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[Vampirolol]

Zelda and Metroid are both series with blank slate avatar protagonists. If you want to try and delude yourself into thinking one has more value than the other I suppose that's your decision.

To be fair there is a difference. Samus is always the same character, she takes a decision in the end of Metroid II, she also speaks at the beginning of Super Metroid and during Metroid Fusion. Link is less defined, he often does what others tell him to do without responding or giving his own opinion.

 

[Galactic Fork]

Zelda and Metroid are both series with blank slate avatar protagonists. If you want to try and delude yourself into thinking one has more value than the other I suppose that's your decision.

Apple: A series with a history of different main characters throughout history. The proposal is to make one or more of these main characters a girl.

Orange: A series with a single continuous character. The proposal to change the gender of this singular gender.

As you said before:
"There have been plenty of series that started with you playing as the same character in the early series then split off and used different characters after. Metal Gear and Castlevania in particular come to mind as they both started with Solid Snake and Simon Belmont as the leads through the early games then branched out. Castlevania even put selectable leads in later games, some of which added females as an option."

This would be closer to Zelda, as the first 2 games had the same Link. But as the series progressed, it'd be closer to your description of Castlevania. Now Metroid is different in that it's only used one character since the beginning. The next progression would be to determine if they were going to change the main character in the next game. That is a possible choice but not the same as if they'd already been changing characters historically.

And NONE of that is even the same as changing the gender of a singular character. As you said neither Zelda nor Castlevania has had. So once again. Apples and Oranges.

 

[royox]

Link isn't a singular character. WHICH game are you referring to? WW Link had a different personality from TP Link who was different from SS Link who was different from Oot/MM Link

A person's backstory influences their motivations which, in the context of a single player game, define who they are and their character.

And still they are the same guy reborn. Of course each one had a diferent backstory but the "vessel" was still the same guy.

 

[georly]

And still they are the same guy reborn. Of course each one had a diferent backstory but the "vessel" was still the same guy.

Regardless of the vessel thing, you're going to tell me their personalities and motivations were even remotely similar?

 

[Ad0ve]

My stylist works at Nintendo and told me Female Link would have accentuated hips, cleavage, heels and walk with a strut animation

 

[royox]

Regardless of the vessel thing, you're going to tell me their personalities and motivations were even remotely similar?

They don't have to be. The only thing they share is being reborn in the shape of the same guy and sharing the same "courage", "righteous spirit" and will to fight against the darkness. That's what Hylia implyed when he died.

 

[10k]

or:

SSBBW fetishists are drooling

 

[Meesh]

My stylist works at Nintendo and told me Female Link would have accentuated hips, cleavage, heels and walk with a strut animation

...you have my attention...

 

[georly]

My stylist works at Nintendo and told me Female Link would have accentuated hips, cleavage, heels and walk with a strut animation

Linkonetta.

 

[Wheeljack539]

EDIT: This reminds me of the Doctor Who fans who shit themselves in rage at the possibility of a female or black regeneration. I mean, if you cast someone who can pull off a convincing version of The Doctor, does it really matter what they look like? Similarly, if the girl in question has the hair, the tunic, the sword and the shield - who cares? Honestly?

Depends. The longer the series/franchise the harder it is to make certain changes because of a fanbase that has grown with it to expect certain things to remain constant despite what possible changes in the series might be. This is where I and I number of others stand in regards to Link. Certain changes, even if superficial, can break the game for people whether there is choice to remain the same or not.

And this is where I stand on voice acting...

Spoiler

I'd rather a female option be a separate character, but the possible voice acting pisses me off far more if you can believe it.

A younger series/franchise is much more easily malleable and while some changes in a sequel may anger some players/viewers I would think its easier to argue for those changes as certain things aren't quite 'set' and build upon lore for a younger series.

