Holy Fuck This Is Incredible. I Read A Fic By Liketolaugh On Ao3 (either Coloring Inside The Lines Or

Holy fuck this is incredible. I read a fic by liketolaugh on ao3 (either Coloring Inside the Lines or Honey Nut) that also headcanoned Link as having gone to the Spring of Wisdom when he was still 16. Regardless, I have so much respect for the amount of sheer number crunching you did here. o7

ANI'S (POORLY WRITTEN AND POORLY SOURCED) ARGUMENT FOR WHY SHE THINKS BOTW LINK IS YOUNGER THAN SEVENTEEN

You're honor, I know that almost everyone in the world seems to think that BOTW Link is at least seventeen because of this line in game:

Lanayru's Decree is very specific. It says: "No one is allowed under the age of seventeen... For only the wise are permitted a place on the mountain."

Now, I can read but I feel like it really, truly is up in the air whether Link actually joined her at the summit or not. I'd like to acknowledge that in the memory right before disaster strikes, we do see Zelda and Link walking toward the Champions. However, I'd also like to point out that there are some key possibilities that most are not considering.

First being, it is entirely possible that Link waited at the bottom of the mountain for her and there was a hand off with someone like Impa, another trusted adviser, a Sheikah body guard, or older Hylian knight, etc., that could have followed her up the mountain in Link's place.

OR

It's probably that even if Link was under the age of seventeen, a duty-driven youth like him would likely have no problem disobeying some "rule" of antiquity in order to protect that which he had been ordered by the King of Hyrule to protect.

I mean, think about it for a second. If you were tasked with guarding something precious and there was a sign in the wilderness that said, "Sorry only adults past this point," would you abandon the person/thing you'd been told to guard with your life?

I wouldn't. What is the sign going to do? Trap me? No way. Screw the rules, Link's got priorities. He's literally willing to throw his life away to save this princess. Some rule is not stopping him.

Not to mention most teenagers go through a rebellious phase. Name a teenager in the entirety of humanity that ALWAYS listened to everything they were told to or not to do.

Alternatively, there is also the possibility that Link, being the Hero Chosen by the Sword possesses the wisdom necessary to be upon the summit.

In previous games it is implied that the traits tend to coexist in the Hero.

In Skyward Sword Zelda only blesses the Master Sword after Link has gained wisdom, power, and courage:

Along your travels you have found wisdom, power, and courage, and for this I shall bless your sword with the goddess's power.

And in Wind Waker there is a collectible item Link can acquire from Dark Nuts that has a conditional:

The Knight's Crest... It is the symbol of a courageous knight... But not just anyone can gather them... No! It takes a soul who possesses not only power, but wisdom and courage as well! Any courageous soul who gathers ten of these crests can learn a powerful new sword technique!

Even the child Link in Ocarina of Time is acknowledged as having at the very least wisdom when his courage is tested by the Great Deku Tree:

I need you to break the curse with your wisdom and courage. Dost thou have courage enough to undertake this task?

In this question asked right from the first trial the thing in question is not Link's wisdom, but his courage, and with him being a child, of course he does not have power, which is later proven when he is knocked to the ground by Ganondorf.

Anywho, I'm not saying it is definite that Link is under seventeen, or that it is impossible for him to be older than seventeen in BOTW. I'm just saying that it is POSSIBLE and probable that he is younger than seventeen.

Other reasons that I think he tends toward being younger in BOTW is due to the dialogue I experienced while playing. I think I ran into every instance of "boy," "kid," "kiddo," "youth," and "young man" I could during my play through.

After looking at the text dump from the game and taking into consideration the context when each word was used I came up with the following guesstimates on number of times they were used in reference to Link:

"Boy": ~30 times

"Kid": ~37 times

"Kiddo": ~9 times

"Youth": ~6 times

"Kiddums": ~12 times

"Little Vai/Voe": ~13 times**

"Young man": ~24 times*

"Little Hylian": ~8 times**

"Child": ~1 time***

Some quick notes on three of the above.

(*) "Young man" is used in reference to two characters. One of them being Link and the other being Nebb. If you don't remember Nebb it's the kid from Hateno Village that wants to see the weapons from across Hyrule. Not for nothin' but does this kid look like a young man to anybody?

Because he doesn't too me. Which makes me believe that the characters using "young man" to describe Link are not doing so because they think Link is a young adult man, but because they are trying to endear him to them. I mostly think this because it is either older Hylians that call him this or Hylians that are selling Link something.

Here are some quotes from BOTW Text Dump and the ways "young man" is used:

Unless I've gone mad, you seem to be a young man dressed in some fabulous Gerudo clothes.

