Something about an (unsolved) video game myth.
As you may or may not have noticed, the hair of Link's sprite in A Link to the Past has a
pink, or
light purple hue (the exact color value in the palette data is
#E860B0), although official and concept artwork don't particularly allow for such an aesthetic interpretation
[1] [2] [3] [4]:
For ages, Zelda fans have puzzled their heads over the alleged reasons for this peculiar phenomenon.
[5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23 ff.] [24]
Here's a non-exhaustive list of conjectures, claims and supposedly clear causes that were brought forth (I'll take the liberty to pass on individual references; you should be able to find these and more by studying the abovementioned links. Maybe partly abridged, but still giving the gist of it, I hope:
• Link doesn't have/never had pink hair (without further qualifying that assertion)
• That's not his hair, that's the rim of his hat
• He had his rebellious phase
• Hardware limits are the reason. Ultimately, with regards to the color palette, the developers could only make it work like this
(note: I won't produce formal evidence on the basis of the SNES's hardware specs to counter that here, but suffice it to say that there's a light yellow in Link's palette, as well as multiple brown hues [25], furthermore, there are ROM patches that give link a different, applicable hair color: [26] [27] [28])
• Link's sprite shares its palette with
Bunny Link from the Dark World, who is pink too, or: a glitch causes both to overlap, or: the developers put up with this as a result of the combination of hardware limits and a glitch
(note: both sprites have their own, separate palette, and Bunny Link's palette does not contain the color value of Link's hair [29] [30])
• Probably deliberate, so that the hair contrasts better with the hat and the face / to have the sprite look a little more colorful so that it's better visible on screen
The (partial) thesis, namely that is was deliberate, was subsequently substantiated on various occassions, by means of a
scanned page of English 'Super Play 2' magazine (December 1992 issue, p. 71), without making it possible to draw conclusions about the motives. Apart from a brief history lesson, an interview with Miyamoto about Zelda III is depicted, which is interspersed with photos of small Link figurines in a super-deformed style and various poses. All of them sport vibrantly pink hair.
Here you can even find the unproven statement that the figurines originated from Nintendo, and were study objects for sprite designers.
But I, for one, don't see this as evidence for the abovementiones thesis: firstly, the article says nothing about who actually made the figurines, and secondly, it would be possible that they were made after the game's release, so it would've been the other way around, meaning the sprite would've been the template. Sprite first, figurines first, ultimately, I was considering the version that the final one of the abovementioned bullet point represents, to be most likely.
...until I saw, completely flabbergasted, that there were officially sanctioned manga volumes in Japan, on which Link is depicted prominently with a pink thatch! The earliest one of these volumes (lower left) gives September 1986 as its release date and saw the light of day in the wake of the one game entry that marked both the beginning of the Zelda series and the release of the Famicom Disk System hardware.
[31] [32] [33] [34] [35]
These four manga volumes with the Famicom Disk System label were penned by Ran Maru (乱丸), apparently an apprentice of the late Mitsuteru Yokoyama
[36], and were an offshoot of manga magazine "Wanpakku Comics". The latter contained stories that built upon the lore behind various Nintendo games, was released bi-monthly since November 1985 (monthly since May 1986), until January 1989, and was, according to various sources, very popular with elementary school students. Ran Maru was responsible for the Zelda tales contained in these too.
[37] [38] [39]
If you compare the front pages across time, it stands out that Link was originally drawn with blond hair and a green tunic. In August '86 issue, he had pink hair for the first time (initially even a bold red), and a blue tunic, which corresponds with the first dedicated Zelda manga volume, released shortly thereafter. Later, the tunic became green again, while Link's hair was changed from red to purple/pink, something which once again coincides with the subsequent Zelda-devoted volumes.
[40]
Wouldn't it be possible that Link's hair color in ALttP has something to do with these very mangas? At least it was granted to me the discovery of
somebody from Japan, who apparently knew them back in the day and voiced the same hunch, a circumstance, at the sight of which I fail to conceal that I'm exceptionally happy about it!
Funnily enough, with the NPC 'Faux Hero' from 'The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes' (3DS, 2015), they apparently indulged themselves in a little nod to the purple-haired hero ;o
[41] [42] Moreover, what's left to mention is that Takashi Tezuka himself was asked about Link's hair color in ALttP last year as part of an interview by Game Informer. Bottom line:
he doesn't remember.
The myth lives on.
Edit: Ohooh, news flash: yesterday's "Gigaleak" reveals: Link also had pink/purple hair in the beta version
https://twitter.com/GamingAlexandri/sta ... 89/photo/1
Things happen fast.
Edit²: here's another different set of previously unseen, early Link sprites from the same leak:
[a],
(scroll to bottom)
To briefly get back to the ones shared via Gaming Alexandria's tweet, I'd argue that they can be regarded as once-and-for-all proof, if it wasn't clear already due to other perspectives, that the color choice was planned (the hair even exhibits two shades of purple).