Female Link

[ZeldaGod101]

tell me what do you all think about having an option to where you can either choose link to be a male or female

In my personal opinion i think it would be a good thing and better yet instead of their being a female link, mabye play as princess zelda

for example link get captured and sealed away by Ganondorf but before he can do so somehow links triforce of courage and the great and powerful master sword is sent to zelda giving her wisdom and courage and she must these skills to fight off the great evils and free link.

with the triforce of wisdom it would zelda a more strategic advantage and with the triforce of courage she would have the all the fighting skills of link. Im thinking if they were to make a game like this zelda could use the power of the triforce of courage to make her soldiers braver and make them better fighters. It would be more like a stretego game. Zelda would have to use her powers and armies to fight and defeat Ganondorf.

 

[PatheticBarrel]

I think this was an idea they might try and go with, as there was a female student in the Knights Academy in Skyward Sword.

Would love to be able to choose a different gender, but then the fan art gets... weird...

However, the traits given by the Triforce are based on the person, not what they are given. Zelda is the embodiment of Wisdom, though in TP she shows a lot of courage with her sacrifices. The Master Sword doesn't transfer courage to the wielder, the wielder must have the courage to use it properly.

 

[Seth]

Before I would have said, no.

However, I feel like Link is mostly devoid of personality as it is. He is supposed to be the 'link' to the player, so being able to customize that would increase that link for the female players. Also, him saving the princess has little to do with his gender. Besides maybe the end of AoL, Nintendo purposely avoids romantic affiliations, rather having you fill in the blanks yourself. So I think it could work with a female option.

I, personally, would keep Link as a boy though.

 

[MsNerrrrd]

It might be an interesting option to choose the gender of the protagonist, but I think it might work as a spin-off- title, but not as part of the main series.

 

[ZeldaGod101]

I know but its the triforce of courage that makes link so good with weapons like the master sword and makes him the best choice to wield it so im just saying that if link was sealed away then the triforce of courage should go to zelda and the triforce will use its own power to send the master sword to zelda she can free link and the land of hyrule

 

[Spirit]

i think they should give you the option of Link's gender, he is supposed to be a link between the game and the player, i've never really felt linked to Zelda because i'm not a girl, he doesn't talk anyway, never gets it on with anyone so not many relationships within the zelda universe would need to change at all. i'm all for a female Link and hope it happens at some point.

 

[Cfrock]

I think a female Link would be a good thing for them to do in one game because it would lead to a completely different characterisation of Link and have a large impact on the story and character relations. It might also help Nintendo reclaim some of its image of having strong female leads that it lost a bit with Metroid: Other M.

However, it might be seen as a cheap or shallow attempt to get more young men to play the game or an attempt to 'sex' up Zelda (even if a female Link wasn't designed in a sexy way I'm sure there would be detractors who claim it nonetheless). If there was no significance to the change in gender then I could see such a decision getting slated in this way.

So I think that making a female Link could pay off well in terms of story and characterisation as well as female representation in Zelda, but if they just did it for the sake of doing it then it would probably get panned.

And yes, inevitably those, shall we say, 'specialist artists' out there, would have a field day if there was an official female Link.

 

[Ventus]

I've actually made a thread about what arguments there were against a female Link around last month, and I'm pleased to say that the only real argument I personally remember is "we're not used to it so it wouldn't work". People claim up and down that if Link were female, Zelda too would have to get a sex change. Well, that's false. A country is naturally a "her" as far as I know, yet there are females out there to protect her homeland...the homeland doesn't get a sex change. There are female commanders in royal armies who protect their queen, the queen never turns out to be a dude. Why would Link and Zelda be any different? There is *never* any confirmed relationship between the two, and a girl *can* save another girl (I've witnessed this many times at my school).

So really, I'm all for a female Link. I'm not for it so that elder fans will be angry, but because it would change just a tiny bit: Link would have more animation and (her) personality would likely change just a tiny bit. Maybe more empathetic, I dunno, but it'd be there somewhere! When you consider the changes a female Link would have on the series--and there are few and they're minor--I think it'd come to pass that you could play through the theoretical game and not notice Link is female.

 

[Sir Quaffler]

Yeah, sorry Ventus but I'm still in that camp of "we're not used to it so it wouldn't work", or something to that effect. For people who aren't already in the know about Zelda, they still call Link Zelda when we talk about him. His identity is already in crisis with non-fans, making Link female would only complicate that issue. Plus I really like the way male Link looks, so there's that.

