The Triforce Wielders (Ganon/Ganondorf) Recurring: Goddesses and Allies, Villains and Enemies, Races Main Series: The Legend of Zelda, Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, A Link to the Past, Link's Awakening, Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, Oracle games, Four Swords, The Wind Waker, Four Swords Adventures, The Minish Cap, Twilight Princess, Phantom Hourglass, Spirit Tracks, Skyward Sword, A Link Between Worlds, Tri Force Heroes, Breath of the Wild & Tears of the Kingdom Spin-Offs: Philips CD-i Games, Hyrule Warriors, Cadence of Hyrule, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity
Characters appearing in Cadence of Hyrule.
Beware of spoilers.
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Heroes
Cadence
Cadence
Voiced by: Elspeth Eastman (English), Miki Ito (Japanese)
The titular hero of the game. While grave-digging one night, Cadence falls into a crypt and dies, but is subsequently resurrected by the NecroDancer, an undead necromancer who steals her heart and curses her to move to the beat of the music. As she makes her way deep underground to retrieve it, she soon learns of her family's connection to the bard Octavian and the Golden Lute, and together she and her family defeat the NecroDancer and escape the crypt.
Sometime after escaping the crypt, Cadence finds herself transported to the land of Hyrule, having been summoned by the Triforce of Power to wake Hyrule's sleeping champions and defeat the evil wizard Octavonote . Cadence must now help save Hyrule from certain doom and find a way back home.
Cadence has the ability to wield most equipment, including Daggers, Shields, and Greatshovels, the latter of which is exclusive to her. In addition to sharing Link's Shield ability with the R button, Cadence can use the Shovel Strike ability with the L button, consuming Stamina to summon earthen spikes in a 3x2 square that deal 1 damage and stun enemies while digging any soft walls in its path.
- Bootstrapped Leitmotif: In the opening cutscene, Cadence's arrival is accompanied by the opening notes of Disco Descent, the first level's theme in her home game.
- Color-Coded Characters: Blue. She wears a blue bandana, her starting stamina color is blue, and she is immune to the blue gargoyle statues' fireballs in certain dungeons.
- Decoy Protagonist: Despite her name being in the title, the main Story Mode only has Cadence as the tutorial character. After she wakes up Link or Zelda, control switches to that character, while Cadence runs off to explore Hyrule on her own as a recurring NPC. Finding her enough times does return her to playable status, but she can't be used in the Disc-One Final Dungeon due to color coded blocks that only be passed by using tiles that swap between Link and Zelda. This is naturally averted in Single-Character Mode if you choose to play as her; as well as Co-Op Mode, as she'll stick around after the prologue and only one player needs to use the aforementioned swap tiles.
- Dishing Out Dirt: Her exclusive ability is Shovel Strike, which causes spikes of stone to shoot from the ground, damaging enemies and clearing out dirt walls.
- 11th-Hour Ranger: If Cadence is not recruited beforehand in Story Mode, she will automatically join the party right before the final dungeon, as all three characters are needed.
- Experienced Protagonist: As Trill notes early in the game, Cadence has learned a few things from her last adventure in putting down the NecroDancer.
- Improbable Weapon User: Cadence's special weapons, the Greatshovels, are massive shovels that can crush enemies in addition to fulfilling the digging role that the standard shovels have.
- Shovel Strike: Her special attack is literally called "Shovel Strike," and she's the only character who can wield Greatshovels. Not only are Greatshovels her signature weapon, but she's also the only character capable of using them.
- Trapped in Another World: The game begins with Cadence finding herself suddenly thrust into the Zelda universe and ends with her unable to tell if she's been returned home or not.
Link
Link
Voiced by: Caitlyn Bairstow
The wielder of the Triforce of Courage and one of Hyrule's champions. After he was defeated by Octavo, the wizard used the power of the Golden Lute to send Link deep into an enchanted slumber. After being awoken by Cadence (or Zelda), Link joins the quest to save Hyrule from Octavo's tyranny.
Link is capable of wielding the Short Sword, Shield, and Longsword equipment. While the Sword is merely an alternative to the Dagger class, Link is capable of raising equipped Shields with the R button, allowing him to deflect attacks while consuming Stamina. If a Longsword is equipped, Link loses the ability to raise a Shield, but instead gains the ability to hold out his Longsword and move with it, damaging enemies in his path. By pressing and holding the L button, Link can consume Stamina to charge a Spin Attack, which deals damage to all enemies in a 1 square radius.
- BFS: Link's special weapon, Caladbolg, is a two handed broadsword that can hit two enemies at once but prevents him from shielding.
- Color-Coded Characters: Green, natch. His default outfit is green, his starting stamina meter is green, and he is immune to the green gargoyle statues' fireballs in certain dungeons.
- Infinity +1 Sword: He actually has two: Caladbolg, as detailed above. And he also can get the Kokiri Sword which has the same, single-tile range as a Shortsword, however it deals 4 damage, the most damage any weapon is capable of dealing without any modifiers.
- Silent Protagonist: As is traditional, Link never utters a single word over the course of the game.
