One of my first posts during my Feminist Gamers days was a review of gender roles and sexism in the Zelda Video Game series. With the recent news sparking a new round of discussion about Nice Guys™ (including the Penny Arcade debacle), I've been doing a bit of thinking about the relationship between Link and Zelda in the context of this ugliness.
As someone who has been a part of the online gaming community for some time now, I can tell you that it's often been a popular refrain in the gaming community that Link, the Hero of Time, the keeper of the Triforce of Courage, goes through hell and back again and again for Zelda and she doesn't even put out.
Now, the online gaming community only manages to out-perform its misogyny with its unoriginality. And I could dig up some examples of this but frankly I'm lazy and I'm writing this on a bit of a time table so you'll just have to trust me on this: inevitably in a discussion about the relationship between Link and Zelda, you'll get some braying jackass thinking he's terribly clever for pointing out that Link probably has a pretty serious case of the blueballs right about now.
And rather than run over a fresh pile of gamer community compost, I'd rather just meditate on this a bit more.
Right off the bat, this belies the gamer community's myopia regarding the rewards system. After all, if there is a lead male in the game, and a lead female in the game, and the lead male is in any way shape or form rescuing the lead female (even if she steps up to the plate and helps him out by shooting arrows at the bad guy while he heads in with the sword), then the only reward that can be conceptualized for completing the game and defeating the boss is the woman signing herself over to the hero for whatever purposes (and there can be only one) that he may have in mind for her. The idea that there could be a non-romantic, non-sexual reward system for this particular scenario would seem to blow the minds of these gamers more than finding out that the badass space bounty hunter is really a chick under all that armor.
The relationship between Zelda (Wisdom) and Link (Courage) is very well established as one of friendship. And while Japanese translations may differ on this, I somehow doubt it. And not as "I like you but as a friend" friendship, but of genuine, I-would-go-to-the-ends-of-the-earth-for-you friendship. At no point, when Zelda describes her relationship with Link, do we catch a glimpse of him heaving a little sigh, or frowning a bit and furrowing his brows. And while Link is pretty much a mute in all the games (he's sort of like Hello Kitty with a sword and a hookshot), you'd think that the dude who has the divine source of courage embedded within him would be able to muster up a "that's all well and good but can I take you out for a drink now that Gannon's got my sword in his head?"
So no, Link is not some icon for Nice Guys™ everywhere. When he slays monsters and solves deadly dungeon puzzles, it's not with the expectation that Zelda will put out, he does it because he's a hero, because they're friends, and because the dark lord with the divine source of power is an evil dude who has to be stopped.
It's not like The Legend of Zelda series is some souped-up feminist powerhouse title. There's still plenty of regressive crap to sort out, but I can't help but notice that it's one of the more popular adventure titles for women, and I wonder if the lack of entitlement on the part of the main character has something to do with that.
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Ever since my brother got the Ocarina of Time for Nintendo 64 when we were little, I've had kind of a geeky girl-crush on Zelda, and Link is one of my favorite video game characters.
Actually, Zelda/Link video games (besides Mario ones) are the only video games I play...
This post surprised me, actually. I never thought of Zelda and Link as romantically involved, but I'm not a huge part of the community. How does anyone get that idea? They're very friendly and businesslike. Is it written anywhere that, if there are characters of the opposite gender in stories, they must hook up? Nope!
Odd, odd, odd.
Ico immediately comes to mind, the last console game that I compulsively played. I played the Japanese version.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ico
Boy rescues girl, getting her to follow or pulling her passively by the hand (she is later necessary to save him), but for altruistic reasons. The female A.I.'s trust in the male protagonist with whom she cannot communicate, is incredible, e.g., leaping a 15 foot gap for his outstretched hand (you can make him an asshole if you wish) with hundreds feet of drop under them.
I haven't had a game system since Super Nintendo, but I always figured Link and Zelda were about 10 years old and cousins.
Thank you for this! I am a huge fan of the Zelda series, as well as a female gamer. In the newer game, Midna, the Twilight Princess, plays a really big role in it. She helps you by giving hints, by helping you jump better in your wolf form, and other really cool stuff. I have a crush on her, actually. Also, I never thought of Zelda and link as a couple. I never got the feeling that Link and Zelda were even interested in each other. I think their bond is a symbolization of friendship that is so great that someone would give their life to save their friend. That's the way I look at it, anyway.
As Aleks pointed out, it's also worth noting that Link and Zelda were both originally portrayed (and largely still are portrayed) as being very young (and remember, the older games were meant for kids), and their relationship was very platonic.
There's actually quite a bit of fanfiction out there with Zelda and Link being romantically involved. Even though I'm a gamer, I've only ever owned a PS2 and a PS3, so I've never played the Zelda games; I just assumed that they WERE romantically involved. It's nice to know that they aren't.
I can't get the animated show out of my head now-"EXCUSE me, Princess!" I guess in one sense (you know, Link always trying to kiss Zelda) it was problematic, but it was also hilarious to me as a child for some reason. I hated romance, and elda kept brushing Link off. Made me laugh.
I'm willing to bet that that show is why Link doesn't talk, Nintendo knows better than to let him do so.
I never thought of them as lovers either. At the end of Ocarina and at the beginning of Majora's Mask I thought it looked like Zelda might have developed a bit of crush on Link, but it could have totally been just a sad look because she'll miss him.
Plus aside from direct sequels, its a different incarnation of Link and Zelda every time. So the joke that "Zelda doesn't put out no matter how many times Link saves her" doesn't make a whole lot of sense at all. Its also rare that they are with each other long enough to get any real romantic feelings about each other.
Thanks for that link to feminist gamers, I'll have to check the rest of the site out ^_^ Too bad she didn't talk about Midna, but she said in the comments though that she needed to replay it to figure her out. Midna does occasionally need to be saved but she saves Link as well, helps greatly in combat and has a very well rounded personality. I like that she even seems to flirt a bit with Link, and whatever the nature of their relationship I got really attached to her and the ending....wait, can't post spoilers >.
I actually did a review of Midna later on in the blog.
Try Starcraft and the Broodwars expansion if you haven't (and don't mind a game from the late 90s). A female character crushes her enemies (and former friends) and rules the world . . . via military cunning and ruthless treachery, not flirting. She is easily the most compelling video game character I've ever seen, she makes most movie characters seem flat too. She's not silent, passive, helpless, rescueable, or the least bit needy. The guy who thinks she needs saving pays dearly for it.
I always thought the Great Fairies were like minor deities or something (as opposed to the 3 major godesses who created Hyrule)...
Reading the Ocarina of Time manga, I've noted some interesting things:
1. Link definitely seems to be attracted to Zelda in this version.
2. Ruto was hiding in Jabu-Jabu because she doesn't want to be forced into marrying some guy she doesn't care about (stating "I'm not my father's doll!"). She betrothes *herself* to Link because she likes him (which is how I remember it happening in the game, too)...