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A page for the other five races of Hyrule in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.

Beware of spoilers!

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Koroks and the Great Deku Tree

General

The Koroks

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/20157412_1564857873589213_4760455386194906314_o.jpg

"Yahaha! You found me!"

A race of cute and small Plant People descended from the Kokiri, who previously appeared in The Wind Waker. They are scattered here and there throughout Hyrule, and give Link Korok Seeds when he finds them.

The Ageless: Despite most of them being very old, to the point of personally remembering Link from before the Great Calamity, they all have the mentality of children. They speak with a limited and childlike vocabulary, steal Hestu's maracas as part of a childish prank, and treat the whole Korok Seed hunt as an elaborate hide-and-seek game.
Battle Boomerang: Most of the Boomerangs Link can find are Korok weapons made for self-defense. This is a Mythology Gag relating to how a boomerang was found in the forest-themed dungeons of The Wind Waker and Twilight Princess.
The Bus Came Back: After a long absence from the series since The Wind Waker, they make a reappearance in this game.
Cloudcuckoolander: Most of the Koroks are a little strange and a little air-headed.
Denser and Wackier: Than their predecessors in The Wind Waker. The Koroks of that game tended to be composed, responsible, and mature despite being referred to as forest children. Breath of the Wild regresses them to be more childlike and immature than even the Kokiri in Ocarina of Time were.
Enchanted Forest: Where the Koroks dwell as is tradition. The magical forest is protected by the Deku Tree's power and thus was the perfect hiding place for the Master Sword while Link slept.
The Fair Folk: Subverted in that they're not evil at all — in fact, they're the most non-malicious of all Hyrule's races. Their presentation in this game, however, leans full-tilt this way. Their home is full of trees with faces full of teeth, and the surrounding forest is an Eldritch Location where thick fog obscures all paths. Sinister Korok laughter can be heard should Link get lost, which can be presumed to be Koroks playing tricks by turning him back around until he ends up where he was.
Go Back to the Source: There's a Korok hiding in the vessel that Link was asleep in. However, it doesn't appear until after you leave the Great Plateau for the first time. The exact same thing happens in Tears of the Kingdom, where one can be found in the area where Link first comes to upon leaving and returning to the Great Sky Island.
Gotta Catch Them All: Valuable Korok Seeds are collected by finding and solving their puzzles. There are 900 in total in Breath of the Wild, and 1,000 in Tears of the Kingdom^note.
Hero-Worshipper: The Koroks in the Lost Woods all adore "Mr. Hero" (Link) and are eager to help him.
Hidden Badass: They may be small and lighthearted children, but they can be found in very dangerous places such as Hyrule Castle with nary a hint of fear. In Tears of the Kingdom, when the fog of the Lost Woods goes out of control, a bunch of them descend into the Depths to look for a way in and seem barely fazed by a trip to the dark monster-filled bowels of the earth.
Hufflepuff House: The Koroks have neither a Champion who was a former ally of Link nor any significant connection to the Divine Beasts. Their only purpose is to expand Link's inventory and, if only due to their location and the Deku Tree, to protect the Master Sword.
Invisible to Normals: Koroks can remain unseen to ordinary people if they so wish it and some, like Hestu, act surprised when Link can see them.
Long-Lived: Koroks do not age past their childhood and can live for a very long time.
Master of Illusion: Koroks can use their magic to hide and disguise things for small puzzles for Link to solve in exchange for Korok Seeds.
Manchild: Despite the fact that they do not age, live a very long time, and supernatural capabilities, they all act very childish, friendly, and somewhat odd.
National Weapon: While they are non-combatants, the Koroks have a line of weaponry that can only be found at or near Korok Forest in the Forest Dweller's set. Forest Dweller weapons have a unique property in Tears of the Kingdom that lets you re-use any burstable material such as Puffshrooms or Dazzlefruit, albeit with a slight cooldown before and after each use.
Nature Spirit: They are referred to as forest sprites and have a much less normal outlook to them.
Non-Standard Character Design: Unlike the Rito, who got an update to match the current character design, the Koroks (sans Hestu and Chio, who are new characters) are identical to their depiction in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. Although they don't clash too much with the rest of the game (it helps that The Wind Waker and Breath of the Wild both use cel shading and simplistic color palettes in their graphics), they do look more cartoony than the other, more realistically rendered races.
Not Quite Flight: Just like in The Wind Waker, they hover around with propeller leaves.
Only Six Faces: With the exception of important characters like Hestu and Chio, the reusing of The Wind Waker's models means that each of the dozens of Koroks in the game has one of only nine different designs, along with the occasional Palette Swap.
Plant People: They look like miniature living trees, with leaves for faces.
Product Delivery Ordeal: On top of having to find and solve hidden Korok puzzles again, Tears of the Kingdom include a secondary reoccurring side-quest of helping a lazy, backpack-laden Korok reunite with their friend, usually with some sort of environmental obstacle in your way and which grants double the number of Korok seeds as a reward. While technically an Escort Mission, the fact the Korok does not move and you can just carry them, makes the Korok functionally an object.
Ridiculously Cute Critter: Seeing how they are tiny little tree people (with some exceptions) with adorable leaf faces, cute high-pitched voices, and child-like personalities.
Rite of Passage: The three Korok Trials that Link is tasked to undergo are normally taken by the Koroks themselves as a way of proving that they've reached maturity.
Rock Beats Laser: Although all of their equipment is made from wood, they are all fairly powerful mid-game weapons. The Forest Dweller's Bow in particular is notable for the ability to Multi Shot three arrows, making it superior to the Yiga Clan's Duplex Bow.
Stealth Escort Mission: One of the Korok Trials has you following a Korok as he makes a pilgrimage to the shrine, but the catch is you can't let him see you. You both get attacked by beasts of the woods multiple times and you can't be seen if you kill them.
Talking in Your Sleep: Pepp the Korok innkeeper can be caught nodding off and then babbling in his sleep about a nightmare where vegetarians are eating his face.
Toilet Humour: The gold-colored but foul-smelling Korok Seeds are in fact Korok droppings, making them literal polished turds.
Voice Grunting: As is standard for the franchise. It's more notable for them because it's universally the case for all the Koroks, making them the only race without any fully voiced characters.
Video Game Cruelty Potential: Tears of the Kingdom adds the ability to inflict various punishments on the Koroks via their escort missions, in case the player desires to repay them for all the crap they've given Link.

The Great Deku Tree

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/647px_great_deku_tree___totk_character_profile_art.png

"Even my patience has limits, you know..."

Voiced by: Hideaki Nonaka (Japanese), Sean Chiplock (English) ^{Foreign VAs}
"That look on your face tells me that you have no recollection of me, however."

The ever-present guardian of the Lost Woods and the Korok race. In Breath of the Wild, he guards the Master Sword.

The Bus Came Back: The Deku Tree makes a comeback after his previous appearance in The Wind Waker.
Fisher King: As with Ocarina of Time, his state of being is reflected by the state of the Lost Woods. When his stomach is invaded by a Gloom Spawn in Tears of the Kingdom, the resultant fog causes the Lost Woods to reject all arrivals on the Surface and causes the inhabiting Koroks to be put in stasis.
Genius Loci: Much like in Ocarina of Time, you can walk around his interior, though it only features a shop and bed this time around rather than a full dungeon. It's only slightly expanded in Tears of the Kingdom to contain a chasm leading to his stomach, functionally just a boss arena to fight a Gloom Spawn.
Physical God: He is an ancient forest deity and progenitor of the Koroks.
Sensor Character: He can sense the Master Sword's location in Tears of the Kingdom, which comes in handy when it goes missing.
Shipper on Deck: Encouraged Zelda to convey her important message to Link in person.
Sincerity Mode: If Link almost dies before pulling the Master Sword, he'll stop him, but warns Link he won't save him again. Try again, and he'll keep his word and let Link die.
Wise Tree: The Great Deku Tree watches over the resting place of the Master Sword in Breath of the Wild, offering advice to those who come before him.

Hestu

"Shalaka!"

A gigantic Korok musician who can use his magical maracas to aid Link by expanding his inventory.

Bag of Spilling: Hestu just cannot keep a grip on his maracas' seeds. In every game he's appeared in so far, he has managed to lose his seeds each time, necessitating their retrieval in some form or fashion.
Big Ol' Eyebrows: His design invokes this, as the leaf on his face is only enough to represent a beard.
Big Fun: He's quite large compared to other Koroks and even Hylians, and he has an upbeat personality, with his dancing adding to his jolliness.
Butt-Monkey: All the other Koroks played a prank on him by taking the seeds inside his maracas, leaving them soundless, and then said maracas get stolen by monsters. He's awkwardly large by Korok standards, his talents are based on magic music and dances, the other tiny Koroks tease him by making it hard for him to make music in the first place, he seems to get lost easily, and is self-aware enough about his fellow childish squeaky-voiced people to realize they are weirder than most of their neighbors. It turns out that the loss of the seeds from his maracas wasn't a one-time deal, either, as Age of Calamity reveals he lost them then too, and he loses them again in Tears of the Kingdom.
Confetti Drop: When Hestu finishes his spell to expand Link's inventory, confetti bursts out from his maracas.
Gentle Giant: For whatever reason, he's huge, about the size of a Goron, but he's no less peaceful than the other Koroks.
Magic Dance: His magic music is accompanied by magic dancing.
Magic Music: Hestu can use his maracas to wield magic and expand Link's inventory.
Naked People Are Funny: He certainly thinks so. Or rather "nekkid" people are funny in this case as if Link tries talking to him in nothing but his underwear Hestu's so amused he'll start singing a silly nonsense song based on it and forget to ask for any Korok seeds until Link puts something on.
Hestu: "Shakala-huh? You are nekkid! I am nekkid! We are united in exposure! Nekky nokky nakey!"
No Sense of Direction: He gets lost on his way back to Korok Forest from Kakariko Village, going way westward near the Riverside Stable before moving north near the Woodland Stable, then finally a little further north in the Korok Forest.
Only Sane Man: Downplayed, as he's a little goofy himself, but he comments that the other Koroks are a little... weird... when Link talks to him at the Woodland Stable.
Suddenly Voiced: Hestu gains fully voiced dialogue in Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity.
Verbal Tic: Shalaka!
Vocal Dissonance: Despite his gigantic size, he sounds just as high-pitched as every other Korok.

Chio

"Ya know, if you keep doing everything everyone asks of you without question, you're gonna get conned eventually..."

A high-ranking Korok who sets up the Korok Trials for Link to complete.

Humanity Is Insane: He has a few comments that indicate he views Hylians as such. It's quite amusing given how the Koroks' behavior can be considered odd to Hylians.
The Leader: He seems to fill this role for the Koroks, being subordinate only to the Great Deku Tree.
Mushroom Man: His main distinguishing feature from the other Koroks apart from his gingko leaf mask is the mushroom cluster on his head.
Number Two: He runs the village while the Great Deku Tree meditates in slumber.
Only Sane Man: By Hylian standards, he's the least Cloudcuckoolander of his kind and offers surprisingly sage advice.

Rito

General

The Rito

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_rsz_hudpo5h.png

The Rito Emblem

"The Rito of Lake Totori. Where the men are fine archers and the women are better singers."

A tribe of birdlike humanoids. They make their home in the windy canyons of the Tabantha sub-region of Hebra.