- Spin Attack: Link's exclusive ability is his signature spin attack. For a large Stamina cost, Link can prime a spin attack; upon releasing the L button, Link hits everything within a 1-tile radius.
Zelda
Princess Zelda
Voiced by: Stephanie Martone
The Princess of Hyrule, wielder of the Triforce of Wisdom and one of Hyrule's champions. Wielding the Golden Lute, Octavo trapped the king of Hyrule and put Zelda in an enchanted sleep. She is subsequently awoken by Cadence (or Link), and joins the quest to rescue the land of Hyrule from Octavo's wrath.
Zelda can use Daggers and Rapiers, the latter of which are capable of inflicting bonus damage if Zelda attacks from range. Zelda can also learn two magic spells, both of which cost Stamina to cast: Nayru's Love, which summons a magic barrier that nullifies damage and is capable of deflecting attacks with proper timing, and Din's Fire, which acts as a remote bomb that can also light enemies on fire.
- Color-Coded Characters: Purple. She's unaffected by the purple traps in Hyrule castle, wears purple and her stamina meter is purple before Tingle's upgrade.
- Deflector Shields: Zelda learns Nayru's Love early on, which consumes a little Stamina to summon a magic barrier around Zelda that protects her from all damage for two beats. If you activate the spell one beat before you are attacked, you can reflect the attack back to the enemy.
- Difficult, but Awesome: Her kit isn't particularly well suited to fighting large crowds (unless she can find a safe space to set up Din's Fire), but between her rapier and Nayru's Love's ability to reflect melee damage, she excels at one on one duels.
- Graceful Ladies Like Purple: She wears a lavender scapular over a white blouse and pants. Her top also has a purple stripe on each sleeve.
- Player-Guided Missile: Din's Fire can be directly controlled by the player, though they can't control Zelda while it's active.
- Playing with Fire: Zelda can learn the Din's Fire ability, which summons a ball of magic flame at the cost of a substantial chunk of Stamina. When summoned, the player loses control of Zelda and controls Din's Fire, which can be directed to any desired target. It can be detonated by pressing L again or after a certain number of beats, functioning as a Bomb and also setting any surviving enemies (or Zelda) on fire.
- Princess Protagonist: She is given equal billing to Link and is one of the main playable characters in story mode.
- Royal Rapier: Zelda's exclusive equipment category is the Rapier class. In addition, solving a puzzle at Hyrule Castle awards a literal Royal Rapier, which has +1 damage and consumes Stamina to inflict knockback and stun enemies.
Yves
Yves
Voiced by: Asia Mattu
A friendly Deku Scrub who has big dreams of making it in the adventuring world. He may be small and lack limbs, but that's not going to stop this little guy!
Yves is unlocked after giving Tingle 20 Deku Seeds. Unlike the other three characters, Yves cannot use the majority of equipment in the game (lacking arms and all), being limited to Bombs, Bombchus, Scrolls, the Lute, and Tingle's Dowser. Outside of this, he usually attacks by dealing damage by bumping into enemies one at a time similar to Link's Short Sword and Zelda/Cadence's dagger.
He can also attack from long range with the Deku Spit ability by pressing the L button, which shoots a Deku seed from his snout at the cost of Stamina, but unlike arrows, this projectile only moves one tile per beat when fired. For defense, he can burrow underground with the R button, expending a small amount of Stamina to hide from enemies and enemy attacks for a brief period of time. This is especially useful since he can't take much punishment...
- Armless Biped: As a Deku Scrub, he lacks arms. This means that he can't use any of the weapons in the game, though he's still able to use his leaves to strum the Lute.
- Color-Coded Characters: Yellow, based off his starting stamina color and immunity to the fireballs fired by yellow gargoyle statues.
- Joke Character: He cannot use any weapons aside from bombs and bombchus. As such, his only combat abilities are to shoot Deku seeds and hide underground.
- Ironic Name: Yves is a Celtic name that translates to Yew, a tree whose wood was historically used for making longbows, yet he cannot play the Shooting Gallery minigame due to being unable to pick up a bow. However, he comes close to living up to it as a Plant Person with a ranged projectile attack.
- One-Hit-Point Wonder: Downplayed. Unlike most of the other characters, he starts off with only one heart and cannot gain any more by collecting heart containers. However, one full heart means that he can take half a heart of damage and still survive.
- Optional Party Member: Recruiting him is not required to complete the game.
- Original Generation: Downplayed, whilst Yves has no counterpart in the main Zelda series, he closely resembles many Deku scrubs in the main series such as the Deku Palace guards of Majora's Mask.
- Promoted to Playable: Discounting Link's transformation masks in Majora's Mask, this is the first time that a Deku Scrub has ever been playable.
- Secret Character: He is unlocked by bringing Tingle 20 Deku Nuts.
- Use Your Head: Appears to be doing this when using his regular attack, which has the same range and damage as a basic dagger.
Impa
Impa
Voiced by: Jo Krasevich
Zelda's Attendant and member of the Sheikah tribe.
