That might be because they got rid of those weird looking lips (thankfully I think.)
-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
Aonuma: That was Link in the Wii U Zelda trailer, denies 'female' rumors
- Thread starter Partition
- Start date
Origami Superman
Member
Anouma pulling a fast one. Link is actually the horse's name.
RMS Gigantic
Member
Hyrule Warriors Link has a smaller waist-to-hip ratio, a much larger torso-to-leg ratio, mildly broader shoulders, more muscle in the front of the femur than behind, thicker eyebrows, and possibly a larger nose than the character in the Legend of Zelda trailer. With the exception of eyebrows (which even then are very commonly thin on female characters and thick on male characters in the Legend of Zelda series), these are all sex dimorphism characteristics that, regardless of cultural values, suggest that the Link in Hyrule Warriors is male and the Link in The Legend of Zelda (2015) is... well, I guess I can't say female, so "more feminine".
WrenchNinja
Member
How odd. Does naming Link take away from the illusion?
Monocle
Member
It would have been perfectly fine, seeing how each new Zelda game has a different Link. (IIRC. I'm not exactly up to date on Zelda lore.)
How's that strawman working out for you?
That's ok Aonuma; you don't give me a female playable character in your tired series, I don't give you my money. At least I'll have Zelda Musou, the only canon-worthy entry in your series.
Kappa
DangerMouse
Member
How has Nintendo not grown up because they won't "gender-bend" Link into a girl? Link is a guy, he's been a guy for over 25+ years. Zelda is a girl, she's been a girl from the start. This is one thing I don't understand. Might as well make Captain Falcon a girl for the next game, make Samus a black guy, etc. Like that's not who the character is, even if he's fictional.
If Nintendo says there will never be a female Link, what then? Would you really stop playing the series?
I'm pissed there are no female iterations of these guys too.
White dudes, white dudes, as far as the eye can see... everything was white dudes
I agree. Unless people want to pretend that Link's "character" is only the Twilight Princess model, they are disregarding that his appearance has been ever evolving throughout the series. The most recognizable features about Link have nothing to do with his gender.
It would be neat if you could play different time lines, going between a hero of time in the past and another in the present, each a different gender.
vinnygambini
Why are strippers at the U.N. bad when they're great at strip clubs???
Am I the only one having vibes of Princess Mononoke from Zelda Wii U?
Blood Diamonds
Banned
What a shitty joke.
Monocle
Member
Hopefully not icky girly places. Speaking of which, they should remove shopping from the next Zelda. Link is a MAN and shopping is for women.
MisterGrey3000
Member
I'm not a big fan of having a costimizable Link because I don't believe that the idea fits the series anymore(The best time to do that would have been in OoT or something).
I feel like Mr. Aonuma and his team have been struggling with a big decision.
"Should Link be his own character?"
As of right now he's sort of half way between being a blank slate and a fully fleshed out person. If they ever decided to move in the latter direction we could have a bunch of drastically different looking Link designs/reincarnations(Female link, African link, Asian link, Mayan link etc.)with unique back stories, and personalities. I would personally love that.
I feel like Mr. Aonuma and his team have been struggling with a big decision.
"Should Link be his own character?"
As of right now he's sort of half way between being a blank slate and a fully fleshed out person. If they ever decided to move in the latter direction we could have a bunch of drastically different looking Link designs/reincarnations(Female link, African link, Asian link, Mayan link etc.)with unique back stories, and personalities. I would personally love that.
What's with all the posts like this? I'm also glad that Link isn't getting a gender swap... Does that mean I'm against playing as a girl, or female characters in general being in games? No. No it doesn't. It just means I don't want Link to be a girl, and I don't think there's anything weird or wrong about being happy that he's still essentially the same character he's always been.
So tight. I want someone else to plot Zelda games. Aonuma and co. can design the world still, but shake up the story even more.
Monocle
Member
I'd be so down for this.
This is just completely wrong to me. He's a player avatar. So are Mario and Samus. Sonic and Ryu aren't, they talk a lot in their games and are often part of a larger playable cast. Samus stays female because of the whole twist that she was a girl the whole time. They knew that a mostly male fanbase would be playing her as a player avatar, and they thought it'd be fun to have there be a twist that she was a girl the whole time. People liked that, so they kept it. Mario stays male because it'd be incredibly hard to come up with a marketable female Mario design, as it is very hard to market incredibly short, chubby girls with mustaches wearing clothing that doesn't reveal anything.
papercan55
Member
Not to me, but OK. If Link were wearing the green tunic like this:
then the speculation would never have happened.
this looks great, link looks great even without his tunic.
