The Romance Thread IV: The Debate Continues

Originally Posted by Ganonslayer2000

I don't think anybody is saying that Link is annoyed in saving Zelda but rather that Link can save Zelda and also possibly end up being romantically involved with someone else other than Zelda in both OOT and TP.

The thing is, they both save each other. Link might seem to always save her life, but Zelda helps in in times where if she was not there, Link would not make it.

She gives him special items and hints that help Link greatly to complete his adventures. And he rescues her in order for her help. If he was annoyed by her, I don't think that he would bother much to do anything about it, but foolishly run away and hide. He worries for her and that shows that he cares for her.

Link does seem to be a careing, nice guy. I suppose he might try and rescue Zelda even if he didn't fully qualify as a hero. The ultimate nice-guy aspiration!

Originally Posted by Eternal Legend

The thing is, they both save each other. Link might seem to always save her life, but Zelda helps in in times where if she was not there, Link would not make it.

She gives him special items and hints that help Link greatly to complete his adventures. And he rescues her in order for her help. If he was annoyed by her, I don't think that he would bother much to do anything about it, but foolishly run away and hide. He worries for her and that shows that he cares for her.

Well please let me clarify, because I may have given the wrong message that was not intended.

In a theoretical situation where Link did not end up with Zelda for whatever reason.

OOT Link (Child timeline) I could have sworn that I posted something like Link would still deeply care for Zelda and still be able to attend most of the important royal meetings for hero duty, except that he will be living at LonLon ranch with Malon. I think this timeline Zelda would be very heartbroken at first on the fateful day Link tells her that he is leaving Hyrule Castle for good to be with his true love Malon who greatly needs his help with the farmwork. But with the temperance of great wisdom from the TOW she will get over it and move on with her life.

OOT Link (Adult timeline) This Link has the most purest and passionate emotional attachment to Zelda than the other Links combined. Sadly for the Zelda shippers, this Link cannot possibly hope to adapt to palace life and with Zelda's gentle, compassionate, and motherly wisdom she reluctantly has to release Link from her care and so orders him to leave Hyrule Castle and live among the commoners and other races, who would be more sympathetic to his handicap liability than the cruel and jealous Hyrule nobility. Then Link shows up at LonLon ranch and once Malon sees those big wide eyes of Link saying "Please....tell me what to do" the rest is history Go LinkxMalon!!

TP Link: I still say unconfirmed bachelor on this one mainly because TP Zelda simply does not seem interested in Link in a romantic way at all. Of course Link has a major crush on her naturally and I have no doubt Zelda knows about his sincere romantic feelings for her. But this Zelda to me seems that she could care less and dismiss it as just another guy in awe of her beauty thats all. True TP Link would be more of a great help to Zelda in doing more than his share in maintaining order and peace throughout the kingdom of Hyrule. But this Zelda would not seem to be too enthusiastic about giving Link special praise for heroic deeds as OOT Zelda would. I just see this LinkxZelda thing in TP as Link admiring from afar but still doing his hero duty and serving Zelda very well.

Anyway in all three of my theories, Link clearly CARES for Zelda.

Wow, Ilia is certainly the Scrappy Doo of this debate! I can see where this comes from, though. If Nintendo was trying to depict her as a sympathetic character, they failed miserably. Introducing a new character is like introducing a new product to the marketplace that consumers may or may not like; how it is presented is incredibly important, because they must be convinced that the new product doesn't threaten the things they are used to and love.

Ilia is introduced, and immediately makes a bad first impression by impeding the player's progress and later on, acting like a cliched, helpless damsel in distress. In addition, her physical appearance, in particular her face, is somewhat "off" in its proportions from what most people are used to seeing. These two factors combine to cause players to lose all empathy with the character. Compare this to OoT, where Saria is shown to be the only character truly sympathetic to the player's situation.

Originally Posted by Ganonslayer2000

OOT Link (Child timeline) I could have sworn that I posted something like Link would still deeply care for Zelda and still be able to attend most of the important royal meetings for hero duty, except that he will be living at LonLon ranch with Malon. I think this timeline Zelda would be very heartbroken at first on the fateful day Link tells her that he is leaving Hyrule Castle for good to be with his true love Malon who greatly needs his help with the farmwork. But with the temperance of great wisdom from the TOW she will get over it and move on with her life.

