Man I never really thought about that connection before and now I'm really conflicted. I was really young when OoT came out so I didn't understand the symbols or anything but I adored the Gerudo. I agree I'd love to see them rework characters like Nabooru but I'd be nervous at the chance she would given the same face most female characters tend to have. I think the WW profile would work just fine though.

I feel like Telma was a fairly good compromise between “not sameface” and “not racist caricature”

I suppose a case could be made for her being uncomfortably close to a mammy stereotype, but I didn’t get that out of her personality when I played the game. She’s kind of the boisterous Type-A team mom keeping the resistance organized and running. She owns a business, she provides a safe haven to people who might have been put in harm’s way in the name of the cause, she’s an important and necessary supporting cast member in the game. I’d even say she’s up there with being as much of a guiding mentor figure to Link as say, the King of Red Lions was in Wind Waker.

I’m pretty sure she was supposed to read as Hyrule’s modern iteration of a Gerudo in Twilight Princess (considering the dark skin/red hair combo, the Gerudo makeup palette, and the Gerudo emblem embroidered on her apron), which I was super into. I was just kind of disappointed the Gerudos themselves were treated kind of like an extinct relic of old Hyrule rather than any kind of explanation like they migrated on to greener pastures.