New Takes on Link in the Future?

[ChargewithSword]

As we can see, Link has always been the same in every Zelda, despite it being a new one every time.

What if Nintendo did new takes on his character in the future and what ideas could you think of?

"One idea of mine is that Link could be a sorta Robin Hood esque character where he is born in an era where Ganondorf is King and he must get Zelda back onto her throne (after finding her at least.)"

"He could also live the life of a bounty hunter in the newer Zeldas. Living alone and getting bounties for a living, where he then finds himself in a struggle with the evi wizard Ganondorf."

I could think of quite a few, but I want to know what you think should be done with link in the newer games.

 

[Hylian Hobbit]

I'd like to see a few breaks from the traditional Zelda plot, myself.

For one, I think it'd be nice if we didn't see Link start out as an inexperienced farm boy/nobody. I'd like to see the game start out with Link as like a veteran fighter, or be something like a soldier or bounty hunter as Charge mentioned. And then for him to be thrown into the quest.

And I know I'm not alone when I say this: Enough with the little enemies scattered around Hyrule Field. Give me armies lead and fight, Nintendo. :< Something totally cliche and epic like a huge battle at the end of the game, and towards the end of the battle, have Link and Ganondorf duke it out in the midst of the all fighting. It could take the Zelda series to a whole new level, while still retaining the classic Zelda traditions we all know and love.

But that's getting a little off topic... So anyhoo, I'd like to see Link start out as a general or captain in the Hyrulian army or something of the sort. Really anything of decent status instead of the poor farm boy scenario.

That's about all I have for now. =P

 

[Niko Bellic 817]

I like how Link is now and wouldn't want him to change because I find it fun to start out with very few weapons and working your way up from there. It also makes the game more challenging because it is harder to kill enemies and to defeat bosses. I can't imagine him being a bounty hunter because he's supposed to be the hero that was chosen by the goddesses, hero of time, etc. and he should only defeat evil, random enemies, Ganon, Vaati etc. One thing that I definately wouldn't want is for Link to have different guns. Zelda is supposed to be mideval and guns put in games by Nintendo are for Metroid games.

 

[ChargewithSword]

I like how Link is now and wouldn't want him to change because I find it fun to start out with very few weapons and working your way up from there. It also makes the game more challenging because it is harder to kill enemies and to defeat bosses. I can't imagine him being a bounty hunter because he's supposed to be the hero that was chosen by the goddesses, hero of time, etc. and he should only defeat evil, random enemies, Ganon, Vaati etc. One thing that I definately wouldn't want is for Link to have different guns. Zelda is supposed to be mideval and guns put in games by Nintendo are for Metroid games.

Bounty Hunters never started with guns. Bounty Hunters can use swords and magic and what not. Besides, we could have the game start like this: He is a Bounty Hunter who uses only a sword, but as you progress through the game you get more stuff.

Plus, don't you think the whole "The Hero must be always a simple farmboy/young lad." a bit sterotypical? I mean, no one with any other proffesion can be the Hero? Look at Samus, she's a Bounty Hunter and she looks like the kind of person fit for the selfless hero act. (Sorry if it sounded I was attacking you. Tried to tone down my sentence to make it seem like I was saying a new idea. Sorry.)

 

[angelkid]

Hmmm. Personally, the only thing I think Link needs is confidence. I'd LOVE to see Link take on like a whole Moblin army or something Similar in the next Zelda tittle, however, the only problem is that Link himself doesn't have the confidence. I think it'd make the prefect sidequest if you had to face 500 bobkins or something. It'd be VERY hard, and most people wouldn't be able to do it (hence why it is a sidequest) so it would really give the Zelda veterans a treat. However, the one problem with this is so far, we have never had a Link with confidence.

Also, I'd like to see Link with different... Body builds. It kinda really bugs me that No matter how many Link's. They ALWAYS have the same body build. I'd love to see an epicly large link weilding a battle axe for a change or something. We've had small, young Link's but never a large strong one. This is something I'd like to see, bring on Body-Builder-Link .

 

[Zemen]

Interesting thread. Surprised I never noticed it before. Anyway, I had one thought on something that would be cool. A game where Link is a monster hunter (hired to kill monsters...duh) and during a hunt he gets bitten by a monster that causes him to randomly transform in to a monster, himself. Over the course of the game, Link would have to learn how to control different aspects of being a monster while still being able to retain his skills when he is in normal form.

 

[DeletedUser9]

Yes, this is a very good idea. I like the idea of switching it up like that in future games, even if it's only with Link's personal history and not the whole story. I practice this in some of my fangame ideas...

In one, Link starts out as the squire of a royal knight of Hyrule. In another, he's the nephew of the Great Composer Brothers and a servant of the Royal Family of Hyrule. And in the last he is Dampe's assistant.

I would definitely like to see more of this. Although I think they did mix it up a bit in Twilight Princess, where Link was essentially a ranch worker. Although he did still live in some village in the forest. :xd:

 

[Shadow Wolfo]

Pretty good Idea. But it sounds like links in the late 1800s in the cowboy years.

 

[TVTMaster]

I'm definitely on board the "Link's not a random farm boy" concept. I mean, if it weren't for the Triforce of Courage happening to be inside him, there would really be no reason for him to ever continue beyond his immediate goal. In WW, he saves his sister, and then randomly goes on some quest instead of letting someone else handle it. In TP, he saves the children, and then goes and finds the Mirror Shards for no other reason than "Midna said so". I'd like to see Link as a knight, or a vigilante, or someone with a valid reason to be on his quest.

