Tingle is the heterosexual hero that gaming deserves

‘Hey ladies.’

In a recent Kotaku interview with Eiji Aonuma, the longtime Zelda producer confirmed that Tingle is, in fact, not gay. He’s “just an odd person.”

This isn’t exactly riveting news, but it is interesting that so many people seem to be wondering about Tingle’s sex life. He was even ranked as the number one gayest character in videogames by GayGamer. Of course, this is all based on stereotypes, since the games never specify his sexuality. Tingle is a self-described “fairy,” which could be a slang term for homosexual men (or, you know, an actual fairy from the Zelda universe), and he has some rather flamboyant mannerisms. Some found his personality to be a distasteful gay joke, while others found him charming and were just happy to see more representation of gay characters in games.

Except he’s not gay.

Now, he could be straight, bisexual, or asexual. We don’t really know. But I’m going to assume he’s straight, because I think that would be great.

Some of you may be thinking, “But Ben, videogames are already saturated with heterosexual male characters as it is.” True, but how many of those heterosexual male characters are unabashedly effeminate and completely willing to break gender norms? I can think of a few characters who fit that description: The King of All Cosmos from Katamari, Ebisumaru from Mystical Ninja, possibly Ghirahim from Skyward Sword. It’s still something I’d like to see more of, though, because I’m all about seeing gender norms tossed aside in favor of variety and more interesting personalities.

Others are probably thinking, “Ben, why the fuck should we care about Tingle’s sexuality?” Well, you probably shouldn’t, unless you have the urge to browse some Tingle fanfiction. His sexuality is not at all important to the games’ stories, with the possible exception of Freshly-Picked Tingle’s Rosy Rupeeland, where he seemed to be all over the beautiful ladies in the game, especially the busty Pinkle (Tingle is clearly a breast man). But for the most part it doesn’t matter, yet it’s still fun to think about.

If Tingle ever appears in another Zelda game, or if Rosy Rupeeland gets another sequel like we all know it deserves, I hope to see him in a relationship with a gorgeous fairy girl. Maybe he could even be a family man, with several fairy children running around. As long as he keeps on being his fabulous, flamboyant, totally heterosexual self, then it’s all good. We could use more characters like Tingle in games.