Ocarina of Time Link's State of Mind After the Scared Realm.

[sailorgirl221]

It took me so long to think of what to call this! lol! So I'm watching the OOT walk through on zelda dungeons channel on youtube and i'm to the part when Link wakes up in the sacred realm and it got me thinking...
how is links state of mind in all this? seven years have passed when he was asleep in the sacred realm and suddenly he wakes up a teenager!
so I'm wondering has his mind matured to that of an 14/17 year old? (I don't really know how old he is) is he still the 7 y/o in a 14/17 y/o body? you know what i mean? I'm having a hard time trying to put what in my mind on this thing and I hope you guys understand lol. i just think that this is something very interesting to think about.
any thoughts or ideas??​

 

[Mangachick14]

He's supposed to be 15 or 16, I believe.
As for his state of mind, probably dazed. How weird would it feel if one day you just woke up and you were about two feet taller than you were when you fell asleep? Getting a new body all of the sudden like that would be totally trippy and confusing. Well, I think so anyway...

 

[Curmudgeon]

The best analogy I can draw (apologies to those who don't drive) is that you're accustomed to driving something like a 1966 VW Beetle and all of a sudden, you find yourself behind the wheel of a 1983 Cadillac Eldorado. Obviously the rule of cool kicks in because older Link has instantly gained expert skill in handling the Hylian shield and Master Sword.

Mental state is an interesting question. The complete and sudden plunge into the deep end of puberty would probably be completely bewildering (it's difficult enough of a process to go through gradually). We know that mental development does not take place without stimuli from the environment, but older Link seems to have completely adjusted to the transformation. The secret ingredient? Power of the Goddesses.

 

[Randomlink7]

I bet he was confused and just was like what just happen, the only thing though, is that he doesn't have time to think, he has to save the world, so he just goes along with it.

 

[Ventus]

Probably thinking: What did I do last night?

Agreed, I think he wouldn't have noticed the timeskip whatsoever. When Rauru told him to "look at [himself]", Curm's rule of cool kicks in there. I really do think that if you've been asleep for seven years, that you'd have to relearn how to walk etc...especially if your body, like, grew several feet. Q_Q

 

[Twilight King]

Agreed, I think he wouldn't have noticed the timeskip whatsoever. When Rauru told him to "look at [himself]", Curm's rule of cool kicks in there. I really do think that if you've been asleep for seven years, that you'd have to relearn how to walk etc...especially if your body, like, grew several feet. Q_Q

You know, I agree with this, and this whole question is kind of similar to how Link is able to handle the Goddess Sword the very same way, if not better, after it grows a foot longer and would probably become heavier. It just makes me more positive that if half of the Zelda games were made into movies, they'd turn out more comedies than anything because Link would be crazy clumsy. This would also be present in MM when he puts on a mask and transforms. I mean, yeah, that's just crazy.

 

[ThrawnTheater]

Anyone else remember the movie Big with Tom Hanks?

While I don't know what his mindset was, but I recall when Rauru told Link to look at his new self, he doesn't get too freaked out. Navi does, however. I just compare that to the startled gasp and reel he does when he first sees Ganon's Castle, and Link seems fairly stoic.

 

[sailorgirl221]

Anyone else remember the movie Big with Tom Hanks?

While I don't know what his mindset was, but I recall when Rauru told Link to look at his new self, he doesn't get too freaked out. Navi does, however. I just compare that to the startled gasp and reel he does when he first sees Ganon's Castle, and Link seems fairly stoic.

that's what I was talking about!! that's exactly what i was thinking because I was wondering about his behavior, like would it change or would he still be in his 7 y/o state of mind

 

[ihateghirahim]

Shouldn't his muscles have atrophied to nothing in seven years?

 

[Ventus]

Shouldn't his muscles have atrophied to nothing in seven years?

Video game magic...or more precisely, some power of the gods blah blah blah.

 

[Shadsie]

Personally, how I think of him is something like "not completely a young man, not completely a child."

I think he is definitely still a little boy inside, mostly. His memories are those of a child and, if you notice in the game, he can be distracted by a variety of childish minigames. I see him as very much a kid-Link with a strange, new body.

Yet, at the same time, I think he does have more maturity. Not only does he have that famous "more sincere" look in the artwork of him as an "adult," part of maturity is actually biochemical. I can't remember all of the places I've read about this stuff, but I recall reading studies into the chemistry changes in the brain that make teenagers insufferable in preperation for adulthood. I definitely think that poor time-skipped Link is subject to puberty.

... Of course, in my fanfiction stories, he's more interested in chocolate than in touching girl-parts.

(Then again, as an adult asexual, I'M more interested in chocolate than in touching guy or girl parts so maybe I write from a unique perspective).

I think there's a bit of conflict between "nature" and "nurture" in Link's maturity... making the "adult" Link somewhere in between - in some ways a kid, in some ways an adult.

(And I relate. I'm going to be 34 way too soon here and I feel like I'm about 10 or 12 inside... and I actually experienced physical growing up).

 

[Yeti]

It's hard to tell what his state of mind is at any point in the game, really. Link in Ocarina of Time isn't exactly known for his emotional expressiveness.