How Many Times Did Link Actually Talk? 

“I’m only counting instances of Link uttering understandable words” Link: “mreeeow”

"Well excuuuuse me, Princess." Will forever be a great meme

I love how the example used for breath of the wild is the one part where link literally cannot resist making a pun

I really like Link’s internal monologue in Breath of the Wild. It just seems so strange to only use it twice, and one of the instances being over random fish is even stranger.

Something I like about BotW is how it actually addresses that he doesn’t talk much, Zelda writes about it in her diary

Link was so embarrassed of the CDI games he never talked again

I think that dialogue with Mido implies Link telling Mido (without dialogue of course) that he also isn't well equipped. Resulting in that kind of response. Most of the characters respond to link implying he's talking to them. Link's dialogue is usually in the form of dialogue choices

In the BOTW memory where Link and Zelda are riding horses next to each other, Zelda quotes Link and says “Be sure to take the time to soothe your mount, that’s the only way it’ll know how you truly feel.” and continues with “You’re advice was quite helpful, thank you.” I don’t understand why no one mentions this. It’s not even implied, the subtitles literally have quotes around it signifying that she is quoting him. That was him that said that.

Link saying "come on" and meowing in Wind Waker is actually adorable.

According to Nintendo, the reason of why Link isn't so talkative is because they want the player to feel like they're Link while playing the game. And making him talk would kinda break this "illusion".

theres a theory that the reason link is more talkative in dialogue in botw is because he lost his memory, so he also doesn't follow the "i got responsibilities so i dont waste time on talking" rule

In Tears Of The Kingdom there are a few more of those “Expressing his thoughts” moments, like when you find some crops and he says something to the effect of “Someone worked hard to grow these. I’d best not just take one.”

My interpretation of the Mido scene is that Link didn't actually say anything at all, and that Mido is so insecure that he felt the need to respond to an argument that was never made.

I love that the manga gives Link so much more personality

That ocarina of time line was definitely said by Mido. The implication is that Link would have said something along the lines of “you’re helping the great deku tree by standing guard here and you don’t have a sword and shield” prompting Mido to reply the way he did. It never once crossed my mind that Link would be the one saying that.

Over the games I’ve noticed that he has a pretty distinct personality, imo anyway. He’s a big goofball that gets along with pretty much everyone, as shown in early in-game scenes when he’s in his hometown/childhood stage. Then when shit hits the fan he becomes really focused on his goal to save his friends, his partner, and the world. Passionate, determined, and brave. He doesn’t need to speak much to do what he needs to do, he’s a man of action, and knows he’s just gotta keep fighting with everything he has. In the darker Zelda games, he’s older and more mature. He may not goof around much anymore due to the heavy weight of responsibility, but you can tell he’s amused by other goofy characters he meets along the way. Honestly, If he never had to be the hero, he’d probably live a really happy, wonderful life doing whatever passion he has, like maybe owning a ranch

I love how skyward sword and botw have options to make sassy remarks. Botw Link’s dialogue options are mostly always sassy so my head canon says Link is a sassy little man in botw

2:15 obviously this was Mido, but he's responding to Link. It is implied Link noted the lack of sword and shield equipped by Mido, and this is Mido's retort.

You may have missed one. In Skyward Sword when Link falls into lava and jumps up. He yells something like "Ite-te-te-te", which I believe translates to "Ouch" or "Ow" from Japanese.

The Ocarina of Time scene was absolutely Mido responding to some silent response from Link that we didn't get to hear. Link was likely saying something like "Well you don't have equipment either" and Mido was acting embarassed about being called out.

“A sword wields no strength unless the hand that holds it has courage.” In my opinion, this is the coldest quote to come from the Zelda franchise, and it’s spoken by none other than Link himself

Strange you missed out in Wind Waker when he clearly says ”Hi” to his grandmother during the first encounter with her.

The way Toon Link tried to snatch a donut before being stopped by Link though, and the look of disappointment at 9:05 when Link said “They promised me you wouldn’t be here”. I feel that.

My favorite Link quote: “Hiya!” Goosebumps

Love how every instance of Link talking is either text or possibly him talking or someone else but it was confused- then you get his dead spirit training his other self how to wield a sword to protect Hyrule again. Like only DEATH made this dude talk in full sentences

I think Mido is repeating Link’s line. My impression is that Link does talk, and NPCs react as if Link did say something, but you never see him say anything.

