Is there hope for Link and Princess Zelda's Love?, PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE!

*takes a deep breath* Okay my Zelink friends!!! I have finally beaten TP (last night!!!!) and I'm now ready to discuss it, after beating the ending twice. So, beware of. . . SPOILERZZZZZZZZZ!!!!!

Ilia: Hooboy. *takes another deep breath* Her character beyond irritated me. For one thing, that hairdo was totally messed. >_< Her characer is a combination of Saria and Malon rolled into one. The childhood friend, caretaker of Epona. Cutesy, but otherwise, not really a pivitol character. I honesty feel that the relationship between Ilia and Link is purely friendship, especially on Link's end. He treats her as he would any friend, plain and simple. He showed about the same amount of concern for her that he did the other village kids. Nothing more. Lol, HyruleMaster, I'm glad you did that research because I did the same thing. *sweat* I paniced at first with the whole Ilia standing there waiting and Link riding thing, but combined with the direction Link was going, plus the fact that he isn't at his window. . . it boils down to that he's left Ordon. He will always have a connection to it, but it isn't where he really belongs anymore. After what he's seen and done, we expect him to stay in a boring little village and have Ilia plauge him with romance? Don't think so!!! So my take: IliaxLink is a huge gigantic NO!!!!!!!!!!!! Friends yes. Lovers, no.

Midna: Woo. Their relationship is a complex one. At first, I was irritated by her, but as the story progressed, I came to adore her very much. She goes from treating Link as a sort of slave to a dear, dear companion. One that she risks her life for. As she's laying there at Zelda's feet, dying, she begs not for her own life, but for Zelda to help LINK. Pure selflessness. She comes to care a great deal for Link, and is willing to do anything she can to help protect him. Part of her softening to him comes from Link's own irrisistable nature, I'm sure. He's willing to aid her, even though there really isn't much in it for him the way it is for her. I feel that the Link/Midna relationship is a combo of the Navi/Tatl relationship. An annoying companion, forced on you for help, that eventually comes to be a dear friend. In MM, Link was forced to rely on Tatl at first to regain his own form, much like Link is forced to rely on Midna when in wolf form. But as things progress, it becomes much more than their own selfish desires, it becomes the fate of the world. Midna's feelings towards Link change much the same as Tatl's did. (though I wouldn't say that Tatl had obvious romantic interest in Link the way Midna does!) Midna obviously loves Link, but I feel his affection for her is once again, a friend variety. When he tries to get to her, I feel its because he knows what she is going to do, and is trying to stop her from sacrificing herself, like any good friend would do. And when he runs towards her, its because he though she was dead- he thought he had lost his friend. It was a natural reaction, I didn't see anything romantic about it. All in all, the MidnaxLink romance is onesided, and doomed to go anywhere, since Midna breaks the Mirror of Twilight. *sniffle* I actualy don't mind a onesided MidnaxLink.

Zelda: Contrary to Zelda's little screentime, I felt that there are a few good chunks of Zelinkness in TP. (Keep in mind while reading, I support the reincarnation in that Zelda and Link's spirits are reborn everytime Ganny causes mischief) First off, their first meeting. I think its pretty clear that Link reacted strongly to Zelda from the first moment he laid eyes on her, and by the way she looks at him, its also clear she feels something too. Its a natural thing, considering they're tied by destiny and all that. Fastforward to the next time we meet with Zelda, which I believe is a crucial point. Though its not exactly made perfectly clear what she does, its as if Zelda's spirit goes inside of Midna, because as she says later in the ending"for a time, however briefly, our hearts were as one." Maybe its just me, but from the way it seems, Zelda's spirit was not in her body until you see the glowy gold light leave Midna and return to the Princess's body after Ganondorf has used it to fight. So, in a way, Zelda WAS with Link, her spirit residing safely in Midna's heart. It makes sense, because I couldn't believe that Ganondorf could possess Zelda's body, but once I took into account the fact that her spirit was inside Midna, it made a lot more sense. Of course Ganondorf could possess her body, she wasn't in it at the time! So don't fear my friends, Link was not pounding the Princess into a pulp! Anyway, Zelda, being with Midna, was able to interact with Link, and get to know him much better. Then, there's the fact that Link was ready to rush to Zelda's rescue the moment he enters the throne room, regardless of the danger. Its only when Midna stops him that he sees Ganny, and that stops him. After we drive Ganny's spirit out of Zelda's body, her spirit leaves Midna and returns to it, and she awakens. Happiness!! The moments between her and Link at the end are ever so sweet! He stands in front of her to protect her from Ganondorf, the holding of the hands, the fighting together on Epona. . . You cannot say there isn't Zelink moments! I found plenty to squeal over!!!

