That Romantic Spark Part VIII – Skyward Sword

It was Skyward Sword’s “Romance Trailer” that finally prompted me to begin this series which I’d been mentally planning for almost three years. With seven parts in “That Romantic Spark” well behind us, it has come time to revive the series, as always intended. We now come to addressing the newest Legend of Zelda title: Skyward Sword, before moving onto more complex analyses of romance in Zelda.

Never for a moment did Skyward Sword’s advertising campaign hesitate on playing up the game’s romantic angle. Although the romance was almost left on the cutting room floor by Aonuma, the final game came through, providing not only the most definitive romance for Link ever seen in the series, but as always, plenty of other hints and options for players to speculate upon.

Alike to Twilight Princess, Skyward Sword dealt with an older, more mature Link – meaning that potential love interests were also more mature. Beyond childhood friendships, and even teen-crushes, Skyward Sword positioned itself for a more mature approach to romance, yet retained the always ambiguous Zelda-style approach.

While Link in Skyward Sword has limited romantic options from the small floating isle of Skyloft – that doesn’t quite match the Hyrule of Ocarina of Time or Twilight Princess in population numbers – there is the quality over quantity principle, where characters develop strong bonds in the humble Skyloft. With Link openly sleeping around, and Cawlin deeming him to be “pretty good with the ladies”, let’s see how the first Link’s love life truly fares.

Orielle and Karane

As always, let us start off with the unlikely pairings before we move on to those with more of a case. Orielle and Karane are fairly warm towards Link as his peers of similar age. Link’s interactions with these two girls are very limited, bearing only slight significance for the overall game, as they are more sidequest centered characters.

First off is Orielle, who really is the game’s Malon equivalent. Rather than being knowledgeable in horses however, Orielle focuses on Loftwings. At one stage Link happens to come to the rescue of Orielle – much like how Malon has always wanted a knight in shining armor – when she is stranded due to her injured Loftwing.

She seems to have somewhat of a playful dislike of Link’s nonchalant attitude, getting perturbed at him when he shows little concern in Kukiel’s disappearance. Despite that, she will warmly engage Link in conversation at any time, but has no real outward show of affection.

Karane has more of a case, or at least, more of an implied case. You know that couple, or non-couple, there always was at school? The “cute-popular-dumb” guy and the “smart-popular-hot” girl who everyone thinks should get together, but never do? That is Karane and Link.

We know Link is said to be “pretty good with the ladies”, but Fi also comments that Karane “is quite popular with the male students” at the Knight Academy – implying they should be the alpha couple. As always is the case in school dramas – which is what Aonuma based the Knight Academy upon – the popular girl ends up with some other guy nobody thinks is good enough for her, and the popular guy who is known for being dim-witted goes off chasing some goddess. This happens in Skyward Sword – literally.

Karane wants no-one other than Pipit, perhaps for reasons little more than him being the only traditional person in the academy who is able to give her the “little chivalry” she demands. Having no interest in opening doors for a supposed lady, Link plays the matchmaker, setting up Karane with Pipit, and moves on.

Kina

While Kina is also somewhat reminiscent of Malon, with her father Pumm also serving as an ode to Talon, she is Malon’s opposite. Instead of being all prim and proper, Kina is by all means what people would call a “cocktease”. She will lead anyone on for either a bit of attention, or to get them to do her work in the pumpkin patch. Many guys seem to fall for her self-professed cuteness – including Link for a time.

All Kina ultimately wants is Link to carry her pumpkins and what not, all the while telling him how strong he is, and how he’s such a brave knight. It’s safe to say that when Kina went on to say lines such as “if only I could find someone who was good at plowing”; “I’ll pay you for your efforts”; and “how do you feel about breaking a sweat”, Link did not expect to end up fetching a Mogma from down below. Let us not even mention how Link also slept in her bed.

Now, while in Japanese culture Kina would come across as an innocent, excitable young women who literally means exactly as she says, the case is not so for us in the west. Kina is by all means the Nabooru of Skyward Sword in the sense of being ambiguously inappropriate (see Part II). If ever there was a series of gestures, phrases and actions that give the impression of “I want you bad”, that’s exactly what Kina did. However from what Link sees, she’ll do it to anyone, so if Link stayed around pursuing this relationship, it would be a long time before he ever got some gratification – if at all.

Peatrice

The dreamy Item Check girl Peatrice, who finds her job completely unenthralling, spends her days daydreaming “of meeting her ideal male counterpart”. Fi informs Link that if he makes regular visits to the Item Check Peatrice’s feeling towards him will change. At first Peatrice is cold towards Link and requests that he doesn’t make a habit of checking her out.

After a while, as Fi predicted with an 80% probability, Peatrice starts to call Link “darling” and “sweetie”, and shows notable improvement in her happiness – which alarms her father. After a while, Peatrice invites Link back to her house at night where she professes her love for him. Link’s reaction is, well, whatever you choose it to be.

