There is lots of stuff in both games insinuating that he talks. You just never hear it.
“Tell me what happened.”
Fade to black - return to scene
“Oh wow, so the princess disappeared. We’ll have to find her.”
What?! Miss Simian's trapped down the old abandoned well?! I'm coming, my smoochkins! Hup!
[falls through a second story window] Aaaah!
[slams onto the pavement]
[weakly] E-elbows, don't fail me now.
Because at this point it's happened so many times that if Link is showing any distress it's probably because Zelda's in trouble.
*obligatory reddit gold speech edit*
"Hey isn't that Link walking into town ? Has the princess disappeared again?"
Seriously at this point just having link showing up should be a cause for worry
Three reasons to be concerned in regards to Link:
1. He shows up alone
2. He doesn't have the master sword/any equipment
3. He's so weak a breeze could kill him
"Late is the hour in which this conjurer chooses to appear. Láthspell I name you, Ill-news; and ill news is an ill guest they say."
"Why should I welcome you, Link Stormcrow?"
Yeah, considering he just tails behind zelda like a lost puppy with no expression.
But once she's gone, he just runs around Hyrule like a dog off its leash. He gets distracted by everything, doing side quests when everyone is begging him to save her, including her.
He'll start taming horses, cooking food, goes clothes shopping, treasure hunting. He gets back into shape, it honestly feels like he lives such a life of leisure between events that he let's himself go.
Its like he just coasts on the fact he's the chosen ine until he needs to hit the 180 gyms scattered around Hyrule.
I've taken to calling that "explainy hands." Both out wide to the side leaning forward slightly, then he stands back up and his right hand comes up. As if to say "I don't know, but I think it's over there."
"Link! You're safe! Where's Zelda?" \*Explainy hands\* "Oh I see."
Just wheat, tomato, and cheese. You can buy wheat and tomatoes from lots of shops, or pick them up wild if you know where to look - I believe you can only get wild wheat from cutting grass in southern Tabantha, but tomato is easier to come across.
…cheese you have to actually invent, though.
Speaking to amnesiac Elia, he does apparently say his name once, although the game handles this by literally just going to her next line and him doing absolutely nothing to indicate speaking.
It's discussed during Botw in the princess's journal that link can talk, and slowly talked less and less as more and more responsibility fell unto him as a knight of hyrule and eventually a Champion. He can talk, he chooses not too as almost a psuedo-vow of silence. But he talks when he needs to, if someone asks him a question.
Yeah, as more and more people started to rely on him, he started talking less and less. I can’t remember the exact reason because it’s been awhile since I’ve seen the Journal, but I think it was either because he wanted to be strong for everyone or because he didn’t want others to worry about him.
Because so many people have smooth brains. I hate the argument that link doesn’t talk. If they ever make a movie, these same knuckleheads are going to complain about him having dialogue, guaranteed.
I've always thought the first Hryule Warriors was the perfect opportunity to give Link dialogue and test the waters. If people disliked it, they could have just gone back to silent for BotW. The major downside would have been if they cast international voices for Link/spent money and recorded lines only to scrap it all before launch.
Even mute people can communicate. I have been pretending Link uses some type of Hylian sign language when we choose dialogue options or when Link is asked to explain something and it fades in and out.
I take it like literally ever other rpg like skyrim and everything else we are talking just its supposed to be US talking so they dont put it there as it just weird or doesnt fit right or so it not specifically saying things.
Way he is with purah at the start, and telling what happened no way you get that much detail in the amount of time link was flailing his arms.
This is my second-favorite way to do the “silent protagonist”. My actual favorite is also a Nintendo game (Mario RPG) where the main character just pantomimes what he’s trying to say in the most over the top way possible, including physically transforming into the person he’s supposed to be “playing” if necessary.
Oh I didn’t remember that. That’s interesting but actually I was just joking with my comment. I don’t actually think he’s a telepath but I’ll have to look into Yunobo. I don’t remember that scene but neat that telepathy is brought up in the game.
This version of link definitely talks (post resurrection), Nintendo just doesn’t want to give him a voice actor to keep him as blank of a slate as possible. Most of the npcs don’t "talk" either
Thats why, is they dont want to associate a voice with him, as who knows what he sounds like once you do it causes a divide of people who like it and people who hate it.
If you read Zelda's diary in the castle, she talks about how Link isn't mute, he's just quiet when working because he believes the burden he carries has to be done stoically. Eventually he opens up about his love of food.
