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Eiji Aonuma: “No one explicitly said that that was Link.”

H

-Horizon-

Member
Haunted said:
1893302_o.gif


Just some anecdotal evidence for fun, my female friend who's pretty nuts for Zelda absolutely refuses to even float the idea of a female Link when we were talking about this earlier. Link needs to be a hunk for her to be happy (which is why she also refuses to accept Toon Link).

She's a bit of a sexist.
Click to expand...

ssXjQ7l.gif


:[
 
F

Five

Banned
Thanasis Deitus said:
Honestly I could see them going that direction.

Link was never a defined character, he was the "link" between the player and the game, and his character was whatever you projected on him.

I could see them carrying that a few steps further. Do you think Link is male? Then he is male. Do you think Link is female? Then she's female. Of course they wouldn't actually say this outright, they would just play coy in interviews and answer a question with a question.

Q: "Is this new Link a female?"
A: "What do you think?"
Click to expand...

I like this theory a lot, but it breaks up when you consider sound design. The grunts and groans Link makes during jumps, attacks and receiving damage are distinctly male. Even the slight whoop you hear (when kicking the horse into gear) in this trailer sounds male.
 
L

LegendX48

Member
abe_bly said:
I like this theory a lot, but it breaks up when you consider sound design. The grunts and groans Link makes during jumps, attacks and receiving damage are distinctly male. Even the slight whoop you hear (when kicking the horse into gear) in this trailer sounds male.
Click to expand...

that's the npc to the right that shouts though, the sound even comes from that direction.
 
C

Capra

Member
Next E3: "No one explicitly said that was not Link."

But seriously though, I really hope this means playable Zelda or female Link. It's time, Nintendo.
 
S

Sciortino

Member
I really wouldn't mind a female link, or Zelda as the playable character. It's seriously time for a little change. But at the same time I still want it to be regular old Link. Goddammit.
 
Haunted

Haunted

Member
abe_bly said:
I like this theory a lot, but it breaks up when you consider sound design. The grunts and groans Link makes during jumps, attacks and receiving damage are distinctly male. Even the slight whoop you hear (when kicking the horse into gear) in this trailer sounds male.
Click to expand...
This is where I remind you that Link has been voiced by female voice actresses in the past. :D
 
N

NathanS

Member
This is the same guy who said the horse in Twilight Princess might not be Epona. Just getting people to talk about as little info for as long as possible to let them put out new information in tiny drops.
 
Z

ZenTzen

Member
Haunted said:
Just some anecdotal evidence for fun, my female friend who's pretty nuts for Zelda absolutely refuses to even float the idea of a female Link when we were talking about this earlier. Link needs to be a hunk for her to be happy (which is why she also refuses to accept Toon Link).

She's a bit of a sexist.
Click to expand...

not really sexist, a lot of women like playing as hot guys in games, japan does this in their games to appeal to women, and apparently it works, so its not that farfetched to think this isnt a common trend in the rest of the world, just because a game maker rule63s a character doesnt make it a sure fire way to appeal to women
 
H

-Horizon-

Member
abe_bly said:
I like this theory a lot, but it breaks up when you consider sound design. The grunts and groans Link makes during jumps, attacks and receiving damage are distinctly male. Even the slight whoop you hear (when kicking the horse into gear) in this trailer sounds male.
Click to expand...

I have looked through the teaser multiple times before responding. I am looking at the teaser video uploaded by GameXplain on 720p and at a high volume.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUFFVATu9Lg

The only sound made by someone or something in the whole teaser is at the beginning when the robot monster thing shows up and starts shooting lasers.

There are three other things in this frame below. To the right of "Link" are 2 goats and what appears to be their caretaker (when you look closely at the video, you can see the person bend over and then stand back up). I am assuming that the holler that you hear is not from "Link" but from the goat herder who is trying to call back the terrified goats that are running away.

lFySIci.png


Edit: Aghhhh I was beaten when I was looking this stuff up and typing it :/
 
R

RMS Gigantic

Member
Albo said:
Ending spoilers

Link speaks at the end of the game, is revealed to be female, everyone has a new favourite waifu even though they thought she was male throughout the whole game.
Click to expand...