Ambiguous Situation: Because of the simple textures of this game's art style, it's not clear if the Rito wear pants or if they simply have poofy leg feathers. The fact that they make some of their clothes from their own feathers complicates it even further.
Animal Eyes: They have yellow, green, and occasionally blue catlike eyes.
Anthropomorphic Shift: Inverted. The Rito in Wind Waker were human with sleeve-like bird wings on their arms, beaks in place of noses, and birdlike legs. The Rito now fully resemble humanoid birds.
Bird People: The Rito closely resemble a variety of different birds. Kaneli the elder is an owl, Harth the fletcher is a crow, Teba is a white hawk, his wife Saki is a sparrow, Kass is a macaw, Revali is a pheasant, Penn is a pelican, and many of the generic characters are falcons.
Braids, Beads and Buckskins: They have a slight theme park Native American bent to their culture.
The Bus Came Back: The race returns for its first appearance since The Wind Waker.
Carnivore Confusion: One female Rito browsing the Gerudo market is a little disappointed to see they don't have any poultry available to eat.
Chekhov's Gunman: Their emblem is emblazoned on the paraglider obtainable after the Great Plateau's completion, giving an early hint to their existence and implying that it's a Rito product.
Entertainingly Wrong: The two Rito characters who make a point of trying to identify who exactly Link is, Kaneli and Saki, assume he is a descendant of the Hylian Champion from a century ago rather than the Hylian Champion himself, under the assumption that the Sheikah Slate is an heirloom.
Fantastic Race Weapon Affinity: They're culturally very fond of bows, and are very skilled archers; notably, their native bows are the only ones in the game (outside of the Ancient Bows made using Lost Technology) to use stabilizers, horizontal rods present in modern compound bows to increase accuracy, and as such have better range than most other bows. In addition, all their weapons are deliberately made as light as possible in order not to hinder aerial combat.
Feather Fingers: As part of their new design, the Rito have large arms with feather-like fingers rather than humanoid arms that transform into wings.
Four-Fingered Hands: Of the toe variant. They only have two front toes on their feet, in contrast to the three toes found on most real-life birds.
Half-Dressed Cartoon Animal: They wear gear suitable for their torsos, but wear no pants.
Informed Flaw:
- A Rito woman visiting Gerudo Town claims that the Rito have especially poor night vision (a trait shared with most real life birds), but this is never dealt with in the story other than her comment about it.
- It's stated that Rito only glide, rather than truly fly, with Revali being a noted exception. But both in game and cutscenes, many Rito, (even very young ones), are shown fully capable of true flapping takeoff, hovering, and sustained acrobatic flight, even from flat ground with no wind, and in some cases, while carrying extra weight in the form of a passenger.
Irony: The Wind Waker first introduced the Rito as evolutionary descendants of the Zoras. Both of these races are featured in Breath of the Wild, but their interactions with Link are polar opposites. The Zoras are Long-Lived and personally recognize the Hylian Champion even after a hundred years. The Rito have shorter lifespans and most believe that Link is a descendant of the Hylian Champion rather than the Hylian Champion himself.
Mundane Utility: The feathers they molt are used for stuffing incredibly comfortable beds, or being crafted into super-insulating armor.
Mythology Gag: The fact that the Rito women are the primary ones who pass down their musical culture calls back to The Wind Waker, where Medli was the only Rito female and an expert musician.
National Weapon: The Rito favor the bow as it is best suited to their aerial combat. Their base Swallow Bow features enhanced firing rate and range compared to most bows, advantages that the stronger Falcon Bow and Revali's Great Eagle Bow also have. Feathered Edges and Spears can also be found near the Tabantha region where Rito Village is located, and in Tears of the Kingdom, both weapons are given a wind gust effect that pushes enemies back.
Not Quite Flight: They can't actually "fly"; they merely glide and can only ascend by catching updrafts. Revali created Revali's Gale to compensate for this.
Oddly Shaped Sword: The Rito's sword the Feathered Edge has a hollow blade in order to make it lighter and easier to use by their flying warriors.
Punny Name: Teba and his wife Saki, which becomes Tebasaki, japanese for "wing tips" and term for teriyaki chicken wings.
Short-Lived Organism: Rito are mentioned to have a lifespan of about forty years.
Snowed-In: In Tears of the Kingdom, Rito Village is cursed with an endless blizzard, threatening them with starvation and isolating them from external aid (thanks to a bridge that collapsed from the weight of the snow). When visited for the first time, every adult Rito has left the village in a desperate effort to forage for food, leaving the children to run things.
Stay in the Kitchen: It's subtle, but compared to the other peoples who don't come from a One-Gender Race, the Rito warriors are universally male; none of the females are warriors. As hinted by the line quoted above from a guard at the entrance of Rito Village, it seems to be a bit of a cultural thing.
The Three Faces of Adam: A triumvirate of this occurs in Tears of The Kingdom: For the Hunter, Tulin is finding out just what he can do as a young Rito warrior who manifested an ancient inherited power. For the Lord, Tulin's father Teba has taken over as Elder and is in charge of Rito society. For the Prophet, the elder emeritus Kaneli spends his retirement being in charge of the Flight Range, training the next generation of Rito in flight.
Truer to the Text: Of a sorts. Word of God confirms the Rito in The Wind Waker were originally based on the Watarara from the ''Ocarina of Time'' manga. However, while the Rito in the original game look like humans with beaks and wings, the Rito of the Wild games greater resemble the bird men they were originally based on.
We Are as Mayflies: Inverted, with Creating a Champion revealing that the Rito have shorter lifespans than Hylians, in contrast to the Zora and Shiekah who live longer. This is reflected in how not only do no Rito recognize Link as the Hylian champion from 100 years prior, even those who are told who he is don't seem to realize the significance of it, due to having more generations pass since the Calamity, which diluted the memory of the events leading up to it.
You Don't Look Like You: The Rito appear more like anthropomorphic birds, as opposed to how, in The Wind Waker, they appeared more like humans with beaks and retractable wings.

Saki

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_120900603_1599004976841169_3216732374449772422_o.jpg

Teba's gentle wife. She points out to Link the current whereabouts of her husband as well as Revali's landing.

Hidden Badass: She's a largely pacifistic character who frequently worries about her husband's and son's archery training. But if you talk to her after meeting Teba but before taking on Vah Medoh, she'll give you some Bomb Arrows while saying that Teba gave them to her to use in an emergency; she decides to give them to Link instead so that they won't be where Tulin will be tempted to play with them. This implies that she's actually very skilled at archery but chooses not to use those skills because of her disposition.
Housewife: She stays at home to take care of Tulin while Teba is out preparing to fight Vah Medoh. She's later seen doing some grocery shopping when the two of them go practice archery together at the Flight Range.
Innocent Blue Eyes: Compared with the yellow and green eye colors of most Rito characters, she has light blue eyes to indicate her more pacifistic nature.
Non-Mammalian Hair: She has what appears to be a tuft of pink hairlike feathers on her head. In fact, if you look closely at her "earrings," you'll notice they're actually held up by two "hair" braids wrapped in circles.
Pink Means Feminine: She's a very feminine and motherly character who has a coat of pink and light purple feathers.
Red Oni, Blue Oni: Her husband is the Red Oni, being skilled archer with a blunt and terse personality, while she is the Blue Oni, being gentler and more polite when talking with Link.
Rose-Haired Sweetie: On top of her pink plumage she also has a tuft of pink "hair" on her head, and she's a sweet and gentle-natured person compared to her terse warrior husband and bluntly enthusiastic son.

Harth

An archer and bow craftsman, he and Teba had teamed up with several other Rito warriors in an unsuccessful attack on Vah Medoh. He and Teba were the only survivors, and he had to bow out of a second attack due to an arm injury. Their families spend lots of time together because his daughter Molli is Tulin's age. In Tears of the Kingdom, he is one of the many adult Rito foraging for supplies in the midst of the unending blizzard; once that situation is resolved, he travels to Lookout Landing as the Rito envoy.

Family Business: His bowyer job is one. It's also the reason he's not as good of a warrior as Teba, as he had to give up archery when it came time to inherit the business.
Foil: To Teba in their introduction, as the two are opposite colored and the only two Rito warriors to return from the attack on Medoh, but while Harth is too injured to attack again and expresses a lot more concern about how their respective families would cope with losing them (as the two have grown closer since their children are so close in age) Teba keeps focus on trying to stop the beast that's terrorizing his people.
Hair-Contrast Duo: He has black feathers and is a more timid character compared to the more aggressive Teba with his white feathers.
Meaningful Name: He name is pronounced just like "hearth," and he is more willing than Teba to stay at home to recover.
Non-Mammalian Hair: He has a tuft of black hair on his head more like the female Rito have than the other guys we see.

Kass

"May the light illuminate your path."

"Would you like to hear the ancient verse passed down in this region? Excellent! Without further ado..."

A wandering minstrel who is part of the Rito tribe, he gives Link clues on where to find secrets through song.

Animal Motifs: Kass resembles a blue and gold macaw, one of the most explicit bird breeds you see in game compared to his wife who is a generic green falcon girl.
Ascended Extra: While he's considered one of the most memorable characters in the base game, his song quests are nonetheless the same kind of optional Shrine quests as all the others. "The Champions' Ballad," in contrast, makes him a central part of the new story.
Catchphrase: "May the light illuminate your path."
Diegetic Soundtrack Usage:
- If you encounter him at a stable, he will be playing Epona's Song on his accordion.
- Each of his riddles is accompanied by a section of the game's main theme played on his accordion.
- If you talk to him in Rito Village after completing all his quests, he plays the main theme's chorus as part of his final song.
- In "The Champions' Ballad", completing each Champion's arc will result in Kass playing accordion remixes of each of their leitmotifs.
- His song describing the quest to unlock the newly added shrines for "The Champions' Ballad" is to the tune of the series's main theme, otherwise known as Song of the Hero. Finishing the storyline will have him add this as a section to the song he normally plays.
Gentle Giant: Kass is a kindhearted minstrel who helps Link on his quest. He's also quite large and muscular, towering over normal adults quite a bit and being bulkier than the average Rito's light frame, with his accordion alone being as large as Link. But is explicitly not a warrior, unlike the other Rito men you meet in game.
Happily Married: He has a wife Amali and five children waiting for him back in Rito village.
Offscreen Teleportation: It's especially noticeable in "The Champions' Ballad" DLC if all of Kass's previous Shrine Quests have been completed. You will find him in Rito Village, playing his accordion for his daughters and telling you to come back at night because that's the only time when his children leave him alone... and then, after walking a short distance south, you'll find Kass already at Cuho Mountain. Then, after Revali's trials are completed, you meet Kass next to Vah Medoh... and then, after jumping straight down to Rito Village below, you'll find Kass still playing for his daughters. How does he do it?
Parental Neglect: An unfortunate side effect of his quest to fulfill his teacher's wish. He is implicitly gone from home for weeks to maybe even months on end, leaving his wife alone to take care of five young children. Worse yet is the fact his family, at least by the start of the game, is currently under threat by a rogue divine beast that could kill them at any given moment and are scared for their lives. Even after that's dealt, with one of Kass' daughters goes missing as part of a sidequest... and Kass can be found barely even a mile away at the nearby stable, playing music. He explicitly states here that he refuses to return home until his quest is complete, despite being close by, not even entertaining the idea of just visiting for a few days( although he states he does miss his family.) Thankfully, he finally returns home after his questline is complete and can be found playing the accordion with his daughters.
Punny Name: His name is a play on "cassowary," though it's more obvious with his original name in the Japanese version, which is "Kasshiwa". The French version uses another kind of pun: "Asarim", a play on the sentence "ah, ça rime", which means "ah, it rhymes".
Rhymes on a Dime: Each of the verses he sings are structured like this. Some of the translations extend this to his entire dialogue.
Rule of Empathy: Much like the Old Man, Kass cares about your well-being, and observing you fit and healthy makes him feel happier.
Secret Secret-Keeper: Kass realizes exactly who Link is when they first meet (he comments on the Sheikah Slate) but doesn't tell Link until much later.
Sequel Non-Entity: Completely absent from the sequel, Tears of the Kingdom, with none of the characters mentioning where he went, what he's doing, or if he's even still alive. He's only mentioned twice: one of his daughters mentioning something her father taught her and Penn mentioning at one point that he was inspired by a famous bard implied to be him.
Shipper on Deck: Though he never meets the princess in person, he's a firm believer in the love she has for her appointed knight based on stories his master taught him. This is because his teacher's feelings for Zelda went unrequited as a result of her own feelings for Link, and he knows who you are as he watches Link's efforts to save her.
Smarter Than You Look: He realizes Link is the ancient Hylian Champion the moment he sees the Sheikah Slate, but doesn't tell him until after Link has accomplished all of the quests he gives out. In "The Champions' Ballad", he can also be found hanging out around all the Shrines across Hyrule that rose up during Link's One-Hit Obliterator challenge, indicating that he knows the significance of what Link is trying to accomplish under Maz Koshia's guidance.
Teacher's Pet: Kass adored his late-teacher, a Sheikah man of the Hylian court with unrequited feelings for his princess. He mourned his passing and vowed to keep the memory of him and the tales of the hero alive in song.
Title Drop: Delivers one during his song at the beginning of The Champions' Ballad DLC.
Kass: Let not the sound leave horses riled.
Breathe in the breath of the wild.
Took a Shortcut: Like Beedle, Kass will always arrive in certain places before Link does, no matter where you saw him last. With him, at least, it makes sense — he presumably just flew there.
Wandering Minstrel: He is a minstrel who plays an accordion and uses his songs to guide Link on his quest.
Wholesome Crossdresser: He mentions he had to "leave [his] comfort zone a bit" in order to enter Gerudo Town and speak with Riju and Buliara.

