The Romance Thread IV: The Debate Continues

I think Zelda and Link could be a great couple ^^
Don't know why i think that but.. It is like Zelda is the princess who always get kidnapped by Ganondorf, and Link is the Hero and saves her..

Then i think they should kiss or something

But i also think Link and Saria could be a good couple, like they have been friends a long time

Originally Posted by KokiriSaria

I think Zelda and Link could be a great couple ^^
Don't know why i think that but.. It is like Zelda is the princess who always get kidnapped by Ganondorf, and Link is the Hero and saves her..

Then i think they should kiss or something

But i also think Link and Saria could be a good couple, like they have been friends a long time

That becomes a problem, since Link ages and Saria doesn't.

It could be pulled off as a spiritual kind of thing as I think Link's attraction wouldn't be to her body but her soul; but they would probably break up sooner or later because of that exact same reason. Besides I'd personally see Link spending the latter half of his childhood in Hyrule to learn more about the culture he originally comes from and to meet his new friends. He'd probablynever forget the Kokiri, the forest and especially Saria and would show uo there from time to time to visit them.

Originally Posted by Yayu

It could be pulled off as a spiritual kind of thing as I think Link's attraction wouldn't be to her body but her soul; but they would probably break up sooner or later because of that exact same reason. Besides I'd personally see Link spending the latter half of his childhood in Hyrule to learn more about the culture he originally comes from and to meet his new friends. He'd probablynever forget the Kokiri, the forest and especially Saria and would show uo there from time to time to visit them.

Link would never forget that part of his past about being raised as a Kokirian and being Saria's best friend.

I mean, he would still love her, but only in that close/best friend kind of way.

Otherwise, it would just be too weird and people will accept is an inappropriate love.

Yeah, that's what I was trying to say. He'll never forget and he'll always love her as a dear friend, but a romantic relationship between them wouldn't work, at least not after he's grown up. As long as they're both still children maybe, but by the time he'd seriously be interested in girls to search for a partner he'd already be too old to be with Saria imo.

Yeah..LinkxSaria IMO has more of the close brother/sister best friends forever vibe to it like LinkxZelda. Only I think LinkxZelda has more potential for romance. As for Link being with Zelda and still being the lone swordsman patrolling Hyrule with Epona, IMO it makes no sense since he would spend more time socializing with Malon and Nabooru than his own wife. More than likely Link will have to be tied down to the castle if he were to marry Zelda. Thats why I prefer LinkxMalon in Link continuing the life of the hero riding around with Epona. With LinkxZelda he is more of an ornamental trophy/bodyguard constantly standing by Zelda's side 24/7. More than likely he is not going to have as much time to leave the castle to ride around with Epona anymore as he would if he were living at the ranch with Malon. As for LinkxIllia I don't like it period but at the same time it would not be that unusual if Link eventually decided to settle down with her instead of Zelda. But I prefer him with Zelda of course.

The thing is, were he to marry Malon he'd be just as tied town. With all the work he has to do on the farm he wouldn't find the time to ride around with Epona and even if he did find it sometimes, he'd probably want to spend a bit time with his wife or be too exhausted from the farmwork. Sure, Talon doesn't seem to have those problems, but I don't see Link letting poor Ingo do all the work.
If he were to marry Zelda, he could protect Hyrule as it's king and ride aroundwhen he doesn't have a royal meeting or is spending time with Zelda (not that Zelda couldn't ride with him). It's not like a king spents all his time with meetings.
I also don't see why he would be a trophy, since I'd see his and Zelda's relationship as one between equals.

Well I didn't mean ornamental trophy as a bad thing. But as for the labor thing at the ranch. Link has proven that he is able to lift big boulders so its more easier to believe that he could do a weeks work in one day that would give him more than enough time to saddle up Epona to continue the life of a hero in providing for the needs of the common people/diverse races of Hyrule and maintaining frontier defenses. Think feudal knight from medieval times and thats how I see LinkxMalon enabling Link to continue the life of a hero instead of it being hindered by petty manual labor. In a LinkxZelda Link would have to focus more on adapting to a royal lifestyle of courtly life instead of continuing with his old life as a hero riding around with Epona IMO.

