A Webcomic About Baby Link and Papa Ganon? — Interviewing the Team Behind “Growing Up Gerudo”
Posted on October 24 2020 by Sadko Margolin
Webtoon is a popular app that allows users to read and publish webcomics online. There are literally thousands of options to suit one’s reading pleasure and dozens of categories. And somewhere buried in all the treasure is a special piece of gold called Growing Up Gerudo.
Growing Up Gerudo is a retelling of the story of Link and Ganondorf from the Ocarina of Time in which, you guessed it, Link is raised by the Gerudo instead of the Kokiri. The comic goes through his childhood and is currently focusing on his teen years. It touches on a few aspects from Zelda lore and adds to many others. We learn why the Gerudo live in the desert, and we even get new looks at Zelda and Impa that shed light on things we never knew we wanted to know.
I had a chance to sit down with the creators, Junior and Roy, for an exclusive interview to shine a spotlight on this unique story. Let’s light our lanterns and sharpen our swords as we dive into this amazing tale.
Tell us a little bit about yourselves.
Junior: I’m Junior, the illustrator of the comic! I’ve been friends with Roy since high school and we’ve collaborated on the comic for 4 years now! I like drawing big, intimidating things as cute and adorable… which explains this comic a lot.
Roy: Hi! I’m Roy, the writer! I have known Junior since high school and we have been working on different art projects together since! This comic is our biggest project yet!
What inspired you to create a Zelda-themed webcomic?
Junior: We both read a lot of comics, manga, and webcomics… and I think it’s the perfect medium that fits both of our strengths! It’s been a lot of fun reinterpreting the characters, races and settings from the series.
Roy: Yeah, the Zelda franchise has so many holes in the canon for fan-theory, and it’s really fun to come up with stories to fill in those holes! Our favorite theory is one my brother told me about the Zelda timelines. He told me that there is no “timeline” but just retellings of the same legend.
This is truly an interesting way of looking at the story. In several ways it could make perfect sense. It does also still leave enough plot holes to make room for even more fan-theories.
What can you tell us about your creation process for writing and illustrating the story?
Junior: We plan the basic foundation of the story in advance, like major story beats that are bound to happen, and then build onto that and improvise as we go. I know a lot of things have changed as we went along with the story.
Roy: There is a lot of playing it by ear after some basic planning.
What was the determining factor for having Link be raised by the Gerudo as opposed to another race from Hyrule?
Roy: Playing Hyrule Warriors together. In co-op mode, Junior played Ganondorf and I played Young Link. They called me “son” as a joke, and I played along. We then started coming up with head-canons of Ganon raising Link instead of the Kokiri.
What would the story have been like if he were raised by some of the other more popular races in Hyrule?
Junior: Oh gosh, can you imagine Link being raised by the Gorons though? Rolling around on his back? I don’t think he could ever adjust to their diet without losing a row of teeth. The Zora diet would be easier on him! Link, being raised by the Rito: “I’ll get my wings someday!”
Roy: A blast of Bomb Flowers!
Clearly you are pulling the majority of your inspiration for this comic from Ocarina of Time. Are there any other games you used for inspiration?
Roy: We mostly pull from Oot and [Twilight Princess] but we put some elements from other games. For example, Bow-Wow, Link’s Helmeroc. The name came from Link’s Awakening and the bird’s red color from Link’s Loftwing in Skyward Sword.
Junior: Yeah, we definitely based it on OoT for the majority! We both enjoyed TP as well and it ended up providing some interesting world-building for the Geurdo and Twili. I know we’ll be diving into the Twilight Realm soon in Teen Arc so we can’t wait to show our interpretation!
[Public updates are already up on Patreon.]
Which Zelda game is your favorite and which is your least favorite?
Junior: Link’s Awakening.
Roy: Wind Waker.
Ironically they both had the same answer for least favorite, for the same reason.
Both: Skyward Sword, “uugggh the CONTROLS!”
Who are your favorite characters in the series?
Junior: Ganon and Midna.
Roy: Link and Ghirahim.
[This can be seen with their cosplays that can be found on their tumblr page. The tumblr page is also where you can get all kinds of news and updates about the comic and more.]
I wanted to know, as I am sure their Webtoon readers do as well, if there are any plans in the works for more Zelda-inspired stories.
Junior: There might be a larger scene with those kooky witches, Twinrova, in the Adult Arc later down the line as catty grandmas, but we’ll just have to see how it all plays out! I know once GUG is over, I might revisit it for some drawings here and there or the occasional one-shot comic. We’ve been doing a Zelda DnD campaign on the side so I would love to explore the world of making Zelda fan-characters more!
[They do not have a shop exactly but you can call them your own personal Happy Mask Salesman when conventions come back around again. They will be selling stickers, zine booklets, prints and more, all of which can also be enjoyed as a Patron. They are mostly Ohio-based and can be found at conventions for games, anime, and comics there.]
Before following our own paths, can you give me some advice for any readers wanting to get into the industry themselves?
Roy: Don’t push yourself and have fun!
Junior: Always learn to adapt because it can get incredibly tedious. Learn how to make it fun for yourself when things feel too stale and learn how to give yourself a break!
As a final farewell, their parting words were:
Roy: It’s dangerous to go alone, take a mask!
Junior: Here’s to more role-play shenanigans from Age of Calamity!
You can check out Growing Up Gerudo on Webtoon right here. You can also see more from the team on tumblr here, and share your support on Patreon here.
I have personally been following the comic for some time now and am seriously enjoying it. Seeing other brilliant minds work out a new legend for such an iconic series is something truly worth looking into. I love how they have twisted the personalities and even characteristics of some characters to make the story flow like a totally new river. I highly recommend looking into the story and making time for it.
Have you been following Growing Up Gerudo? Are you curious to check it out for the first time? Let us know in the comments below!
Sadko Margolin is a junior editor at Zelda Dungeon. He has two webtoons of his own that he really needs to get back to work on and proofreads for several others. He has played every main title Zelda game and loves Twilight Princess above the rest. He is currently trying to bring civilization back to the wasteland in Fallout 76 with his wife and saving Aerith from the Shinra Corporation in the FF7 Remake. He can be found on Instagram where you can see some of the webtoons he works on besides his own.