I don't see why Link would choose to stay with Zelda to support her as one of the Hylian Knights or something. He doesn't have to be by her side all the time, but enough to be regarded as one of her protectors. Now that Link nows that he is a Hylian, maybe he would wish to choose to live in Hyrule town to catch up on what he has been missing for all those years living in the forest. Malon might be a great opportunity to live with, but then again, it is all up to the player's imagination and choice.

OOT Link (Adult timeline) This Link has the most purest and passionate emotional attachment to Zelda than the other Links combined. Sadly for the Zelda shippers, this Link cannot possibly hope to adapt to palace life and with Zelda's gentle, compassionate, and motherly wisdom she reluctantly has to release Link from her care and so orders him to leave Hyrule Castle and live among the commoners and other races, who would be more sympathetic to his handicap liability than the cruel and jealous Hyrule nobility. Then Link shows up at LonLon ranch and once Malon sees those big wide eyes of Link saying "Please....tell me what to do" the rest is history Go LinkxMalon!!

Perhaps Link cannot live in the Hyrule Palace or castle as far as we are concerned, but he can adapt to the most extremes as it shows throughout his adventures. And he may as well want to show his ancestors and possibly his deceased father that he may as well be truly a knight for Hyrule. Because he and Zelda are extremely close in this game, he may want to choose to protect her life as much as being close to her, possibly falling in love. Zelda and him both show so much sympathy for each other and care and there is a hint that there may be romance in the air. The love for Malon in my opinion is somewhat forced. Talon mentions to Link at the end of the Cucco game if Link would want to marry Malon and everything.

TP Link: I still say unconfirmed bachelor on this one mainly because TP Zelda simply does not seem interested in Link in a romantic way at all. Of course Link has a major crush on her naturally and I have no doubt Zelda knows about his sincere romantic feelings for her. But this Zelda to me seems that she could care less and dismiss it as just another guy in awe of her beauty thats all. True TP Link would be more of a great help to Zelda in doing more than his share in maintaining order and peace throughout the kingdom of Hyrule. But this Zelda would not seem to be too enthusiastic about giving Link special praise for heroic deeds as OOT Zelda would. I just see this LinkxZelda thing in TP as Link admiring from afar but still doing is hero duty and serving Zelda very well.

Nintendo did destroy Ilia at the beginning, but we all know that even the mean and annoying people can turn into angels. She does seem to be more mature about everything near the end of the game as she gets her memory back. All I can say is that they merely love each other as siblings because Link wouldn't waste his time and life to go after her and to retrieve her memory back for the sake of things. He does care one way or another.

In TP though, Zelda seems to have other things in mind than Link. She is very concerned about the welfare for both her people and land and perhaps loving Link at that time was very inappropriate. However, she does have sympathy for him none the less, but it is not as strong as OoT. She might have more concerns for Midna and the people of the Twilight than Link.

Originally Posted by Eternal Legend

Perhaps Link cannot live in the Hyrule Palace or castle as far as we are concerned, but he can adapt to the most extremes as it shows throughout his adventures. And he may as well want to show his ancestors and possibly his deceased father that he may as well be truly a knight for Hyrule. Because he and Zelda are extremely close in this game, he may want to choose to protect her life as much as being close to her, possibly falling in love. Zelda and him both show so much sympathy for each other and care and there is a hint that there may be romance in the air. The love for Malon in my opinion is somewhat forced. Talon mentions to Link at the end of the Cucco game if Link would want to marry Malon and everything.

So I guess that means the love for Zelda isn't forced. cough sarcasm cough
Ha JK but in all seriousness. Still IMO: OOT Link with no fairy = Best chance for LinkxZelda. OOT Link with the fairy = No chance for LinkxZelda unless somebody can convince me otherwise.

Linky loves his ladies... or maybe his ladies just love him

But........

I have to say Zelda it's just meant to be

Originally Posted by Ganonslayer2000

So I guess that means the love for Zelda isn't forced. cough sarcasm cough
Ha JK but in all seriousness. Still IMO: OOT Link with no fairy = Best chance for LinkxZelda. OOT Link with the fairy = No chance for LinkxZelda unless somebody can convince me otherwise.

I guess I mentioned that out wrong. But Malon's love for him seems to be thrown because of the way Malon's father mentioned about marrying his daughter when Link gets older and to the fact that there is a secret that states that Malon wants a man in shining armour to sweep her off her feet. That gives Link the impression that she might want a man desperately and her eyes are set on Link than any other man that I can think of.

