Topic: Legend of Zelda without Link?

Hi guys. I read an article on MSN, and it seems that Nintendo is moving away from Link going forward in the "Legend of Zelda" series. What do you guys think about this? Here is the "link" to the article:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/entertainment/gaming/it-s-the-end-o...

Would love to see a mainline Zelda based on a concept wherein both are playable in equal parts. Don‘t know about the article yet (still have to read it), but I can imagine it‘s quite triggering for the manosphere and the whole rainbow of toxic nerddom out there.

This seems like a stretch. One spin-off game not having Link in order to have a cohesive story does not at all show that Nintendo is moving away from its famous protagonist.

I dream of a final game in the botw trilogy where you can swap between link and Zelda in a different kingdom like termina

@FawfulsFury I'm not done with age of imprisonment but I really hope they move past the "wild" hyrule tbh...

It really feels like they're running out of steam here, assuming Nintendo handled the story/characters. I LIKE the characters in the game, mind, but there's almost nothing..new /fresh in the game and the story structure feels very choppy/is kind of badly told (up to chapter 3)

@FawfulsFury Or they could have made TotK a more linear, narrative driven experience and integrated the Imprisonment War into the game. Make you switch between Link (present) and Zelda (past) until both narrative strands converge. Although I freakin‘ love Tears, that would have been something!

I don't think they're ever gonna get rid of Link for good, but I'm all for Zelda being the actual protagonist in more games, as she is in Echoes of Wisdom, Age of Calamity and Age of Imprisonment. Link is a fairly boring character, just your regular fantasy cliché of "unknown farmboy becomes a badass hero". This was okay back in the day when most video game characters were flat wish fulfillment vehicles, but nowadays the main character should have more going on with her. And Zelda is definitely the more interesting of the two, since her backstory usually makes her a flawed and doubtful hero instead of a boring invincible one.

Legend of Zelda without Link is like eating Ramen without the noodle, just the soup. 😆

Would be a terrible idea to get rid of link for good. We just had echoes which was awesome, but im ready to get back to a new link outing.

They aren't going to get rid of Link. This is like if they got rid of Mario.

Zelda will probably get more of a role in spin-offs or in other games, but I doubt she's going to replace Link as the protagonist of the series any time soon.

I don't quite agree with the interpretation of Link's character being just an outdated cliché or fantasy trope. I would rather say that having him as empty of a distinctive personality as possible is so that the player can more fully slip into the role of protagonist. You control the actions and mentally engage with the story – in that sense Link is you or you are Link. Almost every support character is more fleshed out than Link himself. Because giving him a more distinctive personality would break the immersion. It's a game and not a movie after all. This was most obvious in BotW and TotK in and I wonder how they will work around that in the coming Movie.

Click bait rubbish.

Yeah, I don't believe it. Age of Imprisonment is not a "Legend of Zelda"-game. It's a Hyrule Warriors game, those all have different characters. That this one doesn't have Link doesn't change anything.

I do think we'll see more games with Playable Zelda like EoW, or co-op Link and Zelda. But Link will be there to hold the Master Sword.

@jfp

That was part of my point, that back in the day most video game player characters were such blank slates on which the players could project their identities and dreams, including their fantasies of being a flawless hero like Link. But since then video game makers have realised it doesn't hurt the game (and often makes it more memorable) if the player character has an interesting personality and personal flaws of their own.

Age of Calamity and Age of Imprisonment aren't made any worse (and I'd argue they are improved) by having their main protagonist be Zelda, who's decidedly not a blank slate, especially not in this incarnation. I really like how they've managed to make the BotW/TotK version of Zelda interesting through her contradictions: she's the princess and future ruler who prefers putting on pants and going to archaelogical excavations to sitting in the court, and she's also supposed to be the inheritor of the Goddess's magical power, but her insecurities stop her from using that power properly, so she's much more comfortable being a science nerd who builds robots in her workshop. These personal qualities make her much more relatable as a protagonist than Link, who's mostly just a stoic, noble dude doing noble deeds.

