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I want to talk about Legend of Zelda: Link to the past for a minute and a character design choice that’s feels severely underappreciated for what it is and what it represents.  That is Link’s Bunny form. Upon entering the dark world in Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past (LoZLttP from now because I can’t be bothered to be consistent and I don’t wanna copy paste a bunch of times for no reason) Link turns into a humanoid pink bunny rabbit with big floppy ears, and a bunny tail. Not only does this form look absolutely ridiculous, it is also completely useless. As in, you as the player lose all ability to do anything while in this form. The kicker of this is that from the NPCs that are present when you first arrive in the Dark World after getting to the top of Death Mountain, they explain that the Dark World transforms anyone who enters it into a reflection of their true nature.

That’s the kicker to me. In this game Links true form is a pink fluffy anthropomorphic bunny rabbit who cannot do anything let alone attack anyone, which I think is a brilliant statement from the design team. The director apparently said that whenever they though of the Dark World he treated it like a dream world and this conjured images of rabbits to them, but it really fits the theme of link in general and especially in LoZLttP. 

LoZLttP really follows the general heroes journey, it has a call to adventure a mentor that dies (Links Uncle in the opening scene), supernatural aid (the triforce), Mentors and Helpers (the Hyrule ruling class), but one thing it always seemed to be missing was the rejection of the call to adventure. Link watches his Uncle die, gets no more than a shield and some words from his dyeing relative and then it’s just, go save us all from the unspeakable evil that is rising with that, and because Link is a silent protagonist, it’s not like he could outright object to it as a character. So you, as Link, go through all these challenges literally get to the top of a peak of a place named DEATH MOUNTAIN, and it seems like Link has honestly been cool with it the whole time. Which makes sense, since we know at that point he is literally the embodiment of courage as codified by the triforce.

But then-

BUT THEN-

Link (and you by extension) leap into this unknown dimension that’s been described as dangerous and twisted and confusing not knowing what you will be on the other side, and you come out as a  bunny. A PINK BUNNY.

Not exactly the expectation for a character we have already been told is the literal embodiment of courage. After what I’m sure came as a shock to most people (me included), and talking to the NPCs the player becomes quickly aware, that their only option while in this form is to run and hide while traversing the dark world. 

This is the first we as a player get to experience Link as a character in this game. Link, at least in LoZLttP, doesn’t want to fight. In his canonically true to his nature form he is not just unwilling, he is incapable of fighting. It is the first we experience a rejection of a call to adventure from Link. He is not on this quest because he wants to be, he is on this quest because he knows that it must be done, and this is entirely conveyed through the gameplay choice of making it impossible for the player to do anything harmful in the Dark World in Links bunny form. That alone I think is a brilliant gameplay design choice, to make a player feel what it is like to not be able to fight. 

But it gets better from here, the fact that he is a bunny has in my opinion a few implications. Rabbits are generally thought of as very timid creatures predominantly because they are prey animals that are fed on by basically any grassland predator you can think of. However in some cultures this is reversed where the rabbit is seen as courageous, and I think that polarity across cultures is being referenced here by making Link a rabbit.  I think the point is to show to the player, that Link is scared. He doesn’t want to do this. If he were being true to his nature as the Dark World is forcing him to be he would be playing his ocarina on a stump for all the forest critters in the lost woods and that’s it.

And again, Link in this game has already been explicitly denoted as the embodiment of courage in this world at this point. The game through it’s design choices is showing (rather than telling) that the embodiment of courage is scared, because given that he is one person, against demons, monsters, and the literal embodiment of power and evil, what person in their right mind wouldn’t be scared?

It is also saying that being scared doesn’t mean you can’t be courageous. Link is able to still function and accomplish what needs to be done, both in the bunny form and eventually by getting an item that lets him keep his humanoid form in the Dark World. So the game is saying, to be courageous does not mean to not be scared, being courageous is to be able to accomplish what needs to be done even when you are scared.

"There was a full moonlight, and I could see that the noise was made by a great bat, which wheeled round—doubtless attracted by the light, although so dim—and every now and again struck the window with its wings."

And maybe if they had talked to Best Boy, Quincy Morris, he could've told them he already knew about vamps and have helped them.

-im gonna start off talking about the basic rules/changes to the ghosts im doing. first off, ghosts cannot phase through ghosts!

this gives incentive for danny to dodge attacks or make shields instead of turning intangible in fights and how human ghost hunters make their weapons and anti-phasing tech. some ghosts like skulker can use a mixture of real word objects and ectoplasm based ones, making what objects you can and cant phase through particularly difficult. this ability also includes if a ghost goes both invisible and intangible. even if a ghost is invisibly phasing through buildings and humans, another ghost (if they can find/feel/sense them) can pluck them out easily.

