By this, I mean why do so many believe that there should be a mainline Zelda game where Zelda is the protagonist, filling what is supposed to be Link, the Hero's, role?
Casting Zelda as the hero is a complete betrayal of her character(s) and the role she has assumed. I feel like people just want any excuse to force a female playable character into Zelda, so they will stretch anything they can to do it. Since Zelda is the biggest and most reoccuring female character in the franchise, of course they pick her.
But Zelda isn't the warrior. She's not the Hero. That doesn't mean she isn't strong or important or a hero. But she's not the Hero. She represents wisdom, not courage. And there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.
I've always said this, but I'm not against a spin off game where Zelda goes on a different type of adventure. I'm fine with the idea of playing as Zelda. I'm even fine with Zelda partaking in some sort of combat. But it has to stay true to how Nintendo has characterized Zelda. That means not as the main hero, but as support.
I'd love to see a "Captain Toad" approach where Zelda has do go on some sort of side adventure that's solely focused on extremely complex puzzles instead of action combat. It could be a Shadow of the Collossus-type game, where the overworld is vast, but not dangerous yet. She is on an adventure across the lands to maybe hide all the peices of triforce or some sort of irrelevant mcguffin, but has to go through harsh trials of the mind in every dungeon to do it. Perhaps it's also a stealth-like game. Again, Zelda is not a warrior, but that doesn't mean that she is helpless. So the "combat" revolves around sneaking past enemies in the dungeons unnoticed. She can even use her signature bow and arrow, and even her magic, as a stealth tool. She can snipe enemies from afar. She can use her spells to turn invisable under some conditions. The whole game could be much more pensive and introspective than Zelda games usually are.
What I am completely against, however, is a mainline Zelda game with mainline Zelda gameplay, but Zelda as the main playable protagonist. That doesn't make sense at all for her character. All it is is people trying to force a playable female protagonist in a series where it doesn't belong. Even a female Link, which is almost as stupid for entirely different reasons, makes more sense than Zelda being the protagonist.
Link is supposed a boy. Zelda is supposed to be a girl. Ganon is supposed to be a man. Link represents courage. Zelda represents wisdom. Ganon represents power. Link is the hero. Zelda is the goddess. Ganon is the evil. Yet no one is demanding a female Ganon, even though statistically he should be by far the most likely to be gender swapped as he is born of a race that only births a man once every 100 years. No one is suggesting that Ganon should be the prince while Zelda is the primary antagonist, which would be a far more interesting reversal of roles.
There's so many more interesting things that could be done with Zelda leading in her own game that doesn't simply reskinning her as a female Link. She doesn't need to be the Hero to be a hero. And the doesn't need to be a warrior to be a strong female character. Just because she's not the Hero doesn't mean she's suddenly merely a helpless damsel in need of saving.
P.S.
Not that I have anything against the damsel in distress architype. Not every character in every game needs to be a strong character. Real people can be helpless and most times are helpless. Just because it's a girl, doesn't mean it's sexist. There are plenty of helpless, weak, pitiful male characters in games that need just as much saving, yet no one ever calls those guys "dons in distress," crying sexism and how games are harming the perception of men.
