Can Link fight unarmed?

[DuelMark]

So one day I was thinking about Samurai Jack, because why not, when I remembered something. While Jack had a sword, and was proficient with any weapon, he was also skilled with hand-to-hand combat.

Whenever Link is unarmed, he just plain can't fight.

This always gives me the feeling that Link would be pretty useless without a weapon. Admittedly, one can argue that the series is meant to be an adventure and the weapons are tools to help navigate and defend, but at the same time I feel like Link should at least know how to throw a punch.

I actually googled unarmed combat from the medieval ages and find that it did exist back then, and being able to at least counter his opponent and wrestle the weapon off of them would at least be a form of self defense he should know.

I'm not suggesting Link should throw punches and kicks like Ryu from Street Fighter, just that he should know some necessary skills in case weapons are something he can't use. We had wrestling and goat wrangling in Twilight Princess so why not counter a Bokoblin and wrestle the spear or whatever away and use it. It could even be a sidequest where Link enters something like a boxing match and has to punch his opponent out of the ring to win.

Do you think this is an interesting enough idea or should Link always rely on a sword?

 

[YIGAhim]

That would be very interesting. Very interesting!

I would love to sneak into a Bokoblin camp, wrestle a spear off a guard, and then throw them off the towers and stuff. That would be epic!

 

[Spirit]

It would have been useful to be able to do SOMETHING in BotW when you ran out of weapons.

Guess you had bombs though....


I wouldnt mind a counter or a disarming technique in future Zelda games if theyre gonna continue the way they handled weapons in BotW. Link has never needed to fight unarmed because the games have not let him be unarmed.

Now being unarmed can happen by accident.

 

[Pen]

I agree that would be extremely handy in BotW with the weapon breaking system. I suppose the closest we've seen to it is the wrestling in Twilight Princess.

 

[Jirohnagi]

It would have been useful to be able to do SOMETHING in BotW when you ran out of weapons.

Guess you had bombs though....


I wouldnt mind a counter or a disarming technique in future Zelda games if theyre gonna continue the way they handled weapons in BotW. Link has never needed to fight unarmed because the games have not let him be unarmed.

Now being unarmed can happen by accident.

Correct me if i'm wrong but can't you disarm Bokos, Moblins and Lizalfos, if you parry em consecutively?

I never really ran outta weapons though so i never bothered overmuch

 

[Spirit]

Correct me if i'm wrong but can't you disarm Bokos, Moblins and Lizalfos, if you parry em consecutively?

I never really ran outta weapons though so i never bothered overmuch

I dunno but you cant parry without shield and what if you dont have a shield?

Or at least i think you cant....

But magnesis and stasis help too. Cant guarantee theyll be in the next game though

 

[Jirohnagi]

I dunno but you cant parry without shield and what if you dont have a shield?

Or at least i think you cant....

But magnesis and stasis help too. Cant guarantee theyll be in the next game though

Again never really considered running outta shields. Mainly cuz i rush the Hylian shield and just go ape with it.

I dunno bout other but i sincerely hate magnesis. Seems way to specialistic.

 

[Dizzi]

yea you would expect Link to be able to fight without weapons.....even if its just like to gain another weapon....

 

[Dio]

He can throw a big goat. Don't see why he can't swing a bokoblin round and throw one of those.

His weapons shouldnt be breaking in the first place though!

 

[Jirohnagi]

He can throw a big goat. Don't see why he can't swing a bokoblin round and throw one of those.

His weapons shouldnt be breaking in the first place though!

What crap is that?

Swords Dull and become notched with constant use requiring repair
a spear will shatter if thrown or used against a sturdy object.
Bows can shatter from overpulling ditto arrows.

Saying weapons shouldn't be breaking is kinda stupid. In prior games there may have been an excuse (Fairy bow being made of special wood that doesn't break under pressure, Goron Hammer won't break due to special composition in ore) but nothing in BOTW suggests any weapon, bar the master sword) is special in anyway. And even with the Master Sword it doesn't "break" per say, it just loses it's charge which is what you'd expect of a relic that's been sitting for a hundred years while it's wielder is in stasis, longest it's ever gone like that is OOT's 7 years of stasis

 

[Dio]

What crap is that?

