Aonuma wants Link to have a gender-neutral appearance so that anyone can relate to him
When Zelda: Breath of the Wild’s was initially announced, there was talk about Link possibly being female. Producer Eiji Aonuma eventually shot down that idea, but speculation had been swirling before this week that the game could include an option that would allow players to choose a gender.
Link may look a bit feminine in Breath of the Wild – or at least slightly less masculine compared to how he looks in Twilight Princess. However, his appearance is intentional.
Aonuma explained to TIME that he “wanted Link to be gender neutral” going all the way back to Ocarina of Time. This was done so that different types of players could relate to the character. Aonuma said that he “went a different route and created a version of Link that was more masculine” with Twilight Princess, but “went back to the drawing board and decided Link should be a more gender-neutral character” after that title.
Aonuma’s comments in full:
“Back during the Ocarina of Time days, I wanted Link to be gender neutral. I wanted the player to think ‘Maybe Link is a boy or a girl.’ If you saw Link as a guy, he’d have more of a feminine touch. Or vice versa, if you related to Link as a girl, it was with more of a masculine aspect. I really wanted the designer to encompass more of a gender-neutral figure. So I’ve always thought that for either female or male players, I wanted them to be able to relate to Link.”
“During the development of Twilight Princess, I went a different route and created a version of Link that was more masculine. But after Twilight Princess I went back to the drawing board and decided Link should be a more gender-neutral character. Hence I created the version of Link that you see in Breath of the Wild. As far as gender goes, Link is definitely a male, but I wanted to create a character where anybody would be able to relate to the character.”
“So that’s why I think the rumor went around that Link could be a female. Because maybe the users were able to relate in that way.”
