Breath of the Wild There will be NO female Link

[Stitch]

Why would a female Link negatively affect a Zelda game? I'm so confused by this line of thought. There is nothing in the lore that says the hero must be male. There is nothing about being male that really affects the characters of Link. He definitely doesn't fit the macho stereotype of being male. The developers have never said that it couldn't happen, just that at this point they would prefer to use an already preestablished female character (their thoughts could always change on this). I get that fans want to be protective of the franchise, but I don't think we should be the ones with the key to the box the developers are in.

 

[DeactivatedUser2]

Why would a female Link negatively affect a Zelda game? I'm so confused by this line of thought. There is nothing in the lore that says the hero must be male. There is nothing about being male that really affects the characters of Link. He definitely doesn't fit the macho stereotype of being male. The developers have never said that it couldn't happen, just that at this point they would prefer to use an already preestablished female character (their thoughts could always change on this). I get that fans want to be protective of the franchise, but I don't think we should be the ones with the key to the box the developers are in.

Aonuma said they tried it and it didn't work out, so they ditched the idea. Also, what does being macho have to do with it? Being skinny and frail means you're androgynous?

 

[Stitch]

Aonuma said they tried it and it didn't work out, so they ditched the idea. Also, what does being macho have to do with it? Being skinny and frail means you're androgynous?

In this installment, but who knows about future ones? And machoness is a common male trait in fiction. Even if they aren't macho, males will usually wish for machoness and look up to those who are macho. Link doesn't fit that mold, so it weakens the argument that the character has to be male. There is nothing that Link does that is male specific. There are no traits that he shows that are male specific. If I am missing an example that shows that Link must be male, please educate me.

 

[Terminus]

Ah yes. Player choice for an avatar that in most games is nothing more than an avatar. What complete ****.

And don't even try and bring "but male Samus!" into this. There's a difference between a defined character and something that's supposed to be a representation of the player. Personally, I'm not fussed about the lack of choice in this game because they seem to be taking the "Link as a character" approach vs "Link as a representation of the player" approach, at least for this game. If, in a future title, they choose the avatar philosophy, I'd like to see character customization options. If you don't like it, you don't need to use it.

 

[DeactivatedUser2]

In this installment, but who knows about future ones? And machoness is a common male trait in fiction. Even if they aren't macho, males will usually wish for machoness and look up to those who are macho. Link doesn't fit that mold, so it weakens the argument that the character has to be male. There is nothing that Link does that is male specific. There are no traits that he shows that are male specific. If I am missing an example that shows that Link must be male, please educate me.

Because he's an established character and changing him for the sake of muh representashun is a stupid argument? Is that good enough?

 

[Stitch]

Because he's an established character and changing him for the sake of muh representashun is a stupid argument? Is that good enough?

Link isn't an established character, though. Link is multiple characters. And even most of them are barely characters with no real characteristics to show. The main characteristic of Link, hell the only common characteristics of the Links, is the courage that they show. I don't think tradition is a good enough argument about how something absolutely shouldn't change. This reminds me how people freaked out when they cast a blonde James Bond. Guess what? Daniel Craig is now famous for the role and we'll praised and the seris continues to live on and make a lot of money.

 

[Polychrome]

The problem is that Nintendo doesn't want it. They shouldn't even have to explain themselves. They have their ideas on what the series should be like.

Link IS a character, and it is obvious from what Aonuma said that he and the other devs see him that way as well. Does he represent the player? Not so much as the player is transported to his role, living it in his shoes. It is second-person storytelling.

And then people bring up reincarnation. Come on, folks, not every fantasy universe handles this the same way. I'd say Link is less like the Avatar and more like Sailor Moon... Link is a soul that is reborn when needed, and can even exist in multiple beings simultaneously (ALBW) but he doesn't drastically change from life to life. Whatever fan headcanons may say, this is how Nintendo wants it, and therefore is how it should go.

No matter how people slice it, this whole mess was made up by bloggers, youtube queens, and rumormongers who "knew better" than us silly peasant fans and continuously pushed it on the rest of us regardless of what Nintendo had already repeatedly said on the matter. They even tried pushing it on Nintendo, to the point that they believed it so hard they had the rest of us thinking we were about to lose a beloved character.

Well dang...Link is still here. I think it's time I borrowed something from another Disqus poster....

