Link's Secret Diary Reveals His True Personality in Breath of the Wild
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Published 2021-05-09
Beath of the Wild's adventure log functions as Link's personal diary in Japanese, allowing us to truly explore Link's personality and character.
If Link were able to escape the bounds of his destiny, what kind of life would he choose to live? In this video, we dive into Link's personality to answer that very question.
First Video: • Link Has a Secret Diary in Zelda Brea...
How Link Views Himself: • Link's Secret Diary in Zelda BotW Par...
From looking at Link's diary, we learn about what his favourite things are, what he enjoys, and ultimately explore what his ideal life may look like.
Link is so expressive in his diary! It's so exciting to learn more about him, and I can't wait for you to see a new side to Link too! I truly hope some element of a diary is implemented in the sequel to Breath of the Wild, only time will tell!
I believe that a diary is a really effective way to allow us to see more of Link's character while retaining the traits that make him special. What do you think?
I want to point out that Japanese can be a difficult language to translate, and at times the author of the text can sometimes be ambiguous as the Japanese language often omits pronouns.
However, there is no doubt that Link has recorded his thoughts and feelings in the adventure log. The localised English version removes so much of this, so I want to show you what you may have missed if you didn't play (and understand) the original Japanese version of the game.
Disclaimer: The possibility of the adventure log being Link's diary was first brought to my attention by @Evaix. Upon later research, the original discovery seems to have been made by Chinese Gamer @AtomaruU. Props to them! This is amazing.
All Comments (21)
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For those interested in reading all of the entries, I've composed a full updated translation of the complete Japanese Adventure Log on my Patreon! www.patreon.com/QuestWithAaron I'd also like to share an updated translation of the final quest in the video. I received my vessel back from the Devil Statue, and now I can buy and sell vessels. I can trade Heart Vessels and Stamina Vessels to the Devil Statue. It’s 100 rupees for a sale, Or 120 rupees for a purchase. Or so it says.../From what I gather... The commenter below kindly pointed out to me that the last line in JP is とのことだ not どのことだ which is how I read it initially when I was working on a small screen way back when I made this video. Apologies for this!
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i love how silly he actually is. he comes off as a strong, stoic hero, but he's also just a regular kid who loves food and goofing off just like anyone else.
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I believe there is a note in Creating a Champion that says Link experienced a bit of a personality shift with his amnesia. When he was the Chosen Knight 100 years ago, the weight of his responsibilities made him quiet and withdrawn. After emerging from the Shrine of Resurrection, he is much more expressive and like the child Mipha described in her diary.
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When link is cooking, you could literally hear him humming happily in tears of the kingdom. It's quite cute and special when you hear it from him like he's excited for the food.
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Zelda's diary goes into detail regarding Link's stoicism. He apparently once opened up to her and shared that he keeps a straight face and suppresses his emotions since people look up to him as Hylia's chosen swordsman. If he shows an excessive amount of joy, people may think his focus is faltering, and if he shows fear, those around him may lose hope. I like that, even with that in mind, we still get to see that Link is still just a younger guy who gets excited over things like taming a big horse and a cooking recipe going well.
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My one secret hope for BOTW2 is that they take this idea and expand it greatly. Letting Link really express himself, in all versions of the game.
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Do you ever look at someone and wonder what is going on in their head? Link: What the heck?!
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I feel so robbed! What a wholesome way to give Link a voice without giving him audible dialogue! I really hope we get that in BoTW2...
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I never thought link would say “what the heck”
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Giving Link a journal is a great idea! Perfect way to view his thoughts throughout the game while not needing to hire a voice actor to make him talk. No "excuuuuse me princess" after saving zelda in BOTW2
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I always wonder why we can’t ever get a direct translation in English. This is so frustrating. This kind of thing matters. It changes the whole energy of the game.
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I feel robbed by the English translation. They robbed Link's personality from us. Why they did this?
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Something that I'm genuinely curious about are what Link's thoughts are on the Eighth Heroine quest, you know, the one where you basically catfish a guy in order to get boots
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After learning about his diary entries before, it makes me wish that the English version stayed true to that. I've never seen Link as an 'avatar'. I always believed him to have different personalities based on the game I'm playing.
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To be fair, the fandom joked that Link was mute/silent; however, he has NEVER been depicted as mute/silent. Yes, in some games Link is more quiet and reserved—this is especially true in BotW—but even that isn’t the case in every game. Each incarnation of Link, though very similar, are their own unique person with distinct personalities. To a degree, yes, Link has always been intended as a “blank slate” so that the player can easily graft themselves onto the character, but Link’s personality is still expressed in various ways throughout the games—he even has written and/or implied dialogue in many of them.
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Knowing it's LInk's DIARY makes me, an English player, feel incredibly robbed. I wanna know more about my boy, Nintendo! :'(
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My favorite part of Link’s personality is all of the eccentric reactions that he has in botw in normal conversations. Though it kinda sucks that Link is made to be a blank slate in the US version of the game, I do still enjoy seeing how often he’ll casually use puns 🤔
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mans so underrated
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God, this Link was such a pure and wholesome person when they allowed him to have a personality. Sometimes the english speaking world pisses me off...
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I am russian and i play with russian localisation,and i just noticed what it is Links personal diary too, everything was written from Links perspective,i was happy to notice this after your video,thanks
