It is the kind of love that causes a knight to fight for his country, or a princess to give up a life of luxury to save her people, or even a madman to stop at nothing for power; it’s the kind of love that never dies no matter how dire the circumstances. However, in a game so centered on this all-encompassing concept of love, how is it that our hero never finds it?

The concept of romantic love is an endearing and alluring topic; it draws fans of all kinds and occasionally causes them to argue. It is, however, not to be taken lightly… or played too simply. It seems not even I am able to escape the allure of finding the hidden meanings behind cutscenes, to figure out precisely who Nintendo intends to hook our hero up with.

In this latest grandiose adventure, there are three main characters that appear to be vying for the affection of the chosen hero. First: Ilia, the childhood friend; second: Midna, the knavish imp and loyal sidekick; and last but not least: Zelda, the princess Link is out to save in the end (as any good knight should). After explaining the pros, cons, and hints of romance hidden within the immense script for each character, I will present you with my final conclusion: the truth to which Nintendo was planning to hook out hero up with. All of that will come in time, however… first, a look at Link’s childhood friend and closest confidant: Ilia.

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Character: Ilia

Relationship: Friend

In-game Story: Born and raised in the sleepy village of Ordon, Ilia and Link were seldom separate as the two grew up, or as Ilia described:

“I… I knew you once…Yes… This feels so familiar… The scent of hay…Long ago… When we were young, you and I…You were always there… You were always beside me…Link.”

This clearly shows that the bond between these two is very tight, nigh unbreakable. However, their peaceful life was tragically torn asunder when their village was attacked, and Ilia was kidnapped.

Although others were taken, Ilia seemed to be carried the furthest and somehow ended up trapped by vicious beasts in a forgotten sanctuary –the house of an old lady in the same situation as her. After promising that she would find help for the kind and weary soul, Ilia managed to escape to the outside world, but at no small cost: her memory was all but shattered. As she moved closer to castle town, she found a dying Zora boy, and even without knowing who she was, she selflessly took the boy into town looking for help.

While in the city, she ran into our hero, himself just returning from restoring light and peace to the Lanayru province. Link escorted Ilia and the Zora child to Kakariko, but although she was thankful, Ilia was unaware of the special bond that the two shared. In her own words:

“Th-Thank you so much for this. Um, if you don’t mind me asking, what’s your name?…Link?! I will never in all my life forget your kindness, Link.”

Safely nestled in Kakariko, she selflessly nursed the still-ailing child back to health. While in town, the shaman attempted to help Ilia with her own problems, and began to work with her to restore her memory. Link came back for an attempt at restoring her memories, and as she started to realize much of what she had forgotten, she insisted that Link help the woman who had sheltered her. Her memory did return, and she eventually took a back-seat role, heading back home with the child refugees and eventually watching as Link left Ordon, always waiting for the day he returned.

Pros: The close bond that the two shared as children would doubtless carry over into any other relationship that could develop between them, dramatically reducing the risk of any kind of fight happening between the two of them. Furthermore, Link’s duties as the chosen hero would take precedence over any sort of domestic life he could lead, which Ilia would understand and work around because of her selfless nature (definitely a plus).

Cons: Ilia definitely has a temper, as evidenced here:

“Link? How could you! You were pushing Epona too hard again! I bet you hurt her leg jumping fences, didn’t you!”.

Furthermore, she is a bit dull compared to the other two possible love interests, having led a life of simplicity.

In-game Hints: It’s hard to ignore the signs sprinkled throughout Twilight Princess: the spring scene and the scene where she regains her memory topping the list. Here we see two friends staring into each others’ eyes, love struck smiles on their faces. If that’s not a nudge by Nintendo I don’t know what is.

Personal Thoughts: I’ll admit, I am a bit biased. This coupling is the personal favorite of mine; probably because I think the “Girl next Door” aspect is adorable. However, it’s hard to ignore the final scene in the game, with Link riding away from his hometown as Ilia watches. Even still, my hopes are personally riding on these two getting together.

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Character: Midna

Relationship: Traveling Companion

In-game Story: Once standing tall as the ruler of the Twilight Realm, Midna found herself trapped in the form of a mere imp, cast out of the realm of her regency by the crazed usurper known as Zant. She took to scavenging for a means of restoring her power in the outskirts of Hyrule, vowing to exact her revenge upon Zant. It was there that she came across Link, trapped in his Lupine form. Taking interest in the strange human that was able to retain substance in the realm of Twilight, she followed him to his place of when he was consequently dragged off.

Midna agreed to free Link from prison, with the caveat that he would then assist Midna in her goals. Link, being in no real position to disagree, assisted Midna in collecting the artifacts that would eventually grant access to the citadel of her tormentor, Zant. Throughout the course of their journey, it became apparent that Midna’s affection for the creatures of the light, Link especially, was growing all the while. It was perhaps with this sentiment (combined with inconsolable rage, of course) that Midna destroyed Zant after Link had weakened him significantly.