Kass's Family

Amali, Notts, Kotts, Cree, Genli, and Kheel

Kass's wife Amali and their five daughters Notts, Kotts, Cree, Genli and Kheel. The daughters are musically inclined much like their father, and are the focus of a Shrine Quest that involves music. In Tears of the Kingdom, they're the primary caretakers of Rito Village while most of the adults are off foraging for food and supplies in the midst of the unnatural blizzard.

Big Eater: Genli's a glutton for salmon meuniere, and even after you feed her some as part of the sisters' Shrine Quest, her stomach will still be growling for more.
Big, Stupid Doodoo-Head: Kheel will angrily refer to Divine Beast Vah Medoh as a big "jerk." Wimpy as that insult might be, Amali still chastises her to watch her language. She later calls her sisters a bunch of "dumb DUMMIES!" when they don't show up to Warbler's Nest for singing practice.
Bragging Rights Reward: After you've completed "Recital at Warbler's Nest" and all of Kass's Shrine quests, Genli claims that she'll reward you for completing all the other Shrines. All she really does is congratulate you.
Character Development: In Breath of the Wild, Kass's daughters are still rather childish in their interactions with others, sometimes to the point of being bratty like with Genli and her angry insistence on getting a meal before she goes to music practice. In Tears of the Kingdom, they all act much more mature, doing things like tending to the shops and inspecting wooden supports while the adults are absent during the blizzard, all with minimal complaints.
Growling Gut: Instead of reciting the shrine song during "Recital at Warbler's Nest", you can ask Genli to recite her "tummy song", which is her copying the grumbling noises of her hungry belly.
Happily Married: Amali to Kass.
Humans Are Ugly: Kheel thinks that her sisters will be more likely to listen to Link's request that they go to music practice due to him being a "big scary Hylian."
I Got Bigger: Much like Tulin, the five girls are noticeably taller and more developed in Tears of the Kingdom.
Massive Numbered Siblings: Kass has five daughters in Rito Village.
Mundane Made Awesome: Amali says that if she doesn't have a good dinner ready for her daughters after they've spent all day practicing their music, they'll actually sing about how hungry they are. In harmony, no less.
Ridiculous Procrastinator: While her younger sister Kheel is trying to get her and their three other sisters to go to music practice, Genli is insistent that she get to eat some salmon meuniere first, not because she's particularly hungry, but because she's using it as an excuse to skip music practice. She's even secretly glad that Divine Beast Vah Medoh was threatening Rito Village recently because she can use it as an excuse to not go to music practice. She grows out of this by the time of Tears of the Kingdom, which one of the adult Rito woman even proudly points out.
Shared Family Quirks: Kass's daughters have their own Shrine Quest where they aid Link in solving a riddle through song just like him.

Kaneli

"Hoohoohoo!"

The elder of the Rito Tribe, believing Link to be a descendant of the Hylian Champion, he sends him to aid his warriors in stopping Medoh.

Adipose Rex: He is quite rotund; although in a friendly way rather then a tyrannical one, he does stand out from the sleeker designs of the other Rito.
Beard of Barbarism: He is the tribal elder and wears a large beard in a long braid.
Big Ol' Eyebrows: They extend way out from his face; of course, since he is an owl, these come natural to him.
Bilingual Bonus: "Kaneli" means "cinnamon" in Finnish, which could be a reference to the shade of brown his plumage has.
Entertainingly Wrong: He knows the story of the Champions and recognizes the Sheikah Slate, but he apparently never heard about the Shrine of Resurrection or about how Link was Only Mostly Dead. As a result, when he sees Link with the Sheikah Slate he assumes the latter is a descendant of the Hylian Champion who inherited that item. Upon seeing Link carrying the Master Sword, however, he starts to suspect that Link really is the old Hylian Champion.
Expy: A very subdued throwback to everyone's favorite overly expository owl Kaepora Gaebora from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask.
Furry Reminder: If you talk to him during daytime hours, he'll be asleep. If you talk to him at night, he'll be wide awake.
Large and in Charge: To a lesser degree than Dorephan and Rhoam, but he's still quite a bit bigger than even Kass and is leader of the Rito.
Noodle Incident: He apparently asked several other non-Rito to help Teba and the other warriors neutralize Vah Medoh before Link came along, if Teba's exasperation at Kaneli at the Flight Range is any indication.
The Owl-Knowing One: He is based on an owl, fittingly for the wise elder of his tribe.
Passing the Torch: Come Tears, he has handed over the chief position to Teba while he himself retreats to the Flight Range to help train the younger generation of Rito.
Verbal Tic: Hoohoohoo!

Penn

Ace Rito reporter for the Lucky Clover Gazette, Hyrule's premier newspaper service introduced in Tears of the Kingdom.

Ambiguous Situation: He's typically encountered at stables surrounded by several small birds, and some of his lines of dialogue imply that he might be getting some of his information from them. It's never really remarked upon or explicitly stated though, and his dialogue about hearing "interesting chirps and warbles from [his] birds" might just be a figure of speech.
Animal Motifs: Unlike most Rito who resemble falcons, Penn is based on a pelican.
Catchphrase: "Soar long!" when he's about to take off for his next scoop.
Goggles Do Nothing: Penn wears aviator goggles on his head, but doesn't seem to actually need or use them.
Intrepid Reporter: And apparently the only one in the gazette, but Link is also hired to help him investigate the various rumors and sightings of Princess Zelda throughout Hyrule.
Locked Out of the Loop: He's completely unaware that his new coworker is the legendary Link, and Traysi encourages Link not to tell him. This leaves him confused as to why the Yiga Clan keep setting traps for Link, in one case believing they just mistook him for Link and in another case dismissing Link's claims that the Yiga are targeting him as him having an inflated ego. It notably contrasts his predecessor Kass; in Breath of the Wild Kass was one of the few characters to actually know Link's identity, but here Penn is one of the few notable characters who doesn't.
Poor Communication Kills: Many of the scoops Penn finds involve rumors, tall tales, and general weird antics around the stables, which are usually revealed to be misunderstandings that have been blown way out of proportion by the locals. Some of them, however, are implied to be acts of malice caused by Phantom Ganon in his Zelda disguise to make things more difficult for everybody in Hyrule. Resting firmly in the middle of the two groups are a couple that turn out to be the result of the Yiga clan laying traps for Link.
Punny Name: He's a journalist whose name almost the same as the word "pen" (as in the writing implement).
Stealth Pun: A pelican journalist presumably has an advantage in getting the scoop.
Suspiciously Similar Substitute: He seems to be Tears of the Kingdom's version of Kass. Both of them are Rito characters who can be seen all over Hyrule, are involved in several quests that are tangentially related to the main story, and they're based on birds other than falcons, making them stand out amongst other Rito.

Zoras

General

The Zora

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screen_shot_2017_06_05_at_111430_pm.png

A race of aquatic humanoids who dwell in the great rivers that run from the Lanayru Mountains.

Animal Eyes: They all have yellow, fish-like eyes.
Barbie Doll Anatomy: Although they wear no form of clothing at all, beyond occasionally jewelry or partial armor, no sign of genitals is ever shown. This includes no signs of the slits said genitals would likely be hidden within (as in most aquatic animals).
Can't Argue with Elves: The elderly Zora who lived through the Calamity in their prime can be very resentful of the Hylians and Link in particular. This is averted by the younger generation, who are more willing to help Prince Sidon find a Hylian Warrior to help them fight Ruta. Notably, some of the younger Zoras are still old enough to have known Link 100 years ago, a few of them having apparently been good friends.
Covered in Gunge: In Tears of the Kingdom, Zora's Domain is contaminated by a constant bombardment of unnatural muck from the sky. Only round-the-clock effort from Sidon keeps the waters of the Domain even partially clean, and Yona is likewise constantly working to heal Zora poisoned and suffocated by the noxious stuff.
Clothing Appendage: They've got fins on their hips and shoulders that resemble epaulets and skirts.
Commune: They don't own individual homes and sleep in large communal pools in Zora's Domain.
Ear Fins: They have droopy, dog-like ears that also resemble the pectoral fins of fish.
Fantastic Race Weapon Affinity: They favor elegant polearms like spears and tridents. They also avoid any Shock and Awe magic weapons because of their inherent weakness to them.
Fish People: The Zoras are humanoid beings perfectly adapted for life in the water. Their odd body proportions with short legs and a long torso compared to other humanoids is a case of Shown Their Work; examine the body proportions of Michael Phelps, an Olympic swimmer who is currently the most decorated Olympian in the world.
Interspecies Romance: Some Zoras are shown to have romantic feelings for Hylians, as demonstrated by Finley's potential relationship with Sasan and Kodah and Mipha's, among others's, attraction to Link.
Irrational Hatred: The elder Zoras (aside from Kapson) harbor a great deal of resentment toward Link for Mipha's death, which is severely misplaced for several reasons:
- They accuse him of "forcing" Mipha to become a Champion, despite the fact that it was Princess Zelda (not Link) who recruited her to pilot Vah Ruta. Also, Mipha wasn't forced, she accepted of her own free will.
- The elders also blame Link for "failing to protect her" which ignores the fact that Link was Zelda's bodyguard, not Mipha's. When the Calamity struck, the Champions each went to their respective Divine Beasts on their own.
- Lastly, the elder Zoras are the only ones who seem unwilling to accept that their Champion died, whereas the Rito, Gorons, and the Gerudo, have all made peace with the loss of their own. Even younger Zoras who are nonetheless old enough to have known Link in the past don't hold anything against him.
Long-Lived: In this game, Zoras can live a long time; elders can easily live over 200 years, and in fact it takes the better part of a century for Zora to mature into adults. This comes into play when Link reaches Zora's Domain, and he learns that all of the older Zoras recognize him; the elders were adults when he used to visit the Domain a century ago, whilst several of the younger adults are actually childhood friends of his who've grown up whilst he was in his healing sleep. Some were even just old enough to fight alongside Link in the past, presumably now being roughly middle-aged. This was first implied in Oracle of Ages where King Zora is alive 400 years in the past.
Making a Splash: While they must learn to use them, all Zora possess the power to control water. The level of this power varies a great deal, with most only able to use it to enhance their swimming speed, swim up waterfalls, etc. Those particularly gifted, however, like Sidon, can outright manipulate water currents at a distance or in massive quantities (such as forming a giant whirlpool by swimming in circles), grab things with water they control, and form shields of water around themselves or others that can block attacks or be launched as an attack.
Mythology Gag: Most of the areas around their home are named after famous Zoras or Zora-related things from past games. Aside from Zora River, there's also Ruto Lake, Ruto Mountain, and Ruto Precipice (all named after the Zora Princess & Sage of Water from Ocarina of Time), the Mikau and Lulu Lakes (named after famous Zora musicians from Majora's Mask), Ralis Pond (named after the Zora Prince from Twilight Princess), Rutala Dam and River (a slightly obfuscated reference to Rutela, the deceased Zora Queen from Twilight Princess), the Ja'Abu Ridge (referencing Jabu-Jabu, the Zora Deity, from Ocarina of Time and Oracle of Ages, as well as, to a lesser extent, his inheritor Jabun from The Wind Waker), Luto's Crossing (a Japanese Ranguage Ruto reference), and Inogo Bridge (an obfuscated reference to the famous Zora band, the Indigo-gos, from Majora's Mask).
National Weapon: Silver weapons in general, spears specifically. Normal soldiers carry ornate silver Zora Spears used for both combat and hunting, while higher-ranking soldiers and royalty carry the forked Silverscale Spear. Mipha, said to be the greatest master of the spear, had her own Lighscale Trident. In Tears of the Kingdom, all Zora weapons have an additional property that doubles the Atk stat whenever Link is fighting in a wet area, or has been splashed with water.
Non-Mammal Mammaries: Being fish-like beings, the Zoras lack nipples. Despite this, females have distinctive breasts. Unlike most examples, they never seem to be much bigger than an A-cup.
Noodle People: They all have long necks, arms and torsos, but disproportionately short legs, and have a mostly slim build. The only exceptions are Sidon (who is pretty buff and is taller than the average Zora) and King Dorephan (who is massively built and pudgy at once)
Prefers Raw Meat: One Zora woman says that they primarily eat raw fish. The cooking pot at the inn and the non-fish ingredients at the general store are present mainly for Hylian tourists.
Proportional Aging: Downplayed, but it's implied it takes several decades for young Zoras to physically develop into young adults, to the point they can end up having a fully adult mind in a body that still looks like a child's. Finley complains about this fact, as she's one such unfortunate.
Prongs of Poseidon: The most prized weapons of the calm and reserved aquatic Zoras are tridents, although spears are their general weapon of choice.
Shown Their Work: The odd humanoid proportions of Zora, with long torsos and short legs, is in line with the body proportions of olympic-grade competetive swimmers, exemplified by that of Michael Phelps.
Silver Has Mystic Powers: Zora weapons are traditionally made from silver and silver scales for this reason.
Super Swimming Skills: By default, Zora have the ability to move through water this way, and can enchant armor and clothing that allow Hylians to move similarly.
Tribe of Priests: Juney and Hudson say that the Zora are known for being a very spiritual people. Hudson in particular enlists you to find a Zora to officiate a wedding because of this; apparently any Zora will work out provided their name ends in "-son." The fact that the Zora you do find was a retired priest is considered more of a lucky bonus than anything. They don't seem to agree with this characterization themselves, however; there is another Zora whose name ends in "-son" who serves as a Red Herring. Trying to recruit her as a priest results in her saying that she's a soldier and has much too much blood on her hands to ever be a priest, pointing you towards the aforementioned retired priest instead.
Verbal Tic: Culturally mandated; older Zoras talk more formally as a matter of pride, whilst younger ones are much more carefree and slack-tongued.

