Speaking to Famitsu (translated by Automaton ), series producer Eiji Aonuma explained that since Zelda herself is the main character of Echoes of Wisdom, she had to lose the ability to talk out loud. "After all, in the Zelda series, the protagonist does not speak. This is why Link doesn't talk either," Aonuma explained.

Nintendo tried making the historically quiet Link talk in The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom but ultimately decided against it because it "felt really wrong." In an interview with Famitsu translated by Automaton,

At one point, Nintendo's famously silent lead Link was going to have lines of dialogue in Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom.