Politics and Economics in the Pokemon World - Part Two

Professor Oak

(1/11/2017) --- Playing for many years, almost 2 decades of playing Pokemon, players can see an evolution towards the game as well some of the backstory that mostly the game story-line is set on a post-apocalyptic world. We can see that on the first sixth generations there weren't many adults and much of the towns were underdeveloped, there were many orphans and widows and essentially society was being reconstructed.

The seventh generation (Bulbapedia - Seventh Generation), shows a different world in which a rise of humanity has overcome decades of oblivion and people seem to be rising again from the destruction. Alola (Bulbapedia - Alola) focus on a society that is striving economically as well socially, people are visiting different places of the archipelago as well around the world.

Albeit in Alola we get a more detailed orientation about the role of the Pokemon Professors, on Generation I the players can get obtain a detailed idea about the role they play on the society that collapsed. Professor Oak, could be the most prominent of the scholars that surround the society who live among the Pokemon's.

The role of a Pokemon Professor goes beyond giving the starter Pokemon's to the player, it is a socio political role much keen to being a governor and it plays an impact on the development of the region. To understand more commonly the role, we can take a look on Professor Oak himself as well the impact he had between Johto and Kanto but as well around the globe.

To understand Professor Oak we have to see him as a successful tactician and politician, besides his interest of relationship between humans and Pokemon's. He essentially organized two regions to share one common league or the Indigo Plateau, became a role model to Professor Elm (Bulbapedia - Professor Elm) who became the regent figure on the Shinnoh region. Why Professor Oak is such an important figure towards being some form of a celebrity within the Pokemon universe? Because he was one of the ones who placed an end to the war that separated Kanto and Johto but organized other professors to become the regents of their respective regions and the formation of their respective leagues.

Kanto

Essentially what Oak can be seen is, as the founder of a technocracy (Wikipedia - Technocracy) that gained momentum and influence around the world. There are no career politicians around the different regions, and there are no other influences towards the economical and educational development of the population with the exception of individuals who are dedicated to technological progress as well some corporations around the world.

The world of Pokemon faces on an economical perspective a capitalistic problem, as the regions are oriented towards consumers and company relations towards spending; but, it gives a debacle between physical efficiency and cost of technology.

There is an inflation around, products are on an extremely high price and the radius of the population versus income is despair for individuals to go and purchase technology that would let them travel around the world, at least on the first generation games; still, even towards the seventh generation there are hints that no many people can afford traveling or even going on a journey to compete against gyms and or trials in the Alola region.

We still have to consider that if it wasn't for the technocratic movement that governs each region, there wouldn't be any economical developments and technological advancements on the regions; even on the Generation VII games we can see some developments that we will be talking on an upcoming entry.

Kukui

On the Sun & Moon games, the players can see with more detail the actual role of the professors and what is the influence they take on each region. What it was mentioned earlier, the professors act as governors and leaders of opinions, they essentially influence the structure of a region and how the nation would be politically organized even on how the trials would take place.

It is interesting to see how can one person, is essentially in direct charge of many aspects that surrounds a cultural group but also on how they can promote their region for better. Kukui opposite to other scholars from previous generations is more of a showman, besides being dedicated to his research in move sets, he organized the Alola Pokemon League and acted as the first Champion, while being a public figure on the Pokemon Royal Battles (Bulbapedia - Pokemon Battle Royal) and keeping a relationship with his wife Professor Burnet.

From a timeline perspective, we can interpret that the Alola region was the last region to fully developed socially and economically as it was independent located from the Kanto main land, which probably the Alola region politically speaking is on a separated continent from the previous generations which led a delay of having a league of their own.

Kukui can be seen also as the man who opened the economical relationships further between the region and the other parts of the world by allowing immigration, and bringing new trainers in. Even so, it's easy to speculate based on how the professors interact with the player and how much others NPC's give information about the impact they had caused on their regions. 

References:

• Web retrieved: Bulbapedia, Seventh Generation of Pokemon Games - http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Generation_VII
• Web retrieved: Bulbapedia, Alola - http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Alola
• Web retrieved: Bulbapedia - Professor Elm, http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Professor_Elm
• Web retrieved: Wikipedia, Technocracy - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technocracy
• Web retrieved: Bulbapedia - Pokemon Battle Royal, http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Battle_Royal

Evolutionary Traits in Pokemon -Polymorphism- Part Two

Alolan Rattata

(1/2/2017) --- One thing I found interesting about Pokemon Sun & Moon, is that it offers finally an introduction to the concept of polymorphism to explain the differences in variation of the species among the world.

To understand the Pokemon World (Bulbapedia - Pokemon World) we have to understand a world that is extremely similar to Earth, we can even debate towards if this world could be concentrated in the String Theory of an infinite set of universe in which a world, through evolutionary means developed fantastic creatures (Supestring Theory Website - Basics).

Now, if we situate in this hypothetical universe, that is similar to our own, with a similar planet, similar nature laws and in a place where we can see variations of the same species, as well subspecies, now to understand the game franchise story will know that each game is set in different regions, within each regions there are a set of Pokemons that are exclusively to those regions, but overall within those regions the player never see variants of Generation 1 & 2; such as Meowth or Rattata.

The regions that are mentioned are Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh Unova and Kalos. Those regions could be considered part of one vast continent that contains a similar number of Pokemon that could travel freely and always face a similar variances on the regions micro-climates, dietary needs and human impact. In theory, there aren't any variants of Pokemons towards these lands, because they could be considered one and the same.

Alola Region

Now we have a land, Alola which comes with the Seventh Generation (Bulbapedia - Seventh Generation), what is fantastic about this generation is that it's the first Pokemon game that offer an insigth towards the concept of polymorphism (Encyclopedia Britannica), species invasion in a foreign ecosystem as well biological adaptation.

We are going to focus more entries on this topic, so far we are just going to go within the genetic variations of Pokemon's found in Alola versus the ones found in Kanto and the surrounding regions.

Alolan Meowth

Sometimes within adaptation of species, there are minor differences between what the morphology of the body; but, if we take a discontinuous genetic variation divides individuals of a single population into two or more distinct forms such as the case of Meowth (Bulbapedia - Meowth)

What is fantastic about Alolan Meowth is that is almost a different species of the same cat-like creature; there are some common morphological traits but on an learning level and we can add genetic makeup they differ between each other vastly.

How two creatures evolved differently goes into the phenotype, similar as how dogs were transformed over the course of 20 thousand years, just to give a short estimate (Genome Sequencing Highlights of the Dynamic Early History of Dogs) but in the case of Meowth the adaptability trait came as an invasive species that mimic the feral cat problematic in Hawaii.

The similarities between Meowth in Alola and cats in Hawaii are actually quite remarkable, as in the game lore the Meowths' were introduced from the Kanto region and became an invasive species on the Alola region, much as the cats were brought by the Europeans to act as guardians of the plantation against local pest (Hawaii Invasive Species Council)

The Meowths eventually on an estimate course of hundred years invaded all the archipelago and because of the human interaction and impact, they eventually went feral after the overpopulation and lack of control to retain the species from proliferating. Opposite to the Kanto region is that Meowth in Alola is a Dark type Pokemon opposite to a Normal Type, in which the adaptation is mostly related to the biological rhythm in which the Meowth as well Persian operates .

Alolan Persian

An aspect I found interesting is that Alolan Persian actually looks closely to a caricature version of a Persian, rather than a Siamese Cat that was common during the first six generations of the game. It probably came at the end as a way to add a more precise look to the character; but still it looks as a cross between two different cats.

References:

1. Web retrieved: Bulbapedia - Pokemon World -http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Pok%C3%A9mon_world
2. Web retrieved: String Theory Homepage -http://superstringtheory.com/basics/index.html
3. Web retrieved: Bulbapedia - Generation Seventh -http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Generation_VII
4. Web retrieved: Encyclopedia Britannica - Polymorphism - https://www.britannica.com/science/polymorphism-biology
5. Web retrieved: Bulbapedia -Meowth - http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Meowth_(Pok%C3%A9mon)
6. Web retrieved: Genome Sequencing Highlight the Dynamic Early History of Dogs, Freedman, Adam - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3894170/
7. Web retrieved: Hawaii Invasive Species Council - http://dlnr.hawaii.gov/hisc/info/invasive-species-profiles/feral-cats/

The History that Can Be Found in Pokemon - Part One

Lunar Landing

(12/16/2016) --- It was a while since I played first generation games of Pokemon, in fact it could be almost 13 years since I played any of the first, second and third generation games. They simply lost the appeal due certain circumstances about moving to another country and re-starting my life from zero.