But having female playable characters? Absolutely! I wish there were sections in the game where the narrative switched over to other characters we can control. We've seen minimal use of this in the series, with Kafei, Medli, Makar, and Groose; and more extensive use of this with Zelda in ST. I want this thing to happen far more often and for longer periods of time. Like have a section where Link's trapped in Ganon's Castle, and instead of having him stealth his way around the game switches over to a group of villagers who then storm the castle to break him out. That way we can learn of Link's weakness as well as his strengths, and he can become even more of a rounded character.

 

[A Link In Time]

I feel as though a female Link would be a "slapped on" addition much as a Female Shepard was in Mass Effect 3. A change in gender, especially in included as a minor option will do little to alter the narrative.

I'm also opposed to the idea of the sole choice of a female protagonist because it would greatly alter the narrative. Would Zelda be a guy then? Seems far-fetched too me. My proposal is revisiting a Zelda's Adventure type game, wherein Nintendo fleshes out the damsel in distress's personality.

All the points I've made in this thread thus far aside, the most compelling argument against a female Link is the overwhelming amount of male developers and employees in the industry. Who are the main people at Zelda's helm? Shigeru Miyamoto, Eiji Aonuma, Koji Kondo. Notice a similarity? They're all guys. Men can't relate to female protagonists as well therefore resort to same sex heroes, on the grounds of having a more personal understanding.

 

[EeveeChan]

I love the idea of Link being a girl. Link's physical apperance is feminen enough & it would be great to have another awesome character the growing list of heroines. But, I dont feel right about it.

Oh Oh I've got an idea! What if it was a kind of form or spell? Like Link turning into a bunny in the dark world or turning into a Deku when he puts on a mask. I rather have Link being a girl an option instead of having the beloved triforce of courage holder a female and-

Oh I have another idea! What if we had a game where the triforces were switched up, "Zelda" being Power or Courage, "Ganon" being Courage or Wisdom, & "Link" being Wisdom or Power? Link would still be the Playable character, but it could be interchangable? or am i on a completely different subject?

 

[HyruleHistory10]

Lol I think Link could be a girl I mean Joan of arc was lol. (but please not too many pixles or it might be hard to aim the bow...)

i think that the growing poplualtion is Zelda would enjoy it so i am for it.

Or have Link get possessed (since he is the only one that seems able to avoid it) and have to use a different charater.

 

[Sinharvest]

I guarantee you they will NEVER be a female Link. Unless Nintendo really runs out of gimmicks for the series in the far future. First of all the whole story line ethos of the Zelda series would be out of wack, its always Link and Princess Zelda, with Gannon/Gannondorf as the main(I mention main because Vaati is a kind of mini/side villain) badguy. The Legend of Zelda is not like western RPG's where you can customize your characters. Its like saying oh can Mario be female. No, if its a female, you will play as Princess Toadstool. If you get to play a female in a Zelda game it will be Princess Zelda or Sheik. Btw, a spin-off game where you could play Sheik would be amazing.

 

[Kupsacker]

no thanks lol

 

[The Wanderer]

I remember seeing Ventus's old "female Link" thread and going to comment on it and voice my opinions against such an action. I started writing a bit, then stopped and stared at the computer screen for about five minutes before backing out, realizing I had no solid argument against it.

The more I think about it, the more I'm actually intrigued by the concept. It's not necessarily something I want, but I am no longer against it. It would at least be a different, fresher take on The Legend of Zelda, and it might work well if players could choose the gender of Link at the beginning of the game. Therefore, he (or she) would be more of a connection to both male and female players.

All the same, though, the timeline is in enough confusion as it is. Throwing in an event where Link's gender is debatable just complicates things even further. This probably wouldn't be such a big deal considering most Zelda games only thinly connect to each other, leaving plenty of room for story interpretation. I think the concept would work better in more of a side-game, which I am very much in favor of Zelda doing. In such a game, Link may either not appear to face the evil at all and result in another commoner rising up, or it would be more like its own Zelda ODST to chronicle an ordinary person helping overthrow the evil apart from Link's efforts. Either way could more easily use a female main character or character creation system.

And Zelda does not suddenly have to become male for this to work. Most games in the series don't even hint at a romance between Link and Zelda, though Skyward Sword is the most recent and the most extreme in that regard. It wouldn't be hard to have Zelda be a princess all on her own with a heroine instead of a hero coming to save her.