Swords Dull and become notched with constant use requiring repair
a spear will shatter if thrown or used against a sturdy object.
Bows can shatter from overpulling ditto arrows.

Saying weapons shouldn't be breaking is kinda stupid. In prior games there may have been an excuse (Fairy bow being made of special wood that doesn't break under pressure, Goron Hammer won't break due to special composition in ore) but nothing in BOTW suggests any weapon, bar the master sword) is special in anyway. And even with the Master Sword it doesn't "break" per say, it just loses it's charge which is what you'd expect of a relic that's been sitting for a hundred years while it's wielder is in stasis, longest it's ever gone like that is OOT's 7 years of stasis

You seem like you have never used a weapon.

I used to do archery. Never broken a bow in my life. Never seen a bow broken either. Hundreds of arrows fired. No break. Link uses a bow fires a couple of arrows. Bow breaks. That's stupid.

The edges of a sword may dull over time but they do not shatter. And people fought wars with swords without having to replace them on a minutely basis. You could still do damage with a blunt blade just not quite as much.

 

[Jirohnagi]

You seem like you have never used a weapon.

I used to do archery. Never broken a bow in my life. Never seen a bow broken either. Hundreds of arrows fired. No break. Link uses a bow fires a couple of arrows. Bow breaks. That's stupid.

The edges of a sword may dull over time but they do not shatter. And people fought wars with swords without having to replace them on a minutely basis. You could still do damage with a blunt blade just not quite as much.

You push a tool beyond it's stress limit, or use it wrong, it shatters or use it against material harder than it, it breaks. Also bear in mind this isn't a modern hyrule where bows are made outta composite material, the Strings on a hyrule bow are bound to break and i sincerely doubt you'd be running around taking shots with a bow like BOTW.

Also i never said that they replaced weapons on a minutely basis, i said weapons get dull and damaged over time. Which you seem to have missed in that post dude. And a fool who rushes in with a blunt sword is more likely to die. You'd replace it with a sharper sword as soon as you could.

You've still not given a valid reason why the tools should be invincible and unbreakable y'know.

Only thing i do agree on though is sword shattering, that's a really unlikely event and just banging away sword on sword wouldn't do it, more like using it smash rocks flat side down and even then it'd just break. But it's nintendo they aren't gonna introduce blacksmith who could repair a good sword if they can force you to go out and hunt out a new weapon.

One thing that does bother me in terms of weapon damage is how the hell does link manage to break stuff like lynel crushers?

 

[Dio]

You push a tool beyond it's stress limit, or use it wrong, it shatters or use it against material harder than it, it breaks. Also bear in mind this isn't a modern hyrule where bows are made outta composite material, the Strings on a hyrule bow are bound to break and i sincerely doubt you'd be running around taking shots with a bow like BOTW.

I never said that they replaced weapons on a minutely basis, i said weapons get dull and damaged over time. Which you seem to have missed in that post dude. And a fool who rushes in with a blunt sword is more likely to die. You'd replace it with a sharper sword as soon as you could.

You've still not given a valid reason why the tools should be invincible and unbreakable y'know.

Only thing i do agree on though is sword shattering, that's a really unlikely event and just banging away sword on sword wouldn't do it, more like using it smash rocks flat side down and even then it'd just break. But it's nintendo they aren't gonna introduce blacksmith who could repair a good sword if they can force you to go out and hunt out a new weapon.

One thing that does bother me in terms of weapon damage is how the hell does link manage to break stuff like lynel crushers?

I know you didn't say they replaced swords on a minutely basis, but Link has to and you appeared to be defending weapon breaking in BoTW. In that game they don't dull or get weaker with use they just break even when used for the appropriate purpose of killing. A soldier would get a good day of full use out of their sword before being able to sharpen again but in BoTW we have to put up with this shattering nonsense every minute. Link is using the appropriate tools (swords) for the appropriate job (killing) He's not hitting them against rocks and even then it would take a long time to completely ruin a sword.

The reason they shouldn't break is because it is a game which is supposed to be fun and it is an annoying mechanic which reduces fun. Even in the Witcher 3 my favourite game ever where swords dull more realistically and lose their damage requiring you to sharpen them again every so often. I still dont defend it. Its aftually not fun. Its just filler. An extra moment of player time to do something that they'd rather not have to do. That's my argument for why they shouldn't take damage. But if they really have to it should be an infrequent trip to the grindstone maybe once every in game day of full sword use.