- The Cameo: What her role in the base game amounts to, appearing only if Zelda is awakened first. She fills Zelda in on the state of Hyrule, and hands her the Telescope. If Link is awakened first, Zelda's room in the castle can't be reached and Impa can't be seen.
- Downloadable Content: She becomes playable in the Character Pack DLC.
- Ninja Log: She's able to do this due to the ninja stylings of the Sheikah in recent games, despite being based on the more samurai-inspired Hyrule Warriors version. If attacked with full stamina, she'll be replaced by a doll of herself and warp behind the attacker, at the cost of her full Stamina meter. She has this ability by default and it isn't shown on the inventory screen.
- Mythology Gag: Her appearance and weapons are based on her Hyrule Warriors incarnation, who in turn is a Composite Character of her Skyward Sword and Ocarina of Time versions. That said, her skin tone more resembles that of Skyward Sword Impa, compared to the fair-skinned Ocarina or Warriors versions.
- Naginata Are Feminine: She's female and her main weapon is a naginata, the spear class weapons, to the point that it's the only type of weapon she can use. The best type of weapon in this class for all possible users is also Impa's Naginata.
- Promoted to Playable: She goes from a mere cameo to a full player character in the DLC.
Frederick the Shopkeeper
Frederick "Freddie" Merchantry
The shopkeeper from Cadence's world, Freddie Merchantry. Goddesses know how he ended up here too. Made a playable character as part of the Character Pack DLC, wherein he plays the most uniquely of any character due to his money-based mechanics.
- Cast from Money: Frederick loses one Rupee every eight steps while enemies are around. If he runs out of money, he'll "die" and enter his phantom form until he gains more money or is killed. A killing blow on him also causes him to drop all his money and enter the phantom form. His special attack ability allows him to throw a Blue Rupee at enemies. This obviously costs 5 Rupees to perform. Due to all of this, he starts with 100 Rupees.
- Only in It for the Money: He has no idea how he ended up in Hyrule, but sets off to make a profit, even if that means stopping Octavo to earn it.
- Our Ghosts Are Different: Upon receiving a killing a blow or running out of Rupees as the player character, he'll turn into his Phantom of the Shopera form from Necrodancer and keep half a heart, and if he's carrying any money he also loses it instantly. In this form, he is permanently floating and unaffected by hazards, but can only attack with the basic dagger and can't use any abilities. Additionally, any attack will kill him as he can't gain any health in this form. He can return to life by picking up Rupees.
- Promoted to Playable: He's normally an NPC shopkeeper, but becomes a playable character as part of the Character Pack DLC.
- Royal Rapier: He can use Zelda's rapiers.
- Source Music: As a player character, he sings his own Item Get and Secret Discovered sound effects.
- Variable Mix: How to locate him in the overworld; he'll sing along with the music. Also when creating a new game or loading a save file, if he is currently listed as the player character, his vocal track will be added to the menu music.
Aria
Aria
Voiced by: Natalye Vivian
Cadence's grandmother, as fiendishly difficult as she was in Crypt of the NecroDancer. Introduced in the Character Pack DLC.
- Glass Cannon: Similar to Yves, equipping the temporary Power Boots and Ring of Risk items will significantly boost her attack strength, even if she can easily lose them upon a killing blow. Though unlike Yves, who has one full heart of health, Aria is restricted to half a heart, she brings the effects of the Ring of Risk to its maximum benefit without having to take damage since the amount of damage it increases is based on how low a character's health is.
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Nintendo Hard: The slightest mistake will send Aria straight to the grave, and she has no special abilities to compensate. She also is limited to a dagger which deals one heart of damage to a single enemy, and can't find any weapons to improve her damage output. - One-Hit-Point Wonder: As ever, she can only take a single hit (barring protective items) before she dies, and also loses that half heart if she misses a single beat.
- Unexplained Recovery: Her ending in Crypt of the NecroDancer had her die to finish off the Golden Lute. Cadence recognizes Aria as her grandmother, but doesn't mention any of this.
Skull Kid
Skull Kid
A strange young boy living in the Deku village during the Bad Future caused by Ganon's ascension. With his dying words, the Deku Tree tasks him with using the Skull Mask to defeat Ganon and save Hyrule.
- Mask of Power: He gains six masks over the course of the game with different weapons and powers, which he can switch between at will.
- The Deku Mask attacks with a headbutt, and its magic lets Skull Kid hide in the ground and shoot deku nuts when he pops up.
- The Skull Mask attacks with a spear, has a chance to instantly kill any enemy it strikes, and its magic lets Skull Kid perfom a more powerful spear attack
- The Goron Mask attacks with a flail, bestows immunity to fire and bombs, and its magic lets Skull Kid roll into a boulder just like a Goron.
- The Zora Mask attacks with a rapier, allows Skull Kid to swim and move in puddles unhindered, and its magic has him shoot two ice balls in different directions.
- The Darknut Mask attacks with a broadsword, has the ability to block frontal attacks when standing still, and its magic allows Skull Kid to perform an even stronger sword attack.
