Random Headcanon: Link’s androgyny isn’t just an artefact of the Zelda franchise’s art direction – and neither is it particularly unusual. Sexual dimorphism among Hylians is legitimately much lower than among real-world humans; if Link and Zelda swapped clothes, you’d never be able to tell who was the girl and who was the boy.
Consequently, Hylian society depends heavily on clothing to establish gender roles, to the extent that it’s a severe faux pas to question someone’s gender presentation. If they’re dressed like a girl, then they’re a girl – even if they were dressed like a boy yesterday. That’s why nobody ever remarks upon the fact that Zelda and her heroic alter-ego Sheik are different genders; it’d be gauche at best to bring it up.
Good post op
explains why i can be banned from gerudo town, change clothes in front of the guards, and then be welcomed with open arms
shit, this absolutely provides an explanation for it that isn’t just “lazy game mechanism” and is honestly such a solid demonstration of how people should approach genderfluidity.
doesn’t matter if the first time you met the person they presented as male, if they present as female now that means they’re a woman and they’re welcome into gerudo town no questions asked
Also, Link and Zelda 100% do swap places often and you can’t tell me otherwise.
“Princess Zelda, Ganon has made his way into the kingdom! What should we do?!”
“HYAH”
Holy shit this is a good fucking post and additions thank you OP and company
Zelda is very young. Give her another ten or twenty years and she may grow to look a lot more like her father.
Okay, this is hands-down my favourite response, even if it is facetious. I absolutely need to see fanart of a thirtysomething Zelda who’s inherited her father’s inhuman proportions.
We’re thinking all wrong here. This has nothing to do with family bloodline:
In Zelda games, fully grown adult rulers are just bigger than everyone else. You gain a position of authority, and you get big.
The kings of Hyrule? Great big fellas. Ganondorf? Huge. The Zora kings? Gargantuan. The zora queen’s ghost? Far bigger than any living zora in Twilight Princess. Headmaster Gaepora of the Knights’ Academy in Skyloft? Towering. King Bulbin? Absolute unit. Kaneli, the owl leader of the Rito? Biggest bird in the village. The leader of the ancient robots or the Parellae? Literally dragons. Midna, once restored to her throne? Statuesquely tall. Elderly Impa? The largest Sheikah if you include her hat, which is a moral imperative.
So a Zelda who takes the throne WILL be larger than other Hylians, but not because of genealogy, but because it’s part of the job description. The only possible alternative is that I’m confusing cause and effect and Zelda will never gain political power because of her lack of extreme girth.
Here’s a quick comparison of a typical species member:
And here’s a leader of the same species:
Now there’s a fun idea. I wonder if you gradually grow into it, or whether our hypothetical Queen Zelda will just don the crown and instantly “power up” to full imperial stature, like Mario picking up a mushroom?
they’d give her biceps-like-sacks-of-boulders bodybuilder physique, or else they’d just make her really fat. Neither of those particularly reflect the Standard Hyrulian Imperial Build, at least not for Hylians.
Did anyone say giant, middle-aged Queen Zelda? Because that is a delightful concept.
And for the record, biceps-like-rocks and/or fat sounds awesome too, and I’d love to see it drawn!
Say hey there, young one, up here… *waves* if you like my art style/innuendo-heavy sense of humor you should check out A New Calamity (<- link to page 1). It’s about a female incarnation of Link (”Linke”) who joins the Yiga Clan to resurrect Ganondorf. Enjoy~
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