#like to me twilight princess is the definitive Link Look (when not a toon) | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

izunias-meme-hole · 10 months

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Link Designs Ranked

Zelda 1/Adventure of Link

There is not much to talk about here. The design is the base for every Link in the series, and it actually the best out of the NES era triforce trio designs, mostly because the simplicity works surprisingly well here. 5/10

A Link To The Past/A Link Between Worlds/Oracle Games

This is an improvement over the NES design. Not much has changed, but the change in tunic and artstyle truly helped benefit Link this time around to create a truly iconic design. However it does suffer from being outclassed by some of the later designs for the character. 9/10

Ocarina of Time/Majora’s Mask (Young)

Beautiful. It’s simple, it’s instantly recognizable, and it’s fitting for the younger incarnation of The Hero of Time. Instant 10/10

Ocarina of Time (Adult)

While not my favorite design for Link, this is still one of his best designs. It’s the classic tunic, but with a white undershirt and white tights. However the context makes this design work better than it should. 9/10

Fierce Diety

What you think of when you’re thinking about Hyrule’s Hero, but it’s a sick design regardless. 10/10

Hero’s Shade

He looks like a frickin’ Eldin Ring character, but I cannot ignore how fitting this design is. 8/10

Toon Link

This is my fifth favorite design for da boi, primarily because of the artstyle, the coloring, and the simplicity of his design. He’s the literal embodiment of “he’s just a little guy,” and it works in his favor, especially since Link is pretty much usually just a guy before he becomes a hero. Instant 10/10

Twilight Princess/Smash Bros

I like the extra detailing, and the more knight-like feel, but the darker colors don’t do it for me. Regardless it’s pretty cool. 9/10

Skyward Sword

The more detailed design from Twilight Princess got altered into this, and I’m all here for it. The brighter colors, combined with the expressiveness Link has in that game instantly sells me on it. Instant 10/10

Hyrule Warriors

The foundations that Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword set up have been brought to their final evolution. A more knight-like Link with a big ol’ blue scarf and a vibrant green tunic. Beautiful. Instant 10/10

Ancient Hero

I’m intrigued, but… this unfortunately is an 8/10

Breath of The Wild/Age of Calamity

Link looks so great in blue. As for the attire itself, it’s yet another simple yet effective look. Instant 10/10

Tears of The Kingdom (Champion Tunic)

Not much has changed, but the design does have a similar knight-like aura to what we see in TP, SS, and HW, Rauru’s arm definitely looks cool. Still, this isn’t the best Link design in the game. Instant 10/10

Tears of The Kingdom (Archaic Tunic)

Between the return of the green, the rugged feel of the tunic, the little triforce shapes on the side, and the unkempt hair, Link looks perfect. The design is drastically different to anything we’ve seen, but in a good way, and I’m all down for it. Instant 10/10

#link #ancient hero #hero’s shade #the legend of zelda #legend of zelda #a link to the past #ocarina of time #wind waker #twilight princess #a link between worlds #skyward sword #breath of the wild #age of calamity #tears of the kingdom #hyrule warriors #ranking

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mimzalot · 1 year

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we never really needed the Zelda Timeline

from twitter • 7th July 2019

sharing my thoughts on the Zelda Timeline, oral tradition, gamer intellectualism and one of the best characters in Breath of the Wild. I may wrongly use 'oral history' and 'oral tradition' interchangeably but you get the gist of it.

hadn’t put this into words until recently but I think part of the reason the Zelda timeline never mattered to me was because Zelda has always been a bit more like oral history, rather than written history. it’s the Legend of Zelda, not the Cross-Referenced Facts of Zelda.

makes sense, too, why all the Zelda games have vastly different tones, but the same underlying themes and plot - Link is the archetypal hero (like Jack and Jill, Jack and the Beanstalk), and all the different ‘styles’ of game are the different voices they’re recounted by.

you got one person that tells the story with a light-hearted comedy tone! Wind Waker. you got that aunty that’s a fan of ghost stories and plans to terrify you! Majora’s Mask. you know that cousin who’s a big fan of birds? Skyward Sword! each legend embellished in its own way.

and not to be Me about it but it makes me wonder how much of this desire for Zelda’s timeline to be a written, coherent, step-by-step factual recount of events is tied in with the idea that historical, written fact is seen as intellectualism, whereas oral tradition is... not.

