Ocarina of Time book., More facts.

Well the games are called The Legend of Zelda (except for TAOL)

It wouldn't make much sense to keep the LoZ title if Zelda wasn't mentioned in there somewhere. And Link is the chosen hero of the gods. So yeah.

And here's my two cents about this Zelda "book": Sure Nintendo approved it's publication, that doesn't mean it endorses it's content. Same with the manga. They had to get permission to print it. Otherwise, the publishers could've been facing a big fat lawsuit for copyright infringement. But it's basically a dounjinshi. Even the Zelda wiki declares the OoT Manga (or any of the manga for that matter) to not fit in the canon with the games.

(bold mine)

From here

Canon or not, most outsourced media concerning the Legend of Zelda has a fairly consistent habit of promoting Zelink.

For example, the Legend of Zelda cartoon, along with the Captain N one, both portray Link and Zelda to be in an endless cycle of UST/attraction/denial.

(I can't say whether or not the CD-i Zelda games were Zelinky, as those games scare me...)


So canon or not, the general impression seems to be that most people think Link and Zelda will hook up at one point

Outsourced media's opinions mean very little to me. Until Nintendo tells me otherwise, the outsourced media can promote it all it wants, but I won't believe it.

Sounds about right. I'd consider the consistency a good indication that it's true, especially since the games seem to support it. ( and the creator interviews )

In regards to the book *opens it up*

The standard legal mumbojumbo has this:

"The author and publisher make no representation or warranties of any kind with regard to the completeness or accuracy of the contents hearin" ...so we aren't guaranteed it's right.

But it also says in the Acknowledgments that the author had assistance from a member of Nintendo in playing and finishing the game... I just find it hard to believe that the book would make such a blatant claim if it weren't true/obvious. And again, the fact it's in conjunction with all the other material supports it.

In terms of the manga being a doujinshi..I wouldn't go that far. The Zeldawiki is run by fans ( not Nintendo ), and this piece of evidence has surfaced before regarding Aonuma's support/input in the manga's development.
http://z3.invisionfree.com/Link_x_Zelda/in...topic=190&st=30
( it's posted about halfway down the page, detailing the development of the manga, and Crazyfreak could tell you more. )
I feel that if the creators where involved in it and it's content, it's more than fan fiction.

What I got from that was it seemed Nintendo was hoping this would make more people play the game. Not that it was absolutely meant to be canon with the games, especially since half of the stuff in the manga never happened. Granted, with the 64's capabilities there probably would be any way for it to handle what the manga tries to explain. But I mean things like Link raising Volvagia when the game clearly states that Ganondorf revived him. Meeting Zelda at the fountain instead of Malon, Dark Link coming out of the Well at Kakariko. Why were these things changed if this was meant to fit into the canon of the games?

What I got from that was it seemed Nintendo was hoping this would make more people play the game. Not that it was absolutely meant to be canon with the games, especially since half of the stuff in the manga never happened. Granted, with the 64's capabilities there probably would be any way for it to handle what the manga tries to explain. But I mean things like Link raising Volvagia when the game clearly states that Ganondorf revived him. Meeting Zelda at the fountain instead of Malon, Dark Link coming out of the Well at Kakariko. Why were these things changed if this was meant to fit into the canon of the games?

Good point: I don't think the manga is supposed to be canon as on the same level as the games..just a lower level of canon if that makes sense. I just think it's more than fan fiction...but the games supersede it.

I would imagine things like Zelda in the town and such were done to expand the story...same with Volvagia. It gave Link an expanded emotional connection in both cases, whereas the game didn't take the time to do it. Gameplay over story, the usual etc. But in this debate what I usually say is, "did the changes hurt the story, or affect the spirit of it?" I'd say no, personally. It doesn't really differ from the game where it matters.

The thing that struck me about the book was how it sort of came off as something of a strategy guide in disguise. It was like a historical fiction, in so much as it's entertaining, but hey! You're learning stuff too.

As for the discrepancies between what was in the book/manga, to what there was actually in the game, you have to take into account the individual creator's creative licenses. I can't think of a fanfic writer (for any fandom, I might add) that doesn't fudge around some of the details from the source material. The only difference between the fanfiction writers and the book/manga writers is that the book/manga people have Nintendo's seal of approval.

Which kind of proves my point about it being official fanfiction.

Which kind of proves my point about it being official fanfiction.

When I think fanfiction, I think of it as some sort of side story that is speculated from the main plot, or a completely different story line using different characters.