Originally Posted by Yayu

True. That's why I think that if ZeLink were to happen in TP, it would need far more time than in OoT.
In OoT there's already an established relationship between the two as friends, while it seems to be more buisness like in TP.
Link does spend time with Zelda before MM, so I'd assume that the King wasn't against those two meeting each other, especially since Link still has the Triforce of courage after coming back to the past.
That's not really a problem in TP, since the people would remember Link being the hero that saved them. But there is, like you said, still the problem of Link not wanting to pursue kingship. I could see him doing that in the case that he really wants to be with Zelda, but he'd probably be a very unusual king.
You have none of these problems with LinkIlia, that's why I give both pairings an equal chance. Ilia would have to overcomethe emotional disconnection, Zelda the classic problem of being of a higher class.

I think the biggest problem any Link pairing from TP has to overcome (even the hypothetical "What If Midna Hadn't Broken The Mirror?") is the hero's wanderlust - having replayed the beginning of the game for the first time over the Xmas period, I noticed the callbacks to the beginning there are in that very last scene before the swoop to the goddesses/Triforce statue. The equivalent of the scene with Illia standing, watching Link go, was the one where she takes Epona down to the spring just before Fado comes in to shout - and the very, very first scene of the game has Rusl going (paraphrased) "once you've seen Hyrule, you'll want to see the whole world."

Well, Link's seen the whole of Hyrule in saving it, so now he's riding off to see the rest of the world. [Which is fairly typical for a Link, of course]

I certainly agree that, with him as the accepted "Chosen Hero" there would be no legal or class boundaries to him marrying Zelda (she bows to him after all, when she addresses him as such in the Light Arrows scene), whether or not the latter would cause problems on a more personal level. I can also see that Link may well have had a bit of a crush on Zelda, with the rather intense focus he has on her in their scenes together (notice Midna's rolling her eyes when she first notices this!). And, with the fact that royals often marry for advantage rather than love, and he's the Chosen Hero who holds the Triforce of Courage, Zelda has a motivation to take advantage of this and marry him to keep him - and the ToC - in the Kingdom.

Ultimately though, I don't see Link marrying anyone from TP unless Zelda cajoles him into it out of Duty on the part of one or both of them. I think if he married, it would be years down the line, and probably with someone we haven't seen.

I have a book that explains names. Zelda represents wisdom, someone who will peacefully and smart guide her people to prosperity. Link means deffense. They're only partners in business, they're closest relationship can be something like brother-sister friendship.

I think Malon is the right girl for Link. Talon himself gave an alusion to that. She has that tease-a-like attitude towards him. You know, like when a gril likes a boy and tease him all the time. You know what I mean.

Originally Posted by Tesla

I have a book that explains names. Zelda represents wisdom, someone who will peacefully and smart guide her people to prosperity. Link means deffense. They're only partners in business, they're closest relationship can be something like brother-sister friendship.

Well if the sibling theory were proven true it would make perfect sense. But yeah..I think Malon is more better suited for Link than Zelda who seems to be more of a maternal teacher/mentor best friend forever.

Your scenario is certainly very probable, Reboot and I really like the parallels you make. For ZeLink to work and be a romantic relationship in TP would definitely take a lot of time. The best for him would probably be if he married a courageous girl who wouldn't mind going on adventures with him.

I have a book that explains names. Zelda represents wisdom, someone who will peacefully and smart guide her people to prosperity. Link means deffense. They're only partners in business, they're closest relationship can be something like brother-sister friendship.

Your information about the names is certainly interesting, but why would their relationship be limited to brother-sister friendship? As I see it they'd balance each other out which I see as a very important factor in a relationship.

I think Malon is the right girl for Link. Talon himself gave an alusion to that. She has that tease-a-like attitude towards him. You know, like when a gril likes a boy and tease him all the time. You know what I mean.

Well, I always regarded Talon's quote as a joke, but I understand that not everyone does that. As for her attitude, I never really got that vibe, but it surely is a possible interpretation. I just think that an emotional understanding would be a very important factor and I just don't see Malon having that.
But with time I'm sure something could develop between them.

Well if the sibling theory were proven true it would make perfect sense. But yeah..I think Malon is more better suited for Link than Zelda who seems to be more of a maternal teacher/mentor best friend forever.

If Link would choose Malon such a relationship could maybe develop between him and Zelda, but I don't really see it. If you don't mind, could explain me what gave you that idea?

I think Midna is the hottest, then I think that Zelda is second.

I wonder how strong Midna actually is because she wears a rock hat andthen wears all the shadow peices over the top.

Originally Posted by HylianLink

I think Midna is the hottest, then I think that Zelda is second.

I wonder how strong Midna actually is because she wears a rock hat andthen wears all the shadow peices over the top.