If they want to solidify the bombshell, they could have Zelda be the damsel in distress, have the protagonist save her, have the two share a peck on the lips, and only immediately after allow the player character her (presumably brief) spoken line. All other noises in the game from the player character are gender-ambiguous yelps etc. which the fans will think little of. It would save Nintendo the pre-release controversy, and pretty much avoid much of the post-release controversy (if there's much of it at all) by keeping it a spoiler.

It could even keep supporters of both "teams" happy, or even in suspense, depending on how confident they are, until the end of the game.
 
A

Admiral Woofington

Member
ZenTzen said:
not really sexist, a lot of women like playing as hot guys in games, japan does this in their games to appeal to women, and apparently it works, so its not that farfetched to think this isnt a common trend in the rest of the world, just because a game maker rule63s a character doesnt make it a sure fire way to appeal to women
Click to expand...

I have a friend whose picture for chatting is Nathan Drake's ass. She has a lady hard on for him. She doesn't give much of a crap for say new Tomb Raider.
 
B

Black-Wind

Member
Haunted said:
This is where I remind you that Link has been voiced by female voice actresses in the past. :D
Click to expand...

It doesn't matter what gender the VA is.

This "Character" is not a child ... the moment they give it a voice it's gonna be clear what gender it is.

I say they're either having Zelda play the hero, having Link be reincarnated as female, having this be "Link's Sis" or just out-right doing CC on the level of Pokemon or FF14.
 
F

Five

Banned
-Horizon- said:
I am assuming that the holler that you hear is not from "Link" but from the goat herder who is trying to call back the terrified goats that are running away.
Click to expand...

LegendX48 said:
that's the npc to the right that shouts though, the sound even comes from that direction.
Click to expand...

Oh, you guys are right. Thanks!

Haunted said:
This is where I remind you that Link has been voiced by female voice actresses in the past. :D
Click to expand...

Hmm. Maybe I just have TP/SS sfx stuck in my head, especially since I was just replaying TP last week. There's a catalogue of the OoT sfx here, and some of the young-link sound bites definitely could sound female. Then again, they're supposed to sound like a little boy, a few years younger than this new character appears to be, before his voice has dropped. The TP/SS sfx definitely sound male, though.
 
A

Admiral Woofington

Member
The curse of IMDB is that for this game, there'd be no voices to just spoil it for us. Unless the person who does the grunts for Link in Japan is doing the grunts for this character. SOMEBODY CHECK.
 
C

coolasj19

Why are you reading my tag instead of the title of my post?
-Horizon- said:
"Whatever gender the fans want most, we'll make it happen in the next trailer!"
Click to expand...
I vote female.
Admiral Woofington said:
This could mean plenty of things, seriously master troll:
A. He's saying that they made Link even more female-like for the sake of causing a stir in comments and getting interest in the game.
B. He's confirming that Link is male but that the reactions to a female protagonist might make them consider in the future a female-starring game.
C. They're giving you the option to choose the sex of the protagonist, with the male version called Link and the female version called something else. Seeing how outside of Skyward Sword there was never much romance between Link and Zelda, this wouldn't really make the game that different.
D. He's still hiding the character is a female.
The wording of "one of the most interesting reactions" makes it seem to me like he wasn't expecting it, hence a bigger scale on the fact he never implied the character is female. But seeing an opportunity to keep the hype he then went full "don't quote me" as to not confirm and end the discussion.
Click to expand...
Tl;DR : He says nothing. Never before have I seen a Japanese man show himself to be such a wordsmith. It's truly masterful amounts of trolling. So elegant.
 
