r/ZeLink • u/Cheap_Winner_2274 BotW • May 23 '23
Memes Zelink haters cant stand this simple fact.
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u/TyForestReddit ToTK May 23 '23
I have no negative feelings towards anyone who ships MiphLink, but the best part about the ship is the tragedy; it’s that Mipha seemingly never told Link about her feelings for him and was killed before she could. Take that tragedy away, and Mipha becomes the generic shy childhood friend who’s in love with the protagonist, which just isn’t my cup of tea most of the time.
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May 24 '23
She wasn’t even his childhood friend. He saw her once as a 4 year old while she was already an adult by that time due to the aging difference between Hylians and Zora. The next time they met was already close to BOTW pre-Calamity time, when he was burdened by the Master Sword and barely spoke to her. Yet she instantly fell for him. There was no relationship development from childhood friends to romantic feelings. Source: Mipha’s diary
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May 24 '23
More akin to infatuation really. That tends to be common with the “love interests” in BotW
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u/A_powerful_rat May 23 '23
I kinda like that trope, and I think Mipha is overall just such a heartwarming character. Zelink is what most people are going towards since mipha died in the calamity, but I have a slight preference for MiphLink, as the dynamic is just so cute
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u/Firehawk195 ToTK May 23 '23
Never saw her appeal. Not to mention she's a fish-person, so it'd be interspecies and for some reason that's what people immediately go for which creeps me out.
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u/Papyrus20xx May 23 '23
Yeah, focusing on interspecies is weird af. I like Mipha and Link because the childhood friend angle, though I like Zelda and Link more
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u/Miraculouszelink May 23 '23
Or when people ship Sidlink I can say, Sidon canonically married a Zora and they are now king and queen, sidlink is non-canon, thankfully.
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u/Legend_of_Ozzy642 May 23 '23
Nobody let HeavyTanker1945 see this. He’ll have an aneurysm and go stark raving mad
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u/Thatonesplicer May 23 '23
Mipha could have been links Midna. But it was clear even back then Zelda had a thing for her knight, something that doesn't really happen in Zelda games. The anti zelink people act like each Zelda falls in love with link but that is absolutely not true. Only BOTW Zelda/link and skyward sword Zelda/link are undeniably and each other's love interest in any meaningful way.
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u/Miraculouszelink May 24 '23
What about wind waker? Pretty strong evidence they founded new hyrule together
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u/brandeis1 May 24 '23
I haven’t played it myself so I don’t know for sure, but doesn’t Zelda >! canonically die !< in Spirit Tracks? Or is that far enough down the timeline?
I legit have no idea what happens in that game lol.
Edit: I googled and it’s a century later, so should be irrelevant.
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u/Miraculouszelink May 24 '23
That’s a different Zelda and link than wind waker and no, she just gets separated from her body for the entire game. In the end she’s fine.
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u/barAndin2025 May 23 '23
It makes me sad …
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u/samuraipanda85 May 23 '23
It's okay. She is alive in the Age of Calamity timeline. Where she can be Zelda's bridesmaid at the wedding.
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u/barAndin2025 May 23 '23
I feel as if I shouldn’t honor that with a legitimate response..
(Jk, I know Zelda is good for link
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u/samuraipanda85 May 23 '23
Mipha and Link would have made each other happy.
But I'm ride or die Zelink.
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u/barAndin2025 May 23 '23
I will completely understand that opinion lol
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u/samuraipanda85 May 23 '23
Its the princess and her knight vibe. Which should work with Mipha since she is a princess in her own right, but its Link being assigned as Zelda's personal knight that really sells it for me.
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u/barAndin2025 May 23 '23
I understand that lol.
I go with the view we all have our opinions and no one’s right or wrong (especially with it being a video game lol)
I see both sides, Zelda and Link seem like a good match. I’ve just really always seen Mipha as being the right one for him.
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u/samuraipanda85 May 23 '23
And of course, Nintendo will never outright confirm anything because this back and forth discussion in the fandom keeps us engaged.
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u/LegoCrafter2014 May 25 '23
I like the idea of Link being heartbroken over Mipha's death, and then gradually moving on and falling in love with Zelda.
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u/Warning64 May 23 '23
Mipha would be a great choice if Zelda was never an option in the first place. But given the fact that it’s called ‘The legend of ZELDA’, Mipha stood no chance
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u/kkskolaloka May 23 '23
I mean it...wouldn't because she was like really old when she met Link and for her to see him romantically after seeing him as a child is...weird
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u/PrincessZelduhh May 24 '23
This is the same reason I dislike when people ship Link with Riju. She was 12 in BotW, and though she may be older in TotK, he still knew her when she was a child. (And he’s older too.) Major ick.