 

[Enduin]

Didn't answer my question. And they aren't retellings. They all take place in different times in the same universe. And unless it's a modern or location changed retelling, Robin Hood stories have the same backstory because it's Robin of Locksly. (Also, I've read retellings with a female robin.)

Nothing I say will ever answer your question because you don't actually care about what it is I have to say. Your only interest is in proving me wrong and not in understanding how other people develop views of characters differently.

You're asking for cold hard logic to something that doesn't work that way, not with a long running series like this that develops in the minds of fans over a long period of time. People consciously and, more often, subconsciously make connections with fictional works and place greater and lesser importance on different aspects of those works. Link as a character, his shared attributes between titles were what stuck with me. The fact that I never considered him an avatar of me in the game made him immediately his own character in my mind and that only increased over time and with each new game. That most games technically are not the same Link, placed at different times, with different backgrounds were inconsequential to my image of the character. Which was only reaffirmed by his depiction outside the series in media and in games like SSBs. Link and certain other elements of the series were always constant, even when the settings, timeline and apparent lore were not and didn't make sense. Whether that's acceptable to you or not really doesn't matter because that's how it happened for me and a lot of other people. Whether Nintendo cares that some fans feel this way, which I doubt, is their issue and choice to make.

 

[royox]

Linkonetta.

 

[Florist]

My stylist works at Nintendo and told me Female Link would have accentuated hips, cleavage, heels and walk with a strut animation

You mean you're uncle's stylist...

 

[Dremark]

Factually incorrect. If you want to delude yourself into believing that Samus is a blank slate, be my guest.

I went through the article and don't really see what the point of linking it was. I'm not saying the central character of the series has no background or history in the series, I'm saying she's a shell of a character devoid of personality.

This is why a large majority of the (at least) Western fanbase had such an issue with Other M. The person who is closest to being the father of the series, a man who had worked on the series from the first game on and was in charge of most of the important games on the series finally wanted to give her a personality and since it hadn't been previously established people it clashed heavily with what people had assumed it was.

 

[James Scott]

I want male and female link to look nearly identical. Maybe minor difference in hip/waist ratio being the only noticeable difference. Same height, hair, physique, everything.

That would be one way to do it. Just adapt the clothing to match the new body. Maybe longer eyelashes or something

 

[Alex_Mexico]

My stylist works at Nintendo and told me Female Link would have accentuated hips, cleavage, heels and walk with a strut animation

I know you're trying to be funny and it would've been if it wasn't because I have a very real fear that Nintendo might actually do something like that. These symptoms come from what I've baptized as OtherMophobia.

 

[diaspora]

I went through the article and don't really see what the point of linking it was. I'm not saying the central character of the series has no background or history in the series, I'm saying she's a shell of a character devoid of personality.

This is why a large majority of the (at least) Western fanbase had such an issue with Other M. The person who is closest to being the father of the series, a man who had worked on the series from the first game on and was in charge of most of the important games on the series finally wanted to give her a personality and since it hadn't been previously established people it clashed heavily with what people had assumed it was.

Jesus christ, Samus's character is defined by how her actions are contextualized by her personal history and legacy of the Chozo and their history with the Metroids and Phaaze, you introduce a new main character and you scrap 90% of what already exists. The fact that Other M ignored how Samus's actions were like in every Metroid game prior is why it was terrible. She reacted to Ridley with immediate murder not paralyzing fear which is what made it asinine for example.

edit: it's like you've got a metal block stopping you from understanding her character until she vocalizes it- the problem people had with Other M wasn't that it was vocalized but that it clashed with how her character was defined through her story arc in previous games.

 

[georly]

How on earth did I forget this was a thing? I blame smash bros.

 

[Griss]

I know you're trying to be funny and it would've been if it wasn't because I have a very real fear that Nintendo might actually do something like that. These symptoms come from what I've baptized as OtherMophobia.

Can you fucking imagine what it would be like if female link was 'Other-M-ified', from her looks to personality? Jesus christ the backlash would last decades. Other fans would finally understand the searing anger us metroid fans still feel.

