Why is Almost Every Hero Called Link?

[flaming pickle]

I was thinking, why is it always link, with the same haircut and face as a previous hero? I know they do this for the franchise, but why can't Link and his decendents just take a break, or tell some other kid to do it? Also, where did the name Link even come from? I have my theory's here:

He could be "the link" and connect all the races.

He could be like the Avatar: Last airbender, And connect our world with the next, like in TP.

Both are plausable, but I need different oppinions.

 

[Turo602]

The name Link comes from Nintendo making the character of Link a connection/link to the player.

Each Link has different characteristics in each game for the majority of the time, but it's obvious why he always looks very similar, he's iconic and you can't mess with that. You can't just give him black hair and a haircut. And anyway, each game that doesn't have sequels don't have to do with each other. Its just a video game series with many homages and references that make you think so. Nintendo never had a timeline in mind when making the first game. It was the fans, it got so popular that Nintendo just went with it.

Tell some other kid to do what? Each Link is usually on a personal quest that they get caught up in. For example, in Wind Waker he set out to save his sister. In the Minish Cap he set out to cure his friend Zelda. In Twilight Princess he was the only one fit for saving the lost children of Ordon and his friend Ilia and pretty much got into a giant mess afterward. In Majora's Mask he went to find his fairy Navi and wandered into a whole other dimension which took him into an adventure he couldn't just walk away from. And the list goes on and on.

 

[minishwaker]

Link is an actual name. AND BECAUSE IT JUST WOULDN'T BE THE SAME




<a href="http://www.mybannermaker.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i.imgur.com/PYLkv.jpg" alt='Create your own banner at mybannermaker.com!' border=0 /></a><br>

errmm...that last part wasn't supposed to happen O.O

 

[DeletedUser9]

Pickle, it's not a bunch of descendants that you see in every game. Aside from a couple of connections fans like to make that aren't proven, and the few games that share the same Link, all of the Links are completely unrelated. They're not the same person. They're not reincarnations. They're not descendants or ancestors.

The name Link comes from Nintendo making the character of Link a connection/link to the player.

^ This. This is the original reason for them naming Link this. I know it's a real name, but that's not the real reason they named him it.

Link is a single character designed so that the player has a familiar anchor to the game world. He's basically the same in every game because he's iconic but also because that character doesn't need to change. As of late, they've given him more of a unique personality and in-game storyline connection, but they still always design his character in such a way so that the player has an easy time identifying with Link.

All these things combined are probably the reason I've never been particularly fond of Link's character and rarely feel like writing fanfiction about him, because he's not exactly a full character in many ways.


Now, should all of this stay the same? I'd say not necessarily. I think "Link" is a good default name, and there's no reason for it to change, but I think toying around more with Link's character and changing how he looks and such isn't a bad idea. I also like the idea of a highly customizable Link, perhaps even with selectable gender. That could be interesting. At the same time, I don't think there's necessarily anything wrong with keeping things exactly how they are. I don't see any problems.

 

[Hanyou]

Link is a single character designed so that the player has a familiar anchor to the game world. He's basically the same in every game because he's iconic but also because that character doesn't need to change. As of late, they've given him more of a unique personality and in-game storyline connection, but they still always design his character in such a way so that the player has an easy time identifying with Link.

And yet the Hero of Time and the Hero of the Winds have rich backstories (as rich as any of the other characters'), distinct personalities, and pretty well fleshed-out motivations.

I get the impression that people tend to think of Link as a non-character, which simply hasn't been true since Link's Awakening. His friendships are not necessarily meant to be the player's friendships. His motivations may not be the player's. And enough Zelda stories center around him and his unique situations (Majora's Mask, for example) that I just don't see the argument. He's certainly not as undefined as the hero of an Elder Scroll's game or even the hero of, say, Knights of the Old Republic (who admittedly has a richer history). He's not an RPG character--he's as fully fleshed-out as anyone else in his world at this point, and there's little evidence that points in the opposite direction.

Honestly, did we know any more about Aryll, or Medli, or Makar, or even Tetra in The Wind Waker than we did about Link?

And how do the heroes in Ocarina of Time, The Wind Waker, and Twilight Princess not evolve? Their evolution is the subject of major plot points in all of those games (less so in TP, but it's still there).

 

[DeletedUser9]

And yet the Hero of Time and the Hero of the Winds have rich backstories (as rich as any of the other characters'), distinct personalities, and pretty well fleshed-out motivations.

