Link/Zelda

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Pairing
Pairing: Link/Zelda
Alternative name(s): ZeLink; リンゼル (RinZeru)
Gender category: Het
Fandom: The Legend of Zelda
Canonical?: Dependent on installment; often hinted, but generally considered unconfirmed
Prevalence: Very popular, juggernaut pairing
Archives:
Other:
Link x Zelda by yaminokuni
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Link/Zelda, commonly known as ZeLink, is the het pairing between the characters Link and Princess Zelda from The Legend of Zelda video game series.

Canon background

Since the first game, Link has generally player the role of an evil-slaying adventurer, while Zelda has played the role of donor and "damsel in distress" in his quest. The relationship between Link and Zelda is the most recurring and often the most significant of all their relationships throughout the series. As a hero, Link seeks to vanquish evil for the sake of the common people, but his motivation to rescue Princess Zelda specifically is often based on a personal connection with her rather than just a sense of duty.

The official manga included within Hyrule Historia depicts Hylia's Chosen Hero (thought to be Link's earliest incarnation) accepting the Master Sword from the goddess Hylia. When he dies after fulfilling his quest, the goddess ensures that his spirit lives on, and she expresses her hope to reunite with him as a mortal.

Popularity and opinion

ZeLink is the juggernaut pairing for all The Legend of Zelda fandom, across the entire series. Though certain other pairings may have a strong second place for certain games—such as Link/Midna in Twilight Princess, and Link/Sidon in Breath of the Wild—ZeLink invariably has the biggest following, with its history spanning nearly every installment over more than three decades.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7] (See The North Castle for an example of ZeLink fan fiction predating the release of Ocarina of Time.)

Interest in ZeLink, along with essentially all things related to TLoZ, experienced as surge in popularity among new and returning fans with the wildly popular release of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (2017). As of June 19, 2015, there were 264 works tagged with the Link/Zelda (Legend of Zelda) relationship tag on the Archive of Our Own (AO3);[8] as of July 2021, the number has increased to 3174 works. Since the release of BotW, ZeLink has broken into Tumblr's top ships a few times, according to Tumblr Fandometrics;[9][10] it was ranked #97 out of 100 for the year 2019,[11] and #85 out of 100 for the year 2020.[12]

Fanon and tropes

General

The portrayal of ZeLink varies according to the specific incarnations of Link and Zelda involved. A fan may support ZeLink for one game, while supporting a different pairing over ZeLink in another game. For example, ZeLink (in the form of TeLink) is largely the uncontested juggernaut pairing for The Wind Waker among fans, while some of these same fans might prefer Link/Malon in Ocarina of Time or Link/Midna in Twilight Princess.

Official materials depict The Legend of Zelda games as connected by a loose continuity of branching timelines; canon lore also states or suggests that Link and Zelda are the spiritual reincarnations and/or blood descendants of their incarnations throughout the series. Thus, fan fiction may portray them as lovers bound to each other across lifetimes, sometimes their love being compounded by memories of their past lives.

Yet for similar reasons, a few ZeLink shippers may avoid shipping certain incarnations so as to avoid incest or pseudo incest, under the belief that certain incarnations of Link and Zelda share blood as descendants of the same previous incarnations, or that it would be taboo for one to romance the blood descendant of a past self. However, many TLoZ fans do not pay much heed to the direct connections between one game and another, negating the issue.

Because Link has always been a commoner and Zelda usually has been royalty throughout their various incarnations in the series, star-crossed lovers and arranged marriage plots are quite common tropes. Link's heroic deeds often earn him enough public goodwill and political clout that Zelda has the option to make him her royal consort.

The childhood friends trope has a canon basis in the Four Swords, Minish Cap and Skyward Sword canons. The friends to lovers trope is common for canonverse fan works based on these games, and in AU fan works based on other games.

In role reversal AUs, Link is often depicted as the one in need of rescue, while Zelda is the adventurer questing to save him.

A Link to the Past

Ocarina of Time

The "child timeline" Zelda may regain her "adult timeline" self's memories of Link due to her prophetic powers (either due to her mystical abilities as the bearer of the Triforce of Wisdom, or as the Sage of Time that many fans presume her to be).

Zelda's alter ego, Sheik, may be treated as a male character who is completely separate from Zelda herself. Link/Sheik is quite a popular pairing in its own right.

