I was looking at some of the old topics (Why Link? and the Why Zelda? ones) and I was just curious to see the reasons why we love the pairing of Link and Zelda, and not really so much as other pairings.

What I like about Zelink, is just the way their relationship is. They know (or it seems like they do) that they're more than just friends...but they don't really figure out why. Its their love that really makes me happy, that time after time after time, they seem to end finding each other, no matter what. That Link always seems to end fighting to help her and for her. I mean come on, nobody can keep these two apart! And if somebody ever does keep them apart...I'll have Epona eat them >.>

I also like how they always seem to understand each other. The two of them could probably sit in silence for like 3 hours, and enjoy every minute of it, because they are with each other. I don't know. It just seems like that whatever they do, or whatever the reason they do it, they always understand why the other did it.

So. What do you like about the pairing Zelink, and why do prefer them to other pairings?

Why not? That is the true question?

:P

Seriously though, it's just classical. No-one else can be with Link except Zelda. It just DOES NOT LOOK RIGHT (unless you have a very skilled artist drawing Malink). But I rest my case. That's only my opinion, and if you say that Malink or whatever else works, cool. But for us Zelinkers (and we are many and the majority-fear us or we shall glomp you Malinkers :P ) it's just not right to see Link with anyone OTHER than Zelda.

I'm supposed to be doing English. Can't chat long...I'll give my retarded views another time...:D

I agree with DH. Why not? Why would you not support/like this pairing? Because its classical? Sorry, but Hero's and farm girls are classical stuff too! :lol:

Seriously though, Link and Zelda are one of my favorite pairings because they share such a beautiful, intense relationship that lasts over time. Who wouldn't love a romance that lasts through reincarnations? (if you believe that theory, the way I do) Theirs is a lasting bond, so deep, so. . .so beyond physical stuff. I really hate it when people make love all about sex, and with Link and Zelda that isn't the case, though I don't doubt that things could get steamy between the two! ;) They are totally dedicated to helping each other. . . and I just love them!!! :zelink:

Yup, yup. So true. This is my analogy:

Like Mario is to Princess Peach,
Link is to Princess Zelda

It's just natural. She's the only constant female character throughout the Legend of Zelda series. I think people just need to grit their teeth and bear it. Link has had more romantic relationships with her than any other female character in the series. (She's winning as far as tallying. XD) There may be other pairings that appear, (some I don't really mind and some that just make me squirm...) but nevertheless, Link and Zelda are the most natural to me.

I guess to answer your question.
i could not possibly like any other pairings other than ZeLink. I mean this is obviously cannon and this is the one that makes the most sense. Everytime i play a game and a scene comes when they two of them are wrapped up in thier feelings for eachother, even if they are not nessesarily doing anything, just seeing them next to eachother gives me a warm feeling inside.

Just think about how many times Link has put his life and the world in danger to save his beloved. It brings a tear to my eyes i swear. I find myself somtimes, thinking up of some doujinshi plots i can write about the pairing. Its just so...so..
I cannot even find a word to describe it..so im just going to say Magical.

Now let me bring up the other pairings.

Link x Saria.. i seriously don't see how people can get caught up with this pairing.
Link left the Kokiri forest and doing so, he is no longer able to go back. Also the kokirians do not age. Saria will always be a little girl where as Link will grow and mature. Besides Saria isn't nearly a strong enough female to be compatible with Link.

Link x Malon..Um Malon is just the ranch girl. They don't really show that much of her in the games. How on earth can you support somthing that has basically no cannon proof?

Link x Shiek....ehh...FYI Shiek is Zelda's alter-ego. How on earth can you be in love with someone's alter-ego? Besides isn't Shiek a guy? If they arn't then they must be mad on steriods. >.>

Link x Midna...She is a freakin Twilit for god-sakes!!! She isn't even Human! She is like a chibi bat toad thing. He might aswell be in love with my little sister's toy teddy bear.

Link x Illia...this pairing kills me becuase in TLP it seems to lean more towards this end then ZeLink. But the LxZ love still prevails. And Link isn't really just saving her. He is also saving the other ordan children as well. She just happens to be one of them

Well, look at it this way: its canon, and its a constant relationship (even in games without much LZ stuff, we can still see it :P).