King Dorephan

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dorephan.jpg

"Ah... So many memories! My mind is overflowing with nostalgia, my friend."

Mipha's and Sidon's father and the King of the Zora.

Abdicate the Throne: In Tears of the Kingdom, he was poisoned by the sludge monster that poisoned his home, and was rendered unable to protect the domain further. While he did drive the monster away, that he was so badly incapacitated in the process leads him to consider it is time to abdicate, as it was a monster he could have handled easily when he was younger. After Sidon proves himself even further by assisting Link in defeating the source of all the sludge, he happily passes the throne onto him and Yona.
Adipose Rex: By nature of being modeled on a blubberous whale. He was no stranger to action in the past, however, as the prominent scar on his forehead was from a corrupted Guardian Stalker he trashed with his bare hands.
Animal Motifs: While his head is somewhat shaped like a shark-like the rest of the Zoras, the rest of his body is built more like a whale and his blue coloring is more of that of a Whale Shark. Very fitting for a king of fish-like beings. Also serves as a Development Gag to Twilight Princess where King Zora was to appear and have a whale-like redesign.
Dented Iron: While still a strong and capable fighter, age has done a number on Dorephan. By Tears of the Kingdom when he is incapacitated while driving away the Sludge Like he remarks that the fact he took such serious damage from a "mere" monster is proof enough he is getting on in years and that it is time to pass the throne onto Sidon, who has come into his physical prime.
Dramatic Irony: In "The Champions' Ballad", when Link asks for more info on Mipha's Diary, Dorephan encourages you to read it because he thinks that "Mipha would forgive you anything." If you fight the Illusory Realm Waterblight Ganon enough times to talk to Mipha afterward, however, she'll actually demand that you not read it.
Every Scar Has a Story: There is a distinct scar on Dorephan's head. According to the Zora records, he got it from his fight against a Guardian.
The Good King: He is the benevolent leader of the Zora and cares not only for their well-being but that of all of Hyrule, more worried that while his aquatic kingdom will survive when the dam floods, the other races would not be so lucky. He didn't even object to his daughter's plan to marry Link, despite Link not even having a noble title among his own people much less royal blood and being a much shorter-lived Hylian on top of that.
Hope Spot: When Link returned from the Slumber of Resurrection and brought word of Princess Zelda still being alive in Hyrule Castle, he regained his hope that his daughter still lived, trapped inside of Vah Ruta. He's crushed to learn from Link that she didn't.
Dorephan: Link... She really loved you, you know. Just promise me you will never forget her.
Large and in Charge: He towers over the other Zora and has the strength to match, having singlehandedly destroyed a Guardian that even his strongest soldiers couldn't scratch. Only the Great Deku Tree dwarfs him among the friendly NPCs.
Like a Son to Me: Saw Link as this even before he saved the town from Vah Ruta, and is crushed when he finds out Link doesn't even remember him. "The Champions' Ballad" gives him new dialogue, where he states the reason he is so accepting of Link despite being a Hylian is because of an ancient Zora legend in which a Zora princess fell in love with a Hylian. He also has a line where he tells Link that he is "practically family."
Mirror Character: He's one to King Rhoam. Both are kings whose wives are absent or dead and whose daughters were destined to play key roles in the fight against Ganon. But while Rhoam was a Fantasy-Forbidding Father whose daughter grew to be somber and resentful because of it to the point of taking her frustrations out on Link, Dorephan was a nice father whose children grew to be unswervingly kind to everyone, especially Sidon.
Musical Theme Naming: His name is derived from the solfège (Do-Re-phan), much like his children.^note
Mythology Gag: He has a general whale motif, but you'll notice that he has two pairs of the "pectoral fins" that all Zora have. This is unlike real whales, but it does evoke Levias the whale-like Sky Spirit from The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, who also had two pairs of pectoral fins.
Nice Guy: He's jovial, friendly, and level-headed, and treats Link with considerable respect and affection. You can guess where Sidon got his personality from.
Outliving One's Offspring: He outlived his daughter Mipha who was killed by Calamity Ganon's forces.
Punny Name: His name is a play-on word for Dorsal and Dolphin.
Rank Scales with Asskicking: The stone monuments surrounding Zora's domain will tell a story of King Dorephan fighting and defeating a Guardian single-handed...by picking it up and hurling it into a ravine.
Royals Who Actually Do Something: Defended his people from a Guardian by picking it up and tossing off a cliff, and tried along with his son to find a solution to quelling Vah Ruta.
Royal "We": He talks like this in the German localization.
Stout Strength: He may be round, but it's the roundness one gets from being built like a barrel full of muscles. He's incredibly strong, even having destroyed a Guardian by picking it up and hurling it off the edge of a cliff.
Top-Heavy Guy: He looks to be 90% torso, and given how large he is, that is a lot of torso.

Muzu

"Have you forgotten already, my king? We cannot trust these lowly Hylians!"

An elderly Zora with a manta ray-shaped head who serves as the royal adviser.

Animal Motifs: His head looks like a manta ray, another member of the shark family; he has fins on either side of his (flat) head shaped like a ray's wings, a long and whip-like head-tail, and even two flaps of skin to either side of his mouth that resemble a manta ray's "horns".
Disappointed in You: He garners this reaction from Dorephan and Sidon in reaction to his resistance to accepting Link's help.
Fantastic Racism: He hates Hylians, and didn't like them even before they "failed" to contain Calamity Ganon. He's particularly hostile towards Link in particular, blaming him for Mipha's death. As such, he is mortified when King Dorephan presented Link with the Zora Armor that Mipha had made for her intended husband. By the time Link has released Vah Ruta from Ganon's control, however, he sees the error of that way of thinking. By the time of Tears of the Kingdom, he willingly comes to Lookout Landing to assist the Hylians and Sheikah that are staying there, showing he's truly left his prejudice behind.
Humble Pie: Once Link neutralizes Vah Ruta, Muzu sees that Link is indeed a worthy Champion instead of the "failure" he grew to resent. Muzu admits to being wrong for his racist way of thinking and asks Link to forgive him for being an old fool.
Lampshade Hanging: When Link regains his memories of Mipha, Muzu incredulously remarks at the improbable convenience of this.
Do not mistake me for a fool, Hylian! There is no way you remembered her just now, when it is most convenient.
The Mentor: He was Mipha's mentor and cared deeply for his student.
Non-Standard Character Design: Unlike other Zora, who have shark-shaped heads, his head is based on a manta ray(and is so big it's a wonder he can even stand up).
Properly Paranoid: When you first meet him in Tears of the Kingdom, he treats you rather poorly, much like he did in Breath of the Wild before his helping of Humble Pie. However, he's tending to the wounded King Dorephan, who is hiding in a secret location that Link shouldn't even know about. And considering that Dorephan was (seemingly) attacked by Princess Zelda herself, his suspicions of Link, while overblown, aren't entirely without reason.
Racist Grandpa: An elderly Zora that's highly untrusting of Hylians, and of Link in particular. Although this is not unusual among Zoras who are old enough to remember the Calamity, he is particularly peevish, being particularly rude to Link. It's hard to blame him, though, since he used to be Mipha's caretaker, and as such was hit particularly hard when she died.
Scary Teeth: Like all Zora, he has sharp teeth, though his are more spaced out due to age in a way that gives them an appearance similar to an angler fish.
That Liar Lies: He accuses Sidon of lying when informed that Mipha had intended to marry Link all along.

The Seabed Innkeepers

Kodah, Kayden and Finley

A three-member family of Zoras who operate the Seabed Inn in Zora's Domain; wife Kodah, husband Kayden, and daughter Finley.