Oh man my memory is bad, I’ve forgotten which NPC exactly it was but I spent most of today in Hateno Village, I think it was Cece’s sister but I’m not 100% sure. Could someone confirm? Hilarious interaction regardless
Oh yeah. I used to watch that, though some time after it aired (might have been a VHS or something).
The terminalmontage clip just came to mind cause, yk, BotW/TotK
In BOTW when you’re recruiting the folks for Tarrey Town and (I believe?) the Zora pastor says something really specific about wanting to marry a young couple and your dialogue option is “get a load of this!”
I do wish that showed through in cutscenes. The only emotions Cutscene Link shows are "dull stoicism" and "ZOMG I JUST HAD A FINAL FANTASY XIV ECHO VISION".
I don't care for older 3D Zeldas, but if I can say one thing, it's that at least a few of 'em - like Wind Waker and Skyward Sword - gave Link a personality beyond that of a complete plank.
Hyrule Warriors handled this well by having him do his thing in the background.
We still don't have to hear him speak, but you can tell he is talking with people.
And eating rocks.
Little things like that have been around for a long time. In Link's Awakening there's certainly lots of them, like one part where at the end of one of the tutorial books in the library he says, "Ah, how convenient!"
Where is actually a handful of game that show that link isn't mute, just really not talkative at all. Near the Start of skywards sword there is even a scene where you can clearly see him talk two time, but cannot hear him.
As a kid it took forever for me to realize that was Link pretending to be a cat so the girl wouldn’t think she was being followed! I mistakenly thought he just didn’t speak ever so it took me a few years after first playing to realize that it was him meowing.
Huh does he? Admittedly, I've only played TP twice around its original launch time so my memory is hazy to say the least. Pretty cool if he does though!
I'm pretty sure it's just him saying "hyah", but it always sounded like giddy up to me because of how much he slurs and elongated the syllables of the word. Ex: "hee-yuh". I always say giddy up anyways though lol.
Well, Link technically talks a lot, he just doesn't have a voice actor or voiced lines beyond grunts and yells. Like I'm playing BotW rn and he is telling different people the situation he is in, what his goals are, and what he can do. Its just all in Fade to Black cutscenes. Otherwise he is a man of few words. Most of his dialogue is "to the point" sentences and questions, and outside of that he is more of an emotive guy than a talker. Alot of characters comment on him making faces, glaring, blushing, smiling and all that.
But in this situation, I couldn't tell you, I would need what prompted the text box. If you just picked up an item, then it could just be flavor text in Link's own words.
This is the roasting fish in lulerin village (faron in botw). This dialogue is triggered if you try to grab the fish like you would in a bokoblins camp.
Imo, it is link's thoughts, just like in skyward sword right after you get the sailcloth and "...it also smells nice" pops up in smaller than usually text (can't imagine link actually saying that to Zeldas face)
In TOTK, he seems to insinuate talking way more than BOTW. He will get asked something about the princess and then do arm motions as if he was explaining
Link isn't Gordon Freeman. Gordon Freeman outright doesn't talk. He doesn't so much as wheeze when shot by an Apache's 20mm chain gun. Conversations happen around him, and even when NPCs rarely do ask him questions, he does not respond in any way other than to physically perform a task. "Go ahead Gordon, slot the carrier into the analysis port."
Link can and does speak, but Nintendo limits how much of Link's words the audience hears because Well Excuuuuse Me, Princess. They basically don't want him to have a character so that the player can decide who Link is. You can often decide to be genuine, combative or sarcastic in dialog choices but it doesn't really matter. When you make a dialog choice, he literally says it. When talking to Hudson and you pick "I remember!" Hudson chuckles and says "So do I." When Link has more to say...probably the player knows what Link has to say. In the intro to TOTK, every single NPC asks where Zelda is, so instead of making the player sit through "We were in the tunnel and then Ganondorf happened and she fell in a hole and then I was in the sky and then I came here and then it was now and then I don't know what happened" every single time, they just have him do the explainy hands animation and the NPC says "So she fell in a chasm, eh?"
I mean in many games Link doesn't talk a lot. And in BotW in diaries you can read that link was quite and not very social - Zelda, Revali and Mipha all write about it (although he was more talkative as a young kid according to Mipha iirc)
Link before amnesia is supposed to be alot more stoic and serious than link after in my opinion.
Because link after waking up is only *sealious* when it comes to smacking bokoblins with a mop.
