As you’ve no doubt heard, 22-year-old singer and former The Voice contestant Christina Grimmie was recently shot and killed by a deranged fan following a Florida concert. Since Grimmie’s tragic death, there’s been an outpouring of grief from around the world, including from fans of Nintendo’s The Legend of Zelda series.
Like most 22-year-olds, Grimmie was pretty into video games, particularly The Legend of Zelda. A Zelda T-shirt was a staple of many of her early YouTube videos, and she referenced the series frequently on social media…
When ur in the car n Zelda music comes on shuffle n yu want to sprint out the car n play but yu can't bc no 3ds pic.twitter.com/w59UPOBoWB
— Christina Grimmie (@TheRealGrimmie) June 13, 2015
Universal partnered w Nintendo n they're making ZELDA THEMED RIDES AND MERCH I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS DAY HAS COME
— Christina Grimmie (@TheRealGrimmie) January 2, 2016
As such, Zelda fans have been petitioning Nintendo to christen a character after Christina Grimmie in the upcoming The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. One of the petitions has already picked nearly 60,000 signatures. The fan outpouring has been large enough that the usually-tight-lipped Nintendo has responded.
“We are aware of the outpouring of support for her, as well as the petition, but we won’t be making any creative or content decisions in this time of mourning.”
In other words, it’s probably a polite “no.” From a business and creative standpoint it makes sense – Zelda games could easily become filled with nothing but fan tributes if Nintendo opened the floodgates, and they want to have complete intellectual control over all their characters. That said, how perfect would the name “Grimmie” be for a Zelda character? I could totally see a Grimmie running an item shop, or mixing up potions in a cauldron. Hopefully, this once, Nintendo bows to fan demands.
(Via Time)