-going by pokemon rules, ghosts are weak against other ghosts and mostly unaffected by “normal” attacks. this kinda plays into the whole ghosts being inphasable to each other as well, as danny can sucker punch any ghost he wants without them slipping away. average citizens are also largely vulnerable without an ecto base weapon in ghost attacks, it is mandatory that people flee the scene instead of fighting. this helps coverup danny and friends running off during attacks. (bullies do still make fun of danny though for usually being the first one to bolt and not carrying any fenton weapons)

ghosts shooting ectoblasts at each other hurt because the blast itself is heated and explosive, but also because the ectoplasm is foreign to another ghost. its like getting a blood transfusion from the wrong blood type but hostile. ectoplasm is almost akin to dna in that its unique to each ecto entity, though similar color ectoplasm may not do as much damage. the burn/blast of the shot leaves body layer exposed so that the residual ectoplasm causes actual damage to the ghost. ghosts are naturally hostile to each other, so the blasts are a basic attack all ghosts come with in order to protect themselves.

-ghost anatomy is comprised of three basic parts

“body layer” is basically the skin that protects everything inside, its anything on the outer layer of the ghost including their “clothes” (for many ghosts, clothes are actually melded to the body. danny is one of these ghosts like that). the whole inside of a ghost is just ectoplasm, ghosts are nothing but goo baby! the core gives structure to the ectoplasm by pulsing energy through it, basically creating bones without any actual bones in place. without the core, the ectoplasm has nothing to give it form so the ghost ceases to exist, turning into a puddle. i have more in detailed info on cores here.

“would the gerudo let trans women in, or are they terfs?” neither, because making gerudo town a female only space isn’t an actual world building decision, and isn’t treated as such. everything about that storyline is done for the sake of a mindless consumption by an audience that isn’t brown, or queer, for that matter. multiple gerudo realize link is a man and all of them say the exact same thing: “oh? whatever, i don’t care”. no differing attitudes, explanations as to why they don’t care, how significant being female only is to gerudo, culturally, is not explored. the text deeply uninterested in exploring the implications of gerudo town as it exists, which is why it falls apart the moment you think about it:

if the gerudo are merchants, how come gerudo town, their merchant hub, is a gated community? how have they maintained their reputation as merchants when their main hub turns away half the customers? why are there are a ton of male merchants outside gerudo town trying to get in, but all of the women inside are presented as simply tourists, not even interested in selling or buying wares for the sake of business? if the gerudo have been like this since forever, why haven’t merchant groups got specifically female representatives to do business in gerudo town, and why is the bazaar so empty compared to the town, if it’s open to men as well, and also has several gerudo merchants?

and that’s just the surface level logistical problems, i think a very notable way to demonstrate the way the gerudo are treated in a uniquely misogynistic (and racist) way is the fact that botw has TWO monogender races. the gorons are also monogender, they’re all men, and notably they’re let into gerudo town, implying a difference in cultural perceptions of gender between the races. the topic of reproduction is never brought up with the gorons, despite the fact that daruk, one of the primary goron characters, has a direct descendant. the logistics of how this came to be are never brought up. for the gerudo, on the other hand, these logistics are a massively centred. they have a whole class for how to interact with men, several characters explain how women have to leave gerudo town at some point in order to find a man, and there are several gerudo women you can interact with that will react to link being a man in some way (including shyness, fear, apprehension). in contrast, no goron ever reacts in any special way to a woman, goron x hylian relations are never brought up, and gorons being a monogender race are a background detail that is treated as simply normal within the world, with only a minor implication of a pretty interesting piece of world building.

there are multiple quests involving getting a gerudo and a hylian together. notably, cross species relations between a gerudo and another race are never brought up. interspecies relations are only a topic of discussion when it’s between a hylian and a humanoid enough girl. only when a basically human man is getting together with an “other” girl.

the logistics of reproduction of a monogender race are only brought up when the answer is a narrative where an “other” race can be “consumed”, fetishised by a (usually white) man who is on the inside of whatever exists that is considered the “inside” in relation to the “other”.

notably, this also applies to the player, and the way they’re invited to get inside gerudo town: there are several men outside gerudo town, who are all presented as weird and creepy. you are invited to make fun of them in dialogue, laugh at the way they change their disposition when you approach them disguised as a woman, and you even basically scam one of them in a comedic side quest where you are not even given the option to humour the man or be sympathetic towards him. these men are presented as laughable and condemnable for wanting to get into a female only space with the intent to ogle women.

and yet, the player is invited to get into the very same female only space by lying. and sure, you can argue about link’s queerness all you want, but the fact is that he gets clocked as a man several times and doesn’t correct anyone or present any feelings that the gerudo town experience is more than lying. and sure, link’s, the character’s, intentions are pure: he wants to save the world, and that’s a noble cause, of course. he isn’t creepy towards any woman, and doesn’t express interest, let alone nefarious intent, towards any of them: all his dialogue options are fine and dont comment on anything weird and focus on the issue at hand.

and yet, you, the player, are not link. while link, the character, doesn’t express any interest in the women in question, the player is only invited to: the gerudo are designed to be sexualised. they wear heels and metal bras and all expose their abs despite none of that being practical. urbosa is, in most her cutscenes, deliberately is posed to be appealing, and i don’t think anybody in their right mind would say she isn’t designed to be sexy. the player is invited to consume them, in the same way the men outside gerudo town wish to consume them. and this is supported by the way a lot of fans perceive gerudo: a lot of people describe them as tall hot ladies, those they are attracted to and like because they are attracted to them.

A universe in motion seen from the International Space Station during a night pass over Earth.

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