Why is it every time a zelda game get's revealed people have to find something to moan about.
It's almost as if all you people never played a zelda game before, link has always looked very feminine.
either way boy or girl it really doesn't matter, can you people not focus on what the game might play like instead of how it's main character might look from a few occasional camera angles.
It would be the same if there weren't like fifteen different reincarnations of Link. Where does it say they all have to be guys?
That was not a strawman argument. If you'd bothered to read my follow up you will have seen that I said I wouldn't mind a female Link but did not think this one was from the trailer.
DangerMouse
Member
Nope. Plenty of people had Nausicaa and Mononoke vibes.
technocritter
Banned
He was talking about the other parts of the trailer, like the shot with death mountain and that ship in a desert.
edit: Actually how did Link's gender become a bigger debate than liiterally everything else in the trailer.
Mushroomer25
Member
As somebody who always just plays as "Link", that never really altered it for me. It felt like more of a standard trope of the RPG/adventure genre, rather than a real part of the world. Changing the name doesn't really impact who that character was before you picked up the controller. Changing the gender (in most cultures), would. So it doesn't break the illusion for me.
truestatic
Member
Agreed. I personally wanted Link to stay male but it sucks to raise and dash hopes like that. Still, the flurry of speculation and excitement is cool to see.
There are no written rules for what Link has to be in each incarnation. Gender may not be a defining characteristic to you, but it certainly is to some. At the very least, it is consistent... so far.
Monocle
Member
I just hope they never make Metroid a girl. Ugh, how would she even fire her arm cannon without shrieking and trying to cover her ears?
Ship in a desert? Care to point that out lol
Thats because he was joking around and whoever put it on the internet in text didn't carry over the joke in their article or quote. Thats the very reason its contradictory. It....was...a....joke.
Its not contradictory to the 'dramatic' reveal at all. This has been very similar to all the previous 3D Zelda reveals. They all have some sort of showing of the character, many times in different art styles, and many times in the world of Hyrule. There is nothing at all contradictory about the way this was shown. Its all in your head.
No it doesn't This sentence makes ZERO sense. Why in the heck wouldn't they want to have a very cool showing of one of their most famous IP? There is nothing overly 'dramatic' about this, and Link has appeared extremely androgynous in the past. Not to mention a dramatic new game reveal does not in ANY way indicate a switch in gender of a 20+ year old protagonist... where in the heck are you getting this nonsense.
Some of you sound crazy....
Oh thanks, Aonuma's Familiar
Vermillion
Banned
I always name Link "Link."
I personally don't care for choices.
I'd be down for a female Link, but should it happen, I don't want to be able to choose between Links. Odd? Certainly. But that's just me.
Maybe I wasnt clear enough; I meant that now all the whining can stop about wether is a girl or not. Some people were just overly reacting and wanted it to be a girl, I mean why care so much? I'm fine if it would have been a girl, and zelda would be a prince, if it was worked out well enough story wise, gameplay wise etc., but ultimately it comes down to the gameplay, graphics music etc.
I guess I just dont understand such a commotion about it being whatever gender.
I am extremely excited for this new iteration. Looks like they will finally adress all the negatives thats plagued this franchise for so long now. I edited my original post with this
Why do you think that people who are against a gender-swapped Link don't want a female MC? I personally am disappointed there is no female MC option in this (make that every) Zelda. But when the title comes that introduces gender equality for the player character I want her to have a distinct personality. I want a new character and not a lazy gender swap or I want Nintendo to commit to a specific female MC in a title.
aspiegamer
Member
These two sentences, together, hurt my brain.
technocritter
Banned
my bad looks closer to a village on a hill
I've spent way to much time analyzing 1 minute of footage
PdotMichael
Banned
Nonsensical internet drama.
Why should Nintendo replace the main character of one of the most beloved gaming series?
Why should Nintendo replace the main character of one of the most beloved gaming series?
Not to me, but OK. If Link were wearing the green tunic like this:
then the speculation would never have happened.
Woah, this looks fantastic.
Still, really weird of Aonuma to say that the character in the Zelda teaser wasn't necessarily Link, only to later confirm that it was indeed Link.
truestatic
Member
I'm still not entirely convinced that's off the table. Given earlier hints about challenging the preconceptions of what makes Zelda Zelda, and the specific reference to single player, I'm still curious at the possibility that there could be a second, different playable character. I guess they wouldn't be the main character; so long as Link is there he'll have primacy, but still.
Blood Diamonds
Banned
Why can't Link be a girl?
And Link "staying the same" doesn't make sense because he has no personality or development, he's just an avatar for the player.