By KATIE KIERSTEAD
Arts Editor
In a time where game developers are realizing that girls actually do play video games (what?!), Nintendo came out with the announcement of a new character: a female version of Link, named Linkle. She will be playable in the upcoming Nintendo 3DS game Hyrule Warriors Legends.
Linkle has the same facial features as her male counterpart- the two could pass for identical twins- but she wears her hair in short braids and her outfit is more feminine.
She wears the iconic green tunic, knee-high brown boots, short brown gloves, a red skirt, a choker with a blue gemstone, and a large compass around her neck. And instead of wielding a sword and shield like Link, she holds crossbows in both hands.
The reaction to this gender swap has been divided, to say the least. Link has been confirmed to be male in all of the “Legend of Zelda” games since the series’ origin in the 1980s, and some fans hold this tradition near to their hearts. Why fix what’s not broken?
“Hyrule Warriors Legends” isn’t a canon game- it is being developed by “Dynasty Warriors” creator Koei Temco, not Nintendo, according to The Verge. The concept of Linkle was apparently in production for the Wii U version of “Hyrule Warriors,” but she was scrapped. Her legacy only existed in an artbook in the “rejected characters” section, but she has been revived and her design seen through for “Hyrule Warriors Legends.”
Some fans say that the idea of a female Link exists purely to cater to the new wave of feminism that has been flourishing over the past few years. Girls play video games and want more representation in the characters that are available to them.
However, one commenter brings up a good point about the differences between Western feminism and Japanese culture: “Nintendo doesn’t know or care about the ‘feminism war’ going on in English speaking forums. This character is completely typical for what Japan is used to. We can see that by the usage of the words ‘Imouto-teki,’ or little sister like, to describe her. Plus it’s relatively common to have characters get their gender reversed in anime and other Japanese media.”
Chances are Nintendo didn’t create Linkle to please Western feminists.
Another argument is that there’s no need to create another female character, especially if it’s just a gender-swapped Link. One fan on Facebook says, “I feel that this doesn’t fit into the tradition of the video game series. Zelda has always been a very strong female video game character, and I feel that [Linkle] was very unnecessary on Nintendo’s part.”
Yet in most of the Zelda titles, the princess gets captured and needs rescuing, despite some badass alter-ego roles as Tetra or Sheik in “Wind Waker” and “Ocarina of Time,” respectively. Zelda exists as the means to the end: she is only there for Link to save so he can triumph and be realized as the Hero of Time.
Longtime “Zelda” director Eiji Aonuma has repeatedly stated that Link serves as a conduit, or a literal “link,” between the player and the game world. “The character’s a hero, and represents the player in the game, so I leave that to the player to decide what the characteristics are of the player character, because it’s supposed to represent him or herself, if that makes sense!” Aonuma does not want the player to get hung up on the character’s appearance or gender.
Link has traditionally been male, so the prospect of a female Link may seem far-fetched or irrelevant to some. What would change if Link were female? Why does it matter the gender of the in-game character?
In “Mass Effect,” you can choose the gender of the protagonist, Commander Shepard, at the beginning of the game. This decision has no bearing on the events in the game. From the onset, all story options are available equally to either gender, be it who the character sleeps with or which weapons the player can use.
Link has the ability to transform into several other physical forms in the series. In “Majora’s Mask,” Link uses masks to turn into a Deku, a Zora, and a Goron, a few non-human races in the Zelda universe.
In an article on VICE, Nick Gillham says, “We’ve seen [Link] sport brown, pink and blonde hair. We’ve seen him shrunk down to miniscule size to tackle two worlds in one. We’ve seen him turn into a wolf, a rabbit, become a merman and a sentient painting. But most of all we’ve hardly ever seen the same Link each time.” Since Link has seen so many alternate forms, why is it so far-fetched for Link to be a girl?
With the storyline and plot mechanics that Nintendo has established for the “Zelda” series, it makes no statistical sense that Link has always been male. In a lore where a hero is reborn and reincarnated multiple times, it is a rather patriarchal coincidence that Link has never come back as a female hero.
“Canonically, the legend that Nintendo has created actually gives them the flexibility to have Link be a woman, and when the gender split of people who identify as males or females and who play games is about 50/50, there’s just no reason for them to not make the most of their own fiction,” argues Gillham.
Ultimately, Linkle is just one of several playable characters in a spinoff game on a handheld system- she is not replacing Link or starring in her own canon game- but the introduction of a female Link has sparked a lot of passionate discussion. Does the discussion have any weight? Will the “Zelda” series see more drastic changes like this in the future, or will Nintendo abide by tradition and keep Link male? Does it actually matter what gender Link is?
Introducing more playable female characters would be a smart decision for Nintendo. The “Legend of Zelda” fanbase is not exclusively male. To be able to play as Zelda or Impa or Midna in “Hyrule Warriors” was a revolutionary move, and it took another company (Koei Temco) to make that happen.
Hopefully Nintendo will follow suit and take these ideas into consideration as they continue to develop new games.