The Master Sword itself though is supposed to be the ultimate weapon. Forged in the flames of the three Goddesses. It shouldn't lose its power or go blunt. The Gods power is infinite. And it took thousands of years for it to lose its power in WW so it shouldn't after a few uses in BoTW considering it was at full strength when Link drew it from its pedestal.

 

[Jirohnagi]

I know you didn't say they replaced swords on a minutely basis, but Link has to and you appeared to be defending weapon breaking in BoTW. In that game they don't dull or get weaker with use they just break even when used for the appropriate purpose of killing. A soldier would get a good day of full use out of their sword before being able to sharpen again but in BoTW we have to put up with this shattering nonsense every minute. Link is using the appropriate tools (swords) for the appropriate job (killing) He's not hitting them against rocks and even then it would take a long time to completely ruin a sword.

The reason they shouldn't break is because it is a game which is supposed to be fun and it is an annoying mechanic which reduces fun. Even in the Witcher 3 my favourite game ever where swords dull more realistically and lose their damage requiring you to sharpen them again every so often. I still dont defend it. Its aftually not fun. Its just filler. An extra moment of player time to do something that they'd rather not have to do. That's my argument for why they shouldn't take damage. But if they really have to it should be an infrequent trip to the grindstone maybe once every in game day of full sword use.

The Master Sword itself though is supposed to be the ultimate weapon. Forged in the flames of the three Goddesses. It shouldn't lose its power or go blunt. The Gods power is infinite. And it took thousands of years for it to lose its power in WW so it shouldn't after a few uses in BoTW considering it was at full strength when Link drew it from its pedestal.

Yes in a way i am defending it but some weapons just don't make sense being breakable nor do some make sense having infinite use. Though i do agree on them shattering into non existence at most it should just be dulling down or a snapped string becuase for a weapon to break beyond ALL use would take an enormous amount of dumbness.

I also forgot witcher had the sharpening mechanic.

As for the Master Sword i go with the ideology that once the sword is pulled by the rightful owner it becomes linked to them as they wither and weaken so does the sword (which kinda explains the various strengths it exhibits such as having sword beams or no beams) Also i don't think when pulled it's at full strength truthfully we see that theres a way of empowering it at one stage so it retains full strength (but still craps out) all the time. Actually on more thought i just don't think BOTWs master sword is the true one at all, it seems to be so much damn weaker than others in the series OOTs for example allowed it's wielder to travel time, WWs required awakening, BOTWs one seem to be only good against one type of enemy when all the others were great against all forms of evil.

 

[Dio]

Yes in a way i am defending it but some weapons just don't make sense being breakable nor do some make sense having infinite use. Though i do agree on them shattering into non existence at most it should just be dulling down or a snapped string becuase for a weapon to break beyond ALL use would take an enormous amount of dumbness.

I also forgot witcher had the sharpening mechanic.

As for the Master Sword i go with the ideology that once the sword is pulled by the rightful owner it becomes linked to them as they wither and weaken so does the sword (which kinda explains the various strengths it exhibits such as having sword beams or no beams) Also i don't think when pulled it's at full strength truthfully we see that theres a way of empowering it at one stage so it retains full strength (but still craps out) all the time. Actually on more thought i just don't think BOTWs master sword is the true one at all, it seems to be so much damn weaker than others in the series OOTs for example allowed it's wielder to travel time, WWs required awakening, BOTWs one seem to be only good against one type of enemy when all the others were great against all forms of evil.

I forgot to mention the bows again in my last post but I was thinking even medieval bow strings wouldn't have broken particularly often. I'd imagine you'd get months of use out of a string. And as for Lynel bows they must be incredibly strong to be fired by creatures weighing several tonnes so they wouldn't snap at any point during Links short adventure.

In OOT the MS was used as the key to the sacred realm. I don't think the user could just travel through time at will so if you took BoTWs one to the right place it could possiboy be used to travel through time. But the MS was indeed particularly weak in combat in BoTW and was incredibly dissapointing. If you wanted to have it as drawing power from the wielder then maybe a full health link would be able to use it to the max and as he was down to his last hearts it would be weaker.