Our childhood wasn't filled with Nintendo or even Super NES, but we did have GameBoy (okay, the lame GameGear too). And before we donated that GameBoy to a Costa Rican foreign exchange student, we spent endless hours on that tiny screen trying to get past a seemingly impossible level in Zelda. If only we knew then that manipulated the moves of the game's hero, Link, would foreshadow our coming sexuality realizations.

Now, in the June issue of Out, our childhood protaganist finally gets his due: Link is named video gaming's hottest character. Sure, the body dysmorphic disorder in all of us might want to pin his ears back just a tad, but his small, chiseled frame is enough to recreate our childhood longings .. to beat the damn game.

Know a hotter video game character? We want to hear about it. Leave your virtual world suggestions in the comments.

Link immortalized in gay magazine [GAF]