Linkle has been a divisive character for Nintendo fans, with many on the fence about how they feel about the unveiling of a female Link. But Linkle’s status as a genderswapped character with no relation to Link isn’t how the character was originally conceived by Koei Tecmo.
According to series producer Eiji Aonuma, when Koei Tecmo approached him with the idea for the character, they mentioned the fact that Linkle could be his sister. That didn’t sit well with his development team, who had already created a sister for Link that appeared in The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker.
Koei Tecmo first proposed the Linkle character as Link’s little sister for the Wii U version of Hyrule Warriors. However, we felt this conflicted with the concept of Aryll from The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, the only character we had ever had appear as Link’s sister, so we decided not to include that version.
According to Aonuma, after the concept of Linkle was developed, she was added to the cast of characters for Hyrule Legends Warriors because of the diversity she brings. Not surprising, given the rage some game companies have seen over excluding female characters from their rosters.