When Ganondorf, the King of Evil inevitably presented himself, endangering Link and the princess Zelda (who had already saved Midna’s life once before), the duty fell upon Midna’s shoulders to assume the god-like form that she had only entered once before, putting herself in extreme danger. She fought back the beast that was Ganon, and transported Link and Zelda to safety, sacrificing herself in the process.

All hope seemed lost when Ganondorf, human again, appeared on horseback holding the crumbling remains of Midna’s helm in front of Link. However, through valiance, swordplay, and an unobstructed sensor bar, Link vanquished the King of Evil once and for all. It was only then that Midna returned to her original, humanoid form. When she and Link reunited, she greeted his trademark stoic silence with, “Am I so beautiful that you’ve no words left?”

However, all things must come to an end, and it was with a tear and an outstretched hand that Midna, ruler of the Twilight Realm again, departed the tangible realm for good, leaving only the words, “Link…I…See you later…”.

Pros: The powerful Twili princess sorceress seems to be a perfect fit with a green-garbed hero. She is nice, and does not take herself too seriously. Furthermore, she also has a strong will, and is the best looking of all the suitors (Despite the strange colored skin…but you never know… Link might be into that ).

Cons: She’s a bit of a *****. I mean seriously.

In-game Hints: There are far too many to mention, the entire game is riddled with them, from the first line she speaks.

“I found you! Oooh! Aren’t you scary! Eeh hee! Are you sure you want to be doing that? Snarling and glaring at me? Well, that’s too bad…I was planning on helping you…if you were nice.”

This seems to be her playful way of teasing, and in the final lines in the game it even appears that she is about to confess her love for him. If you played the game and did not get the impression they had feelings for each other (the “breaking into Hyrule Castle” scene, the scene when Zant attacks, etc.) then you really need your eyes checked.

Personal thoughts: I am against inter-species dating. Think of the children! (not yours, theirs)

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Character: Zelda

Relationship: Damsel in Distress

In-game Story: Actually, the princess story is rather small, appearing at the beginning, middle, and end of the game only. Her first appearance was as a prisoner, where she explained to Wolf Link what she had to do in order to save Hyrule. And though it was not pretty and not the heroic thing to do it was the correct thing, as a leader, to do.

She appeared again about halfway through the storyline, when Midna was dying from exposure to the Light Realm. In a selfless act, she gave up her life force in order to save the weakened imp. She disappeared, seemingly into thin air, as Midna was restored; this made many people think she had died.

In her last scene Link entered the Hyrule Castle throne room to discover that she was strapped to a stone Triforce above her old throne like a trophy, as Ganondorf sat underneath delightfully bored. Turning his body into shadow fragments, he possessed Zelda and forced her to attack our two heroes. After her body was defeated, she was only revived after Link had vanquished the beast Ganon. It was then that Midna transported the two of them to safety.

Zelda then prayed to the gods and they granted her a single wish, taking power from the light spirits she was crafted a set of “Light Arrows” capable of wounding Ganondorf. Atop Epona’s back, she managed to weaken him enough for Link to de-horse the madman. However, as Link approached, a field of magic stopped her from intervening further, forcing Link and Ganondorf to fight alone.

In her last appearance, she watched as Midna left for the last time into the Twilight realm, almost trying to convince her to stay.

“Shadow and light are two sides of the same coin…one cannot exist without the other. I know now the reason the goddesses left the Mirror of Twilight in this world… They left it because it was their design that we should meet. Yes… that is what I believe.”

That’s nice of her.

Pros: Unlike Midna, Link wouldn’t have to cross a dangerous desert to see her –given the Mirror of Twilight still existed- and unlike Ilia, he would not have to be stuck in a small town in order to live with her. She’s also a selfless person and the ruler of a kingdom. I also would imagine Zelda as having a large treasury, which I guess could be considered a plus.

Cons: She seems a bit timid, not nearly as outgoing as the other two. Furthermore, I would imagine her princess duties would take up a lot of her time. And she doesn’t really seem that interested in Link…or anything other than helping her people for that matter.

In-game Hints: The only in game hint I could find here comes in the form of the cut scene before the last part of the Final boss. Where Zelda asks for links help and he graciously bows and offers his hand. It’s almost a hint…right?

Personal Thoughts: I see it as very unlikely, they hardly spoke and hardly interacted but I know a lot of fans like the idea of the hero saving the princess and falling in love. In any case my vote is still with Ilia.

