Defending the Princess, Why Zelda?

Gilderpilot said: in a manner of speaking, the role of the wife replaces the mother. The husband will naturally gravitate towards his wife for understanding rather than his mother as time goes on. Essentially the wife becomes the number one woman in his life

Yes..this is the exact transition I see when Link gravitates from the mother figure (Zelda) towards his wife (Malon) when he finally leaves Zelda and Hyrule Castle a second time to assume his new Hero/Vassal/Knight lifestyle with Malon in MY THEORY. But I understand how you can maybe theoretically apply this to Zelda as well. But I assume the motherly figure your talking about in YOUR THEORY is Saria correct??

I admit in a theoretical LinkxMalon, the relationship would be a more NORMAL and STANDARD relationship. Nothing unusual or unique. But to me, the LinkxZelda is unique because their different childhood friendship is a more mature motherly nurturing a child relationship. And it leaves me to wonder what Zelda must do to make Link get a clue about the physical attraction thing when he finally comes of age. I prefer the normalcy of a LinkxMalon due to their more normal platonic friendship being more like a familiar schoolkids friendship that I can actually relate to. But I admit the LinkxZelda is more sensually erotic with the whole more literal Oedipus complex aspect of the more SPECIAL childhood relationship they have. I mean whats the transition from coddled hero on a pedestal to manly man lover?? I like to know.

If you insist that Link must have had a mother figure to leave behind, than Saria does fit the bill. Nearly the same as Zelda, yet replaced eventually as Link matured. Zelda and him stood as emotionally intimate equals in the end. The Link that left the forest was very much a child too. He left the home he was raised in to become a man, even if a child in body. When he left the castle in MM it wasn't the same: he was an established hero on equal footing with Zelda rather than a mother-child.

I wouldn't put Malon into the role of wife because she's isn't Link's nurturer and comforter. They don't have that kind of relationship even when she is an adult and I never saw her gradually assume the role like Zelda did. There's a certain amount of distance with Malon that I never saw leave. Even as an adult she seems the optimistic child who dreams of a hero. What it comes down to is that she's not meant to fit the role, in my opinion.

I'm going to run with the "Saria is Link's mother" thought. This means that he's already left his mother in a fashion: he wouldn't form another in Zelda.
Link won't need help developing physical attraction. It will come naturally and Zelda is very beautiful. If he wasn't attracted to her, I'd be surprised.
One thing you seem to miss with the Link-Malon thing: the Link at the end of OoT is not the same boy who left the forest. He's matured in mind, even if not in body. Maybe not to the level of an adult ( as you've insisted otherwise ) but he has matured. Put him next to the equal you are suggesting in Malon, and he may find her immaturity, naivety and daydreamer's attitude irritating. As much as it's suggested he's going to be physically attracted to her, that will be useless if he finds her personality grating. She's got alot more growing up to do than he does. Put him next to the more mature Zelda ( due to her life circumstances ) and he would likely be happier. By the time Malon has finally caught up to them, the competition will be over.
As we've asked earlier: please drop the sexual innuendo, which you are suggesting in the last paragraph. I'm not interested in discussing that.

Well if Link was an established Hero in MM, then why did he leave Hyrule?? There is no evidence of Link being praised and treated as a Hero by Hyrule society after the OOT adventure at all. Hence his loss of purpose to leave Hyrule.

Another flaw in what you said is that Link would be irritated by Malon. Thats the equivalent of me saying Link will feel awkwardly out of place as Zelda's lapdog in the Hyrule Court and would be more than eager to leave that behind to have a normal life with Malon. This will enable him to be a more effective hands on Hero riding around with Epona in protecting the lands of Hyrule, in contrast to the Hyrule Castle lifestyle of being just a symbolic hero with Zelda enforcing mandatory worship of Link as a demi god.

I think we are all mature adults here, but it seems that Zelinkers ducking the S E X issue is more of an admission that Malon will probably beat Zelda in that dept. Not to mention the popular reference that the LinkxZelda relationship is considered strange and inappropriate when compared to the more normal LinkxMalon relationship.

Its very rare that a lover/wife provides sagely motherly wisdom in reality. I don't know anyone thats married including the marriage of my parents where that actually happens. Where I come from, mothers and aunts are the ones with the nurturing sagely wisdom. Not the wife. Thats why SOME of the anti Zelinker faction deems the LinkxZelda romance as just Zelinker fangirls with strange sexual fetishes and bizarre erotic fantasies.