- The Mask of Truth attacks with a titanium dagger, allows Skull Kid to passively see items in chests and walls, and its magic attacks with a laser beam a la Beamos.
- Unwitting Pawn: Of the Skull Mask, which is using him to get to Ganon, who it considers a more worthy master. Skull Kid beats them both anyways.
Allies
Trill
Trill
A fairy that Cadence meets upon arriving in Hyrule. They provide occasional tips and hints to the player.- Ambiguous Gender: It's unclear what gender Trill is thanks to their unisex name. While they are based off the female fairy companions from previous Zelda games, the name has caused a fair number of players to assume them to be male, especially when another character within the franchise that had that name was male.
- Exposition Fairy: Trill helps Cadence through the introduction area and then follows Link/Zelda to explain the state of Hyrule to them while also giving occasional advice.
- One-Steve Limit: Averted. This is not the first time that there's a Zelda character named Trill.
- Original Generation: Trill has no counterpart in either series, though they are clearly based off of previous Zelda Exposition Fairies like Navi, Ciela, and Proxi.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Another Zelda game, another Navi clone.
Fortune Tellers
Fortune Tellers
"Be careful of what you learn here. Knowledge of the future can be terrifying."
— Red Fortune Teller
Clockwise, starting from top right: The fortune tellers of Courage, Wisdom, Power, and... whatever the fourth piece of the Triforce is.
Three seers who can assist Link, Zelda, and Cadence throughout their quest, both by seeing the future and selling them useful potions. They used to possess the Threads of Fate before Octavo stole them to make his lute.- Composite Character: With the potion-making Old Woman/Witch of previous Zelda titles and the Three Oracles from the Oracle games.
- Exposition Fairy: The fortune tellers are responsible for explaining why Octavo is attacking Hyrule, and the final one that meets you in Future Hyrule explains what had happened during the Time Skip.
- Needlework Is for Old People: They're older women whom are constantly weaving quilts so often that they can do it with their eyes closed.
- Power Limiter: Taking away their magical Thread limits their Seer capabilities, as described by the blue fortune teller after she tells your future:I'm sorry I can't tell you more. The future is cloudy... My visions have been limited since Octavo stole my Thread of Wisdom.
- The Weird Sisters: They're a band of elderly ladies who can see into the future and make potions. Additionally, the fourth can transcend space and time, as she can be found in Hyrule Castle after the Time Skip and can also be met in a purgatory-like realm to sell weapons and equipment to dead heroes with Unfinished Business.
- You Can't Fight Fate:
- The green fortune teller mentioned that she foresaw Octavo stealing her Thread of Fate, but could do nothing about it as "it's not easy to change one's fate, you know". In the Octavo's Ode DLC, the ending hints that she was the first one who Octavo stole from, although in it, he decides to leave Ganon to those who are much wiser.
- The red fortune teller is the one who foretold Octavo's demise by Ganon's hand.I recently foretold Octavo's future. I told him he would meet his demise at Ganon's hand in the future. He didn't like it, but that's what I saw! Serves him right for stealing my Thread of Power...
Barriara
Barriara
The leader of the Gerudo tribe, tasked with watching over the young prince and protecting the village. Like the King of Hyrule, Octavo had placed her under a deep sleep with the lute, but her body ends up blocking the entrance to the prince's home, preventing the other Gerudo from checking in on him and causing worry. Upon waking up, she gives the heroes the Power Glove.- Artificial Limbs: She boasts a giant robotic arm with a wrench for a hand at the end of it.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Waking her up as Octavo causes her to mention having issues with trusting people too easily in the past. Whether this relates to her robotic arm, the scar on her face, the prince's Missing Mom, or something else entirely is unknown.
- Expy: Her tall stature and hairstyle bears a lot of similarity to Urbosa, another Gerudo leader in charge of a peaceful tribe of non-thieving Gerudo.
- Large and in Charge: She stands as the tallest Gerudo and calls the shots despite having a prince around, though it's a bit justified since he's still too young to rule.
Gerudo Prince
The Gerudo Prince
A young prince that can be seen playing the organ in the house behind Barriara in Gerudo Town. Despite the legend of male Gerudo being destined to rule the tribe, he isn't their ruler yet as Barriara is the de facto leader in charge who watches over both him and the town until he's old (and mature) enough to handle his princely duties on his own.- Adaptational Sympathy: While he is rude and obsessed with power, it's stated by Fate that Ganondorf was corrupted into Ganon and turned into a slave by the Golden Lute, a stark contrast to his main counterpart who was always evil-hearted and willingly transforms into Ganon.
- Age Lift: Normally, Ganondorf would have already been an adult while Link and Zelda are kids. Here, the Gerudo Prince is just a kid as well and only becomes Ganon in the far Bad Future.
- Ambition Is Evil: He practices music for the goal of obtaining more power, or at least Magic Music, to the point where he obsesses over the need to improve in order to harness it. This ends up corrupting him in the long run after touching the Golden Lute. Given the fact that he's implied to be a young Ganondorf, it's not that big of a surprise.I don't suppose you'll leave me alone? I'm still practicing here. Clearly, there's a power in music I wasn't aware of. I need to improve...
