Today, in Nintendo’s E3 Direct video, we were treated to the reveal of a new, gorgeous, open-world Zelda game. The trailer showed us a lithe, green-hooded protagonist riding a horse and using spectacular looking weaponry such as a bow. While they weren’t wearing a green tunic, they were wearing a bright blue shirt like Link wore in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker before getting his traditional green garb.
This isn’t our first time at the rodeo. There’s been twenty Legend of Zelda games, and they’ve all featured Link as the player character. Well, all except for one CD-i game where Zelda was the player character. The DS game where you also controlled Zelda’s spirit inside a large suit of armor and the puzzle game where you got to play as Tetra—who is, uh (spoiler!)… Zelda.
Still, in spite of those exceptions, it’s pretty reasonable to assume that the shaggy-haired, blonde, bow-wielding, horse-riding protagonist of a Legend of Zelda game is Link.
Right?
Eiji Aonuma, the producer on the new Legend of Zelda game, said something that may have shattered all our expectations about the Legend of Zelda game. “No one said that was Link.”
Several people on Twitter said they thought the player character looked more feminine in this trailer than he has in past games. On closer examination of the trailer, the player character in the gameplay footage has a ponytail, green hairband and everything—something Link has never had before. The player character also has earrings, but Link has had those in past games as well.
Is Aonuma hinting that the protagonist of the new Legend of Zelda game… is customizable? Is it Zelda instead of Link? Is it a new character altogether? Aonuma doesn’t seem interested in volunteering any more information right now, but we’re certain to find out before before the game’s release in 2015—barring delays, of course.
