So we’re finally getting the long-demanded female version of Link in the form of Linkle, a playable character in Hyrule Warriors 3DS. And it’s awesome and exciting, mostly, but you shouldn’t get your hopes up too high. Because there’s basically no way you’re going to get to play as Linkle in the real Zelda adventure games. Nope… no Linkle in Zelda Wii U, that’s for sure.

Don’t Expect To Play As Linkle In Zelda Wii U

Linkle is a big step on Nintendo’s part. And while introducing a female version of the Zelda series’ lightly characterized protagonist may feel belated… look at the competition. Other industry players like Ubisoft aren’t much better. Nintendo’s behind the curve on gender equality in its games, for sure, but at least they’re making steps in the right direction… and thankfully Linkle isn’t oversexualized in the least.

But don’t expect Linkle to extend outside of side games like Hyrule Warriors 3DS, which already breaks a lot of Zelda rules… and isn’t even developed by Nintendo. Nintendo is pretty well wedded to its protagonists. Heck, look at the Mario games. Until the last few years, you didn’t even have the choice to play as Luigi most of the time, let alone Princess Peach. She only returned as a playable character in Super Mario 3D World. And Nintendo treats Zelda as a much more “serious” series than Mario. The company is more conservative about changes and about tweaking the formula.

Sadly, that means that Linkle won’t be an alternative option in Zelda Wii U. Maybe she’ll show up in some capacity, although even that seems pretty unlikely to me. But you won’t be able to get to the initial menu and decide that you want to play as Linkle instead of Link… and I think that’s a shame, but it’s the way it’s going to be. You should be able to choose to play as a female character. Link isn’t Geralt of Rivia, a very well-defined character with a history and his own story. Link isn’t totally faceless, but he is just a loose template, and isn’t even the same character across games. There’s no reason he has to be a man every time. Except that Nintendo is conservative and wants it that way, or at least doesn’t really think about it very much.

Nintendo, prove me wrong. Let us play as Linkle in Zelda Wii U. It’s past time.