Zelink, ranked by how canon I think they are
(Important note: these are all just my opinions! I tried to go off of what we know for sure in canon and what we could infer from canon, but they’re obviously just my thoughts and interpretations. Okay, housekeeping done, enjoy my little thoughts!)
SS: Duh. Literally the only thing that could make this Zelink more canon would be someone outright stating “Link and Zelda are in love!” They even have a song together called Romantic Flight. They’re in love, your honor. And they’re one of my favorite OTPs (you can have more than one, right?🤣😅).
LoZ/AoL: Haven’t played these games (yet), but I’m pretty sure this Link kisses/is implied to kiss one of his Zeldas?
ST: Also all but canon. They’re canonically best friends who might turn into a romantic relationship when they get older. They hold hands, hug, support each other no matter what, and Link blushes/gets embarrassed around her.
BotW/TotK: We know for a fact this Zelda is canonically in love with her Link. Personally, I think Link reciprocates that, especially by the time of TotK. There’s a unique kind of desperation from him to find her in that game that seems to point to a romantic relationship imo.
MC: Don’t know much about this game, but it seems like this Zelink could easily happen from what I know.
WW: One of my favorite Zelinks (technically Telink)! They’re perfect together imo. They would rank higher if the ones above in this list didn’t seem to have super solid reasons they could be canon.
ALBW: It’s been a loooooong time since I’ve played this game, but I don’t remember much in the way of hinted romance between this Link and Zelda. I do think they’d be cute together, though. (Sidebar for gushing over how much I LOVE Hildavio—the dark princess willing to do anything to save her people and the cowardly hero willing to do anything to save her. I love their dynamic. They, uh, would probably need individual and/or couple’s therapy before they got together, though.😅)
ALttPOoS/OoA/LA: Would rank MUCH higher on this list if LA/Marin hadn’t happened. I think this Link would need some serious time and effort before he’d feel ready to try anything romantic again after Marin. But if he did, I do think he’d go for his Zelda. Unless that theory about them being siblings is true, ofc.
FSA: Know next to nothing about this game(games? Is there another FS game?), so I’m putting it sort of in the middle/back.
OoT/MM: Don’t get me wrong, I love this Zelink pairing. I just like Malink better and feel like Malink fits the future events in TP/the Child Timeline. And I feel like this Link would struggle coming to terms with the fact that he doesn’t have the same history with this Zelda than the one he left behind in the Adult Timeline. However their relationship is, I love these two.
HW (yes, I’m including the Warriors games, they’re canon in my heart): I think this Zelink pairing has a shot at being just as awesome as Adult Timeline OoT Zelink. HW Zelink could be incredibly close and trusting and adorable with each other. But I think after everything with Cia, this Link would be hesitant on anything romantic for a while. I think he’d probably have trust issues, too, which would get in the way of this relationship from happening. But I think they’d eventually get together. (Sidebar: this list isn’t about LU, but that one LU comic about the first time Warriors saw Artemis gave me the happy flutteries. They’re so good together imo.)
TP: This Zelink … could happen, I guess? But I think he’s more likely to wind up with Ilia or go searching for Midna. TP Zelink just doesn’t have much interaction with each other, and their personalities seem different enough, I don’t see them working out. (Sidebar: @ovegakart’s comics about TP Zelink are AMAZING and single-handedly convinced me to ship them in some circumstances. The dowry comic still makes me howl with laughter—get it? Howl? Because wolf?😁)
AoC: I’m pretty sure this Zelda is in love with this Link like she is in BotW/TotK, but I don’t think AoC Link would reciprocate it. Personally, I think he’d go with Mipha. One of my favorite things to note is that AoC Link is VERY different than BotW Link, even though they’re (technically) the same person. Different experiences, different memories, different wants and needs, different personalities, even. I honestly don’t know if BotW Link would have gone with Mipha if everything in his game had stayed the same except that she survived. There’s a lot there to consider and unpack.
