Breath Of The Wild Explains Why Link Never Talks

BOTW gives a narrative justification for why Link is always silent, but it also feeds into a misconception about The Legend of Zelda’s protagonist.

Summary

• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild provides an answer to why Link is a silent protagonist.
• Aside from certain interjections, Link has never been fully voiced throughout the entirety of the Zelda series.
• BOTW explains why its Link is so quiet, but it also highlights a fallacy in perceiving Link as a true silent protagonist.

In a first for Nintendo's long-running fantasy series, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild actually provides an answer to why Link is a silent protagonist. Through over three decades of Zelda games, Link has seemingly never said a word, a facet which quickly became a cornerstone of his character. BOTW is the first game in the series to grapple with this directly, but its explanation for Link's silence isn't exactly thorough, and even highlights a major misconception about The Legend of Zelda's leading Hylian.

Link is a name that actually refers to a number of different characters, a result of The Legend of Zelda typically being an anthology series, where each entry is inextricably connected to the others, but don't directly continue the same narrative. There are exceptions, however, including Breath of the Wild's direct sequel, Tears of the Kingdom. Many Zelda games have a protagonist that's named by the player, but they are all canonically iterations of Link, inheriting the spirit of the hero and destined to grapple with Ganon, the manifestation of Demise's malice, forevermore alongside the mortal descendants of the Goddess Hylia, Princess Zelda's numerous incarnations.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Review - Building Excellence

Zelda Explains Why Breath Of The Wild's Link Doesn't Talk

Breath of the Wild establishes a unique relationship between it and Tears of the Kingdom's versions of Link and Zelda. By recovering Memories scattered throughout Hyrule, BOTW's Link remembers his past from before the Second Great Calamity, when he was a Knight of Hyrule and personally escorted Princess Zelda on a quest to awaken the powers bestowed upon her by the Goddess. Every Memory cutscene features fully voiced characters, another first for the Zelda series, but Link remains stoic and silent.

However, players can explore Princess Zelda’s room in Breath of the Wild’s rendition of Hyrule Castle. Here, Link has the option to read Zelda's diary, and if he does, he comes across a passage that reads:

"Bit by bit, I've gotten Link to open up to me. [...] When I finally got around to asking why he's so quiet all the time, I could tell it was difficult for him to say. But he did. With so much at stake, and so many eyes upon him, he feels it necessary to stay strong and to silently bear any burden. A feeling I know all too well... For him, it has caused him to stop outwardly expressing his thoughts and feelings. I always believed him to be simply a gifted person who had never faced a day of hardship. How wrong I was... Everyone has struggles that go unseen by the world... I was so absorbed with my own problems, I failed to see his. I wish to talk with him more and to see what lies beneath those calm waters, to hear him speak freely and openly... And perhaps I, too, will be able to bare my soul to him and share the demons that have plagued me all these years."

This entry provides very poignant insight into The Legend of Zelda’s protagonist, or at least this iteration of him. BOTW's Link is unique within the series in that the full gravity of Hyrule's potential fate is made clear beforehand – Calamity Ganon is returning, and he must protect the Princess so she can stop the Second Great Calamity – rather than being suddenly thrust into reckoning with his destiny like his predecessors. Link is understandably reticent in the face of his duty, but even this diary entry reveals a fallacy in seeing Link as a silent protagonist.

Link Has Never Truly Been A Silent Protagonist

Although Link has never verbally spoken in a Zelda game (except for the occasional interjection when rolling or attacking), he is not speechless in-universe, and nowhere is this more evident than in Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. Throughout both games, Link is frequently seen conversing with NPCs, both through dialog options chosen by the player, and by way of implied speech – usually gesticulating while the screen fades to black. Although this is particularly obvious in BOTW and TOTK, Link has occupied this space as an un-voiced, but not silent protagonist throughout The Legend of Zelda.

The series' protagonist has always been something of a stand-in for the player, particularly in the earliest Zelda games. While giving Link a voice would provide an opportunity for more characterization, it would deal a major blow to the series' attempts at drawing the player into the game, putting them in the shoes of Hyrule's hero. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild may be the first game in the series to give a reason for Link's quietness, but this most recent iteration of the iconic character is largely no different than the Links that came before.

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  The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild

  Franchise:

  The Legend of Zelda

  Platform(s):

  Nintendo Switch

  Released:

  2017-03-03

  Developer(s):

  Nintendo EPD

  Publisher(s):

  Nintendo

  Genre(s):

  Action-Adventure, Open-World, RPG

  ESRB:

  E10+

  Summary:

  The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is an open-world, action-adventure RPG from Nintendo's EPD development team. Recently waking from a hundred-year slumber in a mysterious chamber, Link awakens with no memory of how he got there. Through a disembodied voice, he is told he must stop Calamity Ganon from destroying Hyrule - and to do so, he must regain his memories and gain the power to do so. Link will travel throughout Hyrule to re-awaken the four slumbering Divine Beasts to help approach the darkness-covered castle and retrieve the Master Sword. With the help of four guardian friends and tribes across the land, Link will battle the forces of darkness and save his friend, princess Zelda.

  Expansion Packs :

  The Master Trials, The Champion's Ballad

  Prequel:

  The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

  Sequel:

  The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom