Baking Supplies Company Copies Link’s Design [UPDATED]

Let’s face it; Link has a pretty iconic look. There have been plenty of times over the years when people tried to copy or parody his design with their attempts always looking more or less conspicuous. German baking company Pickerd Dekor is one such “copy-cat.” For one of their products, a colored icing called “Ritter-schrift” (“Knight Font/Lettering”), Pickerd’s package designers used a knightly character whose appearance and pose are strikingly similar to our favorite tight-wearing hero. Jump inside to see the comparison.

As you can see below, the Ritter-Schrift character bears multiple similarities to the official artwork of Link from The Minish Cap. One of the more notable consistencies lies in their pose; both of them are standing with their left foot put forward mid-step, looking to their left (toward the camera) with sword pointed the same direction and their shield held close to their front.

Next, both characters have blonde hair with the same length and style, and their swords match almost perfectly save for a color change. Then there’s their outfits; while Ritter is missing Link’s iconic hat and it’s hard to see his boots, his tunic and belt are almost an exact match if not for their color. The only definite difference is Ritter’s shield, which is more stout and has a different design from Link’s shield. In fact, the images are so similar, one of our readers even put the two images over top of each other and found a perfect match:

Now, I’m sure that Pickerd Dekor did not intend any sort of copyright infringement here. They simply wanted a knight for their package, and thought Link was a pretty good looking basis for the design. It’s pretty likely their packaging designers may not have even realized who Link is… Or, on the other hand, they could be Zelda fans and wanted to reference their beloved series in their packaging. Who knows?

I personally think this is pretty cool. Like I said, there probably wasn’t any intended thievery here; it’s just a harmless package design, after all. But people always see issues differently, so let us know what you think in the comments! Is this a shameless ripoff, a harmless copy, or a loving dedication? Give us your thoughts!

UPDATED 12:00 CST 10/18/12: Corrected a mistake pointed out by our commentors and added comparison image.

[Thanks to Michael Heide for the image and information!]
[Thanks to readers wwtoonlinkfan and Tom for correcting which game’s artwork was used, especially Tom for providing the comparison image!]