S

Sinoox

Banned
There's also a possibility that who we saw in the trailer isn't even playable. It sucks tremendously that they only showed as much as they did. They needed to show something, but they could have left us with a little more considering its going to be another year till they show anything else of likely.

Honestly I could care less what gender we're playing as, just as long as they keep the green tunic. How can it be a Zelda game without it? And playing as Zelda just reminds me of those awful CDI games, it seems out of place. Link has gotta be there somewhere.
 
Z

ZenTzen

Member
rewatching the trailer, i just cant see link as female, and thats definetly freaking link in there, and i find the notion of making him female ridiculous, people can go that its always a different link each game, and that hes supposed to be viewed as ourselves reflected in the game world, but each game at the core its always the same link and hes too defined a character by now, even if he doesnt have a single line of dialogue in the games

its the same kind of sentiments i have if they ever decided to change other MCs from other games wether they be male or female
 
C

coolasj19

Why are you reading my tag instead of the title of my post?
RMS Gigantic said:
Just so you know, the quote above when you said this was a joke, a parody of what Aonuma had said.
Click to expand...
I know. I still vote for female Link. Every time I mention The Legend of Zelda I'm going to bring up how I hope new Link is female. I will will my words into reality by speaking them over and over and over again.
 
A

Admiral Woofington

Member
I hope Link stays male. If it has to be a female protagonist, I'd rather it be somebody new and that Link still has a large role, like the mentor. Honestly I'll stand by my words that if it's not Link then Link and Zelda's descendant/child/grandchild would be just as good since it'd please fans if she was taught by Link at the least.
 
E

eyeball_kid

Member
Haunted said:
Just some anecdotal evidence for fun, my female friend who's pretty nuts for Zelda absolutely refuses to even float the idea of a female Link when we were talking about this earlier. Link needs to be a hunk for her to be happy (which is why she also refuses to accept Toon Link).
Click to expand...

Yeah, I wasn't suggesting that every female wants to play as a female character in a Zelda game, but I'm sure there are plenty that would and haven't had that chance yet. Males too. I was also thinking of the Hunger Games -- I have a couple female friends who have taken archery classes just because of their interest in that franchise. If Nintendo heavily marketed a Zelda game featuring a female, bow-wielding protagonist, I think they'd see a positive response (from both genders) and sell some Wii Us.
 
K

Karkador

Banned
ZenTzen said:
rewatching the trailer, i just cant see link as female, and thats definetly freaking link in there, and i find the notion of making him female ridiculous, people can go that its always a different link each game, and that hes supposed to be viewed as ourselves reflected in the game world, but each game at the core its always the same link and hes too defined a character by now, even if he doesnt have a single line of dialogue in the games
Click to expand...

So tell me some things about Link's character
 
H

-Horizon-

Member
Sinoox said:
There's also a possibility that who we saw in the trailer isn't even playable. It sucks tremendously that they only showed as much as they did. They needed to show something, but they could have left us with a little more considering its going to be another year till they show anything else of likely.

Honestly I could care less what gender we're playing as, just as long as they keep the green tunic. How can it be a Zelda game without it? And playing as Zelda just reminds me of those awful CDI games, it seems out of place. Link has gotta be there somewhere.
Click to expand...
I still say if the teaser is from in game, it is from an early part before they get the Hero's clothes and before they set out on their quest to save the world.

ZenTzen said:
rewatching the trailer, i just cant see link as female, and thats definetly freaking link in there, and i find the notion of making him female ridiculous, people can go that its always a different link each game, and that hes supposed to be viewed as ourselves reflected in the game world, but each game at the core its always the same link and hes too defined a character by now, even if he doesnt have a single line of dialogue in the games

its the same kind of sentiments i have if they ever decided to change other MCs from other games wether they be male or female
Click to expand...
My ramblings:
I can agree with this. Of course, the Zelda team has wiggle room to possibly counter argue this if it is a female Link.
The main Zelda story for the most part revolves around (as spoken by Demise in Skyward Sword): "My hate...Those who share the blood of the goddess and the spirit of the hero"
While the Link we all know today is iconic because of more than 25 years of history, the story has always been about a hero. Never specifically said to have to be male or female. We always recognize them first by their signature green tunic and hat.
Whatever path Aonuma takes, I think that after the 25th anniversary with Skyward Sword's release in 2011, now is a good time to explore the Hero's path fully.
 
