Link or Zelda - That's The Question

  Nintendo showed of actual in engine footage of it's new Legend of Zelda in their Digital Event on Tuesday, and boy does it look nice.  But, there is one thing everybody is hung up on - when you see the shot of our supposed main hero up close, some believe that's a lady.  There has been a lot of speculation lately on if that's Zelda, if it's some sort of sequel to Skyward Sword and that's Link and Zelda's child, or if it's just a new Hero that was chosen by the Goddess; or simple "just a new look" as well.  It didn't help that Aonuma started teasing or trolling that "we never said that was Link think the big thing though, is that dude looks like a lady, and that is what I'm here to discuss for the most part.

Let's walk through this.

  The first thing you will notice is that this character is not wearing the traditional garb of our courageous hero.  Typically he is wearing his Green Tunic and hat that goes along with Green standing of the Courage of the Triforce, but here we see him/her wearing Blue, which could go along with the Wisdom theme; Wisdom of course being Zelda's whole deal.  It's a basic thing, but one worth noting I suppose.

  Funny enough, the first thing I noticed is that the horse is not Epona; well, as far as we could tell (which honestly, is the same thing we are doing with "Link" here).  Epona is always shown off as a lighter brown horse with a white tale and main and little white feet.  I feel like so far, these two things are deliberate to their "rethinking conventions".

  And speaking of deliberate - the Bow has a much larger focus; there is also no Sword or Shield.  I had a few people try to give me all sorts of crap and reasons because I said that perhaps the Bow will be the new main weapon, but if we can believe that it's Zelda in the trailer, then it should be a no brainer that the Bow would be your main weapon.  Zelda has almost always used a bow, and even as Sheik, she had projectiles, no sword or anything.  Plus, in this trailer you see the bow being used for a few shots and they zoom in on this new crazy arrow and make it a point to really show of this person kickin' it with a bow.  Their is also not only the quiver on their back, but some set up on the side of the horse.  I think it's a fair guess, and it's as good as any on here, but for me it's just another establishment to the idea that this could be Zelda.

  Also, if you noticed, this person is not a southpaw.  I know Link has been shown to be right handed in Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword, but those were because of how the Wii Remote and Nunchuck set up worked.  It would be pretty weird to swing the sword in your left hand in Skyward Sword to watch it all be on the right.  So now that we are back to conventional controls, it's a safe guess to think that this is also deliberate.  Any time you see her fighting with the bow, she is shooting that as a right hander (unless your are in the Twilight Princess whole screen flip on Wii of course)

  Ok, so we have backed up the Zelda idea a little bit here, but let's get into what my gut has been telling me from the start - That's just a new Link.

  Link has always looked androgynous to an extent, and it's crazy to me we are having the debate on this version of Link...

... and not THIS one.

  Let's face it, Link has always had that look about him, this one just uses that more.  I just thought maybe it was a more "lived in the wild" look to him.  And let's also remember that dudes kinda look like ladies a lot in Japan.  Lot's of feminine features.

  For some reason, people were also trying to say that "if that's Link, then he's got some little man boobs!".  I'm not really sure where people saw boobs in that trailer - I don't see them on this model at all...

... and it's not like Nintendo does't give their ladies breasts, they just aren't Itagaki Boobs is all.  Nintendo's ladies are classy!

  I was also thinking that perhaps, assuming the Bow is still a major focus, that the "magic arrow" we saw could be a different incarnation of the Master Sword.  It's a little more of a stretch, and I hope we still get a sword because of the new open world, but hey, it's a thought.

  I am still curious about the hood he had on and the symbols that were present, I at first thought that perhaps it was a different take on the Sheikah symbol, but after looking at everything, they use that same symbol in every version of the Sheikah.  It's even in Skyward Sword on some of the people in Skyloft (with Red Eyes being another factor apparently).

  Here's the end thought - That is Link, things are just going to be different because Nintendo want's to break the mold a bit here.  They need to get a little fresh and they are trying to do so.  If they did make this Zelda or a lady hand picked by the Goddess, I would still be 100% on board, but I my gut just didn't think that was the case.

-Eddie

P.S. - While writing this, Aonuma came out and said that it was actually Link in the trailer and that what was posted was taking slightly out of context.  So, I guess that ends the debate here!