EDIT: AS FOR ME...FROM THE POSTS I HAVE READ ON THESE FORUMS, EVERYONE HAS GENUINE AND REASONABLE THEORIES FOR A LINKXZELDA. Its just there are a number of anti Zelinkers who really destest LinkxZelda as much as LinkxMalon. But these same people believe Link should be gay so if I was a Zelinker their funny little insults should mean nothing.

That's not the point. The point is that he had done some major emotional growth between when he left his home ( the forest ) and the end of OoT. He wasn't the same little naive kid.

It's not a flaw, it's common sense. He might be irritated by her behavior, not her as a person necessarily. She's got the maturity of her age, probably 10 years old. Nothing has happened to age her prematurely, unlike with Link and Zelda. Zelda is already considering the fate of her entire land. Link has been on a massive quest into the future.
Malon's just some ordinary ten year old girl. Look at it this way: if you were 15, or had the maturity level of one, would you want to hang out with a 10 year old girl?
Most people would say, definately no!

Oh brother. Ducking the issue has nothing to do with a lack of belief in Link and Zelda's physical compatibility but rather a lack of confidence that this topic can handle the maturity of it. And it seems somewhat inappropriate.

Oh brother once again. This whole assumption that something is wrong with Link and Zelda's relationship has no grounds. They are a classic Hero and Princess tale, with Link bringing the courage, Zelda bringing the wisdom. They are equals and romance is the most natural thing of all.

We are getting nowhere with this debate. I think I'm done debating with you.

True..I agree that by MM Links maturity had grown from the OOT adventure. Its just mentally he still is a kid but mature for his age. Zelda on the other hand as a child more likely has the maturity of a young woman, so naturally it makes sense that her relationship with Link is WAAAYY different than the more normal childhood friendship/relationship with Malon. Zelinkers tend to exagerrate that Malon's normal child mentality makes her a retard incapable of having anything in common with Link when more realistically Link would more likely have a lot of things in common with Malon IMO. Zelda would be more of the older sister assuming as motherly caretaker and teacher for Link. When applying simple Freudian developmental psycology, the LinkxMalon is obviously the more normal relationship of the two.

I'm just pointing out other peoples opinions when comparing/contrasting Link's theoretical relationships and it seems the LinkxZelda one is always considered rather strangely inappropriate. But still not as bad as the Ruto, Saria, or Nabooru pairings. So I apologize if I get to racy but IMO these issues can be addressed without getting too explicit.

I'm not a pro debater and my language skills lack, but I wanna say a thing or two.

I don't know where you've been hanging around, but all Zelinkers I know do not view Malon as a retard, just a normal girl. Just because she hasn't have traumatizing and life-changing experiences and timewarp-adventures doesn't make her a retard. I repeat: she's a normal girl. And as gliderpilotgirl said; I definitely wouldn't hang around with a ten year old. Sure, I'd babysit one, but that's it.

I never saw Zelda as Link's teacher, mother or a caretaker. She doesn't have that authority aura of a teacher around her like for example Rauru or Impa. She doesn't keep fushing around him and asking if he has had enough potions like a mother. She kept her distance as Sheik (even though it was necessary for other reasons as well), but still kept supporting him. Zelda acts around Link as they are equals. They support each other and fulfil each other's weaknesses and strengths.

About Link/Zelda being inappropriate. Erm, excuse me, but what? How about you explain things before just throwing in some random statements, okay?

And that sex-thing. Who CARES? They're video game characters, geez. I seriously doubt that area needs to be discussed. I'm sure there are other places where people can make up potential wet dreams about those things.

Toxo said:I definitely wouldn't hang around with a ten year old. Sure, I'd babysit one, but that's it.

Link, Zelda and Malon are relatively the same age. Have you ever even played OOT my friend?? But good for you that you don't see Malon as a retard. The point I was trying to make is how some Zelinkers assume that there is an imaginary mental gap between Link and Malon that would hinder them from ever having anything in common. The reality is the mental gap is more profound in the Link and Zelda relationship. So according to their own logic, Link is too dumb to relate to Zelda. IMO the relationship that Link would relate to Zelda and Malon would be similar but different in other ways thats all.

As for the taboo aspect of this discussion, if the whole aspect of Link getting married is bought up then I guess its not taboo anymore. Anyway if you don't believe Zelda with the TOW is Links mentor with her guidance and wisdom, then I guess your debating against the Zelinkers...not me.