No one said that Twilight Princess was absolutely void of Zelda x Link moments, but it's few next to the other pairings.

I feel that anything is possible in the game, and it was specifically made this way by Nintendo because, quite frankly, the Zelda games are all about vague-ness. Due to this vague-ness, though, everyone's perspective differs. So while we might see Ilia as friend-only material, others might not.

Despite this, however, I think everyone is inclined to their own opinion on things (especially romance). This is why I'm personally all for Midna x Link, and Zelda x Link, no matter what others say. XD

Well, that's certainly true! Its one of the things I actually like most about the game. With such vaugeness, you're able to see things the way you want to see. Which is why I see tons of Zelinkness. I'm affectionately fond of onesided MidnaxLink. The bittersweetness of it all is the best part. *heaves sad sigh* Though, because of the vaugeness, I could also argue that Midna's romantic feelings for Link could be what Zelda was feeling, since 'For a time, their hearts were as one. . .' Lol. I love it. I both love and hate the vaugeness.

Well, when all hell breaks loose, I'll just jump on the Midna x Zelda bandwagon. 8B

... Just kidding, of course. XD

I bet you anything there are such shippers now. After all, Midna and Zelda did treat each other with familiarity, so you know there are fans (most likely of the male variety) that are going to go" ZOMG!!! 2 HAWT GIRLZ!!! THEY ARE TEH CANON!!!"

There is hope. This is what I've heard:

Nintendo already stated that Link was close friends with Ilia and Midna, and that there's no romantic connection between them. But, they said something for ZeLink. Bill Trien of Nintendo said' Just because it doesn't happen on screen, doesn't mean it never happens.

Well, I hope that may clean everything up for you all. But you know Link can't be with Ilia or Midna. Midna is a Twili and if you look closely enough, Ilia has normal ears, not Hyrulian ones. So Zelda is the only right one he can be with.

And I don't know why they talked about a possible romance in the interviews but there was none. Maybe they ran out of time and didn't want to delay it again, so they just decided to drop hints in some places. Its still unforgiveable. Lets hope we see something between them in the TP sequel.

Haven't you ever heard of cross-breeding. That means that if they look like the same species, there can be love. I mean, really.

Haven't you ever heard of cross-breeding. That means that if they look like the same species, there can be love. I mean, really.

Still, Link and Zelda belong.

The fact that Link and Zelda are of the same race isn't proof though. Yes, we all agree they belong to each other. But I believe the point that was being made is even though Link and Zelda are Hylians, Ilia is a regular human (I'm guessing?) and Midna's a Twili, we don't know how cross breeding works in their world. They are all human- it's not like Ilia and Midna are like Ruto who's more fish than anything, or a Goron, basically living rocks. In things like LotR we see Elves and humans being able to, er, breed without any problem since they are very similar even though they are different races. It could be the same deal here. Or Midna's blue/black skin might just be a vairient like brown or black skin for humans, and the pointed ears a genetic trait. Make sense?

Er, sorry for the rant. *flees*

Link/Ruto would be more of an inter-species breeding. Ruto is a sapient being. So it's not like she's an actual fish or anything. Same with the Gorons. They are sapient.

Besides Ilia is human.

I remember reading somewhere that by Twilight Princess's time, the Hylian race had almost completely vanished. So I believe Hylians and Humans could breed without trouble, since the only real difference between Hylians and Humans were their ears.

By the end of TP I was so torn between LinkXMidna and LinkXZelda. Ilia was NOT an option.
I personally kind of liked the idea of MxL, but after she left, Link and Zelda would obviously end up together

You know.... TP's pairings were pretty... complicated. Whether you like it or not, Ilia had a thing for Link. It's obvious, and anybody who didn't see it was either blind or stupid... or a combination of both. Still, doesn't mean you have to like the pairing (I sure as heck don't! Yuck!). Link, however, while showing little romantic interest, still showed something for Ilia, and it was much more than friendship. I think there was a budding relationship there in the beginning, but Link's destiny to save Hyrule also saved him from the wrath of the evil, barefoot tree-hugger (was that a bit too harsh? ;3).
In the end, he left Ilia. We all saw it. That alone is proof enough that they are not a coupling.

Then we have Link x Midna. Oh gee boy. Midna goes from mean and rude to somewhat mushy and caring. Midna, though, is much more physical with her romantic feelings towards Link than any of the other characters. The way she leans on Link in the Lost Woods is pure woman... and she pulled that off even in an imp form. They way Midna moves is very seductive.... just watch her, and you'll know what I mean. And we even have a scene in the Gerudo Desert where she places her hand on Link's face, looks him in the eyes, and sweetly pleads for his aid. That would be considered romantic in anything, be it book, movie, or videogame. She even sheds a tear at the end of the game. Here, though, Link does in fact show affection for Midna, especially when he holds her after Zelda sacrifices herself to save Midna. He holds her in her arms and looks into her eyes... *swoon* Unfortunately, Midna leaves. Some of us like it, some of us don't, but the point is she leaves.