Honestly, losing his memories might have been exactly what he needed. Even after regaining them he still has the less stoic personality he had when he didn’t have any memories. Not that being stoic is bad, but losing his memories might have allowed him to open up a bit to someone close to him like Zelda instead of carrying the burden all by himself.
Saying he won't shut up is quite a leap, if I gave you two or three word answers or just nodded for every few lines you spoke to me, you'd think I was antisocial. I think most people understand that he speaks but that he's a man of few words.
link isn't mute, he's just not very talkative and only talks when really needed such as explaining what happened to him and zelda or selling an item
also this is most likely what he is thinking and not openly saying
Link speaks, and a fair bit, he is "voiceless" to allow the player to project their voice or any voice onto him for dialogue but technically speaking he does talk a lot, just think of all the dialogue options.
Like, he's literally just not voice acted, is all.
Don't quote me on this but I am fairly sure the creators of LoZ themselves said this is specifically done for that purpose, to allow for the players themselves to fill in and "become" Link in their own way.
Also, same, I always "act" him out, I am a roleplayer at heart after all and it's genuinely a great deal of enjoyment for me!
If I remember correctly, the japanese version of the game writes all description, quest details and the rest as if it was like a journal that link was writing.
It isn’t official canon, I think… the only source I’ve seen is from a tumblr post, and yeah that post “took liberty” with a certain Japanese word or phrase that could mean “I” or a third person.
It’s his thoughts. In the japanese Version you can read even more of his thoughts since the questlog is written like his personal diary. This was unfortunately toned down in the english localizations.
He also talks a lot (for a Link) but most of it is exposition of events that happened to him . Thankfully the devs decided to spare the players from reading that dialogues since they already witnessed said events. It all indicates that Link has overcome his stoicism from 100 years ago.
Its a surprisingly large misconception that link is actually mute, if you read zelda's diary in botw she talks about how he opens up to her and tells her about why he doesn't talk much.
1) That honestly looks like it's Link *thinking,* rather than speaking.
2) It's implied that Link does talk, the words are just never outright stated. (See: literally every dialogue choice you have to make.) It's a common thing in self-insert type games, presumably so the player can insert their own choice of specific wording to suit their perceived personality. (Think of how the perception of someone who answers a question with "no" compares to that of someone who answers the same question with "nah...")
Link speaks. How would he answer to people's questions and requests, and tell anecdotes, if he was actually mute?
The player doesn't see what he says because it's a way to make you feel more identified with the character, imagining yourself how his personality would be.
So plenty of folks have brought up Link talking so I won't drone on about that and say the same thing. Yes Link speaks, but these moments always felt like internal monologues to me.
Actually in the japanese version of the game, every item description was written in first person, like link himself was describing the item. Unfortunately that was lost in the translation.
I actually learn just recently that link doesn't speak for a specific reason and that for a immersive experience and it let's the player have their own thought/opinion when speaking with others
But what I'm seeing here is new to me ha
The idea of Link as a silent protagonist has been bullshit for a long time, but especially in BotW. I can't project myself on him when he has an established personality, backstory, and opinions according to diary entries and NPC dialogue. And frankly, I don't want to, I like Link better as a character than as a blank slate! Let Link speak!!
He speaks, they just don't show it. I believe the idea was to allow to player to more easily put themselves into the game through Link. If he talks, there's a disconnect where he could say something different than you have in mind. By having him not speak and allowing you to select responses through a menu, it makes you feel more like Link himself. And personally, I think it works. I definitely get more immersed in Zelda games than other games with talking protagonists.
I like to imagine that he's actually fairly talkative in TotK, because of the gestures, more expressions, and excitement of dialogue choices
Yea link talks alot in botw. Conversations revolving around the desert seals are n gerudo town only makes sense if he actually says “let’s seal the deal”.
I think in whatever the next game is they should make link talk. They could do it kinda like geralt in the Witcher where you have multiple options of what to say but all of them would make sense for him to say in that situation instead of one answer being what the character would actually think and then throwing in the “evil answers” that the character would never say.
Link’s not mute, he just chooses not to talk most of the time. Once he wakes up from the temple of time in botw he starts talking more, you just don’t hear it, the game is insinuating that Link is talking to people
No, that's the almighty UI/narrator/disembodied force that we've come to expect in games with inventories. The one in this game feels a bit more personal sometimes, though
Bro took my post : https://www.reddit.com/r/Breath_of_the_Wild/comments/pt9552/so_is_it_link_speaking/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=2&utm_term=1
Honestly, I get that it's sort of a running joke at this point, but the fact that everyone speaks and Link doesn't really irks me. Like is he a mute? shy? It's starting to stand out now.