It works better than all the other pairings simply for those two reasons. It also helps that Link is always saving his princess, and that they do seem to genuinely care for each other (yay for OoT), so it all works. Therefore we support it :D

(I'm sick of being on the losing side for pairings in shows, so the constant LZ is a nice change :P Go Zelink! :zelink:)

Zelink is archetypal - knight and princess - so it appeals, off the bat, to many people. It's set up so that emotions are bound to be inherent no matter how superfluous the games might portray the relationship - when you're saving someone, obviously that person is a constant source of worry and concern; when you're being saved, the same applies.

So the premise is naturally excellent for setting the atmosphere - then comes the characters themselves. Here perceptions branch out to fit a particular fan's needs: for me, Link remains faithful to how he's presented in the games: a quiet hero who says more with his eyes than his words. And as for Zelda I see her as emotionally handicapped by her role rather than by her capacity to feel - so for me, Zelink is summed up in this unspoken conversation that ensues between the two, and I get all happy with just the thought of it.

Heaven knows I've seen perfectly charming Links with full-blown personalities and loads of witty dialogue - same goes with the Princess - and I enjoy those portrayals as well. It's the strain of roles and duties versus personal contact which keeps me coming back for more Zelink, though. :D

Why Link x Zelda vs the others?

I'm probably echoing what others have said but it's the only one that feels right.
And Link as the Hero is "bigger than himself" if you know what I mean...he always looks from the outside-in to the world and situation of the people he helps...as much as he may get thanked and stuff..he has to consider bigger things...think MM how regardless if you helped everyone, the moon would crash down if Link didn't do his thing. He was literally living outside of time to complete this as well. So by becoming and accepting the role of the Hero..he's not going to fit in. And who else understands this? Zelda. She understands the selflessness and the heart required to drive him, because she herself has the same thing. She too lives to serve others.
If they are together, they don't have to be alone. And probably because of that, the depth in their relationship is unmatched.

Like Wintercream, I can list off my problems with the other pairings:

Link x Saria: I think it's close to L x Z, but on a smaller scale. Saria is serious, caring and deep much like Zelda, but she can't age...and is bound to her forest while he is destined to leave. Despite that, she still cared about the big picture ( as a Sage ) but it couldn't be.

Link x Malon: My least favorite. Mainly because the impression I always got was it was a shallow attraction on her part, with little to nothing valid reciprocated from him.
I believe she was being attracted to the Hero, and not necessarily Link as a person.
And the lifestyle...she loves her ranch. ( And so does Cremia and Romani ) Seriously..good for her, but it's such a small existance compared to what he does..I don't think she could understand him like Zelda does.

Link x Sheik: "I passed myself off as a Sheikah"....male or not, Sheik was Zelda in disguise.

Link x Midna: Midna is pretty close to Zelda, same motivation as Zelda, same outlook on life. Even same actions as most Zelda's, she will go out and fight for her people and world. The only thing I can see is the Shadow vs Light thing that kills it on a technicality. Why do I like ZeLink better? Because despite Midna's awesomeness, she still had some character flaws that Zelda didn't and I don't think Link would appreciate.( pride, spitefulness )

Link x Ilia: While I like this better than Link x Malon, I don't think Ilia is going to be able to handle the changed Link...he's grown out of Ordon, and she hasn't. He's not the same simple boy she loved...and I don't think she could in any case handle what he has to deal with in his new life. ( Bloodshed, Death etc )

Don't forget Link/Nabooru and Link/Ruto (jeez, OoT Link had his hands full :P)

Not that those two are valid anyway: Ruto had the whole different species thing (not to mention she was a spoiled brat when he first met her), and Nabooru is an older thief who doesn't show that much affection anyway (she was mostly just teasing him).

And again, consider how Zelda is the only female character (out of Link's possible romanctic options) to appear in more than one game....thats gotta mean something. I mean, if he was in love with Malon (or whoever) the whole time, why doesn't she appear in more games? If he loved her so much, why didn't she re-incarnate all the time too? Sure, she wasn't important to Hyrule as such, but she was important to Link. And why have all the zelink in other games if he was originally in love with someone else?

