Games allow us to construct and explore identities and offer us role models, good and bad. Game characters are a reflection of us -- players and creators alike -- or could be. But do games also encode identities, values, and orientations that transcend diegetic categories and player self-insertion? I explore the notion of game characters as conduits of transcendent models through the case study of Link from the Legend of Zelda series. I propose that designers embed tacit, nondiegetic patterns of praxis and complex value models, such as user-centred design, when crafting the embodiment of characters in gameplay, even unawares.

翻译：游戏使我们能够建构和探索身份认同，并提供善与恶的榜样。游戏角色既反映玩家与创作者，也可能超越此范畴。但游戏是否也编码了超越叙事范畴、超越玩家自我代入的身份、价值观与取向？我通过《塞尔达传说》系列中的林克案例，探究游戏角色作为超越性模型载体的可能性。我认为，设计者在塑造游戏角色具身化形态时——即便在无意识状态下——会嵌入隐性的、非叙事的实践模式与复杂的价值模型，例如以用户为中心的设计。