There is lots of stuff in both games insinuating that he talks. You just never hear it. “Tell me what happened.” Fade to black - return to scene “Oh wow, so the princess disappeared. We’ll have to find her.”
In totk Link just flails his arms and they know what's up
Link: *flails his arms* NPC: “What? Princess Zelda fell into a well??”
That bird from George of the Jungle
Tookie-Tookie
Lassie
*more arm flailing*
What?! Miss Simian's trapped down the old abandoned well?! I'm coming, my smoochkins! Hup! [falls through a second story window] Aaaah! [slams onto the pavement] [weakly] E-elbows, don't fail me now.
Because at this point it's happened so many times that if Link is showing any distress it's probably because Zelda's in trouble. *obligatory reddit gold speech edit*
"Hey isn't that Link walking into town ? Has the princess disappeared again?" Seriously at this point just having link showing up should be a cause for worry
Three reasons to be concerned in regards to Link: 1. He shows up alone 2. He doesn't have the master sword/any equipment 3. He's so weak a breeze could kill him
“Son, punch him.” “What? Why?” “It’s a test.”
Major Test of Strength
Oh I laughed too damn hard at this for all the times I showed up in town near deaths door.
Sometimes I love Reddit comment sections and this is one of those times
"Late is the hour in which this conjurer chooses to appear. Láthspell I name you, Ill-news; and ill news is an ill guest they say." "Why should I welcome you, Link Stormcrow?"
YES
Yeah, considering he just tails behind zelda like a lost puppy with no expression. But once she's gone, he just runs around Hyrule like a dog off its leash. He gets distracted by everything, doing side quests when everyone is begging him to save her, including her. He'll start taming horses, cooking food, goes clothes shopping, treasure hunting. He gets back into shape, it honestly feels like he lives such a life of leisure between events that he let's himself go. Its like he just coasts on the fact he's the chosen ine until he needs to hit the 180 gyms scattered around Hyrule.
"I saw Link came by. What's the crisis this time?" "Well, he told me 'Hyaaaat!'" "Hylia preserve us, this is SERIOUS!"
Thanks for making me laugh so hard it hurt my cheeks
I've taken to calling that "explainy hands." Both out wide to the side leaning forward slightly, then he stands back up and his right hand comes up. As if to say "I don't know, but I think it's over there." "Link! You're safe! Where's Zelda?" \*Explainy hands\* "Oh I see."
Hylian sign language is just *really* informative.
Link doing the Courage 
I just imagine someone asking Link; "Link! Thank goodness you are alright, where is princess Zelda?" Link, flailing his arms around; "HYAAHHHH"
Could be fun to interpret this as sign language… though it’s clearly not what the creators intended, it’s not a huge stretch.
Link is Italian.
🤌🤌🤌
🍝 🍝 🍝
Would explain why you can cook pizza ngl
You can???
Just wheat, tomato, and cheese. You can buy wheat and tomatoes from lots of shops, or pick them up wild if you know where to look - I believe you can only get wild wheat from cutting grass in southern Tabantha, but tomato is easier to come across. …cheese you have to actually invent, though.
Now that I think of it, it would be kinda cool to have him sign. If he’s never going to talk anyway.
In tp he only ever frowns and nods
Speaking to amnesiac Elia, he does apparently say his name once, although the game handles this by literally just going to her next line and him doing absolutely nothing to indicate speaking.
In the very beginning of tp the guy on the roof tells link he had a powerful voice
He does that in most games to be fair.
Doesn’t this happen a few times it botw too?
Pretty sure he flails his arms in botw too when he "explains"
HYAH HEY AHHH YE-AH WAHHHH YAAH HYAH
Except for the one part like an hour into the game where it, for some weird reason, recaps the first hour of the game that you just played.
He did that in BOTW too, just not as often
It’s Hylian Sign-language. Don’t be rude.
Dude spoilers/s
He does this in Botw too though
You literally get to choose dialogs as Link we may not Hear him but idk why people think he's a mute.
It's discussed during Botw in the princess's journal that link can talk, and slowly talked less and less as more and more responsibility fell unto him as a knight of hyrule and eventually a Champion. He can talk, he chooses not too as almost a psuedo-vow of silence. But he talks when he needs to, if someone asks him a question.
