- Joined
- May 7, 2015
I think they're saying that because they somehow thought Link looked like a girl originally even though he didn't and all the salty fanboys started freaking out about the possibility of a female hero. That eventually evolved into the idea that we could also play as Linkle in Zelda U instead of just Link. That's my guess.
As they say in Mythbusters, "There's your problem!"
It doesn't help when you have quotes coming from the devs like "Link's not the most manly guy in the first place," or other such things. And the problem is Japanese culture and their views on androgyny. Westerners have become almost trained to think of androgyny as gender confused, and that's simply not how the Japanese use it in most cases. (They're usually pretty blatant when they do portray such a character.)
When you look at japanese games, literature, and other works, androgyny is usually used in male characters to characterize a boy who has room to grow, who hasn't really become a "man" yet. You see this all over Anime, because you get introduced to characters who haven't "grown" yet. They have their personal struggles they need to fulfill on the way to "manhood". The best analogy I can think of is that androgyny is how the Japanese portray a character like Hiccup in How to Train Your Dragon.
I'd say if you want to get a really good idea that also puts it in easy context for a westerner to understand, read the SAO books. (****NOT THE MANGA!!!!**** The series began as a set of novels. The comics don't go into the context.) Anywho, in the novels Kirito is constantly agonizing about how he looks like a girl. That's why the Gun Gale Online thing hit him so hard (and funny). It was how he feared being seen!
Link has some "feminine" features because first off, the Japanese devs are working with a stereotypical Tolkien Elf look. (A friend of mine pointed out that Hyrule is supposedly a Tolkien elvish word.) But also, Link always starts out as a young guy who has a great, unrealized potential, usually becoming a hero. Weird thing is, none of his incarnations really ever struck me as looking "feminine", because his physical appearance reminds me of my dad and brothers, all of whom have sharp features but don't really look "feminine".
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