Male protagonist in 'Legend of Zelda' hailed as non-binary, trans icon by media, gamers

Multiple transgender or non-binary gamers reportedly identify with the male protagonist in the popular "Legend of Zelda" video game series, claiming the fictional hero helped them to assume their identity.

Some on social media have pushed back against the assertion, claiming that associating the fictional hero with transgenderism is a stretch.

Link, the game's elf-like hero, has served as an "egg-cracker," which refers to something that reveals a person's transgender identity to them, according to multiple transgender gamers who spoke to Gizmodo.

The first Zelda video game debuted in Japan in 1986 and in North America the next year. The games, which tell the story of Link, a young elf-like boy who saves a princess named Zelda, have since grown into a franchise that spans 29 titles and multiple spinoffs developed primarily by Nintendo.

"Tears of the Kingdom," the latest installment, was released worldwide on May 12 for Nintendo Switch and sold more than 10 million copies within three days.

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"It is inevitable all of us will see something of ourselves within Link," a gamer named Keroblin, who identifies as transmasculine and agender, told the tech outlet.

"We’re an active participant even [when] we can’t make narrative decisions because we get to decide who Link is. It is easy to discover yourself and your gender through a character like this, and to make trans readings, as the lack of traditional gender roles creates, maybe for the first time you’ve seen, a world where all you have to be is kind and brave."

A transmasc non-binary individual told the outlet that Link exhibits "reckless, non-toxic masculinity" characteristic of transmasc people.

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"Link has always been an androgynous reflection of the player," argues an article on gaming site "The Gamer."

"Most games allow him to act, dress, talk and express himself in ways that rally against cisgender normativity. He is never once destined to exist as a symbol of heroism bound by masculinity. This freedom of expression is liberating," adds the article, which is included on the site's directory of Zelda reviews and features.

An Instagram post from "PBS NewsHour" about Link's gender identity drew criticism from many users who pushed back against any attempt to make a children's video game about gender identity.

"I'm about as independent as they come, and I disagree with the claims made here. […] The infusion of identity politics on this feels like ideological projection, out of touch on the topic and a stain on the PBS name," wrote one user.

"Really reaching with this one," wrote another user. "His character design has pretty much always been the same, inspired by Peter Pan. His design wasn't intended to send a message like that."

Longtime Zelda producer Eiji Aonuma told Time in 2016 that he wanted Link to be a "gender-neutral character" but that he is male.

"Back during the ‘Ocarina of Time’ days, I wanted Link to be gender-neutral," he said, referring to a 1998 version of the game. "I wanted the player to think, ‘Maybe Link is a boy or a girl.’ If you saw Link as a guy, he’d have more of a feminine touch; or vice versa, if you related to Link as a girl, it was with more of a masculine aspect."

"I really wanted the designer to encompass more of a gender-neutral figure. So, I’ve always thought that for either female or male players, I wanted them to be able to relate to Link," continued Aonuma, who went on to say that he designed Link to be more masculine in a 2006 Zelda game before reverting to a more gender-neutral iteration in 2017.

"As far as gender goes, Link is definitely a male, but I wanted to create a character where anybody would be able to relate to the character," Aonuma said. "So, that’s why I think the rumor went around that Link could be a female because maybe the users were able to relate in that way."

FOX Business has reached out to Nintendo for comment.

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Transgender themes in video games have made headlines in recent months. "The Sims 4," a game marketed to children, drew backlash in January when developers rolled out an update allowing players to design characters with "top scars" that result from breast amputation. In May 2022, the same game issued an update to let players select "they/them" pronouns for non-binary characters. 

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The popular Harry Potter video game "Hogwarts Legacy," which was released earlier this year, drew backlash because of allegedly anti-trans comments made by Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling. The game managed to become the bestselling single-player game on streaming site Twitch despite the controversy.