There is one more in Twilight Princess with a clear textbox from Link: Link is able to talk to animals in this game, while being a wolf. Later in the game, you need a golden chicken to go to the lost woods. So, once you can transform to wolf-link anywhere in the world, Link is able to talk to said golden chicken. When you try, a textbox pops up where he says something along the lines "I don't want to talk to that chicken", looking like it's to arrogant for him. Sadly I can't remember his exact words.

During Dialogue in BotW, Link may sometimes start explaining something. However, whenever this happens, the screen either turns black or you can straight up not hear him, even though the Npcs can.

I always interpreted Link's little dialogues like "what? Illusion?" Or "Those grilled fished look really good, I wonder if they were caught locally" as his thoughts instead of him speaking by himself

so if you're saying that you using the mic counts as link speaking in the famicom zelda, does that mean link has canonically bruhed a room of enemies to death

The Best Link of All Hyrule 7:07

2:30 yeah that's Mido talking. Link says something to him -- presumably something like "but YOU don't have any equipment ready" -- and Mido replies "yeah, true, but still"

Who would’ve thought Link would’ve been so talkative.

How could we ever forget the greatest lines in the history of gaming such as: "We all make choices in life, but in the end our choices make us." "The right man in the wrong place can make all the difference in the world." "Great, I cant wait to bomb some dodongos" tear jerkers

IM SO GLAD YOU INCLUDED THE SAND SEAL DIALOGUE OPTIONS. Those were my favorite to come across and really shows how goofy this little guy is

Link : Man, I'm so hungry. Epona : *...How hungry ?*

Really loved when the creator called the dialogue ‘unholy’. That was so on point.

Honestly suprised that this video was only 9 minutes and 30 seconds.

He talks in Phantom Hourglass through using the mic, saying things like "HEY, UP THERE!", and in the final cutscene, Link and Tetra are alone on the Ghost ship, but the dialogue says "...hey!". When the camera shifts, we see Link wide awake, with Tetra still passed out, and nobody else around.

Another time the game tells you Link's thoughts in BOTW is when you interact with a pumpkin in Olkin's patch while he's not there. It says "That's a mighty fine pumpkin! I'd probably get in big trouble if I took it without permission." Another BOTW instance is how in Zelda's diary, it mentions that she got Link to talk.

When you go to sleep tonight, I want you to remember the first thing link has EVER said is “I found a mirror under the table.”

My dad a long time Zelda fan since the beginning: *"Link had never talked ever"* This video: I'm about to end this man's whole career.

I like the last one, it makes sense if his voice has the power to kill, that's why he's always silent

5:13 Mipha's theme

5:56 Link's sense of humor is 100 years old too, apparently

I feel like link has always been sort of a silent-sassy lad. His pose when he talks to people is either crossed arms, or a hand on his hip. Not to mention he does a lot of odd and questionable things with no explanation. I feel as if link doesnt want to be bothered to do anything, but he does it to protect people he loves. Long story short hes done with everyones shit.

There's one in Ocarina of Time, when you are talking to Zelda as a kid she asks your name, and your name is displayed in green in a separate dialog, it's the only time this happens despite a lot of people call you by your name during the game, so it's most likely Link's voice

There are couple of dialogue options in Ocarina of Time. There’s one where you tell Nabooru “I hate Ganondorf.” Pretty sure there’s another one when you’re talking to the guard who stands by the gate leading to Death Mountain

Every single one of Link’s lines in the accursed game is sarcastic.

The Link-Mido dialogue was actually Link calling out Mido for not having his equipment either, and Mido saying "What? You're right--I don't have my equipment ready, but....If you wanna pass through here you gotta at least equip a sword and shield!"

Worth mentioning in ocarina of time when you talk to princess Zelda as a kid for the first time your selection options are you talking. Like how you can say you don’t believe here and she gets all sad, or you agree and she gets all happy.

7:38 take a shot every time he says ‘wow thanks!’ challenge

Link, throughout his bloodline, is shown to be a good person, a simple man, or an innocent child. It really makes his worthiness legit Well… except for CDI Link

The four Links in Four Swords Adventures also say, “Hey,” when the player changes which Link they are controlling. The Links also exclaim, “Yay,” when picking up large force gems. Each Link has their own unique voice as well, just pitched up or down from Green Link.

Dialog in OOT always focused the camera on whoever was speaking. Their sprites also have subtle animations to indicate they are in fact speaking. Mido is very clearly saying everything there

I think that when Link is talking to Mido, even though we don’t see it, Link says something similar to, “You don’t have your equipment either!” And Mido was responding to that.

