We now know that there will be no gender choice for Link in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, which went against early speculation and recent rumours that emerged.
While that has come as a disappointment to many, The Legend of Zelda series producer Eiji Aonuma has explained that, aside from Twilight Princess, the development team has always aimed to design Link as a “gender-neutral character.”
“Back during the Ocarina of Time days, I wanted Link to be gender neutral,” Aonuma explained to TIME. “I wanted the player to think ‘Maybe Link is a boy or a girl.’ If you saw Link as a guy, he’d have more of a feminine touch. Or vice versa, if you related to Link as a girl, it was with more of a masculine aspect. I really wanted the designer to encompass more of a gender-neutral figure. So I’ve always thought that for either female or male players, I wanted them to be able to relate to Link.”
He continued, “During the development of Twilight Princess, I went a different route and created a version of Link that was more masculine. But after Twilight Princess I went back to the drawing board and decided Link should be a more gender-neutral character.
“Hence I created the version of Link that you see in Breath of the Wild. As far as gender goes, Link is definitely a male, but I wanted to create a character where anybody would be able to relate to the character.
“So that’s why I think the rumour went around that Link could be a female. Because maybe the users were able to relate in that way.”
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild will release exclusively for Nintendo NX and Wii U in 2017.
F*** OFF, Link is a dude, always has been.
Agreed. Stupid SJW’s need a punch in their gender neutral crotches
Calm down, guys. OoT came out in 1998 so apparently he’s been gender neutral for 18 years now. He’s still the same Link as he’s always been and, as Miyamoto stated, you’re free to see him as a male. (There’s a major lack of female main characters in video games anyway)