Okay, it's always been a joke that Link's a mute:

It's obvious that he isn't if you pay close attention. Not only does he yell a lot, but there are several suspicious "..." during conversations with other characters in the games.

The question is should we have him talk in the movie? If so, how much? Probably not a lot since he does come off as the silent type.

Thoughts?

He's definitely the quiet, stoic type, but you simply cannot have a movie in which the main character is completely silent. When you're playing a game, your thoughts are Link's thoughts; you can infer the dialogue to yourself. A movie simply doesn't have that same closeness. The audience is not controlling Link. If we want them to truly emotionally connect with him, he has to talk.

There's got to be a happy medium between completely mute and "Excuuuuuuuuse me, Princess!" that shouldn't be too hard to find.

I dunno. I feel like we could go for a WALL-E-esque approach, with virtually no talking and very emotive facial expressions. But then, I agree that it's probably too ambitious for an amateur production to try that. Still...Link talking just weirds me out. It's what weirded me out about the TV show and *shudder* Wand of Gamelon. Not that it's the only thing about Wand of Gamelon that weirds me out, but y'know.

As an animator, I know how to create convincing characters, characters whose feelings are subtle yet clear, without the use of dialogue. I'll admit now that I am admitting to write the script without Link talking, just to see if I can. In the end, I'll probably submit and give him lines where needed, where we need to get inside his head, when the thought i too complex to show through a simple expression in connection to an event or person.

Hmmm. Here's a thought-- what if he only talks to Navi? He could be perfectly content to let everyone else think he's mute, and let her be his "translator" when he's with people, but when he's alone and needs to sort out his thoughts, they can converse.

Which would further explain why everyone calls him "fairy boy," if they know him THROUGH his fairy.

Navi is definitely a cheat I've been implementing.

But it's the difference between using Navi as a stand-in for his voice and BEING his voice. The bonds between Kokiri and their fairies are supposed to be very strong. If Link is very stoic (or just very shy) then it would make sense that he *can* talk, but just only does it with her.

I don't think Link is shy, I think he just talks when he needs to. He's just not talkative.

I don't think that Link should be silent, but he does come across as kind of a meek character. Most of that comes from the fact that he's in way over his head. The Great Deku Tree dies, he's forced out into the "real" world, he has to leave all of his friends and sneak into Hyrule Castle. And just when he thinks he's done, he has to go into suspended hibernation for 7 years. The game not only is about Link growing up, but also being comfortable outside of the Lost Woods.

Link is a normal character (comparatively speaking) forced into a very strange world. He's surrounded by characters with big personalities (Ruto, the Gorons, Impa) and reacts to them. Even Zelda, who's similarly kind of meek, is more assertive. It's because she is more comfortable in Hyrule than Link is because, when they meet, she is more knowledgeable.

Link almost works as the "straight man" to the kind of comic universe. It might be a good idea to look at other "reactors" in films, maybe even silent comedians like Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin. They always played outsider characters who were trying to find normality in a world they didn't totally understand.

That is very good observation. Going to go on youtube and refresh myself on the silent area.

It always bothered me that Link wasn't open with communication as a character. It took a lot of the individuality out of the character wen he wasn't engaged in conversation. I think the problem with a lot of the games was that Link appeared to be nothing more than the gopher. Gopher this, gopher that, bring me this to trade for that. Having Link say something wouldn't be entirely out of place. Without some form of spoken communication he wouldn't be as intriguing in a movie as he was in the games where the player could infer or imagine a conversation. Especially when bringing this into the medium and sphere of motion picture. A silent Link would be a character that I personally would continue to have troubled with enjoying. He doesn't have to be a busy-body but I feel he has to interact with his surroundings in more than grunts, huffs, and puffs.

Link talks plenty in the games. Its things like other characters saying "I see it in your eyes... I know what happened" that make people think he cant talk.

Link can talk, he just does not need to most the time. After kidnapping princess Zelda in lttp, soldiers are always on his tail.