CW for article: homophobic, transphobic, but you already knew that. https://archive.ph/YORQM
“Back during the Ocarina of Time days, I wanted Link to be gender neutral. I wanted the player to think ‘Maybe Link is a boy or a girl.’ If you saw Link as a guy, he’d have more of a feminine touch. Or vice versa, if you related to Link as a girl, it was with more of a masculine aspect,” Aonuma told Time. “I really wanted the designer to encompass more of a gender-neutral figure.”
“During the development of Twilight Princess, I went a different route and created a version of Link that was more masculine. But after Twilight Princess I went back to the drawing board and decided Link should be a more gender-neutral character,” Aonuma continued. “Hence I created the version of Link that you see in Breath of the Wild. As far as gender goes, Link is definitely a male, but I wanted to create a character where anybody would be able to relate to the character.”
This is from the article this goober is attacking. Sounds like femboy Link is canon then?
Literally he's the blank slate trope for a reason, bro doesn't even SPEAK, the fucking twink can be whatever you want him to be
One of those rare occasions where the silent protagonist trope really works. Imagine how much the games would change if Link were constantly going 'It'sa meeee, Link!" in a cheesy Italian accent.
"It's a me, Lorenzo di Luciano. I search for da parmigiana di Monte del Morte and the pollo di Villa Kakaricco and the pene del Costa del Mar.
with these fine ingredients, I will make-a the Chicken Parmigiana with Fettuccine Alfredo of the Gods and breaka da seal on their commode. abbondanza!"
They really should just go all the way and make one of the Links a girl. Or at least let you choose their gender.
It's not even the same person from game to game (usually). Arbitrarily gendered Links are 100% lore compliant.
What if they let you choose your gender, but all available options used the same androgynous character model and clothes? As you play through the game, you'll keep expecting your Link's gender to affect something since the game had you set it, but it never does
That's not really any different from just inputting a feminine character name at the start of the game, though.
I have absolutely no idea what/if any lore is behind Linkle, but I've been operating under the assumption that she exists so nintendo can get all the Girl Link concept art out of their system
Linkle is just a funny "what if" character from a spinoff that none of the people involved in the Zelda series were involved in. Basically the same level as a fem-link fanfiction.
I want to agree but then Link doesn't make you question your sexuality
they should also make zelda a guy so i can use the words prince griseldo
Fact fiend recently made a video about this very subject and talked about the intentions behind the character design. It's cool that they put that kinda thought into it.
Again, have to point this out, like a goddamn psychotic compulsion:
Link being a twink who easily passes for a cute girl when he crossdresses is a plot point in BOTW, and in TOTK you can resolve a political dispute to get a cute mushroom hat that comes with not only a pink wig but also earrings and makeup
Also men and women from throughout the world are constantly hitting on him in both. Either its a world where bi/homosexuality is considered normal and uncontroversial or Link is just canonically the hottest man in Hyrule and the average guy is just willing to risk facing homophobia for a shot at banging him.
None of this even takes interpreting, this is all surface level lol
Link is just canonically the hottest man in Hyrule
His hotness reaches beyond the confines of the 4th wall to make even people in IRL ask new questions about their own sexuality. Link himself is indifferent to this - whatever his canonical status is on gender sexuality, his heart is set on adventure and defeating evil.
While you were debating your sexuality, I was studying the blade.
Either its a world where bi/homosexuality is considered normal and uncontroversial or Link is just canonically the hottest man in Hyrule
:why-not-both:
None of this even takes interpreting, this is all surface level lol
I think "Link is a gay icon" maybe leans hard into the theory that IRL gay people have adopted Link as an icon. I haven't seen much of that. LoZ imagery tends to spam the dorky gamer artistic space, rather than being particular to a given disposition.
At this point, Link is more a Rorschach test for the audience's sexuality. Given the fact that this young man has literally never fucked, despite being hit on by every Goron, Zora, and Sheikah in eye-shot, I'm prone to declaring him a pure Ace with tease tendencies.
Given te fact that this young man has literally never fucked
Given the fact that Link's house in Hateno is now referred to as Zelda's house in TotK and there's still only one bed, they were definitely fucking.
Yeah, he unambiguously gets queer coded stuff, but I don't feel like I e ever seen him become an icon because of it.
Pretty much this: https://hexbear.net/pictrs/image/2d60df8f-b2b0-4f14-a064-da974a02341a.webp
these gamergate holdouts are the definition of manbabies. they have not intellectual progressed past the 5th grade.
It is not worth giving someone with the intellectual acuity of a fetus the time of day
Gamergate was a decade ago and they're still hung up on Anita Sarkeesian and Zoe Quinn, both of whom have largely faded back into general irrelevance like every other celebrity du juor
It's honestly sad now
They’ll be screeching about Anita in the nursing home
They'll use the tiresome and obvious code language, so it'll be chanting "LITERALLY WHO?!" until intubated.
They're still doing their victory dance even though their major culture war win is coming up to TEN YEARS OLD.
I said it before and I'll say it again, Gamergate was the white people equivalent of the civil rights movement to them.
they have not intellectual progressed past the 5 grade
soulless consumerist gamers are like "(((cultural Bolshevik))) trigonometry is DESTROYING western civilization"
The part in BOTW where you have to cross dress and everyone comments on how pretty you are is totally straight.
edit: also what a dogshit article. It has about as much substance as a clip of a streamer reacting to another streamer reacting to something.
The article is absolutely awful, it's got the same energy as a PNG-sona talking about how bad feminism is
This fact has sustained the entire pop music industry for 50 years.
Gerudo Link and crossdressing is totally not gay or queer in the slightest you guys.
People are afraid we're going to come rolling in with tanks to shove everyone in the gulags, and they have no idea that when the day finally comes it's gonna be gym lockers, not some prison administration that hasn't existed for like 60 years.
White, heterosexual people: "Oh no, they race swapped the little mermaid even though I have historically censored sympathetic portrayals of non-whites, even though I have done race swapping myself. How will I ever relate to this!?"
Minorities of any kind: "Yeah, I totally relate to Goku/Link/etc."
This person saw some gay memes and proceeded to write 2831 words in response to it. You literally could not be any clearer the loser in this scenario compared to the gay link
5 word memes.Aside from the stuff in BOTW and TOTK where you can dress link in feminine-coded clothing, Link as a character has always been kind of androgynous, and in old live-action Japanese commercials for Zelda games Link was sometimes played by a woman.
When was the last mainline Zelda game Sheik appeared in? Only recent game I can think of is the Hyrule Warriors spin-off
Imagine being so mad about one of the most blank slate protags being called a "gay icon" that you write a 2500 word blog about it for "Bounding into Comics"
Dae Link is a blank slate the player is supposed to insert their ego into BUT CANT BE GAY
What's next, you'll tell me Link wasn't born in the good ol' U S of A? That he isn't a Christian? Or, God forbid, that he isn't a WASP!?!
not my childhood pixels too! 