The Wind Waker and Phantom Hourglass

Link/Tetra, AKA TeLink. Many fans portray Tetra with a "tsundere" personality, being hesitant to directly express her affections to Link out of embarrassment for her reputation as a tough pirate captain.

Spirit Tracks

Twilight Princess

Twilight Princess is one of the games in which Link and Zelda have very little personal interaction. In this case, both Link and Zelda have more interactions with Midna than with each other.

Fan writers often depict Link and Zelda growing closer as they work together to restore Hyrule after the events of the game. Zelda may comfort Link as he copes with his feelings of loss in his journey's aftermath. This particular incarnation of Zelda is often portrayed as emotionally repressed and burdened by her queenly duties, and her relationship with Link allows her to experience human connection and simple life.

Skyward Sword

The pairing of the goddess Hylia with her chosen hero has often been referred to as "HyLink".

Since the introduction of Hylia, some have taken to shipping her with Fierce Deity Link, making ZeLink into a mystical power couple.

Breath of the Wild

Super Smash Bros.

Fan works

Fan fiction

  • From the Ground Up by fioreofthemarch—"United, the people can rebuild from any tragedy. But torn apart, they become nothing. Zelda and Link struggle to find their feet in a Hyrule that has all but forgotten them. With sinister forces leaping at the power vacuum left by Ganon and an already fragile Hyrule teetering on the edge of a civil war, the pair must forge new paths in order to save both their kingdom and their chance to rebuild it."
  • Parallel Legends Series by Firebird_X—"Four thousand years after Parallel Hearts and three thousand years after the "final" quest of the Hero, in a world where Link to the Past and Four Swords Adventures were the same tale, Ganon is dead and Hyrule seems to be at peace. Alas, the curse that haunts the Hero is older than the Great King of Evil, and the cycle comes full circle at last..."
  • Trouble the Water Series by MaryDragon — "An expansion of Breath of the Wild canon: a look at why the memories might have happened where and when they occurred (with one slight change in order) and an attempt to fill-in the events and conversations alluded to by diary entries and conversations in-game.[...] Begins shortly before the first journal entry in Zelda's diary, and continues to the immediate aftermath of the last memory."
  • Voiceless by Ysavvryl—"As a child, Link was cursed with silence by the King of Beasts, Ganon. Now he has a chance to overthrow the tyrant and save the land of Hyrule, but this will be a hard and lonely path. Made with love for the NES games."
  • What We Did Before... by AndelynKinsey—"'But you've known him since you were both very little. You should know better than to fret about him!' Link and Zelda live in Skyloft, a strange little island in the sky. They've known each other since they were five years old and have always looked out for one another. This is the story of what their life was like, and what they did before fate intervened and their world changed forever."
  • "Listener" (FFNWBM) by embyr-75 (embyrinitalics) — "A grieving princess discovers the value of a good listener." 2019. Twilight Princess oneshot, cover art by Villtura.

Fan art

Meta

Zines

Events and challenges

External links

Archives and Communities

Resources

References

  1. ^ https://phantomstatistician.tumblr.com/post/171930982851/fandom-the-legend-of-zelda-breath-of-the-wild
  2. ^ https://phantomstatistician.tumblr.com/post/172068061541/fandom-the-legend-of-zelda-twilight-princess
  3. ^ https://phantomstatistician.tumblr.com/post/171387613226/fandom-the-legend-of-zelda-character-link-sample
  4. ^ https://phantomstatistician.tumblr.com/post/187142573926/fandom-super-smash-brothers-sample-size-642
  5. ^ https://phantomstatistician.tumblr.com/post/189038866092/fandom-the-legend-of-zelda-character-zelda
  6. ^ https://phantomstatistician.tumblr.com/post/637226023414579200/fandom-breath-of-the-wild-sample-size-3876
  7. ^ https://phantomstatistician.tumblr.com/post/647004396407963648/fandom-breath-of-the-wild-sample-size-709
  8. ^ Link to archive screenshot, 19/06/2015.
  9. ^ https://fandom.tumblr.com/post/636245890845294592/ships-week-ending-november-30th-2020
  10. ^ https://fandom.tumblr.com/post/654633198648786944/ships
  11. ^ https://fandom.tumblr.com/post/189431747929/2019-ships
  12. ^ https://fandom.tumblr.com/post/636856116682375168/2020-top-ships
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