Why Gender Select In "Zelda Wii U" Would Actually Be A Good Thing

Gender select for ZU has been a rumor going around lately, probably based on the fact that when the game was initially released, there was a mistranslation regarding the identity of Link and for about a day the whole internet assumed that the blue tunic'd person in the trailer wasn't Link but someone else, and his extremely androgynous/feminine appearance only further fueled that, so theories like it being Zelda or Link's daughter were going around like crazy.

Things got cleared up, of course, but, well.

Gender select is a rumor I've seen going around, both in rumor posts and in posts making fun of the rumor posts (usually including things like voice acting and "extremely skyrim, no linear plot" and other stuff that's really REALLY unlikely for a Zelda U game) - I mean, it's not really a surprise. Gender Select doesn't seem that likely, but listen.

It'd be a really nice thing to have.

And, I think it is something that Nintendo should consider, really consider, just based on what Link is supposed to be. I mean, I know by this point he's a titular character and maybe they don't feel the same way about him as they used to, but when he was created, he was created as a link between the character and the player---that's where his name comes from. That's also why he was created to be so androgynous in appearance, and why you can name him.

However, despite this, Link is constantly referred with he pronouns. And, I mean, that's fine. Link the character is a boy. There's plenty other games where you can name the characters whatever you want and that doesn't mean they're you even if you name them after you. But, considering what Link was created to be (again, someone the player can project themselves onto) it's a little...

I wouldn't call it surprising, I just. I think if Nintendo wants to keep that concept for Link, that concept that as a character Link only exists so the player can insert themselves into the world, they need to include gender select.

Because, for me and a lot of other female Zelda fans, we can't name Link after ourselves. I mean, we can. But the constant "he" pronouns make it extremely uncomfortable. You see your name and then you see people referring to you as a "he" and that's, that's not. That's not right. That's not me. I'm not a boy.

I named Link after myself for the first time in TPHD, and I regret it so much. Maybe some of it is it's just unnatural to see my name in the place where I'm used to Link's name being, but the he pronouns definitely aren't helping. It's gotten to the point where, discomfort wise, I can't read the dialogue with my name in it. I have to mash through the text box because it makes me so uncomfortable to be referred to as a boy, because "Mr. rar" is not me.

I'm not the only person who had this problem, either! A friend of mine named Link after herself in Wind Waker, and ran into the same problem I did. It was always uncomfortable to her to be referred to as a boy in game.

If you want players to project onto Link, you need to make it possible for Link to be referred to with the proper pronouns for the player.

Gender select wouldn't need to be a big deal, either! I don't know how hard it actually would be, programming wise, to just have it be a switch that fills in the pronouns with either he or she depending on what was selected, but like. That's all you need to do. You don't need to change any dialogue. Link doesn't say anything to begin with, and, even if Link did, it wouldn't have to be like Fire Emblem where the dialogue and character interactions change depending on the gender. People think that needs to be a thing, but no. No characters have to say anything different just because Link is a girl. You just have to change the pronouns. (And use gender neutral words like "kid" instead of boy or girl.)

You wouldn't need a separate model, either! If Link stays as androgynous as he looks in ZU promotional trailers, then that's all you need. It serves its purpose. Link looks androgynous enough that both male and female players can project onto that face.

That's all you need, and it would fit into the concept Link is supposed to be. And that's why I think it's so important. If Link is supposed to be someone who links the player into Hyrule, then gender select needs to be an option.

Alternatively, though unfortunately more controversial, the other option is to refer to Link with gender neutral pronouns. Again, unfortunately, though using "they" pronouns as gender neutral pronouns for a single person is something we do in speech all the time ("oh no, someone left their umbrella here" or referring to someone on the web you don't really know the identity of "yeah they did this cool thing check it out") and it has caught on around the internet, but it's still... It's still not accepted in a lot of places. It sucks, and it should be accepted in more places, because language changes and evolves over time.

Realistically speaking, neutral pronouns isn't something I see Nintendo doing in Zelda U, at least not any time soon. And, definitely not for the main character of the game. I wish that wasn't the case, but I see gender select happening before gender neutral pronouns.

And, I mean, I don't really realistically see gender select happening either. I just think it'd be a cool thing, along with kind of important if they really want to keep presenting Link as a character that exists to be named after the player, to be a link into the realm of Zelda.

As closing: I don't super care either way, I just think it'd be cool to be able to play as myself in a Zelda game, and I think it'd be cool to truly play as a female Link, too. Or to have the option to play as a female Link! And, not any of this Linkle "not actually the legendary hero Link" BS. Truly, honestly, the same exact story but with a different gender, female Link.

I think me and a lot of other fans would like that.