Hyrule Warriors earned praise for various factors when it arrived on Wii U, with one being the diversity of the playable cast. It was a significant diversion for the series as players were able to play as villains such as Ganondorf, alongside other familiar characters like Princess Zelda and Impa; outside of Super Smash Bros. a number of characters had been resolutely non-playable.
The recent reveal of Linkle for Hyrule Warriors Legends certainly got fans chatting. Some conversations focused on gender, with the character's name and green garb prompting plenty of debate, some of which branded her as 'female Link'. That's not really the case considering the fact she has her own storyline in the game, but nevertheless her design and crossbow weapons certainly caught the eye.
Though created for the spin-off games - new characters in the 3DS entry will be transferrable to the Wii U game - series producer Eiji Aonuma has now spoken to IGN of the character potentially having a role in future games. Aonuma-san has been involved in overseeing the Koei Tecmo action game, and clearly supports Linkle's design and weapon choice.
I'm sure we will keep her in mind when thinking about future titles.
I had a chance to give feedback on Linkle during development, but the satisfying action of using a crossbow, which we developed for the spinoff title Link's Crossbow Training, was implemented this time completely by Koei Tecmo.
It may feel a little different from other titles in the franchise, but she doesn't feel out of place at all in the world of the Zelda games.
We recently wrote about Linkle and some related thoughts on protagonists for future Zelda titles, even if we feel the name itself is a tad clunky.
Would you like Linkle, and perhaps fellow Hyrule Warriors newbie Lana, to feature in future games, or should these characters simply remain part of the spin-off's world? Let us know in the comments.
[source uk.ign.com]
Comments 75
Please! Please! Use her as Link sister (playable) or something like that, not just a replacement!
I hate to say it but she looks like Zelda with a green cloak.
Link/Linkle choice for main playable character in Zelda U!
Linkle deserves her own spin-off, not a chance to be hamfisted into a main line game.
Linkle needs her own spin off
I'd be up for this. I think the best thing they could do if they used her as an alternate main character is just keep the name 'Link' - it doesn't seem to be a gendered name to me.
I was just going to say, "yeah let's put her in the main game" but suggestions of a spin-off are a great idea, too.
Call it the Legend of Link and she can rescue Link.
In all honesty, I'd like to see how her story is handled in the Warriors game first. She looks great, but I don't know who she really is yet. Besides her character and story, I can't wait to see how she reloads her crossbow when the other hand is holding another crossbow.
I'm loathe to buy another 3DS game as I just can't bring myself to spend much time on that cramped machine, but I might just get this game to bring the characters over to the Wii U game. I wonder how it is accomplished though...
I won't be surprised if she is in Smash one day. Her having her own spin off game would be cool. Putting her in the main games would be cool as well, she shouldn't replace Link though.
I like the character, but that name has to go. Might as well have called her Caitlyn Jenner.
Nice, I like this girl.
@rjejr agreed, it makes the character seem uninspired and cheap, but I like the concept especially the a crossbow. Makes me imagine a turn based RPG Zelda spinoff similar to fire emblem could work with an army of green tunics sporting different weapon classes. The wrath of Kokiri!
She'll be bustier with skimpier clothing in the Japanese version, lol.
Her character design is cool, the fact that there's a "girl Link" is cool.... but seriously, "Linkle?" Who thought of that name?
I would like Lana and Linkle to be in future Zelda games
Wish she had dual swords as an alt!
Please no.
Linkle will most likely be an option in Zelda U bar the double crossbows.
Please yes.
If they do decide to include her I might actually consider not buying it.
Sure, but don't force her in. If you consider putting Linkle in future games, make sure everything all works out lest you want everyone else here to have justifiable reason to complain.
@Blastcorp64 You ever play Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes? I played it on PS3 and my wife liked the look of it so much she bought it on DS. Not your typical RPG, not your typical match 3, but it had a nice flow, story, artwork and 2 player mode. And Linkle and her crossbow would have fit right in.
At least give her arm muscles because no one with arms that thin can hold two crossbows, aim them and fire them.
In response to that last paragraph of the article, I do not want to see Lana in any non-spinoff Zelda games. She looks waaay too Japanese-anime-esque to fit in with the medieval/renaissance world of Zelda. Linkle I'd be okay with, though.
@Kriedler Your comment fits with your avatar XD.
Make a game where she's twins with Link and whoever you don't choose will be your partner. Should make a game that focuses on the dynamic (likely silent) between the two and have it done better than the little partner system from Spirit Tracks.
And when I say partner, I mean a party member (which would still be pretty new-ish/uncommon for Zelda games) and have dungeons built around having two people.
