The Romance Thread IV: The Debate Continues

I gotta ask, what is so appealing about Link & Midna? Personally I think they are the ugliest couple in Legend of Zelda. I think Link & Ruto would make a better couple. Maybe I just don't understand. Or I missed all of the "signs" throughout TP. Can anyone tell me what is so appealing about that couple? Not being rude, just curious.

^
For me it's not so much that it's appealing, but more that it makes the most sense. Minda is always touching Link when she asks him to do things for her very much in the way that a lover would. And then Link, takes her back to Zelda to be healed and Zelda sorta gives her life to save Minda. And while I sure this made Link a little sad he would have been more depressed if Minda had died. I think he really cares for her, after all he didn't have to go get the mirror of the twilight. He could of left, he cured what he though he had too, and had already gone through the temples to get the fused shadow for her, so why continue. But he does.

The Ruto and Link you are talking about are in a completely different game, how does that compare?

Originally Posted by Vamachara

I gotta ask, what is so appealing about Link & Midna? Personally I think they are the ugliest couple in Legend of Zelda. I think Link & Ruto would make a better couple. Maybe I just don't understand. Or I missed all of the "signs" throughout TP. Can anyone tell me what is so appealing about that couple? Not being rude, just curious.

These are good questions for sure. For me I'm indifferent to LinkxMidna but it seemed that the gamemakers at Nintendo intended for TP Link to want Midna more than he wanted Zelda. This is the core reason why TP is infamous for being the least Zelink Zelda game of all time. From reading various fanfic/theories LinkxMidna seems to have a little hint of the kinky eroticism of the dominant ruler type like Midna having Link as the obedient sex slave.

Ooooookay, any mod gonna delete this?

Ugh, troll.

But yes Ganonslayer that was what I was getting at.

I would say Midna because Tp was the frist time i had seen link care about some. (you know like kinda defend her)

But he cares about others, too
Even in TP itself he deeply cared about Ilia and the children from Ordon, so it's not a Midna-only thing, even though I do see the romantic possibility between the two.
He also cares about others in the other games, Aril and Tetra in TWW for example.

I gotta ask, what is so appealing about Link & Midna? Personally I think they are the ugliest couple in Legend of Zelda. I think Link & Ruto would make a better couple. Maybe I just don't understand. Or I missed all of the "signs" throughout TP. Can anyone tell me what is so appealing about that couple? Not being rude, just curious.

I'm not really a LinkMidna fan, but I still kinda like it. It's just their connection to each other and the way their relationship evolved. In the beginning Midna blackmailed Link into helping her getting the Fused shadows and Link looked like wanted to get rid of her and at the end she warped him and Zelda out of the castle to protect them and takes Ganondorf alone on (note Link's reaction when he realizes her plan and when he thinks she was killed) and even Ganondorf comments on their friendship. They also shared their hardshps and have a better emotional understanding than even Ilia and Link I think; sure, she knew him in the beginning of his quest, but she wasn't there with him when he saw all those horrors he encountered during it. Midna was there and Midna saw him change.

Hm. Interesting. I still think they love each other as friends, personally. I never caught any hint of romance between them. Even if they did become a couple, I'd never see it lasting very long.
I do agree that TP had the least amount of LinkXZelda ever. It was different. I haven't decided if I liked it or not. lol

@QueenInsane: I have no idea why I used Ruto. I wasn't thinking completely. My bad if I confused you in any way.

I guess out of all the possible couples in TP LinkXIlia make the most sense to me. (Not the reason I have my certain avatar. I found the pic to be really kewl & it in no way depicts how I feel. I just like it)

Originally Posted by Vamachara

Hm. Interesting. I still think they love each other as friends, personally. I never caught any hint of romance between them. Even if they did become a couple, I'd never see it lasting very long.
I do agree that TP had the least amount of LinkXZelda ever. It was different. I haven't decided if I liked it or not. lol

@QueenInsane: I have no idea why I used Ruto. I wasn't thinking completely. My bad if I confused you in any way.

I guess out of all the possible couples in TP LinkXIlia make the most sense to me. (Not the reason I have my certain avatar. I found the pic to be really kewl & it in no way depicts how I feel. I just like it)

I think it was entirely off because they were more focused on the relationship between Midna and Link.

And if you observed closely, Zelda is much taller than Link, hinting that she is slightly older that he is.

She just had too much power to fall for Link in TP this time. Midna was in the spotlight for this game.

Just to stir things up, I'm going to post a collection of negative evidence that refutes all possible ships:

Link/Zelda:
TP:
- Link and Zelda barely interact. The majority of the time he's still in wolf form.
-Link and Midna seemed to be the official couple, and there's nothing Zelda can do about it.

OOT:

-At the end, presumably no one but Link or Zelda remembers anything of their adventures. So in what way would a relationship between them ever be tolerated, when he's seen as nothing more than some strangely-clad boy from the forest?
-The only real romantic moments between them were in the manga, which is non-canon.

Link/Ilia:

-TP's ending suggested that Link was leaving Ordon. Whether or not this was for good is anyone's guess.
-As some people have pointed out, the fact that they are "childhood friends" diminishes the probability of a romantic relationship.


Link/Malon:

-How much you interact with her and even the way you treat is dependent upon the player. The first time I went through OoT I barely interacted with her at all. Thus the arguments for this pairing depend on how you played the game.
-The ending shows him going back to Zelda, which suggests Link cared more for her.

Link/Midna:

-Midna returns to her world and destroys any way of travel between her world and Link's.
-Even if they could see each other, I find it hard to believe that Link would give up his life as a hero in Hyrule to be with the ruler of some foreign kingdom. Link/Midna might work as a short fling, though!

