Midna, Relationship to Link *possible spoilers*

I thought we needed a thread to discuss our take on the relationship between Midna and Link. Do you all see it as a romance? Simply friendship? A brother and sister? Master and slave? Lets discuss it here!

Oooh good topic Alantie~!

Personally, I don't see anything between Midna. (in the romantic way) The only thing I do see is companionship between the two. Midna needed help, got Link, and after time, they just seemed to be happy together, like friends! ...sort of XD It's just an odd relationship between them, but nonetheless, I don't think its romantic.

Um. Yeah. XD My brain is kinda fried from school work, so I'll have a better opinion on this later. (Hopefully XD)

Yeah, we needed to discuss this.

I see Link and Midna as good friends, not really as lovers. D:

I'm sick right now, so i don't have a awesome opinion.

If Link and Midna are in a master/slave relationship, Midna's the master XD


But seriously, the relationship between the two of them struck me as being rather... siblingly (watch and amaze as I butcher the English language!).
Right from the get-go, Midna was pestering, insulting, and forcing Link to do what she wanted of him, and that's the modus operandi of every big sister.
And Link didn't have to help her. Despite what most people in the games think of him, he isn't stupid. He probably would have figured out a way to escape from that prison, eventually.
But as Link is the quintessential hero, he couldn't not help Midna. It doesn't matter who asks for his help, because he's always ready to give it.

(To use the wolf!Link analogy:
Zelda/Impa/Midna/whoever: *baby voice* Oh, who's a good hero? Who's a hero?
Wolf!Link: Arf! *wag wag*
Z/I/M/w: Yes you are! Who wants to go save the world?
Wolf!Link: Woof!! *wagwagwagwag*
Z/I/M/w: Yes you do! Now go get'em! Go get [insert game specific villain here]!
Wolf!Link: Bark bark! *runs off, wagging like mad*)

And I do think Midna and Link love each other, like family, because two people can't go and save the world together without developing at least some affection for each other.
And Link tends to be an orphan in the games, and I always got the feeling that he considered the friends he amassed to be honorary sibling

Amaya:

Thanks Amaya! I thought it should be discussed, since its a rival pairing to our Zelink.

Lol! Yeah, Link is always willing to give help when asked. He's just not the type of person to stand by and let innocents be hurt.


But I'm agreeing with you guys. I never saw anything really romantic between Link and Midna. They reminded me of a brother and sister the way they got on at times, arguing, and disagreeing, but also going to great lengths to help one another.

To be honest, I think that Midna maybe did harbor some romantic feelings toward Link, but they were clearly onesided. And I wonder if maybe they were a reflection of Zelda's feelings when their spirits were merged for a time. Either way, I believe that Link sees Midna as a dear friend/sister figure. No more, no less.

I haven't played Twilight Princess, so I don't think my opinion will be held in high regard. But from what I've gathered about Link and Midna's interaction, it sounds like the Twilight Princess version of Link and Saria in the fact that they are close companions.

Or, you can also say that Link and Midna are like the Twilight Princess version of Link and Navi, because it sounds like a hero/sidekick relationship.

Yeah, Midna is sort of like the Navi of TP, but she's about a billion times less annoying and more useful XD

Yeah, I think you're right. And of course we value your input!

I can agree, it is sort of the typical hero/sidekick relationship. It does remind me a bit of Link and Navi. At times Navi could get down on Link, but she obviously did care. And even better example would be Tael. Midna sort of behaves toward Link the way Tael did at first, but in the end both of them softened up toward our beloved Linky.

I know a lot of people get the whole "Midna loves Link" thing from the end, where she starts to say something, then says something else, then shatters a mirror with a tear. Most of the M/L shippers will say, "Oh, she was going to say she loved him!" but the point is, we won't ever know for certain (unless they decide to make a Midna spin-off game, which would rock).

That's a good point, we don't know what Midna was going to say. For that matter, we really don't know much about Midna's life at all enough to make a decent guess. For all we know, it could have been extremely painful for her to seperate from the first real friends she had ever had in Link and Zelda. Unless Minda had actually uttered "I love you!" it doesn't prove anything.

But even if Midna does love Link, that doesn't mean that he loves her in that way.

Yeah, exactly. While Midna was sassy as all get out, she wasn’t very forthcoming when it came to personal information. Zelda had to guess at who Midna really was, and Link found out through a third party.

Midna cares for Link, I won’t deny that, but as to romantic feelings, well, that’s debatable

Of course it is. That is what this thread is for after all.

