Female Link Deserves to be More than just Concept Art

Hyrule Warriors just launched in Japan to much fan fair and Nintendo was quick to make sure a collectors edition was available. Included with the collectors edition was an art book, and inside the art book, an artistic rendition of Link as a female. The caption specifically states that this is a sketch of Link re-imagined as a female, leaving out any possibility that media outlets have misinterpretation the art.

Gaming art, however, does not always come to reality in a game. Concepts are pitched, characters are drawn, and a large amount of submitted ideas and mock-ups never actually make it to the final product. If it were not for the fact that this was a Nintendo franchise, I would say, “If Marvel can make Thor female, Nintendo can make Link female.” But it is a Nintendo franchise, and it is run by an older generation of individuals.

Nintendo is not known for breaking barriers on controversial subjects (even those subjects, like this one, that isn’t even that controversial). When Tomodachi Life players picked up the English port and realized that same sex marriages were not an option in the game, Nintendo brushed it off as complications in the porting process that made it impossible. 

Although I feel this situation shouldn’t be on the same level, part of me is worried. Most other popular franchises with long histories have opted to allow players to choose either a female or male characters. Harvest Moon, Fable, and many more were always games with male leads. However, a change in society resulted in changes in the gaming marketplace for almost everyone. Are Zelda fans really not going to pick up the new Legend of Zelda if playing as a female is an option (and potentially the ONLY option)? Of course not.

I hope Nintendo takes this concept art and implements it into their new Legend of Zelda game slatted for 2015. I’m not saying that playing a female Link has to be the only option; I like the idea of giving the player choice. After all, it is 2015 and we should be past this by now.