History Characters / TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime

[[folder:Sheik]]

A mysterious Sheikah warrior that claims to be the LastOfHisKind. Sheik teaches Link the various songs to teleport him to the various temples around Hyrule. '''MAJOR unmarked spoilers ahead.'''

* ArtEvolution: Despite being stated that Sheik is [[SweetPollyOliver actually Zelda in disguise]], she was given a masculine design, as seen on the right, to not make the fact too obvious. This was dropped in the remake to make the [[SweetPollyOliver nature of the disguise]] more realistic and [[ItWasHisSled obvious]].

* BreakoutCharacter: Though this game is Sheik's only canonical appearance in the series, [[ViewerGenderConfusion she/he]] has left a big impact on the franchise overall. Sheik typically appears as a separate character from Zelda in spinoff material such as the ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' series and ''VideoGame/HyruleWarriors'', [[WhatCouldHaveBeen was briefly planned]] to appear in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess Twilight Princess]]'', and the idea of a disguised Zelda was eventually revisited in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker The Wind Waker]]'' with [[PirateGirl Tetra]].

* HarpOfFemininity: Sheik teaches Link music with a harp.

* {{Ninja}}: In all but title, complete with sudden vanishing acts whenever Link looks away for a moment, using deku nuts as flash bombs[[note]]although it's hinted that she actually stuns Link with them, and quickly leaves while he's frozen, making it look like she vanished from his point of view[[/note]], and using height to hide on more than one occasion.

* SamusIsAGirl: Reaching ItWasHisSled levels, Sheik is eventually revealed to be Zelda.

* SignificantDoubleCasting: Sheik and Zelda's VoiceGrunting are both done by the same actress, for obvious reasons. This makes Sheik's few voiced grunts (Like when she blinds Link with a Deku Nut), a form of foreshadowing as they're actually quite feminine if you manage to listen to the seconds long clips.

* WalkingSpoiler: [[ItWasHisSled Less so nowadays]], but the game sets up Sheik's true identity as Zelda as a big climactic surprise.

** According to the intro of ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask Majora's Mask]]'', he eventually becomes famed in Hyrule for warning the royal family about Ganondorf in the child timeline. At least until being forgotten by [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess Twilight Era]]. Adult Link is also this in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker The Wind Waker]]''.
** Averted in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast'': the opening scroll only mentions the loss of the Knights of Hyrule, [[spoiler:completely [[ForgottenFallenFriend forgetting about the dead Hero of Time.]]]]

* UnluckyChildhoodFriend: For his love interests the future, they can never be with him anymore since he is sent back to the past, despite knowing him from their childhood. And while it is possible for Link to tie the knot with one of his childhood friends in his new past, they are not the same person he knew from the future.

* TheAtoner: [[spoiler:In the end, she laments her mistakes and that Link was robbed of his childhood because of the events that occurred when Ganondorf accessed the Temple and stole the Triforce. Because of this, she sends him back in time so he can regain the years he lost. Sadly, this only made things worse for everyone.]]

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Professes profound sorrow over her meddling [[spoiler:with the Sacred Realm, the subsequent ruin of her kingdom, and the loss of seven years of Link's life. When Ganon is defeated, [[SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong she sends the hero back in time to regain his childhood.]] [[NiceJobBreakingItHero Unlike most cases, this also horribly backfired for the heroes.]]]]

** First, her plan to safeguard the Triforce by gathering all the Spiritual Stones together backfires tremendously--not only is she actually doing Ganondorf's work for him, she enables him to waltz right into the Sacred Realm at his leisure. He rubs this in the player's face after they draw the Master Sword for the first time.

** Third, because she feels guilty for the first two and all the trouble resulting from them, she sends Link back in time to right before they met... and dooms the boy to wander unfulfilled in a world where ''nobody knows him''. Every single relationship he'd built after leaving the Kokiri Forest? RetGone. His relationship with the Kokiri? [[YouCantGoHomeAgain Doomed to fade]]. This leads the Hero of Time becoming the Hero's Shade.
** This also inadvertently ''causes'' Twilight Princess; [[spoiler:because Link somehow kept his Triforce of Courage when he was sent back in time, the Triforce got split anyway, allowing Ganondorf to gain the Triforce of Power, survive execution and start the plot of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess''.]]
** Finally, removing the Hero of Time from her own timeline proved to be a colossal mistake, since anybody who's seen the intro to ''The Wind Waker'' knows that there's no Hero of Time to stop Ganondorf when he came back, leading to Hyrule being destroyed.

* AllForNothing: Downplayed, but still. His actions lead to Hyrule being sunken underwater in the Adult Timeline, while his retainment of the Triforce of Courage cause Ganondorf's empowerment in the Child Timeline. Worse, Link himself becomes filled with regret after dying, thus turning into a phantom-like being in ''Twilight Princess''.

* ChasteHero: This Link never receives so much as a kiss despite all the women practically throwing themselves at him. He only gives away the chastity sometime during the offscreen period between ''Majora's Mask'' and ''Twilight Princess''.

* DidNotGetTheGirl: Implied and subverted. Being as the Hero of Twilight is his direct descendant and ''not'' part of Hyrule's royal family, it's safe to say that the Hero of Time never ended up with Princess Zelda. By the same token, however, having direct descendants does indicate that he did eventually get '''a''' girl.

