Sydney
The Good Samaritan
AHEM, well that's a touchy subject. I don't really know how to respond to that. I'd probably still play the
How Would Zelda Be if Link and Zelda Were Black
- Thread starter ZeldaGod101
- Start date
AHEM, well that's a touchy subject. I don't really know how to respond to that. I'd probably still play the
- Joined
- Oct 14, 2012
well i think it would be a fun twist and just make one of them black i think a black zelda would be cool and the dark link would be the original think of it as a twist to zelda
or make it where their is alternate universe where link and zelda are black like terminia is an alternate universe of hyrule
or make it where their is alternate universe where link and zelda are black like terminia is an alternate universe of hyrule
I think people in the thread have a misconception about the meaning of "black". I guess you're getting the connotation that black means "ghetto", and even then, 'ghetto' isn't being used correctly. :/
If Link had a dark skin tone, I think I would rejoice. I myself am African American, and although I have absolutely no qualms or itching feeling about playing a character of a lighter skin tone, this sudden change in Link's appearance would break down a barrier for many Zelda players who DO have qualms with Link's current setup, appearance wise. Changing his skin tone wouldn't affect much anyway; Link could still be the hero saving the Princess, or the Hero saving the World or whatever. In a texture hack I did, I made Link have dark-brown skin tone just for the hell of it. Turns out, I liked him much more than the regular OoT Adult Link because I felt I could identify with him just a teensy-bit more.
As for Zelda, I myself wouldn't care. Again, the series wouldn't change at large: Zelda could still be the useless character she always is, or be the semi-useful character as she was in ST. A change of skin tone doens't mean a change in mannerisms or anything, really!
If Link had a dark skin tone, I think I would rejoice. I myself am African American, and although I have absolutely no qualms or itching feeling about playing a character of a lighter skin tone, this sudden change in Link's appearance would break down a barrier for many Zelda players who DO have qualms with Link's current setup, appearance wise. Changing his skin tone wouldn't affect much anyway; Link could still be the hero saving the Princess, or the Hero saving the World or whatever. In a texture hack I did, I made Link have dark-brown skin tone just for the hell of it. Turns out, I liked him much more than the regular OoT Adult Link because I felt I could identify with him just a teensy-bit more.
As for Zelda, I myself wouldn't care. Again, the series wouldn't change at large: Zelda could still be the useless character she always is, or be the semi-useful character as she was in ST. A change of skin tone doens't mean a change in mannerisms or anything, really!
Mudora
Innocent but not fearful.
Hmm, interesting. It would take a little getting used to, though I'd still play a Zelda game where Link and/or Zelda had a darker skin tone. I can't see Nintendo redesigning 25+ year old characters, though if they did, I would still play the game regardless as I've never been completely disappointed with a Zelda game I've played thus far.
Sir Quaffler
May we meet again
- Joined
- Apr 6, 2012
Tell that to Metroid fans, I'd like to see how they'd react, considering Other M butchered Samus' character.
Actually, that's a pretty strong argument against changing the main characters as drastic as this would. As much as people say that it wouldn't change his personality or mannerisms... sorry but yeah it would. Race does in fact play a role in how people develop, and the fact that Link would be black here would have an effect on him. Even if he seemed not all that different, he would be because he would be rejecting the culture from which he came from and adopting that of another race.
This is why I oppose such drastic changes, like making him black, or making him female, or making him gay, or anything else fans come up with. It's not about me being staunchly against progression, it's about preserving Link's character. More than any other big Nintendo protagonist, Link suffers from an identity crisis among the general populace because he looks different each game and is (usually) a different person as well. The only way for people to connect all the separate protagonists together is by making them all look relatively the same, a young white heterosexual male with blonde(ish) hair and a green tunic & Phrygian cap.
Also, if you really want to get into it, another reason they all look relatively the same is because they all inherit the Spirit of the Hero from the protagonist of SS, or take on his character traits as is the case for the Adult Timeline. It might be that the spirit itself influences how the people who inherit it from birth grow up.