I’m used to oral tradition. as a Samoan, much of my knowledge of history has been told to me by family, and while there is value in finding the ‘truth’ of the matter, a lot of times, you just enjoy the story. there’s nothing to prove with it, you just listen and learn.

as a Samoan I’m also used to the fact that this isn’t really seen as a valid or intellectual form of academia. and as a member of the gaming and Zelda community, I know that there’s a pervasive obsession with academia, intellectualism, and proving video games are ‘smart’.

if you’ve been part of the Zelda community for longer than a minute you’ve probably at some point become aware that some Zelda fans - and Nintendorks overall - have suffered with an inferiority complex. the definition of ‘real games’ did not include games about fairy forest boys.

when ‘real games’ had to have the most realistic graphics, dark themes, competitive modes and, well, guns, Zelda fans were chuckled at by ‘real gamers’. it was a good game, but it was a kids’ game. Zelda fans scrambled for legitimacy in the gaming community.

evidence: when Wind Waker was first announced, the great source of fan despair? it was too cartoony, it wasn’t dark enough. how was Zelda going to be taken seriously when, while the rest of gaming was boasting realistic graphics, Nintendo had veered off-course into toon town!?

similarly when Twilight Princess was released, the great source of fan rejoicing was that it looked serious, dark and gritty. Link looked more realistic, and this looked like a game that wouldn’t have the Halo nerds laughing at you when you said it was the best series ever.

so what does the disenfranchised nerd with the inferiority complex do to intellectualise their media? how does the Zeldweeb prove their lore should be taken seriously? you take every piece of it and try to put it down on paper, in sensical order, as evidence. it’s history, baby!

you could probably skip the inferiority complex bit and jump straight to the fact that white audiences will naturally attempt to intellectualise through written history, because historically speaking, that’s what white history is all about. if it ain’t written, it ain’t legitten.

whether it’s because of an inferiority complex, or the cultural context within which media is consumed, or the nature of academia being steeped in white concepts of ‘truth’, we’ve been left with Zelda fans that are DESPERATE for the timeline to make sense. DEMANDING that it does.

and all I’m saying to my fellow fans is - it doesn’t HAVE to. it never had to! firstly because that’s an inherently flawed method of justifying the merit of something, but also because gaming elitism is dumb and there’s no need to force this game to be historically accurate.

because without this urgent demand for a Confirmed Zelda timeline, Hylian lore would be just like my ‘Fierce Deity Link is Sheikah’ headcanon, and numerous other Zelda fan theories - good, regardless of canonisation. speculative, like legends oft are. oral tradition, not written.

... but it’s 2019 now. the Historia was released, and you can tell the games are being made with other games and The Timeline in mind. and this isn’t bad! in fact it’s a pretty interesting progression from oral tradition into written that mirrors real world civilisations. sweet.

Breath of the Wild is the ‘convergence’ game, where all the haphazard timelines come together. to me this is a turning point in the Legend of Zelda, because from here on, games have a unified starting point. The Timeline can, from this point forward, be strictly abided by.

... but speaking of oral tradition and Breath of the Wild, I find it really charming that as Nintendo officially creates a ‘logical’ new-start for the written Zelda timeline, they also introduced an in-game personification of oral lore itself. or a birdification, rather. Kass!

was this thread just an excuse for me to gush about my favourite bird bard, Kass? I mean, no, but while I’m here, let’s talk about Kass! bc I love him, and also because there’s something very meta about a Legend of Zelda character whose sole purpose is to tell the Legend of Zelda

TLOZ as a whole operates mostly on oral lore. more often than not you are told of your history by others - from a great tree, a dead King, a Happy Mask Salesman. your sidequests are primarily word-of-mouth. music is integral in how you connect to Hyrule, past, present and future.

this has become a fundamental and seamlessly integrated part of how the series functions. just like you know that when you hit a crystal something will happen, you also know that in order to understand your surroundings you need to listen to people, stories and songs. NOT read.

