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[Anteo]

I'm complaining about the specific choice of trope - the whole "unable to find her way using a map" thing - sending a really weird message given that in 8 months Nintendo's about to release a game where the player will need to navigate using a map, but their aspiring legendary heroine - the first time they've represented a version of Link as a female player-character - is apparently incapable of reading one.

You are thinking too hard. The whole point of Linkle is that she is not Link. She is not a female version of Link and that's why she is so different, including the "cant read maps for life but can fight like a boss" part.

 

[Eolz]

I don't know, seems like a typical anime archetype to me.
The cute strong girl that has some weaknesses.

She's non-canon and not Link after all, and there again, even Link makes weird noises and some weird choices during his adventures...

 

[Devil]

Damn, how did I land on page 5 when I was trying to reach 3...

Spoiler

Sounds like OP didn't get the joke. Also, it's just a Warriors game. Ypu're not supposed to actually care about the plot.

 

[LegendofLex]

The whole point of Linkle is that she is not Link.

Then why make her resemble Link at all?

 

[RockTurtle]

Then why make her resemble Link at all?

aren't they related? or at least same race/town?

 

[kunonabi]

It's not just that, look at the sequence, no one would depict a male not knowing where to go like this. Well, normally I wouldn't expect it for a female either, but well, here it is.

Ryoga from Ranma 1/2 is 1000 times worse at finding his way around than Linkle ever will be.

 

[Dice//]

Then why make her resemble Link at all?

Fan demand baby

 

[foxuzamaki]

Then why make her resemble Link at all?

Because she's a parody, her whole character is suppose to defy expectations

 

[marmoka]

 

[Eolz]

aren't they related? or at least same race/town?

Same race yeah, like most human looking characters in Zelda.
Not related at all apart from that.

 

[PtM]

Nintendo's next smartphone game will be a GPS app starring Linkle. When you reach your destination, Linkle realizes the error of her ways and says "I shouldn't have gone on an adventure — I'm just a girl." She then returns to the kitchen to make sandwiches for her husband, Dinkle, and a video plays of Miyamoto congratulating the player and telling them they've restored balance to the Force.

This sums up pretty well my dislike for Linkle.

The character's tropes aren't related to the female genre primarily, so fanboy or fangirl of link could have turned out like this. Like, this doesn't really relate to sexism beyond the fact that it's a girl and that she wasn't written correctly. But that's a problem you can apply to many characters in this game in general.

No, she's been introduced as a female Link, still looks the part, and then it turns out that she is shit at being Link. A lunatic who thinks she's destined for heroics because of the most random reasons.
A woman who doesn't know her place? (Get it?) A stupid little girl, trying to be what she's unfit for?

The lostness thing isn't so bad by itself, could be cute if they hadn't overdone it with the ditsiness, but on top of these other things it just drags her down even more.

 

[LegendofLex]

aren't they related? or at least same race/town?

Most human characters in Zelda are the same race, except the one character who's not (Impa).

Because she's a parody, her whole character is suppose to defy expectations

But her character is exactly what you'd expect from Nintendo's supporting female characters.

 

[L Thammy]

Link is humble? How do we know?

 

[foxuzamaki]

Most human characters in Zelda are the same race, except the one character who's not (Impa).



But her character is exactly what you'd expect from Nintendo's supporting female characters.

As in?

 

[IzzyF3]

...so she's Ryoga?

The stubborn person who refuses to ask for directions and gets constantly lost is a pretty old trope dude.



...are you serious?

Actually, Ryoga always asks for directions. He still gets lost though. Always hilarious.

 

[Maintenance]

OP stretched so hard he became this:

 

[Anteo]

A woman who doesn't know her place? (Get it?) A stupid little girl, trying to be what she's unfit for?

How do you go from Linkle to this?
lol

 

[Nanashrew]

IIRC, Linkle was originally supposed to be related to Link like a sister. But Aonuma shot that down because it takes away from Aryll. That's why her design looks similar to Link's and due to great fan demand they decided to make her an official character in the Hyrule Warriors series with a few adjustments to her background and origin.