Conclusion: It’s not hard to see that our hero’s heart is being pulled in many directions, and while he had bigger thoughts on his mind during his adventure, now that the evil is dead he has not much else to do. So who will he choose, though it is impossible to say who he did choose –if anyone at all- (unless of course Nintendo makes a direct sequel). In truth, all we as fans can do is read between the lines and possibly write fan-fiction if we are feeling daring enough. I said at the beginning that I would tell you who Nintendo intended link to end up with, and after reading through hundreds of lines of dialogue and watching almost all the cut scene again I am going to take a stand and give the conclusion that now seems so clearly before me:

All three, and none. Link the Hero is not just a character Nintendo created; he was intended to be an extension of the player. The actions Link made were because the player decided they were the right actions, Link’s thoughts were that of the player’s, and his words can only be imagined by the person controlling him. What does this all mean? Nintendo intended to give Link options, because they knew fans would like it that way. Link is the player and in the end it is the player that gives Link value. Simply put: Link will get together with whomever you the player decided he should.

Of course, that doesn’t stop people from arguing about it.

Right at the very beginning of the adventure, it’s clear that Saria is very fond of Link. Some have said that since they are mere children, they would not be in love. For one thing, that assumes that “love” is defined to be some full-blown thing that only adults could experience. For another thing, it’s true that she has the body and spirit of a child, but she has a magnificent maturity to her, a maturity that makes perfect sense when she is chosen as a sage. She sees things on a deeper level than others, and proclaims that she knew that Link would one day leave. This maturity could be significant-does she have feelings for Link?

We also learn that Mido likes Saria, and as a result is jealous of Link because he’s her favorite. He tries to get Saria to like him, but it’s certainly not very effective. He’s a bully, but there’s something more large-scale and sinister to his status as bully, something more adult-like. And this too clues us in that at least some of the Kokiri are not entirely what they seem.

Link too, has Saria in a prominent place in his own heart. We see that even at the beginning, especially the way he backs up hesitantly from her on the bridge and then runs off. He doesn’t express his emotions well, perhaps because he was a bit of a social outcast. At any rate, he’s very fond of her, and thinks she’s special in a way that almost no one else could be. Both Saria and Link constantly think about each other.

In the end, however, we have no concrete evidence either way. It’s simply ambiguous. They love each other greatly as friends, but it’s impossible to tell whether or not there’s any crush in there too. They’re the best of friends, and have an amazing chemistry together, but we can’t really tell anything. Drawing the line between the “best friends” kind of love and the “best friends love” with a crush attached is extremely difficult, as it is so often in real world relationships.

Nevermore

It isn’t until Link is an adult that we get our first real interpretable evidence for anything.

After defeating the Forest Temple, Saria says the following:

“Thank you…
Because of you, I could awaken as a Sage . . .
I am Saria.
The Sage of the Forest Temple . . .
I always believed that you would come. Because I know you . . .
No . . .
You don’t have to explain it to me . . .
Because it is destiny that you and I can’t live in the same world.
I will stay here as the Forest Sage and help you…
Now, please take this Medallion . . .”

Their meeting is painful. They have that great friendship between them, and there’s a rift in it because of time and circumstances. They are painfully aware of their separation, and although they want to rectify it, they know they cannot.

What happens next is perhaps even more interesting. Against a white screen, a text box says, “Saria will always be . . .” Pause. Then it says, “Your friend . . .”

But even more to the point is what Mido tells you afterwards:
“Oh . . . I see . . .
Saria won’t ever come back . . .
But . . . I . . . I made a promise to Saria . . .
If Link came back, I would be sure to tell him that Saria had been waiting for him . . .”

Then Mido has a hard time getting out the next part:
“Because Saria . . . really . . .
liked . . .”

He falters and says, “Hey, you.” Which is an interesting bit of text because not only does it ironically belong to the previous sentence, but also to the next:
“If you see him somewhere, please let him know . . .
And also . . .
I’m sorry for being mean to him.
Tell him that, too.”

Taking these quotes together, we can see that there’s no question where Saria’s affections lay-with Link. And Link? What does he think? Once again, he seems a bit clueless about it. But as for reciprocating that romantic love, that special bond, it’s hard to say. It’s easy to imagine that if somehow, the circumstances allowed for it, and if she had plucked up the courage to be open with him about her feelings, he would have been happy with the idea. But we can’t ponder the “what if” questions, because these quotes make it clear that Saria is gone from his world. The idea is that they could have grown even beyond being just best friends, but that they couldn’t because this was a new life. It’s part of the larger theme of time in Ocarina of Time. The passing of time and the brutal new reality meant that Link would have to give up that age of childhood. Saria symbolizes a past age, an age which could never again be claimed. Link’s past was a wonderful time, a time of love and joy and innocence and the green and simple things of the world, but now that life could not be reclaimed. It’s a painful thing, but it’s part of the pathos of the game.

