A note on the Zelda story

Okay, this will be a small rant, and it will be about zelda, but not in the "I like video games kind of way"... more in the way of trying to explain what I'm doing with this story. Let's begin.

First of all, I want to create the reality of how most people view this story in my mind. (emphasis on MY MIND). I'm guessing that most people see "ZELDA part 34" and think, "oh that's Dietz.. he likes Nintendo and Zelda.." Then they read the story and its fun. In a way, that is the truth of it all. I do like Zelda and I am having fun writing this story. However, there are some issues that I'm confronting while doing this.

Think about the character of Link. After playing.. mmm... probably around 10 iterations of the Legend of Zelda, what do we (players, watchers, readers) know about Link? What do the games actually tell us about him? I've been thinking about this, because well... I need to write him. I have found that the games tell us pretty much nothing at all. He's brave, courageous if you will. He typically does the "good" thing in his games. Besides courage, the rest of his character is pretty ambiguous, and that has made it difficult to write him as a character. Therefore, which is the interesting part, I've been trying to implement that unspoken aspects of Link (ha.. unspoken). Yes, he never has any dialogue in any game. He doesn't even have any thoughts that the player gets to look at during the game. All we have is that he is courageous. So, the unspoken aspects of Link are, in my view, what we as the player are filling in for him.

For instance, my story features Navi as an incredibly obnoxious character. And let's face it, Link's sidekicks are typically really obnoxious in the Zelda series (heck, in Majora's mask, you're accompanied by the fairy that helped the skull kid steal your horse for goodness sake). You'd have to assume, that no matter how "good" Link is, he'd have to get annoyed by this little helper. I think most players get annoyed by the attitude that many of these sidekicks give. In a way, I'm creating Link's personality out of my own personality by making him annoyed by Navi in my story.

Another unspoken aspect that I'm filling in with my own desires I guess is Link's morality. This is something that because the world of Zelda is so black and white, that we as players don't really question. Ganondorf is evil simply because he is. His motives aren't really brought into question. Furthermore, Link is just good simply because he is. He never speaks, so you never really know why he is motivated to save the world. I almost feel that if the makers of Zelda gave him a motive for saving the world (like revenge, glory, etc) it would break that black and white mold they have established.

However, I am trying to challenge this in my story. For example, I had writing Link's little scuffle with Gard the guard. Yet, I want the reader to think about how this scene challenges the actual role of Link. If you accept that idea that Link is "good" with no exception... I had him kill Gard. It was kind of softened by the idea that he just turned into smoke, but there are aspects of Gard that made him a character that should not have died. When it came down to it, I gave him voice and thought. He had feelings. As far as the story was concerned, he was real and Link basically executed him. It was tough for me to do because it completely does not fit the mold of Zelda.

Yet, I feel like this action fits what many gamers feel when they play Zelda. It is unrealistic to believe that Link is pure good. I wrote a small scene in the shop, and because Link doesn't talk, I had to voice a lot of opinion into Navi. I bet that many players of Zelda have at one point wanted Link to say this to the shopkeeper: "Listen, I'm trying to save the world and your a**.. so you're going to give me whatever I want for free.. or else I'm going to slice you with the master sword and then burn your little shop to the ground with fire arrows." Again, in the abscence of Link saying or thinking "well, I need to respect these shop owners"... the player's own feeling is really free to identify who Link is. Yes... the game restricts you from filling out your desire, but there's nothing there discounting that Link might be feeling what you are.

I'm sorry about the rant. I just wanted to put out there that this story, while its fun and about Nintendo, is also trying bring up the idea of the disconnect between what we know about Link and what we make out of him through our own thought and action.