Opinion: Why I Don’t Want A Gender-Optional Link in the Zelda Series

During the buildup to E3 2016, one of the hottest topics going into the convention centered around The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (as it would come to be known) and whether or not you would be able to select Link’s gender in the game. The arguments were heated, and sometimes ugly, with fans on both sides refusing to meet in the middle.

My Zelda Informer colleague Darrin W. Harr II wrote an excellent article on why he believes it’s a good thing for Nintendo to ultimately leave the choice of Link’s gender up to the player, and if you haven’t read it, I encourage you to do so. The argument for gender neutrality is rooted in Zelda-canon logic: The Link we play as in game to game isn’t the same person, but rather the spirit of the hero reincarnated. Who’s to say that the spirit couldn’t inhabit a female character? Who’s to say that ‘Link’ couldn’t be a girl? Well, absolutely no one. According to Legend of Zelda cannon, this is entirely possible. Another point you’ll see made by the gender-neutrality group is that 30 years ago, when Mr. Miyamoto conceived the idea for Legend for Zelda, he based his vision on his own adventures he had as a boy in Koyoto, Japan; and thus he named the character the player would play as ‘Link’: the Link between the game and you. Again, all signs indicate that there’s no reason that a female couldn’t be this link between the game and player.

So why am I against the idea then? Before I get into my reasons, I want to put to rest any idea that it has to do with sexism. I can’t speak for everybody on this side of the argument, but I have no problem playing as, and identifying with, female characters like Samus Aran, Lara Croft, Jill Valentine, and so many more. In fact, some of those women are some of my favorite characters (Who doesn’t love Samus?). I also want to admit that if push came to shove and Nintendo decided to go this route one day, it wouldn’t really bother me. My playing of Zelda wouldn’t be affected, I’d still name my character Link, and I probably wouldn’t notice anything. But not unlike Star Wars fans who pretend the prequels don’t exist, you can’t deny when something monumental like that happens. And here’s why I hope it doesn’t.

All the evidence and logic says that this shouldn’t be a big deal, but the reason I suspect Nintendo will never make this change with Link has more to do with the heart than the head. Yes, my argument will be ruled by emotion, so if you’re looking for an unselfish argument, you won’t find it here. But here we go: Next year, I’ll be turning 30 years old (oh gawd…). This makes me the same age as my beloved Zelda series (Sort of, the series technically turns 31 next year, but who’s counting?). During that time, I’ve had many ups and downs and twists and turns in my life. But one thing that’s been a constant in my life has been me, playing as a boy, chosen by fate to be a hero and save the land. During my almost 30 years I feel like Link and I have grown together, experienced things together, and evolved together.

I don’t think it’s by accident that Nintendo had the Breath of the Wild trailer begin with Zelda audibly saying Link’s name. I think there’s a lot of fans out there like me, who feel a strange connection to this video game character that they’ve been playing as for 30 years, and Nintendo is tapping into that. I believe that the connection lays with the fact that many see Link as both a character and an avatar; he’s the hero we like to think we would be if in the same circumstance. And that’s a very powerful feeling.

I think having gender-neutral characters is the way of the future, and I think Nintendo knows that as well. Just last year we saw both Fire Emblem and Xenoblade Chronicles games come out where the player can fully customize everything about the player they control, including gender. But just like I’ve evolved, so has Link, and what may have started out as a boy with a handful of sprites designed to make me feel like I was on an adventure in Koyoto has turned into a beloved character that I’ve grew up with and shared good times and bad. And I wouldn’t change him for anything. I recognize all the arguments for it and realize they make sense; I’m just saying I’m too attached to the Hero as I know him to want him to change that drastically. And deep down, I feel like Nintendo probably is too.

There is no right or wrong answer to this debate, and the ongoing discussion just shows how much Link and the Zelda series mean to so many people. I encourage respectful discussion below. The opinions expressed here are my own and do not reflect Zelda Informer as a whole.

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