Adorably Precocious Child: Zigzagged with Finley; she acts really mature, even using very formal means of speech, but talking to her has her reveal that she's actually a young adult Zora — she just hasn't undergone that final physical growth spurt to give her an adult Zora body.
Affectionate Nickname: Kodah still refers to Link by her childhood nickname of "Linny". She does very briefly try calling him Link when you first run into her in Tears of the Kingdom (noting that it's somewhat disrespectful to call the Hero of Hyrule by a childish nickname) but quickly decides that it doesn't feel right and just goes back to "Linny".
Age-Gap Romance: Finley and Sasan have been writing love letters to each other and became enamored to each other like soul mates. The catch is that Finley is only a little girl (at least by physical appearance, according to Zora standards of longevity) and Sasan is an adult who is understandably surprised from seeing Finley for the very first time. Funnily enough, Sasan assumed based on her letters that she was the older one, though considering Zora growth rates that may be somewhat true.
Sasan: Actually, as a Zora she's probably a lot older than me. That doesn't bother me one bit, but...I hope she feels the same.
Blessed with Suck: Finley's opinion on Zora longevity; she's at that troublesome Zora age where she's got the mind of a grown woman but the body of a kid.
Childhood Friend: Kodah was a friend of Link's when they were both young.
The Drag-Along: In Tears of the Kingdom, immediately after the sludge gets dispelled from Zora's Domain, Finley rushes off to investigate reports of a glowing rock in a southern Lanayru cave and takes Sasan along with her. Sasan isn't eager to do something so potentially dangerous, especially since he had been separated from Finley for some time due to the sludge keeping him out of Zora's Domain until recently. Not helping matters is that the cave has constantly shifting water levels that make it difficult to progress through; Finley, being a Zora, can just swim ahead easily, but a Hylian like Sasan has to ask Link's help in constructing a makeshift raft.
Generation Xerox: Like Kodah was with Link, Finley's in love with a Hylian. Unlike Kodah, with Link as her wingman, Finley can actually make said Hylian her boyfriend.
In Love with Love: Finley wants to find her own prince, and regularly sends a Message in a Bottle (well, barrel) to said prince. That said, as a sidequest, you can have Link act as her Wingman (telling Sasan, the Hylian she starts dating afterwards, to go to her at Zora's Domain).
Interspecies Romance: If you complete a sidequest that activates after clearing Vah Ruta, Finley starts dating a Hylian.
It's the Journey That Counts: In Tears of the Kingdom, Finley convinces Sasan to come along and investigate reports of a glowing rock in a southern Lanayru cave. With Link's help, they discover that it's a Shrine of Light — but since they have no way of activating the Shrine, the expedition has to end there, to their disappointment. Nevertheless, Finley says that going on an adventure with her sweetheart was satisfying in its own right.
Love Before First Sight: Finley and Sasan fell in love with each other entirely thanks to their correspondence with each other. Upon actually meeting in person for the first time, they find that neither is quite what the other expected, but they still decide to try and make things work.
Love Triangle: Zigzagged. When they were younger, Kodah and Mipha were both chasing after Link's feelings, but in the present, Kodah has given up on Link and is Happily Married to Kayden.
Mayfly–December Romance: Between Link and Kodah, though Link's century-long slumber and Kodah finding another man put an end to this dynamic. Also between Finley and Sasan, with Finley at one point asking Sasan to not die before her.
Finley: You'd better not die before I do!
Sasan: Well, I suppose Zora live a really, really long time, don't you? We'll work it out!
Musical Theme Naming: Their names resemble coda, cadence, and finale, which are music-related terms.
Noodle Incident: If asked about their past together, an embarrassed Kodah will confess that she once demanded Link make a choice whether he wanted to marry either her or Mipha.
Not So Above It All: Finley tries to speak and act more maturely to make up for her young physical appearance, but some of her words and actions (wondering if Link is a servant of the "water fairy," her childish gushing over Sasan's stories) indicate that she still retains some childish notions and personality traits.
Pen Pals: Finley and Sasan. Sasan fell in love with Finley before even seeing her in person due to the eloquence of her writing, but he's reluctant to go meet her because he made himself out to be a muscular athlete. He resolves to make it up to her by becoming the muscular athlete Finley deserves through rigorous exercise.
Punny Name: Finley, with the word "fin."
Second Love: Kodah married Kayden after Link disappeared. Kayden, who knew about Kodah's feelings for Link, is even openly apologetic to Link when the two meet at the inn.
Unknown Rival: "The Champions' Ballad" implies this. Mipha's diary makes no mention of Kodah as a rival for Link's affections, even though it does bring up Mipha's discomfort with Link having to spend so much time with Princess Zelda as the latter's appointed knight.
Unlucky Childhood Friend: Kodah had the hots for Link, but never got him. Luckily, she gained a Second Love in the form of Kayden.
Wacky Parent, Serious Child: Kodah is a cheerful, jubilant woman who still acts pretty much the way she did when she and Link were kids together. Finley is a solemn, serious young Zora who even talks like an elder Zora to make herself seem more grown-up.
What Does She See in Him?: After you play Matchmaker for Finley and Sasan, Kodah questions Finley's taste in men. Though she admits that, what with her own experience with Link, she's not one to talk.
Women Are Wiser: Zigzagged. Kodah is the goofy and childish member of the family, despite being female, whilst her husband Kayden is the serious, sensible, down-to-earth one. However, Finley, their daughter, is also a very serious and down-to-earth character.

Big Bad Bazz Brigade

Bazz, Rivan and Gaddison

"The leader of the pack, Bazz... the heroine, Gaddison... and my father, Trello... they have all aged quite a bit, I'm afraid. But they are all doing well."

—Rivan

A group of Zora soldiers who were children when the Great Calamity struck. They consist of Bazz, Rivan and Gaddison. They were friends with Link back then, and he also mentored them in the ways of combat. Bazz's father Seggin once taught Mipha in spear combat, while Rivan's father Trello is in charge of the Champion's Festival held in Mipha's memory. Rivan's daughter Dunma is also a Zora guard.

Acquired Poison Immunity: Seggin attempts to build a resistance to electricity by repeatedly touching a Shock Arrow. It works somewhat, as it's mentioned that he can hold Shock Arrows longer than any Zora, but he still experiences excruciating pain due to his aquatic nature.
Childhood Friends: With Link. They're understandably surprised to see Link a century later neither dead nor elderly looking.
Gender-Blender Name: Gaddison is a Zora woman with a name ending in "-son," which usually found in men's names.
Pink Means Feminine: Subverted with Gaddison. Despite being a pink-scaled Zora woman, she's a trained soldier with a Gender-Blender Name and a Tomboyish Voice. She also thinks she's got too much blood on her hands to serve as a priest(ess) for a wedding.
Really 700 Years Old: Assuming you talk to every NPC as you come across them, Rivan and his daughter Dunma are the first to indicate that this is the case with the Zora. Rivan is a young-looking Zora who was nonetheless Childhood Friends with Link before the Calamity a hundred years ago (and he also states that he is now over 130 year old, indicating that he was around 30 when he was a child and hinting at the Proportional Aging), while his similarly young-looking daughter proudly states that she is "less than 100 years old."
Red Herring: Despite Gaddison's name ending in "-son," she can't be recruited to move to Tarrey Town, although she at least points you in the right direction.

Yona

Voiced by: Lauren Mayfield (English)

A Zora royal from another domain, and childhood friend and fiancé of Sidon, who travels to Hyrule after Princess Zelda's disappearance.

Ambiguous Situation: Her in-game profile says that she's from another domain, but there are no other Zora settlements in Hyrule besides Zora's Domain. This implies that she's from somewhere beyond Hyrule, such as under the sea or maybe Labrynna, but wherever she's from is never really addressed.
Childhood Friend Romance: She and Sidon are engaged to be wed and have been close to one another since they where children.
Happily Married: She marries Sidon and becomes his queen after Dorephan abdicates the throne.
Heal It with Water: Like Mipha, she is blessed with the ability to heal the wounded and sick using the power of water and tends to the afflicted Zora in the resting pools with her magic.
Medical Monarch: She is royalty and is blessed with with the power to heal the sick and injured.
Mirror Character: To Mipha. Both are Zora Princesses who are renowned for their kindness and who use their gifts of healing to tend to the sick and injured. Like Mipha, Yona shares a close connection with Sidon, albeit as a childhood friend-turned-love interest instead of a sister. In essence, Yona is to Sidon what Mipha was to Link.
Nice Girl: Is a match for Sidon in terms of selfless compassion.
Quit Your Whining: When Sidon hesitates on helping Link confront the source of the sludge for fear that his loved ones, Yona included, may be attacked by monsters again while he and Link are away, Yona raises her voice and implores him to just go with Link, saying that although she understands that his hesitance is from fearing a repeat of what happened with Mipha, she and the rest of the Zora will manage just fine, which Sidon takes to heart before departing to Water Temple.
Rescue Romance: In one of the stone monuments with writings from Sidon, he admits that he used to be a bit intimidated by Yona when they first met as children because she was already so mature and formal for her age. But one day Yona managed to drag Sidon out of a violent flood that had already swept away other Zora, and his feelings toward her became more affectionate.
Royals Who Actually Do Something: Yona is the princess of another Zora domain, but when she moves to Hyrule to wed Sidon she actually spends most of her time attending to his people's injuries and keeping an eye on the water in Sidon's stead when he's needed to help Link investigate the source of the sludge.

Gerudo

General

The Gerudo

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gerudo_botw.png

A race of large muscular humans consisting entirely of women. They make their home in the desert that is named after their tribe.