As for Zelda herself... that would be weird. Considering how Zelda is the goddess Hylia incarnate, and considering that she looks the same every time because of the royal bloodline, the only way for her to be black is if several generations had children with black men... which would be weird taking into account how the games have gone up to this point. Again, it's not really about racial prejudices, it's about inconsistency.
Shadsie
Sage of Tales
I am tempted to link to some Cracked . com articles about political incorrectness in videogames right now. Why, yes! They did speak about LoZ's Gerudo! There's also an pertienent article about political incorrectness that persists in movies, the top spot lampshading how ALL fantasy-themed movies have a white hero-cast (and how it was all started by Tolkien, who didn't *mean* to be racist, he was just a "man of his time" when he was British and writing about all those fair-skinned elves).
On one hand, I like to have heroes looking like me. I'm of Scandinavian stock, blonde and green-blue eyed... I was thinking about it when watching a Trigun film last night, how Vash looks like a spiky-haired male version of me. Link's like that, too, with his pretty blond hair... And then, I think I am lucky since so many other people *don't* see a lot of heroes in fiction that look like them. I'd really just love to see more racial diversity in Hyrule. What have we got? That afro-sporting merchant family in Twilight Princess? Hena strikes me as looking half-Hispanic... There is Gondo and his mother, Greba, in Skyward Sword - if "race" as it is in real life even applied to the Zelda universe, I see them as the closest thing to "normal people who happen to be Black" meaning that if Gondo is a sterotype of anything, it's of the "geeky mechanic."
I'd say the same thing as I did on the "What if Link were a homosexual?" topic - "As long as it's handled well and it's not a forced-political-correctness thing." Same thing "If Link were a girl" (and I *am* female, so I can actually have an opinion on that, and in that scenario, I think a role-reversal with Zelda saving the world would be in order, I even have a fanfic idea I've yet to write all about that- and what I mean by that is that Link is still a "Hero," Zelda still a princess, but there's a situation in which the "Hero" must be saved... my fanfic idea inolved Link being killed while fighting Evil and Zelda saving Hyrule, adviced Shiek-style by his ghost.).
I'd worry about it being handled well.... pretty much for precisely the same reason I wonder if my own (original) stories/novels in which I have protagonists who happen to be Black are handled well. I actually had someone once upon a time say that white people weren't *allowed* to write about Black characters, or slavery - I think that's why one of the co-protagonists of a novel I am currently trying to get published wound up coming to my mind as a mixed-raced affair-product whose "father" sold her into slavery... even though the slavery-system of my world isn't based on the American model, but instead has inspiration from the Bible (Yes, I am going to piss a lot of people off if this ever gets published)! ... Then there's the protagonist of a novel I'm needing to edit again who lives in a world some are born dark, some light, no one cares about that, everyone has horse-ears and he just happens to be dark in my imagination and subsequent illustrations. I didn't try to force anything, the characters just presented themselves in my mind as they are and demaned I write them that way. I still wonder if I'm going to face backlash because I'm a blonde Viking decdendant who writes dark-skinned heroes...
On one hand, I like to have heroes looking like me. I'm of Scandinavian stock, blonde and green-blue eyed... I was thinking about it when watching a Trigun film last night, how Vash looks like a spiky-haired male version of me. Link's like that, too, with his pretty blond hair... And then, I think I am lucky since so many other people *don't* see a lot of heroes in fiction that look like them. I'd really just love to see more racial diversity in Hyrule. What have we got? That afro-sporting merchant family in Twilight Princess? Hena strikes me as looking half-Hispanic... There is Gondo and his mother, Greba, in Skyward Sword - if "race" as it is in real life even applied to the Zelda universe, I see them as the closest thing to "normal people who happen to be Black" meaning that if Gondo is a sterotype of anything, it's of the "geeky mechanic."
