Nintendo: Legend of Zelda's Sheik is a Woman

By Jorge Ba-oh 05.08.2014 13

Nintendo: Legend of Zelda

Nintendo have confirmed what gender the elusive Sheik is - is the wise hero a male or female?

Since the character was introduced in The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time and featured in numerous Super Smash Bros. games, fans have debated whether Sheik is a man or woman. During the game, the character appears in a ninja-clad costume that appears to bare a more male shape, but some fans argue that it's simply Princess Zelda in a different outfit.

Giving the official response to the age-old question, Nintendo's Bill Trinen confirmed that "The definitive answer is that Sheik is a woman - simply Zelda in a different outfit."

Do you think Sheik is a male or female?

Box art for The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Developer

Nintendo

Publisher

Nintendo

Genre

Action Adventure

Players

1

C3 Score

Rated $score out of 10  9/10

Reader Score

Rated $score out of 10  10/10 (176 Votes)

European release date Out now   North America release date Out now   Japan release date Out now   Australian release date Out now   

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Azuardo is offline. Azuardo 05.08.2014#1

Did they refer to her as a she in OOT3D? Was referred to as a man in the N64 version. I wonder what the original JP N64 text stated. Probably man at the time. But she's been all woman since Melee, so hardly gonna change now.

 
SirLink is offline. SirLink 05.08.2014#2

How the hell are people still confused about this?

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Azuardo is offline. Azuardo 05.08.2014#3

SirLink said:
How the hell are people still confused about this?
Arrogant because of N64 OOT and never got over it, I guess.

 
JoshSL is offline. JoshSL 05.08.2014#4

Azuardo said:
Did they refer to her as a she in OOT3D? Was referred to as a man in the N64 version. I wonder what the original JP N64 text stated. Probably man at the time. But she's been all woman since Melee, so hardly gonna change now.

Sheik is referred to by Ruto as male in OoT and OoT3D, and this is likely because Ruto didn't know Sheik was a woman rather than the writers calling Sheik a man through Ruto. Zelda intentionally appeared as masculine to throw Ganon off her scent. A crossdressing woman who considers herself a woman is still a woman, so Sheik is a woman, even if she is mistaken as a man.

Sheik has been described with female pronouns in every appearance since OoT, so Ruto using male pronouns for Sheik is probably more of a "I thought Sheik was a dude cause she looked and behaved like one" thing than a "Sheik came up to me and said 'I'm a guy' so yeah" thing.

( Edited 05.08.2014 23:54 by SuperLink )

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Azuardo is offline. Azuardo 05.08.2014#5

^ Yeah, that's basically it. Did a quick search, and turns out the JP N64 version didn't use 'him' to refer to Sheik at all. Simply things like "If you see Sheik, convey my thanks" instead of "Give him my thanks." Idea was to keep Sheik's gender unidentifiable in both looks and game script, but the NOA translation messed around there. They could have easily not used 'him' at all. But doesn't matter because of the whole point of the disguise - it was supposed to look male.

 
SirLink is offline. SirLink 06.08.2014#6

I did some research and can confirm that the only people who are still confused about this are actually members of Ganondorf's army.

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Darkflame (guest) 06.08.2014#7

slow news day for some Smilie

So...Birdo....eggs.


Vorash Kadan 06.08.2014#8

Darkflame (guest) said:
slow news day for some Smilie

So...Birdo....eggs.


If you were a member I'd be giving you a star for that comment. ;D

It is not wise to speak on subjects you do not know all facts about, nor is it smart to judge a game based on looks alone. PSN: Nintendo_Gamer 3DS: 4296-3029-7422
 
Rich (guest) 06.08.2014#9

She was in disguise as a man - that doesn't make her male.  OOT3d characters refer to her as a man but that doesn't mean she switched genders... she used magic to change her clothes hair and eye colour only not her genitalia. One of the gossip stones also refers to Zelda as a bit of tomboy which would fit with her choosing to dress as a male - as to her physical shape - she wears bandages that are quite obviously there to bind her breasts.

Marzeee is offline. Marzeee 06.08.2014#10

How could anyone think she was a man? It's Princess Zelda and shows you that in the cutscene in Ocarina of Time. The only way you wouldn't know is maybe if you haven't played OOT, I guess.

 
LKR000 is offline. LKR000 06.08.2014#11

The funny thing is, people will still argue against it xD

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Agul is offline. Agul 06.08.2014#12

Hopefully, we can safely rest this discussion from here on out. lol

"Sexy ninja-like babe in badass clothe and skin tight spandex IS PRINCESS ZELDA." Smilie Smilie Smilie

( Edited 06.08.2014 18:26 by Agul )

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Darkflame is offline. Darkflame 07.08.2014#13

Vorash Kadan said:
Darkflame (guest) said:
slow news day for some Smilie

So...Birdo....eggs.


If you were a member I'd be giving you a star for that comment. ;D

I am, I just often am too lazy to sign in.

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