I'm here to rock the boat a little.

Before I start, I'd like to mention I'm a fervent Zelinker (in case you hadn't noticed).

Now let's be objective. There were a LOT more "close-calls" (which is how I like to refer to as a potentially romantic scene in a Nintendo game, since we're never going to see something blatant) between Midna and Link in TP than there ever were with Zelda in, say, the past five games. It's true that you can argue that their relationship was more friendly and familial, but can't we argue the same about Zelda, then?

Of course, Midna used Link and their relationship was more of a you-help-me-and-I'll-help-you deal up until the Mirror of Twilight at the end of Arbiter's Grounds. From that point on, she softened up. In the meantime, Zelda makes a grand total of three bland appearances in the game, whereas we see a serious evolution in Link's relationship with Midna.

Romantic? I think we can't push away the possibility, as much as it pains me to admit it.

Which isn't to say that Zelink is no longer canon. I just think that, in the TP universe, it would not be implausible for Midna and Link to have had romantic companionship feelings for one another. They'd actually be more likely than the few encounters Link had with Zelda (two of which were while in beast-form, might I remind you).

So, TP MidnaxLink is, in my opinion, a probable possibility.

End boat rocking. Start argument.

(OoT Zelink, however, remains and will always be completely absolute.)

CM, you boat rocker you! I'm actually glad you are rocking it though, it helps make the discussions more interesting!

Alright, objectively, yes, Midna and Link did get to spend more time together in the game than Link and Zelda did. But how you interpret these scenes also depends a lot on how you view the past games. I, for example, believe that everytime Ganon's dark power starts to break free, Link and Zelda are reborn to fight it. Now, that being my opinion, I view the interactions between L and Z much differently than a person who thinks that there's a different L and Z in every game.

My point to this is, though Link and Zelda did not share many scenes with each other, the ones they did were incredibly powerful depending on how you see things. For example, its clear the moment Link first sees Zelda that she affects him strongly, even in his wolf form. Lets not forget either that even Midna notices this. She rolls her eyes dramatically and give that little sigh, like 'Oooh, he likes her!' sor of deal. Also there's that scene where Zelda asks Link to lend her the last of his power, and he holds out his hand to her, which she takes, reflecting again that beautiful scene in OoT.

Now, this being said, I don't deny that Midna and Link do have some extreme bonding, particularly after Zelda revives Midna. She becomes much more compassionate towards Link, and simply all around nicer. There's no doubt in my mind that they care deeply for each other. It's how far the bond goes that is in question in my mind.

And how much of what Midna feels toward Link is her own emotions and not Zelda's? For a time, their hearts were as one, as the Princess says. They shared each other's thoughts and feelings, so who's to say that Zelda's love for Link isn't reflected in Midna? If any of you have played Dirge of Cerberus, I remind you of how Shelke does something similar when she aquires Lucrecia's memories. It affects her so much that sometimes Shelke can't tell the difference between her feelings and Lucrecia's. It could be a similar case with Midna and Zelda. Inhabiting the same body for a brief period of time, it could be that the romantic feelings were actually Zelda's, not Midna's.

Something for us all the debate over. Feel free to agree or disagree with me.

You know, Alantie may have a point there. Midna certainly seemed to be more "romantically touchy" after Zelda did her thing (I wouldn't know about the Dirge of Cerberus, though, as I'm such a Nintend-ho that I've never played a PSany game ).

BUT! Right after you clear the water dungeon, and are transported back to Lanayru's shrine, Zant's already there and waiting, and after he knocks wolf!Link out and drives that magic spike into his head, he tells Midna that, as one of the Twili, she can't consort with someone from the Light. And "consort," by definition, means to associate, join, or unite, and it also carries spousal connotations (Zant, you see, was the captain of the Insinuation Squad, back in the Twilight).

So, like CM said, there's definitely potential for a Midna/Link relationship with all of the in-game stuff. I think out of all the games, it's the most viable alternative to the Z/L pairing (Tetra, Marin and Sheik don't count, because they're all really Zelda at their core, Saria and Ruto are out because they're Sages and seem to be in another dimension, and pretty much anyone else people pair with Link are paired so out of wish fulfillment or yaoi-ism).

So yeah, there's definitely potential for a romance between Link and Midna, but because they literally come from two, incompatible worlds (which are now closed off from one another), we're left with an omg-tragic-love-story-*slits wrists* where the "lovers" are separated for the rest of their lives