... which brings us back to Kass! while the rest of the series (deliberately or not) makes gameplay out of oral tradition, Kass personifies that tradition. at the turning point of The Timeline, Kass both explains and demonstrates how Legend works, in-game and in-general.

and I find it extremely effective and maybe a little sentimental that while we can expect everything henceforth about The Timeline to be indisputable fact, there’s a character which exists purely to represent the legitimacy, excitement and cultural function of oral tradition.

(that the Rito seem coded as a tribal unit that live in a village and operate within a chiefly system not unlike my own culture probably adds to how quickly this comparison occurred to me, too, buuut culture-coding in Zelda is a topic for another day)

Breath of the Wild marks a junction. a new slate - ha ha. gameplay includes more elements of written history (filling a compendium, reading journals, visiting memories based on photos), throwbacks take full advantage of a chronological timeline (location names, weapon lore, plot)

Link is usually our bard, through which we create and share the Legend of Zelda. now, as Link, BOTW and maybe even the series overall develops in another direction, Kass is our bard, and he behaves as a testament to the original point of the thread - the oral history of TLOZ

and it’s just nice to think that this history is being fondly represented in the form of a big bird accordionist that gets bummed out when you don’t want to hear him talk about Zelda. I can relate to that. I think a lot of us can. especially the bird bit. huh? what? I DIGRESS.

ultimately, I didn’t need the timeline. I don’t really think anyone needed it as badly as they thought they did. but! I don’t reject The Timeline. a solid foundation opens up new avenues of storytelling - a direct BOTW sequel with reference to past lore, for example! EXCITING!

I just hope that while the franchise evolves with The Timeline in mind, we can still appreciate that, even untethered, in all its tonally diverse and time-insensitive glory, The Legend of Zelda was never ‘broken’, it was just a history unwritten - and no less enjoyable that way.

feel free to celebrate reaching the end of this thread by listening to this lovely song cover and joining me in prayer that Kass returns with more tunes for BOTW2. MAY THE LIGHT ILLUMINATE YOUR PATH!

additional notes: playing Tears of the Kingdom now and feeling INCREDIBLY vindicated rn. please no spoilers in the tags if you reblog but also SCREAMS AND RATTLES I LOVE ZELDAAA

#legend of zelda #breath of the wild #FEELING VERY VINDICATED IN THE CLUB TONIGHT FELLAS #kass #mimzameta

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starkettes · 1 year

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you have inspired me . and i am indeed a child with figurines that i will absolutely show off to you even if you just nod and give a thumbs up at the end <33 my love language is pulling up a blackboard and sitting whoever im talking to down for The Talk and this will happen. you cannot refuse it <33333

(for real tho it took me months to also learn how to discern the links from each other AJSJSJAJ so yes to make it as simple as i can i will only deal with the canon 3D games . im listing them by order of their game release, but definitely not in the correct order of their place in the timeline(s). ily so so so much and im sorry in advance for the long infodump of an ask)

Ocarina of Time + Majora's Mask

the original 3d little man <33 hes like . the only 3d (adult) without chainmail bc he lived in a forest full of immortal children for his entire childhood (we dont talk about his age in majoras mask bc its complicated but just trust me hes a literal manchild) so AJSJAJAJ i differentiate him by that and his pants being distinctly white. the entire franchise and lore did him SO dirty but thats not the point of this (frothing at the mouth to rant about it but at another time)

Wind Waker

littlest of little men <33 hes the easiest link to distinguish from the others mainly bc of the art style, to the point that the fandom also calls him toon link. you can also tell ww link by the little swirly belt buckle thingy he has. also ALSO his tunic having a combo of dark + light green. literally forced the gods to choose him as his era's hero (he never held the hero's spirit in the first place) all bc his sister got kidnapped. absolute force to be reckoned with but still has voice cracks and Will Not Swear in front of his grandma in my hcs. all links are gremlins but this one literally sails with pirates so he has the background AHSHSHAHH