I'd say the same thing as I did on the "What if Link were a homosexual?" topic - "As long as it's handled well and it's not a forced-political-correctness thing." Same thing "If Link were a girl" (and I *am* female, so I can actually have an opinion on that, and in that scenario, I think a role-reversal with Zelda saving the world would be in order, I even have a fanfic idea I've yet to write all about that- and what I mean by that is that Link is still a "Hero," Zelda still a princess, but there's a situation in which the "Hero" must be saved... my fanfic idea inolved Link being killed while fighting Evil and Zelda saving Hyrule, adviced Shiek-style by his ghost.).
I'd worry about it being handled well.... pretty much for precisely the same reason I wonder if my own (original) stories/novels in which I have protagonists who happen to be Black are handled well. I actually had someone once upon a time say that white people weren't *allowed* to write about Black characters, or slavery - I think that's why one of the co-protagonists of a novel I am currently trying to get published wound up coming to my mind as a mixed-raced affair-product whose "father" sold her into slavery... even though the slavery-system of my world isn't based on the American model, but instead has inspiration from the Bible (Yes, I am going to piss a lot of people off if this ever gets published)! ... Then there's the protagonist of a novel I'm needing to edit again who lives in a world some are born dark, some light, no one cares about that, everyone has horse-ears and he just happens to be dark in my imagination and subsequent illustrations. I didn't try to force anything, the characters just presented themselves in my mind as they are and demaned I write them that way. I still wonder if I'm going to face backlash because I'm a blonde Viking decdendant who writes dark-skinned heroes...
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Linknerd09
Luigi Fan
Whoa..that would definitely be odd. I could be actually quite shocked if you ask me. Then again, I would like to see a Black Link and Zelda.
I wonder how that would work.....
I wonder how that would work.....
A
Azurea
Guest
Yeah, because obviously being black in Hyrule is the same as being black on earth. Because there's no way Link could have the same personality and mannerisms that he does because he...what, came from Africa and had a cultural heritage different from white Link? The only thing I'd be concerned about is that the Japanese don't exactly offer realism in their portrayals of black people, often making them look, well, racist.
- Joined
- Aug 3, 2012
Well, i wouldn't really like it. No offense to black people, but after Link and Zelda being white for so long, it would just feel to different.
- Joined
- Nov 1, 2012
The main problem I see is that Zelda is based on midevil history, and in midevil history there were no Africans/African-Americans. It was all European nations, so it doesn't make much sense to make any characters black in Zelda games. Just my 2 cents on the subject. (Gondo had a tan, IMO)
(Gondo had a tan, IMO)
theoathtoorder
“Zinga-dingding!”
- Joined
- May 10, 2012
already been done
- Joined
- Nov 1, 2012
It would be different. In Canada, we don't have black people, that's why it's called the Great White North. FACT.
So it would be an adjustment.
So it would be an adjustment.
- Joined
- Nov 2, 2012
I'd like to see it. Impa is the only (main) character that brings a bit of ethnicity to Zelda and she's awesome.
I'm sure to many Link being black is the same as him being gay to the arrogant crowds though.
I'm sure to many Link being black is the same as him being gay to the arrogant crowds though.
I think people in the thread have a misconception about the meaning of "black". I guess you're getting the connotation that black means "ghetto", and even then, 'ghetto' isn't being used correctly. :/
If Link had a dark skin tone, I think I would rejoice. I myself am African American, and although I have absolutely no qualms or itching feeling about playing a character of a lighter skin tone, this sudden change in Link's appearance would break down a barrier for many Zelda players who DO have qualms with Link's current setup, appearance wise. Changing his skin tone wouldn't affect much anyway; Link could still be the hero saving the Princess, or the Hero saving the World or whatever. In a texture hack I did, I made Link have dark-brown skin tone just for the hell of it. Turns out, I liked him much more than the regular OoT Adult Link because I felt I could identify with him just a teensy-bit more.
As for Zelda, I myself wouldn't care. Again, the series wouldn't change at large: Zelda could still be the useless character she always is, or be the semi-useful character as she was in ST. A change of skin tone doens't mean a change in mannerisms or anything, really!
Agreed, Ven. I'm white myself, but I really don't see what skin tone really has to do with anything. They'd still be the same characters otherwise, so really, what would be the point of this change?