I still played the newer games with the exception of Sun & Moon, and Alpha & Omega (which I plan to buy eventually) as time passed, I felt the itch about playing the games again and after losing my original cartridges; mostly after being kicked out due my identity and sexuality, I didn't mind buying Pokemon Yellow on the Virtual Console and re-start playing generation one (Wikipedia - Pokemon Red)

Pika Intro Screen

It is totally a different experience play the game as an adult than as a 13 years old adolescence, there are some details you can ignore quite easily when you are young versus whenever you revise the game.

What I found fascinating is that the game itself is placed on planet that could be Earth, even there are some hints that the game is set on a post-apocalyptic alien invasion that happened probably after the Apollo 11 mission (Wikipedia, Apollo 11) but the process took thousands and even millions of years (Wojcik, 2013) such as 65 millions ago that can be situated in the Paleocene (Wikipedia, Paleocene).

Albeit what it really got my attention are the little pop culture references centered around the many games, but it is the one towards found in Generation 1 that gave the clue about the timeline and some history of the Pokemon World that could be placed on an alternate Earth, as on the first image the old man in the Pewter City Museum gives the date July 20 of 1969 which is the date of the Apollo 11 lunar landing.

Space Shuttle Columbia

Inside the games' lore, we can see that in Generation 1 there are mentions of space travel which subsequently became part of the mythos; but finding inside the Space Shuttle Columbia scale model (Wikipedia, Space Shuttle Columbia) inside the space exhibition we can set that the games are around 1996 to 1998; but before 2003 as there are no mentions of any incident towards the Columbia.

The idea itself about the evolutionary traits and origin of the species is debated through the entire series of games as well in the anime; but always space seems to be the center of a sub-context on the game mythos; and it is actually quite appealing, due the reasons it give the idea that Pokemon are from outer space; as there are no signs of biological life that started on that world but rather one that was an invasive species, who slowly during the eons assimilated and grow to create an extinction event within the game story.

References:

1. Web retrieved:  Wikipedia - Pokemon Red and Blue - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pok%C3%A9mon_Red_and_Blue (1996)
2. Web retrieved: Wikipedia - Apollo 11 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_11
3. Web retrieved: Craked.com ; 4 Reasons Pokemon is the Scariest Alien Invasion Story Ever, Wojcik, Jonathan - http://www.cracked.com/quick-fixes/4-reasons-pokemon-scariest-alien-invasion-story-ever/ 2013
4. Web retrieved:  Wikipedia - Paleocene ; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paleocene
5. Web retrieved: 

Gone Home A Sad Beautiful Story

Intro Screen

(11/21/2016) --- Finding a unique game is always a rewarding experiencing, finding a game with an LGBT content is even more interesting as there aren't many in the market that can tell a story before the days where marriage equality became a reality and Don't Ask Don't Tell seemed to be an aspect from the past.

At least those ideas seem to be a thing from the past, that can fade in the next four years. The time where LGBT rights experienced some many stumbles such as the the Reagan administration with the AIDS epidemic, the ascension on the national spotlight of the Westboro Baptist Church, Don't Ask Don't Tell, the killing of Matthew Shepard at the end of the decade; the novels Armistead Maupin novels, the Super Nintendo and riot grrrl just to name a few cultural and social events that gave a shape to the two decades.

The Dining Room

The game itself offers a very minimalist approach towards the gameplay; it is set on June the 7th of 1995, in Oregon. Kaitlin Greenbriar returns to the United State after traveling around Europe after graduation. She also arrived to a new residence in which her father inherited from his late uncle Oscar.

As the moment Kait arrives in the new house she saw a note left by her sister asking her to not search for clues about what happened to everyone. Curiosity starts as the main motivator to start exploring around the house and it's what it sets the events of the game in motion. The game itself is on the same vein as The Chinese Room (homepage) specifically their game Dear Esther (Dear Esther - Wikipedia). That set the goals as well the aesthetics of exploring an enviroment through the use of memories and give the player a minimal approach to submerge them in the game.