- Bratty Half-Pint: He holds a conceited attitude as he casually calls his caretaker and leader of the tribe "that fool", and is described by Barriara herself as him needing to be "more...mature" before she has the confidence to leave him in the village by himself, indicating that she's aware of his attitude problem.
- Missing Mom: More glaringly obvious given the fact that he's a prince living amongst an almost-all female tribe, and he's being closely watched over by Barriara, the current leader of the tribe but not his mother, implying that his actual mother is either dead or MIA.
- Skewed Priorities: Doesn't care about Barriara's well-being after Octavo cast a spell on her with his lute right outside his door. Instead, he takes the opportunity to copy Octavo's example and take music more seriously.
Zora Prince
The Zora Prince
The surf-loving ruler of the Zoras. He is kept under a deep sleep by some ghosts inside a cave in Lake Hylia. Defeating them will wake him up and reward his savior with the Zora Flippers.- Forced Sleep: Strangely, he is the only character apart from Link and Zelda who require defeating an enemy to wake him up as opposed to music.
- No Name Given: He is only known as "the prince".
- Surfer Dude: Much like his people, he shares their love for surfing, Totally Radical form of speech, and trademark shark-tooth necklaces, and is generally much more laid-back compared to the more regal members of Zora royalty found within the Zelda franchise.
Tingle
Tingle
This green-clad cartographer once again makes a return to Hyrule, this time being found in a deep sleep inside a tree hut in the Lost Woods with his companion, Yves the Deku Scrub.- Call-Back: In exchange for 10 Deku Seeds, Tingle claims to have taken away half of your Stamina Meter when he actually makes it less expensive to use magical items and abilities, similar to the Mad Batter from A Link to the Past.
- Third-Person Person: As true to form, he always refers to himself in the third person.
Mellan
Mellan
"There's nothing better than being a cog in a machine!"
An eccentric couple who live in the windmill hut south of Death Mountain. After being woken up by the heroes, they give them the Down Thrust in order to help them cross the river towards the Temple of Storms.— Mellan
- Conditioned to Accept Horror: They live next door to Death Mountain and by extension, the Temple of Storms, and have accepted the odd noises and strange music coming from the area.Mellan: Sometimes we hear terrifying cries from the north, but they're accompanied by beautiful music.
- The Dividual: Talking to them activates a single dialogue box situated between the two of them, making it impossible to tell which one is actually Mellan, or even which one is actually speaking.
- Not a Morning Person: They tell the hero that they purposefully set up a musical alarm system to make sure they get up in the morning.
- Punny Name: Mellan means "between" in Swedish, referring to their position in between the windmill's mechanical machinery.
Beedle
Beedle
"What do you mean there's another merchant now?! And he SINGS?!?!"
A traveling salesman who hid himself away in caves in order to avoid the monsters lurking around Hyrule. He sells various items in exchange for diamonds, including Empty Bottles and weapons.— Beedle
- Alphabet Architecture: Sometimes the exterior of his shops are shaped like a B.
- Always Someone Better: He attempts to explain that he can't give a discount since he's the only merchant around, only to be quickly humbled by the existence of another traveling merchant on the surface who can also sing. Beedle's only response is an "Aw, beans" and kindly asking if the heroes still want to purchase any of his wares.
- Animal Motifs: More so than other incarnations, where he can be seen rolling a bag full of goods similar to a dung beetle rolling... well, dung, and his backpack resembles the elytra of the same insect. The exterior of his shops also take on the shape of a beetle both on the map and in the overworld, where the fence posts resemble legs while the elevated terrain is shaped like a beetle's body.
The Great Fairies
Great Faries
"Hello, my love!"
Two Great Fairies that live in elaborate fairy fountains scattered across Hyrule. They can restore health for free but also sell weapon infusions in exchange for diamonds, allowing the heroes to upgrade their weapons. An evil third one lives in The Very Definitely Final Dungeon in Future Hyrule, randomly spawning on dungeon floors to sell infusions but will not heal the player.— Great Fairy
- I Can't Dance: They claim that they would help the heroes in their quest to stop Octavo, but insist that they're not very good at dancing, referencing the "move to the beat" curse that dominates Hyrule.
- Our Fairies Are Different: They appear as humans with insect wings.
- Wounded Gazelle Gambit: The evil Great Fairy claims that the reason she cannot heal is because her healing powers were sealed away by Ganon, playing victim in order to avoid suspicion when she suggests that you should go inside a room where a potion is supposedly located, only for it to be an ambush instead. Despite her allegiance to Ganon, she still willingly sells weapon infusions to the heroes, causing one to wonder if there was an ounce of truth to it, especially when it is so unusual to see a Great Fairy serve him in the first place. And if she is telling the truth, this wouldn't be the first time the Demon King has cursed a Great Fairy.
