Over its 25 year span, The Legend of Zelda has held a place not only within Nintendo consoles, but has seen appearances in a multitude of other media, and has flourished with a huge impact on gaming culture as a whole.
Manga, light novels, TV parodies and even appearances in other companies video games are just some of the cultural effects the Zelda series can hold to its name. Back during Nintendo's push into the American market, the Legend of Zelda got its own mini cartoon series alongside the Super Mario Super Show. The Link of the series was constantly heard stating the catchphrase "Well Excuuuuse me, Princess" as a reply to an often annoying Zelda character, a catchphrase which became a popular internet meme along with the quote"it's dangerous to go alone! Take this" from the wise old man of the original game. Considering Link shares the "mute" trait of other famous characters such as Gordon Freeman of the Half Life series, it often seemed out of place to put a voice to him in other media, as it can easily damage the personality he displays as a character who will just nod his head and get on with whatever he needs to do.
Link has made cameo appearances in other Nintendo titles in the past, while being a GameCube exclusive character in Soul Caliber II. He has also enjoyed numerous references throughout the industry appearing in anything ranging from Final Fantasy to World of Warcraft.
As for parodies, parodies are.. relentless at times. They can take something amazing and completely tear away at the slightest flaw leaving your most valued memories shattered among a pile of cheesy movie quotes and disappointing gifts. With Zelda though, these parodies often target the more peculiar aspects of the games and highlight the humour. Take Navi for example. This fairy guide from Ocarina of Time is commonly viewed as an annoying and generally useless companion. One who often utters "Hey" and "Listen" throughout your adventure until you finally succumbed to it's wish to be heard. The fairy would then go on to tell you the same useless "hint" it mentioned just 5 minutes ago until it has a reason to move onto another useless hint to endlessly interrupt you with. This was briefly outlined in an episode of the Power Puff Girls cartoon series where the mayor of Townsville would be seen playing the game and repeatedly slamming Link into a wall.
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