Conclusion

Link and Saria. They were the best of friends, tied together by an incredible bond. But did they feel anything “more” than that? On Saria’s part, it seems that she certainly did. On Link’s part, he seems rather clueless as usual. He probably was too “simple-minded,” to to speak, to think of her as something more than a best friend. I would remind you that it wasn’t until Cremia hugged him in Majora’s Mask that we see him having true “fuzzy feelings.” This was something new to him, which means that he hadn’t felt like that before that time. Cremia had to do something obvious for him to open his eyes to what he feels about Malon back home. So it does seem likely that if Saria had strongly encouraged a special relationship in that kind of obvious manner, then his eyes would have opened to the kind of wonderful person Saria was. But that could not to be, because the message of the game is clear, that Saria and Link are of two different worlds, and a romance would never spring up between them because of the painful reality of time and circumstance.

Like no Zelda game before it, The Wind Waker emphasizes again and again that Link is but a child. The young Hero of Time was silent with a steely resolve, propelled by the desire for justice. Just about everything about the Hero of Winds, on the other hand, is childlike. We wouldn’t expect him to have a crush on Zelda, since most boys don’t think in such terms at that age. But a certain cinematic in the game with Zelda’s only potential “competitor” demonstrates that things are different for the Hero of Winds.

That “competitor” is the Queen of the Fairies. Some have joked that the scary Great Fairies of Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask had a thing for Link, but now in The Wind Waker, the Queen of the Fairies actually takes a liking to Link. After the Fairy tells Link that he’s just her type, Link’s reaction conveys exactly what he thinks of the idea. He certainly likes it! Of course, the King immediately gives him a look as if to say, “In your dreams. Get a hold of yourself.” Clearly then, the “competitor” is not a plausible potential love interest, due to her extremely different nature. But the scene is nevertheless very important, because it reveals something about the personality of the Hero of Winds. For unlike the Hero of Time, who was rather clueless about such things, the Hero of Winds is quite aware of romance, and is actually keen on the idea.

The Little Hints

Unfortunately, most of the evidence specific to Zelda is ambiguous. It is true that when Tetra and Link go down under the sea, Link looks rather concerned for Tetra, but this could just as easily be a reflection of Link’s general concern for others. This could be said of most of his later animations in reaction to Zelda. Does he not act in essentially the same way towards his sister? On the other hand, at the very end, he is rather “buddy-buddy” with her, and it is possible to interpret that as something more than friendship, even if not explicitly. But keep in mind that nothing can be concluded from the scene at the end of the credits, in which an image of Link’s face is placed next to an image of Tetra winking.

One of the animations, however, may be clearer. After Tetra is revealed as Zelda and she apologizes, Link motions as if to say, “No biggie.” The nature of his facial animation, his laugh, and his ensuing brisk departure could be interpreted as giving a hint of the fact that he likes her. Yet even this is hardly a sure thing.

There are two main pieces of text that may help us. In the Bomb Shop, Tetra doesn’t seem to want her underlings to know that she’s concerned about Outset Island for reasons other than acquiring the treasure. It seems as if she doesn’t want them to know that she has a soft spot for Link, which she didn’t have at the beginning of the adventure, in keeping with her tough, sassy personality. This may imply some kind of love for Link.

After Tetra sells the bombs to Beedle, the shopkeeper teases Link, saying that he can see Link blushing at the mention of the pirate girl. Beedle seems to be a bit of a nut-case, so we ought to take what he says with a bit of a grain of salt, but the most likely explanation is that this is the game’s way of hinting at a bit of love between Link and Zelda, because it shows that it was on the minds of the designers.

Conclusion

Did Nintendo intend for the Hero of Winds to fall in love with Zelda? The evidence is certainly no where near as clear as the evidence for the connection between the Hero of Time and Malon, but there do seem to be some subtle hints in The Wind Waker that point to such a relationship between the hero and the princess. Some of what might otherwise be evidence is too difficult to interpret, but it is possible to make a decent case for a love connection based on some of the hints. At the very least, the episode with the Queen of the Fairies tells us that just because Link is a young boy doesn’t mean that he thinks Zelda has cooties. Rather, he seems to like the idea of love, making the other little hints all the more real. As Link and Zelda sail off into the horizon to find a new future and a new Hyrule, it isn’t a big stretch to say that they just might well have a future together. We can only await the release of the game that we temporarily know as Wind Waker II.

Ruto. She was one of the most memorable characters in Ocarina of Time, and the one thing that tended to stick out most about her in most people’s minds was her crush on Link. No one could deny her of her love. A good many people also happen to think that Link should return that love. Did Nintendo intend for Link to marry Ruto? It is to that question that we will now turn.