 

[Eolz]

Nintendo's next smartphone game will be a GPS app starring Linkle. When you reach your destination, Linkle realizes the error of her ways and says "I shouldn't have gone on an adventure — I'm just a girl." She then returns to the kitchen to make sandwiches for her husband, Dinkle, and a video plays of Miyamoto congratulating the player and telling them they've restored balance to the Force.

This sums up pretty well my dislike for Linkle.

No, she's been introduced as a female Link, still looks the part, and then it turns out that she is shit at being Link. A lunatic who thinks she's destined for heroics because of the most random reasons.
A woman who doesn't know her place? (Get it?) A stupid little girl, trying to be what she's unfit for?

The lostness thing isn't so bad by itself, could be cute if they hadn't overdone it with the ditsiness, but on top of these other things it just drags her down even more.

What?
Seriously, she's just an archetype/trope. It's not making fun of her as a woman or anything. It's about her finding her way and becoming an heroine on her own instead of trying to force fit into a destiny that isn't hers.

Most human characters in Zelda are the same race, except the one character who's not (Impa).

Wait, Impa isn't Hylian as well?! I thought the Sheika were just some different tribe?

 

[UnemployedVillain]

But her character is exactly what you'd expect from Nintendo's supporting female characters.

Yeah, with such grossly incompetent and ditzy female characters as Tetra, Zelda, Shiek, Impa, Samus, Palutena, Rosalina and Cynthia we shouldn't have been surprised

 

[Merc_]

This sums up pretty well my dislike for Linkle.

No, she's been introduced as a female Link, still looks the part, and then it turns out that she is shit at being Link. A lunatic who thinks she's destined for heroics because of the most random reasons.
A woman who doesn't know her place? (Get it?) A stupid little girl, trying to be what she's unfit for?

The lostness thing isn't so bad by itself, could be cute if they hadn't overdone it with the ditsiness, but on top of these other things it just drags her down even more.

Hahaha, what the fuck.

This thread is really going to special places.

 

[10k]

Yoshi....you're really stretching here, or virtue signalling. There's nothing wrong with her portrayal, both genders are allowed to me dumb and bad at Mao reading. Many western men won't even stop and ask for directions even when they're lost from their own incompetence at map reading because of pride.

 

[PtM]

How do you go from Linkle to this?
lol

That's just another way of saying "parody".

What?
Seriously, she's just an archetype/trope. It's not making fun of her as a woman or anything. It's about her finding her way and becoming an heroine on her own instead of trying to force fit into a destiny that isn't hers.

But she's really badly written. Seriously, she thinks she's a hero just because she has a compass? And look at it in the context of her being a female Link, because that's what she (visually) still is.
Again, I agree that her being lost isn't really the critical part here, but it adds up.

Wait, Impa isn't Hylian as well?! I thought the Sheika were just some different tribe?

Sheikah in OoT were magically gifted people who went and made their own clan, so to speak. Semantics, really.

 

[striferser]

Op, it's a common trope. Go watch more comedy movie or something.

...so she's Ryoga?

The stubborn person who refuses to ask for directions and gets constantly lost is a pretty old trope dude.



...are you serious?

Ryoga Hibiki, the man with no sense of direction. Great post.

 

[Nanashrew]

Well this thread is going to some weird places...

 

[Anteo]

IIRC, Linkle was originally supposed to be related to Link like a sister. But Aonuma shot that down because it takes away from Aryll. That's why her design looks similar to Link's and due to great fan demand they decided to make her an official character in the Hyrule Warriors series with a few adjustments to her background and origin.

Aryll was a one off, I dont understand why he said no.

There is also the thing they said about splatoon, they believed that having the main character be female would help with the sales on the west. Maybe this kind of thinking is what got Linkle aproved.

 

[LegendofLex]

As in?

