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When Nintendo first revealed The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, fans absolutely lost their mind. There was a ton of pushback on the design, but as the years rolled on, fans definitely warmed up to the fresh take on Link.

Now, the question here is, what do you call this version of Link? I think most fans refer to this design as Toon Link, or cel-shaded Link. Even Nintendo has called this Toon Link in the Smash Bros. and amiibo designs. Unfortunately, the Hyrule Historia book has thrown a wrench into the works.

As you can see above, Hyrule Historia refers to the Wind Waker Link design as “Cat-eye Link.” That would be the first time I’ve heard that phrase, and I can’t imagine anyone out there uses it. Of course, now we’re wondering what Nintendo calls this version of Link internally! It’s possible this one slipped by Nintendo’s fact-checkers before the book came out, but who knows!

Which side of the fence are you on? Are you sticking with Toon Link, or are you a Cat-eye Link fan?

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kuribo

Toon Link is the official term. It’s used in-game in Smash Bros.
Also “cat-eye” isn’t capitalised so it’s not a proper noun, just a descriptor like saying “pink hair Link” from ALTTP.

kuribo

1+ y ago

Toon Link is the official term. It’s used in-game in Smash Bros.
Also “cat-eye” isn’t capitalised so it’s not a proper noun, just a descriptor like saying “pink hair Link” from ALTTP.