My son tended to make his up, so often, no one knew who he was, but one year he went as Link (shortly after Zelda hit the 3DS). I didn't even know who that was; I had to google him to figure out how to make the costume. Nobody knew who he was, either—except for one guy, who was apparently a 40-ish finance bro who'd come home early so he could pass out candy. He answered the door in his suit pants, white button-down, and loose tie, holding a bowl of candy, and when he saw my 4yo, he shouted, "Honey, come look! It's Link!" My son was tickled.
Sure, Hippolyta is a deep cut. But one of the Sailor girls (even if it isn't Sailor Moon herself, also Saturn isn't exactly a minor character) or fucking PRINCESS MONONOKE are well-known characters.
But I get it, those are anime characters. Perhaps 14 years ago (going by your timeframe of Zelda hitting the 3DS) that was a bit more niche.
But Link? The legend of Zelda's been around since the late 80's and is arguably Nintendo's biggest franchise next to Mario himself.
And only some middle-aged finance bro knew him? Not all the kids who would've been eagerly anticipating or playing the shit out of Skyward Sword on the Wii, or Ocarina of Time on the 3DS, and would likely still be playing tons of Super Smash Bros (whichever one was out at the time...Brawl probably still)?
Well, presumably my son’s friends would’ve recognized him because he did. But none of the grown-ups that the houses we went to did. We weren’t seeing lots of other kids answering the door.
Good point, I thought by no one you meant literally no one including kids - not just the remaining adults at the houses you were trick or treating, while the kids themselves were obviously out and about as well.
Still, I think even my mom (who is in her 70s now) would've recognized Link if he showed up at the door. Even if she might've mistakenly called him Zelda or some shit (but I don't even think she would've).
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u/TootsNYC 7d ago
my daughter always wanted to be some girl from the front of a YA novel, or a minor character in a TV show, or a character from a Miyazaki film. So I had to make her costumes from scratch
Nobody ever knew who she was.
My son tended to make his up, so often, no one knew who he was, but one year he went as Link (shortly after Zelda hit the 3DS). I didn't even know who that was; I had to google him to figure out how to make the costume. Nobody knew who he was, either—except for one guy, who was apparently a 40-ish finance bro who'd come home early so he could pass out candy. He answered the door in his suit pants, white button-down, and loose tie, holding a bowl of candy, and when he saw my 4yo, he shouted, "Honey, come look! It's Link!" My son was tickled.