Yeah, with such grossly incompetent and ditzy female characters as Tetra, Zelda, Shiek, Impa, Samus, Palutena, Rosalina and Cynthia we shouldn't have been surprised

Tetra and Zelda are bad examples, because they both become damsels in distress in the end, even if they have a decent amount of agency throughout the early parts of the story.

Impa's fine in Hyrule Warriors but usually falls into the "wise old nurse" trope.

Samus isn't a supporting character.

Palutena is also a damsel in distress.

Rosalina's a princess who needs a hero to save her people from the villain. Not quite a damsel in distress, but not really a groundbreaking role for a supporting female character.

Wait, Impa isn't Hylian as well?! I thought the Sheika were just some different tribe?

Now that you mention it, I don't think they've ever actually resolved what the relationship between the two tribes actually is.

 

[Coffee Dog]

I think Linkle is pretty meh, she would have been a lot better if they toned down her personality and made her closer to Link. The Links have personalities, they're just mute. She should have been too.

Palutena is also a damsel in distress.

Palutena is Pit's commanding officer. She is very much not a damsel in distress, as she saves Pit a whole hell of a lot more often than Pit saves her.

 

[L Thammy]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't half the episodes of Pokemon involve Ash and friends getting lost? I'm pretty sure the Pokedex has a map, and they should have noticed that it keeps happening by now.

 

[Pokemaniac]

I think the mere fact that they set up the character in such a disappointing way is a really bad gesture given the climate surrounding gender representation in video games (especially) and film.



I'm not complaining about the choice of trope itself making the depiction of the character sexist. She doesn't need to be absent of stereotypical tropes or flaws to be a good character. Hell, I even think she's a good character anyway.

I'm complaining about the specific choice of trope - the whole "unable to find her way using a map" thing - sending a really weird message given that in 8 months Nintendo's about to release a game where the player will need to navigate using a map, but their aspiring legendary heroine - the first time they've represented a version of Link as a female player-character - is apparently incapable of reading one.

Like I said, I'm pretty fond of the character and I even like the whole "she keeps showing up late to the fight" thing as it gives her room to act on top of the existing story without being overly gratuitous. I like that she isn't obviously caught up in the major hero prophecies and is just going off to fight because she wants to be the hero, spurred on by her grandmother's stories. I think that's all fine (great, even!) and makes her endearing in a way that Link isn't. I think going the wrong direction constantly is a fun little quirk, too, that I personally enjoy.

I just don't like that the last piece of big Zelda media we're likely to get before their big open world Zelda game with a huge detailed map leaves us with our first female analog to Link... and she can't read a map. Again, it's an unusual signal to be sending alongside such a character, in the context of that particular upcoming game.

I think you're reading way too far into this map thing. It's probably just an ironic quirk which is convenient from a storytelling perspective. Bringing Zelda Wii U into this topic at all really seems like a bit of a stretch. You act like there's this grand conspiracy to piss off people who want female Link, when really this is just a side character in a generally unimportant spin off game based off a fan favorite prototype design.

 

[Claude Augario]

I spent so much time beating away the Metroid: Other Manbabies that I forgot Zelda has its own impressive collection of loonies.

I mean its one thing to be upset by Hyrule Warriors' take on a female Link but to stretch this into some kind of Nintendo female characters conspiracy is an Olympic feat of mental gymnastics.

 

[Veldin]

I don't know how much the rest of you know about japanese gender stereotypes (I'm an expert)

 

[Megatron]

Is it that bad that she's dumb / can't read a map?
Link himself also isn't the smartest cookie. He has courage, sure, but yeah. Usually needs a companion to guide him along.

True. He never fucking knows what a rupee is or how much it's worth. Every damn game someone has to explain it to him again.

 

[Nanashrew]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't half the episodes of Pokemon involve Ash and friends getting lost? I'm pretty sure the Pokedex has a map, and they should have noticed that it keeps happening by now.

That's how Ash found that village and got himself a bulbasaur! Those are usually the more interesting episodes too cause they go places you don't normally see in the games.

