feedback the Wiimote gives you in conjunction with sounds and the help of a "helpful" fairy (Looking at you Navi, you better get your sh*t together, Link really f*ckin needs you) which could later on be replaced by a companion animal, which could then guide you through the world.
Or you just go full f*ckin Hellen Keller on Link's ass, giving the user an asian protagonist who can't do diddley-squat and whose contribution to saving the world is heroically falling before Ganon's feet, thus causing the evil mastermind to stumble and breack his neck or something.
Hell, make Link a cross-dressing hermaphrodite with a conjoined-twin who takes the role of a sidekick and can be detached to solve riddles, whilst Link himself can't taste nor smell, thus making a riddle based around wine-and-cheese tasting incredibly hard, since the player now has to manage to sneak his conjoined twin the good without any of the present members of the high society noticing.
The solution to said riddle would of course be to detach and hide your conjoined twin somewhere out of sight whilst using a trained mouse to carry the wine (in one of your precious bottles of course) and cheese to your twin, whose answers the mouse brings you in morse form, since mice clearly can't write and your conjoined twin suffers from dyslexia, which is also why the messages you receive sometimes appear somewhat scrambled upon receiving them, forcing you to make for the library to find a dictionary, which will help you unscramble the messages.

I may have gone overboard with this..

No problem with that. The first stage of the Zelda formula is "leveling up", a vital stage would be overcoming the initial weak state you start in by some means. Being disabled would only emphasise that.

None of the Links fought barefoot with his fists and teeth, they didn't depend purely on their own native physical abilities. Throughout their quest they were gifted with many magical items and abilities, but only he was courageous enough to use them. A Tiny-Tim character hobbling on a crutch would have to find a way to cure his ailment. The Great Faeries are established at making Link stronger and better fighter.

You try so hard to ridicule any wavering from the hegemony of white-male protagonist you miss the entire point with your petty belittling.

Maybe they could have a bully character, lets call him Baliban Cutcher, who mocks the hero for even trying to train for an epic quest, that they will always be a cripple and always be useless. But then he gets shown in the end.

 

[Calibanbutcher]

snip

snip

Inserting myself into this is probably a mistake but what the hell:
I do believe you misunderstood something here:
It was never said that "GIRLS COULD NOT SWORPLAY CUZ GUURRRLLLZZ ARE TEH WEAKERST CREATUREZ EVAAAA11!!!11!" or anything even aluding to that, but rather that Susan Arendt envisioned a Legend of Zelda in which Link injured himself and his LITTLE cousin would have to take over for him.
There is a keyword in the above sentence:
It's "little" as in "small" as in probably physically incabaple of wielding an adult sized sword, which would make for new and interesting gameplay.
The girl which Arendt envisioned taking over after Link was simply a small child, which would be unable to lift the Mastersword not because she was a girl, but because she was a small child.
If you question this, go ahead and give a 5 year old a longsword and see how long he/she manages to swing that thing around in a controlled manner.

 

[Calibanbutcher]

I say we take this a few steps further.
If lore dictates that any child may be the reincarnation of the Hero of Legends, then why can't it be a cripple?
Think about the gameplay implications this would bring with it.
You could play a black, deaf woman, which would leave you without any sound in the game whatsoever, since Link wouldn't be able to hear.
You could also be a venezuelan gay blind Link, which would force you to play the game using the wii-mote (Wii-U-Mote?) as your white cane in order to explore the world, relying only on the feedback the Wiimote gives you in conjunction with sounds and the help of a "helpful" fairy (Looking at you Navi, you better get your sh*t together, Link really f*ckin needs you) which could later on be replaced by a companion animal, which could then guide you through the world.
Or you just go full f*ckin Hellen Keller on Link's ass, giving the user an asian protagonist who can't do diddley-squat and whose contribution to saving the world is heroically falling before Ganon's feet, thus causing the evil mastermind to stumble and breack his neck or something.
Hell, make Link a cross-dressing hermaphrodite with a conjoined-twin who takes the role of a sidekick and can be detached to solve riddles, whilst Link himself can't taste nor smell, thus making a riddle based around wine-and-cheese tasting incredibly hard, since the player now has to manage to sneak his conjoined twin the good without any of the present members of the high society noticing.
The solution to said riddle would of course be to detach and hide your conjoined twin somewhere out of sight whilst using a trained mouse to carry the wine (in one of your precious bottles of course) and cheese to your twin, whose answers the mouse brings you in morse form, since mice clearly can't write and your conjoined twin suffers from dyslexia, which is also why the messages you receive sometimes appear somewhat scrambled upon receiving them, forcing you to make for the library to find a dictionary, which will help you unscramble the messages.