Accidental Truth: Not unlike how the Gerudo covered up the history of how their legendary Eighth Heroine was actually a voe who rallied the other Seven in order to preserve their cultural identity, Ganondorf's existence is such a blight against their people's history that over time they effectively resorted to Unperson measures, to the extent that what scant modern knowledge of him remains claims him as being a demon that took the guise of a Gerudo and not an actual one, and records of their born-once-a-century king tradition are all but lost to time, let alone that he was one of said kings. They're technically not wrong about his identity, as it is established in the series that the Demon King will ever be the will of Demise reborn, a legitimate primordial demon, but of course that's outside their knowledge, and not why they're claiming it.
Amazonian Beauty: Zigzagged; whilst all adult Gerudo seen are incredibly tall, visibly muscular, and quite beautiful, and many Hylian men refer to them as gorgeous, it's also noted that their stature and/or build can be off-putting to men. By middle-age, most Gerudo have lost their exaggerated hourglass figure, but are still solidly built and veer into Big Beautiful Woman territory. By the time they become elderly, their muscles and definition reduce until they have a more realistic ectomorph build and figure.
Ancestor Veneration: The Hylia statue in the town is only for visitors' use, as the Gerudo worship their ancestors instead.
Riju: My name is Riju, descendant of the royal line and leader of the Gerudo people! (...) Ancestors of the Gerudo! Answer my call! Aid me in this task!
Bedlah Babe: Most Gerudo clothing are based off Arabic belly dancer outfits. The general Gerudo outfit consists of stomach-revealing tops, either knee- or ankle-length harem pants, heeled pointed shoes, and lots of jewelry.
Bling of War: Gerudo love decorating their armor and weapons with lavish amounts of gold and jewelry.
The Bus Came Back: This is the first time the Gerudo tribe have appeared in a Zelda game since Four Sword Adventures in 2004 (not counting Ganondorf).
Broken-System Dogmatist: A cultural hat of theirs, at that. Their culture of not allowing men into the city and taking children from their homes at an early age devastates families and prevents fathers from seeing their kids (one even is shown getting arrested for trying to do so). Despite this, they (or at least their leadership) rigidly stick to this system without editing it or removing the system.
Code of Honour:
- Several discover Link's real gender in Breath, but do not reveal it to authorities because he has helped them and their country. It would be insulting to someone who aided them when no one else could.
- Tears later flips to the other side in that Link is finally allowed to enter their kingdom undisguised, both because of how bad the situation has gotten, (thus they need all the help they can get, regardless of tradition), and afterwards because by that point Link has aided so many times that not letting him would be the worse insult, especially because they previously denied entry to a male hero in the past, and they don’t want to repeat that dishonor.
Conlang: To an extent. It's not a lot, but they're still the only race in the game to have a unique language, and most of the words even have translations stated in the game.
Custom Uniform of Sexy: Gerudo go around with their waists bared, showing off their visible abs. This may in fact be the entire point of dressing this way, as if Link tries to tell a guard that he's a Gerudo while Disguised in Drag, the guard tells him he's obviously lying because she can't see his abs. Though she still doesn't notice he's a man.
Dark Is Evil: Back in the past when they served Ganondorf, the Gerudo wore dark outfits.
Deadly Dust Storm: In Tears of the Kingdom, they're struck by a massive "sand shroud" that's settled over the entire Gerudo Desert. It reduces visibility to zero, which is bad enough, but it's also infested with new monsters called Gibdos, which have penetrated even into Gerudo Town itself, forcing everyone to either barricade themselves indoors or inside an underground bunker.
Everyone Has Standards: In Tears of the Kingdom, it's revealed that Gerudo turned on Ganondorf when he murdered Queen Sonia and used her Secret Stone to become the Demon King. They were willing to help their king conquer Hyrule, but not at the expense of seeing him become a demon. Ganondorf simply added them into his list of enemies in response to their defiance.
Fantastic Race Weapon Affinity: They use ornate scimitars and shields, with the occasional weighted spear thrown into the mix. Notably, these spears strongly resembled tridents, as a callback to the most famous member of their race, Ganondorf, traditionally fighting with a trident himself.
Glass Cannon: In Tears of the Kingdom, Gerudo weapons get increased attack power from anything fused on them, but as a tradeoff they don't get the same duribility bonus that all other weapon types do.
Gold Makes Everything Shiny: The appearance and descriptions for several Gerudo items, definitely follow this trope.
Good Costume Switch: In the past, the Gerudo used to wear dark greys, blacks, and deep purples to indicate their allegiance to Ganondorf. After Ganondorf murdered Queen Sonia, the Gerudo forsook their former king and joined forces with the Hylians to stop him and his demons. Punctuated best by the ancient Sage of Lightning, who wears white and bright orange accents.
Hartman Hips: Upon adult maturity, their hips have twice the circumference of their torso. It makes them distinctively curvaceous compared to Hylian and Sheikah women.
Heel–Race Turn: In the distant past, they were once loyal soldiers of Ganondorf who attempted to conquer Hyrule. But when Ganondorf became the Demon King and brought Hyrule to ruins, the Gerudo turned on him with one Gerudo becoming a sage that helped seal Ganon away. Afterwards, the fact that they were indirectly responsible for his rise to power and that he was even one of them became a great source of cultural shame, so much so that their legends state that Calamity Ganon merely took the vessel of a Gerudo rather than the Gerudo being Ganon's source.
Horse of a Different Color: Their primary mode of transportation is by driving Sand Seals, hairy walrus-like pinnipeds which swim through the sand and tow them while they Shield Surf.
Kneel Before Frodo: In Tears of the Kingdom, after Link defeats the Gibdos and dispels the sand shroud, he is honored for it in Riju's throne room, where all the Gerudo soldiers present kneel before him in respect.
Lady Land: Their home city is entirely cut off from men, who are barred from entry. In Breath of the Wild, Link must dress in drag to even gain entry, and any man who tries to enter is immediately kicked out, with the exception of Gorons (at least in the first game)^* In the English version, nobody really knows why, least of all the Gorons. However, in the Japanese version, as well as some translations, it's made clear that the reason is that Gorons are considered female by the Gerudo people, another hint that Gorons may in fact be a One-Gender Race.. It is explained that this "No-Man" rule is a deeply held tradition that impacts all Gerudo throughout their lives. Gerudo are brought to the town as young girls and kept isolated from men and the outside world throughout their childhood. Once they reach adulthood, they are encouraged to go out to seek husbands and start families to experience life beyond the desert and to prevent them from simply settling in Gerudo Town with their husbands. Both games heavily deconstruct the issues that are presented with this philosophy for both the Gerudo and their male relatives.
- Never being allowed to see or speak to men until adulthood clearly poses problems for the Gerudo when it comes to interacting with "voe". They have a special class dedicated to helping Gerudo understand how to woo men, and traveling Gerudo that Link encounters are often quite awkward with interacting with him. At least one actively flies into a panic when Link talks to her, whispering to herself to try and remember the lessons she was taught about what to do around a "voe". It's even implied that the reason Link's disguise works so well is that they are so ignorant of men; an elderly Gerudo who had once traveled across Hyrule is easily able to see past the disguise, as can a young Hylian woman visiting the town.
- Several married women complain about the law, as they dislike being separated from their loving husbands. Some only work in Gerudo Town during certain seasons and live the rest of the year elsewhere with their non-female friends and family.
- The requirement for the girls to leave home for Gerudo Town once they are aware of the world is devastating for both them and their parents, especially for their fathers, who miss out on seeing their daughters grow up. Two such cases in Tears of the Kingdom include Wabbin and Aaqlet, alongside Hudson and Mattison. We learn through Wabbin's case that any man who opposes this and tries to see his daughter is thrown in the Gerudo jail for an indeterminate amount of time. For Hudson's situation, it's revealed in Mattison's journal that she is putting on a brave face for her impending departure. Despite her excitement for the trip, she is deeply saddened to leave her family, especially her father, hence why she is determined to help him with whatever time they have left together. Even Rhondson, Mattison's mother who is a Gerudo and thus free to visit her whenever, is also secretly crushed knowing that her daughter is moving away from Tarrey Town.
- In Tears of the Kingdom Link's accomplishments merit Riju granting him special exception to Gerudo Town's "no voe" rule, allowing him to freely come and go without issue (provided he follows the dress code, i.e. no going topless or dressing like a Yiga).
- A Tears of the Kingdom sidequest reveals that the rule against men being in Gerudo Town had been in place for a long time and was even stricter in the past. During the quest, it's revealed that the Eighth Heroine was actually a non-Gerudo voe who led the Seven Heroines against an unnamed "monstrosity" that could've wiped out the Gerudo. However, unlike Link, he was still denied entry into town, which caused the link between the Gerudo and the hero's people to be severed. As a result, the heroines made a sanctuary in his honor and left behind gifts as a way to atone for it.
Legend Fades to Myth: While modern Gerudo are aware of Calamity Ganon's link with the ancient king Ganondorf, they believe that Calamity Ganon had merely adopted the form of a Gerudo, as they are unaware that Ganondorf himself was the source of the monster. Although, given that Ganondorf is the reincarnation of Demise, there is some truth to this.
Magical Accessory: A specialty of the Gerudo is crafting jewelry with protective properties.
Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: Creating a Champion offers two theories on why their ears have become pointed as opposed to rounded like the Gerudo in previous games. The prevailing, more mundane theory is that it's the result of generations of interbreeding with Hylian men. The other is that the shame they felt over giving birth to Ganondorf opened them up the goddesses. Tears of the Kingdom shows that they had pointy ears even in the distant past, but whether this is a retcon or simply model reuse has not been confirmed.
Miniature Senior Citizens: The elders of their race are of approximately normal size, but compared to the statuesque build of those in their prime, the comparison is pretty staggering.
My Greatest Failure: Twofold. It's all but directly stated that they regret their siding with Ganondorf in the far past, thus aiding his rise to power and the subsequent cataclysms, to the extent that him being associated with the Gerudo is considered an Un-person status. Second, their strict adherence to their "no voe inside the town" tradition caused them to disrespect a man who had directly prevented them from being wiped out in the past.
National Weapon: The scimitar, shield, and glaive. While soldiers carry trident-like glaives, civilian Gerudo carry scimitars and shields for self-defense. The Gerudo also use the stronger Moonlight Scimitar and Radiant Shield for ceremonial purposes, and the Champion Urbosa had her own even stronger versions called the Scimitar of the Seven and the Daybreaker. In Tears of the Kingdom, the special property that Gerudo weapons have is that they double in Atk when a material is attached, but the material doesn't add as much durability in return.
No Guy Wants an Amazon: Zigzagged. For the most part, we see Gerudo women are held up as extremely desirable by Hylian men, with many male NPCs that Link encounters being enamored with them. However, there are references that their intimidating build and Cross-Cultural Kerfluffle can lead to rejections. There is a school in Gerudo Town that teaches young Gerudo how to interact with "voe", and not only does the teacher directly reference that being too aggressive can be intimidating for "voe", but one particularly bad student keeps flunking the lessons by being way too aggressive. Furthermore, a tearful Gerudo named Deltan in the canteen mentions one "voe" rejected her because he "doesn't like girls twice his height". It's even further zigzagged because Deltan goes through a list of excuses this "voe" used to reject her, one of which being that he'd already with someone. This suggests that he was trying to let her down easy, but failed because it's that final admission that Deltan can't even be mad about.
One-Gender Race: The Gerudo are all women and reproduce by marrying Hylian men. It is in fact common for women of marrying age to travel the world to find husbands. In the ancient past male Gerudo were sometimes born, namely one boy every century or so, with such men granted the position of king as a birthright. However, according to the Creating a Champion artbook, there has not been a male born to their people since Ganondorf many thousands of years ago. Tears of the Kingdom shows that the likely reason this is so is because Ganondorf was still alive this whole time.
Open Secret: Among the older Gerudo and non-Gerudo in town, it seems fairly well known that men from outside disguise themselves in female garb to sneak in, and they're more likely to quickly see past Link's disguise. "The Champions' Ballad" reveals that Urbosa, the Gerudo Chief at the time no less, even suggested to Link that he do this in order to look for Zelda when she exploited the "no voe" rule to get away from him.
People of Hair Color: Gerudo have crimson hair combined with usually olive or dark brown skin as their typical racial trait, alongside their incredible height.
Pointy Ears: In contrast to how they appeared in previous Zelda games, which gave them realistic human ears, the Gerudo in Breath of the Wild have long, pointed ears just like the Hylians and Sheikah. The sole exception is Ganondorf, who still has rounded ears.
Poirot Speak: They insert Gerudo greetings — as well as the words for "thank you", "man", and "woman" — into their otherwise perfectly fluent Hylian.
Prongs of Poseidon: The Gerudo Spear is visibly trident-shaped, though the golden side-blades seem to be more decorative than anything.
Proud Merchant Race: As opposed to their old cultural hat, which was being a tribe of Desert Bandits (or pirates, in Majora's Mask), their new hat is that they are a very mercantile and trade-oriented people.
Secret-Keeper: In Breath of the Wild a few of them (this including an elder, a black market shopkeep, Riju, and Riju's main guard) see through Link's disguise for the male that he is (though said guard had to be informed by Riju herself). That said, they decide to keep things mum, and by Tears of the Kingdom Link's new status as special guest means no more secrets are needed.
Single Woman Seeks Good Man: Unmarried Gerudo can be found travelling Hyrule seeking a husband, and will often awkwardly attempt to flirt with Link. They can be quite forward in their efforts to get what they dream of as a "fated encounter" with a good voe, but are generally discerning enough to not automatically take the first man who reciprocates their interest (as indicated by how the more desperate individuals among Hylian men don't seem to have much luck with them). There is a whole class devoted to helping aspiring wives prepare to find husbands and the journey out of Gerudo village is basically a mark of adulthood for them.
Sinister Scimitar: Inverted. They like to use scimitars, but are much more noble and diplomatic than their ancestors. Their despised king, Ganondorf, actually used a katana as his weapon.
Statuesque Stunner: Adult Gerudos are head and shoulders taller than Link, though with few exceptions, it doesn't seem to put off a lot of men. Indeed, Gerudo are widely regarded by Hylian men as extremely desirable, at least as far as looks go. The few elderly Gerudo encountered are still about one head taller than Link.
Theme Naming: Many of their names are derived from Japanese transliterations of English words relating to beauty and cosmetics. "Riju" comes from "rouge," "Buliara" in the Japanese version is "Beauler" (derived from "beau"), "Essa" comes from "aesthetics," "Fegran" comes from "fragrance," "Kohm" comes from "comb," "Laine" comes from "eye liner," "Isha" comes from "eye shadow," and so on.
Took a Level in Kindness: Originally portrayed as a tribe of fierce Desert Bandits loyal to Ganondorf who also kidnapped Hylians, here they are no meaner than any of the other races of Hyrule, barring some strictness about the rules of Gerudo Town, as well as awkwardness and issues when interacting with men. Urbosa and Riju in particular are two of the nicest characters in the game, with Urbosa calling Ganondorf's existence a stain on the Gerudo's honor. Tears of the Kingdom does show that the original depiction was the same in the distant past however, up until Ganondorf became the Demon King and attacked his former homeland all the same.
You Don't Look Like You: Very downplayed compared to the Rito, Sheikah, and Zora. In the past games, the Gerudo were slightly taller than the 5ft 7in (170 cm) Adult Link in Ocarina of Time, had slim athletic builds, were consistently dark-skinned with bright red hair, and had amber eyes. Now they tower into the 7-8ft (214-244 cm) height range, are visibly muscular, have hips as wide as their shoulders, their skin tones and hair colors have more variation, and they have green eyes.
Zombie Apocalypse: The crisis they face in Tears of the Kingdom is that Gerudo Town and the rest of the desert have been overrun by Gibdos, shambling monsters with a superficial resemblance to zombies, forcing the Gerudo to hunker down in an underground shelter.