 

[Simbabbad]

Hyrule Warriors has a nearly all female hero cast, the only hero characters that aren't female are Link, the King, and Darunia, who isn't the sexiest or smartest guy around (the King isn't the most developed/attractive character either). All the other males are either horrible caricatures, like Tingle, or crazy villains. And people cry about Nintendo being evil misogynists because they wrote Linkle as its own anti-Link persona instead of a gender-swapped Link?

 

[LegendofLex]

I think you're reading way too far into this map thing. It's probably just an ironic quirk which is convenient from a storytelling perspective. Bringing Zelda Wii U into this topic at all really seems like a bit of a stretch. You act like there's this grand conspiracy to piss off people who want female Link, when really this is just a side character in a generally unimportant spin off game based off a fan favorite prototype design.

You don't think Hyrule Warriors' main job is to serve as a source of side revenue and licensed marketing for one of Nintendo's tentpole franchises?

 

[Anteo]

Tetra and Zelda are bad examples, because they both become damsels in distress in the end, even if they have a decent amount of agency throughout the early parts of the story..

Palutena is Pit's commanding officer. She is very much not a damsel in distress, as she saves Pit a whole hell of a lot more often than Pit saves her.

Tetra also goes from helping Link, to saving him, to being saved. To helping Link in the final fight all in one game.

 

[hamchan]

And here I thought she was adorable and very likeable.

 

[PtM]

Hyrule Warriors has a nearly all female hero cast, the only hero characters that aren't female are Link, the King, and Darunia, who isn't the sexiest or smartest guy around (the King isn't the most developed/attractive character either). All the other males are either horrible caricatures, like Tingle, or crazy villains. And people cry about Nintendo being evil misogynists because they wrote Linkle as its own anti-Link persona instead of a gender-swapped Link?

No, just about being tone-deaf as usual.

 

[HawthorneKitty]

And here I thought she was adorable and very likeable.

and she is

 

[L Thammy]

Hyrule Warriors has a nearly all female hero cast, the only hero characters that aren't female are Link, the King, and Darunia, who isn't the sexiest or smartest guy around (the King isn't the most developed/attractive character either). All the other males are either horrible caricatures, like Tingle, or crazy villains. And people cry about Nintendo being evil misogynists because they wrote Linkle as its own anti-Link persona instead of a gender-swapped Link?

I've always thought it was bizarre how people have been using Hyrule Warriors' large female cast to argue that the game was sexist against women. Even before Ganondorf was announce and it was super obvious that we didn't know every character that would be in the game.

It's like some people can't even fathom that female characters could possibly exist for any reason than to titillate males. I've even seen women on GAF taking that position.

 

[UnemployedVillain]

Tetra also goes from helping Link, to saving him, to being saved. To helping Link in the final fight all in one game.

If she ever needed help then she's invalidated, despite Link needing help from various female characters in most of his games

 

[Anteo]

And here I thought she was adorable and very likeable.

No no, you dont get it, aparently she is

A woman who doesn't know her place? (Get it?) A stupid little girl, trying to be what she's unfit for?

somehow

 

[Soul Beat]

I just love how this sorta became a Zoro thread. lol

 

[SparkleMotion]

How do I get to Hyrule Castle?

 

[Htown]

I just love how this sorta became a Zoro thread. lol

 

[UnemployedVillain]

I just love how this sorta became a Zoro thread. lol

It was always a Zoro thread. Op just didn't realize it

 

[balladofwindfishes]

If she ever needed help then she's invalidated, despite Link needing help from various female characters in most of his games

Link would still be stuck in a cage in Hyrule Castle if it wasn't for Midna.

 

[Christopher]

What's strange opinion that a female can't not represent he traits that you say she has in game...please tell us how YOU would like her to act to appease you.

 

[Pokemaniac]

You don't think Hyrule Warriors' main job is to serve as a source of side revenue and licensed marketing for one of Nintendo's tentpole franchises?

Of course it is.

However, it probably isn't part of some conspiracy to make people think that being a woman makes you unfit to fulfil the role of Link for any reason aside from not being the chosen one.