I may have gone overboard with this..

No problem with that. The first stage of the Zelda formula is "leveling up", a vital stage would be overcoming the initial weak state you start in by some means. Being disabled would only emphasise that.

None of the Links fought barefoot with his fists and teeth, they didn't depend purely on their own native physical abilities. Throughout their quest they were gifted with many magical items and abilities, but only he was courageous enough to use them. A Tiny-Tim character hobbling on a crutch would have to find a way to cure his ailment. The Great Faeries are established at making Link stronger and better fighter.

You try so hard to ridicule any wavering from the hegemony of white-male protagonist you miss the entire point with your petty belittling.

Maybe they could have a bully character, lets call him Baliban Cutcher, who mocks the hero for even trying to train for an epic quest, that they will always be a cripple and always be useless. But then he gets shown in the end.

So, the hero would have to be "healed" before embarking on his quest, because the handicap would make it impossible for him to succeed is what you are saying?
So playing as a handicapped is ok as long as the handicap gets "better" because "magic"?
What you are saying is essentiually that the "ailment" of a handicapped needs to be "cured" before he/she can be successful?
You would not be interested in playing a blind Link?
Or a deaf one?
Suit yourself.

And let's rather make that "Coach CalibanButcher" (clever by the way to mangle my name, I almost did not recognize myself) who trains the young hero and encourages him/her to go further and further, so that in the end, Link does not need to be "healed" in order to succeed.
Would make for a far more interesting game...

 

[l3o2828]

I'd like to see a Zelda game where Zelda is the main character yes.
I'd also would like her to die and the game to be renamed The Legend of Link.

My point is, We already have a compelling female character, but we dont use her.
And Link is Link...he doesn't 'belong' as a woman.

 

[poiuppx]

I'd favor this, but as a twist. Make it like older games where you don't get much backstory on your player character, the figure is gender-ambiguous, and there's not a bunch of folk who know the character very well. Tie it in with the standard villain-searching-for-princess plot in the background, complete with several attacks on one's person as one expects in a game. Hey, you're the hero, clearly out to muck up the villain's day, right? Wrong. You're the target, the one and only, a princess-in-exile. Pull a Samus Aran mid-game, and just run with it. The main villain knew all along, hence why he kept sending bosses and the like to hunt you down. The entire game up to this point has been the sterotypical attempt at princess kidnapping, with the exception that the princess was having none of it and had a sword and shield to back herself up with. It would be a fun way to play with genre conventions while still keeping gameplay familiar.

 

[TomLikesGuitar]

Well, I guess people see what they want to see. Enjoy your agenda.

Oh how charming. I use reason and ethics against your claims and assertions, then you drop an illogical allegation that I am the one with some sort of ulterior motive and delusional as well.

You're being a pretentious dick on top of a soap box and accusing everyone of being sexist. You have a disgustingly transparent ulterior motive (The shit about women Presidents kinda proves that this isn't about Zelda for you anymore.).

Get over yourself dude... you're actively trying to fight everyone who disagrees with you. You have yet to give any credit to a single one of the dozens of logical arguments presented against you.

You pick the worst argument in each post to respond to, and flaunt your counter-argument as if it proves your point...

