I’m sure it’s been talked about before but I want to focus on one character in particular… sort of. 
Why Link? I grew up with the guy/kid. I threw an inordinate amount of hours into Wind Waker and when I read a retweet by Laura Kate Dale today ” teh Link :3 ” I had a thought. I followed up and obviously googled “mute characters in games”.
Conceptually I’d like to think that we (gamers) are very familiar with the “mute character”. However I started thinking about how the game world reacts to the mute characters. That part when Mario jumps in response to the little Toad girl in Mario RPG came to mind. (I know he speaks in other games it’s just an example of a character interacting without using words, my memory is fairly garbage when i need examples) I thought about how Link only yells in the games I’ve played. He shouts, makes gestures and everyone else in the world, for the most part, just reacts to his body language. Can you see where I’m going with this?
It has been said that Link is not mute, one example being his “Come on!” in my favourite of his adventures, Wind Waker. That doesn’t ring true for some of the other games in the franchise. The main thing I’m trying to bring forward is it’s possible that, without the intention, people whom are actually mute may find this a nice connection to have to the characters, I don’t know, I’m not mute. I guess I’m having this thought because of the uproar and chaos that has emerged in gaming for inclusion of all kinds of people. Jak from the first Jak and Daxter I found interesting because he didn’t talk. As someone who didn’t really audibly speak too much I found a connection with him and ultimately I wondered if people whom are mute felt that way with characters whom do not speak but are always seen as gesturing in place of words.
That’s it really just a quick thought.
understandsomething 