That semi-fleshed out fan-concept of a flipped version of where Zelda is some common girl who finds The Master Sword and saves Prince Link is an intriguing idea as well. The reason why people constantly look at this stuff is because it seems so viable.

Yeah, I think this is a really cool idea, I hope Nintendo see the potential in it. I'd love it if the next Link was like a Mom or something.

Gallery

Dem thighs.

@hailinel: @corruptedevil:

Ok, but that doesn't address the fact that this just looks like Zelda in Link's clothing. If that is what they wanted, cool. I just think they should make it a costume for Zelda at that point.

Doesn't look too much different from male link but I can dig it.

Instead of going HAAIII! in a high voice, Link goes HAAII! in a higher voice!

Also, where's the masculine, broad-shouldered Prince Zelda? He could look like Debonair from Ogre Battle.

@extomar said:

@wrighteous86 said:

@saturdaynightspecials said:

And they didn't even do that right, because as I said, a female Link wouldn't have anime schoolgirl thighs going on. It's out of character.

Gallery

Dem thighs.

Young Link has exposed thighs; in the games where an "adult link" is used, he always (almost always?) wears leggings.

Hope she saves Prince Zeldo

@cloudymusic: It was just a joke.

@cloudymusic said:

@wrighteous86 said:

@saturdaynightspecials said:

And they didn't even do that right, because as I said, a female Link wouldn't have anime schoolgirl thighs going on. It's out of character.

Gallery

Dem thighs.

Young Link has exposed thighs; in the games where an "adult link" is used, he always (almost always?) wears leggings.

Hey. Thanks for looking out for this stuff. You should definitely see if you can get in touch with Nintendo so they can put this potential fantasy FemLink design to rights, lest they screw up the image of their own creation. Might wanna add that they should bring Wind Waker in line with OoT. Actually, OoT Link was real different from the manual artwork of LttP, so fix that first. Then again, even LttP Link looked nothing like the original one portrayed in the TLoZ manual. Oh, and don't forget to tell them to change his hair colour back to it's original.

Should also probably remove the boobs and give her a penis.

@gunslingerpanda: You don't understand; we want women protagonists, but only if they're dressed in a way that covers their shame.

@brodehouse: Oh, right. My mistake. I was playing too much Bayonetta to think things through.

The only thing that popped into my head upon reading this is "are you fucking serious with this?" and that thought won't go away. Time for another vacation from gaming forums even though I just came back from one.

I see nothing wrong with the idea. The first dungeon can represent the scars and stretch marks that labour induce, while the second can be all about FemLink coming to grips with having to sacrifice her personal and professional life to raise her family. Better yet, why not make Ganondorf the estranged father of said children and fucknoithinki'mvomitingallovermyselfnow

There was a Gameboy Castlevania where you played as a mom, Sonia Belmont. She was the mother of Trevor Belmont from Castlevania III.

Not a fan of this, but I'm pretty committed to tradition and the idea that Link has always been a boy.

What? I don't care about the consistency of Link's character design. I'm not even a particularly big Zelda fan. I just think that Japanese character designers' reliance on the short skirt/tall boots combo to be ridiculously overdone and predictable, and that it's funny that the main observable difference between this "female Link" and regular Link is pretty much solely that.

Hm. Interesting.

No problem with a female Link myself.

I don't get the issue.

Well this has gotten weird, dark, and weird dark very quickly.

Some dudes here are taking this subject in a very strange way.

@brodehouse said:

Yeah, what's the point of having a female character if you can't show a little skin, right?

A woman in practical, comfortable clothing might as well be a man.

Okay, if you prefer: substitute "role" for "character". Presumably, Link will be doing the same thing Link always does, ie poking around in dungeons and fighting monsters. Now admittedly I've never worn a miniskirt and long boots, but I can't imagine it's very comfortable for heavy physical activity (or any activity).

Someone else brought up kid Link, but notice that his boots are not extra-long. That's a believable, comfortable outfit for a kid who isn't a full-fledged hero/adventurer yet.

@saturdaynightspecials: Older Link in Ocarina ran around in a tunic and tights. So I don't see your point. Different Links wear different outfits. If a female Link wears boots like that, what's the issue? Her legs are actually better protected than most Links that have appeared.

GIrl Link would be nice, even as a one off, and as well fo a "Legend of Link" where you play as Zelda, if handlded well it could be super interesting and great.

I honestly can't tell how it would be perceived by the internet now if I said I'd be all for a Zelda main character that is a descendent of the others and everything, dresses in the Link clothing, but I'd rather she have a different name and not be a female "Link". That she could still be one of the "Heroes" but still a separate character from Link, in name at least - just so it's a new character.

If this is official then it's the laziest concept art I've ever seen. They literally just took Link's attire and put it on a woman...

