#zelda has even less of a character arc than rauru

[rawliverandgoronspice]

So let me get this straight. TOTK!Rauru had repeatedly requested that the Gerudo join the ‘protective embrace’ of his kingdom, to serve him. Protection from whom? The monster clans? If anything, the Gerudo seem at the peak of their power! They have some measure of control over the molduga, the fiercest of the desert’s monsters. It’s also established elsewhere that the Secret Stones merely amplify one’s existing power—that one would catapult Ganon to near-unstoppable heights speaks of his already formidable might. With him at the helm, the Gerudo were ready and willing to invade Hyrule. Until Rauru demonstrated a superweapon that quite literally vaporized any notion of a military assault—a superweapon that Rauru (and his cohort) brazenly wears. Ganon is entreating a party wearing nuclear launch codes around their necks! And those aren’t even the only Secret Stones in Rauru’s possession, later handing those out as he sees fit to the Sages. Of course, the narrative portrays Rauru as someone who would never abuse that kind of power—he’s a Good King. But that’s a terrifying Sword of Damocles.

Yep. Pretty much.

Also I'd like to point out that apparently, Rauru's "sin", and what passes off as his character arc (so far, I haven't finished the whole game yet), is that he was too confident that he'd keep Ganondorf under control as a vassal? Like, okay what were the options otherwise? What should he have done that he didn't do? Like in OoT/TP beforehand: was Rauru supposed to simply imprison the king of a foreign nation just because he didn't pass the vibe check --or worse, kill him off? And then what happens to the gerudo? I feel like we've gone down this road before, and it didn't lead anywhere pretty...

This is what I mean about the poor character writing in this game: I think Rauru is supposed to be the emotional core of the story, and he might be the only one with an "arc" so far, but his flaw/regret is... a whole bunch of nothing? Unless you think he should have commited genocide to protect his kingdom from evil, according to the game that refuses to examine his actions/power, there's nothing he should have done differently besides... not having his wife be murdered? That's not a character arc, that's just an unfortunate event you participated in unwillingly!! To make a comparaison that is worth being brought up: the king of Hyrule in BotW worked much better in that regard, because he is indeed partially responsible for the fall of his kingdom through the pressure he inflicted upon his daughter and the prideful belief that he could control a force of nature (Calamity Ganon being treated as such in that game) through technology; both of these attitudes costing him everything, condemning his daughter to a century-long fight and said technology ruling the lands through terror in his stead. As a ghost, he haunts the wreckage waiting for the hero to wake up to try and finally correct his mistakes through Link.

I think they kind of wanted to do that again in TotK, but it extremely doesn't land in my opinion because Rauru has no flaw --beyond, apparently, not being bigoted enough?

[villanelleskiss]

I think BOTW/TOTK's Princess Zelda is the best version of the character to date. In spite of all the hardship she suffers, her story is ultimately triumphant and inspiring. I know some people wanted her to stay a dragon (or have some lasting side effect) at the end of TOTK, but I think her changing back is the best end to her story/arc. She gave up everything for Hyrule and was rewarded for her selflessness in the end. It was Rauru and Sonia's way of fulfilling their promise to send her back home and give her the chance to live her life among the people she loved instead of being a stoic symbol for all eternity; because they loved her for who she was and knew she was deserving of love from others too. I also love that in TOTK, Zelda writes the prophecy fortelling Link being the chosen one to save Hyrule by setting everything (the sword, the sages, etc.) in place to help him defeat Ganondorf.

i agree with all of this! i feel like in past games nintendo leaned a little too heavily into the princess is present but she’s frozen or stuck until we rescue her from the villain. OOT princess zelda helped us in the form of sheik but even she got captured. TP zelda gave her life force to Midna which allowed ganondorf to use her as a puppet but she still made her sacrifice.

this zelda we see her as a human, someone who can’t awaken those sealing powers and at her very last chance to fails and calamity ganon awakens right then. all in her seventeenth birthday no less. she cries bc she is a failure and left everyone to die but ultimately is willing to sacrifice herself to save her kingdom by sealing the calamity away. but in TOTK we see her actively trying to rebuild hyrule and she has left monuments for those who perished in the calamity and it’s saying that she is grateful for her people and loves her kingdom but she knows that the calamity will forever be a part of her and her memories so she is trying to move forward from that so her people do not. she’s an incredible person who is more than worthy than the princess title and anyone ever who has something nasty to say about this zelda can personally take it out with me