R

RMS Gigantic

Member
coolasj19 said:
I know. I still vote for female Link. Every time I mention The Legend of Zelda I'm going to bring up how I hope new Link is female. I will will my words into reality by speaking them over and over and over again.
Click to expand...

I don't think you need to will them into reality. You can read my mega-post from a few pages back where I laid out physical traits that the character has that suggest that he or she is female regardless of cultural values. It was comprehensive enough that the main source of suspecting the character to be male now mainly arises from assuming the character to be pre-, or at least mid-, pubescent, at an age where people haven't acquired the distinguishing characteristics of their sex.
 
D

Darryl

Banned
Karkador said:
So tell me some things about Link's character
Click to expand...

can kinda see some things that he's not, like he's not arrogant despite that cartoon.the lack of dialogue has always given me a view of him as being a nervous and cautious guy. always being thrown into situations and not questioning them makes me see him as passive. basically the opposite of someone you'd think of as a hero, but i think that his willingness to throw those character flaws away to do what needs to be done is what makes him the epitome of courage
 
M

Mango The Magician

Banned
Karkador said:
So tell me some things about Link's character
Click to expand...

Tell me some things about Samus' character.

Just because he is blank doesn't me he isn't a character. In fact almost every game since MM has had him being more involved with the plot so waht little avatar-like traits he had I now personally think are gone. Also, what if the sum of the different Links is Link's character? have you ever thought about that?
 
N

Not

Banned
SolidSnakex said:
This is probably old by now, but

"Another interesting comment I've heard, quite frequently actually, is that, 'Oh Link's a woman. Link is female now.'

That might be something that consciously we kind of did, but not to say anything specific – I am not saying anything specific – but, I am hoping people continue to comment, and I will continue to follow the fan comments and reactions to the trailer. I am certainly curious, and I am sure there are things we as developers can glean."

http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2014/06/11/is-link-a-girl-in-zelda-on-wii-u.aspx
Click to expand...

So he's already said it might not be Link, and now he's repeating people's comments-- "Is it still Link? Is it a woman?" BUT-- and this is really important-- THERE'S STILL NO OFFICIAL DENIAL.

I think what's going on here is they're probably easing into the whole female Link thing. They're monitoring fan reaction, and maybe made their first female character androgynous on purpose as a means of easing us into it.

I am so optimistic, guys.
 
N

Not

Banned
Mango The Magician said:
I'm already pissed and nervous just thinking about it. I want to play as good old Link. :(
Click to expand...

There's always Hyrule Warriors

Guys, the mere fact that he's dancing around the issue confirms she's a girl or purposely androgynous or something, right? That's it, right? He's been confronted with the issue and not said, "nope, that's a dude."

GUYS
 
H

HolyBaikal

Banned
From Aonuma's response, it sounds like they're very much doing something different. But he doesn't want to say exactly what.

I'm not sure it's a female version of Link. But it does sound like something like that might be happening.
 
M

Mango The Magician

Banned
Not said:
There's always Hyrule Warriors

Guys, the mere fact that he's dancing around the issue confirms she's a girl or purposely androgynous or something, right? That's it, right? He's been confronted with the issue and not said, "nope, that's a dude."

GUYS
Click to expand...

That's not funny. Just let me play Zelda the way I like to play it.
 
N

Not

Banned
Paracelsus said:
Both in their own way are right, though. If you actually write Link as a woman fine, cool. Another Link that can't jump.
Click to expand...

Did you not watch the trailer, cause I'm pretty sure she jumped twelve feet off her horse and shot a glowing arrow at a giant magic octopus robot
 
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