Or wait, instead of choosing, they could make a game where you can switch between the two at any time.
I like the idea of multiple characters to play in an official Zelda game. Maybe there would be room in the future for a multiplayer Zelda game in a 3D environment even if it only supports 2 player. "The Legend of Zelda: One Sword, Two Bows" or something.
I'm completely against it. Therefore a big "no" from me.
I'd still prefer Link to remain the main character of future Zelda games, as always. I think it would be interesting to see Linkle make an appearance in future games, but as a side character or partner, not the protagonist.
@rjejr
Neither you nor anyone here gets the name. It is a portmanteau of the two most important characters in Zelda history.
Link+Tingle
About her, don't really see her in a "real" Zelda game, but hey, it is their IP, not mine.
If Linkle was just a gender-swapped Link, then I would be complaining. However, she's not the same. She's similar to Link, but also clearly different. This is a very clever way to avoid the problem of people complaining about changing established characters.
I wouldn't mind her being a playable character in the next main Zelda game if there's a choice of playing as Link or Linkle. I'll still play as Link since I'm male and like playing as the male character, and I'm used to playing as Link.
@LaVelle I agree. I think they should provide a choice of male of female for the main character and have Link as the default either way. The name Linkle is unnecessary. A more original name should have been used for Hyrule Warriors rather than an extension of Link.
Come to think of it, in honor of Peter Pan, maybe they should call her Tink.
I love the idea, just lose the name. I wouldn't even mind if she was the main character, but just call her Link, and let us name her ourselves.
It's not Link, that's obvious. But she's clearly created with the ''female version of Link'' idea in mind. Adding another playable character in The Legend of Zelda, regardless of gender, just doesn't feel right..
I'd like seeing her incorporated into the games like what Pokemon has been doing. You choose between the two characters and the one you didn't pick shows up now and again.
I really would not care if a Zelda game had Linkle as an option over Link, or was in a game with Link. But assuming the gender option for the main character route, if they are going to have romance in Zelda games (which so far has been kept very minimal), than I would not mind options for the main character since their sex is no longer concrete, although nor am I against lazy same character romantic interest despite your sex. I'd prefer the romance interest to be a girl though (being biased as I'm a guy).
I'd rather her be a spinoff character than a different option in a future title.
I personally like the idea of Linkle being Link's sister. However, it'd be better if it were Aryll gone B.A. Or at least cool
I like the character and design but the name is pretty bad.
I'd be fine if Linkle was a side character in any future Zelda game. If she's ever included into the main series Zelda games they gotta ditch the dual cross-bows. It's fine for Hyrule Warriors but in the main line series it seems unnecessary. Might as well give her a sword and shield since she's heavily based off of Link.
Excellent news. Hope she's playable! Link has zero personality in these games, and Nintendo undo and redo canon without a second thought, so it would absolutely not be out of place to let us play a game as Link or Linkle.
Tingle is known as Tincle in Japan. Tingle basically cosplayed as a forest spirit. I think Linkle is Female Tingle. She is possibly cosplaying as Link. Perhaps she's Tingle's sister.
I wouldn't mind a Legendary Heroine Linkle game. Maybe she could have ubsurd emotional powers like Super Princess Peach.
It is a "girl version of hero Link" (勇者のリンクの女の子版) called "Linkle" (リンクル or "Rinkuru" in Japanese).
The art book explicitly states that the character was "devised as being sister-like" (note that the text actually says, 妹的 or "imouto teki," which means "little sister-like."
From http://kotaku.com/theres-a-female-link-and-her-name-is-linkle-1620664557
I don't particularly like her, tbh.
Lana > Linkle , obviously
Linkle (please change that name) could be an interesting side/support character. I'd be interested to see what Nintendo could do with that. I'm not giving her any support in replacing Link at any point though.
I'm up for it.
@rjejr I'll have to check it out. I got a Sony bluray for cheap and was pleasantly surprised to see has access to PS NOW. Haven't played playstation since the PS1 days so I was pretty excited until I realized the price of a PS3 dual shock cost as much as the bluray player.
What about a "link to the past"-style game an the "dark world" is actually a gender-swapped world. That way everyone could have his/her own distinct life, comparable to how it was done in "link between worlds"??
Would love to see Linkle and Lana in future games. As for Linkle's name it doesn't bother me at all and I like it. lol
Lana is not a Zelda character. She was designed specifically to appear in the Nintendo Warriors games.
A new Linkle world.
A new Linkle universe.
A Plethora of Linkle games!
I don't care if shes in the main games. as long as the gameplay is still solid I could care less.
