What Would Happen if Link Was Not Caucasian?

[Fahxy]

I do not mean to be offensive in any way in this thread. I was simply thinking about tis nbc.com article I saw about the possibility of an African American spider man and I thought, "Hey, I wonder what the response would be from gamers if Link had skin of a different color?" I personally don't think it would be bad, but it is quite a bit off of Link's iconic image. There aren't many multiracial Nintendo games (at least mainstream) and I wonder how that would go down. What are your opinions? Now remember, I don't want any racist comments or anything to hurt people emotionally. I merely want some responses about how you think that gamers would respond and whether it would work.

 

[Master Kokiri 9]

Personally, while I wouldn't mind it, I don't see it happening. Zelda is set in a mideval Europeanish fantasy world, and to my knowledge, Africans were not present in Europe during the mideval era.

 

[Austin]

Personally, while I wouldn't mind it, I don't see it happening. Zelda is set in a mideval Europeanish fantasy world, and to my knowledge, Africans were not present in Europe during the mideval era.

I don't think that's entirely true. I can recall at least one work of fiction where a man of African descent was present in Europe, and I'm sure there are more. It probably wasn't common however.

I don't think Nintendo would do this, simply because Link is a mascot for their company, and it'd be a bit of an issue if people couldn't recognize him. There'd also be quite a bit of fan backlash, for both racist and traditionalist reasons.

 

[Raven]

This should probably be in the world of zelda section of the forums, but really, i think Link would still be the hero he is today even if he was of another ethnicity. Zelda would still be a popular series and not much would be different. Maybe all the ordon and kokiri would be the same color as Link but other than that I don't see much of a change.

Mario is in essence, Italian yet he is still hugely popular. Link could have been middle eastern in appearance with a blue tunic and a turban instead of a pointed cap and for all we know he would still be the hero of time. after all the Zelda games nintendo has pumped out how could we not love it? Besides Zelda has a hint of anime-ish style to it, characters from anime shows usually turn out to be light skinned.

 

[Link-182]

I think it'd be pretty cool. I mean, final fantasy has a lot of multicultural diversity in each story and it works well. I've seen african and asian descent in a couple of screenshots, I've never really played it before.
But if it were a game called, the legend of Hyrule and it was a different character in every game I'd be down with a different ethnicity. If they made Link black, or asian, I'd probably think it was a weird decision but hey, I'd still play it and enjoy it. I'd probably think it was pretty cool. No, Link doesn't turn into a Goron in this game, he turns into an Inuit.
And there are Gerudos which seem a slightly different color skin so it could be possible right?
Hey I'm down with change but its a very odd decision that doesn't make much sense, and very unlikely.

Oh and no offence to the Inuit thing, I'm part Inuit. Just an example.

 

[Vanessa28]

I don't think that's entirely true. I can recall at least one work of fiction where a man of African descent was present in Europe, and I'm sure there are more. It probably wasn't common however.

True. Don´t forget the times of slavery when africans were brought to Europe to serve the rich. But this is another story.

I wouldn´t mind but indeed it would be weird because we are all used to Link´s common looks. But I don´t think it will take away the pleasure of playing the Zelda games. I don´t see this happen and yes the Gerudos are slightly colored and still they are pretty cool.

 

[NorthApple]

I wouldn´t mind but indeed it would be weird because we are all used to Link´s common looks. But I don´t think it will take away the pleasure of playing the Zelda games. I don´t see this happen and yes the Gerudos are slightly colored and still they are pretty cool.

Exactly, already there's various (awesome) darker-skinned characters that appear in a few of the games, so it wouldn't be that much of a stretch to apply that to Link too. And besides, it's set in a fantasy realm, the characters could have bright orange and purple skin and it would still make sense in context (Twili anyone?), regardless of what real-life time period it's based on (did the middle ages have talking bushes that spit seeds at you? I don't think so.)

That said, it would look a little odd at first since it would break the aesthetical "tradition" the Zelda games had going, but hey, all I give a damn about is that it's a good game- that the story is interesting, you can empathise with the characters, the gameplay is fun and the puzzles make you stop and think. The looks of the characters (and graphics in general) are just extras when making a game good at heart. The colour of your skin doesn't make you any less capable of being the Hero, just like being Left-handed isn't a requirement either... just because the majority of Link's have been left-handed so far, doesn't mean that's a necessary quality in order to be the Hero, and in the same way having lighter skin isn't a requirement either, that just happens to be the trend so far.
So if Nintendo chose to try this, there'd be no problem whatsoever (in my opinion). That said, there'd probably be some morons who'd get their underwear in a knot about it, but from a gameplay/story perspective, it'd work out fine. :3

 

[Virgil]

The way I see it, link was never caucasion to begin with anyways. He is technically "Elvish" or as the game would refer to him as Hylian.(yes, i consider all hylians elves) So making him darker or whatever wouldn't change that fact to me. He would still be link, he would still make all of his screaming sounding dialog in combat. And all in all, he would still be the hero of time, or winds, or whatever may be the case at the time. Oh, and he would also still be a MUTE, which is apparently a staple for nintendo. So yea, making him another ethnicity wouldn't bother me a bit. But, they would have had to start out with that, now it would simply because he's been the same out of like 13 games.