Link’s Feelings

Ruto likes Link. That much is obvious, and in fact it functions as comedic relief. But what does Link think of Ruto? As a child, his reaction is not a favorable one. And yet at the same time, he does not entirely understand her meaning, as is clear by the game text upon receiving the Sapphire.

As an adult, nothing indicates that he has changed his attitude. I remind you that we cannot assume feelings between characters when they are in scenes together. The Nintendo 64 may provide subtle touches to the cinematics, but these subtle touches are done through rather distinct, unmistakable animations. When any two characters stand around, think of them as cardboard cutouts. They look no different than when they are standing apart from each other. Any romance between cardboard cutouts must be supplied by the imagination. (This, by the way, is the main error of those who are so obsessed with wanting the Hero of Time and Zelda to have a relationship that they say things like, “Scene XYZ makes Link and Zelda look like they’re in love,” when the two characters are actually doing absolutely nothing that indicates one thing or the other.) We can only tell what one of them is feeling when the game text tells us so, or when the game plays a specific animation, keeping in mind that these animations are often reused. That said, the game data itself gives us little indication of Link’s thoughts about Ruto. Perhaps the most critical point is when Ruto mentions their engagement as an adult, and the game plays Link’s “I’m shocked!” animation. The most basic meaning is probably that Link didn’t quite “get” Ruto’s love for him until she explicitly referred to him as her fiancé. His reaction isn’t favorable, but that doesn’t mean he couldn’t change later. In any case, after Morpha’s defeat, Ruto brings up romance again. The general emphasis at that point is that as she realizes her position as a sage, she comes to the sad realization that romance can never be.

So, the basic game evidence itself seems to point away from a Link-Ruto relationship, for at least the duration of the game. Even Link-Ruto shippers will usually admit to that. But if they admit to that, then why do they cling to the idea that Link and Ruto will marry? “Because they are destined for one another.” Essentially, the shippers argue that because Link and Ruto made an oath, they must marry. And that, my friends, is actually a wonderful argument, to which we will now turn.

Never Break an Oath

For most of human history, oaths have been taken very, very seriously. The game portrays a fantastical society, which is at least in appearance based on ancient and medieval culture. A few examples of the importance of oaths in antiquity will do.

Among the Greeks and Romans, we find that they believe that even the gods themselves are unable to break oaths. This can be seen throughout their literature, but one of the most famous examples is from Ovid’s Metamorphoses. The sun god has a son named Phaethon. Well, naturally no one believes Phaethon when he tells them that his dad is the sun god. So Phaethon travels to his father and complains about his plight. The father says to Phaethon, “All right, I’ll prove your lineage! Ask me anything, and I’ll do it for you! I swear it by the River Styx!” The River Styx was the river of the underworld, and swearing on it was the highest vow the sun god could have made. Well, Phaethon asks to drive the sun god’s chariot (and thus the sun) through the heavens. The sun god is distraught, for he knows that Phaethon will die as a result. The climb across the sky is treacherous, filled with perils and monsters. Yet since the sun god made that oath, he must let his son have his wish. If you don’t mind reading a relatively archaic translation, you can read the story in Metamorphoses I just referred to here (note that “the Nether Lake” is the River Styx). And I remind you, this is but one simple example of how much the Greeks and Romans valued oaths. If you dishonored the oath, not only would you face the wrath of the gods, but you would also be socially ostracized, a horrible thing in ancient cultures (which generally were not individualistic like ours).

In ancient Judaism and Christianity, we find that oaths were taken very seriously among their societies as well. In recognition of the dangerous nature of oaths, some of the religious leaders in Palestine actually devised rules about when oaths were more or less important. Jesus responded to these rules, again emphasizing the serious nature of oaths. (The relevant passage of the New Testament can be read here.)

Of course, in the case of Ocarina of Time, we’re dealing with a sort of betrothal vow. That is really quite another topic, but suffice it to say that the general sociological principles that apply to oaths in general also apply to specific vows revolving around marriage. Well, I won’t bore you with further details on the history of oaths, but suffice it to say, the integrity of an oath was a very important issue for the ancients, and it was an issue that continued for a long time. The L&R shippers are indeed asking the right question. “Is Link obligated to marry Ruto?” This isn’t to say that they view it as a kind of socially forced marriage. It doesn’t seem as though Link wouldn’t think of her as a friend, and so I suppose it would be fairly easy on his part to marry her. He doesn’t like the idea at first, but that doesn’t mean he couldn’t warm up to the idea if he came to the realization that by accepting “her most precious possession” he was obligated to marry her.