I don't think that will happen, but something that genuinely is in play is Nintendo releasing female Link 'as an option' but making it clear that male Link is the canon choice 'in the timeline' or whatnot, and then everybody on both sides of the argument getting upset. I do feel like they'll be walking into a minefield here.

 

[diaspora]

Can you fucking imagine what it would be like if female link was 'Other-M-ified', from her looks to personality? Jesus christ the backlash would last decades. Other fans would finally understand the searing anger us metroid fans still feel.

I don't think that will happen, but something that genuinely is in play is Nintendo releasing female Link 'as an option' but making it clear that male Link is the canon choice 'in the timeline' or whatnot, and then everybody on both sides of the argument getting upset. I do feel like they'll be walking into a minefield here.

Other M made no damn sense. How is someone with paralytic fear of Ridley actively hunting him down in several games.

 

[Dremark]

To be fair there is a difference. Samus is always the same character, she takes a decision in the end of Metroid II, she also speaks at the beginning of Super Metroid and during Metroid Fusion. Link is less defined, he often does what others tell him to do without responding or giving his own opinion.

There is a difference but it's a very small one. They both basically go though the games doing what they are told and are a shell of a character and basically an insert for the player. Occasionally they will make a decision like the end of Zelda 3, Metroid 2 or Link's Awakening but they are basically nothing characters (Again with the exception of Other M).

Apple: A series with a history of different main characters throughout history. The proposal is to make one or more of these main characters a girl.

Orange: A series with a single continuous character. The proposal to change the gender of this singular gender.

As you said before:
"There have been plenty of series that started with you playing as the same character in the early series then split off and used different characters after. Metal Gear and Castlevania in particular come to mind as they both started with Solid Snake and Simon Belmont as the leads through the early games then branched out. Castlevania even put selectable leads in later games, some of which added females as an option."

This would be closer to Zelda, as the first 2 games had the same Link. But as the series progressed, it'd be closer to your description of Castlevania. Now Metroid is different in that it's only used one character since the beginning. The next progression would be to determine if they were going to change the main character in the next game. That is a possible choice but not the same as if they'd already been changing characters historically.

And NONE of that is even the same as changing the gender of a singular character. As you said neither Zelda nor Castlevania has had. So once again. Apples and Oranges.

Samus Aran isn't the main character in Metroid Federation Force so it fits the same model as those series. Hopefully they'll continue to move on from her in future games as I'm not interested in playing a character that is either underdeveloped or a male power fantasy (depending on whether or not you want to count Other M).

 

[LegendofLex]

Other M made no damn sense. How is someone with paralytic fear of Ridley actively hunting him down in several games.

There isn't a single scenario in the entire series where it could be accurately said that Samus was actively hunting Ridley down.

In Metroid/Zero Mission, he shows up out of nowhere at one point while Samus is exploring the depths of Zebes. There's a quick flash of a scene in Zero Mission showing Samus react with shock and fear to his sudden appearance.

In Metroid Prime, Samus first sees Meta Ridley on the Space Pirate Frigate as it's preparing to melt down. She totally freezes as he flies away. She technically follows him to the surface, but she's not actively pursuing him and focuses instead on figuring out what the Space Pirates are doing on the planet. She briefly sees him again in Phendrana Drifts, but doesn't actually encounter him until she's heading to the temple.

In Metroid Prime 3, Ridley attacks Samus on Norion. At first, she is only able to run away. In the reactor, she frantically attempts to fight back when he surprises her but is knocked into the pit and only able to fend him off before being saved by Rundas. She doesn't run into him again until the Phazon core on the Pirate Homeworld.

In Super Metroid, he ambushes her at the station when stealing the infant Metroid. She kinda fights back, but both of them retreat because the station is crumbling, and then she tries to get the infant Metroid back and eventually encounters him on Zebes.