[rawliverandgoronspice]

i feel like nintendo tried to make Zelda perfect because of misogyny. which has always been a thing in Zelda games especially directed at Zelda as a concept and character (trapping her in crystals or statues. that you have to find her etc) it's the same age old female characters cannot have any flaws or else they're a selfish bitch. i wish we saw her be angry at rauru or something but i guess that would go against the narrative. most Zelda games at least had her show some of her emotions besides sadness ... sometimes, this one just didn't show much even if i adore her and will go and find little things in the crevices of this very black and white writing, because i know fans will always turn on her despite the fact that shes also in the writers whims while link who also follows the established status people complain about but gets no shit at all (which i also think he should not get shit for lol)

Yeah, I agree it's definitively a thing in the way female characters are written. However, BotW did show that fans could absolutely care about a less-than-perfect version of Zelda (honestly, so did Skyward Sword, Spirit Tracks --hell, even in Ocarina of Time she makes pretty crucial mistakes). Sonia is handled in the same way Zelda is too: she is paper thin, with the veneer of a more Girlboss personality that never actually meshes with the plot in any way (so it could be removed without consequence, which is a pretty good sign her writing is inorganic imo), since her only function in the story is to get killed so Ganondorf gets a stone, and Rauru gets his tragic arc.

I fully agree the series has its issues when writing women, even up until pretty recently (I'll shut up about gerudos for once in my life and be annoying about something different for a change: but BotW!Paya always made me feel pretty uncomfortable personally, as she's so overtly a character written to be a sexual fantasy before being a person, and I feel like the series didn't dare sailing these waters in quite a long time --OoT being the worst offender imo). But Zelda herself had far more interesting iterations in the series that the casual audience give her credit for, even if she does get damseled left and right and used as reward/motivation --but I feel like it's not always handled in a way that deshumanizes her, there had been interesting iterations on this idea in the series as a whole. Which is why Tears of the Kindgom feels so.... regressive to me? The series used to be much better at handling its female characters --this series gave us Midna! A character that starts off by insulting and demeaning us, mocking our powerlessness by physically embodying our terrified, kidnapped friends and using the player as a mount by force! And she's almost universally agreed-upon as one of the best written characters in the series!!

So yeah, to me, while this absolutely doesn't negate the issues this series has with its female characters, it really is a TotK problem specifically.

[rawliverandgoronspice]

Have to admit, seeing more people confirm my suspicion that the female characters in totk felt... let's say lacking, both new and old, is kinda a relief. I thought I was just hyper-critical, but I guess not as much as I had feared. I also have seen someone criticise Yona for feeling like a glorified sign-post, and only there to be Sidon's emotional crutch, with no real quest-arc of her own to build her character beyond "Fiancee" being rushed in. Sonia could have had potential, but just became Zelda's mom stand-in. Kind motherly sweet. Mineru: Probably the only newly introduced female who could be a bit different, and she literally only has like 2 cutscenes, and even she feels more like a "kind and gentle" character. It also feels like in Totk, most of the female characters, exception Riju and almost Mineru, with some bigger role are follow a specific kind of personality. Like the cute, sweet, affectionate kind girl trope. In Botw we at least had Urbosa. Compared to the male characters, who feel a lot more diverse in personality and general presentation, the pool of girls just feels like a shallow puddle.

Yeah, I completly agree. There's a sweetness that prevails every main female character, to the point where it almost makes them nonsensical at times? I have already talked about my confusion regarding Mineru's feeling of responsibility regarding the Imprisoning War, that feels more like there to soften her as a character rather than about making her relationship to Rauru, Sonia, Hyrule or Zelda any clearer --since... what did she do/didn't she do that could make her feel like she should take responsibility?

Even Riju kind of follows the trope of "not feeling enough" in a way that almost doesn't land with her actual role within the gameplay, and that is kind of a redux version of her BotW arc where it did make more sense since she was a child --and she went through turmoil before once. Buliara does a lot of the heavy lifting here (literally I suppose).

Shoutout to some side characters tho. Lots of gerudo characters that I really loved (I don't know why I love the two racers so much but I do, the girl who works at the Bazaar inn and literally could not care less whether you live or die, I even felt Emotions about Mattison and her father even thouuuugh I have many issues with the message being "you will eventually come back here and marry and have a child of your own" like, she's 6 years old??? let her decide for herself???? and also the fact that the game doesn't want to give weight to that old tradition of keeping voes out makes it feel arbitrary when it could be a genuinely interesting moment of the difficulty of having to shoulder a complicated cultural heritage VS your personal comfort, which is, like, biculturality 101 and VERY relatable, anyway), I think Paya is better handled in this one, Impa's little roadtrip is fun...