Imagery of the 1990's

The game is filled with imagery set on the 1990's, there are the faux rock and grunge bands, the fake SNES games but also books that were common to see on those days; as well names of celebrities and television shows. There are some minor easter eggs, such as the one in the photo that it could be a developer mistake but on the flyer that is below the book, KSNC (Wiki-commons) is a radio station in Kansas that back in 1995 didn't had reach to Oregon where the game is located.

The exploration of the house brings to a window of the past, at least for the people who grew up in the 1990's. It's almost as residences looked like, not in terms of architectures but the items that could be found that made references to that era. The use of cassetes, VHS tapes as well the mention of the SNES bring some sort of nostalgia about certain cultural aspect of the Americana Culture but then it brings an important underlying on why is important to keep pushing to end discrimination on the work place but also end LGBT-phobia; the game talks between letters about how the family comes to cope that their youngest daughter Samantha is a lesbian.

Lonnie

The story of Gone Home deals with abandonment and coming in terms with identy, but also it gives an insight through the mechanics about Don't Ask Don't Tell (DADT- Wiki) separated loved ones who served in the military to be open in public; also, another important part of the story goes on how parental attitudes, friends can affect the life of an individual who feels rejection.

Maybe, the protagonist of the story is Kait's sister Samantha, who through a series of letters as well hidden messages around the house and clues about her academic performance can give the player a sense of solitude and alienation she was experiencing, but also the idea can still be experienced today. Within family niches, they can provide a key to a healthy functional adult (Husted, 2012) and prevent suicide when they are on a younger stage in life.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Spoilers
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As it was saw in the game, the ultimate fate of Sam and the girl she fall in love with, Lonnie; showed that both didn't find acceptance and they found comfort within each other; but, to think that two young people under the age of 20 could make it on their own 20 years ago as if is in today, is still difficult.

Lonnie or Yolanda DeSoto, as a young latina lesbian who is also involved within the military in one of the most turbulent periods of the contemporary history could had faced a destiny worse than Samantha herself; she could had been the subject of rape and other forms of physically violence if she dared to talk openly about her identity and sexual orientation.

Towards Sam family life, we could see that based on her parents marital issues she felt abandoned but at the moment they knew she was a lesbian, they simply dind't cared and thought she could be just experimenting but based on Sam's diary's, she knew it wasn't a "phase" as the feelings for Lonnie were real.

As it was saw on the end of the game, there wasn't a happy ending, it was a family who got thorn out by not knowing how to communicate properly and to find acceptance in their differences. Albeit, the clues about who Sam identity was rely on the clues of her musical tastes that are spread around the house and how Riot grrrl became a central queer ideology that was situated with a subtle aspect that maybe Sam's and Kaith parents didn't noticed.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Spoilers
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Heavens to Betsy

Heavens to Betsy (Wikipedia Commons) play an important role towards the game narrative, as the queercore band songs are played constantly on the game as the story progress it shows the struggle that being alienated feels but also on how the punk feminist music could had affected culturary someone who didn't had a voice.

Is really interesting to see how those subtle forms of expression where common in a day where the Internet and the forums where on their "baby days" where music and zines were on vogue to transmit ideas and political information.

It could be even considered a form of revolution to spread a message before mass communication took over and it gave voices to the groups and tribes that didn't had them. Albeit now, even with the use of internet and social media as tools, it is important to know that is central to keep the fight for equality and understanding open, because discrimination is still rampant and there is no way to ensure that our rights as citizens will be respected.

References:

• Homepage: The Chinese Room - http://www.thechineseroom.co.uk/
• The Chinese Room - Dear Esther: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dear_Esther
• KSNC - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KSNC
• Don't Ask Don't Tell - Wiki, Commons: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don%27t_ask,_don%27t_tell
• NPR.org, Husted, Kris - Family Acceptance, in Preventing Gay Youth From Considering Suicide. http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2012/02/13/146831239/family-acceptance-key-in-preventing-gay-youths-from-considering-suicide
• Heavens to Betsy - Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heavens_to_Betsy

Legend of Badminton Prologue Game Review

Sir Pirlock in Jail

(10/06/2016) --- What a nice and cute little game, the Legend of Badminton is. The game brings a reminiscent of the old SCUMM games such as Monkey Island, Loom, Sam and Max, Grim Fandago, Maniac Mansion among others (SCUMM, Wiki) but adapted through a simple interface of three actions that are compatible with the enviroment.

