Hyrule Warriors isn’t short on strong female fighters, but from the moment fans uncovered a concept drawing of a woman dressed in Link’s signature green tunic, they wanted one more added to the roster.

This past November, Nintendo finally unveiled Linkle as a playable character in its upcoming 3DS port of Hyrule Warriors Legends . We interviewed Zelda series producer Eiji Aonuma and Tecmo Koei producer Yosuke Hayashi to find out more about Nintendo’s new heroine, including why she didn’t initially make the cut for Hyrule Warriors.

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Hyrule Warriors developer Koei Tecmo originally pitched Linkle as a member of Link’s family

Eiji Aonuma: “Koei Tecmo first proposed the Linkle character as Link's little sister for the Wii U version of Hyrule Warriors. However, we felt this conflicted with the concept of Aryll from The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, the only character we had ever had appear as Link's sister, so we decided not to include that version. In Hyrule Warriors Legends

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Zelda fans played a big role in Nintendo reconsidering Linkle

Aonuma: “We had a great response from fans, especially outside of Japan, who saw Linkle in the Hyrule Warriors premium-box booklet and wanted her to be included in the game. Seeing that reaction, Hayashi-san and I talked it over and decided that we would definitely like to include her in the next title. I'm really glad we got the chance to do that with Hyrule Warriors Legends.”

Linkle's concept art was featured inside of a special art book released in Japan.

On Linkle being a female Link

Yosuke Hayashi: “Linkle is a young woman who lives in a small village in Hyrule and cares for Cuccos. She has aspired to be a hero since she was little, and believes that the compass she received from her grandmother, which has been passed down for generations, is the symbol that proves it.”

On Linkle’s enthusiastic personality

Hayashi: “She is boundlessly cheerful, and her kind but naive personality means that she always stops to help those in need. When she hears that Hyrule Castle is under attack by monsters, she sets out on a journey to save the realm from crisis. Linkle's sense of direction is not the best, however, so she ends up visiting locations all across the land before she arrives at Hyrule Castle. Her desire to help others in need gets her tangled up with all kinds of other characters along her journey, and they end up traveling together.”

Linkle as she appears in the latest trailer for Hyrule Warriors Legends.

Linkle could show up in another Zelda game

Aonuma: “I had a chance to give feedback on Linkle during development, but the satisfying action of using a crossbow, which we developed for the spin-off title Link's Crossbow Training, was implemented this time completely by Koei Tecmo. It may feel a little different from other titles in the franchise, but she doesn’t feel out of place at all in the world of the Zelda games. I'm sure we will keep her in mind when thinking about future titles.”

Jose Otero is an Editor at IGN and host of Nintendo Voice Chat . You can follow him on Twitter