Honestly, I'd like to see Link get more characterization in future games, because I find his flatness uninteresting. I understand the thought process behind leaving Link a blank canvas, but in my own personal experience, I feel like I connect more to game protagonists with human personalities---even when I don't necessarily relate to them---than protagonists who I am supposed to just imagine being like me.

In the next Zelda game, I'd like to see Link be quiet and reflective, but also struggling with emotional turmoil he learns to overcome in his quest to defeat Ganon or whoever the villain of the next game is. This would make for a much more interesting story, I think.

It's tricky, because Link is you (or me). It's a character that represents the player, hence why you can name him and he doesn't really have a personality of his own. I do wonder how that will work in the movie!

@Polvasti I was just pointing out that I do not think it is outdated and a negative. And it has been Nintendos approach since the beginning. Their games do not center around story, they center around gameplay and their (often innovative) game mechanics. Protagonists therein are the vessels the player slips into and the plot and supporting cast are devices that further along the games progression. As an example, just look at Echoes of Wisdom, also starring Zelda and a game far more in the usual mould. Her story and character in it are far stripped back and the whole thing revolves around her copy ability.

Fully fleshed out stories and characters (subject to societal trends and fashions) can also be far more divisive (just look at how well the inclusion of some support character in Prime 4 is going down right now / at the comments regarding the Mario Movies and the new Zelda one already), it is not Nintendo's focus / strong suit and there are a lot of 'cinematic' games from other developers already, especially in the AAA space (and look how good many of them are faring in the grand scheme, with exceptions like e.g. Final Fantasy). Therefore I would also argue their games have a timeless quality that few others achieve, even if they sometimes come off as a little "dry". And look, their most successful games center around Mario, the most two dimensional character ever. It's 100% about the gameplay.

Also look here: https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2025/11/former-gta-boss-dan...

@jfp Yeah, I know having flat characters has been Nintendo's general approach for a long time, but that that doesn't mean that it always has to be. Like you say, for games like the Mario (and Kirby etc.) platformers which are typically less story-driven and more about the gameplay it's okay to have a bland main character, cos you're not really playing them to see how the characters and their relationships develop. But for more story-driven games like the Zelda ones, it's generally better to have a fleshed-out character with some flaws and inner conflicts, because those elements can then drive the story and make the character and their struggle more relatable.

Again, I've never seen anyone say that having Zelda, a more flawed and three-dimensional character than Link, as the central protagonist in Age of Calamity and Age of Imprisonment makes them worse. To me at least it makes them better, cos those countless hack & slash battles have more weight when I'm relating to characters doing the hacking and slashing. Also, while Zelda isn't playable in TotK, I've heard many people say that her subplot was the best and most touching part of that game, which is why expanding on it and allowing people to play it in AoI is such a good choice.

And what I said above also applies to other story-driven Nintendo games with properly fleshed-out player characters, like the Xenoblade Chronicles or Fire Emblem titles. What works for plot-light games like the Mario platformers doesn't work for every genre and every franchise, and action adventure games like TLoZ could potentially be even better if Zelda was the player character, or if they'd make Link less of a blank slate.

Sounds like a reach from a smug "journalist" presenting unfounded speculation as fact.

We've also had a Legend of Zelda game without the eponymous princess being so much as mentioned (if memory serves) in Link's Awakening, so it wouldn't be that crazy if we see a main series game where the usual protagonist is absent.

As long as the games remain excellent and stay true to the character/world of Zelda, by all means, give us more Zelda-lead games, but preferably, I'd love to see an open world game where we can switch between protagonists and/or experience the game with optional co-op.

See, while this is definitely part of the design logic, it has a persistent problem: Link may be intended as an all purpose insert, but one thing actually is fixed and not subject to player insertion- his gender. Link is always a guy. . . which is a problem when, as much as some portion of the consumer base hates to admit it, not everyone playing video games is male. Which is why, while Nintendo can just keep the status quo and rely on the overall popularity of the series, if they do? They can't complain when people continue to point this issue out.