In Other M, it's clear Samus believes him to be irrevocably destroyed, so when she sees his clone back in full force on the Bottle Ship, she freaks and the fight doesn't go so well at first. But, as I described before, this isn't necessarily inconsistent with the past games; in all of them but Zero Mission, there's one failed encounter where she either freezes, fumbles when trying to react to his ambush, etc., first before the successful fight.

The issue was ultimately that past games never touched on her past with Ridley being emotionally scarring, and, more importantly, this depiction of the character ultimately didn't enhance the game (or even suit the kind of game Metroid is at all).

 

[diaspora]

There isn't a single scenario in the entire series where it could be accurately said that Samus was actively hunting Ridley down.

In Metroid/Zero Mission, he shows up out of nowhere at one point while Samus is exploring the depths of Zebes. There's a quick flash of a scene in Zero Mission showing Samus react with shock and fear to his sudden appearance.

In Metroid Prime, Samus first sees Meta Ridley on the Space Pirate Frigate as it's preparing to melt down. She totally freezes as he flies away. She technically follows him to the surface, but she's not actively pursuing him and focuses instead on figuring out what the Space Pirates are doing on the planet. She briefly sees him again in Phendrana Drifts, but doesn't actually encounter him until she's heading to the temple.

In Metroid Prime 3, Ridley attacks Samus on Norion. At first, she is only able to run away. In the reactor, she frantically attempts to fight back when he surprises her but is knocked into the pit and only able to fend him off before being saved by Rundas. She doesn't run into him again until the Phazon core on the Pirate Homeworld.

In Super Metroid, he ambushes her at the station when stealing the infant Metroid. She kinda fights back, but both of them retreat because the station is crumbling, and then she tries to get the infant Metroid back and eventually encounters him on Zebes.

In Other M, it's clear Samus believes him to be irrevocably destroyed, so when she sees his clone back in full force on the Bottle Ship, she freaks and the fight doesn't go so well at first. But, as I described before, this isn't necessarily inconsistent with the past games; in all of them but Zero Mission, there's one failed encounter where she either freezes, fumbles when trying to react to his ambush, etc., first before the successful fight.

The issue was ultimately that past games never touched on her past with Ridley being emotionally scarring, and, more importantly, this depiction of the character ultimately didn't enhance the game (or even suit the kind of game Metroid is at all).

Shes hunting down the space pirates on several occasions, it's a stretch to say that Ridley isn't a part of this. Incidentally, paralyzing fear of someone she's faced several times is idiotic no matter how you'd like to slice it.

 

[marmoka]

Many people who didn't care about a Female Link will choose her as playable, if she looks like that.

 

[Akiller]

Add Linkonetta option to the poll.

 

[Dremark]

Jesus christ, Samus's character is defined by how her actions are contextualized by her personal history and legacy of the Chozo and their history with the Metroids and Phaaze, you introduce a new main character and you scrap 90% of what already exists. The fact that Other M ignored how Samus's actions were like in every Metroid game prior is why it was terrible. She reacted to Ridley with immediate murder not paralyzing fear which is what made it asinine for example.

edit: it's like you've got a metal block stopping you from understanding her character until she vocalizes it- the problem people had with Other M wasn't that it was vocalized but that it clashed with how her character was defined through her story arc in previous games.

It's like you have a mental block stopping you from realizing she lacked characterization to any real degree until Other M.

Sakamoto was involved with the series from the very beginning, he knows the franchise and he knows the character (or more specifically the lack thereof). He wrote her the way he did because she was a clean slate personality wise up until that point and there was no personality to conflict with.

 

[LegendofLex]

Shes hunting down the space pirates on several occasions, it's a stretch to say that Ridley isn't a part of this. Incidentally, paralyzing fear of someone she's faced several times is idiotic no matter how you'd like to slice it.

It's also a stretch to say she's intentionally hunting him down specifically.

Or that your ultimate menace coming back from the dead after being killed and then the planet he was on being blown up wouldn't be uniquely terrifying.

