Link and Zelda's relationship is "up to the player's imagination", Nintendo says

Nintendo has said the nature of Link and Zelda's relationship in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is open to interpretation, after months of discourse on whether the two characters are dating or not.

In Tears of the Kingdom, you can find some objects owned by Zelda inside Link's house in Hateno Village. There's only one bed in the house, which led some fans to believe the pair had moved in together after the events of Breath of the Wild.

In an interview with IGN, Zelda producer Eiji Aonuma suggested the development team doesn't have an answer and instead wants players to come to their own conclusions.

"I don't think that Zelda is a type of game where the development team says 'this is what Zelda is, this is what the story is, this is what the game is'," Aonuma revealed. "I will leave it to everyone's imagination," he said of Link and Zelda's relationship.

It's "up to the player's imagination" to look at what evidence there is in Tears of the Kingdom, reflect on "how they feel", and decide whether Link and Zelda are dating, some kind of situationship, or simply friends. Nintendo feels there's enough in the game for people to make their own conclusion, as Aonuma said "everything that the development team wants to convey has already been placed into the game".

Earlier this year, Zelda's voice actor Patricia Summersett said Link and Zelda "are in a relationship", before clarifying she did not mean to imply they are a romantic couple.

Aonuma's comments pour water on any hopes of a canon romantic relationship, but this also means there's neither a right or wrong answer, so fans can decide on it for themselves. There also isn't an official canon answer to when the Hyrule of old which we see in Tears of the Kingdom takes place, or where the next Zelda game might be placed in the series timeline. Director Hidemaro Fujibayashi has said he wants players to "act like historians" and come up with their own theories instead.

Aonuma was also non-committal on whether fans will be able to play as Zelda in a future main entry to the series. A trailer released in February 2023 sparked speculation Zelda would be playable in Tears of the Kingdom, which unfortunately turned out to not be the case. "It is interesting when you think about the name of the series," Aonuma said, "but Link is always the main character."

He gave a vague answer to keep hopes of one day playing as Zelda alive, saying he thinks there's "always room for thinking about this type of thing and Zelda's role," and that "there may be some sort of possibility for something like that in the future". This echoes comments Aonuma made when Tears of the Kingdom was released, when he said a playable Zelda is possibly a direction Nintendo could take.

To help you in your Tears of the Kingdom adventure, we’ve got guides on the locations for the Shrines, Skyview Towers, Great Fairies and Dragon Tears. If you need more combat-focused assistance, check out our armor list and how to upgrade your inventory. When it comes to the story, we have walkthroughs for the Wind Temple, Water Temple and Lightning Temple. Don’t forget to learn how to get the Master Sword, defeat Gloom Hands and unlock the Travel Medallion. For everything else, visit our Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom walkthrough.