It's amazing how just a letter "I" can make such a big difference, especially in Zelda games.

Addition: in OoT, when adult Link falls from a high place and doesn't break his fall with a roll, he very clearly says「いてっ!!」which is the Japanese equivalent of "ouch!!"/"ow!!" ;) Found out about it the other day during my first playthrough lol

Oot Link also famously says „Yes“ everytime someone asked him „if he wants to hear again, what’s just have been said“. Or „No“ everytime someone asks him „If he understood that“.

This was good for Easy research. Thank you for doing the hard work

In Majora's Mask, when speaking with Romani for the first time, there are dialog options for when she asks for your name, either saying your file-name or "I won't say."

In Skyward sword there's also the scene where he faints right after zelda gets kidnapped. When he gains back conciousness he explains to the headmaster what happened. You cant hear him, but he's clearly explaining the whole story.

3:00 I had no idea what that sound was before this video. As a kid, I thought that it was either an audio glitch or the girl making a weird sound of distress.

5:47 That thumbs-up smirk emote was so trolly back in the heyday of Triforce Heroes online. Easily a underrated game, wish there was an equivalent game on Switch with online multiplayer.

The flashback cutscene were Zelda says Link told her how to rid a horse is the most important yet bizarre thing ever said in an official Zelda game. He can talk, just not on screen.

I like how the three personalities one can assign Link in the dialogue options of Skyward Sword are confident, reserved, and snarky.

This was a sealiously good compilation

The windwaker one will forever be my favorite. I still remember playing it at like 6 years old on a wii and the remake at like 12 years old. Man that game is so good

CDI Link still has the most memorable dialog.

Breath of the Wild is probably my favorite Link, that's where he feels more of a character to me than the other games, instead of a avatar. Stuff like the reason of his vow of silence are some of the things I really liked and I hope in BotW 2 there will be more subtle things like that to develop his character further

2:13 I'm 96% certain that this is Mido rephrasing something Link said. Common thing in games with silent protagonists. Link points out that Mido also has no equipment (probably like "What about you?"), Mido repeats for the player's sake, Mido specifies that you need some to go through that passage.

9:07 there’s a microphone for the famicom Zelda?! What was it used for?

imagine if the hero's spirit was like: Now that I'm not the protagonist anymore, I can finally speak!

There's the belief that when Link first encountered Zelda in OoT, and she asked for his name, the text that reads whatever name the player gave to him was actually being said by him (one of the reasons being that the text is green, like the answers you can give to some questions)

2:05 that was mido's line 100%

6:35 if you go to Kakariko (or is it Hateno?) Village also, Link will also have a dialogue scene in which he expresses how impressed he is by some Swift Carrots growing well in a patch - "What splendid carrots!" ... or sth like that XD

I'm surprised they didn't come up with a simple whistle for Wind Waker. I'm guessing they were as well, since that's what they used in Spirit Tracks.

Gotta love Ocarina of Time Link, Even when he was no longer the Hero of Legend, He still went the extra mile to return even in death just to teach his successor his powers and remain loyal to the tradition of passing down the secrets only known to The Hero Bloodline. Always will be my first & favorite hero.

How many more times will this youtube video show up in my recommended

You totally missed one of the most obvious moments of Link's dialogue from Ocarina of Time when you visit the Spirit Temple as adult Link and speak with the Gerudo lady to the left after going upstairs upon entering the Temple. You get to choose what you respond with and she replies accordingly.

I always assumed link was a selective mute so he talks as little as possible and most of what you interpreted as outward dialogue is actually inner dialogue like his comments about the fish and island. I also assumed that he can get most of his intentions across by gestures and facial expressions so when he's talking to mido he gives him a "I don't see your sword" look and that's mido's rebuttal. That's why often times people in the games can interpret link as being judgmental or rude when he talks to them

In Breath of the Wild when Link is talking to a certain npc you could actually see his lips moving

I like how little Link talks--personally I see that in itself as part of his character!

Face Shrine so good. That music too!