Link/Nabooru:

-That she doesn't seem to age in seven years suggests she's quite a bit older than Link.
-She's a thief. Link, being the upstanding hero, might find that hard to reconcile.
-Not to mention that living with her would involve living with the Gerudo, who are all women. Wait, is that a BAD thing?

- Link and Zelda barely interact. The majority of the time he's still in wolf form.

Agreed.

-Link and Midna seemed to be the official couple, and there's nothing Zelda can do about it.

There's no official couple. LinkMidna is just as official as LinkIlia or LinkZelda.

-At the end, presumably no one but Link or Zelda remembers anything of their adventures. So in what way would a relationship between them ever be tolerated, when he's seen as nothing more than some strangely-clad boy from the forest?

He spended enough time with her to be trusted with the Ocarina of Time. He also probably helped out the Gorons and Zoras, just in a way that didn't help Ganondorf. Besides, the intro of MM makes it seem as if he did something heroic in the CT, and even though that could probably interpreted differently, there's still TP which mentions a hero with special connections to the Gorons (the bow) and the Zoras (the Zora Armor).

-The only real romantic moments between them were in the manga, which is non-canon.

That's up to interpretation. (And no, I don't think they were madly in love during the game.)

-TP's ending suggested that Link was leaving Ordon. Whether or not this was for good is anyone's guess.

Agreed.

-As some people have pointed out, the fact that they are "childhood friends" diminishes the probability of a romantic relationship.

I agree with you here, but I still see the possibility that Link and Ilia could be one of those few instances where such a relationship works.

-How much you interact with her and even the way you treat is dependent upon the player. The first time I went through OoT I barely interacted with her at all. Thus the arguments for this pairing depend on how you played the game.

Totally agree with you here. It's one of the problems that LinkMalon-shippers have, but unfortunately I've often seen this point ignored. You can't just assume that they had much interaction when it is entirely up to the player how much he wants to interact with her.

-The ending shows him going back to Zelda, which suggests Link cared more for her.

Personally I agree with you, but it's one of those scenes that are up to interpration.

-Midna returns to her world and destroys any way of travel between her world and Link's.

Yep.

-Even if they could see each other, I find it hard to believe that Link would give up his life as a hero in Hyrule to be with the ruler of some foreign kingdom. Link/Midna might work as a short fling, though!

It's arguable, but I tend to think similar about it.

-That she doesn't seem to age in seven years suggests she's quite a bit older than Link.

She's definitely out of her teens, but she could still be in her twenties. It might still be a bit to much of an age difference for some people.

-She's a thief. Link, being the upstanding hero, might find that hard to reconcile.

(Doesn't he steal himself in LA?) Might be true, though.

-Not to mention that living with her would involve living with the Gerudo, who are all women. Wait, is that a BAD thing?

Of course it isn't a bad thing. But then we'd have to hope that the Gerudos don't have problems with cheating on them...

(Doesn't he steal himself in LA?)

Doing that is completely optional. Also, LA was just a dream. That and it doesn't fit with the timeline as LA comes long after OoT.

Oh, I know that it doesn't fit with timeline. I just wanted to say that Nintendo gave the player - and therefore Link - the possibility of stealing, so I don't think it were completely against his "character". Even though they are different Links, I don't think he would steal in one game and completely oppose stealing in another game. He also seems to have not much trouble with the Gerudo after they accept him. So, if he really wanted to be with Nabooru, I don't think it would stop him. The question is: Would he want Nabooru? Normally I wouldn't think so, but it's an interesting crack!Pairing.

(Sorry that it took so long to answer.)

Originally Posted by Eternal Legend

And if you observed closely, Zelda is much taller than Link, hinting that she is slightly older that he is.

What's wrong with liking older women?

Or she's just...taller. Zelda also wears high-heeled shoes which might account for the difference in height.

Also, for the bit with the meaning of names...Link (as in the sense of "link in a chain") comes from Old Norse hlenkr from Proto-Germanic *khlankijaz. Zelda is a shortened form of Griselda, which is an Old High German name believed to mean "dark battle." Not that anyone cares, just putting it out there.

Now, I wonder what people think of the scene in TP where Ilia gets her memory back, and you see all the children watching through the window. I felt a definite "leave the two lovebirds alone" vibe from it. Personally, I think this scene justifies not showing Link definitively pairing up with any woman, because I felt the game was trying to pair Link (who is my player avatar) with a woman who, if I were Link, I would not want to be with.

Nintendo only named him Link because he is the 'link' between the player and the main character, as told in an interview.

Originally Posted by Månegarm

Now, I wonder what people think of the scene in TP where Ilia gets her memory back, and you see all the children watching through the window. I felt a definite "leave the two lovebirds alone" vibe from it. Personally, I think this scene justifies not showing Link definitively pairing up with any woman, because I felt the game was trying to pair Link (who is my player avatar) with a woman who, if I were Link, I would not want to be with.

Agreed. And I got the same vibe too from that scene.

Personally I think the game tried a little too hard too push LinkxIllia as a romantic item. Especially in the beginning. It in effect made me dislike her and I personally would prefer Link to hook up with Hena, Ashi, Telma, or a random Hyrule Town maiden instead of Illia. But I accept Illia as a definite romantic possibility even if I do dislike her being paired up with Link.

Seems like Link/Ilia is the most hated pairing right after Link/Ruto...

I'd say that Link x Saria is more hated, it has less votes than Link x Ilia.

I personally don't mind Ilia. Sure she may have gotten angry at Link, but all couples do that. All realistic couples in the real world will argue. If a couple never argues, they are considered mentally unhealthy. Since the world never agrees and never will, it is only natural that people will from time to time get angry at each other.