 

[Stitch]

How is giving an option for a female Link the same thing as losing a beloved character? What would you even lose? You could still be the male Link you want to be. Why force the developers into a box because of your views of the character? I guess we lost James Bond when they cast a blonde in the role, and that time they didn't even give us an option to keep good ol' James Bond the way he was meant to be

 

[DeactivatedUser2]

How is giving an option for a female Link the same thing as losing a beloved character? What would you even lose? You could still be the male Link you want to be. Why force the developers into a box because of your views of the character? I guess we lost James Bond when they cast a blonde in the role, and that time they didn't even give us an option to keep good ol' James Bond the way he was meant to be

It's funny you keep saying we're blocking the developers from doing what they want, yet they said that they'd prefer to use an already existing character like Zelda to be a character in a female lead. If anything, you're the ones forcing the developers to try to put tits on Link.

 

[Stitch]

It's funny you keep saying we're blocking the developers from doing what they want, yet they said that they'd prefer to use an already existing character like Zelda to be a character in a female lead. If anything, you're the ones forcing the developers to try to put tits on Link.

Where did I "force them to pit tits on Link"? Nowhere did I even say I wanted "tits on Link". I just asked "why not?" and nobody has given me a fair answer other than tradition or the developers (in this small point of time) would prefer (which doesn't mean they wouldn't) to do something else.

 

[Polychrome]

How is giving an option for a female Link the same thing as losing a beloved character? What would you even lose?

Let's try this again.

Link is a character. He has a background, friends, sometimes family, and a motive for setting out to save the princess.

The thing is, Nintendo has cast YOU, the player, to act as him. The character on-screen is not the player, but the "makeup" to allow the player to act the role.

You could still be the male Link you want to be.

No, because the Link we all know is a role cast for us to play, not a self-insert character we make up. As soon as you change that, you get a character creator. You are then playing as yourself instead of acting a role that has been set for you.

Link is a different experience than a character creator. He is not an avatar.

Why force the developers into a box because of your views of the character?

Nintendo has made their own views clear on this. I am merely stating they should be free to use whatever box they please, so long as they made it themselves.

I guess we lost James Bond when they cast a blonde in the role, and that time they didn't even give us an option to keep good ol' James Bond the way he was meant to be

The only thing that could make the James Bond analogy work is if YOU were cast to play him. You, I, and the rest of us. That means we would still be expected to act the role of a male british dude who sweeps the ladies off their feet and makes crazy stunts with a ton of gadgets, regardless of what our own personal identity is. We would have a little adlib room to put our own spin on it, but we would not be given the ability to make sweeping changes to his character. If we tried, we'd get fired and not get paid.

 

[DeactivatedUser2]

Where did I "force them to pit tits on Link"? Nowhere did I even say I wanted "tits on Link". I just asked "why not?" and nobody has given me a fair answer other than tradition or the developers (in this small point of time) would prefer (which doesn't mean they wouldn't) to do something else.

Aonuma considers the Balance of the Triforce to be a contributing factor. Unless, of course, we need to give Zelda the Triforce of Courage too, because, haha, y'know, we need to totally take Zelda and turn it on its head because it's totally progressive...

 

[Stitch]

Link is several characters. Why can't one of these just happen to be female? There us nothing in the lore to suggest otherwise. The developera have never said otherwise. It seems to just be a few fans who complain about keeping Link male. The female Link would just be an aesthetic change as far as anything is really concerned, just like a blonde Bond is just an aesthetic change. Nothing about the character itself would change other than how it would look. Hell, it probably wouldn't look much different. Maybe I'm wrong. Tell me, how would changing Link's gender change the character at all, other than aesthetics?

 

[ZeldafreakCJM]

Link is several characters. Why can't one of these just happen to be female? There us nothing in the lore to suggest otherwise. The developera have never said otherwise. It seems to just be a few fans who complain about keeping Link male. The female Link would just be an aesthetic change as far as anything is really concerned, just like a blonde Bond is just an aesthetic change. Nothing about the character itself would change other than how it would look. Hell, it probably wouldn't look much different. Maybe I'm wrong. Tell me, how would changing Link's gender change the character at all, other than aesthetics?

Going off what Aonuma and company have said, the multiple Link approach is meaningless to Link the character.

Plus, why? Why not just Zelda?

 

[Frozen Chosen]

Plus, why? Why not just Zelda?

I agree. Why not have a game where you play as Zelda? Aonuma mentioned that he wondered what Link would do if Zelda was the playable character, so they definitely thought about it.

I think a game where you play as Shiek would be incredible. It could occur during the events of Ocarina of Time while Link is in the temple of time. Zelda protects and figures out how to stop Ganondorf during the seven years. I'd play that.

Anyway, I really want Zelda playable as a character. She has a different personality and character than Link does. But Zelda will always be a girl and Link will be a boy. That's the legend.

Of course, this is my opinion and others can feel free to disagree.