Twilight Princess

I WANNA BE A COWBOY BABY

fr tho hes so <333 AUGH. can literally turn into the goodest of good boys (wolf link). hes the disney princess of links bc animals Cannot And Will Not Hate Him. differentiated by the chainmail and his pinchable cheeks in game <333333 (also one of the only links imo that is absolutely not compatible with their zelda bc midna is rIGHT THERE. once again not the ask for this but i have. thoughts and things about tp zelink and tp link in general)

Skyward Sword

HES SO SOFT AUGH IM CRYING I WANT A PLUSHIE FRFR AJSJSJAJA but fr . absolute himbo and dumbass but vv much in love with his zelda <33 he has such a similar design with tp and its hard to be sure its him bc both tp and sksw link wear chainmail, but the art style of the game makes it so that the one who has the brighter and more pastel green is sksw link. his hair is also kinda diff and more soft looking, and hes also right handed <33

Breath of the Wild

do i need to explain. im so sos sos ssoss s9 r9rbf mentally ill over this reincarnation specifically <33 i really hope that i ruined this character for you now with my ability to not shut up about him for more than one (1) week. distinguished by blue and gender and hair and literally just everything bc im crying nintendo really hit peak character design with him and if somebody were to ask me to give a ted talk on him i wouldnt even know where to start bc hes just so PERFECT and augh look ok his character is so complicated starting wi-

okay it’s currently 3:30 am i will read this when i wake up

okay good morning im putting on my glasses cracking my knuckles and reading this like a grandma reading the news

the first two and twilight princess is crazy who the hell needs a hat that long i wouldnt be able to resist i would yank that thing off his head and run away jack sparrow style

wind waker link is so damn small he using a needle or something for a sword like he's desperaux 😭 😭 also didnt know he had a sister always assumed he was only child bc..well idk he just seemed like it to me

i was aware of wolf link (bc of how much u like him :3) but i didnt actually know anything so again i went to the fandom wiki and read it he's so cute (and midna rides on his back they look so cute 😭 <33) i am putting him in a puppy carrier and taking him with me

yeah breath of the wild is the main link i know of like that is the representative of the links to me thats the guy i know ALSO HE'S 4'11 I AM JUST BARELY TALLER THAN THIS GUY well a win is a win when ur short

this was great to learn actually and just know that if i ever get around to writing my head (1968) essay i’m gonna do this to you too <3

#thx u for this rei <33 #u are always more than welcome to dump about the blorbos around here #loz #soul-of-rei #mailbox

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emilypemily · 4 years

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halfboyfriend replied to your post “i have the most nostalgia for ocarina of time and wind waker, but part...”

yeah i fully agree. twilight princess is better than breath of the wild because you can pet the dogs

i can’t believe that a game that came out nearly ten years later had such a major downgrade as that!!

#halfboyfriend #also lowkey link looks far better in twilight priness than breath of the wild #like to me twilight princess is the definitive Link Look (when not a toon)

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jcmorrigan · 3 years

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Link

Twilight Princess Link is the one I know best but Skyward/Toon might blend in here

1: sexuality headcanon - BABY BI BI BI. Look, I just get the vibes that in TP, the people he finds just drop-dead gorgeous are Ilia, Zelda, Midna, and Shad. (I'm not gonna do my essay on why ShadLink is a super emotional and fun side ship but rest assured I have one.) I don't really care about BOTW but I hear that he has a crush on a big fish man and good for him. It's what he deserves. Skyward Link is probably in a state of "OH NO HE'S HOT" about Ghirahim's flirting, like "This man wants to kill me, why am I staring at the biceps when he does the dramatic poses, please brain not this man." But! Girls! Oh my God women are so beautiful to him! Midna was an AWAKENING. I'm not big on Zelink (except weirdly in Minish Cap) but I can see how it flavors canon. And Skyward? I, uh...I like Link/Peatrice. I know it's a whole "test of honesty" sidequest but I like to think that if you choose to confess to her, it's because Link DOES mean it, because she's always waiting for him when he has items to check and he probably can't help but tell her about some of his adventures when he does and then oh no she's too cute when she does the happy dance and Link has a weak heart that gets crushes way too easily. Link goes around his daily life like "The boys are pretty. The girls are pretty." And I don't know of a character we can canonically call nonbinary (except maybe Link himself?) but I'm SURE he would also find enbies also too pretty. And no, I don't see him as a horny perv type. Link is a BLUSHING AWKWARD MESS who tries to sweep all his crushes off their goddamn FEET so he can spend quality time with them.