I'm not saying it's good characterization, but it's not a contradiction of anything but player expectations given that past games have never attempted to show Samus's characterization outside of a handful of monologues.

 

[DrunkShogun]

The only choice that can unite this thread.

 

[diaspora]

It's like you have a mental block stopping you from realizing she lacked characterization to any real degree until Other M.

Sakamoto was involved with the series from the very beginning, he knows the franchise and he knows the character (or more specifically the lack thereof). He wrote her the way he did because she was a clean slate personality wise up until that point and there was no personality to conflict with.

It's like you have a mental block stopping you from understanding that her character and motivations are defined by her actions and arc over the course of several games against her back story. Replacing her with someone else would make no damn sense and it's why Sakamoto's story was so heavily criticised, it clashed with the character that was built until then. If you're not capable of getting who Samus is until then I'd suggest playing the games.

It's also a stretch to say she's intentionally hunting him down specifically.

Or that your ultimate menace coming back from the dead after being killed and then the planet he was on being blown up wouldn't be uniquely terrifying.

Well, it wouldn't. Not if you've faced him and killed him several times.

 

[LegendofLex]

Well, it wouldn't. Not if you've faced him and killed him several times.

tbh, it's never established within the narrative that Ridley had ever actually died, prior to Fusion.

 

[diaspora]

tbh, it's never established within the narrative that Ridley had ever actually died, prior to Fusion.

It doesn't matter though? Ultimately she's killed- or if you want, beaten him on several occasions. To freeze up at his return is probably one of the stupidest things in gaming.

 

[DXB-KNIGHT]

Voice Acting?
British or American?

 

[LegendofLex]

It doesn't matter though? Ultimately she's killed- or if you want, beaten him on several occasions. To freeze up at his return is probably one of the stupidest things in gaming.

Sure, but we've never gotten any insight into how those battles impacted her emotionally outside of Other M. Any interpretations of those battles originates 100% from the player.

Again, I agree that it's stupid and doesn't have any place in a video game with a character who's viewed like Samus is, but it doesn't contradict anything.

 

[marmoka]

.

 

[diaspora]

Sure, but we've never gotten any insight into how those battles impacted her emotionally outside of Other M. Any interpretations of those battles originates 100% from the player.

But we did, it didn't.

 

[LegendofLex]

But we did, it didn't.

No, you projected that onto the character. It's exactly identical to people projecting more of a character onto Link than is actually there.

 

[diaspora]

No, you projected that onto the character.

No, the character doesn't have any emotional attachment to Ridley's appearance, we can see this in the games.

It's exactly identical to people projecting more of a character onto Link than is actually there.

The Zelda series shows us several different Links over several time periods. Metroid shows us that Samus has no reaction to Ridley until Other M inexplicably gives her one that contrasts with previous titles.

 

[LegendofLex]

No, the character doesn't have any emotional attachment to Ridley's appearance, we can see this in the game.

The character's emotions aren't referenced in the game, and so we can't see them at all.

But if you're going to nitpick:

In Zero Mission they retroactively added her freaking out when he shows up.

In Prime they also had her initially freeze when discovering Meta Ridely on the Pirate Frigate. She stands there in shock as he flies away.

In Prime 3, she's just running away from Ridley at first and loses her cool when she shows up in the power generators.

 

[UnemployedVillain]

There isn't a single scenario in the entire series where it could be accurately said that Samus was actively hunting Ridley down.

In Metroid/Zero Mission, he shows up out of nowhere at one point while Samus is exploring the depths of Zebes. There's a quick flash of a scene in Zero Mission showing Samus react with shock and fear to his sudden appearance.

In Metroid Prime, Samus first sees Meta Ridley on the Space Pirate Frigate as it's preparing to melt down. She totally freezes as he flies away. She technically follows him to the surface, but she's not actively pursuing him and focuses instead on figuring out what the Space Pirates are doing on the planet. She briefly sees him again in Phendrana Drifts, but doesn't actually encounter him until she's heading to the temple.

