Daily Debate: Should Link Remain A Silent Protagonist?

33 years is a very long time for a video game series to still be thriving. Since the first Zelda game was released in 1986, we’ve had 16 more canon games. Even after all those games, the protagonist of the series, Link, has mainly remained a mute character.

It feels as if Nintendo wants to avoid pushing Link firmly into any one direction. He’s given somewhat of a personality through non-verbal expressions in some games, and lately he does feel like he’s becoming more of a unique character. Plus he has talked before, in Zelda II: The Adventure of Link. Yet for a long time it was implied that Link is supposed to be a manifestation of the players. Back in 2014, after the Female Link speculations associated with Breath of The Wild, Eiji Aonuma said the following in an interview with Gamespot:

“The character’s a hero, and represents the player in the game, so I leave that to the player to decide what the characteristics are of the player character, because it’s supposed to represent him or herself. If that makes sense!”

Breath of The Wild is probably the first step in really making Link more of a unique character, while also kicking down the door for voice acting in Zelda. It’s not too late to draw back from that, though. If Nintendo really wants to take permanent steps to give Link more development, the easiest route could be by giving him a memorable voice of his own.

Would you be okay with Link having a voice? What do you think are the downsides of Nintendo doing this? Or is Link better off remaining a silent protagonist, only being able to yell and have speech bubbles occasionally? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!

Charles Xavier

Charles is a Senior Editor at Zelda Dungeon. He is a Visual Development artist focused on enviroments and pitch paintings. Check out his Instagram and Twitter to see his latest artworks, a lot of which is Zelda fan art! His favorite candy is Skittles – he feels the world should know this.