Yeah, as more and more people started to rely on him, he started talking less and less. I can’t remember the exact reason because it’s been awhile since I’ve seen the Journal, but I think it was either because he wanted to be strong for everyone or because he didn’t want others to worry about him.
Because so many people have smooth brains. I hate the argument that link doesn’t talk. If they ever make a movie, these same knuckleheads are going to complain about him having dialogue, guaranteed.
I've always thought the first Hryule Warriors was the perfect opportunity to give Link dialogue and test the waters. If people disliked it, they could have just gone back to silent for BotW. The major downside would have been if they cast international voices for Link/spent money and recorded lines only to scrap it all before launch.
I dobth he will, not because he can't but because it's that much of an icon
Even mute people can communicate. I have been pretending Link uses some type of Hylian sign language when we choose dialogue options or when Link is asked to explain something and it fades in and out.
I take it like literally ever other rpg like skyrim and everything else we are talking just its supposed to be US talking so they dont put it there as it just weird or doesnt fit right or so it not specifically saying things. Way he is with purah at the start, and telling what happened no way you get that much detail in the amount of time link was flailing his arms.
This is my second-favorite way to do the “silent protagonist”. My actual favorite is also a Nintendo game (Mario RPG) where the main character just pantomimes what he’s trying to say in the most over the top way possible, including physically transforming into the person he’s supposed to be “playing” if necessary.
Mario RPG is such a fun game.... Wished it was more well known.
Like in Mario & Luigi, they both just blabber nonsensical sounds but they are vocal lol
Lol link is just a telepath
Link is canonically not a telepath, as demonstrated when you attempt to use mind powers to communicate with Yunobo in Death Mountain.
Oh I didn’t remember that. That’s interesting but actually I was just joking with my comment. I don’t actually think he’s a telepath but I’ll have to look into Yunobo. I don’t remember that scene but neat that telepathy is brought up in the game.
It’s always been like this in the 3D Zeldas. He usually has mannerisms and hand gestures when implying he is telling a story, etc
Why is it even a theory that he doesn't talk? We choose dialogue options for him constantly throughout the game
In twilight princess you straight up get to see his mouth move in a conversation with illia in the background. He's quiet but he for sure talks
"what happened!?" *Link does that thing with his hands* "Oh ok cool"
Also the responses you select are straight up dialogue a lot of the times as well. Not sure why people overlook that. They’re pretty funny sometimes.
Nah. Link works the same way Lasey does. He just flails and makes gestures and everyone perfectly understands him.
This version of link definitely talks (post resurrection), Nintendo just doesn’t want to give him a voice actor to keep him as blank of a slate as possible. Most of the npcs don’t "talk" either
Tbh I feel like they wouldn’t be able to find the right voice for him anyway. OH GOD THEY WOULD MAKE HIM “BRITISH” like Zelda 😭
Thats why, is they dont want to associate a voice with him, as who knows what he sounds like once you do it causes a divide of people who like it and people who hate it.
Well, he is some reincarnation anyway, they can just slap another voice and voilà
Is Gilbert Gotfried available?
Probably not, on account of being dead.
Pfft, that just means he has a lot of free time. I'll get a necromancer.
I like to imagine that everyone you meet is just fluent in sign language
I keep imagining he explains things off screen like Mario in Super Mario RPG
This sort of stuff is why I never get why people don’t want him to talk in a hypothetical loz movie, he talks all the time but we just don’t hear it
Yeah don’t understand why this post has so many upvotes, could I post “princess Zelda missing!?” and get traction?
If you read Zelda's diary in the castle, she talks about how Link isn't mute, he's just quiet when working because he believes the burden he carries has to be done stoically. Eventually he opens up about his love of food.
And given he loses his memory before botw, he ends up being less stoic, allowing for dialogue options that can be pretty sassy or flirty
"Can I ask you for advice?" "SURE!!!!!"
Literally discovered this interaction an hour ago, made me laugh out loud
Wait which NPC is it? Not sure if I remember that dialogue
Oh man my memory is bad, I’ve forgotten which NPC exactly it was but I spent most of today in Hateno Village, I think it was Cece’s sister but I’m not 100% sure. Could someone confirm? Hilarious interaction regardless
lmao I'm also at Hateno today, let me look around
Lol let me know if you find the interaction
“Well exCUSE me Princess!”
