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Linkling is the non-binary ship between (Young) Link and an Inkling from the Super Smash Bros. fandom.
Canon[]
The Inklings, Young Link and Toon Link are roughly the same age.
Young Link had Zora princess Ruto make advances towards him, the Zora are a species of fish-like humanoids, much like Inklings. There's an official screenshot of Young Link drinking a glass of milk while the Inkling Girl looks at him with a big smile on her face. Neither of them were playable in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS, Young Link was brought back from Melee for Ultimate, the Inklings made their playable debut in the latter.
The Breath of the Wild Link also had a Zora love interest in Princess Mipha. A pink Inkling girl represents Mipha in Spirit Battles.
Toon Link didn't have a Zora love interest, but the spirit of a Zora became an ally of him in Wind Waker. Much like Inklings, Toon Link lives in a world where the continents are flooded, though their worlds couldn't be any more different culturally.
Fanon[]
Linkling blossomed because of the image of them on smashbros.com, many people thought that Young Link and the Inkling Girl looked cute together. Some theorize that Inklings don't know what milk is, explaining her excitement at seeing Young Link drinking it. Others joke that she's smiling because she pranked him by putting something in the milk. Fan art often references the image by having them share a glass of milk.
The pairing grew further through headcanons, with people arguing that Young Link can't understand Inklings, others think it's way funnier that they can miraculously understand each other since Link is speaking through "Kiai". People have also drawn Ruto, Malon, Saria and Young Zelda all being mad at Young Link for ditching them. Other however pointed out that Inkling is technically a combination of all of them: She has Zelda's youth, Saria's size, Malon's hair color and Ruto's aquatic features. Many also referenced the Splatoon tagline of "You're a kid, you're a squid" by saying that Young Link's the kid, Inkling Girl's the squid. Some have expressed concern that Young Link might be too old for Inkling Girl, since by the end of Ocarina of Time, he's a young man send back into his kid body to relive his childhood. Others pointed out that both of their ages are vague and don't see a problem with it, most fan art doesn't go further than them being awkward around each other, hugging or holding hands.
At least one artist has shipped Inkling Girl with "adult" Link, though mostly as a one-sided crush. Probably because of his artstyle, people seem to prefer pairing Toon Link and Inklings platonically, even though he's either the exact same age as Young Link or physically older. Some depict Young Link and Toon Link as brothers/cousins, thus having Toon Link and Inkling be friends because of Young Link.
The pairing isn't exclusively between Young Link and the default Inkling Girl, some have also drawn him with the pink one, because she wears a hat and because she represents Mipha. Interestingly, people exclusively ship the pink Inkling with Young Link, even though Mipha is from a different game. The Inkling Boy is often either ignored or demonized in any ship involving the Inkling Girl, under the belief that the boy and girl are dating/crushing on each other. Simply having him be a platonic supporter of the pairing seems doesn't happen all that often.
Though far more rare, some people jokingly shipped their Mario Kart counterparts with each other, since Mario Kart 8 Deluxe was released in April 2017, that variation of the pairing actually predates Ultimate.
Fandom[]
FANFICTION
- Inkling Girl/Link tag on AO3
- Inkling Girl & Toon Link tag on AO3
TUMBLR
- Linkling tag on Tumblr
- Young Link x Inkling Girl tag on Tumblr
