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What Would Happen if Link Was Not Caucasian?

PureLocke

A Hero of Time
Joined
Apr 14, 2010
Location
Anchorage, Alaska (Nome in the summer)
Zeruda: yes

On black Spider-Man I have a similar issue, Peter Parker is a White kid from Queens, there are a lot of different interpretations of him, people who were inspired by him etc. but he is just a nerdy White kid that got super powers and stepped up to become a wise cracking hero. If a something happened to a Black kid to give him spider powers and he modeled himself on the already successful hero Spider-Man (calling himself Arachnid or Tarantula) sure, base a movie on that concept. But Peter Parker has a history and just randomly switching his race would have to change parts of that history. On a related note, Jake G. starring in the title role of the Prince of Persia movie disturbed me on several levels, with the series name boiling the character down to a title that the movie character was in no way represented(being an adopted son of the king and not being Persian). Though that isn't to say I'm against different versions of a character being different races becuase it can be done well. The Ulitmate Universe/Marvel Movie Universe Nick Fury is Samuel Jackson(the comic team based the character off of him and he ended up playing the character in live action) when the original was a grizzled white guy. They were able to take the essence of the guy who lead the world's premier defense force and made the character black, they didn't just change the skin tone. So a different character could work as the protagonist of LoZ, but they wouldn't be Link, they would be Black guy who is named Link(in other words we would be playing a Matrix game =Zing!=).
 

Fahxy

Grand Campaigner
Joined
Aug 9, 2009
Location
Discworld
Many thanks to all of you for your responses. It is very reassurring to me that my fellow gamers would not go insane over a simple color change,even though it might not be preferable for the icon we know and love.
 
G

gordonbishop

Guest
Isn't Ganondorf black? He always looked black to me...

If Link was black, then he would be the villain, and Ganondorf would be the hero (and white).

The color of Link's skin wasn't really chosen because of ethnicity. It's more of a representation. White is often portrayed as being light, heavenly, pure, and good, while black is portrayed as the opposite.

I don't think I really typed that well at all, but I think you all get the just of what I'm saying.
 

Zeruda

Mother Hyrule
Joined
May 17, 2009
Location
on a crumbling throne
Isn't Ganondorf black? He always looked black to me...

If Link was black, then he would be the villain, and Ganondorf would be the hero (and white).

The color of Link's skin wasn't really chosen because of ethnicity. It's more of a representation. White is often portrayed as being light, heavenly, pure, and good, while black is portrayed as the opposite.

I don't think I really typed that well at all, but I think you all get the just of what I'm saying.
I understand what you're getting at. Lighter is very often portrayed as being pure and good, which is why many "good" and/or "pure" character are given lighter features like pale skin, light brown/blonde/white hair, and light eye colors. Their choice of clothing usually carries lighter colors, too, or colors that aren't usually seen as negative.

And, like you said, darker colors are chosen for more evil, sinister, or mysterious characters: darker tan/brown/black skin, dark brown or often black (and more often nowadays, red) hair, and usually dark eyes. Then they usually always have dark clothing. Ganondorf.... never really had black skin. In OoT, he was more green, but I blame that on the color issues OoT had anyway (like Zelda's green eyebrows) and peoples' varying screen adjustments. Normally, even in his character artwork, his skin is brown. In TP (and Brawl), he took on an even darker look, so much that he was a dark grey color.

But yes, Link being any darker would not only make the majority of longtime fans feel awkward, but it'd also mess with what he represents- purity, goodness, heroism, etc.
 

Random Person

Just Some Random Person
Joined
Feb 6, 2010
Location
Wig-Or-Log
If they change Links appearance too greatly, I won't be able to accept it. I see Link in a certain way and if they change that too much, I just can't take it. I was already trippin when I first saw toon Link. Honestly, I thought it was an insult until I played the games with toon Link in them. Who knows, maybe I'll like the game. Which I probably will since it's Zelda. But I would complain about it nonstop until I actually got to play it.
 