There are many official stories of different things written by authors. The first example that comes to mind are the Star Wars books based on the movies or a novel adaptaion of a manga series. I wouldn't necessarily say it's a fanfiction if it's so close to the story.

And the actual creators might not be writers, so why not have someone else do it?

Thing is, the official manga wasn't really close to the game. Generally, a book (or in this case manga) adaption of movies, video games, etc. don't generally change important details like they did in the OoT manga.

Changing major plot points that the game carefully established only makes the OoT Manga more fanfiction like than anything.

Whether or not it took liberties with the plot does not blot out the fact that it is official, and I don't think Nintendo's the kind of franchise to allow the official manga to, for example, pair Link with a Poe or something. So even if at a very basic term, the fanfiction-y feel of the work does not truly disregard the fact that it validates a common, canon pairing.

The medium's purpose also has to be taken into consideration. As much as the game did an excellent job telling its story, truth is that even a decade later the gameplay is what brings me back to it, and while this is a personal and easily-refutable preference, it highlights the dual roles games must satisfy as storytellers and entertainers. A book, on the other hand, can take its merry time to explore characters, find depths of meaning, become convoluted in the major concerns of the plot. Granted, the manga doesn't really do this - it just explores one aspect of the game really well (or really insistently, depending on who you ask XD). Even so, the fact that the manga creators thought Zelda - as a girl for whom Link has affections rather than as a princess to whom he has a duty - was a worthy source of motivation for a couple dozen pages worth of plot, and the fact that Nintendo went along with it - and did not say, for example, "Like, ew, you were pairing him up with his SISTER??" - does say something as to how Zelink is seen by franchise developers.

Eh...this whole speculation that Link had romantic sexual yearnings for Zelda as an innocent child in a mans body, and then retaining those same sexual yearnings when he returned to his original physical form as a child is a bit perverted IMO.

Its obvious Link went back to Zelda at the end of OOT to tell her of all that he had been through so that he and Zelda can stop Ganon from carrying out his evil plan in the Child Timeline. He DID NOT return to Zelda because he was hot and horny for her as this book suggests.

Also, Link willingly left Zelda in MM totally indifferent to her sadness of him leaving in order to search for the annoying Navi. So that should make it clear that Link was not in love with Zelda or anyone else for that matter. HE IS A CHILD FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!

I have no idea where you got that whole sexual aspect from
No where in the book, or in anyone's comments, was it written that Link wanted to bone Zelda.


And Link was far from indifferent to Zelda's sadness when he left her in MM. If he didn't care, then why would he become lost in a memory of her when a giant freaky moon is about to crush him?

That's something that's been bugging me; MalonsLover, could you please stop with the sex thing? Yeah, I get that sexual/physical desire is necessary for a relationship (or should I say marriage?), but if that's all there is to it, then the relationship's going to fizzle out quickly.

Agreed. And another thing is that Link was so lost in memories of Zelda that Tatl had to shout at him to get him to snap out of it.

Link was remembering the SONG OF TIME and it so happens Zelda was in that memory as well. There was no indication that he was in love with Zelda outside of emotional attachment as a close friend. MM Link is just 10 years old people. To say that Link at that age has adult romantic feelings and yearnings for Zelda in relation to remembering the Song of Time is the same thing as me saying he wants to marry Malon because of the Cremia hug and the fact that he is using Epona in MM.

If you go by what the OOT Manga suggests thats cool. But the game itself seems to hint that OOT Link was pure and innocent in not being able to understand or comprehend teenager hormones. If he did have those type of yearnings, then Zelda would not have been so sadly disappointed when Link gave back the ocarina without expressing any romantic desire to stay with her in the Adult Timeline.

And its not just because he was in a state of limbo for 7 years but also:

A. Link didn't seem concerned with falling in love given the circumstances of the mission he needed to accomplish to save Hyrule.

B. He barely interracted with Zelda until the very end. How can someone fall in love with somebody romantically unless they were a horny pervert willing and ready to fall in love with anyone without getting to know them first??

Based on these circumstances, Link probably would have more likely had fallen in love with Malon as she is the ONLY love interest that you can actually interract with ALMOST ANYTIME as both a child and as an adult throughout the entire quest.

Of course I'm not serious on the Malon thing but you get my point I'm sure. Basically the in-game OOT Link exuded purity and innocence who did not seemed interested in sexual matters of anykind. Emotional attachment in relating to friendship yes.