The Legend of Badminton is set in a continent that is reminiscent of the medieval times of our Earth; but, there is a dispute between different kingdoms for the Earldom of Badminton that is controlled by a wannabe Earl named Sir Pirlock who is with the idea to recover the former glory of the Earldom that was left by his late father.

The game-play is quite straightforward, is mostly puzzled oriented in is episodic wise. The prologue was released on 2014 and there hasn't been any new updated towards the official website; within the exception that there is a crowdfunding process in progress (Hernandez-Muñoz) but there is not enough information to know when the next chapter date will be. Leaving the game to think that is in the limbo.

Rapido and Pirlock

The gameplay is set between Spanish and English, there are some grammatical mistakes as well some jokes are lost in translation between both languages, leaving the experience to be enjoyed at the best within the Spanish option.

The story is actually quite quirky and the dialogues are incredibly funny. It explores the ideas of same-sex attraction, failure, discomfort to the status quo and living in a probable madness.

The idea that the game is just a mere fantasy coming from Pirlock head can be well sustained as he seems himself surrounded in a heroic journey of rebellion mixed with a rat that talks only to him but not to anyone else. It is so strange how to think that Pirlock could be a normal person while other characters treat him as if he had some mental health problems.

On a certain point Pirlock starts hesitating if everything is in his head, because it's faithful companion in his adventure is a talking rat which could be probably a figment of a delusion in which he is living in. Because, there are no such things as a talking rat or giant spiders that live under a well.

The scenarios are actually quite lovely as well the character designs, they evoke this old era of video gaming that is really gone; a beautiful factor of nostalgia from an era that gaming was simple and yet beautiful. It reminds me of the third incarnation of Monkey Island (The Curse of Monkey Island, Wikipedia) and Grim Fandago, just to name a few.

The proposal coming from Carmen Hernandez-Muñoz is actually refreshing and entertaining, is strange that after almost 2 years there aren't any more episodes or information in general about the development of the game at all. It is also understandable that being an independent developer is not easy, especially within a market that craves graphics over quality, which is a reason I firmly believe in supporting independent developers around the world towards their creation.

The map

A good way to support Carmen and her game, is to go to the official Legend of Badminton Facebook page (Legend of Badminton, Facebook) in which there is information on how to donate to the crowdfunding campaign to help her team to bring new chapters, or even saying hello and giving a nice compliment about the game itself.

References:

1. Web retrieved: SCUMM - Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SCUMM
2. Web retrieved: Hernandez-Muñoz, Carmen. The Legend of Badminton: http://www.legendofbadminton.com/?lang=en
3. Web retrieved: The Curse of Monkey Island - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Curse_of_Monkey_Island
4. Web retrieved: Legend of Badminton Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/BadmintonianResistance/

The Theory of a Game How Many Timelines are in the Mario Games Chapter 1

(7/25/2016) --- I have theory, in which we are going to play a game. Two games to be precise, Mario Bros and Donkey Kong; why? Both games are intrinsically united towards the narrative of the characters but is the Mario timeline that unifies all the main games together until the appearance of Mario Galaxy (Mario Wiki - Mario Galaxy) in which the timeline essentially splits into three; but the idea of three timelines itself can be more complex.

The reason goes that after the recreation of the universe (yes, that is a spoiler) the timeline got diverted into three and joined by the the 8-bit era. The start of the timeline comes toward our world, a timeline where the first Mario or better known as Jumpman adventure takes place along with the first Donkey Kong.

The Second Mario

The first timeline could be considered the home-console era in which the second Mario among his brother travel to the Mushroom Kingdom and becomes some fort of a champion, here there are no more references of Donkey Kong with this Mario, but rather they still with the Jumpman, the progenitor that resides in the home world (Mario Wiki-  Mario NES)

The second and last era is the 2000 in which the Galaxy games show up and opens to the last timeline which is the one that appears after the recreation of the universe and opens the possibility of the multiverse in which different characters from franchises not related to Mario compete between each other and is also on a time placement where WaLuigi exists, mostly as an extra dimensional being in which he has never show up on the main time frame but only on the ones towards competition.