Counterpoints

However, there are some important counterpoints to consider. The most obvious one is that hyrule is not the ancient world. We have no way of knowing the customs and sociological values of Hyrule. We are left with what Nintendo gives us, and, in fact, based on Ruto’s seeming resignation that she cannot have Link’s love, it seems as though it is not a Hyrulian value to consider engagement to be binding. That isn’t surprising, for the game is the product not of the ancient world but of the modern world. The modern world does not consider betrothals to be legally binding, especially if one of the two has no idea what he is doing. Although the face of the game may imitate a distant past, it is strongly influenced by modern culture, Japanese and Western. For instance, if the game developers were trying to implement full-fledged ancient or medieval culture into the game, they probably would have not have had Ruto, a princess, even have the option of choosing who she will marry, no matter how headstrong she is.

What’s more, Link was not part of mainstream Hyrulian society. He was one of the Kokiri. He grew up in a world very different from that of the Hylians, Gorons, and Zora beyond the borders of the wood. He grew up in a world where everyone remained eternal children. If the Zora people believed that Link could not back out of the marriage, Link would not feel very obligated to conform.

Conclusion

Does Link reciprocate Ruto’s feelings? The game would tell us that he probably doesn’t. But the real question is, as the Z-R shippers like to emphasize, “Is Link socially obligated to marry her?” The answer is “probably not,” mostly since the game is the product of the modern world. I might also add that there are actually other reasons why Link couldn’t marry Ruto, but those reasons have to do with The Wind Waker. But as I like to say, “That’s another article for another day.” And indeed, I’ll write more on the subject in the future. I promise.

Ocarina of Time

Ocarina of Time is of course the game in which Malon appears, meaning that we are dealing with Link I here, and not his descendants. At first glance, Malon appears to be simply another one of various girls who adores Link. The fellow has a good number of girls after him, but he’s generally completely oblivious to it. As a friend of mine said, “Typical guy.” Link doesn’t seem to think in romantic terms, and so he typically does not recognize the girl’s love unless it is practically shoved in his face (his “I’m shocked!” animation at Ruto’s talk of marriage is but one example of this). Keeping this in mind, Malon, Saria, and Ruto are all quite interesting possibilities.

There are a few key points about Malon to consider. First, as a child, Talon asks you if you would like to marry Malon. It is most unusual in that it presents you with a “yes-no” option for something like that. The fact that Nintendo added interaction with the player on that particular point adds emphasis to it. Regardless of how you answer, he laughs, saying that he was joking and that Link is too young for that. Ultimately, this does not really tell us very much, at least not by itself.

Second, there is the gossip stone that says, “They say that Malon of Lon Lon Ranch hopes a knight in shining armor will come and sweep her off her feet someday.” This forms an interesting connection with Talon’s earlier question. Link is too young to truly consider marriage at that early age, but when he becomes older he could “sweep her off her feet.” This connection hints towards a future relationship between the two of them. I am cautious as to whether or not this is true, but sources say that this gossip stone actually referred to a scene that was originally part of the ending, in which Link and Malon ride into a sunset on Epona. If so, that would indicate that Nintendo pointed towards a Link and Malon relationship.

A case could conceivably be made for a match up between Link and Malon based on Ocarina of Time alone. But to get the full picture, we must turn to two other games.

Link’s Awakening

Link’s Awakening is a truly fascinating game, with a storyline of pure genius. What is relevant to us, however, is that there is a parallel between Talon and Malon and two of the characters in Link’s Awakening: Tarin and Marin. Aside from their parallel names, they are connected by their personalities and, most importantly, by their rather obvious reference to the Mario games. Except for his more realistic proportions, Talon almost looks identical to Mario, even down to the clothes. Ingo looks like Luigi. Malon looks like Peach, although in this case she is the daughter of “Mario.” Malon even wears a Bowser emblem. Tarin of Link’s Awakening bears even more resemblance to the cartoon style of Mario than Talon does. He even shares a fondness for mushrooms.

Now, in an earlier article, I identified The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe as the first book in the Chronicles of Narnia. Some people wrote in to tell me that I was in error. Actually, I was correct; it was the first book C.S. Lewis wrote, even though it is not the first book in terms of the mythic storyline. This raises an important point. We must not only think in terms of the game timeline, but of the publishing timeline. If we think in those terms, we find out that Nintendo made Link’s Awakening before they made Ocarina of Time. We can safely say, then, that Malon and Talon were based off of the characters in Link’s Awakening.

Here’s the interesting part. Those of you that have played Link’s Awakening (and I certainly hope you have!) know that Marin and Link fall in love. The Hero of Time falls in love with someone who is the daughter of someone based on Mario (can you guess who the mother could be?). But when the Wind Fish awakens, the whole island of Koholint vanishes, Marin included (although she “survives” if you complete the game without dying). For our purposes, the only thing that matters here is that Nintendo based Malon on Marin, and that the “romance” aspect of the character was preserved in the transition to Ocarina of Time. In that light, it seems relatively clear that a Malon-Link relationship was intended.