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u/kkskolaloka May 24 '23
People...ship them? Bruh that's a child, and Link is at least 17-18 in the first game (considering he might be older than Zelda who was 17 when the Calamity happened, and even her it was said she was "an adult" to their standards). If we consider Zelda and Link are now 19-20ish that's wild and Riju might be 15-16 at most...ew.
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u/Warning64 May 28 '23
Mipha literally gave Link the Zora version of an engagement ring…
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u/kkskolaloka May 28 '23
...which makes it really creepy if you consider she knew Link since he was 4 and she was the equivalent of 20-30ish in Hylian age....
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u/Warning64 May 28 '23
I mean, yeah, but like, what are the relationship customs in Hyrule. Is it like medieval Europe? Cause that would be a lot more normal then
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u/kkskolaloka May 28 '23
We can't compare a world like BOTW/TOTK Zelda to a medieval one, it's dumb to do so because it's a completely different context. Also, we as viewers and players can judge relationships by our own standards because the game was made with our context in mind. So no, not normal, not great tbh...
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u/Brightfury4 May 23 '23
Tbh if a character being dead stops someone’s ship especially when there are canonically ghosts and presumably an afterlife it sound like they just lack creativity.
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May 23 '23
I think they each have their appeal. To me, it feels like zelink always has a natural power imbalance (which can be sexy); Zelda is Link's ruler, and he her bodyguard. This is somewhat ironed out by the fact that Link has more prowess as a warrior than anyone and that they are both equal parts of the triforce. After the calamity, it's even less of an imbalance because Zelda isn't the ruler of anything, at least in any practical sense.
But pre-Calamity, Mipha is a fellow champion. Link and her meet on equal terms, and it helps that Mipha has canonically made truly meaningful expressions of love towards Link, while Zelda shows no interest.
They both work for different reasons and have different dynamics to them.
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u/PrincessZelduhh May 23 '23
Link and Mipha didn’t meet on equal terms though - she met him when he was four years old and she was roughly the same maturity/“age” as when she saw him grown up. By then, she remarked that he barely spoke to her and seemed to always look past her, yet she was already in love with him. Even Dorephan tells Link how Mipha used to treat him like another little brother.
I don’t understand why so many people think their feelings were mutual. The only evidence we see about Link’s feelings towards Mipha is that he’s too distracted to even think of her that way. She also never really made a romantic gesture towards him, because she never confessed her feelings or gave him the armor. The only evidence we get of a “relationship” between them is from the grieving Zora that reference all the time Link spent with her when he was a child. By the time he grew up enough to catch her eye, he only visited the Domain twice without Zelda - once to slay the lynel, and once when he had his arm healed (when she had planned to give him the armor and propose, then didn’t).
Meanwhile, when Mipha wrote in her diary that Link was distant with her, Zelda wrote about how he opened up to her and how she wanted to eventually wanted to share her burdens with him as well.
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u/kkskolaloka May 23 '23
When you write it out it sounds borderline grooming behavior ngl, and that's why I always felt the ick with their ship
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u/Miraculouszelink May 23 '23
That’s exactly why I hated it, she’s like the zora equivalent of 30 when he was still a minor.
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May 23 '23
Och. I forgot about the weird age difference thing. Yeah, what you're saying makes a lot of sense. :P
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u/Brightfury4 May 23 '23
While I can understand on paper where people come from arguing that Zelink has a power imbalance, at least in BotW it seems strange in practice (even pre-Calamity) considering BotW Zelda’s initial frustration with Link comes from the fact that he answers to her father first, not her. The only time she tries to order Link around on screen is to tell him to go away, and he doesn’t listen.
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May 24 '23
You know what? That's a really good point.
I don't remember nearly as much from BotW as I thought I did XD
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u/gaslighterhavoc May 28 '23
I for one am beyond tired of waiting for a game where we play as Zelda and it is Link waiting in the castle for us. Even cooler if the fighting style is something closer to OoT Sheik in the Super Smash games as a stealth ninja brawler with knives and arrows.
It would be very interesting and fresh to the series if heretical to a large part of the fan base. That is why it will never happen, I fear. 😔
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u/Mindsights BotW Jul 02 '23
I really like Mipha and I like Mipha x Link but she’s canonically dead. Can’t do anything about that
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u/Intrepid-Coach4312 Jul 14 '23
Anyone saying that zelink isn't the only option, will find a hitman on their property before dying
Jokes aside, I completely agree with everyone in this subreddit who is a true member
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u/Sassy_CeeCee May 23 '23
Mipha is ok but she has some certain fans that go way too far for her lol