Best of 2012! Fan Service: The 5 Stupidest Flame Wars

Every fandom has disagreements but these five aren’t worth having.

By Mel Turnquist. Posted 12/31/2012 10:00 Comment on this     ShareThis

Sheik’s True Gender

Link, Zelda and Sheik screen from Super Smash Bros. Melee opening video
Two words: Gender Trouble.

You know how I say that I try not to judge stupid fandom arguments and that these arguments were mostly just observations of how absurd it is and not about how I feel? Well for this one, I give an exception. This one takes the cake of pure stupidity. Just the fact that people are trying to ask this question. In the Zelda series, this is strangely popular argument. In Ocarina of Time, Zelda disguises herself as a Sheikah that goes by the name of Sheik. Sheik aids Link on his quest by teaching him melodies and giving him clues to each temple. Sheik is known as being a male but the question is how male is Sheik exactly? Is it just a female disguised as a male or did Zelda use her magic to turn herself male? Perhaps it’s the Yaoi fangirls who believe in the latter so that their fanfics won’t seem so useless. Or there’s arguments of her changing her eye color makes people assume that because eye color is changed means it’s possible for certain other body parts to be changed. All I know is that this argument annoys me more than any other that I’ve mentioned. First off, why would you want to try to argue something like this? What’s the big deal?! Second, just the fact that people actually take time to think this up and theorize this kind of weirds me out. I may be a lover of the fandom culture, but thesis when it gets to the weird part of fandom that I don’t like to touch often. And finally, some of the ridiculous venom that goes back and forth in this case just is so face-palm worthy. It’s without question one of the dumbest things I’ve had to deal with hearing about. While Sheik’s gender role can be discussed critically in terms of games, the predominant concerns in relation to Zelda’s gender are normally a lot more… well… stupid.


And there you have what I believe are the 5 Stupidest Flame Wars. And while I may have others that have caused me to wonder what’s wrong with people, these are the ones that stand out in sheer absurdity or sheer venom. The lesson here is to pretty much not get caught up in these absurd arguments or at least be grounded enough to know that at the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter just so long as the games are good. And this has been another edition of Fan Service. Until next time, keep on fandoming!

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Log In 0 points Log in or register to grow your Ninja Score while interacting with our site.
Nintendojo's RSS Feeds

All Updates Podcast
News Comments
Like and follow usFacebookTwitter Friend Code Exchange + Game with Us Join the Team!