Malon topic, Yeah.

You can use Cremia's artwork actually but I'd recommend comparing child OoT Malon to Malo...the resemblance in the face is instant.

As for the cow being a "sign of growing affection", I think that's going too far. It's a cow for goodness sake! Attaching sentiment to it seems a little weak, IMO.

LOL!! yeah I was just kidding about the cow. But see...its a popular viewpoint to see Malon as selfish when she is actually unselfish because she took the time to go to the kokiri forest and put a big stinky cow in Links house. But I guess Link is a growing boy so he needs his LonLon milk to stay strong and healthy. Anyway Malons reward for Link beating the race under 50 seconds (48 seconds to be exact) shows that she is not selfish at all.

You are wrong on that count: Malon says she will have the cow delivered, implying she wouldn't do it herself. Think of her as a business woman and her job is on the ranch: someone else will have to take care of the running around.

Giving him a cow has nothing to do with selfishness, and that's not the debate here: it's her lifestyle that is self-centered, not necessarily her. Basically what that means is she is doing what she does for herself: not for anyone else.

Whatever..I still like that cow because I earned it from my special Malon. It was a great reward IMO. Besides whats your record on the horse race??

That again seems to indicate that it will end. I've gotten the impression his calling is for life, even if Hyrule is not being invaded by another power. It just again means his role changes rather than ends.

What does it matter what he wants out of life? Zelda probably wants a husband she loves, kids she has time for and a quiet and private home, but will she get it? Only if it fits within her duty...so probably not in most cases.
How is Link exempt from the call of duty on his life? If he wants to be the Hero..he's likely going to have to make sacrifices. I simply think he'd have an easier time both doing his duty and finding love if he was with Zelda. They are a team!
The alternative is either trying to a live a double life, or just running away. ( My impression of the beginning of MM. )

I know. But Link would have to learn about animals too, as well as co-habiting with a family if he was with Malon. Change would be involved in either.

Link and Zelda would be a better team if they just remain close friends. In living with Malon at the ranch Link would be more closer to the people and diverse races of Hyrule to oversee their needs instead of being tied down to the Castle a great majority of the time in a LinkxZelda. That way Link can actually be the liason from Zelda to the people/races of Hyrule as a THEORETICAL humble soldier/farmer. Since this normal lifestyle was done from ancient Greco-Roman times up to the George Washington days, Link would probably be a far more effective Hero in a LinkxMalon as Knight/Vassal supreme. If Link and Zelda both put the benefit of Hyrule first then they will probably never get romantically involved IMO.

First off, you are obviously biased here: you want Link and Zelda to stay friends to give Malon a chance. I may be in the opposite way - supporting ZeLink.

But when a man and a woman are a team and become closer and closer...romance is often natural and just happens. If you like someone enough to be close friends with them, that admiration can easily move into more and usually does. I think it makes no sense for him to have another love interest on the side.

I honestly think the one that Link spends the most time with would be the one he falls in love with. Don't say it's Malon: he's likely going to spend most of his time out in Hyrule or consulting with Zelda. The only way he'd spend most of his time with Malon would be if he became a rancher, and I doubt that would ever happen.
Duty is going to draw him to Zelda if he is serve Hyrule: it's inescapable. Romance doesn't always happen, I'm just saying the conditions are ripe for it.

Link is a one woman man and hopefully that would be with Malon and not Zelda. With that said I don't think I have said LinkxZelda is impossible. Its just the LinkxZelda is too much of an idealized fangirl fairy tale romance. I'm not a fan of that cliche so I would like my Link in a more MANLY role as a humble but rugged feudal knight type. Like I said before Malon is the only love interest that you can actually interract with in a big majority of the OOT quest and thats good enough for me to believe in my own opinions. Not to mention, Link hardly ever interracts with Zelda until the very end so how in the world could he fall in love with her?? Sure he interracted with her as Sheik but she seemed more like a motherly guide than a romantic love interest.

And how EXACTLY can you jump to those conclusions? You cannot prove that they would make a better team remaining as friends, just as you cannot prove that Link would want to choose Malon over Zelda. There is more evidence within the actual game that favors the Link and Zelda pairing over all the other ones that people can possibly think of.

1) Link willingly puts himself on the line for Zelda in the beginning of the game, implying that he took an instant liking to her. It's not as though he was forced to "obey" Zelda. If he really didn't want to, he wouldn't follow through.