Which I'm pretty sure is that EVERYONE ON THE PLANET IS A SEXIST ASSHOLE EXCEPT FOR TREBLAINE or something...

You know why Link isn't a fucking girl? Because every single thing about him as a character works better if he's a guy. It's not sexist, it's just how the character has developed.

Tell me why - for the characteristics of courage, daring and duty towards one's land - it would be WORSE for a woman to have those characteristics than a man?

Because those are the vital characteristics of the many different heroes of Legend of Zelda, who went by the name Link, and saved Hyrule. But you're saying it would be better if a male had those characteristics than a female?!?!?!? Yet not sexist. How?

I'm gonna write something really important here.

SEXISM n.:
"Sexism is the belief that a human of one sex is ... superior to the other."
[Doob, Christopher B. 2013. Social Inequality and Social Stratification in US Society. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.]

Okay. Re-read that really quick and let it set in.

Good?

Now, lets analyze what I said in my last post. I said, basically, that I believe that Link is quintessentially male.... that I believe his characteristics portray him as a male better than as a woman.

Your response? You somehow looked at that sentence and said, "This guy clearly believes men are intrinsically superior to women. That is definitely the point he was trying to make."

Now really, I want you to honestly look at how much you stretched what I said just to call me sexist. You turned it from "I believe Link's characteristics are qualities of males more than of women." into "Men are more courageous and dutiful and daring, herp!"

Do you see how that ISN'T what I said? Please tell me you do...

Do you really need to pretend you are THAT much better than everyone around you? Do your own farts really smell that good?

I didn't use the words "courage", "duty", or "daring" once. I'll get to that in a minute, however.

I just have to reiterate here how much worse your point is because you keep hopping on a sexism soapbox and passing judgement on everyone like you're the fucking messiah.

GET OVER YOURSELF.

...

Okay.

Now that that's settled, the reason I didn't use the words "courage", "duty", or "daring" is because I KNOW those are gender neutral characteristics. Everyone here knows they are gender neutral characteristics, Treblaine. You're not enlightening anyone here of that fact. I did not insinuate otherwise in the slightest bit, and to accuse me of such is a childish grasp at non-existent straws.

When I say "every single thing about him as a character works better if he's a guy", I am referring to a few things.

The most important thing about Link (arguably) is his deep connection with Princess Zelda. The subtle romance that follows them and the passion that binds them is a huge staple of the series. She's not in every game, but that doesn't make the bond with her any less important.

Link is, for all intents and purposes, a knight, timelessly rescuing the princess in a beautiful, never ending story that repeats itself for eternity.

Let's talk about the differences between men and women for a second. The things I am about to say are facts, and are based upon a LOT of factors, but primarily the way that hormones react in our body. Normally I would skip this part, but I know if I don't spell out my case you're gonna grab a pitchfork.

Testosterone: Men are generally more aggressive. Men are generally more dominant. Men are generally more bold in their actions.

Estrogen: Women are generally more passive. Women are generally more likely to consider their actions before acting on them.

That's a very basic summary of gender-relative hormonal effects on psyche. If you would like to learn more, feel free to Google hormones and learn!

Now, regardless of your (crazy, delusional) opinions, Nintendo has to think about the opinion of the masses. The story as it stands fills gender roles and appeals to more demographics. They COULD pull a Mulan and swap the gender roles, but it would be milked for the shock of having a girl main character and be horrible. Another huge part of Link is the traditionalism of his character. No matter where (or when) he is, he is a 'he' who wears a green tunic and uses a sword. Changing those aspects of the character would hurt the franchise.

That's a very basic summary of demographics and their respective marketing. If you would like to learn more, feel free...

Look, your idea is terrible from both a design and a writing perspective. Drop it.

Also, you REALLY need to learn how to speak respectfully to others. Your straw arguments are insulting and you have yet to make a single decent point.

Tell you what, do me a favor and summarize the point you're trying to make in this thread in the first sentence of your next post. Do us ALL a favor...