 

[Fahxy]

As some of you were saying, I think that maybe the hardcore imageists might get their panties in a bunch, but the rest of us would be okay. But what if more changes happened to Link's staple equipment? woulld all of us go crazy if link ran into battle with a tower sheild and a nine and a half foot long spear, or would we be down with it? Could we handle a battle axe and a wooden buckler? WHAT IF HIS TUNIC WASN'T GREEN??? I'm not saying that I neccisarily want these changes made(at least, not ALL of them.. A spear would be pretty cool...), but would the casual gamers frown while the hardcorers went to get Miyamato's head on a stake? WOULD THE GAMING WORLD END???

 

[octorok74]

I would scream in horror and then the scream would slowly turn into uncontrollable laughter. No offense to anyone, but I think Link should stay caucasian because otherwise Link would look out of place. Unless you change the skin color of the other characters, but that would just be weird.

 

[OmarScofield]

Aint we had Dark Link from Ocarina Of Time? That was the closest possible different color Link in a Zelda game no? lol

 

[Zeruda]

Aint we had Dark Link from Ocarina Of Time? That was the closest possible different color Link in a Zelda game no? lol

Not really. Dark Link was a shadowy figure. He didn't really have a skin color- he was just a shadow of Link.

Anyway, I'm just gonna go ahead and be blunt about the way I'm seeing these things. The media is throwing these dramatic changes in icons' appearances because it sparks controversy and interest. They used a half-black chick (Halle Berry) for the Catwoman movie... I mean, Catwoman has always been a white woman. Now a black Spider-man? The media is just getting a little obsessive with trying to make sure they don't seem racist, and in doing so, they are twisting beloved characters.

I'm not racist, but when we're given an image that has lasted over a long period of time, I don't like that changed. With Link, we've had this image of a Caucasian boy for over two decades now. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy to see that they are expanding the diversity in the games. The Gerudo resembled middle-eastern people. Some characters like the Happy Mask Salesman and Guru Guru look more Asian. And, with TP, we got some characters that looked like they could've been Hispanic (Coro, Hena, etc). Telma even looks something different, but I can't place it. Almost African features, but her skin is too light for that.

Anyway, I like that they are making the world of Hyrule a little more realistic by getting rid of the whole "EVERYBODY'S WHITE!" thing and adding characters that look like other races in our world. I feel like I can relate better to the game when I see Hispanics or Asians.... feel less "left out" I guess. But Link? Don't change him just for the sake of being something other than Caucasian. He's had this image for years. Yeah, his hair has changed, but overall, he's retained a certain appearance. It'd be like making the elegant Princess Zelda a short, fat hippo of a ruler. Even moreso, it'd be like making Mario a slim and trim Asian. Doesn't work.

He's not just an image. He doesn't just look a certain way. Link is an icon.

 

[Shadsie]

If they did, they'd better have some good story-related reasons for doing so -- in other words, "don't change an iconic character's look just because of a gimmick." Heck, I think fans might have a hard time accepting a black *haired* Link or one with green eyes (in departure from the traditional blond-to-brown-haired, blue eyed look), let alone a racial-change done for gimmick.

*Laughs* if anything, why not go whole-hog and have the Chosen Hero be born a Zora? or a Gerudo?


That said, I've met people who get waaaay overboard about race. I had a professor in college who wouldn't publish a poem of mine in an anthology because, apparently, as a white person, I wasn't supposed to use the word "slave" even in a comedic manner (the poem was about working at a grocery store, making fun of wage-slavery). I could just see her having fits if she saw a couple of my latter work (novels) in which I made protagonists dark-skinned just because that's how they appeared to me in my mind. I certainly didn't care about race - it was an aesthetic thing for me (my worlds are ones where our world/time's notions of race and racism would be laughed at). If someone were to come along and demand that I change my characters because I'm "white and therefore not allowed to write about non-caucasian characters" I... I think I'll eat their head. *Sports fangs.* --- My point being is that sometimes creators have a particular look for a character in mind, regardless of what their own race is or what is "politically correct," and change shouldn't be forced just to be more PC.

 

[Austin]

This is a very interesting thread! If the original Link was black, then I wouldn't have problems. The only reason it bugs me because the traditional Link was "Hylian". We know this from OoT and Deku Tree's cut scene. I'm not sure if "Hyrule" has black people in it, but they could exist, and it would be cool to see more variety of characters. The reason for quotes is that I treat Hyrule and our world differently. That is Nintendo's intentions of treating them differently for this reason exactly. They want to avoid legal issues as much as possible. I like my Zelda games to have similarity.

However, if Nintendo could incorporate this idea into the story. Give us, the gamer, a back story of Link's heritage and family, and I wouldn't have a problem with a black Link. If they do a Blank Spiderman, I would have no problem. I just simple hope they would give the character a different name other than Peter Parker. With any character (especially protagonist), no matter what race/background, they need to incorporate some background story.

 

[*M i d n a*]

If they somehow chose to change Link's looks I think everyone would have a hard time adjusting, not that it's gonna happen but that would be the case if it did.

I only wish Link was Hispanic so that I could see him cruising around inside a low-rider with Zelda at his side, if not that, then perhaps so he could be a big Mexican Soccer fan since he is dressed in green most of the time.