Link only has to pass a few of their trials to prove that Link is a hero worthy of their respect and to gain permission to roam freely through their territory. They don’t allow anybody to enter Gerudo Desert without their approval. The Gerudo are suspicious of all newcomers regardless of gender.
What about the all-female tribe of the Gerudo which Link must infiltrate? Aren’t they suspicious of Link because he’s male? No, not necessarily.
Link’s relationships with the other female characters, including Saria and even Princess Zelda, are loving but strictly platonic friendships. The only two female characters in the game that are mentioned as potential partners with Link are Ruto (the Zora princess who presents Link with the Zora’s Engagement Ring for rescuing her) and Malon (whose father, Talon, jokingly asks if Link wants to marry her). Why not? I don’t see any reason why the fantasy land of Hyrule couldn’t include some diversity just like the real world. I’d like to be able to play this game with my daughter and not have the game calling her a boy, so I hacked a gender-neutral version that replaces all of the male pronouns with gender-neutral language wherever it refers to Link.ĭoes this mean that some of the relationships depicted in the game - all of which are notably unrequited since Link never responds to any romantic advances - might not be strictly heterosexual? Sure.
Like the other games in the Zelda series, the in-game text of Ocarina of Time refers to the player (Link) as male even after allowing the player to input their own name into the game. It has since been ported to the GameCube, Wii, Wii U and 3DS, but the original N64 version remains at the top of many “ best games of all time” lists. Zelda jumped from 2D sprites to 3D worlds in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, released in 1998 for the Nintendo 64 console with much fanfare and critical acclaim.