2: otp - I don't know anymore for TP Link because I juuuuuust broke up my longtime love of MidLink (listen...the cinematic parallels between Midna and Lailah Zestiria were too strong, and now MidLailah is a thing and oops, Midna is ALSO bi as fuck) and I just said ShadLink was lovely but I also have nostalgia for Ashei/Shad so Iunno. But Skyward Link definitely is destined for PEATRICE. Listen, the dynamic of "chosen one hero who goes on the adventure x the one shopkeeper you have to meet up with basically every time you set out for a mission" SPEAKS TO ME, OKAY?

3: brotp - Midna. Zelda. Linebeck. Ashei. Agitha. Colin.

4: notp - There's not really any one ship I haaaaate for him. Even GanonLink could be fun if you do it right. I'm not a fan of the way most people play GhiraLink admittedly - you do you, but I always feel like Ghirahim needs somebody more VICIOUS to match his evil energy (I feel very strongly about villain4villain ships). But it's not BAD and it has some basis in canon subtextual dialogue. I guess the only ship that would gross me out upon sight is if you put him with Epona in a scenario where Epona did not gain human-level communication abilities.

5: first headcanon that pops into my head - I just like to think that after the events of Twilight Princess, Link realized that he loved the thrill of the journey more than he did just kicking around home, and though he does still have a permanent house in Ordon where he grew up, he will also take any excuse for a ROAD TRIP ADVENTURE.

6: one way in which I relate to this character - Taking the weight of the world upon our shoulders.

7: thing that gives me second hand embarrassment about this character - Sumo Link in the iron boots. Because I would become an embarrassed mess if I had to wear that little fabric and so then I of course have to imagine wearing that little fabric and become an embarrassed mess just thinking about it. He is a braver person than I.

8: cinnamon roll or problematic fave? - CINNAMON ROLL

#link #legend of zelda

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sloth-incarnate · 6 years

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My Smash Bros. Dream Roster

So this is going to be pretty lengthy. This is pretty much a list of fighters I would love to see in Smash, maybe not in Ultimate, but in any future games, and my reasoning for it. I’ll go in order of most wanted as well as by game. Feel free to just skip all this and just go through the piks.

First off, I desperately want some Golden Sun in Smash, and so I am an absolute Isaac stan. He and Felix are very similar as they are both earth adepts (like earth benders I guess) and could easily be made into an echo. Although they are usually shown with swords, they can wield other weapons such as axes not to mention their large arsenal of elemental psynergies (magic?) that could be great in Smash.

Zelda is another of my favorites, and there are so many characters that could be featured. Although everyone wants Skull Kid, I think there are some other viable options that could have a chance of appearing. First, there are Vaati and Zant, two of my favorite Zelda characters. They both use very unique magics and attacks, and Vaati in particular has a lot of potential. Plus, his games need more love. Something cool is that almost every modern Zelda game is represented in the roster. The new Link is from Breath of the Wild, the Zelda is reminiscent of her Link Between Worlds/Link to the Past design, Ganondorf got his Ocarina of Time Look back, Young Link is from Ocarina and Majora’s Mask, and Toon Link is from Windwaker. Ganondorf and Zelda held their Twilight Princess designs for two games, so that was sufficiently represented. However, Skyward Sword is sadly not present, although there is a stage. Some possible Skyward Sword fighters could be FI, the dancing sword spirit, and Impa, who could either be a Sheik clone or have her own movesets with a naginata as in Hyrule Warriors. These, in my opinion would be great choices.