Unfortunately, most of these are just translation issues, for you see, Japanese tend to omit subject in its sentences. For example, the sentence "I found a mirror under the table" can actually mean "you found a mirror under the table" as in Japanese, it should be "(subject) found a mirror under the table." Similarly, "Looks like I can get in the fireplace" can actually mean "Looks like you can get in the fireplace." It's the narrative that talks, not Link, and it's a very common mistake. As for the conversation with Mido, it's a completely avoidable mistake and anyone who did it should be fired. Mido's line is "ま、オイラも　持ってないけどナ…" which should mean "Well, I don't have a sword and a shield too, though..." Mido uses oira (オイラ), a variation of ore (俺), to refer to himself. Link doesn't. Lastly, Japanese has a weird tendency of narrating inner dialogue from third person perspective. Both the realization in Koholint Island and the communication options in BoTW can actually be the narrative that speaks of Link's inner thought in behalf of Link. If you read enough Japanese narration, like I do, you'll understand what I mean. Translating Japanese text is a nightmare.

Can we just talk about how much of a savage the heros shade is

these last few examples were so cursed I'm gonna cry

I always thought Link could talk even without having dialogue options for us the players to choose. To be clear, I thought he could talk to others even by interacting with people he'd come to contact with in each and every Zelda game we've seen or played even though for most of the time, Link's interactions are mostly body movements as though he actually talks even without a dialogue on like the person already has one (a dialogue I mean). I think that Link in each and every Zelda game, can talk, he just has no dialogue on for most of the time because of the developers thoughts that it would make the dialogues between him and the people who he'd interact with, less analytical from both his and the other characters side so it'd finishes fast even if that means, the dialogues would be tiring if both characters talked for too long so Link, even though we hear his voice clips in dialogues as well, like we already hear voice clips from the other characters as well, his body language (example: hands movements to make the interaction obviously expressive like it does in real life since none can stay completely "frozen") proves he talks even though there's no dialogue coming from his perspective while interacting with other characters (which they do the same body movements as Link though) so, like I think, the dialogue ends faster and be less tiring to deal with. You know, in real life sometimes, when you deal with a dialogue between two or more people, it can become tiring, especially if someone is repeating themselves during the dialogue and takes too long to be finished so that's why I think the dialogues in Zelda games are taking less hours/time to be finished. Same here stands out for A Link Between Worlds as well, which it also has dialogue choices. However, not only the short dialogues and the dialogue choices but also the manga comics made me assume and imagine Link can talk like everyone around him even though in the games, he does not have dialogue boxes on like the rest of the characters do. Plus, dialogue choices exist even in Zelda Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks as well even though these two games are not in the same levels of expression like the rest of the Zelda games due to the fact that these two are DS games and yet, the DS itself must have not been able to hold much power to have more expressive body animation of each character but still, the games are awesome though and I love them no matter the case of the animation and graphics (I wish they'd get remasters though but that's a topic for another time or video). P.S. I forgot to mention that in Spirit Tracks, when it comes to call Zelda to come, Link not only uses body language to make her understand she must come to him but also, whistles while doing that. I don't know if the whistle is actually his though but I always assumed it is.

I don’t know why people ever thought Link was a mute. Yeah he may not always have dialogue lines to be read, but people react to things he says. It’s just a product of the writing. (Granted some of the responses are things like “No words are needed. I can see the answer in your face.” Though that is often not the case.)

3:05 that ‘meow’ is too cute!

The Legend of Zelda cartoon is a national treasure, thank you very much.

The compilation that matters

You know we all stood there shouting ‘Come on!’ in Windwaker as he actually spoke and it was so surprising and beautiful at the same time!

CDI Link's all like "Golly! Wow! Thanks! Wow!" He's just so super positive.

The dialogue Options when Link is confronting Mila also are clear examples of link talking and show a lot of his personality in that game, but getting to that scene is a lot of painful stealth work, so it's not scene too often. Out of curiosity, I recently played Link's awakening in Japanese, and noticed the writing for when He find's the mermaid's item and returns it to her reads like he's talking as well (including lines like "L...LUCKY!" When finding the item and "K...KUSO" when he has to give it back to her.) This makes more sense when you learn the item isn't a Necklace in japanese, it's a Bikini top.

When you select dialogues, link is also technically speaking but it makes it feel more immersive including the other 3d games as well

7:26 Link: it'sa gohma *Gets sword from thin air* Link: Thanks

In spirit tracks and phantom hourglass he also „talks“ in form of a response. For example when ghost Zelda asks you smth you have two options to respond.

I figured the dialogue in OoT was Mido just acknowledging that he doesn’t have the gear he’s talking about either. He’s shown to be consistently envious of Link so it just made sense to me.

7:49 "Golly"