Zelda on the other hand is different. She may seem to always be close to him, but it is destiny that they meet and for the reason why they both carry the Triforce.

If an enemy knew that Link had a girlfriend he'd probably find her and threaten to kill her to make him surrender.

Originally Posted by Eternal Legend

I guess I mentioned that out wrong. But Malon's love for him seems to be thrown because of the way Malon's father mentioned about marrying his daughter when Link gets older and to the fact that there is a secret that states that Malon wants a man in shining armour to sweep her off her feet. That gives Link the impression that she might want a man desperately and her eyes are set on Link than any other man that I can think of.

Zelda on the other hand is different. She may seem to always be close to him, but it is destiny that they meet and for the reason why they both carry the Triforce.

The way I see it, there's a distinct difference between the two girls: Zelda doesn't chase Link, Malon will. Well, Malon herself was more low key than for instance Romani, but she's still the type who's in search of a relationship possibly before a friend. To a guy, I would think this might be intimidating. I mean, to have a girl who makes it very clear how much she wants him. Especially if her father is in on it. There's very little choice for Link to express what he wants.

Zelda is thinking on a completely different level: she likely feels attraction to Link, but is so busy thinking of other bigger things ( her country ) that she'd push that personal desire aside. She'd be his friend and confidante before anything else. Because of that, his comfort level with her would be higher.

Actually, in the child timeline of OoT anyway, Zeldadoesn't run Hyrule. Her father does. Then in the Adult timeline, Ganon took over. Zelda has, at least, a bit of time for herself.

Originally Posted by gliderpilotgirl

The way I see it, there's a distinct difference between the two girls: Zelda doesn't chase Link, Malon will. Well, Malon herself was more low key than for instance Romani, but she's still the type who's in search of a relationship possibly before a friend. To a guy, I would think this might be intimidating. I mean, to have a girl who makes it very clear how much she wants him. Especially if her father is in on it. There's very little choice for Link to express what he wants.

Zelda is thinking on a completely different level: she likely feels attraction to Link, but is so busy thinking of other bigger things ( her country ) that she'd push that personal desire aside. She'd be his friend and confidante before anything else. Because of that, his comfort level with her would be higher.

I can definitely agree that OOT with fairy would be very intimidated by Malon at first with her tramp like flirting that would initially make him have an anxiety attack in thinking about what mommy Zelda would think about him staring very curiously at Malon. I imagine the disasterous moment that malon starts maybe stroking Links hand or whispering sweet nothings into his ear that would probably make him blush and sigh of course. And the over exhileration mixed with intense anxiety and confusion would make him awkwardly run away from Malon back to Hyrule Castle looking for his precious Zelda and tell her everything that happened Of course Malon will never get discouraged and she will keep persisting in corrupting Links uber sweet innocence. But over time I like to think that Link would be always curious about what Malon did to him that day in touching him in such a strange but arousing manner. At this point OOT Link with annoying fairy would be torn between figuring out a way to ask Zeldas permission for him to leave to maybe visit Malon again or just stay put and keep quiet like he is supposed to do.

OOT Link without fairy would seem to me be more like that he knows he can hook up with Malon if he wanted to, but he just doesn't want to ruin what he already has with Zelda thats all. Nonetheless...I still think Malon will never be discouraged in trying to win Links heart and steal him away from Zelda.

There was this line in FLCL about an old fairy tale that got me thinking:

You're puss in boots, the one who tricks the prince. He hides who really is and pretends to be someone else forever. But in time he becomes that person, so his lie becomes the truth, see? He trancends the mask.

Since I heard this, I've been thinking of this for a while: Has Lulu ever been thought of as not only a romantic possibility for OoT/MM Link, but also the one chick in the Zelda harem that actually won?

Let's look at Lulu's situation in MM. She can pretty much be described as a tragic figure, one whose unborn children were ripped from her grasp. Because of that, she lost not only her voice, but also the life of Mikau, her lover.

Because of Link's actions, Lulu gets her voice and her children back, but what of the father? At the end of MM, you see that Lulu is singing away, and jamming beside her with the band is Mikau. Since the real Mikau is dead, it can be safely be assumed that this Zora rocker is in fact Link.

This is where the quote comes in, as well as Link's character. He has the mask, and the ability to make the lie the truth in becoming Mikau, all he has to do is play the part. There are seven children needing a father, not to mention Lulu and the band - as a Hero, can Link really turn his back on them?