 

[Immortal_One]

It sounds like an alright idea, but the only problem I have with it is that I'm not really for breaking tradition in that way. The charm of Link is that he's the Hero that was destine to acquire the Triforce of Courage, wield the Master Sword and defeat the Evil King Ganondorf, all of this without initially having a will to do so. The fact that he's a regular private citizen of Hyrule living his life in tranquility before his adventrue begins is thing that kind of makes it special. He's a working class hero. Most of the games stay true to this.

Although, I think I'd welcome a game with a serious Link, one who takes the role of an aggressive hero who is looking for an adventure and takes it on with strife and earns his glory, but only after the series announces that it will make a drastic switch in tone. I wouldn't like to hear that the next game has a "surprise in store for the fans" and see Link with a rugged beard, Battle axe and full plate armor. Knowing this before hand would be all I ask, really.

 

[Zeruda]

Personally, I hope that they never stray from making Link a typical, normal boy. That is what is supposed to help us relate to him. Whether he is a generic ranch hand or an island kid, it's nice that he's just a normal person who is beckoned by the call of adventure. Otherwise, he'd be like almost every other character out there who at least starts off with some knowledge of the fighting world. Starting off as an inexperienced character always allows for ample character growth.

But I do think that changes in his persona could be made elsewhere. Maybe he could refuse the call at first, rather than automatically accept the quest. In TWW, he only started off on adventure to save his sister, but he ended up accepting the call without hesitation once he learned of what was going on. In TP, he was used, and his only real goal was saving his friends until, as always, he learned of what was really happening, and then he accepted the call without hesitation. Maybe if he refused, it'd bring something new to the table. He might be forced to side with an enemy, or maybe he calls the shots for once.

Maybe he starts out as a normal kid, but one looking for adventure instead of being caught up in it. There are all sorts of ways to bring about change in the Zelda formula without sacrificing essential parts of the game.

 

[dur.i.am]

Here are my idea's, They are most likely to be shared with others:

Firstly, I want to see a Link where he is a fully grown adult and a veteran of war, Then for him to be called by Zelda to either:

a) To enter a war, Where you fight against armies of men at a time, But not just by yourself, With an army of men at your side or even under your control. Either Ganondorf, Another nation or a rising faction has produced armies of men or Creatues, It would be even better if it was either a mix or a human like creature (much like the orcs in TLotR).

Also for Link to be able to weild a few weapons, You could have a magic bar to perform special move's with each weapon. I would like to see it go back to (ALttP is it???) being able to upgrade things. You could upgrade you skill with weapons based on the amount of skills you perform. You could also chose some armour to wear. Not much though, Maybe a helm of sorts and gauntlets, Not full body armour.

b) To go on a quest and instead of a few random enemies here and there, Full on groups or enemies to take down getting harder as you go along, The enemies could also have ranks which show's how tough they are.

The next way I want to see Link is as a young adult that was an unseasoned soldier, be that in an army or as a lone soldier like usual. Then for this to take the path of his earning respect and earning ranks, The higher Link's rank the better he gets and more powerful enemies he can take on. The quests you have to complete also getting harder as you get a higher rank, If you fail you could be demoted. It would be cool, I want to see a Zelda that stray's away from "Princess gets usurped/captured, Link ends up on quest to save her and the kingdom".....

 

[Steve]

I'd be really interested to see Link as a villain or some sort of assassin, and he slowly becomes a hero over the course of the game. Instead of the typical "rags to riches", it'd be "evil to good". Due to the fact Nintendo has never been one to break tradition in the Zelda series (unfortunately), we probably won't see any diversity.

 

[knowlee]

So anyhoo, I'd like to see Link start out as a general or captain in the Hyrulian army or something of the sort. Really anything of decent status instead of the poor farm boy scenario.

I agree with this statement. I'd like to see Link as something else rather than just some guy who lives in the forest.

Although at the same time that would take away from the idea of that since he is what some consider a "nobody", that he wouldn't be able to stop the evil from destroying Hyrule. That gives him a slight edge by giving his enemies the mentality of him being weak. This idea, I believe, is evident in most Zelda games.

If he was a general or captain, it wouldn't give him that edge. The enemies would expect him to be powerful and they'd send their most powerful monsters to fight him, which would probably wouldn't end very nicely...

Overall though, I would like to see Link be someone other than what I stated before in my first paragraph.

 

[Zeruda]

You know, in The Legend of Zelda, Link didn't really start out as a simple boy. He might have before the events of the game, but in the story, he was already a traveller who was skilled with the sword by the time Impa met him. I think a remake of this game could really help bring about that diversity.

In that old NES game, he's just this stranger who appears out of nowhere and saves the fleeing nursemaid. Kind of mysterious, don't you think? Just imagine how that could be defined in a 3D game. He was already an adventurer, so he probably had fought off evil villains before. Even if the game wasn't remade, putting something like that into a newer game would be really interesting. It'd give the opportunity to slowly divulge his past to the player.... maybe there would even be darkness in his past... despair, even. You never know. But I always thought that that particular Link was just begging to be further developed.