Personally, I'd Linkle in a spin-off (made by Nintendo) because it's far more interesting that she be her own character, than just 'Oh look, female Link'. A spin-off where we play as Linkle, her own character, would be much more interesting than just a generic gender swap for Link (and it would also allow for that Zelda experience to be more story-driven in regards to a character).
What about a future Zelda title a-la Resident Evil 2? One large story that's fragmented into two paths that meet up and separate again? I've always loved that RE2 idea, yet very few games do it.
To be honest, they could easily retcon Zelda II, and therefore LoZ by extension, so that Linkle is the main character and not Link.
I saw lots of really scummy people mad at her existence so hey I'm all for her being playable in whatever form, although I would still like a shiek spin off at some point.
@sinalefa Oh, we all see it, we just all choose to ignore Tingle's existence. They should call her Tinkle, somehow that goes w/ "Wii". Somebody above said her Japanese name was Rinkuru. I like that, sounds very Final Fantasy.
@Blastcorp64 That's pretty funny. Sorry if you didn't intend it that way.
There's a demo on Steam if you do Steam.
http://store.steampowered.com/app/61700/
@rjejr Rinkuru would just be a Hepburn Romanization of the katakana リンクル. To a Japanese speaker it wouldn't sound any different than Linkle.
I would play the heck out of The Legend of Linkle: Crossbows of Destiny. Make it happen, Ninty!
Sad that she's not Link's sister, though. She could have been a re-imagining of Aryll. But this means I can have my headcanon that Linkle is the offspring of Pinkle and Tingle. XD
@Crimzonlogic there's no reason that she can't be his sister in some incarnation. The recurring characters change a lot between games. Link has been a farmer, a train conductor, he has been Zelda's childhood friend in one version, and a complete stranger who only knows her by name in another.
Don't want to sound dark bur what if in the timeline they kill off male link for female linkle in future Zelda titles.
@HyrulianOfHyrule impossible.
But I can see then expanding the recurring cast and the game formula. It doesn't always need to be Link as a single protagonist, weak at the beginning, gathering items to save Zelda. Hyrule Warriors wasnt just a collaboration in another games style. It showed us that Impa and Zelda can be fun playable characters and still be a Zelda game. A zelda game can be episodic.
For a long time Nintendo has been wanting to change what the meaning of a "Zelda game" is, and I think Hyrule Warriors gave us a taste of that.
@Tscuhinoko
I see your point, it would be nice for some change but it's not the first time we've seen change I remember in 2003 there was an uproar on wind waker. But we will just have to wait and see what Nintendo has in store.
Linkle's Losey Loopieland, anyone?
I think she's a fine lil' character, but using her as a character swap would just be selling out the identity of the protagonist for the sake of cheap pandering (apologies, ladies).
Despite being a different and silent character every game, Link, in any incarnation, has more identity than, say, any Pokemon game protagonist save the original (Ash, or Red, or whoever you'd like him to be). Now, I'm not saying him being a single character in any given game instead of him-or-her-or-whoever is the only reason, but damned if it doesn't help.
@Tsuchinoko
The only problem with Linkle (or any character really) reincarnating as a sibling to Link is it could possibility make some future situations a bit weird, namely if they ever wanted to make her a possible love interest.
She's technically not related to him in this one wouldn't be much different that "she's technically over 1,000 years old" for most people if you catch my drift. At best it'd be like what happened between Marty Mcfly and his mother.
i think if they made a future main zelda game and allowed co-op in it. this would not be a bad idea for her to be in a future game.
I'm up for this is when, like every new Zelda game, the art design is changed and make her more serious looking.
Maybe in Zelda U? After all, it looks like the Bow and arrow will be a big thing in it.
It does not surprise me, The Legend of Zelda games are full of a wide range of characters. However, will she be a character in the story (that will make little sense) or will she be the female alternative to Link when you start the game (makes more sense).
I'm all for a female protagonist, but linkle is such a clunky way to do it. And his quote doesn't mean theyre going to use her in future titles. He didn't say that at all.
@Tsuchinoko "it wouldn't sound any different than Linkle"
Yeah, but it would sound a whole heck of a lot better to everyone on here complaining about the name, and I think that's the majority of comments.
I am wiling to compromise. Her real name is Rinkuru but she goes by Linkle in her cosplay fangrrl outfit.
She can't replace him surely as this doesn't in with the whole curse from Skyward Sword. And honestly, I like Link as the main protagonist.
Name doesn't bother me too much as if she is a 'Link' like character we will probably have to name her.
I love this idea. I want her in a mainline game though, no spin-offs. When it doesn't sell we'll never see her again.
@Kriedler The name is Japanese for "Girl link".
Watch the language mah lady ~Undead
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