Random Headcanon: Link’s androgyny isn’t just an artefact of the Zelda franchise’s art direction - and neither is it particularly unusual. Sexual dimorphism among Hylians is legitimately much lower than among real-world humans; if Link and Zelda swapped clothes, you’d never be able to tell who was the girl and who was the boy.
Consequently, Hylian society depends heavily on clothing to establish gender roles, to the extent that it’s a severe faux pas to question someone’s gender presentation. If they’re dressed like a girl, then they’re a girl - even if they were dressed like a boy yesterday. That’s why nobody ever remarks upon the fact that Zelda and her heroic alter-ego Sheik are different genders; it’d be gauche at best to bring it up.
Consider also Gerudos.
Who’s society places heavy importance on sisterhood. It would naturally be a faux pas to imply that one’s genitalia determines if they are woman enough to be a Gerudo or not.
#zelda headcanons #because I’m sure their are more Gerudos with penises then the implied one every 100 years #More likely is that only once every 100 years is there someone willing to buck tradition and call himself a man #and what determines if he is a man or not has nothing to do with if he has a penis #yah that totally means Ganondorf could have a vagina #it also explains why he went after the princess rather then her father #because gerudo society all the power normally lies with the women
(excellent tags via @inkdrgn)
I like actual theories here instead of the constant “OH WHY ISNT LINK A GIRL EGHHHHHH.”