The third and last timeline is the most depressing in which Mario finally retires and conquers an island in which it could be considered the timeline in which Wario appeared for the first time and lead to the events of Wario World amd Wario Ware.

We are going to speak about the multiverse in another entry and how the different universes collide into the Smash Brother's series of games. Each timeline or era is marked by an event but overall, the main division comes with the end of the universe, that exact moment is where it can bet set as a new moment of events in which Mario continues his adventures and in another option he just finish his life in a lonely island where the events of Mario Land take place after the fight with Bowser was over.

Jumpman

To understand where everything began, we have to set the timeline in a place where we can see it and that is in an Earth similar as our own, it has some minor variation in which oxygen is a little bit higher because a giant gorilla rampages through the city of New York in which he kidnaps a woman named Pauline, the woman is the girlfriend of a man named Mario.

This Mario has black hair, is also short while his girl is brunette with blue eyes; a trait the second Mario would inherit but his brother Luigi got some of his father's look. The siblings didn't followed their father's foot steps instead they went and formed a plumbing business, but before that they were kidnapped during their birth by an unknown force.

The twins ended up in Yoshi Island soon almost after being born, of course there is an allegory of the storch that we can say it didn't happened and it was a mere kidnapping act by an unknown force, that unknown force turned out to be Bowser when he was a child, thus setting the age gap between the twins and Bower in between five to six year apart, as Bowser when he was younger seemed to be already capable of speech and walking by himself, but the Koopa physiology hasn't been explored on any of the games but it looked as Bowser was highly inteligent to create a plan on stranding two infants in the middle of an island with dinosaurs.

We have to understand that what we see on the Yoshi's Island versus the world where the twins were born are two separate places and probably two separate dimensions, who flows on the same time-stream; parallel worlds in other words.

Back in NYC, a desolated Jumpman not knowing what happened to his kids takes the blame on Donkey Kong, and this is where the events of Donkey Kong Jr take place (Donkey Kong Jr - Mario Wiki) in which the child of the 8-bit era Donkey Kong, Jr (Mariowiki - Donkey Kong) in which after Donkey Kong Sr, went into a rampage on the third game, then the events within the Mario/ Jumpman timeline ended.

As time passed by the twins didn't returned back to the prime Earth, but there is a division between  what happened at the end to Mario, as within the last timeline, when the universe is recreated Mario keeps his adventure but there is a divergent point in which he finally retires and the adventures of Wario start and a second one in which he continues to be the protector of the castle and the Kingdom.

But what happened to Jumpman, he became a toy maker and created a line of Mario toys and Donkey Kong continued certain rivalry until that Donkey Kong became old and retired on Kong Island. While at the end him and Pauline experienced some adventures of their own but not without missing their children.

References:

1. Web Retrieved: http://www.mariowiki.com/Super_Mario_Galaxy
2. Web Retrieved: http://www.mariowiki.com/Super_Mario_Bros.
3. Web Retrieved: http://www.mariowiki.com/Donkey_Kong_Jr._(game)
4. Web Retrieved: http://www.mariowiki.com/Donkey_Kong

Game Theory What if Link is a Clone

Link Artwork 

(6/29/16) --- This is a what if? I had this idea at first when I was playing Skyward Sword a few months ago and within Lanayru the dragon sequence, where he gives a nickname to Link - "That's not much of a name, is it? How about I add a model number to your name like my friends have got? LD-Link-16...? (Skyward Sword). I thought about the idea that Link could be just another product of technology but also it could be a reference to the number of game Skyward Sword was.

It's easy to understand that the robots and the time-stones are common technology in that zone on the different time periods; and talking about real life is really a common practice to give an alphanumeric code to machines but what if at the end instead of an eternal cycle of reincarnation placed by a curse "Link as we know it is a mere clone?" is not strange to think about it.

Why Lanayru gave that number to Link? The 16th, it could be a mere random number, but also it could be the code that is linked to the production of soldiers that are need it to bring peace and act as conduits or catharsis agents that everything is going to be OK in case of crisis but also in case the lands needs a savior. How Many Links could had been before the Sky Era? And who was the original bearer of the name?