Villain Protagonists
Octavo
Octavo
Voiced by: Ian Hanlin
The main villain of the game. Was made playable in the Octavo's Ode update, along with his own seperate story. As a player character, he wields the Golden Lute in combat, allowing him to attack in-front and on both sides while moving in addition to the standard stab. He can also cast the Haste spell with R, allowing him to ignore the beat for a short time, and the Fireball spell, which summons purple fireballs in-front and to both sides of him before sending them in the direction he was facing.- Ambidextrous Sprite: He's right-handed, but his baton and Hiding Behind Your Bangs hairstyle switches sides when he's facing to the left.
- Ambiguously Related: To Vaati. While the two have always shared an uncannily similar appearance with their Hiding Behind Your Bangs hairstyle and red-and-purple color scheme, hints to them being related appeared in Octavo's Ode with the addition of Octavo's Locket, an item that makes the wearer immune to the effects of wind and electricity, which can only be collected when playing as Octavo. It appears identical to the gem on Vaati's cap and is described to be an heirloom that has been in Octavo's family for generations. At one point, Octavo is even scolded by the apparition of a fortune teller for not remembering who he is or where he came from, implying him to be a descendant of some kind, but it is never specified.
- Anti-Villain: While his methods are morally questionable and he is undeniably the main villain, his end goal is ultimately to defeat Ganon and save Hyrule from his grasp. He is also horrified when he finds out that he would take over Hyrule himself as the NecroDancer after defeating Ganon, to where he ends up rewinding time in order to prevent his actions in the first place.
- Awesome Anachronistic Apparel: Inverted. His outfit is noticeably more modern compared to typical Hylian fashion, wearing a button-up shirt and suit that you'd expect from a rock star rather than from a court musician in medieval Hyrule.
- Canon Character All Along: It's revealed at the end of Octavo's Ode that he is a younger version of this game's equivalent to the NecroDancer.
- Cartoon Conductor: He swings his baton more like a wand, since it doesn't follow a particular beat or rhythm during his boss fight. Though in a bit of a twist on actual conducting, he only raises his baton not to indicate a new beat or measure (as you would in Real Life), but to indicate that he's about to teleport and repeat another barrage of attacks on you.
- Color-Coded Characters: Red, based on his undershirt and the interior of his coat. His stamina bar is red and the red Gargoyles in Hyrule Castle can't hurt him.
- Didn't Think This Through: Octavo cast a spell on Hyrule Castle so that only the person with all four instruments can enter it. When playing as him, trying to enter the castle without all four instruments prompts Trill the fairy to mock him for locking himself out.
- Final-Exam Boss: He'll summon smaller versions of the previous bosses during his battle.
- Heel–Face Turn: At the end of Octavo's Ode, he uses the two Golden Lutes to rewind time to before he stole the Thread of Courage, and decides to leave fate to those who are much wiser than he is.
- Heel Realization: He reacts in horror after finding out that his plan to defeat Ganon would result in him ruling over Hyrule and becoming just as bad as him. The relevations would ultimately lead him to turn back time to prevent the events of him stealing the Thread of Courage from happening in the first place.
- The Heavy: Octavo is the one moving the plot along, even though he isn't ultimately the Big Bad.
- Hellish Pupils: He has cat-like slits, which emphasize his deceitful nature.
- Hiding Behind Your Bangs: Much like Vaati, he has long bangs that obscure half his face, but this time they also cast off a dark shadow that enhances the glow of his right eye.
- Hijacked by Ganon: Turns out that the reason Octavo took over Hyrule is because he's trying to amass an army to take down Ganon in the future. Sure enough, after you thwart his plans and beat him, he goes to the future and tries to settle things himself. He loses, leaving Ganon as the last threat to take down.
- It's an interesting variation on the trope, as Ganon is nowhere to be seen in the present. In fact, we can see a teenager Ganondorf, playing on his pipe organ and wanting to be left alone. In a way, Octavo's attempt at preparing for Ganon turned into a self-fulfilling prophecy of sorts.
- Magic Music: His MO. With the Golden Lute, his music is what's forcing Hyrule to move to his rhythm, and also placed several key characters into an enchanted sleep with it.
- Promoted to Playable: He received a free DLC Update called Octavo's Ode as of December 18th, 2019.
- Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: Why is Octavo attacking Ganon? Because the Weavers told him that Ganon would beat him in the future. Why does Ganon beat him? Because Octavo attacked him to prevent this.
- Slasher Smile: Sports several. Has two in the opening cutscene, first when he puts the King of Hyrule to sleep and then when he successfully upgrades his lute after stealing the Triforce. And flashes a particularly crazed one every time he tries to teleport in battle.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute:
- Octavo looks a lot like Vaati's human form. On the NecroDancer side, his name and use of the Golden Lute are obvious references to the titular NecroDancer himself, which Cadence comments on. Justified, as the Ode of Octavo DLC reveals that if his plan went off like he expected, he would have eventually become Hyrule's version of the NecroDancer.
- Because he can only use the Golden Lute when playable, he plays similar to Cadence's mother Melody from NecroDancer. Unlike her, however, he can attack normally with it.