In Metroid Prime 3, Ridley attacks Samus on Norion. At first, she is only able to run away. In the reactor, she frantically attempts to fight back when he surprises her but is knocked into the pit and only able to fend him off before being saved by Rundas. She doesn't run into him again until the Phazon core on the Pirate Homeworld.

In Super Metroid, he ambushes her at the station when stealing the infant Metroid. She kinda fights back, but both of them retreat because the station is crumbling, and then she tries to get the infant Metroid back and eventually encounters him on Zebes.

In Other M, it's clear Samus believes him to be irrevocably destroyed, so when she sees his clone back in full force on the Bottle Ship, she freaks and the fight doesn't go so well at first. But, as I described before, this isn't necessarily inconsistent with the past games; in all of them but Zero Mission, there's one failed encounter where she either freezes, fumbles when trying to react to his ambush, etc., first before the successful fight.

The issue was ultimately that past games never touched on her past with Ridley being emotionally scarring, and, more importantly, this depiction of the character ultimately didn't enhance the game (or even suit the kind of game Metroid is at all).

None of those examples I would count as her "freezing". She's on a mission and she prioritizes it. However Ridley is the leader of the Space Pirates so even though she's not actively hunting him, the fact that she takes on Space Pirate related jobs without reservation has her actively fucking over his plans and expecting him to show up at some point in time. Other M's issue is that it ignores all of this and the fact that Samus has never just frozen, for no reason and been unable to fight when fully equipped and capable of doing so

 

[Enduin]

The whole why not change Samus thing that I think people are missing isn't that Link and Samus are the same in actuality but the way many of people who put that comparison forward likely perceive both characters as the same, they don't see any difference. When you get down to the raw facts of each character, their background, series lore and everything it makes less sense, but that's not what people are thinking about as that's not what defines those characters for them.

They see Samus as a mute character with little overt personality or characterization and they see Link as a mute character with little overt personality or characterization. The fact that there are technically 11 Links is not important to them, they're basically all the same to them or at least fixed enough across each incarnation. They're not weighing the lore and full context of Metroid series v. Zelda series because that's not what matters to them and how they perceive either character. It's that Link is, in their mind, a developed character just like Samus is a developed character. So changing one makes as much sense as changing the other. It's not correct in the context of each series but in the relationship they've developed with them it is equal.

I don't personally like that comparison as it lacks all context, but I understand why it always pops up, same with Mario. In many fans minds Link is as non-transmutable as any of those characters.

 

[georly]

Voice Acting?
British or American?

I think UK accents would fit better, personally, but I doubt we'll see it. I loved XBC's VA work.

 

[UnemployedVillain]

There's no reason for UK accents. I feel like everyone just assumes British accents fit fantasy because they're Tolkien nerds. No offense, but that's what it is!

 

[AtomicShroom]

So what happens when you play as Linkette? Do you get to rescue Prince Zeld instead? Better yet, do you get to choose who you're to rescue? And why not, who the main villain is? What if you want to play as Link and rescue Prince Zeld? ... from the evil clutches of Ganelle? Is this a thing?

 

[diaspora]

The character's emotions aren't referenced in the game, and so we can't see them at all.

But if you're going to nitpick:

In Zero Mission they retroactively added her freaking out when he shows up.

What? She doesn't?

In Prime they also had her initially freeze when discovering Meta Ridely on the Pirate Frigate. She stands there in shock as he flies away.

This doesn't happen either. She sees him and he flies away, there's no shock.

In Prime 3, she's just running away from Ridley at first and loses her cool when she shows up in the power generators.

In Prime 3, she faces him down and makes no effort to avoid confrontation.