And yet? I basically confirmed the same in my post. :?

I get the impression that people tend to think of Link as a non-character, which simply hasn't been true since Link's Awakening. His friendships are not necessarily meant to be the player's friendships. His motivations may not be the player's. And enough Zelda stories center around him and his unique situations (Majora's Mask, for example) that I just don't see the argument. He's certainly not as undefined as the hero of an Elder Scroll's game or even the hero of, say, Knights of the Old Republic (who admittedly has a richer history). He's not an RPG character--he's as fully fleshed-out as anyone else in his world at this point, and there's little evidence that points in the opposite direction.

Honestly, did we know any more about Aryll, or Medli, or Makar, or even Tetra in The Wind Waker than we did about Link?

And how do the heroes in Ocarina of Time, The Wind Waker, and Twilight Princess not evolve? Their evolution is the subject of major plot points in all of those games (less so in TP, but it's still there).

I completely agree. Link has been designed to be a full character of his own. But that does not change what he is, which has been consistent since the original Legend of Zelda. In the first Zelda game Link wasn't a character at all. He might as well have not existed. Ever since Adventure of Link, he's had at least a backstory, and in subsequent games he's been given more direct involvement in the story aside from just being "the hero lol", and in the most recent games they've given him emotional responses, personal motivations aside from being chosen as the hero, and ties to other characters.

Just the same, I feel the entire time they've expanded on Link's character, they've also kept him designed just right to be identifiable for the player. They've taken great care in this way to make sure that Link's emotions and actions are reasonably easy to identify with and apply to yourself. You use Link's Awakening as an example of Link being a fleshed out character, but that's also a perfect example of a game where, yeah, he was a character, but any emotions he was supposed to feel were meant just as much for you.

Link hasn't exactly changed from what he was, but they've expanded so much on the concept that he is a full character, and often a unique one in every game. But he's still our "link" to the game. He's still us. That never changed. That doesn't make him any less of a character in his own right, though. That was part of the point of my last post.

 

[Djinn]

I have always thought a large part of why Link remains unchanged was the iconic aspect of the character. Link was one of the very first video game characters that had a instantly recognizable design that became famous among fans. It is the very same reason all the main characters of the Zelda series are relatively elf looking individuals that always wear the same green tunic and hat. Just as Mario will always have overalls, a mustache and a hat with an M on it, it is the traditional look that has become iconic. The idea is to maintain the same character players have controlled since the very first game on the NES, only since the games are not all direct sequels from each other they are considered various incarnations of Link. It is easier to continue making sequels with Mario because of the cartoon aspect of the Mario series, the same could be said for Sonic the Hedgehog or Mega Man. But since most Legend of Zelda games are self contained stories, they typically feature Link the hero, Zelda the princess and Ganon/Ganondorf the antagonist. And in an attempt to maintain a similar gameplay, the setting and minor details must change. Unlike Mario and Sonic which could have the exact same plot with the same characters each and every time without really any plot changes and there would be no questions asked. Nintendo wished to keep the same main character of Link in every Zelda game but because of the richer storytelling aspect to the fantasy genre things have to change. So Link needs to be both the same character from all the previous games, but different so he can be a part of the world the current title takes place in. The compromise is different incarnations of Link in different eras of Hyrule's history each saving the world in their own way.

Other franchises have gotten around this by having genuinely different characters with similar controls and attacks like the many Belmonts of the Castlevania series. The early Final Fantasy series always featured different characters in different worlds but they had very similar controls, sometimes they were the same character class. This has changed in the recent sequels. The Dragonquest series also had the same class type for almost all main characters even though they were each different.

Then there are other games where the central character is not nearly iconic or interesting on their own and can be easily replaced such as the main characters of the Grand Theft Auto series. Any of the main characters, while interesting for the titles they appear in, are not iconic video game characters with a history and look that goes back to the early days of Nintendo.

 

[Kaleb Dampf]

I personally think that it is correlated between the concept of the Hero of Time. Take the Pokemon series, because of the show, almost everyone named their character Ash. It just has to do with what happens.

 

[flaming pickle]

Sorry. I obviosly haven't reaserched the backstory as much as play the game for the game action. I wouldn't call Link the best explained charactor ever, so I was wondering. Thanks for the help!

 

[JuicieJ]

Well, he was given the name Link in the first game because he was a link from the player to the game (which actually is a real name), so why would you change the name after that?