As for LinkxZelda being slightly inappropriate, look up Oedipus Complex on Wikipedia. Its a common belief among most Zelda fans that since OOT Link is an orphan, the role of nurturing mother is more closely associated with Zelda by the end of the game. That should explain everything for you. Believe it or not I didn't come up with this implied theory. I'm just letting you know some Zelda fans may get carried away with applying simple psycology and sociology to Links theoretical love life options. Me personally, I just like to play the darn games.

First of all: yes, I have played OoT and many other Zelda games. You forgot what gliderpilotgirl meant by it in the first place. She said that Link and Malon are mentally of different age. Malon is your avarage 10-year old both mentally and physically. Link on the other hand has had raw experiences during OoT and MM and has had to grow up mentally, even when he still is 10-year old physically. That was the whole point of it all.

Secondly: I have read the King Oidipus/Oedipus (whatever it is in your language) book and some stuff of it in psychology, too. I don't view their (Link and Zelda) relationship as inappropriate, since I do not view them as a mother and a child. And if you wanted to believe that, wouldn't that mean they are mentally of different age (Zelda being older in this case), but Link and Malon are still you avarage kids? Hmm... Something isn't quite right, now is it.

And about me arguing with Zelinkers, nope, you got me all wrong. I probably don't have same point of views as some Zelinkers, but that doesn't make me a Malinker. I think of Malink as a fanon-pairing, like in TP I see Link/Ilia as a fanon-pairing and in WW Link/Medli etc. But that's just me, I guess.

TOXO SAID:And if you wanted to believe that, wouldn't that mean they are mentally of different age (Zelda being older in this case), but Link and Malon are still you avarage kids?

Yes..with the TOW, Zelda is mentally different of age from Link and Malon. Whatever their minor differences are in mentality between the three, all three are STILL THE SAME AGE so there is still no evidence whatsoever that Link can't find things in common with both Zelda and Malon.

The Oeidipus complex aspect IMO does not disqualify OOT/MM LinkxZelda at all. It just makes the possibility of romance more interesting. Some anti Zelinkers use the OEDIPUS COMPLEX issue to dismiss a LinkxZelda from happening. Maybe in the OOT Adult Timeline, but not the Child Timeline IMO. I believe the romantic relationship for a LinkxZelda can still happen despite a slight abnormality.

Haaaaaaa... I love watching you guys debate like this. Hopefully none of you have high blood pressure.
I'm more of a by-stander now, but if anyone crosses the line, I'm gonna call you a basher or to simply cool off.

PS: Does anyone know any really good and active cloti forums??? Cloti stands for CloudxTifa. You could call it a new obsession, I suppose...

Ooh, you like Cloti? Yay, another Cloti shipper here! *hugs*

I don't know any active Cloti forums on the top of my head, but you can search for some on Yahoo.

[QUOTE=Angel Zelda,Sep 13 2008, 05:30 PM][QUOTE=Hylian Princess,Sep 13 2008, 02:15 PM]
Ooh, you like Cloti? Yay, another Cloti shipper here! *hugs*

I don't know any active Cloti forums on the top of my head, but you can search for some on Yahoo.[/QUOTE]
I have, and on Google too, but I found nothing worth my time...

You like cloti too?!? Great! I can't stand Aerith, though Cloud probably loves her instead of Tifa...

Well, I still like cloti better! MESS WITH ME! ( anti-cloti SUX)

I've read many opinions, and it's either they are in the anti-cloti movements, or they love cloti.

Okay then. Gonna calm down now... My bad. I just got really excited to know that I'm not alone. I wanna write a cloti essay sometime soon, before I lose all my ideas... But, I don't know where to post it once I write it.

I have, and on Google too, but I found little worth my time...

You like cloti too?!? Great! I can't stand Aerith, though Cloud probably loves her instead of Tifa... Flower-loving &#*%$ !!! Just kidding... sort of

I still like cloti better! MESS WITH ME! ( anti-cloti sux)

I've read many opinions, and it's either they are in the anti-cloti movements, or they love cloti.

Okay then, gonna calm down now... :takes a very deep breath:
My bad. I just got really excited to knoz that I'm not alone. I wanna write a cloti essay sometime soon, before I lose all my ideas... But, I don't know where to post it once I write it.

HYLIAN PRINCESS SAID: I can't stand Aerith, though Cloud probably loves her instead of Tifa... Flower-loving &#*%$ !!! Just kidding... sort of

So I take it you weren't moved as I was with the cutscenes involving the death of Aerith.

Um, guys. I think Final Fantasy and other not-Zelda discussions should be kept in http://z3.invisionfree.com/Link_x_Zelda/in...hp?showforum=24 .