 

[A Link to the Past]

So what happens when you play as Linkette? Do you get to rescue Prince Zeld instead? Better yet, do you get to choose who you're to rescue? And why not, who the main villain is? What if you want to play as Link and rescue Prince Zeld? ... from the evil clutches of Ganelle? Is this a thing?

You'll probably just rescue Zelda from Ganondorf (assuming both are present). And probably just be called Link.

 

[Huge Succeeded]

In Zero Mission they retroactively added her freaking out when he shows up.

In Prime they also had her initially freeze when discovering Meta Ridely on the Pirate Frigate. She stands there in shock as he flies away.

In Prime 3, she's just running away from Ridley at first and loses her cool when she shows up in the power generators.

none of those events take place the way you thought they did.

 

[LegendofLex]

none of those events take place the way you thought they did.

Sure they did.

Just like how all those scenes played out explicitly with Samus not being freaked out, right? We're totally told what she's thinking when a boss appears all the time in the other games, amirite?

What? She doesn't?

This doesn't happen either. She sees him and he flies away, there's no shock.

I saw this scene, and I recognized her freezing as shock.

Just like you saw this scene, and don't recognize it as that. She's just standing there watching him fly away like she does with all the other bosses, right?

Oh wait, we're both just projecting what we want to see onto the scene?

In Prime 3, she faces him down and makes no effort to avoid confrontation.

Yeah, several minutes after he'd already shown up, she runs into him again and finally fights her...after losing her cool and failing to adequately fight him off before getting knocked into a pit.

How very un-Samus of her!

You can see whatever you want to see in the Zero Mission and Prime scenes. You've chosen to see a fearless Samus going after Ridley. I see a Samus who keeps having specific attention thrown on her getting caught off guard at his appearance (which doesn't happen for any other bosses).

Suffice to say that the thrust of my argument is that Nintendo's typically depicted their characters without much in-game characterization up to this point. That includes Samus, even though she's also an established character - Other M's fault is that it badly characterized Samus and that the vision for the character was in conflict with the player's. It's not that Other M was actually an internal contradiction within the artists' depiction of the character.

 

[Dremark]

It's like you have a mental block stopping you from understanding that her character and motivations are defined by her actions and arc over the course of several games against her back story. Replacing her with someone else would make no damn sense and it's why Sakamoto's story was so heavily criticised, it clashed with the character that was built until then. If you're not capable of getting who Samus is until then I'd suggest playing the games.

Well, it wouldn't. Not if you've faced him and killed him several times.

I've played quite a few of the games, she's a empty worthless joke of a character and in a lot of the games even the background motivations she has are non existent and added via retcon and have literally nothing to do with the narrative whatsoever.

Also I really don't think that PTSD would go away just because you were victorious in combat. Granted it doesn't fit with what we already know about the character. From the previous games we know she's a personality less husk so having her show any emotion is of course going to be out of place.

 

[diaspora]

Sure they did.

Just like how all those scenes played out explicitly with Samus not being freaked out, right?

So she sees him? There is no shock in ZM.

Oh wait, we're both just projecting what we want to see onto the scene?

No, just you. We can say for a fact that she sees him and has no visible reaction. Shock/fear is your headcanon.

Yeah, several minutes after he'd already shown up, she runs into him again and finally fights her...after losing her cool and failing to adequately fight him off before getting knocked into a pit.

Again, fake. She fights him several times leading to a final confrontation. Losing cool doesn't actually happen in the game.

I've played quite a few of the games, she's a empty worthless joke of a character and in a lot of the games even the background motivations she has are non existent and added via retcon and have literally nothing to do with the narrative whatsoever.

Also I really don't think that PTSD would go away just because you were victorious in combat. Granted it doesn't fit with what we already know about the character. From the previous games we know she's a personality less husk so having her show any emotion is of course going to be out of place.

Being incapable to reading intent and characterization from actions and backstory isn't really my problem.

 

[BGBW]

If you pick male you play as Link.
If you pick female you play as Zero Suit Samus.