I'm all for a Zelda game with a female protagonist, but it wouldn't mean anythingif Nintendo made it and stuck to the formula (which I can see them doing). What would be the difference if it's the same story of a elf girl who finds the magic sword, never ever talks, visits a set of different dungeons, gets a pony/boat/train/bird, defeats an ancient evil, saves the world/kingdom?

You could literally put anything in Link's place and it wouldn't make a difference. Put a talking cat, a sentient toaster oven, a Tupac hologram....because the gameplay would be the same.

Give us the option to choose Link's gender in the next Zelda, or just make her a girl, I'm all for it, but don't be surprised if it makes absolutely no difference in the game. Link never talks, he/she would still be the same soulless vessel with no personality or character. I guess my problem is bigger than just Zelda. If a game is going to give me the option to choose between different races and genders, then give it some meaning, don't just do it because.

Looks more like Riding Hood than the Robin Hood-style attire I'd associate with Link. What little I can see of the design in the upper-right corner seems better in that respect. I just wouldn't like to have a female Link designed such that it screams "HEY LOOK LINK IS A GIRL NOW ISN'T SHE ADORBS."

I can already imagine all the residents of Hyrule hanging off of Holo-Pac when he's shopping for items, booking him for all of their mini-game parties... The dead eyes failing to emote upon opening a chest. Fund it!

The Links that have come and gone throughout the series are unique individuals with their own histories. While their personalities are thinly defined, they do have character, and relationships with others. The Link of Skyward Sword was a friend of Zelda since childhood. The Link of Ocarina of Time was an orphan raised by the Great Deku Tree and lived among the Kokiri. The Link of Wind Waker has a younger sister and lives with his grandmother. All of them are thrust into their adventures for different reasons in different ways, and though they're all essentially the same heroic, green clad hero at the most basic level, it's the specific details of who they are and where they come from that set them apart. You can't just replace Link with a cat or a Tupac hologram because they aren't characters that fit in the world, just as you couldn't drop the Link of Twilight Princess into the era of Wind Waker and expect him to react in the same exact ways to those around him. He doesn't have the relationships with those characters that the Link of Wind Waker cultivated over the course of his life.

So while a female Link, or Linkle, as the art book seems to call this particular design, may not differ in drastic ways in terms of coming from the same hero archetype that is a staple of the Zelda series, she would still be a unique character. Her relationships to and with others wouldn't be the same as other Links, regardless of gender.

Awe, I love her.

"Linkle," huh? Why not take it a step further? Why not T. Linklesaur Muncharupees?

You all might have seen the quickly-locked blog post that I wrote as a response to many of the reactions in this thread that was quickly locked. I went ahead and added what I had to say there to this thread.

@hailinel said:

So? Leggings were often worn by soldiers historically (and later Link designs had tougher-looking material for the legs). Thigh-highs, I'm pretty sure, have always been a fashion thing.

The core issue here is not that I'm offended by lady thighs in a video game. I'm not. I'm just so tired of seeing details in character designs (however small) that make me think "Why is this here? Oh yeah, because certain people need fan service to be interested in anything." It's depressing.

Linkle D. Breakyerpots.

A female Link rescuing a male prince of Hyrule. I know it'll never happen but it could be a cool twist... even just a Zelda game where you play as Zelda would be cool really. Still, this is one boat that Nintendo will not be rocking any time soon.

To be honest, I would rather see a Zelda led game rather than a female Link. I think it would be more interesting to play a more magic focused character rather than another swords and bows focused hero in a Zelda game.

You can tell it's a girl because of the Zettai Ryouiki.

That's pretty cool I guess. Honestly, I always thought Link was kind of a girl-ish character anyway when I played Zelda way back when. It wasn't until Ocarina of Time that someone pointed out to me that he was a dude. I know that sounds crazy and it is, but I never really held much stock in the Zelda games (just not my thing) so I never really paid much attention to anything. Which also explains why I never played through an entire Zelda game before. I just got about a quarter of the way and went "this is dumb!" and went back to playing Mortal Kombat or Quake. lol.

I know, I know, I'm a horrible person.

Yeah, I saw that. I was all ready to make a post telling you to say anything but Linkle. Ugh. Terrible name. Why can't a female Link just be named Link?

Earlier in the thread, I made a pretty flippant comment about how "all you have to do to make Link female is draw boobs", something which you spent a whole paragraph or so tearing down in that thread (and didn't respond to me here about it?). Yes, I do know that there's a little more to it than that. You have to make the body a little curvier, you have to draw the face in a slightly more feminine way, you have to do more than put breasts on one of the other designs and be done. I was mostly just joking about the already-feminine appearance of Link in a lot of the Zelda games.