(This instance seems to be trying to endear Link to the speaker.)

Much obliged, young man. I guarantee my drills are worth twice what you pay.

(This instance is literally someone who is selling a good/service to Link.)

Young man... A straight shooter checks his wallet before he antes up, not after. Sort yourself out, and come back later.

(Here is an instance where the "young man" seems sarcastic or is meant as a rebuke because Link didn't think to see if he had enough money before trying to gamble. It's still someone using a customer service style voice though to get money from Link.)

Mmmm, I thought I detected the fragrance of a young man nearby...

In case this creepy one is confusing this one is one of the Great Fairies. I can't remember which one, but they also call Link "boy" from time to time. Again, they get rupees from Link so he is a customer to them.

You look like you could use a good meal, young man...

Yet again, we have someone trying to sell Link something and they go for using "young man" over any other term.

Let's move on to the next term.

(**) "Little Hylian" is crossed out in the list because it is used almost exclusively by the Gorons. Them being giant rock eating beings who live far and away from Hylians and not having that many dealings with them it is no surprise that to them all Hylians would be little so them calling Link "Little Hylian" does not indicate one way or another how old Link might be.

(**) "Little Vai/Voe" on the other hand is a different story. The Gerudo, being an almost exclusively female race, regularly seek out and procreate with Hylians. They also have a trading post and city where Hylian vai are welcome to enter and trade amongst them. With so much more exposure to Hylian males and females, it is more likely that they are familiar with the general age and size of most Hylians. Therefore, what the Gerudo say about Link's stature and age is relevant to deciding how old he could be.

Overall, they don't use the term "little vai/voe" all that often, only thirteen(ish) times, but the context they use it in is very informative and open to interpretation.

These drinks are for adults, got it?

Regarding the Noble Pursuit there are a few more like this that imply Link is not an adult:

You see, we mix special drinks here. Drinks that are definitely for adults...

Little Hylian Vai. Be sure to come back when you're all grown up.

Milk?! We don't carry anything as childish as milk here!

It's a really strong drink. Even if I could make it, I wouldn't sell it to a little vai like you.

All of these are in reference to Link trying to get a Noble Pursuit (heavily implied to be an alcoholic beverage), and even though they let the young Hylian woman, Jules, drink Noble Pursuits, they refuse to serve Link.

Jules is interesting for my study because when Link meets her she clocks him as a "boy" specifically and her using "boy" in context reads as her knowing that she is older than this kid wearing Gerudo Vai clothes.

The game does use the term "guy" quite a bit, which I'll get to down below, so if he were just being called out as being a dude and was around her age, she would probably have opted for "Aren't you...well, aren't you a guy?" rather than saying, "Might you be...a boy?"

And if having a young Hylian woman clock Link as a "boy" isn't enough, then all the times the Gerudo call him a "vai" at all is very telling.

Link is quite androgynous which was done on purpose to help players better relate to him, but seriously almost ALL the Gerudo ladies believe Link is not only a Vai, but a "little" vai at that.

Like, I know Link is short, but to be mistaken for a Hylian Vai by a tribe of buff women? This makes me think one of three things. Link either doesn't have many muscles, most Hylian females are muscular, OR, Link is young and doesn't have well-developed muscle mass yet.

Just for kicks, I'm gonna put my favorite quote from the text dump:

Oh look at this cute little vai...I be you would absolutely love what we have to offer, little one.

That one is a double dose of "little" that just tells me Link is adorable and furthers my agenda that he's just a lil guy.

Now. Speaking of lil guys. I said I'd touch on the number of times the game uses "guy" in reference to Link. And that number is around ~82 times. You could argue, "See? The game acknowledges that Link isn't a boy or a kid. They call him a guy and guys are older than kids." However, over one third of these instances are "Little Guy" where Daruk is talking to or about Link, or where other Gorons are referencing Link.

The other ones uses vary from the girl in Hateno that Link collects crickets for, to Bozu and few guys in Gerudo Desert that meet Link. In Bozu's case, is uses guy in the context of "just a guy," because he was hoping Link was a girl. In the case of another character, he checks while Link is in the Vai outfit and asks something along the lines of, "Are you actually a guy?" It's implied that he has met the man Link bought the Vai clothes from on top of the inn in Kara Kara Bazaar.

For comparison the number of times Link is implied to be young versus the times Link is implied to be older turned out to be 138 - 49, with the implication that Link is young being far more likely in my eyes.

Far and above though, the main reason I can't see Link as seventeen is because of the Hero of the Wilds outfit. Just....He looks like a lil kid going on safari y'all. I love it to death and he looks adorable and I just can't unsee it.