The Legend of Zelda wouldn’t be the same without Link. While I’m desperate for the princess to finally be playable one of these days, the Hero of Time and his unique brand of silence lends the series a sense of personality that is almost unmistakable. He’s a confident, charming, and clumsy hero with a heart of gold and a brain of rock. He’s a himbo, an identity the beloved protagonist bears proudly as he saves the world again and again in spite of the obstacles that stand in the way. If Link was given a voice, his appeal would melt away, giving way to a greater sense of agency, taking away how each player makes this character their own, morphing them into someone with distinct fears, motivations, and passions that would interfere with the simplicity of Link’s quest.
My first personal recognition of Link as gaming’s ultimate himbo came with Breath of the Wild. This iteration of the character is a complete dumbass, but his situation is so absurd that it’s easy to forgive his constant state of aloofness. When we take control and do just about everything except the task at hand – conquering the Divine Beasts and saving Zelda from Calamity Ganon – we’re enabling his himbo-ness. As Link awakens in the Shrine of Resurrection, he stumbles nakedly into a series of chests before dressing himself and stepping out into the land of Hyrule. So much has changed in the past century, so helping hands guide him towards his ultimate destiny with brief tutorials and a few helpful items that make the coming journey that much easier.
Related: NEO – The World Ends With You Review
The way Link reacts to all of this is just adorable, with dialogue options exhibiting an aura of warm cluelessness as we can choose to either joke around with new characters or play the fool and try to figure out exactly what is going on. I always opt for a mixture of both, playing the jokester as people react to the Hero of Time’s presence with a mixture of joy and confusion. This can’t possibly be the saviour of Hyrule the legends speak of, can it? And why is he standing here dressed in women’s clothing, asking me about the local wildlife? As they’re left pondering this question, I sprint off a nearby cliff and dive into a horde of goblins ready to cause untold chaos. Link’s willingness to hurl himself into danger with an innocent smile is part of Breath of the Wild’s core appeal, presenting a protagonist dripping with personality despite grunts, screams, and signs of exhaustion being his only form of expression.
Cooking in Breath of the Wild is the one act I’d show people to help them understand Link’s character. He’ll throw anything into that cooking pot, and it will often result in failure, but the way his smile erupts into an unbridled signifier of joy as a dish emerges triumphant never gets old. It’s so cute, and a pure representation of someone who is happy whenever something goes their way, whether it be saving friends from danger or being amused by a butterfly passing by. Link is clueless in the most endearing of ways, and the fact we’re able to directly facilitate that with our own actions only gives it more weight. A true himbo for the ages, and one I hope the sequel isn’t afraid to expand upon with a similar level of dedication. Even Zelda thinks he’s a bit of a dummy, but she loves him for it. Please indulge me being a helpless romantic. I'm fully aware how trash I am.
Link in Twilight Princess, Ocarina of Time, and Wind Waker is somewhat more stylized and serious, so it’s harder to label them as a himbo when the game surrounding our tunic-wearing warrior doesn't accommodate this. Twilight Princess is incredibly serious, Wind Waker is more cartoonish, while Ocarina of Time was our first foray into the third-dimension which had yet to provide Link with a more robust identity. All these iterations of the character are special in their own way, but Skyward Sword was the first game to lend Link a personality that meant something more to me, and managed to showcase connections to other characters in a way that felt beautifully genuine.
I wrote about the relationship between Link and Zelda in Skyward Sword recently, and it’s one that tears away the framing of royalty and knighthood to depict a bond between two dorky teenagers who are growing up in relatively normal circumstances – aside from the fact they live in the sky. Something is blossoming between them, and Link responds to all of Zelda’s comments with an innocent smile and rampant enthusiasm to do right by her. They’re childhood friends, and spoken dialogue isn’t needed to cement how much they mean to each other. Link smiles and nods, just happy to be there and living his best life. When destiny tears everything asunder, our hero will do anything to restore the status quo, yet his stance of childlike wonder and doe-eyed innocence never wavers.
The Link we know and love wouldn’t be the same without these qualities, an unmistakable dedication to the himbo way that constantly delights and surprises. Many of Link’s actions aren’t meant to be funny, but the way in which he reacts to and solves certain situations only serves to make him even more adorable. In the past, we’ve seen fans talk about the need for the series to be serious, for blades to bleed in service of an epic tale of fantasy that took itself seriously with no room for childish humour or emotional connection. The Legend of Zelda wouldn’t be the same without an element of whimsy, a chance for players to lose themselves in iterations of Hyrule brimming with imagination and possibility. Himbo Link is a core ingredient in all of this, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Next: Death Stranding Doesn't Need A Director's Cut