- Villain Teleportation: He's always showing up out of the blue to introduce the hero to his champions and to stay out of the hero's reach during battle.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: His entire motivation is to build an army to defeat Ganon. The Triforce wielders undo his plans by defeating his four champions, and when he loses the Golden Lute, he decides to challenge Ganon himself. Unfortunately, Octavo proves no match, leaving it to the heroes to finish the job.Castle Guard: A purple-haired man came in, took over the castle, and put the king to sleep, saying it was for "the greater good". Things don't look so good out there, though...
- Your Days Are Numbered: Octavo is fully aware that he'll meet his demise by Ganon thanks to a fortune told to him by the Weaver of Power, and attempts to fight fate by building an army to beat him.
Shadow Link & Shadow Zelda
Shadow Link and Shadow Zelda
- Crutch Character: They play identically to Link and Zelda, but their unique abilities are slightly stronger. They can't be used in Story Mode though.
- Deflector Shields: Shadow Zelda has Shadow Nayru's Love, which deflects on both of its turns; as a trade-off, it only deals one heart of damage as opposed to completely countering the enemy attack.
- Evil Wears Black: In fact, they're entirely monochrome aside from their attacks.
- Glamour Failure: While they pass for their heroic counterparts pretty well, even fooling Cadence and the locals, Trill can identify them as monsters right off. Their eyes also flash red upon attacking and they reveal their not so heroic natures in their Item Get poses, and when defeated, they explode into black smoke. While the King doesn't mistake Shadow Zelda for his daughter, he treats her like any other hero, and the color-coded traps in Hyrule Castle will still harm them.
- Mythology Gag: They serve as one to the various Dark Links that have appeared in the series before. Shadow Zelda also references the Dark Zelda found in Hyrule Warriors' various non-story modes.
- Mirror Boss: They fight like their normal counterparts.
- Moveset Clone: Of Link and Zelda, just slightly stronger in some areas.
- Nightmare Face: Shadow Zelda in particular flashes a particularly good one in her Item Get pose. Shadow Link's is more subdued.
- Promoted to Playable: As part of the character pack.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: Their eyes glow red when they attack.
- Silent Protagonist: Averted with Shadow Link despite being a doppelganger of Link, who doesn't utter a single word anywhere in the game. He speaks when the other heroes join him in their face off against Ganon, sharing the same dialogue as Yves and Shadow Zelda when they try to fight Ganon.Shadow Link: "You two made it just in time! Help me finish this for good!"
- Spin Attack: As a player character, Shadow Link's Spin Attack draws in enemies, unlike Link's.
- Token Heroic Orc: Trill is honestly surprised they want to help save Hyrule despite being monsters.
Bosses
Bass Guitarmos Knights
Bass Guitarmos Knights
- Playing with Fire: Their primary method of attacking (aside from simply jumping on the player) is converting the ground around them into a bed of hot coals that burn if touched.
- Wolfpack Boss: The main boss is accompanied by four slightly smaller ones.
Gleeokenspiel
Gleeokenspiel
- Cognizant Limbs: Their body and each of their heads have their own health bar (technically, each of the heads has a second health bar for when they're severed, but the player doesn't need to kill them to defeat the boss).
- Multiple Head Case: Has four heads.
- Shock and Awe: Their heads will spit out lightning every time they finish a chord. This is made especially dangerous by the fact that half of the battlefield is covered in water.
Gohmaracas
Gohmaracas
- Eye Beams: It uses these, most often to punish the player for a few too many stabs at its oh-so-vulnerable eye.
- Go for the Eye: As is traditional for a Gohma boss, their weakness is their eye.
- Non-Elemental: While their boss room technically has a plant theme with constantly growing vines to restrict movement, they don't have any elemental attacks themself (in contrast to the Fire, Ice, Lightning motif of the other three bosses).
- Projectile Webbing: One of their attacks involves spitting out balls of webbing that will ensnare the player if hit.
- Turns Red: Literally. Once its first set of hearts are drained, it turns red, gets faster, and spits more eggs and web balls at once.
- Weaponized Offspring: One of their attacks is spitting out a set of green eggs. If left unchecked, they will hatch into a swarm of baby Gohmas.
Wizzroboe
Wizzroboe
- Flunky Boss: Summons snowflake mooks and ice Wizzrobes. If left alone, they will eventually disappear on their own.
- "Get Back Here!" Boss: Since Wizzroboe frequently teleports around the room, there is only a certain amount of time you can hit them before they teleport again, all while evading enemies and falling icicles.
- An Ice Person: Most of their attacks involve ice in some manner.
- King Mook: It's a more powerful version of the Ice Wizzrobes.
- Turns Red: Eventually, knocking down enough of their health causes them to turn red and occasionally try to teleport close to the heroes and hit them with rows of purple magic and ice attacks.
Ganon
Ganon
- Adaptational Wimp: The change in genre didn't do Ganon any favors. He has easily the lowest health of any of his incarnations (nine hearts spread over three phases), and most of the danger in his fight comes from the minions he spawns throughout.