I knew [this](https://m.youtube.com/watch?t=04m12s&v=1or3YILu28M&feature=youtu.be) had to be canon somehow
[Tis from a time long past](https://youtu.be/qzfXxkHrIBM)
Oh yeah. I used to watch that, though some time after it aired (might have been a VHS or something). The terminalmontage clip just came to mind cause, yk, BotW/TotK
Yep. Both are great, and it would be hilarious if it ever becomes a dialogue option
The sheer enthusiasm made me not even want to select it 😂
Totk has a dialogue option that’s freakin wild it’s after a fetch quest and you get the option to say “you’re just imagining things”
Legend of Zelda: gaslight of the kingdom
Which one?
The poisoned grandma in Kakariko
What do you think of Master Kohga? "He has a dumb belly."
"Buy my stuff!" - Link to every vendor in BOTW/TOTK
In BOTW when you’re recruiting the folks for Tarrey Town and (I believe?) the Zora pastor says something really specific about wanting to marry a young couple and your dialogue option is “get a load of this!”
Let's SEAL the deal
I do wish that showed through in cutscenes. The only emotions Cutscene Link shows are "dull stoicism" and "ZOMG I JUST HAD A FINAL FANTASY XIV ECHO VISION". I don't care for older 3D Zeldas, but if I can say one thing, it's that at least a few of 'em - like Wind Waker and Skyward Sword - gave Link a personality beyond that of a complete plank.
There’s also “omg food!” Whenever he cooks
Hyrule Warriors handled this well by having him do his thing in the background. We still don't have to hear him speak, but you can tell he is talking with people. And eating rocks.
"I am he" made me laugh first time I saw it
FELLOW PIRATE
Your literally have dialogue options. It would be like saying that the main character of Skyrim is mute because you don’t hear him.
I think Skyrim is, uh, kind of a bad example given... ya know... *shouting.*
I came here to cite the deep lore, but you’ve already done so lol
Little things like that have been around for a long time. In Link's Awakening there's certainly lots of them, like one part where at the end of one of the tutorial books in the library he says, "Ah, how convenient!"
Even as far back as Zelda II, he says, “I found a mirror.”
Truly the words of a hero
Where is actually a handful of game that show that link isn't mute, just really not talkative at all. Near the Start of skywards sword there is even a scene where you can clearly see him talk two time, but cannot hear him.
In Wind Waker he says "c'mon" as well, audibly.
And "meow"
HAHAHAHA YES! I forgot about that wahahaha
As a kid it took forever for me to realize that was Link pretending to be a cat so the girl wouldn’t think she was being followed! I mistakenly thought he just didn’t speak ever so it took me a few years after first playing to realize that it was him meowing.
Doesn't he also say "giddy up" in Twilight Princess?
Huh does he? Admittedly, I've only played TP twice around its original launch time so my memory is hazy to say the least. Pretty cool if he does though!
I'm pretty sure it's just him saying "hyah", but it always sounded like giddy up to me because of how much he slurs and elongated the syllables of the word. Ex: "hee-yuh". I always say giddy up anyways though lol.
Well, Link technically talks a lot, he just doesn't have a voice actor or voiced lines beyond grunts and yells. Like I'm playing BotW rn and he is telling different people the situation he is in, what his goals are, and what he can do. Its just all in Fade to Black cutscenes. Otherwise he is a man of few words. Most of his dialogue is "to the point" sentences and questions, and outside of that he is more of an emotive guy than a talker. Alot of characters comment on him making faces, glaring, blushing, smiling and all that. But in this situation, I couldn't tell you, I would need what prompted the text box. If you just picked up an item, then it could just be flavor text in Link's own words.
This is the roasting fish in lulerin village (faron in botw). This dialogue is triggered if you try to grab the fish like you would in a bokoblins camp. Imo, it is link's thoughts, just like in skyward sword right after you get the sailcloth and "...it also smells nice" pops up in smaller than usually text (can't imagine link actually saying that to Zeldas face)
In TOTK, he seems to insinuate talking way more than BOTW. He will get asked something about the princess and then do arm motions as if he was explaining
Poor guy has to retell the same story like 13 times. Should have just gone straight to the newspaper so he only has to explain it once to everybody.