But if we truly want to understand the relationship between Link and Malon, we must move from Koholint to Termina.

Majora’s Mask

The designers said quite explicitly that one of the most important aspects of Majora’s Mask was that it gave you a greater insight into the characters that you had encountered in Ocarina of Time. (Of course, the characters also give you insights into the designers. We know that the carpenters’ grumblings about not finishing in time corresponds to the game makers’ fear of not finishing the game on time.) No doubt you noticed that Malon happens to have two parallel characters in the world of Termina: Cremia and Romani.

Like younger Malon, Romani likes Link (even more explicitly, actually). Like older Malon, Cremia is more mature about it. “Wait, what did you imply, Trahald? Cremia likes Link?” Well, do you still have your Nintendo 64 and copy of Majora’s Mask? Good. Using an old file, make sure you already have the Romani Mask. Now go save the cows from the Poes once more. The next day, join Cremia for the wagon ride. As you ride along, Cremia tells you that she’s lonely, and then opens up to you, even mentioning the marriage of her friend Anju (remember, Cremia once loved Kafei, but he chose Anju). When the thieves attack, loose your arrows into them and save the wagon once more. Now that you’ve saved the milk, Cremia will be rather happy, and will smile and sway a bit, saying “Thank you . . . You were pretty cool . . .” Since you already have the mask, one of two things happens. In one case, she gives you a Huge Rupee. But the other case is very interesting. When the translator mentioned that many people would not even see a large portion of the text in the game, he wasn’t kidding. What happens next is hilarious. It’s best to see it first hand, so I recommend you go see it right now.

For those of you who are lazy, I’ll describe it to you as best as I can. The camera shifts to a unique position, with the horse and Clock Town behind Cremia and Link. She grabs him and hugs him in a, um, rather interesting manner, to say the least. It’s completely not what you would expect from a Nintendo game. With the horse bobbing its head in the background, she pulls his head into her chest. This scene lasts for several surprisingly long moments. When the little scene has finished, a happy noise plays, and a text box pops up. It says, in pink (!) text, “You did it! You helped Cremia!” “You feel all warm and fuzzy inside! Sigh . . .You could get used to this!” Yes, the game actually tells you, using the unusual pink text, what Link feels. Yes, Nintendo actually employed text to convey Link’s emotions. Cremia has (literally) put herself “in Link’s face,” and this has aroused the idea of love in Link’s young brain, but he still does not entirely understand it yet. The implication? Link has a thing for Malon, or will have a thing for Malon.

Conclusion

Ocarina of Time, Link’s Awakening, and Majora’s Mask. Link them together and compile the evidence you find in each of those games. I find that it becomes quite clear that Nintendo intended for Link to fall in love with Malon.

A bit of groundwork

Before we see if the game designers actually intended for Link and Zelda to have a thing for each other, let’s make a few things clear. For one thing, the timeline theories are critically important to any discussion of this topic. When writing about romance, most of the Zelda fan sites seem to perfectly ignore the fact that there is more than one Link and more than one Zelda, even though those sites tend to hold very strongly to that idea in other parts of their pages. Now, an important part of the Zelda timeline is that each Link and Zelda is descended from a previous Link and Zelda. This means two things. First, Link and Zelda do both marry someone and have children. Second, each generation of Link and Zelda can’t marry each other, because that would end up being, well, rather sick.

To designate which Link and which Zelda I’m talking about, I’m going to add numbers to the end of their names as is the custom in writing about historical figures. But as games are released, those numbers can change. Keeping in mind that it doesn’t include The Wind Waker yet, I’m going to use the suffixes used by the ZU timeline, just to keep things clear.

Love in the 2-D Era

Nearly everyone, when dealing with the romance, focuses on Link I-in other words, the Link that appears in Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask. This is probably mostly an effect of the transition to 3-D, along the lines of what I talked about in one of my previous articles, “Link gets a personality.” But if we want to know what the designers intended, we must look at the 2-D games too.

Adventure of Link is the last game in the series chronologically. The game features Link III and Zelda IV. In it, Zelda IV is asleep for the whole game. But at the very end of the game, when she is awoken, she gives Link III a kiss as the curtain descends in front of them. It’s very much a cliché, and Zelda IV and Link III didn’t exactly interact beforehand, but it is fairy tale romance all the same. Of all the games before the 3-D era, Adventure of Link is the only one with even a real hint at romance between Link and Zelda. But the ending to that game is a kind of fitting finale for the Legend as a whole.