- Bad Future: He rules one; grim, dark, broken, with Hyrule Castle hit with a case of Chaos Architecture as bad as the original Crypt of the NecroDancer.
- Big Bad: Though Octavo is the one setting things in motion, Ganon is the final boss and the reason Octavo does everything he does.
- Hijacked by Ganon: An interesting variation from the Trope Namer. While he does indeed serve as the Final Boss, Ganondorf only became Ganon after finding and repairing Octavo's broken Golden Lute — which proceeds to corrupt him, turning him into "the beast of Hyrule" as he becomes enslaved by its dark melodies. He ends up on the other side of this trope in Octavo's Story Mode, where in the future Octavo ended up becoming the NecroDancer.
- Meaningful Name: A rare retroactive example. His instrument of choice in this game is an organ.
- Ominous Pipe Organ: He personally plays one himself in the final battle when not trying to crush the protagonists. In the present, one can find Ganondorf practicing.
- Pet the Dog: In the Symphony of the Mask storyline, it's revealed that in the Bad Future, Ganon laid waste to every civilization in Hyrule except the Gerudo and Deku. Seems like the wicked Pig Man has a soft spot for his people.
- Pig Man: It's Ganon, of course he'll be a giant pig overlord.
The Future King (SPOILERS)
Octavo the NecroDancer
- Bald of Evil: His baldness serves as both a Call-Back to the original NecroDancer and as a symbol to show how corrupted Octavo had become in the Bad Future.
- Boss Banter: Often uses vocal quotes during his boss fight — just like his version from Cadence’s world.
- Evil Overlord: Rules the alternate Bad Future as such.
- Eviler than Thou: He proudly boasts about defeating Ganondorf before he could take power, immediately setting him up to be a threat worse than the King of Evil himself.
- Faux Affably Evil: The first thing he does upon meeting his past self is to tell him to not worry since all of his troubles are now over, all thanks to silencing the fortune tellers and defeating Ganon so he can rule Hyrule unopposed.
- Gone Horribly Right: The present-day Octavo wants to prevent the rise of Ganon. The Necrodancer is a version of him who successfully accomplished his goal... by becoming somebody even worse.
- He Who Fights Monsters: Somewhere down the line, his obsession with defeating Ganon and corruption from the Golden Lute had turned an otherwise-Well-Intentioned Extremist Octavo into the evil NecroDancer, who seeks to take over Hyrule for himself now that Ganon's defeated. As his past self puts it:Octavo: "You've become a monster, like the one I wanted to stop! I'll put an end to you!"
- Hijacked by Ganon: Pulls this on Ganon himself in Octavo's story mode.
- Master of All: In addition to wielding the power of the Golden Lute, he possesses the magic of all four elements thanks to the music instruments you collect from the bosses. Unlike Octavo, who could only summon enemies from them, the NecroDancer is capable of casting ice, electric, and poison attacks along with the usual fireballs.
- Ret-Gone: Due to Octavo going back to before he stole the threads and deciding not to steal them after defeating him, the events which led to him becoming the NecroDancer no longer happen.
- Walking Spoiler: Any mention of the NecroDancer's existence would immediately reveal his identity as the future version of Octavo since he shares a lot of similarities to Octavian, the bard who got corrupted into the original NecroDancer by the Golden Lute in Cadence's world.
- The Walls Are Closing In: Employs this on Octavo during the final phase of his fight, along with some Stalfos Knights and undead-summoning Sarcophagi to make sure his past self doesn't escape in time. He ends up being the one to get crushed instead.
- Younger Than They Look: While he does have the appearance of an old man, only 25 years have passed since the Time Skip, making him much younger compared to the centuries-old NecroDancer from Cadence's world, whom he bears a strong resemblance to.
King Dobongo
King Dobongo
A boss added in Symphony of the Mask, King Dobongo is a giant beast that serves as the final trial of the Gerudo Colosseum.
- Feed It a Bomb: In classic Dodongo fashion, this is how you damage it.
- King Mook: Of the Dobongo enemies added in Symphony of the Mask.
Synthrova
Synthrova
A boss added in Symphony of the Mask, Synthrova is a giant, room-sized synthesizer with the personalities of Koume and Kotake.
- Ambiguous Situation: It's not made clear how or why Twinrova is possessing the machine, whether it be a Forced Transformation, Brain Uploading, or some other reason.
- The Bus Came Back: They haven't been seen since The Legend of Zelda: Oracle Games.
- Fire/Ice Duo: A given considering it's based on Twinrova. During the fight, the right side (Koume) attacks using fire spells in rows or columns. The left side (Kotake) instead uses bursts of ice or crosses of falling stalactites. Both sides may attack together as the fight progresses.
- Haunted Technology: If the player already has the Synth instrument, paying the fortune teller inside the temple says that their next step is to defeat the "possessed machine" that stole their items, implying the machine is being controlled by Twinrova rather than an evil AI.
- Retraux: Their monitors display their sprites from the Game Boy Color games.
- Schizo Tech: They're a big computer in a medieval fantasy world. This is hardly the first time this trope has shown up in a Zelda game, but it's still notable.
