The Legend of Zelda’s Link has long been a gay icon

The Legend of Zelda’s beloved and iconic protagonist, Link, is tagged in more than 17,000 pieces of fanfiction on Archive of Our Own. Among those stories, more than 300 are tagged with “Trans Link,” and nearly 2,000 feature Link in a romantic relationship with Prince Sidon (or Ganondorf, for the enemies-to-lovers fans). AO3 may not be the only metric for how many Zelda fans interpret Link as gay and/or transgender, but it’s one of the biggest. This is no surprise, as fans have been speculating on Link’s gender and sexuality since at least 2009, though realistically he’s been on the minds of queer players since The Legend of ZeldaFirst released in Japan in 1986.

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Nintendo denies rumors linking Link to being queer. In a 2015 interview with Kotaku, Zelda producer Eiji Aonuma said Link is “not gay. He’s just an odd person.” However, though Aonuma shut down speculation about Link’s sexuality within the franchise canon, his statement also opened the door for further fan interpretation. Since long, queerness has been closely linked to oddity. Heteronormativity has made it impossible for queer people to live on the margins of society for decades.

In art, it’s common to see queer-coded monsters and especially queer-coded villains, particularly because of how the Hays Code prohibited depictions of homosexuality on screen. Since queerness was considered a depravity in the past, it is still threatening to have that labeled today. In fact, anti-LGBTQ legislation has risen dramatically since 2022. This history, political climate and the tendencies of fans to adhere to their theories, make queer a dangerous topic. Zelda fans haven’t let what Aonuma has to say hold them back from their own interpretations of the iconic character. This was especially evident during the build-up to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

Prior to the game’s release in 2017, there were rumors that players would have the option to choose between “girl” or “boy” Link. Aonuma discussed these rumors with Time in 2016 after the game’s release. Take a deep breath of the wildIt would feature another masculine Link. His responses point to seemingly intentional ambiguity around Link’s identity markers.

“Back during the Ocarina of timeI wanted Link gender-neutral in the early days. 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,” Aonuma told Time. “I really wanted the designer to encompass more of a gender-neutral figure.”

“During the development of Twilight PrincessHowever, my original idea for Link was to create a masculine version. But after Twilight Princess I went back to the drawing board and decided Link should be a more gender-neutral character,” Aonuma continued. “Hence I created the version of Link that you see in Take a deep breath of the wild. 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.”

But Link’s gender-neutral, or androgynous, design in Take a deep breath of the wildComplex. Link must wear drag to get into Gerudo Town, a desert city. Only women are allowed within the town’s walls, so to speak to its leader and get what Link needs to fight Thunderblight Ganon, Link has to present as a woman. To get the right clothes, Link has to track down “a man who snuck into Gerudo Town.” The person he meets is wearing traditional Gerudo dress, but after he confirms her identity and then literally squints at her face and body, the dialogue prompt either allows him to compliment her beauty or declare that she’s actually a man. Essentially, the quest forces Link to “clock” a trans woman, which is often what precedes anti-trans violence.

This quest fails trans Zelda fans in major ways, but much like Aonuma’s denial that Link is gay, it also presents players with an opportunity. They can choose to queer the game after completing this quest by adding more femme clothes to Link’s wardrobe, which unlock in multiple colors once you enter the town, and donning them as often as they like. Other costumes are less intentionally feminine, but there’s also a distinct absence of hyper-masculine imagery like you might see in Red Dead RedemptionMetroid and even Metroid where men heroes are super-muscular or tall and weeble, with their costumes highlighting their bodies.

Of course, Link’s androgyny also follows a very specific and limited interpretation of the term. Fashionistas often use androgyny to refer to thin, white, ablebodied, AFAB males who don masculine clothing. Androgyny can be practiced by anyone of any size, race or body type. People who are androgynous (especially if they identify nonbinary or genderqueer) argue that fashion should not be restricted. A videogame character should have the ability to say androgyny wearing bras and pants with sparkly veil. However, neither should be considered the sole definition. Link has been portrayed most frequently in tights and a tunic throughout Zelda’s history. This is how Nintendo describes androgynous fashion. Take a deep breath of the wildThis wardrobe is more masculine, but not as nebulously sexy.

Link dressing in drag, is just one instance of queerness. Take a deep breath of the wild. Another is his very flirtatious banter with Prince Sidon, who’s widely considered to be a queer-coded character on his own. Although Link has to rescue Sidon’s sister from the Divine Beast Vah Ruta, it’s clear that there’s an emotional connection between these two men as well. Sidon refers to Link as his best friend. He repeatedly speaks of how deeply he trusts Link. He even carries Link to Vah Ruta on his own back, which makes it feel as if the characters are handling the first part of the boss fight together, with mutual trust and physical intimacy — even if it’s not canonically romantic.

Image: Nintendo

Since the release of the game, fans have explored Sidon’s relationship with Link in all sorts of works, from fanfiction that spans a few thousand words to thousands, mature comics, and lots of spicy fan art.

For now, the ambiguity of Link’s gender and relationships allows players to make what they will of his characterization and story. Nintendo’s androgynous designs leave room for players to choose how they identify with Link — or other potentially queer characters in the franchise, like Sheik from Ocarina of time — and produce fan content that aligns with their views. Nintendo maintains Link is straight but cisgender. However, Zelda fans have added LGBTQIA+ characters to the Zelda universe and LGBTQIA+ readings.

Nintendo will publish its next generation of games on May 12. Tears of the Kingdom: Zelda’s LegendThis is the sequel to Take a deep breath of the wild. So far, footage indicates the same artistic style and open-world concept, meaning the latest version of Link gets to continue his journey… during which he’s seemingly becoming even More identifiably queer. The style that is synonymous with queerness is his hair, which almost looks like a mullet.

Even if Link exists NeverFan content is often identified as transgender or gay, with a lot of it being produced by queer people. From the thousands of fanfiction stories on AO3 to academic articles exploring queer themes in the franchise to fan art depicting Link and Prince Sidon in both wholesome and horny but decidedly romantic contexts, it’s clear that Nintendo’s opinion on the matter doesn’t much matter. For many, Link is gay or trans or both, and that’s a powerful thing that can’t be taken away.