| FragilE^ said: Bolded - Anything can have a spirit. Link would not be Link if he was a squirrel in a tiny clown suit, wielding the sword by tying it to his back and jumping at people. Even if he sliced Ganon in half with a beautiful front flip. |
Link was still Link when he was a rabbit and when he was a Deku Scrub and a Goron and a Zora and a Like-Like and a Moblin and an Octorok and all manner of other things. What on earth makes a squirrel (or a girl) a special exception? In any case you are taking the meaning of "spirit" too literally. The Hero of Winds has the spirit of the hero even though he isn't the reincarnation of a previous hero. It just means he has the fortitude and virtue that makes him worthy of the Master Sword (and the responsibility carrying it entails) and the Triforce of Courage. A non-sentient rodent is not capable of accepting responsibility or acting on a feeling of moral obligation.
I find some of these arguments increasingly flippant. I said the hero can be female, you countered with, 'why stop there? why not make the hero a squirrel?' Maybe you're just taking me for a ride here, but I won't carry on with this discussion if you aren't willing to put any actual thought into the matter.
| FragilE^ said: This discussion always feels increadibly loaded. I don't mind a female hero. I don't hate women >.> I would mind a female Link though, because Link is defined enough in the magical world of videogames that I identify him as a real character. All those questions about family and background, there are plenty of well known characters that lack such defenitions. Their actions speak more. Link's actions of block-pushing, item-gathering, boss-slaying and kingdom-saving made him into something. He always looks similar to previous installments, and you can instantly tell when you see him that it is indeed Link. His family situation or wether or not he uses his right hand to swing his sword isn't really important. It is the fact that he uses a sword that is important. (Bane of evil, needed to defeat Ganon bla bla most of the story in all the games). The everlasting courage (partly due to his connection to the triforce) is important. His nobility and self sacrifice is important. Btw, notice how I've never said anything about the quality of game, regerdless of changes or lack of changes. Just sayin'. An undead stalchild hero might be the star of the coolest game ever made.
Now slap me in the face and call me an idiot. These are my views on what is right and wrong in this world and I'll stand by them and defend them! Lol |
I never claimed that you hate women. Set aside whatever preconceived notions you have about why people support female Link, because it seems like a lot of people who balk at the idea just assume it's coming from misplaced feminist energy and give it no further consideration.
It baffles me that you recognize that every element of a given Link's characterization is completely irrelevant to his legacy, yet continue to insist that his gender is somehow above all of that. You cannot identify why he must be male, you have not given a reason for this need. Your argument is rooted in tradition: 'it's too late to make him a girl.' The template for Link has evolved over the years. He was left-handed in every one of 15 games across 25 years until Skyward Sword. This was a well-recognized tradition for the character, and it was tossed aside because nothing about Link's characterization, which you correctly identify as being related to his courage, nobility, and self-sacrifice, requires that he be left-handed. Neither does it require that he be a child, or an adult, or a knight, or a ranch hand, or indeed a boy.
While we're on this subject of what Link must by necessity be for an actual reason, let's look at his ears. They've always been pointy. This is an iconic part of his (and Zelda's) appearance, but it is also more than that. The pointy ears indicate that Link is a Hylian. They differentiate him from round-eared humans in several ways, the most important of which is thematically: Hylians are stated to be "the closest race to the gods." This is thematically significant for Link, the chosen hero of the gods, the wielder of the blade forged by the gods and the rightful owner of at least one-third of the sacred power of the gods. He is inexorably tied to the gods -- specifically to Farore, the Goddess of Courage and of Wind. Clearly there is a very convincing argument to be made that Link must be Hylian -- and yet I would still be willing to entertain the idea of a regular human Link. Maybe he would have to make a greater effort to connect with the gods, or figuratively mend the bridge between the gods and the humans. Regardless, this is an example of an actual explanation for one of Link's attributes -- something that cannot easily be changed.
There is no such explanation for why Link has to be male. His gender does not represent anything of significance over the course of the whole series. Each Link who already exists must be male for the sake of consistency if nothing else -- you absolutely cannot simply make the Hero of Time a girl -- but there is no reason whatsoever why a new Link cannot be female. Why the hell would you make an entirely new IP rather than simply giving the player the option of controlling a character with slightly longer hair? What sense does that make? Just to maintain this tradition that Link has always been a boy?
I'm certainly not calling you an idiot.
^ Don't take it seriously I just love this line. :P
| mountaindewslave said: understand stating that Link as a character universally is not a guy, would be similar to trying to state that the triforce is not universally a necessary part of the series and saving the day- it IS. every instance, every game, it is a part |
I was almost tempted to respond to anything that you said, but you demonstrated such an amazing lack of knowledge about the Zelda series in this one statement that I immediately gave up on that cause. I'm glad I did too, because I can see that your other statements are worth even less of my attention.