I doubt that Midna being hot would have any influence on Link after a while

The "rock hat" is the fourth piece of the fuced shadow, but it would be interesting to know how heavy they are. Since they are magical artifacts I kinda doubt that they are really heavy though.

I find that that lump of characters a little silly. For the fact that you're referring to both Ocarina of Time Link and Twilight Princess Link at the same time. May I suggest that they get seperated into their own polls, since both young men are quite different characters, and have much different experiences than eachother. Not to mention the hundred or so years of seperation.

I'll just talk of them seperately then

Ocarina of Time Link -
I'm not even going to begin with this one. Link wasn't shown too much in the way of his personality, as his actions are almost all dictated by the player. (And his actions in cut-scenes were few and far between). So I ain't gunna say anything because it can go any way. This fact alone I think is the main contrabuter to why people get so up in arms about Link's potential love.

Just as a semi-joking note : But this Link seems altogether oblivious about females in general. It might be that whole... 10-year-old (or so) in a 17 year old's (or so) body. XD

Twilight Princess Link -
I think the only person it has the least chance of being be is Princess Zelda. At least, from what you see of them in the game. This Link certainly has more of his personal personality showing out in the cutscenes so you can see more of how he acts towards characters. I'm not saying Zelda is completely out of the picture, it's just less likely, due to his interactions with her. Which is very sparce. I'd say, out of likelyhood of who he likes the most (not the likelyhood of them getting together) is Midna > Ilia > Zelda.

Reason for this is that he interacts with Midna the most in the game. But Ilia shouldn't be so far down, as he probably knew her for most of, if not all, of his life. Zelda is last because of his sparce interactions. That's not saying they don't have any after the game. It's just based off what we've officially seen.

Then again, of who'd he actually hook up with would be Ilia > Zelda > Midna. Midna is gone at the end of the game. Gone. So... we don't know if they could ever get together again. So there's no way of knowing. So she's way at the bottom (but not an impossibility). Zelda is the middle for the same reasons before. Not enough interaction. Ilia is the highest choice at this point. But it really all depends.

And I'm not saying who I beleive he'd go out with. In fact, I personally think that should be up to the player entirely. As Link is a character that you play to represent you in some small way (hence his name "link" as he's the link between our world and theirs). So I beleive whatever people beleive he would do, is probably the most correct awnser. Since you are the driver of Link.

But if you ignore all that, I've already stated the likelyhood of each character being a potention love-interest.

So I'm not really wrong in any sence, since I never explicitly said any character had no chance, and I never picked out one in specific. ;] I was just displaying the chances.

In the end : I don't want to form an oppinion. I LOVE reading the masses upon MASSES of opinions everyone else has. It makes for good reading. XD

They all have a chance. (Some just higher than others)

Originally Posted by Yayu

If Link would choose Malon such a relationship could maybe develop between him and Zelda, but I don't really see it. If you don't mind, could explain me what gave you that idea?

Since Zelda has the TOW even as a child she would more likely have the maturity of a young teenage girl. Thats why to me she would be more like a teacher/mentor older sister type than a romantic lover. With Malon I don't get that feeling that she is going to motherly comfort and nurture Link as Zelda would. Therefore LinkxMalon makes more sense to me as a normal childhood friendship that has romantic potential as adults. With that said I still think OOT/MM LinkxZelda has a good chance to happen. Its just Zelda would be more dominant & domineering than Malon would be IMO.

Originally Posted by Ganonslayer2000

Since Zelda has the TOW even as a child she would more likely have the maturity of a young teenage girl. Thats why to me she would be more like a teacher/mentor older sister type than a romantic lover. With Malon I don't get that feeling that she is going to motherly comfort and nurture Link as Zelda would. Therefore LinkxMalon makes more sense to me as a normal childhood friendship that has romantic potential as adults. With that said I still think OOT/MM LinkxZelda has a good chance to happen. Its just Zelda would be more dominant & domineering than Malon would be IMO.

Wouldn't Malon also be pretty dominant thogh? Judging by Talon's reaction when you wake him up in the beginning of the game, I'd think she could be just as dominant as Zelda.
I also think that Zelda's wisdom is a good thing, since she'd think things through, while I see Link as a bit more impulsive, so they could help each other, based on their indivual abilities. Of course you could use that for argument, but personally I think that something like that is important in a romantic relationship.
I also think that Link would be more mature than other children at his age, because of all the horrors he's seen, even more so after the events of MM.
While Malon is certainly a possibility, I think she lacks an understanding of Link's feelings as she only knows her farm and never had to look at the grand scheme of things .
And while Zelda could be too maturew for Link, Malon could be too immature.