2) Link, even as a child, is willing to protect Zelda at the cost of his own life. I mean, come on! What other kid would stand up against the great Ganondorf? He does the same thing at the end of the game; it is shown that he cares about her enough to put his life on the line. Not only did he bang his fists on the crystal, fearful of what would happen to Zelda, but he also threw himself in front of her when they heard movement underneath the fallen castle. Another thing to take note of is the fact that Zelda screams whenever Link is wounded by Ganon, likely implying that they grew even closer (romantically).

3) Link and Zelda are more alike than what you assume. If anything, Malon's the complete opposite of Link as far as personality goes.

4) It's obvious that Link's searching for Zelda as an adult, which is reinforced by Ruto and Impa as they awaken as a Sage. If she was just a friend then his concern for her whereabouts wouldn't be as great.

5) Sheik talks about love after you obtain the iron boots, likely implying the relationship between Link and Zelda.

6) There were a few situations where "Sheik" stalls before she disappears in a flash of light, portraying that it's becoming progressively harder to maintain her image around Link. Link, on the other hand, senses something familiar about her, and thus drives him to walk towards her as if he wanted to reach up and reveal her face. However, before he could get too close, she regrettingly backed away from him and disappeared.

7) The final scene when they were in the sky was supposed to represent the feelings that they have for one another. They were exchanging their emotions with each other, symbolized when they held hands. If they were just friends, why didn't Link hold hands with Saria? Saria and Link are supposed to be really close friends, yet they did not exchange feelings in that particular way.

Link puts his life on the line for everyone but that doesn't mean he has to marry everyone in Hyrule. IMO Link and Malon having a similar humble background is more than what he has in common with Zelda.

He went above and beyond for Zelda...don't lump her in with the rest, it's entirely different. She was his goal, not a stop on the way like everyone else.

Link doesn't belong in his "humble" background anymore...we know that. Do you honestly think being poor like eveyone else is more important than sharing a life changing adventure together?

Change Link, Zelda and Malon into Link, Midna and Ilia. Do you still feel the same way? Ilia is of a humble background, Midna is not. ( Nor is Zelda. ) Should Link be with Ilia? The point you are making is the EXACT same with them.

I agree with GPG. Oh, and I edited my previous post, so there are even more points that I elaborated on.

Agreed- the fact that people share a common origin isn't necissarily enough for them to be a couple, or even that they share anything in common. You could just as easily say because Anju and Link are both from simple backgrounds it means they would make a great couple, or Link and Ilia. Besides being commoners, what else do Link and Malon have in common that would be enough to base a marriage or relationship on? Nothing. Their lives were completely different, other than the fact that they were both from modest upbringings. Link grew up in the forest an outsider, cared for by a magic tree and lived with a tribe of eternal children. Malon grew up on a hard working ranch raising animals with a lazy father. Other than being poor, there's not a whole lot of simiarity there. Not only that, but the fact that Link comes so far and his life drastically changes. Malon's life never alters- she stays on the ranch the entire time, her life staying exactly the same except for the time Ingo took over, but even then the only difference was her father was gone.

GPG has a point- from the begining after the incident with the Deku Tree, Zelda has been Link's motivation. She can't be roped in with all the other people he helped. The entire child segment is dedicated to Link helping her stop Ganondorf, and the entire adult one is dedicated to finding her again while fighting Ganondorf. You can't compare that to Link helping Anju and Malon. It's simply not the same.

I agree with Alantie; the only similarity that Link and Malon have in common with one another is the fact that they are from similar backgrounds. Love goes on personality alone; it does not limit itself by background. Zelda and Link are more in common with one another, and just because Zelda's a princess doesn't mean that they can't be together.

Thats what I'm saying. Link and Zelda have vastly different personalities and backgrounds so more than likely they will never get past close friendship. Remember in the Scene in the Sky, Zelda was holding Link's hand like a mother would to a child, not as romantic lovers in a loving embrace. And Link had his hand on the ocarina, NOT on Zelda's hand. Also he seemed totally oblivious to what Zelda was doing in holding his hand in the first place. Link just seemed to be going DUUHHH the whole time in the Scene in the Sky, with that comically ridiculous blank stare of his. Nope...no romance in that scene for sure.