Concept art of a female version of Link appears in the Hyrule Warriors artbook. Named as "Linkle", or "Rinkuru" in Japanese, she is described as being "little sister-like". Her design includes a crossbow (also demonstrating that she would have been right handed, whereas Link is normally left handed), and a coat in place of Link's signature tunic. Linkle was later announced as a character for Hyrule Warriors Legends.

In promotional art for Hyrule Warriors: Legends, there was a crossbow hidden behind Link's scarf. This was a hint that Linkle was being planned to be playable before her reveal during a Nintendo Direct event.

The character Linkle was originally created during the development of Hyrule Warriors. She was originally conceived to be Link's younger sister, but the idea was scrapped due to Eiji Aonuma not wanting her inclusion to conflict with Wind Waker Link's sister Aryll. After the game's release, sketches of her concept were included in the boxed editions' visual databook and she escalated into popularity within a portion of the Zelda fandom. Despite being incomplete at the time, she was one of the popularly requested characters during the open call for playable candidates posted onto the game's Twitter. When re-pitched to Aonuma with a revised backstory, he approved her.

Former Nintendo localizer Chris Pranger stated on his Twitter that Linkle was the last character he wrote before leaving Nintendo. He expressed excitement for her debut, adding that he liked writing for her more than he did Lana.

Pressing the L, R, X, Y, and B buttons instead of the A Button on loading screens in the game's Adventure Mode, produce a different set of musical notes, which all match up with the Ocarina from Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask. Like those games, the notes can be stringed together to make music, which includes all of the Ocarina Songs that were featured in both those games, making it possible to recreate classic Ocarina Tunes.

It's also worth noting that the button inputs match up with the 3DS remakes of both of those games, but with the B Button taking place of the A Button.