(As a sidenote: I love debating with you guys! Noone here is going hostile because of differing opinions, like I've often seen in pairing threads. (I've seriously seen people saying things like "You're stupid because you like chara XY and I hate her because she's a stupid bi***!!!!!!!!!!11111111"))

Yeah...Malon might throw a temper tantrum once in awhile and in certain ways she could be as dominant as Zelda. But lets face it, sweet & gentle natured Link would be dominated in any romantic relationship anyway. And I've heard all the arguements with Zelda being too smart for Link and Malon being too stupid for Link so I guess its all about personal preference. For me I prefer the dumb country girl, but I'm not against Link choosing to be with Zelda though. Whether as a best friend or romantic lover Zelda would be beneficial for Link in teaching him how to be the best hero he can be.

Link and Zelda have a more distant love relationship then Mario and Peach (their names also mean the same thing).

In Link's Awakening, Marin (who is like a dream counterpart of Malon) looks very interested in Link. She's obviusly expecting something more from him, even if she becomes a seagull. And Link didn't look like he didn't care when Marin joined him to wake the walrus. Also, player gets that lonely feeling after Marin going off with that rabbit. For the first time Link gets someone to go with ony his adventure (excluding Zelda in ALttP where she joined him only because he had to lead her out from the dungeon), and a stupid rabbit takes her away!

In MM, Romani (young Malon's counterpart) teased him a lot. As well as young Malon in OoT did, when they met. Maybe it's just me, but she shines with that kind of energy.

Adult Malon as well as Cremia (her counterpart) showed that "I'm anough old to take care of myself and help you now" attitude. And Link always helps her, in the end.

Talon has a Ranch and a bunch of horses, something that looks like a Link's type of guy dream. I wouldn't mind having such a woman and such a father in law. That story fits perfectly for me.

And as for the names, I' didn't interpret that well maybe, Link and Zelda are something like a main column of a house that keeps it from crashing down. Such people don't get involved in romance, they can be perfect friends but not lovers. My expirience teaches me that, too.

Yeah...Malon might throw a temper tantrum once in awhile and in certain ways she could be as dominant as Zelda. But lets face it, sweet & gentle natured Link would be dominated in any romantic relationship anyway.

Well, I never saw a Link as someone dominated easily, but the scene with Ilia in the beginning of TP would certainly be evidence for your interpretation of his personality.

And I've heard all the arguements with Zelda being too smart for Link and Malon being too stupid for Link so I guess its all about personal preference.

I didn't mean Malon would be too stupid, she certainly is rather smart, but she'd be as mature as others her age I think, while Link would be more mature.

In Link's Awakening, Marin (who is like a dream counterpart of Malon) looks very interested in Link. She's obviusly expecting something more from him, even if she becomes a seagull. And Link didn't look like he didn't care when Marin joined him to wake the walrus. Also, player gets that lonely feeling after Marin going off with that rabbit. For the first time Link gets someone to go with ony his adventure (excluding Zelda in ALttP where she joined him only because he had to lead her out from the dungeon), and a stupid rabbit takes her away!

Well, I always thought of Marin as a mix between Malon and Zelda. While she certainly is a prototype of Malon, she also shares many qualities with Zelda and Link even thought she was the princess in zhe beginning.

In MM, Romani (young Malon's counterpart) teased him a lot. As well as young Malon in OoT did, when they met. Maybe it's just me, but she shines with that kind of energy.

Adult Malon as well as Cremia (her counterpart) showed that "I'm anough old to take care of myself and help you now" attitude. And Link always helps her, in the end.

That's true. And, even though I never really was a fan of her, that are two of her qualities that I really like. As for Link helping her, doesn't he help anyone? But you could interpret Cremia's hug as a hint that he likes her...

Talon has a Ranch and a bunch of horses, something that looks like a Link's type of guy dream. I wouldn't mind having such a woman and such a father in law. That story fits perfectly for me.

Since he grew up in a secluded forest, I'm not sure if he even knew of things like these. And since everything is new to him, he could be fascinated by about everything. But it's always possible that he likes the natural atmosphere there and would prefer it over the castle.

And as for the names, I' didn't interpret that well maybe, Link and Zelda are something like a main column of a house that keeps it from crashing down. Such people don't get involved in romance, they can be perfect friends but not lovers. My expirience teaches me that, too.

I'd like to properly adress this point too, but unfortunately I can't, since I don't have much experience with a situation like that.