About

Gerudo Link, also known as Femboy Link, refer to Link wearing an outfit fitting of the Gerudo, a race of almost entirely women in The Legend of Zelda series, as part of a quest in Breath of the Wild. Since the game's release, Link in the outfit has inspired fan art and memes about Link being a Femboy, a slang term for men who present and/or dress effeminately.

Origin

In Breath of the Wild, released March 3rd, 2017, Link must complete a quest called "Forbidden City Entry," in which he must infiltrate Gerudo Town, which forbids the entry of men. To complete the quest, Link needs to purchase and wear a Gerudo Outfit.^[1]

Discussion of the quest and Link in the Gerudo outfit appeared almost immediately after the game's release. On March 7th, 2017, a thread about Link in the Gerudo outfit was posted to /r/Zelda^[2] by user cantchoosenames.

Spread

Over the following six years, Link wearing the Gerudo outfit would become one of the most widely recognized and memed topics from the game. On March 19th, 2017, Twitter user @sakura30053445^[3] posted a comic about Link awakening from his 100-year slumber in the outfit, gaining over 5,200 retweets and 7,000 likes in six years (shown below, left). On August 13th, 2018, Twitter user @isacoQ^[4] posted art of Link in the outfit, gaining over 40 retweets and 170 likes in five years (shown below, right).

Link wearing a Gerudo outfit began to to be referred to as "Femboy Link" in the early 2020s, alongside the rise of "Femboy" as a popular slang term describing effeminate men. For example, On April 16th 2020, Pixiv^[6] user 消炭 (Keshizumi) posted an illustration of Zelda and Link wearing each others' clothes (shown below, left). On July 12th, 2021, Redditor LORD-POTAT0 posted to /r/femboymemes^[7], titling the post "I love femboy link", gaining over 1,300 points in two years. On January 18th, 2023, @guftrup posted 3D art of Link on Twitter^[7], featuring Link being dressed up in a Gerudo outfit by Zelda and Urbosa. The tweet gained over 30,600 likes and 4000 retweets in four months (shown below, right).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References