I’ve been following A Question of Character for a while, I love their dramatic descriptions of old school video game characters, though they can some times not be flattering. But i’m happy we finally got my boy, and it is very flattering.
You don’t often see analysis of Link that just sticks to one game like this, especially a 2D game.
lol why is Dobson's favorite Link the dude bro Link?
Ironic, isn’t it?
Given his obsession with “Link must have brown hair”, I’m going to assume that Dobson self-projected hard onto cartoon Link growing up, seeing said Link as what he wanted to be as an adult, or a goal to aspire to. So any criticism against the Zelda cartoon was an attack on him personally, in his mind.
i want to punch this incarnation of link so badly. he's kind of an asshole, and he is literally the biggest simp in the whole cartoon. why did dic make the decision to fuck him up like this???
(+characters dressed like him/referencing his appearance)
Will reblog with images
Standard "Legend of Zelda" Games -
Skyward Sword
The Minish Cap
Four Swords
Ocarina of Time
Majora's Mask
Twilight Princess
Four Swords Adventures
Breath of the Wild
Tears of the Kingdom
A Link to the Past
Oracle of Seasons/Ages
Link's Awakening
A Link Between Worlds
Tri Force Heroes
The Legend of Zelda
Zelda II: The Adventure of Link
The Wind Waker
Phantom Hourglass
Spirit Tracks
Outside Standard "Legend of Zelda" Games -
Pre-Minish Cap
Pre-Four Swords
Pre-Breath of the Wild
Hyrule Warriors
Age of Calamity
Cadence of Hyrule
BS The Legend of Zelda
BS The Legend of Zelda: Ancient Stone Tablets
Link's Crossbow Training
The Legend of Zelda Game Watch
Zelda (Game & Watch)
Link: The Faces of Evil
Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon
Zelda's Adventure
My Nintendo Picross: Twilight Princess
Other Nintendo Picross Games
Pre-Skyward Sword Manga (Akira Himekawa)
Valiant Comics (George Caragonne)
Other LoZ Mangas/Comics/Books
DIC Legend of Zelda Cartoon
Captain N: The Game Master
Super Smash Brothers series
Mario Kart 8
F1 Race
Uniracers (Unused)
Super Mario Maker
Animal Crossing Series
Soul Calibur II
Donkey Kong Country 2
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
NES Tetris
Tetris DS
NES Remix
Death Road to Canada
Sky: Children of the Light
Monster Hunter
Dynasty Warriors VS/Samurai Warriors Chronicles3
Kirby Series (Sword Ability)
Yoshi's Woolly World
WarioWare Series
nintendogs + cats
AR Games
Miitomo
Miitopia
StreetPass Mii Plaza
Find Mii
Nintendo Land (LoZ: Battle Quest)
Nintendo Badge Arcade
NES Remix 2
Nintendo Cereal System
World of Warcraft
Yoshi's Island 4
Asterix & Obelix XXL 2
Terraria
Transformice
Scribblenauts Unlimited
Tekken Tag Tournament 2
Sonic Lost World
Dino Run
Starbound
A Hat in Time
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Jump Rope Challenge
Bayonetta
Phantasy Star
Final Fantasy (sort of)
Google Maps
Ittle Dew
Mable & the Wood
Super Mario Bros. & Friends: When I Grow Up
The Cat Mario Show
My Little Pony
Powerpuff Girls
Nintendo E3 x Robot Chicken
Golden Sun: The Lost Age (Unused; source code)
Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga (Unused)
Marvel: Ultimate Alliance (Unused)
((There may be more than one "Link"-type character in a single entry -- Hero's Shade, Fierce Deity, Linkle, Ravio, Animal Crossing player in Hero's Outfit + W. Link, Mario Kart Links + Outfit for Miis, the pre-characters listed above, etc.))
((I am counting characters who can dress up as Link, such as in BS Zelda, Sky: Children of the Light, Animal Crossing, the Badge Arcade rabbit, etc.))
((The same Link can appear in multiple entries.))
Got a lot of information from these sites:
Let me know if I missed or skipped over any that I should add to the list!
When DiC went to translate the Legend of Zelda into a Saturday morning cartoon there were naturally a lot of challenges.
One of the main issues with the game is the constant stream of enemies. Hardware limitations of the time meant that enemies respawn after a few screens have been traversed. But what does that look like in a cartoon?
The team behind the animated Zelda cartoon actually came up with a nifty canonical way to both respawn enemies and not have them constantly being violently killed (likely to appease the FCC guidelines overseeing kids media at the time).
Ganon just has an “evil jar.” It’s literally just a large jar that (when an enemy has been zapped by Link’s sword) get transported and respawn back in the jar. It’s a novel little piece of lore and world building that was sadly absent in all Zelda games…
Until Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom.
To explain how enemies respawn, Nintendo created the blood moon. Now when a blood moon rises, all previously slain monsters are respawned. This helps keep the open world gameplay engaging. But it’s also really cool that is very similar to the idea that DiC came up with in the 80’s.
Almost 30 years apart and yet the 80’s cartoon still has relevancy!
Remember that old Japanese magazine that interpreted Link as a redheaded girl? I based some AU concepts on it.
I dunno yet if an actual story will come from this, but the basic premise: Link, a mercenary from Calatia, arrives in Hyrule alongside her travel companion Xellos. Her ensuing adventures would probably be structured like DiC's LoZ show, except Link is much less of a conversationalist.
Other notes:
Xellos is an OC; he's a mage who made a pact with a Great Dark Fairy for increased magic power at the cost of being her servant. (The Great Dark Fairy in question, Solo, is a good guy--but she's rather capricious.)
Sarsaparilla, another OC, would be Zelda's fairy companion here.
All of the Sages in OoT are named after towns in Zelda II, with the exception of "Kasuto"; as such, "Kasuto" is a bit like Sailor Moon's equivalent to "Sailor Earth". This take on Kasuto is a sharp-tongued circus performer.