Buliara

"You stand before Lady Riju, chief of the Gerudo! Declare your business, but come no closer!"

Riju's very protective personal bodyguard.

The Blacksmith: She is a skilled blacksmith who can craft Urbosa's Scimitar of the Seven and Daybreaker for Link should they break in Breath of the Wild. In Tears of the Kingdom, she is also aware of the unique properties that certain materials have when Fused to a weapon, and when she goes to Lookout Landing, she will share these ideas with Link, such as how a gem fused to a shield will counter an enemy attack with an element burst or how fusing a mushroom to a weapon will give it greater Knockback.
Bodyguarding a Badass: As noted in Riju's entry, the fact that she's still a child doesn't stop her from being a Little Miss Badass in her own right.
Reasonable Authority Figure: Despite her initial misgivings, she's every bit as helpful to Link as Riju is, even becoming a Secret-Keeper to Link being a voe (read: a man) due to what he's done for the Gerudos. In Tears of the Kingdom, due to being the acting leader in Riju's absence during the sand shroud, she gives Link full permission to enter the town despite being a voe.
Red Oni, Blue Oni: Buliara is the red one, as she is always brusque with Link, is uncompromising about men entering the town, and is a trained warrior, whereas Riju is the blue one, as she is very calm, quickly makes an exception to the "no men" rule for Link, and makes up for her (initial) lack of combat skill by being a great Sand Seal rider.
Video Game Cruelty Punishment: If Link recklessly swings his weapon around in her presence, she'll swing her Golden Claymore back at him.
What the Hell, Hero?: She'll berate you if you end up breaking Urbosa's weapons in combat.
Younger than She Looks: She has a stockier figure that is more characteristic of the middle-aged Gerudo characters. But a minor NPC says that Buliara has only just gotten old enough to fill such a crucial guard position, indicating that she is actually a very young adult. It's likely that her stockiness is from especially well-built core muscles, since she's even more muscular than other Gerudo overall.

Barta

A Gerudo soldier with a penchant for getting herself into trouble. She's first seen imprisoned in the Yiga Clan's hideout in an attempt to gather information on them, then is later found searching for a Great Fairy Fountain.

Leeroy Jenkins:
- She barged straight into the Yiga Clan's hideout without consulting or getting help from any of her colleagues, which got her captured.
- She apparently didn't learn her lesson even after being freed, as she treks into the most hazardous area of the desert alone and without adequate supplies.
Secret-Keeper: Should you appear before her in clothing other than the Gerudo armor when rescuing her, she'll express surprise that Link is actually a man, but tells him she's just grateful he came and helped her and won't reveal his secret.

Isha

Owner of the jewelry shop Starlight Memories.

The Blacksmith: In Tears of the Kingdom, she takes over Buliara's role of crafting the Scimitar of the Seven and Daybreaker as Buliara leaves Gerudo Town for Lookout Landing.
Damsel in Distress: In Tears of the Kingdom, she's introduced stranded on a rock with a Molduga circling around. Link has to slay the Molduga in order to rescue her.
Diamonds in the Buff: She Sleeps in the Nude, wearing nothing but jewelry.
Embarrassing First Name: Isha goes by an alias because considers her real name, "Jewel", too embarrassing.
Love Triangle: Was involved in one with Ashai, though both are now single.
Magical Accessory: She creates these from gemstones.
Meaningful Name: A jeweler named Jewel. Her pseudonym is also Hebrew for "woman," which is rather appropriate for a Gerudo.
Only Six Faces: Averted in her case. Despite being a minor NPC, she's one of the few Gerudo who doesn't share her face, hair, or outfit with any other character.

The "Voe and You" Class

Ashai, Dina, Risa and Pasha

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dinsql2v4aeki8ujpg_large.jpeg

Clockwise on the left: Ashai, Dina, Risa, and Pasha

"OK, everyone! Let's show our cute observer what we've been learning in class!"

A class taught by a lighter-skinned Gerudo named Ashai about how to interact with men, with nightly cooking lessons thrown in based on volumes on cooking written by a man named Aurie Taamu. Tears of the Kingdom shows the group from the previous game graduated at some point and Ashai is now teaching two new morning and evening classes, one for adults and one for kids.

Abduction Is Love: When Ashai brings up a hypothetical situation where a very ill man is encountered, Risa claims that she would secretly bring him to her home to recover, which Ashai notes is basically kidnapping.
Blatant Lies: You can find Risa in her home practicing a mock conversation with a training dummy with a face on it pretending it's a voe and bringing up a signature family dish of hers. When she catches you eavesdropping, she insists that she's practicing for a restaurant job.
Bread, Eggs, Milk, Squick: Whenever Ashai brings up a hypothetical interaction with a man, Pasha and Dina each give their own sensible answers for how they would respond, while Risa answers with a very aggressive and usually illegal suggestion.
The Caretaker: Ashai is implied to be this for the younger kids sent to live in Gerudo Town. Seeing as young children like Mattison can be sent from home and apparently housed within Gerudo Town at young ages, it's implied that the class could potentially be like a boarding school for kids whose parents live elsewhere, making Ashai their primary parental figure or nanny, as she would implicitly be the one looking after said children the most.
Drunken Glow: Risa brings this up when roleplaying a conversation with a man. She pretends the guy is turning red from drink and notes that Gerudo don't because they're red already.
Feminine Women Can Cook: Ashai also throws in nightly cooking lessons to help the ladies become more eligible bachelorettes.
Know-Nothing Know-It-All: Risa claims she is only present at the class as a "refresher course" and seems a bit peeved that she has to study. It's clear from her subsequent answers to Ashai's questions that her confidence is woefully misplaced. Despite having apparently graduated the class, she's still as clueless as ever come Tears, with her former classmates having to rein her in from her violent ideas as they search for husbands in Hyrule.
Love Triangle: Ashai and Isha had one but how it ended is unclear. Both ended up single.
No Social Skills:
- Risa, at least when it comes to interacting with men. The answers she gives to Ashai's hypothetical interactions with men are all overly aggressive and/or illegal, and at night she can found at her home very awkwardly role-playing a conversation with a man using a training dummy.
- In Tears of the Kingdom, the three women in the new adult class are barely able to try roleplaying conversations with Link because they're so unused to talking to men. You have to take various steps to make things less awkward for them.
Nothing Is the Same Anymore: A very minor case, where their original classroom on the surface got heavily damaged following the sandstorm and the Gibdo invasion to the point it doesn't get repaired afterwards, so all classes got permanently moved to the bunker.
Rose-Haired Sweetie: Ashai is one of the few Gerudo who has pink hair instead of red and teaches women ready to leave town on how to better behave around guys and improve their cooking skills in hopes of finding their future husbands.
Rule of Three: There are three students in each class.
Through His Stomach: Ashai's cooking classes are tied into the "Voe and You" class because of this trope.

Shabonne & Tali

Shabonne and Tali

The managers of the Sand-Seal Rally. Shabonne mentored Tali into the sand seal champion she is today and often speaks on behalf of the shy younger woman. In Tears of the Kingdom, they've switched to racing with Zonai devices.

Elective Mute: In Breath, Tali will just stand silently with arms akimbo and let Shabonne interact with Link. She'll finally speak for herself when Link beats her record. Averted in Tears as Tali chats as much as Shabonne from her first screentime.
Funny Afro: Unique among the Gerudo, Tali has a large red afro. Combined with their general outfits and their personalities, it helps to emphasize the duo's eccentricity.
Shrinking Violet: Shabonne says that Tali has always been shy.
Symbol Motif Clothing: They both have sand seal faces all over their outfits.

Gorons

General

The Gorons

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gorons_botw.png

A race of large rock-like humanoids who make their home near the volcanic Death Mountain in the Eldin Region.

Alliterative Name: The Goron greatswords are named, in order of strength, Cobble Crusher, Stone Smasher, and Boulder Breaker.
Be the Ball: Gorons travel quickly by curling themselves into a ball and rolling around.
Bilingual Bonus: As with previous iterations, Gorons are named after the Japanese sound effect for something rolling around.
Brutish Character, Brutish Weapon: The Gorons, the towering rock people of Death Mountain and the largest and strongest of Hyrule's good peoples, favor the use of giant two-handed (for Hylians; Gorons wield them one-handed) greatsword-like weapons with blunt edges, designed to make use of their owners' prodigious strength. In flashbacks, the Goron Champion Daruk shows Goron fighting techniques with his personal weapon, the Boulder Breaker, swinging it in great sweeping arcs and slamming enemies off their feet. Unlike the Zora, Rito, and Gerudo (who each have at least one of bow, spear, sword, and shield, regardless of their races' preferred weapon class) the Gorons' only other equipment is a polearm that is explicitly intended as a mining tool, and Link wielding it as a weapon is Not the Intended Use.
Eat Dirt, Cheap: A Goron's diet consists entirely of rock and minerals; in fact, all the food they sell in their stores is specifically to cater to tourists.
Fantastic Drug: In Tears of the Kingdom, many of them are addicted to marbled rock roast, which makes them constantly crave more and makes their eyes glow red. The context of the storyline and non-addicted Gorons makes clear that the roast is essentially a drug epidemic.
Fantastic Race Weapon Affinity: The only weapons that they use are giant metal clubs that can be used for mining as well as for smashing enemies into oblivion. While they lack cutting edges, the immense physical strength that Gorons can leverage with a blunt force weapon may make their foes prefer to be cut instead.
Healing Spring: Just like in Twilight Princess, they run a volcanic hotspring which will actually heal Link when he is in the water. In Tears of the Kingdom following Death Mountain's lava cooling off and significantly lowering the region's temperature to a safe level, more hot springs showed up such as in Goron City and is more accessible to other races as a result.
Hypocritical Humor: There are Gorons who will make Please Put Some Clothes On comments to Link if he speaks to them while wearing nothing but boxers, even though they almost never wear anything more than a loincloth themselves. Though it's a Justified Trope: the Goron's home, Death Mountain, is a hellishly hot^* dormant volcano, and anyone who isn't a Goron, or wearing protective gear, or under the effect of a Fireproof Elixir, will inevitably catch fire.
Irony: Their Divine Beast, Vah Rudania, is a giant lizard that looks very similar to a Dodongo, which was their hated enemy in older games.
Locked Out of the Loop:
- Out of all the races, they seem to be the least in the know about Calamity Ganon. What's more, while all the other races view the Divine Beasts' rampages as Signs of the End Times, the Goron view Van Rudania's bombardments as just an inconvenience to their mining operation.
- In Tears of the Kingdom, they have the least involvement in the main conflict. The Gorons are the only race to have just one character profile (Yunobo), and the only Gorons who even travel to Lookout Landing permanently are Yunobo's envoys, Slergo and Offrak.
Long-Lived: While a Goron's average lifespan is never made clear, two elderly Gorons mention taking up to a decade to prepare for a vacation, with one of them commenting it's "speedy" by their standards, implying that they can live a long time.
Mythology Gag: Many of the regions in Eldin are references to the Gorons in past games. The main lava lake is named after Darunia, an adjacent lake is named after Darmani, and there is also a place named Darb Pond.
National Weapon: A unique form of heavy claymore with no cutting edge. Goron soldiers are mostly seen bearing the Cobble Crusher, with a more powerful form called the Stone Smasher also being available. Daruk wielded an even stronger version called the Boulder Breaker. In Tears of the Kingdom, while the Stone Smasher is absent, the Cobble Crusher has a property that lets you deal more damage to boulders and Taluses.
Oddly Shaped Sword: Goron greatswords such as the Cobble Crusher are blunted and are more or less crushing weapons.
One-Gender Race:
- They all appear to be male, though unlike with the Gerudo, this is never commented upon and may just be the Law of Conservation of Detail at work. This is lampshaded by a pair of Goron NPCs in Gerudo Town; each wonders why they let him in.
- In the Japanese version this IS commented upon, as Traicy, who is observing the two previously mentioned Gorons, actually notes that Gorons are considered female by the Gerudo, hence why they are allowed inside their town.
- Ultimately proven true in Tears of the Kingdom, Gorons are 'Born of the Land' in a literal sense, meaning they technically do not have a gender at all.
Prospector: Goron society runs almost entirely on mining precious minerals and selling them to other races. Yunobo eventually founds YunoboCo entirely around this in Tears of the Kingdom which also hires Hylians.
Silicon-Based Life: They are large portly rock-like people, and according to some NPCs, instead of reproducing sexually they just sprout out of the ground.
Stout Strength: Their natural build is on the hefty side, but also very muscular.
Super-Strength: Naturally, Gorons are much stronger than human races.
Super-Toughness: They are also much more resilient to damage.
Volcano Lair: The Gorons live in a dormant volcano with lava and fire all around them. Of course, being rock people, they are entirely immune to fire and heat.
Worthless Yellow Rocks: They're not too fond of gemstones because they taste terrible, so they make bank by selling them to other races instead.

