Link is still a dude and that’s fine

and it’d be fine if he weren’t

This bit is going to be a response to this article posted on The Verge.

I think this article is a pretty unfortunate response to unveiling of Breath of the Wild. What should be a hugely exciting time for both long time and new Zelda fans is being dampened by people obsessing over such an arbitrary thing. It doesn’t fucking matter what sex link is and I’m going to try and explain why by countering everything wrong with this article.

This is all coming from someone who is actually a fan of the series.

The author’s solution is so simple

and so arbitrary

The solution presented by the author is that you “ literally just need to flip the characters around”. Meaning that Link takes Zelda’s place (as a prince I assume) and Zelda fights the baddies. That’s great and all but does that really change anything? If we’re looking from the female point-of-view (I discussed this with my gf), I think they just want to play as a cool hero and save Hyrule. Women all over the world cosplay as Link and love these games, they don’t give a shit if Link is male or female. Playing a character that is the same sex you are doesn’t change the experience at all, the character is just a vessel through which you interact with the game world. If Samus in Metroid Prime or Faith in Mirror’s Edge were men I wouldn’t love those games any more than I already do, it wouldn’t change anything for me. Simply swapping the character models doesn’t do anything for anyone and it’s a bit silly to think that it would.

It’s true that Zelda is playing a bigger role in Link’s journey

and they missed a big one

Tetra played a crucial role in starting off Link’s journey in Wind Waker and she was a super awesome character BUT, what about Sheik!? I don’t know if I’d call 1998 “recent years” but it seems to me Nintendo has been doing an alright job of making Zelda a bit of a badass for some time. Sheik did a hell of a lot more than get things going, she basically guided Link’s entire journey. Hyrule would be lost without her. I know this whole argument was a push to rationalize simply swapping the two characters but if Link were guiding Zelda through the entire adventure then people would pull some shit saying how a girl couldn’t do it without a man and that’s offensive. It’s always something.

Arguing the whole point of the game

and completely missing it

This quote …

“ I strongly doubt that they build their world such that it would forever be defined by two men fighting over one woman”

… couldn’t have missed the point any more.

The author isn’t wrong. I agree that it is not necessary for the Triforce to lie within two men and one woman (after all, the point I’m pushing for is that it doesn’t matter). What frustrates me the most is that they interpret the entire conflict as two men fighting over a woman. This fight has nothing to do with Zelda other than the fact that she is part of it. This fight is a man and a woman fighting an evil man. To somehow think that anybody is fighting over a woman seems to be the most sexist thing going on here. This is about saving Hyrule from evil, nothing less. Whether or not you happen to play as the man or the woman shouldn’t matter to you at all and throwing a fit over it just isn’t worth the energy.

Their last paragraph is my best argument

and I’ll explain why

The last paragraph explains why it would be totally reasonable to make a Zelda game based off a female link given that the character is a reincarnation of the “hero”. I agree 100% with everything in this paragraph. If Nintendo decides to build a game with a female hero I will absolutely play the hell out of it just like any other Zelda game before. It makes absolutely no difference to me what sex the hero is, yet somehow everyone seems to be speaking as if it makes all the difference in the world. It doesn’t, I just want to run around Hyrule collecting cool items, riding my gender neutral horse, and fighting monsters with The Blade of Evil’s Bane. The Legend of Zelda is the greatest videogame series of all time and whether I refer to my hero as him or her, that will never change.

Some final thoughts

and a couple loose ends

First I want to go back and address the entire point of their article and explain what my response sets out to achieve. Ultimately this backlash at Nintendo exists because people want the choice to play as a female hero and that it should be possible. To me that isn’t the real issue though, the issue is that people are discussing this as a situation where Nintendo should have given players that choice. This is their creative product, and given that, they should do whatever the hell they want. If, in their creative vision, Link is a male, then that’s the way it is. What I’m frustrated with is that people feel so entitled that they think their opinions should have any impact on what Nintendo creates.

All I’m trying to say with all of this is don’t get so worked up that Link is a dude again. They’re going to make a game where the hero is a woman eventually. It’s going to happen sooner or later. When it does I’ll still neglect my responsibilities playing that game for many hours and I’ll still love every minute of it. Nobody gains anything from Nintendo arbitrarily making Link a woman because a handful of people were mad. They absolutely are good enough to build a beautiful story around a female hero, maybe even a female villain. In the end it’s not about gender, it’s just the fight of good vs. evil and overcoming all adversity along the way.