You know, I never thought about how old Link and Zelda are in the games. Never really had a need, of course, but in some games it’s made obvious (literally switching between child link and adult link), I’m not sure if it’s explicitly stated for wind waker but just look at him… But then, in BotW there’s implications of past romance, and this being the last Zelda game I played might have primed me to not think of Link as a kid.
Looking at box art and other artwork Link always seems to be a preteen or teenager (12-14) in most games. Plenty of games have him smaller then all the adult NPCs and it makes sense considering classical fairy tales usually star children. I don’t remember most of Zelda’s inspirations right now but Miyamoto was inspired by how he used to explore the countryside as a child. I
The only “adult” versions of link are the ones in , OOt, TP, SS* and the wild games (and the non cannon warrior versions).
However, I think it’s easier to sell Link as an action hero when he’s a more serious looking adult and post WWs backlash Nintendo seems to be purposely focusing on adult links.
I also think link was also purposely designed to be androgynous so that girls could also connect to him but I may be misremembering the exact quote.
Link is also a hylian and hylian designs tend to be very elvish which could help explain why even the more adult versions don’t have any facial hair. Elves tend to be more “twinkish” to contrast with regular humans and dwarfs in most fictional settings.
You know, I never thought about how old Link and Zelda are in the games. Never really had a need, of course, but in some games it’s made obvious (literally switching between child link and adult link), I’m not sure if it’s explicitly stated for wind waker but just look at him… But then, in BotW there’s implications of past romance, and this being the last Zelda game I played might have primed me to not think of Link as a kid.
Wind Waker begins with grandma giving you your tunic for your twelfth birthday. :3
BotW has Zelda turn 17, so link is probably around that age as well
Would be creepy if he was 40 and just doing all this to groom her when she turns 18.
That’s the Tingle timeline.
Looking at box art and other artwork Link always seems to be a preteen or teenager (12-14) in most games. Plenty of games have him smaller then all the adult NPCs and it makes sense considering classical fairy tales usually star children. I don’t remember most of Zelda’s inspirations right now but Miyamoto was inspired by how he used to explore the countryside as a child. I
The only “adult” versions of link are the ones in , OOt, TP, SS* and the wild games (and the non cannon warrior versions).
However, I think it’s easier to sell Link as an action hero when he’s a more serious looking adult and post WWs backlash Nintendo seems to be purposely focusing on adult links.
I also think link was also purposely designed to be androgynous so that girls could also connect to him but I may be misremembering the exact quote. Link is also a hylian and hylian designs tend to be very elvish which could help explain why even the more adult versions don’t have any facial hair. Elves tend to be more “twinkish” to contrast with regular humans and dwarfs in most fictional settings.
* This needs a better abbreviation