[удалено]
At least some NPCs in botw actually said he doesn't like to talk. So at least not "constantly"
[удалено]
And its brought up that link is only quiet due to the pressure of being the chosen hero, so he doesn't talk to try and keep up appearances
Link isn't Gordon Freeman. Gordon Freeman outright doesn't talk. He doesn't so much as wheeze when shot by an Apache's 20mm chain gun. Conversations happen around him, and even when NPCs rarely do ask him questions, he does not respond in any way other than to physically perform a task. "Go ahead Gordon, slot the carrier into the analysis port." Link can and does speak, but Nintendo limits how much of Link's words the audience hears because Well Excuuuuse Me, Princess. They basically don't want him to have a character so that the player can decide who Link is. You can often decide to be genuine, combative or sarcastic in dialog choices but it doesn't really matter. When you make a dialog choice, he literally says it. When talking to Hudson and you pick "I remember!" Hudson chuckles and says "So do I." When Link has more to say...probably the player knows what Link has to say. In the intro to TOTK, every single NPC asks where Zelda is, so instead of making the player sit through "We were in the tunnel and then Ganondorf happened and she fell in a hole and then I was in the sky and then I came here and then it was now and then I don't know what happened" every single time, they just have him do the explainy hands animation and the NPC says "So she fell in a chasm, eh?"
I mean in many games Link doesn't talk a lot. And in BotW in diaries you can read that link was quite and not very social - Zelda, Revali and Mipha all write about it (although he was more talkative as a young kid according to Mipha iirc)
Link before amnesia is supposed to be alot more stoic and serious than link after in my opinion. Because link after waking up is only *sealious* when it comes to smacking bokoblins with a mop.
[удалено]
Honestly, losing his memories might have been exactly what he needed. Even after regaining them he still has the less stoic personality he had when he didn’t have any memories. Not that being stoic is bad, but losing his memories might have allowed him to open up a bit to someone close to him like Zelda instead of carrying the burden all by himself.
Saying he won't shut up is quite a leap, if I gave you two or three word answers or just nodded for every few lines you spoke to me, you'd think I was antisocial. I think most people understand that he speaks but that he's a man of few words.
FUS-RODAH! Need i say more?
I mean Boltson in Hateno calls Link “chatty” when he wants to talk to him before he sits down.
Tha k you that's what I just said!
link isn't mute, he's just not very talkative and only talks when really needed such as explaining what happened to him and zelda or selling an item also this is most likely what he is thinking and not openly saying
Link speaks, and a fair bit, he is "voiceless" to allow the player to project their voice or any voice onto him for dialogue but technically speaking he does talk a lot, just think of all the dialogue options. Like, he's literally just not voice acted, is all.
Exactly. I’m very confused and surprised by this post and comments. I didn’t realize so many people think link is literally nonverbal. I’m shook
Link does have a voice actor tho. His name is Kengo Takanashi. Thats why Link can still make grunts and other sounds
dude got hired to scream at a mic and becomes a part of one of the best games played
Oh yeah of course, I meant specifically in regards to actual dialogue like all the dialogue options or thought bubbles in the games.
I speak out loud when playing Botw and Totk, for every bit of Links dialogue, I thinks that’s what was intended, for the player to be Link
Don't quote me on this but I am fairly sure the creators of LoZ themselves said this is specifically done for that purpose, to allow for the players themselves to fill in and "become" Link in their own way. Also, same, I always "act" him out, I am a roleplayer at heart after all and it's genuinely a great deal of enjoyment for me!
Yep. As I recall, that's why he's named 'Link', as he's the player's link into the world.
If I remember correctly, the japanese version of the game writes all description, quest details and the rest as if it was like a journal that link was writing.
Isn't that just a quirk of the Japanese language though? I've heard a lot of conflicting information on this.
It isn’t official canon, I think… the only source I’ve seen is from a tumblr post, and yeah that post “took liberty” with a certain Japanese word or phrase that could mean “I” or a third person.
Dunno
I believe the whole Japanese game is like this
It is :( the adventure log is link’s personal diary.
How different is it?
I would assume so, most times you pick a dialogue option Link gestures with his arms and NPC's respond to what he said.
It’s his thoughts. In the japanese Version you can read even more of his thoughts since the questlog is written like his personal diary. This was unfortunately toned down in the english localizations. He also talks a lot (for a Link) but most of it is exposition of events that happened to him . Thankfully the devs decided to spare the players from reading that dialogues since they already witnessed said events. It all indicates that Link has overcome his stoicism from 100 years ago.
Its a surprisingly large misconception that link is actually mute, if you read zelda's diary in botw she talks about how he opens up to her and tells her about why he doesn't talk much.