The whole Link/Ruto romance was rather one sided. Link's reaction to her advances were somewhere between embarrassment and horror :blink:

As for Link/Malon, the only reason I can figure what that pairing is so popular is because Malon herself has little to no real personality. As I said on the Malon topic, she basically likes horses, is a little bit lazy, and doesn't mind being saved by a hot guy. This can be said of pretty much every female. So it's easy to imagine yourself in Malon's shoes, and so when people say they are Link/Malon shippers, they may actually be saying they are a Link/Themself shipper :P

The only other viable partners for Link have been Sheik, Tetra and Midna, and two of those, as we all know, are Zelda in disguise. And while there is a veritable boatload of evidence of Link/Midna hints, that relationship can't really progress any further when those involved are stuck in different dimensions.

Also, I don't care how much people argue that Sheik is a dude, Sheik will always be a girl to me, as I shall demonstrate with math:

Sheik = Zelda
Zelda = Girl
Therefore Sheik = Girl

The only reason why Guy!Sheik seems to be so popular is because of the yaoi fangirls. The only other Link/guy pairing I've seen a lot of is Link/Dark Link, and that just defies all logic :wacko:

Like many of us have said before, aside from Ganon/dorf, Link and Zelda are the only reoccurring characters. Their destinies are all intertwined, so they are the only ones who truly know what the others have gone through. And being that Ganon/dorf is too busy trying to take over the world, no matter his incarnation, that just leaves Link and Zelda to bond while they work to stop him.

And I'm sorry, but whoever decided that Link/Ganondorf was a viable ship needs to be kicked in the head. They hate each other, and no amount of lust is going to make Ganondorf want to make sweet love to Link on satin sheets and make him his wife. *frantically tries to forget the badfic where just such a thing happened*

Lol...Ruto.

I agree with ^...it was one sided. As much as I liked Adult Ruto as a person..she wasn't meant for Link and she knew it. Her re-assuring Link about Zelda's safety was really big of her. :)

Nabooru x Link: I don't think her ammoral streak would sit well with our hero. Midna too was pretty ammoral...but to me it seemed when she started behaving the way Zelda normally does ( determined, selfless, duty-driven )..THAT was when Link fell for her. Nabooru's also way too old for him.

Another one I thought of:

Link x Medli

I liked Medli quite a bit, she was serious, nice and seemed like a caring person.
But WW Link seemed a little too taken with Tetra to really pay attention to her, even with her literally falling into Link's arms at one point...poor Komali seeing that.
It's the same thing with OoT Link and Zelda...the WW pair had something undefinable..something more. Like they "knew each other forever" before meeting, and another girl simply can't match it.

May I throw in my opinion? The entire Legend of Zelda series is based on the classic fairytale. An unknown boy is called to a mission, and this mission involves a beautiful young princess who has wisdom on her side. While the boy is on the mission the princess is kidnapped by an evil man who is either jealous of the boy on a mission who loves the princess, or wants something that the princess has. The boy comes to exact revenge on the evil man, and princess and boy fall in love, marry, and have fifteen kids who all love Sponge Bob Sqarepants.

If you look at it this way, then Link is destined to love Zelda, and she love him back. Also, I think our article (gliderpilotgirl and mine) "The Case for Kingship" did a pretty good job of augmenting the whole destiny issue.

I agree. Wanna know how loyal I am to ZeLink? I love Link, really, I do. Link is like my hero. But I still love ZeLink much, much more. I really dislike (I said dislike because I think hate would be overboard.) MaLinkers, they just annoy me. Why would she not reincarnate? And some people have this crazy theory...
Oot Link married Oot Malon and this explains why TP Link is a farmhand.
Seriously?! If this was true, Link would be living at Lon Lon Ranch. Lon Lon Ranch isn't even in TP! And there'd be a Malon! This just annoys the HELL outta me. Sorry for cursing... it just annoys me that much. So, that theory is killed :D
:link: + :zelda: = :zelink: FTW!!! ^^