There are different points to substance the idea that the Link we had been playing is just a series of clones on different stages, and is breed in order to keep the peace within the kingdom rather than being a random event given by the Demise Curse (SkyWard Sword – Demise)

Great Deku Tree

The first piece of information we can find is that Link never had parents or the parents died, he has relatives or guardians, which they barely express any real familial relations by blood besides some vague implications – such as an uncle or a “grandmother” – (A Link to the Past – Link’s Uncle) in the case of Ocarina of Time we have the mother of Link running away from a war to “protect” the child from the Hyrulian Civil War (Ocarina of Time – Link’s Mother) and giving him to the Great Deku Tree.

Why to give the child to a deity? Did she know the child held certain power that could bring peace to Hyrule once Link was an adult or at least old enough to handle it? The idea of protecting the one who will bring peace is not strange as it has been explored in the Superman mythos, but also it gives the idea that probably that Link existence was bounded to the Shrine of Resurrection (Breath of the Wild – Shrine of Resurrection) 

Then we have the case in the Wind Waker of Aryll (Wind Waker – Aryll) while it gives an idea that she could be related to link by blood, there is no proof on the game that she and Link are related by genetics but rather that both were adopted by their grandmother; and that the Tower of the Gods (Wind Waker – Tower of the Gods) have a particular pattern that is found on the Shrine of Resurrection, which the color blue reflects the technology that is used and even it could be the Tower of the Gods the place where Link could had woken up after the flooding that gave birth to the Great Sea.

Gohdan in the Tower of the Gods

If we continue with other guardians, we have Link’s Uncle on A Link to the Past, Rusl on the Twilight Princess and even the Smith on the Minish Cap (which the relationship that he has with Link is never clear if is his nephew or grandson) but all of them fulfill the roles of guardians of the hero of the different ages.

The second piece of information, it seems to be no matter what the magic in Hyrule seems to be related to technology, such as the time stones, the Ancient Robots, the tunics which resemble mostly suits to survive heavy environments, the ability to time travel back and forth and etcetera, it's also interesting to see that in theory the past timeline before the Sky Era could be a more advanced time than the dystopic present that Hyrule is living on all the timelines, which resembles the middle ages.

Shrine of Resurection

The biggest clue that Link could be just a clone, of the original that lived many centuries before comes within the mysterious Shrine of Resurrection but as well the sequences in Twilight Princess which that Link interacts with the Hero of Time in order to learn the techniques that he already learned. It is strange to think that within the resurrection process, the idea of the newest Link interacting with a memory of the previous could serve as a catalyst to learn the techniques.

During reincarnation cycle according to Buddhism we inherit the spiritual traits and not physical we can see this concept explored on Avatar: The Last Airbender and the Legend of Kora in which the different reincarnations of the avatar share nothing physical in common while Link during the different incarnations seems to be much of the same person but adapted to different eras. What if the Link that we mentioned before in Skyward was as Lanayru just a mere clone? The sixteen clone already made and the project continued for eons in order that a "hero" would be there to bring stability.

The Hero's Chosen by the Gods and Time

The Hero Spirit seems to be another indicator that Link can't reproduce as to be infertile as he references to Link of Twilight as his "son" even if the Hero of Time never left anyone to teach his movements and skills; but, with the Shine of Resurrection there could be hints that the Sheika's were more skilled in the use of magic and artifacts but also into technology.

Maybe some of the Links reflect certain independence beyond their role as a hero, They develop aspirations beyond being mere tools of the Royal Family and when they die they realize their existence was probably just as empty as it was saving Hyrule; but hey, at the end this is just a game theory and nothing to be taken seriously.

References:

• Web Retrieved: http://zeldawiki.org/Lanayru_(Dragon)#cite_note-11
• Web Retrieved: http://zeldawiki.org/Demise#cite_note-12
• Web Retrieved: http://zeldawiki.org/Link%27s_Uncle
• Web Retrieved: http://zeldawiki.org/Link%27s_Mother
• Web Retrieved: http://zeldawiki.org/Shrine_of_Resurrection
• Web Retrieved: http://zeldawiki.org/Aryll
• Web Retrieved: http://zeldawiki.org/Tower_of_the_Gods