The Legend of Zelda: The Gender Bender

Sunday, October-14-12

The Legend of Zelda: The Gender Bender

This was prompted by the Game Overthinker, aka MovieBob.  His latest show, Ask Ivan, was a mailbag episode that answered a load of viewer questions before proceeding to get his butt kicked in live-action shtick by … himself, in a robo mask!  Campy, silly, and funny! Love it!  But he broached a question that kind of upset me, and I needed a moment to process why.

“Hey Nintendo.  You should make Link from the Legend of Zelda series a girl!  I mean, why not, as there is no story reason why Link can’t be a girl ever given in the series.  You should do this Nintendo.  You should make Link a girl!”

Now, I’m not going to start in with the stereotypical chauvinist answer many feminists are expecting.  I’m going to use feminist arguments to prove why this idea isn’t all that good.  Link shouldn’t be a girl because it would be superficial.  Let all the sensational internet drama calm down now.  Go see the 14 minute video if you still want to have that argument.

Moving on to the question of why Link can’t be a girl, in the sense that a genuinely fleshed out three dimensional character with fears, feelings, and needs, who just happens to be a girl is given a green tunic, a legendary sword, a shield, and a bow (preferably sometime before the fifth dungeon – common Nintendo, you know I’m right about Skyward Sword bringing it in too late), well, there is no good reason not to explore that.  But Link is traditionally not a fully fleshed out three dimensional character.  He’s something of a pasty white boy blank slate, with elf ears!  Changing this character into a girl is completely possible, but falls totally in line with the “women as objects” rhetoric commonly challenging video gaming culture.  Ladies and gentlemen, please consider exhibit A.  There’s an alternate link to it here.

But even as I thought this, I thought about the logical exceptions.  In some senses, women already are taking Links’ place.  Ladies and gentlemen, please consider exhibit B, The Legend of Zelda Battle Quest attraction contained pack-in in Nintendo Land.  Exhibit B starts from the idea that Link can be swapped out for miis, and in that sense the miis only need to cosplay him, but can have all of the adventures he is known for while wearing these guises.   It suggests that you can take a character with all his or her own personality, put them in Link’s shoes, and even play cooperatively and asynchronously to the other characters.  It definitely recalls The Legend of Zelda: The Four Swords and Four Swords Adventure favourably.

So what if the next Four Swords involved four actual swords of destiny, rather than one sword and sword wielder split into four?  What if each of the four could be different characters, each with something unique to do?  And what if one of those four just happened to be female? More? That would be a girl Link worth playing!  Yes, even if she was just a blank slate like the previous Links.  Seriously, we’ll reach gender equality eventually, just remember: baby steps.

Thanks for reading!