A Different Question

We now turn to Link I and Zelda I. This is, of course, the potential Link-and-Zelda couple that gets the most attention. The term “shipper” is usually applied to someone who thinks that Link I and Zelda I should fall in love. But again, they are asking the question, “Who would I rather see get together?” It’s a fine question, but it’s almost entirely subjective, so a more important one is, “Did Nintendo intend to hint that Link I would fall in love with Zelda I?” Since the shippers are asking a different question, most of their arguments turn out to be quite, well, lame for our purposes. Need an example? “Zelda gave Link the light arrows and the Ocarina of Time, which is more useful than anything any other girl gave him-therefore he likes her!” To be blunt, that sort of logic doesn’t even deserve to be taken seriously. Or about how about the argument that “Link took risks to help her and to save her; therefore he’s in love with her.” No, Link is like that because he’s a good guy, helps everyone out, and is in fact chosen by the Triforce for his courage (even if “love” is part of the equation, let’s not forget that love is not restricted to romantic definitions-in fact, the ancient Greeks had four words for different kinds of love). Likewise, the idea that Zelda was used as “bait” for Link because Ganon “knew that they were in love” is similarly flawed. In addition, it ignores the fact that Ganon wanted the whole Triforce, and Zelda had part of it. “Who would I rather see get together?” is a decent question, but it doesn’t get us as far as “What did Nintendo hint at?”

That Scene in the Sky

There is practically only one scene that could possibly be hinting towards a connection between the two of them. And that is the scene that takes place immediately after the defeat of Ganon. Link I and Zelda I are standing in the middle of the sky, and Zelda tells him that they must return to their own time. Link must hand back the ocarina. He does so, but he lets go of it only reluctantly. That is the moment that some have interpreted to mean that Link and Zelda are “holding hands,” that they do not take their hands away because they are enjoying the moment in which their hands touch. This is a possible interpretation, but I find it quite unlikely based on at least two things you can find in the context.

First, the battle with Ganon. Link has just had a harrowing battle with the holder of the Triforce of Power, not to mention what came before that. Now imagine Link’s emotions. You, the courageous warrior, have just gone through terror upon terror and have finally slain the horrible beast that brought curses and monsters onto Hyrule. Now it’s all over, and you’re standing in the sky, weirdly enough. Yes, your quest is complete. Yes, you’re ready to head home. But what you went through was an incredibly powerful experience, to say the least. You saw things you never imagined when you lived as a Kokiri. And now you are now surprised that you now have to give back your ocarina, a precious instrument that has taken you through many troubles. You know what you must do, but you don’t want to do it. You have a hard time letting go of the ocarina (for a semi-parallel example, think of how, in Fellowship of the Ring, Bilbo had such a hard time giving up the Ring). So, you hold on partially because you don’t entirely want to give it up the ocarina, and partially because you’re still in shock and wonder at the moment. You certainly aren’t thinking about romance-you’re thinking about what has gone on before, what has changed, and what will become of you (and the ocarina). You’re not going to break the dramatic pacing and just chuck the ocarina into Zelda’s hands and say, “OK! Enough of that! I’m headed home! Let’s seal off the way to the future for good! All of the stuff I just went through wasn’t a big deal, so I won’t pause to reflect!” Likewise, Zelda wouldn’t just rip the ocarina out of Link’s hand upon contact. “Hey! That’s MINE!”

Second, the theme of the game as a whole. (This ties in very much with the previous point.) Time was obviously Link the First’s major theme. The idea of the passage of time was stressed constantly throughout Ocarina of Time. The theme wasn’t just about the passage of time per se, but the consequences of the passage of time, mostly those consequences that have to do with friendship. In fact, friendship too is a big theme for both Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask. There is a kind of sadness at loosing the friends and innocent wonder of childhood. Of course, how these themes are developed is a topic for another article on another day, but I might point out that the words of Zelda (disguised as Sheik) were often used to convey these themes. It would be far more in keeping with these themes to interpret the “scene in the sky” in a non-romantic way. This is a big moment-the story isn’t going to take a diversion and hint at romance, but instead is going to conclude the theme begun from the time Link was said to be “the boy without a fairy.” Link must pause now, as he returns to the old days, and gives up entirely this new life which he has been leading. And he must give up adulthood, and the fast road to it.

Conclusion

Link III and Zelda IV, the final characters in the Legend, did fall in love. That much is clear. But what about Link I and Zelda I, which people seem to care about more? There is only one scene that could plausibly be interpreted as hinting to a romance, and even that interpretation is unlikely because of the context. Those who actively want to see romance between Link I and Zelda I will interpret the scene as such, but that is the result of asking the wrong question. In the end, it is even more unlikely that Nintendo was hinting towards a Link I and Zelda I relationship, given what we know about Link’s other possible love interests. Of course, that lies beyond the scope of this particular article. When I take a look at those characters, I think it will become even more clear that Zelda I is not “the one” for Link I, at least not in the eyes of the game designers.

Questions or comments? As always, you can reach me, Trahald, at articles@zeldauniverse.net.