Joined
Apr 16, 2010
I am by no means a racist, but I would hate for Link to not be white. And seriously, this isn't a problem because every single Hylian is white. Maybe if Link had originally been portrayed as a different race I would be fine, but it's the change that I don't like.
 
Joined
Oct 6, 2009
Location
Hyrule
To me I think that would be a big leap for nintendo. Not that having a darker toned link would be a problem but we all grown up with this Color toned link. I wouldnt risk it.
 
Joined
Jun 1, 2010
Location
Idaho
It would be wierd but I would probably adjust to it. If it was my choice though, I would keep Link as is. I see no problem with him right now, so why change him. But my main reason for keeping him white would be tradition. He has always been that way. And if Link had always been black, I would object to him being white.
 
N

NiaSoPurdy

Guest
The way I see it, link was never caucasion to begin with anyways. He is technically "Elvish" or as the game would refer to him as Hylian.(yes, i consider all hylians elves) So making him darker or whatever wouldn't change that fact to me. He would still be link, he would still make all of his screaming sounding dialog in combat. And all in all, he would still be the hero of time, or winds, or whatever may be the case at the time. Oh, and he would also still be a MUTE, which is apparently a staple for nintendo. So yea, making him another ethnicity wouldn't bother me a bit. But, they would have had to start out with that, now it would simply because he's been the same out of like 13 games.

I totally agree with you...the races in zelda are completely different from those in the real world...there is no such thing as caucasian and european and white in the land of hyrule....link is hylian and should be seen as such.

However, being a person on non-european decent....i'd love to see more diversity in the media, including video games, someone i feel that i can relate to....but i wouldn't change link...i love zelda regardless of the appearance of the characters!

Also....if a person of African decent was seen in medieval Europe, that doesn't mean they were slaves. Has anyone here ever heard of migration lol. Furthermore...people from medival Europe...before the racial terms we use today were created...people of color were called "Moors"....(ex: Shakespeare's Othello, who people speculate is possibly from Northern Africa)...so there is a possibility that people of color lived in those times.
 

Turo602

Vocare Ad Pugnam
Joined
Jul 31, 2010
Location
Gotham City
Yeah I agree. I'm not racist or anything but I would hate the idea of him being African American. He wouldn't be the same person we used to know him as. If he were and African American to begin with then I would hate the idea of turning him white, you see what I'm getting at. It's like making Superman a black man after these 70 or 80 years of him being white. It just doesn't make sense!!!
 

WeeGee

TheHeroOfTime
Joined
Jun 12, 2010
I'm not gonna lie, if Link was Black or Eastern (Arabic/Asian) you probably wouldn't have heard of the games. Games where the main character isn't White don't gain popularity too much, if I'm not mistaken.

I can't image playing a Zelda where Link is dressed like Osama Bin Laden. Not only would that defeat the purpose of saving people, but it wouldn't make sense to why man of modern age would be riding a horse with a sword instead of a gun... I can't really explain it, but it would take from the Medieval experience.

And Ganon is probably most likely Middle Eastern. Us Middle Easterns are notorious for being mixed race, we can have blond hair, blue eyes, and black skin. Much like how Ganon has red hair and Black skin.
 

athenian200

Circumspect
Joined
Jan 31, 2010
Location
a place of settlement, activity, or residence.
If he weren't Caucasian, he'd probably join Ganondorf instead of fighting him. ;)

I'm kidding, I'm kidding.

But seriously, there is a tendency in our culture for white to represent goodness and light, and black to represent evil. It would be very confusing if this motif were reversed, even in the skin color of a character.

Also, I would feel as though they were tailoring the game to cater to other races, and totally ignoring me.
 

PhantomTriforce

I am a Person of Interest
Joined
Jul 12, 2010
Location
Ganon's Tower
It would be so awesome to have an Indian Link! (I'm an Indian, though born in the States). Of course, traditional Link is probably always the best, but there's always room for change.
 

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