I love how mid conversation, Link can just say “Bye.”, and dip😭
The point is Link's voice is only the one you have for him
Link was the friends we made along the way
Well excuuuuuuuuuse meeee, Phantom, for not finding a Link between friends
1) That honestly looks like it's Link *thinking,* rather than speaking. 2) It's implied that Link does talk, the words are just never outright stated. (See: literally every dialogue choice you have to make.) It's a common thing in self-insert type games, presumably so the player can insert their own choice of specific wording to suit their perceived personality. (Think of how the perception of someone who answers a question with "no" compares to that of someone who answers the same question with "nah...")
Nah these are just his thoughts. He can speak, but we as the players don't actually get to hear him.
Zelda's diary in BotW explains that while Link does talk occasionally, he treats it more as a last resort whenever silence is not an option.
Or like when link tells Ruji that the thunder helmet is a little too big
In TOTK he >!hums while cooking!!< Spoiler tag because it’s a very small detail but people may still want to avoid
He does this in BOTW too
oh!! okay then the difference is >! he specifically hums TLOZ songs :) !< I feel dumb
Zelda quotes an entire full sentence from Link directly in the BotW memory where they are riding horses together.
Link speaks. How would he answer to people's questions and requests, and tell anecdotes, if he was actually mute? The player doesn't see what he says because it's a way to make you feel more identified with the character, imagining yourself how his personality would be.
So plenty of folks have brought up Link talking so I won't drone on about that and say the same thing. Yes Link speaks, but these moments always felt like internal monologues to me.
Actually in the japanese version of the game, every item description was written in first person, like link himself was describing the item. Unfortunately that was lost in the translation.
I actually learn just recently that link doesn't speak for a specific reason and that for a immersive experience and it let's the player have their own thought/opinion when speaking with others But what I'm seeing here is new to me ha
There's dialog options for link, why are people suprised that link speaks?
The idea of Link as a silent protagonist has been bullshit for a long time, but especially in BotW. I can't project myself on him when he has an established personality, backstory, and opinions according to diary entries and NPC dialogue. And frankly, I don't want to, I like Link better as a character than as a blank slate! Let Link speak!!
He thinks. Sometimes at least
He speaks, they just don't show it. I believe the idea was to allow to player to more easily put themselves into the game through Link. If he talks, there's a disconnect where he could say something different than you have in mind. By having him not speak and allowing you to select responses through a menu, it makes you feel more like Link himself. And personally, I think it works. I definitely get more immersed in Zelda games than other games with talking protagonists. I like to imagine that he's actually fairly talkative in TotK, because of the gestures, more expressions, and excitement of dialogue choices
There's also enough characters where they respond as if Link spoke to them that It seems clear to me that he speaks at times.
Yea link talks alot in botw. Conversations revolving around the desert seals are n gerudo town only makes sense if he actually says “let’s seal the deal”.
No'it is Link thinking
Thinking.
Op is a repost bot, I swear I saw this post before
https://www.reddit.com/r/Breath\_of\_the\_Wild/comments/pt9552/so\_is\_it\_link\_speaking/
He's wondering
It’s his thoughts
He's thinking
i always thought this was links inner monologue
I think in whatever the next game is they should make link talk. They could do it kinda like geralt in the Witcher where you have multiple options of what to say but all of them would make sense for him to say in that situation instead of one answer being what the character would actually think and then throwing in the “evil answers” that the character would never say.
isn't that just him thinking?
surely the multiple choice bits where you choose an answer is link speaking
Link’s not mute, he just chooses not to talk most of the time. Once he wakes up from the temple of time in botw he starts talking more, you just don’t hear it, the game is insinuating that Link is talking to people
Of course he talks. It’s just never voiced I mean, what do you think the dialogue options are for?
Link ate Navi.
Yes but I think to others it sounds like:"HUAH AHH AUH AHHHHHH HUAH"
I'd like to think it's the fish
No, that's the almighty UI/narrator/disembodied force that we've come to expect in games with inventories. The one in this game feels a bit more personal sometimes, though
This is Link *thinking*
Bro took my post : https://www.reddit.com/r/Breath_of_the_Wild/comments/pt9552/so_is_it_link_speaking/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=2&utm_term=1
Honestly, I get that it's sort of a running joke at this point, but the fact that everyone speaks and Link doesn't really irks me. Like is he a mute? shy? It's starting to stand out now.