** According to the intro of ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask Majora's Mask]]'', he eventually becomes famed in Hyrule for warning the royal family about Ganondorf in the child timeline. Adult Link is this in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker The Wind Waker]]''.

* HumanAllAlong: After he grows up, it's revealed that Link is not a member of the elf-like Kokiri race, but of the human Hylian race.

* TragicHero: Despite defeating Ganondorf and saving Hyrule, Link has been forced to grow up prematurely and been sent back to his childhood form to resume his life. In the end, he no longer belongs anywhere; he's neither child nor adult, Kokiri nor Hylian. And with Navi leaving him, Link is left completely alone. ''Majora's Mask'' and ''Twilight Princess'' further reveal that this loneliness follows him all the way to other worlds and eventually [[spoiler:to his grave]].
* UnluckyChildhoodFriend: For his love interests the future, they can never be with him anymore since he is sent back to the past, despite knowing him from their childhood. And it is possible for Link to tie the knot with one of his childhood friends in his new past, they are not the same person he knew from the future.

* TheAtoner: [[spoiler:In the end, she laments her mistakes and that Link was robbed of his childhood because of the events that occurred when Ganondorf accessed the Temple and stole the Triforce. Because of this, she sends him back in time so he can regain the years he lost.]]

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Professes profound sorrow over her meddling [[spoiler:with the Sacred Realm, the subsequent ruin of her kingdom, and the loss of seven years of Link's life. When Ganon is defeated, [[SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong she sends the hero back in time to regain his childhood.]]]]

** Third, because she feels guilty for the first two and all the trouble resulting from them, she sends Link back in time to right before they met... and dooms the boy to wander unfulfilled in a world where ''nobody knows him''. Every single relationship he'd built after leaving the Kokiri Forest? RetGone. His relationship with the Kokiri? [[YouCantGoHomeAgain Doomed to fade]]. This leads the Hero of Time's spirit to remain as the Hero's Shade.

** Fourth, involving Link with her entire plan has ''long term consequences'' whether Link survives by returning him back to his time and inadvertently setting off the plot of ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask Majora's Mask]]'', ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess Twilight Princess]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker Wind Waker]]'' or he dies, resulting in the third timeline that began in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast A Link To The Past]]''.

* SenselessSacrifice: They gave their lives in order to keep Ganondorf from learning the power of their magical songs, among them the ability to control the passage between day and night. Considering the [[TheNightThatNeverEnds endless night]] that Ganondorf imposes in ''The Wind Waker'', such a noble sacrifice turned out not to amount to much.

* FisherKing: The stark contrast in atmosphere across Hyrule once he's in power can't be understated - upon walking out of the Temple of Time, you're greeted to stormy skies that approach as one comes to Castle Town's entrance from Hyrule Field, which is now home to Poes. The town itself is in ruin, with the square having gone from a bustling and merry hub to a ravaged ghost town filled with [[OurZombiesAreDifferent [=ReDeads=]]]. And where Hyrule Castle was once surrounded by lush greenery and flower fields and accesses by a natural pathway roamed by guards, in the future it's just Ganon's Castle: a towering fortress surrounded by jagged black rocks and isolated from the rest of the world by a gaping moat of lava. The visual changes are nowhere more overt than around the castle, but the rest of Hyrule isn't untransformed either - Zora's Domain is frozen over while Octoroks thrive in the waters leading there, and Kokiri Forest is overgrown with Deku Babas while Moblins prowl the Sacred Forest Meadow. It's implied Ganondorf's own twisted desires upon touching the Triforce caused much of these changes.

* ObliviousToLove: If the text box that talks about Zora's Sapphire is any indication, Link doesn't understand that he basically accepted a ChildhoodMarriagePromise from Ruto. Justified of course since Link is still a child and lived his entire life in Kokiri Forest prior to the events of this game.

* FisherKing: The stark contrast in atmosphere across Hyrule once he's in power can't be understated - upon walking out of the Temple of Time, you're greeted to stormy skies that approach as one comes to Castle Town's entrance from Hyrule Field, which is now home to Poes. The town itself is in ruin, with the square having gone from a bustling and merry hub to a ravaged ghost town filled with [[OurZombiesAreDifferent [=ReDeads=]]]. And where Hyrule Castle was once surrounded by lush greenery and flower fields and accesses by a natural pathway roamed by guards, in the future it's just Ganon's Castle: a towering fortress surrounded by jagged black rocks and isolated from the rest of the world by a gaping moat of lava. The visual changes are nowhere more overt than around the castle, but the rest of Hyrule isn't untransformed either - Zora's Domain is frozen over while Octoroks thrive in the waters leading there, and Kokiri Forest is overgrown with plant enemies while Moblins prowl the Sacred Forest Meadow. It's implied Ganondorf's own twisted desires upon touching the Triforce caused much of these changes.

* WouldHurtAChild: Downplayed, when young Link confronts him, Ganondorf blasts him with an energy ball to knock him down as a way of showing how out of Link's league he is. Though the energy ball doesn't actually ''hurt'' Link at all, so he may have holding back out of respect for Link's bravery. That said, he was also chasing after Zelda, who was also a child at the time, most likely with the intent to capture or kill her and secure his hold over Hyrule.