I see Lulu as an interesting Ruto like option for MM. If Link stayed in Termina I guess its possible. Personally I prefer the dancing twins.

Originally Posted by Ganonslayer2000

I see Lulu as an interesting Ruto like option for MM. If Link stayed in Termina I guess its possible. Personally I prefer the dancing twins.

But they are in an age that is very much older to Link. If they were to be together when he is still considered a young person, then it can be seen as something wrong in society.

But Termina is not Link's home. I haven't finished the game so I'm not sure if he returns home or such.

But Hyrule is where his heart belongs and also where Zelda lives.

Oh yeah...I forgot to mention LinkxLulu only if he wore the Zora mask.

Originally Posted by Ganonslayer2000

Oh yeah...I forgot to mention LinkxLulu only if he wore the Zora mask.

Well considering that he is physically a Zora, I doubt that he is anywhere near as close as loving Lulu. He had to be a Zora and to save her eggs for saving the world of Termina and to find his way back home. I don't think that Link had much of a choice.

Originally Posted by Eternal Legend

But Termina is not Link's home. I haven't finished the game so I'm not sure if he returns home or such.

But Hyrule is where his heart belongs and also where Zelda lives.

MM ending spoilers ( in case you want them marked )



You see a montage of various happy shots of all the characters, including the shot of Zora Link ( he's got the green hat and shorts ) playing alongside the Indigo-Go's. I personally took it as merely him playing for the last time with them to fulfill Mikau's job.

But the last scene is of ordinary Link riding Epona through the Lost Woods again, he stops, looks around like he was in the beginning, than spurs on Epona and gallops towards some light. ( I took it as him going back the way he came, aka out of the forest to Hyrule ) The screen then focuses on a picture drawn on a stump of Link, the Skull Kid and the Four Giants.


Besides, we know he did return to Hyrule. Why? Because the prologue of the game tells us. It leads into the tale of MM saying it's a legend. In order for this to be so, he would have had to have returned and told Zelda. And besides, "a legend held dear to the Royal Family" is a quote...why would it be dear to them? A strong possibility is because he was dear to them. As in maybe eventually part of the family through marriage.

Originally Posted by gliderpilotgirl

MM ending spoilers ( in case you want them marked )


Besides, we know he did return to Hyrule. Why? Because the prologue of the game tells us. It leads into the tale of MM saying it's a legend. In order for this to be so, he would have had to have returned and told Zelda. And besides, "a legend held dear to the Royal Family" is a quote...why would it be dear to them? A strong possibility is because he was dear to them. As in maybe eventually part of the family through marriage.

I could be that Link himself was held dear to Zelda, but future generations? Maybe it's just a great story of hope and redemption. The royal family needs stories like that to cling to, considering Ganondorf always comes back a conquers.

Originally Posted by gliderpilotgirl

Besides, we know he did return to Hyrule. Why? Because the prologue of the game tells us. It leads into the tale of MM saying it's a legend. In order for this to be so, he would have had to have returned and told Zelda. And besides, "a legend held dear to the Royal Family" is a quote...why would it be dear to them? A strong possibility is because he was dear to them. As in maybe eventually part of the family through marriage.

Hmm...you make a real good point in Link returning to Hyrule after the MM adventure based on the game dialogue. But...I still think Malon stands a chance in the child timeline because in OOT when you travel back and forth between times, when Link is a child he can't even get into Hyrule castle to see Zelda anymore. So by default he would be likely hanging around LonLon ranch with Malon more often than Hyrule Castle with Zelda. Its not too impossible to believe that in this situation Link can develop a sweet innocent relationship over the years with Malon as well as Zelda, since it seems Link will be getting kicked out of Hyrule Castle often for not behaving or whatever. Besides I like to think that Child Link would more enjoy being at LonLon ranch with more freedom to run and play and be his adorable self in the company of Malon and Epona. In Hyrule Castle it seems Child Link would have to follow a bunch of stupid rules in living there and little Zelda's responsibility would be to keep Link out of mischief so he won't be kicked out of the Castle. Though I think little Link truly enjoys being around Zelda and living in the Castle but at times it would seem that lifestyle would get old on little Link and he may want an excuse to leave to be around Malon and Epona once in awhile where he can be more of himself if Zelda would permit him.