A Rumor

[Deku]

A friend of my friend (whom after hanging out with him a couple of times, I guess I can call him my friend too) told me something interesting. A rumor about the next Zelda game.

Let me first begin by saying that he doesn't seem like the kind of guy to BS about things. I somehow trust him about this rumor. However, that's not to say that his cousin is trustworthy- Oh, I banter on out of order! Please read ahead:

He says his cousin is an executive of IGN, and friends with a couple of programmers of a currently working Zelda title. He said his cousin wouldn't tell him anything (his friends could lose their jobs) except that in the next zelda game, you play as Colin.



It's somewhat believable actually. I mean, Colin displayed some pretty courageous heroism in TP. It honestly wouldn't surprise me if he was a second hero. But a non-spinoff game not centering around Link?

I don't know guys. What do you think?

[Hi no Seijin]

I wouldn't believe anything about the next Zelda game unless it comes from Nintendo themselves.  This friend of a friend might not be the type to make things up, but other people definitely are the type to make things up.  Not to mention that rumors that come from a friend of a friend, who has a cousin who has some friends, have a tendency to be false; there are so many links in that chain where something could have been misunderstood or misquoted.  That's why you need to ask for direct sources for these types of claims.  And besides, if this leak is of the sort that people could lose their jobs over it, then this cousin's friends shouldn't have leaked the information in the first place.

[MasterKeyX]

I suppose anything is possible, but I'd rather Zelda remain a spinoff free franchise.

In addition, Nintendo tends to guard their Zelda secrets with their lives. They hold the series pretty close to heart, so unless it was somehow verified by somebody close to the company, I don't know how much truth I'd put in it.

[MagmarFire]

I've heard a rumor of the next game already, and it sounded kind of like a Peter Molyneux pitch more than anything, something so vague and out of scope that it would essentially be meaningless to expect it. Maybe it just left a bad taste in my mouth, but it sounds like this is more of a wild guess than a typical rumor. There's nothing wrong with a little theorizing, of course, but I'm taking this with a grain of salt until official word is on its way.

I give this rumor credit for not sounding so out of scope as to be implausible, though.

[Keaton]

This is an intriguing rumor, but I'm highly skeptical.  Zelda has gone on in excess of two decades, and in that time there hasn't been a single title where the main character wasn't Link.  I mean, we have Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland, sure, but that can hardly be called a Zelda game.  In fact, I can only think of two characters you ever directly control in the series aside from Link himself (and whatever he's riding)-- Kafei in Sakon's Hideout, and the seagulls in The Wind Waker.  Both are necessary for completing the game 100%, but neither are crucial to the plot as a whole.  I'm willing to bet there are a few more that I can't remember right now, but The Legend of Zelda is first and foremost all about Link.

That said, if they were indeed intending to create such a massive paradigm shift in the series as this rumor suggests, Colin would be an excellent choice.  He knows Link personally and was so inspired by him that he tried his own hand at heroism, and did a pretty good job, as ZV pointed out.  He has the seemingly-required blonde hair for the job, and is good enough friends with Link that if/when Link decides to step out of the limelight, it wouldn't too much of a stretch to imagine Link passing on his hero's clothes and weaponry to Colin.  The kid definitely has heart, and a hero's resolve.

Now, if Colin were to become the new hero of Hyrule, who would the antagonist be?  In TP, Link not only defeated Zant, but also chased off the moblin horde, cleansed the Arbiter's Grounds and other dungeons of their evil inhabitants, and pretty much restored the land to its original state.  They'd have to bring a completely new villain into the mix.  I mean, I suppose they already did that with Ghirahim, but I still really know nothing about Skyward Sword (I know you're disappointed, Mags :<).  Vaati is unlikely, and his story has pretty much been covered from beginning to end.  Bellum is unlikely as he has never been mentioned outside of PH.  Dethl, Majora, Onox and Veran are also contained within their own worlds. 

Essentially, all of the main evils in the series would either not have a good reason to appear in Hyrule, or would have already been dealt with by our main man in green by this point.  So who would the villain be?  I suppose through process of elimination, we're left with the possibility of Dark Link, or the dark magi responsible for the Fused Shadows.  Either would be quite interesting, as we've already seen hints of them in the visions Lanayru gave Link which sets things up quite nicely, and they seem to be the one big plot thread that Twilight Princess didn't delve into.

I dunno, I guess I'm just feeding the fires of rumor at this point, but it's quite the intriguing concept.  Thoughts on my probably-horribly-flawed breakdown?

[MagmarFire]

(I know you're disappointed, Mags :<).

That I am. (The donation offer's still on the table, you know! )

As for your breakdown, I wouldn't say it's flawed, probably because you cover many of the points quite nicely, including Nintendo's track record of only having Link as the main protagonist. (Speaking of controllable characters, you have that Goron dude in PH and Zelda herself in ST, but your argument loses no weight due to that omission.)

[Pale Dim]

I suppose anything is possible, but I'd rather Zelda remain a spinoff free franchise.

Let's see: Tingle's Rupeeland, Link's Crossbow training,  CD-i games, the TV Show, etc. I don't see the franchise being completely spin-off free, but I understand what you're saying. I cannot exactly see a game basing around Colin, but I like the idea. Give him the green tunic, and we have an example of what Child Link would look like with today's graphics!

[xarlote]

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[xarlote]

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