And now we have Zelda. At first, Zelda is pretty.. cold. Just like Midna, she goes through a personality transformation after their brief unity. Once she is revived, Zelda's personality is much different than before. She shows more emotion. A lot of people complain that she doesn't have enough screentime, but what most fail to realize is that after she sacrifices herself for Midna, she and Midna become one. As Zelda herself put it, their hearts were as one. This means that, when Midna was saved, Zelda was right there with Link the entire time- all the way up until she is revived back into her body. All those emotions Link and Midna felt together, Zelda felt those, too. So is it possible that Zelda loves Link? It's very possible, and if Midna loves him, then it's even probable. Zelda even held Link's hand in the final parts of the game... she even bowed to him. Imagine, royalty bowing to a peasant. Unfortunately, Link probably doesn't understand any of that. Regardless of being a hero, he's only a 16 year old boy from the woods. Zelda's the only option left (out of Midna, Ilia, and Zelda) at the end of the game, but as we saw in the end, Link leaves Ordon. We don't know that he leaves Hyrule completely, but it's a possibility.

I'm agreed: and it seemed there was no clear favorite at the end either, unlike the other titles.

With Ilia....IMO, It was practically tattooed on her forehead from the beginning: " Link's love interest", and he most definately seemed to return it, in fact, it seemed to me that the game went out of it's way to tell us this. The scene when they were re-united and the camera gave them "privacy time" almost implies to me a kiss happened.
Nevertheless...I also didn't like this pairing one bit ( nor Ilia ) but I did clearly see it.

The only question in my mind is did Link's relationship with/interest in Midna eclipse Ilia in the end? As much as the game made an effort to glorify Ilia and how desirable she was..it also focused on his relationship with Midna and how it changed over time. When she broke the mirror at the end, Link looked hurt and very upset. The next significant scenes we have are of Link leaving Ordon...and the feeling I got was, he wasn't coming back. Had he fallen for Midna? He had undoubtably changed. The scene with Fado calling to Link's house spoke to me of "The Link you know is gone forever"...but Ilia was waiting in the next scene. I'm confused...is it a sign he would return or that he'd left her behind as well? So vague. At least when Link returned to Zelda in OoT the message seemed clear to this fan: " I'm not saying goodbye to you, rather, a new beginning for us "

But anyways..it seemed clear to me that Midna was irretrievably gone...regardless of his feelings for her. That only leaves Zelda besides Ilia. Honestly, the vibe I got from her in this game was "strictly business", where Midna was not. In the face of that, I have trouble seeing Link x Zelda coming out of this in TP. When they had that moment with holding hands..it seemed to me it was "Hero and Princess" rather just Link and Zelda, if that makes sense: it didn't seem any deeper than titles.

I'm going to agree with gliderpilotgirl in that the developers/screenplay writers took too much time trying to convince us that Ilia and Link were a possibility. I'd also echo many of the boards' members and state that her character qualities (or lack thereof) was quite a turnoff. When Ilia is compared to Midna or even Zelda, she can't hold up.

In this case, think the screenwriters tried to combine Saria and Malon into one to make Ilia's character, and it didn't work IMO. In any case, I think that most everyone here can make a fairly strong against both Saria and Malon romances from OoT, so why would the devs create Ilia, a combination of both?

I believe that the scene in which Link and Zelda are seen standing in the middle of the shining lake was one of the most obvious indications that there would be something going on later on in their lives. It would have to be off-screen, yes, and we probably won't know more until the TP manga gets rolled out and the new Wii Zelda is released, but I think there the groundwork for a Link/Zelda romance in TP was definitely laid, no matter how hard the devs tried to make us believe Ilia and Link were a good match.

Okay. First of all, Illia isn't even that chicky (no offense to Illia fans, either). Zelda, from my part, is way... well... chickier!
But, yes, Illia is rather random. Did she appear in any other games??? Besides TP, of course.

I find that the developers like to see us suffer with this Zelink or Illia/Link stuff. I think they already know who they're going to pick, but I suppose it must be approved by everyone.

Actually, I think that they might have already their decision because they said that the incarnation of Link in TP is of a teenager of EIGHTEEN or so! And there are obviously possibilities of seeing Link showing his feelings towards the princess. I believe they took the fact that Link is a older teen into account at the beginning of the making of the game.

Are they just trying to drive us crazy?!? It's definitely working for me!