Gaming is interactive entertainment, and just like any romantic connection in the series, it is up to the players to decide. Link can say he loves her in return, or reject her. He can make her overwhelmed with joy to have been accepted by the love of her life, or completely shatter her emotions. Given how Skyward Sword depicts her as the unappealing, desperate type, there is little question as to what most players selected. Besides, it’s more fun to lead her on and then dump her!

Those who do choose to return Peatrice’s love get some amusing remarks from Fi: “Master, your interest in this young woman is clear. I can see your aura shining brightly with joy in her presence. …I strongly recommend that you do not mention this when you next encounter Zelda.” Well, Fi definitely cares about Link’s wellbeing, even if he is two-timing.

Fi

Just like Midna from Twilight Princess, as Link’s companion who must ultimately part ways with him in the end, Fi has a lot going for her. That’s right, if man can love machine, and a robot can love a man – this is it. Aonuma is insistent that Fi is not “female”, but rather a “feminine figure”, which fits in this relationship between Link and Fi. This relationship is love, but without romantic interest.

As Gaepora notes, Fi manifests herself as a youth – like Link – to appeal to his nature. She assists Link – no matter the circumstances – and cares only for his wellbeing. Tell her to do it and she does it. Fi very well may be the perfect woman, even though she’s not a woman. The fact that the perfect women still talks so much though probably means ‘women’ is synonymous with ‘talkative’.

Link really comes to depend upon her for everything. Whether it is defeating Demise, determining that Kikwi’s aren’t Zelda, or her advice that shields can prevent extreme bodily harm, Fi is always there to help. Regardless of the player’s feelings towards Fi, Link needs her.

Fi cares not for Scrapper’s flirtatious promptings, and really just uses him to accomplish the will of her “Master”. Wearing her cute little fishnets, what’s not to like about Fi? Her departure is one of the series’ most emotional moments, as two close friends part ways forever, and yet, their friendship transcends time as others with the spirit of the hero will come to wield the Master Sword inhabited by Fi “in another life”.

I can do little more than present Fi’s farewell speech to sum up the ‘love’ here:

“It is time to conclude our necessary companionship … I have come to consider the information corresponding to our time together among the most precious data I have on record. … I experience a feeling I am unable to identify … but I believe this feeling correlates closest to what your people call…happiness.”

Zelda

They say that “every man wants to bag a goddess” and that pretty much sums up the storyline of what is Skyward Sword. What begun as childhood friendship becomes much more, as Link sets out on his journey and follows it through to competition for the sole purpose of rescuing Zelda. Throw in how Zelda is the Goddess Hylia reincarnated and how she used Link to achieve her own purpose, and this love story gets an extra layer of complexity. Let’s take it from start to end.

Before Skyward Sword begins, their relationship had already progressed beyond mere friends. An inspection of Zelda’s room reveals that Link used to often carve wooden figurines as gifts for her. Zelda displays just about every textbook action of liking Link: giggling when he’s around, constantly worrying for him, wanting to help him, and whatever else. She speaks openly with Link about her feelings and concerns, and has no problem with playfully pushing him off of Skyloft. That is “young love” as Sheik would say.

When Zelda writes letters to him, she knows Link entirely, and that he’ll be sleeping in. It is Link whom she wishes to see her dressed up as the Goddess first. Whenever Groose is bullying Link out of jealously, it is always Zelda that stands up for him, infuriating Groose even more. Once Link has won the Wing Ceremony, Zelda flings herself into Link’s arms on his Loftwing before they head off to finish the ceremony upon the Statue of the Goddess.

Groose’s hinting at what he’d do when he won the ceremony and got to be alone with Zelda no doubt got on Link’s nerves. However, having won the competition himself, Link gets that privilege. Upon receiving Zelda’s sailcloth, Link notes to himself that it smells nice, before Zelda teases Link with that he has to do to end the ceremony.

Later on Zelda asks Link on a date, to “go fly around the clouds together”. Zelda notes that she will always remember that day, but before she can say something she has been meaning to talk to Link about, she is captured and taken down to the surface by Ghirahim.

Link chases after her, each time catching up and being disappointed to see her off before getting the chance to talk. When they finally reunite, Zelda – or Hylia – admits that she used Link, as he would try to save Zelda “without even a moment’s doubt”. Zelda goes on to say that she wanted the feeling of being with Link in Skyloft to last forever. In another emotionally impactful scene in the game, before being sealed away, Zelda says “I’m still your Zelda.”

Link promises to return to wake Zelda up from her sleep, and in the end he does exactly that. After a deep embrace, Zelda ends up in the hands of Ghirahim, and Link pursues her until the very end where Demise is defeated. Skyward Sword ends with Zelda asking Link whether he will stay on the surface with her or whether he will return to the sky. Although the ultimate decision is once again left to the player, the conclusion is obvious.