But, uh, in that recent trailer for a Zelda game on the Wii U? That incarnation of Link really does just need a pair of boobs to be female.

I don't care what sex Link is in a game, i just want to play some more Legend of Zelda, its not like Lara being a girl in Tomb Raider ever stopped people playing that.

I'm all for a female Link, but Linkle is a terrible, terrible name.

By the time I had time to respond, I figured it was better to just compile all of my responses into one post. But anyway:

Nope. That's still a masculine frame, if a slender one.

I should have clarified, older Link in Ocarina of Time only ran around in a tunic and tights. He had no armor at all. No mail shirt, no protective gear of any sort other than his shield. And as impractical as Linkle's boots are for their length (I'll grant you that), she's still better protected than the majority of Link incarnations just for the fact hat she has visible armor protection under her clothing.

@hailinel said:

@believer258 said:

@hailinel said:

You all might have seen the quickly-locked blog post that I wrote as a response to many of the reactions in this thread that was quickly locked. I went ahead and added what I had to say there to this thread.

Yeah, I saw that. I was all ready to make a post telling you to say anything but Linkle. Ugh. Terrible name. Why can't a female Link just be named Link?

Earlier in the thread, I made a pretty flippant comment about how "all you have to do to make Link female is draw boobs", something which you spent a whole paragraph or so tearing down in that thread (and didn't respond to me here about it?). Yes, I do know that there's a little more to it than that. You have to make the body a little curvier, you have to draw the face in a slightly more feminine way, you have to do more than put breasts on one of the other designs and be done. I was mostly just joking about the already-feminine appearance of Link in a lot of the Zelda games.

But, uh, in that recent trailer for a Zelda game on the Wii U? That incarnation of Link really does just need a pair of boobs to be female.

By the time I had time to respond, I figured it was better to just compile all of my responses into one post. But anyway:

Nope. That's still a masculine frame, if a slender one.

I can't agree. Hell, I think you could say it's a flat-chested girl and I'd believe you.

Also, please tell me you see how terrible the name "Linkle" is. You seem to be using it seriously. Even if it didn't rhyme with "tinkle", it would sound pretty bad.

@believer258 said:

@hailinel said:

@believer258 said:

@hailinel said:

You all might have seen the quickly-locked blog post that I wrote as a response to many of the reactions in this thread that was quickly locked. I went ahead and added what I had to say there to this thread.

Yeah, I saw that. I was all ready to make a post telling you to say anything but Linkle. Ugh. Terrible name. Why can't a female Link just be named Link?

Earlier in the thread, I made a pretty flippant comment about how "all you have to do to make Link female is draw boobs", something which you spent a whole paragraph or so tearing down in that thread (and didn't respond to me here about it?). Yes, I do know that there's a little more to it than that. You have to make the body a little curvier, you have to draw the face in a slightly more feminine way, you have to do more than put breasts on one of the other designs and be done. I was mostly just joking about the already-feminine appearance of Link in a lot of the Zelda games.

But, uh, in that recent trailer for a Zelda game on the Wii U? That incarnation of Link really does just need a pair of boobs to be female.

By the time I had time to respond, I figured it was better to just compile all of my responses into one post. But anyway:

Nope. That's still a masculine frame, if a slender one.

I can't agree. Hell, I think you could say it's a flat-chested girl and I'd believe you.

Also, please tell me you see how terrible the name "Linkle" is. You seem to be using it seriously. Even if it didn't rhyme with "tinkle", it would sound pretty bad.

It's a silly, goofy name, yeah, but I'm willing to roll with it. I mean, we've got Tingle, for crying out loud.

@hailinel: I see where you're coming from but I fail to see how that changes anything. If a sentient toaster was making toast for Zelda since childhood of course they would have a special connection, if the toaster's adoptive sister was kidnapped by a giant bird of course it would go after her, and if the great Deku tree sent a fairy to get Link the Toaster to save Hyrule of course he would do it.

There's a big difference between having a history and having character & personality. Gordon Freeman has a history (I believe) yet I still have no idea how he actually thinks. Corvo Attano has a whole background story but zero personality otherwise, it's the same with Link(le).

In The Wind Waker, Nintendo came so close to actually making me care about Link as a person. The expressions in his face, the motivation to save his sister, all that stuff made Link seem like his own being. I guess my point is that if they're ever going to make a female Link, they should do it for a genuine reason that makes us care about the character, not just because players should have a choice.

Link with boobs!

People remember you name the main character in Zelda games right? You never have to see the name Linkle if you don't want to so I'm not sure why that's a big deal. It isn't a very good name though. The design looks good to me, if you're going to make a female Link it should have the same basic designs I think.

I'd be perfectly fine playing as a female in a Zelda game, though I can't say I'm clamoring for it. Just give me more Zelda and I'll be happy.