Link is his wolf form in Twilight Princess
In Japanese culture, most animals are used to symbolise human emotions, feelings or actions. I first became familiar with this when I saw some tsubas (a part of a Samurai sword) at Wolverhampton Museum and Art Gallery. Animals such as foxes, hares and fish were used to symbolise the person using the sword, and to remind them of tales of old when in battle to make sure they remember the morals of which their culture is built.
In bygone days Japanese grain farmers used to worship wolves and provided them with food near their dens so that they would protect their crops from animals such as wild boars and deer. Talismans and charms with images of wolves on them were thought to protect against disease, fire and other calamities. The Japanese view of the wolf has not changed. In Twilight Princess (the Gamecube’s swan song and a launch title for the Wii) the main feature that sets this game apart from the rest of the games in the series is that the latest incarnation of Link, the playable character, earns the ability to change from a man into a wolf. This view of the wolf well symbolises the character of Link, but Link’s wolf form also has some western influences as well.
Traditional Japanese culture is gradually blending in with western culture when making Zelda games, due to the need to localise the stories and to make them playable and understandable to the vast majority of gamers in the world. In the western world, the wolf isn’t respected as much in our stories and folk tales. A few examples of this are in “Little Red Riding Hood” and “The boy who cried Wolf”. These stories stereotype the creatures as being dark and evil. In Twilight Princess, Link turns into his wolf form when he is in the Twilight, where reality is taken over by an evil overlord.
So as you can see, for what seems like a simple twist in gameplay actually has quite a few cultural references behind it.