Developer’s Intent

Accompanying all of our in-game canon, Aonuma has made several remarks on the prominently featured romance between Link and Zelda in Skyward Sword. When asked by Nintendo Power what Zelda was going to ask Link before she was separated from him, the series’ director responded: “I wonder! I think I’d rather have each player come up with his own answer.” As always, on the surface developer quotes on romance say “it’s up to you”, but this time around it wasn’t hard to detect Aonuma’s undertone of “you already know”. It was “I love you” by the way.

Game Informer had a more provoking question to ask: “Why did you decide to pursue a love story angle?” Aonuma responded: “As far as the love story goes, it wasn’t that we wanted to create a romance between Link and Zelda as much as we wanted the player to feel like this is a person who’s very important to me, who I need to find. We used that hint of a romance between the two to tug at the heartstrings.” Not only did Hylia use Link through Zelda, but Aonuma used the romance to make us more attached. Clever man, because he succeeded.

Another important factor about romance in Skyward Sword is the development team. Skyward Sword’s team was comprised of the younger group of developers who produced Spirit Tracks. Spirit Tracks delivered a similar level of romance, jut on a more innocent level. Skyward Sword was that concept come to full realization with a more mature relationship.

Spirit Tracks was a more romantic storyline than we’d seen before because it was developed by a team who grew up with The Legend of Zelda and wanted to see the two protagonists “get together”. It was this same desire that ultimately prevailed in Skyward Sword, even despite Aonuma’s initial desire to cut it. It had been the way of the series to keep things open, but Aonuma allowed it this time, as he said, to pull at our heartstrings.

Aonuma clearly earned himself the title “master of puppets” this time around, because his incorporation of the romantic angle had players more emotionally involved in the game than ever before. Nevertheless, at the same time, all of the possibilities were left open once again, allowing players to make their own conclusions.

Concluding Chronologically

Link may sneak into girls rooms at night, sleep in their beds and even lead them on, but when it comes down to it, Link really only has eyes for one: Zelda. Sure, the game won’t definitively state that Link decided to remain behind in Hyrule, but the implication is strong enough for us to know that he did. At the same time it allows us to entertain the other ideas.

For the sake of the series chronology, and how Skyward Sword sets up the series for Ocarina of Time, the logical conclusion is that Zelda and Link founded the Royal Family. What was to become the bloodline of Hylia descends from both Zelda and Link in Skyward Sword. The other options are there for those who want them, but this really is the only answer. Ghirahim never stood a chance.

As you play through Skyward Sword, Cawlin is validated, because Link sure is a ladies’ man. Peatrice may fall for Link, and players may even (weirdly) fall for her. The Legend of Zelda allows you to. Leading up to Skyward Sword I went on record saying that this incarnation of Zelda is the cutest thing to ever happen to gaming. Now, however, I know that Orielle is – so if I am to believe that the player truly is Link – I am able to believe in this pairing. The series allows for that, even though Skyward Sword lays down that Zelda really is the ‘true’ choice for Link. With Fi’s warnings not to tell Zelda about Peatrice, it’s obvious – if it wasn’t already.

Skyward Sword is the Zelda game which gave us a whole “romance trailer” along with the “romance theme”. Skyward Sword is unlikely to ever be topped as the most romantic Legend of Zelda title, closely followed by Spirit Tracks. Despite how Zelda really is the most likely choice for Link’s affection in almost every Zelda game – as this article series has looked at – Skyward Sword provided as definitive a relationship between the two as fans will ever get. Treasure it folks.

Disclaimer: Please note that due to the extremely dense nature of The Legend of Zelda series’ games, although this article series covers most of the possibilities, it is not entirely comprehensive. This series will address more significant characters, and not all characters with minor roles. The large amount of female characters means that there are lots of out-there ideas for relationships amongst fans, of which this series will not address. This will also only focus on straight relationships, with homosexual and other relationships addressed in the “Link is Gay” article mentioned below.

Even with the 16 main series games covered, there is still plenty to discuss. However, please note that the planned progression for the remainder of the series has been altered. Stay tuned for whichever of these topics it is that ends up becoming Part IX.

See Also

• Recap: That Romantic Spark – Refresh on Parts I to VII
• That Romantic Spark Part I – The Classics – LOZ, AOL, ALTTP & LA
• That Romantic Spark Part II – The Nintendo 64 Titles – OoT & MM
• That Romantic Spark Part III – The Oracle Duo and Four Swords Trilogy – OoA, OoS, TMC, FS & FSA
• That Romantic Spark Part IV – Twilight Princess – TP
• That Romantic Spark Part V – The Wind Waker and DS Duo – TWW, PH & ST
• That Romantic Spark Part VI – Developer’s Intent – Miyamoto and Aonuma Quote’s
• That Romantic Spark Part VII – Chronological Perspective – Influences on the timeline
• Link is Gay – Could Link be homosexual? Does it even matter?

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