Kirby needs some more representatives, and although Bandana Dee would be great, I’ve always loved Marx, the Jester. If Kirby Star Allies has shown anything is that Marx has incredible potential as a playable character and is just so crazily cool to play as him. It would be pretty easy to bring over his Star Allies moveset to Smash. Seriously, look up some footage of how he plays. It’s seriously fun. Another recurring character is Galacta Knight, who is like a powered/evil form of Meta Knight. He would be a great echo, although a bit more on the berserker side, even though he could easily get his own movesets. If not, I would absolutely love at least an alternate costume for Meta Knight and not just a color swap. Galacta Knight is just Cool.

From Pokemon, there are literally more than 700 options to choose from. Although Incineroar and Decidueye would be great, I think Gallade and Gardevoir would be more interesting choices. I really love both of their designs and think they could be great. Plus, it’s a sin that Lucario is the only fighting type in a fighting game. As for gen 7 representatives, another good choice could be Tsareena. She would be pretty unique as a lot of her attacks would depend on kicks, and would not be bad as a Zero Suit Samus echo. If Ivysaur and Duck Hunt has taught us anything is that you don’t need to be bipedal for Smash. I think Silvally could be a great choice as well. Plus his recolors are already part of its concept.

Another series that’s close to my heart is Fire Emblem. Although there are already plenty of reps in the roster, they don’t do a good job of representing what else the series has to offer. Most of the Fire Emblem characters (if not all) wield swords of some kind, but there are other weapons they could focus on. Axes, Lances, Magical tomes of all kinds, throwing knives, clubs, hammers, bows, and even staves could all be used more creatively for a character. The roster definitely needs more magic users, so I hope they take this into consideration. Fire Emblem has a new game coming up, Three Houses for Switch, and although not a lot of information has been revealed about it, there’s a high chance we may get another character from Fire Emblem from that. From what is known so far, there may be a chance that either Edelgard or Byleth (the typical blue haired protag) may be featured. As for Edelgard, she is seen using Axes, so if they go with her, they will hopefully choose that as her weapon. Not much is known for Byleth, but hopefully, he is more flexible with his weapon choices.

Another series close to my heart is Final Fantasy. Smash gave us the grand surprise of adding Cloud to the mix, and so it has opened the gates of possibility. Although some popular characters such as Noctis or Lightning would be cool, I think more iconic characters would be better for Smash (if any). When we think of Final Fantasy, we often think of their iconic black mages. Representative of this is Vivi, who is probably the most recognized mage in the series. Two more icons of the series are the adorable Moogles and the loyal Chocobos. However, instead of being on their own, why not fuse them together and have a Chocobo-riding moogle join the fray? It would be adorable and it would be open to unique playstyles. This character would be reminiscent of Duck Hunt, Rosalina and Luma, Ice Climbers, or even Bowser Jr.

Some other representatives from other series include Blathers and Timmy and Tommy Nook from Animal Crossing, Toadette from Mario (yeah I know, TOO MANY MARIO CHARACTERS etc), and Roll from Megaman. Monster Hunter has been present in Smash as well, and Ultimate even has an assist trophy and stage. I love the series and a fighter would be great. The trouble with this is that a monster hunter now has 14 different options when it comes to weapons, and they can only use one at once. It would be difficult to decide which weapon style to put in the game, and they might just end up putting another sword user, (would love a gunlance though I doubt they’d do that) so a compromise to this could be to add a hunter Palico. These witty feline companions have a variety of attacks and techniques including a boomerang and a melee weapon, as well as bombs.

Finally, from Sonic, everyone is expecting Shadow, but honestly, Tails and Knuckles sound so much more interesting. Knuckles is confirmed as an assist, so Tails could still have a shot. He’d be an interesting fighter and more Sonic representation would be awesome.

Let me know what y’all think of my choices. Feel free to tear me apart in the comments. Just be civil.

I didn’t expect to write an entire essay, but thanks for the read.

#super smash bros #smash bros ultimate #golden sun #legend of zelda #pokemon #kirby #fire emblem #animal crossing #Final Fantasy #sonic #monster hunter #megaman #nintendo #switch #sloth incarnate

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