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=Debate on Shiek's Gender= "Sheik's gender is one of the most controversial subjects within the Zelda fandom, the mere mention of it enough to bring about long and heated debates. Some will vigourously insist Sheik is a female due to being the alter ego of the female Zelda, while others will vehemently insist that the primary purpose of Sheik is not being Zelda, so the latter won't be hunted. Sheik has canonically only appeared in Ocarina of Time. Within that game, Sheik's gender was referred to once, by Princess Ruto, and she referred to Sheik as a "a young man" and "him". The Official Nintendo's Player Guide describes Sheik as "a young man" too and Sheik's art displays a significantly more masculine build than Zelda's. Therefore, it would seem that Sheik within the context of Ocarina of Time at the very least is supposed to be perceived as male, regardless of what "he" may truly be. For that reason, the Zelda Wiki has opted to refer to Sheik as male, because the perception is the only certainty about the character's gender. As to what Sheik's true gender is, the sources are contradictory and what significance a source holds is up to debate. Within the game, Sheik is never unambiguously indicated to be of either gender. "He" may very well be merely a well-done disguise that had Ruto fooled into thinking "he" was a guy. And in that vein, the Official Nintendo's Player Guide is likely written as it is in order to not spoil the revelation of Sheik's true identity to the readers. The stance that Sheik is a male is supported within the Ocarina of Time manga, in which Zelda used magic to become a Sheikah boy to be safe from Ganondorf. Though the manga contradicts the game on various points, Eiji Aonuma has said that "the manga makes up for the game by filling the gaps "precisely"." Alternatively, the Super Smash Bros. series follows the stance that Sheik is female, referring in the trophy descriptions to a "her". While a sub-discussion may exist over whether or not Brawl Sheik counts as evidence, as she is the non-canonical alter ego of the Zelda from Twilight Princess, Melee Sheik is based on the Ocarina of Time version and is also called female. She retains the masculine appearance of her Ocarina of Time self. A sort of third option to the debate is that Sheik originally may have been meant as a male character, but has been recast as a female in recent years to better appease to the market. As the debate proves, the idea of gender as an inherent and vital component of an individual's being is deeply ingrained in the Western mindset. Nintendo has over time made Ocarina of Time less controversial, such as by recoloring Ganon's blood from red to green, removing real-life religious symbols, and for what its worth, writing the ReDead trophy description in Super Smash Bros. Melee to destruct the implication that the ones in the Hyrule Castle Town ruins were some of the previous inhabitants. It may be that Sheik as a secret male alter ego to a well-known female character originated as a creative story element, but that such a character would be difficult to market as a multiple times genderswapping combatant in the Super Smash Bros. series. Also, Nintendo does not have a large cast of noncontroversial, famous female characters, which makes a female Sheik more interesting from a marketing perspective." (Zeldawiki, Shiek, 2)