Bludo

Boss Bludo

"Hmph, it's just some back pain..."

"I was plannin' to drive off Rudania like I always do, but then this blasted pain in my back flared up outta nowhere..."

The boss of Goron City, in charge of its leadership as well as the mining company the culture is built around. He is perhaps the toughest and fiercest Goron around, but is often out of duty because of back pain.

Benevolent Boss: He may be a sour old man, but the Gorons all value his leadership and bravery greatly.
*Crack!* "Oh, My Back!": Because he's so old, he suffers from regular back pain, and even with his medication, he is at times rendered unable to perform his duties. This ends up causing problems in the sequel, as he can clearly see that the Marbled Rock Roast and the brainwashed Yunobo are problems, but his old age means he cannot get to the headquarters of YunoboCo to do anything about it.
Eyepatch of Power: He's missing his right eye.
Locked Out of the Loop: Out of all the leaders who bring up the Champions and the Master Sword, Bludo is the more disconnected one. He certainly knows about Daruk, but he hardly acknowledges Ganon, Zelda, or Link like the others do. He only vaguely brings up the Master Sword, and if Link already has it, he simply chuckles, surprised and/or impressed.
Only Sane Man: In Tears of the Kingdom, he's this to the Gorons after a brainwashed Yunobo starts feeding most of the adults a tainted Marbled Rock Roast, turning them all into complacent zombies only interested in eating. The younger Gorons are too unwilling to speak up against Yunobo, while elderly ones such as himself aren't able to do much to help against Yunobo because of his age-related health problems.
Retired Badass: He probably should be retired given how ancient he is, but he still makes a point to go to the frontlines in the battles with Rudania himself. Without him operating the cannons, the Gorons are forced to abandon the plans.
Screw Politeness, I'm a Senior!: He's a very crotchety old man and most of Goron City is terrified of him.
Bludo: "I'm the great Goron Boss who's fearsome enough to silence a crying child! Or to make the silenced child cry, either way."
Worf Had the Flu: Because of the back problems mentioned above, he's unable to aid Link or Yunobo in quelling the Rudania, and even lampshades the unfortunate timing when it acts up.
Video Game Cruelty Punishment: Most other characters will cower in fear if Link swings his sword at them. Bludo, however, will swat Link back in retaliation.

Slergo and Offrak

A couple of Goron children living in Goron City. In Tears of the Kingdom, they work closely with President Yunobo as part of Yunobo Co.

Ascended Extra: In Breath of the Wild, they were just a couple of kids in Goron City with minor roles quizzing Link and selling Fireproof Elixirs. In Tears of the Kingdom, they have a secondary role in the quest to save the Goron region asking Link to deal with Yunobo's brainwashing, and are later sent to Lookout Landing as the Goron envoys, as counterparts to Harth, Muzu, and Buliara.
Big Brother Worship: They look up to Yunobo, and recognize he's acting differently under the influence of the fake Zelda's mask.

Goron Blood Brothers

Bayge, Heehl and Kabetta

A trio of Goron brothers dedicated to intense training regimens to show off their endurance. In order of age, they consist of Bayge, Heehl and Kabetta. On top of maintaining several training spots, they are also seen during "The Champions' Ballad" scoping out the spots where Daruk once proved his worthiness as a Champion. In Tears of the Kingdom, they work for YunoboCo and are in charge of the Mine-Cart Land minigames.

Breaking the Fourth Wall: If you check the quest description of "The Gut Check Challenge" after you've started the climbing challenge, you see a message from Bayge saying "Stop checking your adventure log and start checking your gut, brother."
Macho Masochism: One Shrine Quest in the Gerudo Highlands involves them sitting on one of two heated platforms for as long as they can before passing out to prove how manly they are.
Sibling Yin-Yang: Bayge and Heehl are energetic and boisterous, but Kabetta is rather timid and lazy.
The Unsmile: In Tears of the Kingdom, Bayge and Heehl's idea for a smile is giving an intense angry scowl while Kabetta is the only one to smile right, which gets on his brothers' nerves because they honestly think he's doing it wrong.

Zonai

In General

The Zonai

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/20230601_085219.jpg

A relief showing the Zonai descending to the world with the secret stones, hidden beneath Hyrule Castle.

A long-vanished race who were said to be descendants of the gods. They came from the sky in ancient times, bearing secret stones from these gods that give great power to their wearer, and possessing incredible technological and magical prowess. In present time all knowledge of them has faded into myth, with only ruins of their civilization left in the rainforests of Faron and scattered elsewhere in Hyrule. In Tears of the Kingdom, the Upheaval brings their floating islands back to Hyrule, casting this ancient race into spotlight once again.

All There in the Manual: Breath of the Wild barely describes them, with much of what they were like being detailed more extensively in the Creating a Champion artbook — and even that had several alternate and unconfirmed theories thrown in.
Ambiguous Situation:
- Ganondorf implies that Mineru and Rauru are the last of the Zonai race, and neither contradict him on it. However, given that the Ancient Hero might have had Zonai ancestry in a time long after Mineru and Rauru are no longer alive, it begs the validity of this, as unless Zonai features are extremely dominant over Hylian features, there must have been enough Zonai remaining to allow for the Ancient Hero to have prominent Zonai ancestry. That being said, Ganondorf never explicitly says that the Zonai are nearly extinct, only that they no longer are present in Hyrule aside from Mineru and Rauru. It's not clear either way if they're actually extinct or just left the area around Hyrule for reasons unspecified.
- Although it is said that the Zonai founded Hyrule, it is not made clear whether this refers to the post-Skyward Sword Hyrule or another iteration of Hyrule created after societal collapse, a la New Hyrule. Although Hidemaro Fujibayashi has suggested that the latter is possible, the development team as a whole has not come down to either side.
Animal Motifs: The Zonai ruins make heavy use of dragon, bird, and boar symbolism in their patterns and decorations, respectively representing the Triforces of Courage, Wisdom and Power.
Ascended Extra: The only mention of the Zonai in Breath were the Zonai Ruins that bore their name, as well as their affinity for dragons, boars, and owls to represent the Triforce. Tears ascends them to a prominent race, revealing much about their history, and even showing three of their members in the flesh, or at least two of them with the third being an alternate costume for Link.
Beast Man: They finally appear in Tears of the Kingdom, and are revealed to have resembled humanoid beasts, with traits loosely reminiscent of rabbits, goats, and dragons, notably horns, long ears, sharp teeth, claw-like fingernails, and scales on their bodies.
Benevolent Precursors: Tears of the Kingdom shows that the Zonai had incredibly advanced technology, a highly developed civilization in the sky, and powerful magical abilities, but they chose to use their powers for good, descending to the land below to uplift the Hyrulean people, granting them access to their magic and technology. More than once, they saved the kingdom of Hyrule from Ganon's evil, even flinging a light into the future to ensure he would never succeed when he inevitably rose again.
Captain Ersatz: They look, dress, act, have tattoos, live in areas suspiciously similar to the Na'Vi and have their own form of Unobtainium in vast quantities underground which is targeted and mined by an antagonistic force. The Ancient Hero's appearance also heavily resembles the Na'vi's proportions minus the height.
Culture Chop Suey: Their artifacts evoke multiple real life cultures:
- They wore tunics and built pillars that evoke Ancient Grome. Further emphasized by them being the predecessors of a predominantly Medieval European Fantasy kingdom.
- Their dragon statues and headdresses evoke Mayincatec aesthetics.
- Much like the Sheikah (who are heavily implied to have cribbed much of their culture and tech from the Zonai), they have aspects of pre-modern Japan. Their secret stones are shaped like magatama, they worshipped divine dragons that look just like the dragons in Japanese folklore, and the interiors of their shrines and temples have neatly-arranged gravel sections resembling Japanese dry gardens.
Divine Parentage: While many in Hyrule saw the Zonai as gods themselves, the Zonai's own understanding is that they are not gods themselves but rather said to be descended from gods. Their immense magical powers are seen as evidence of this but it is neither confirmed or denied.
Dragons Are Divine: Not them, but Creating a Champion states that they are believed to have worshipped a water dragon. This might have been Farosh, since it lives in a lake near their ruins, or Faron the water dragon from Skyward Sword who serves as the namesake of the region where the Zonai Ruins are found. Additionally, the taboo rite of draconification enables a Zonai — or any other being — to become a divine dragon by consuming a secret stone, but at the cost of their identity and mind.
Eminently Enigmatic Race: One of the very few things present day Hylians know with certainty about the Zonai is that knowledge of their civilization has long been lost to the ages, leaving scholars with little option but to speculate on the fragments still known about them. Even in Tears of the Kingdom, it's made clear that the first age of Hyrule and the reign of King Rauru, since conflated with the actual Zonai civilization, are actually its very last offshoots, having come and gone in an even more distant past.
Fantasy Aliens: In Tears of the Kingdom, its revealed that the Zonai "descended from the heavens" thousands of years before Breath of the Wild to found the first Kingdom of Hyrule, making them Ancient Astronauts in an otherwise standard Heroic Fantasy setting (albeit one with other sci-fi elements like Humongous Mecha and Killer Robots).
The Ghost: There are many references to and hints of their presence in Breath of the Wild, including their widespread ruins and brief mentions in the Barbarian set descriptions, but the Zonai themselves are never seen or described. Tears of the Kingdom reveals more about them, such as their Constructs, but only two Zonai are ever seen, with Ganondorf stating that the rest of them "no longer grace the world with their presence".
Interspecies Romance: Upon finding the ancient mural of the Imprisoning War in the opening of the game, Zelda recounts that the story of her family claims that they were the descendants of intermarriage between Hylians and "gods", whom she theorizes must have been the Zonai. Paired statues depicting a Hylian and a Zonai standing side by side mark the end point of each Zonai Shrine of Light, lending credence to this theory.
Magitek: They were able to construct robots and hi-tech machines that if the Zonaite armor set is anything to go by, use a sort of magic to run.
Mayincatec: Much of their design aesthetics derive from Mesoamerican and pre-Columbian South American cultures with Aztec-like dragon statues (similar to that of Quetzalcoatl) and armor, and the Nazca inspired geoglyphs scattered across the land.
Mix-and-Match Critters: It's not really clear what animal, if any, they are directly based on. Their faces seem to resemble goats, or rabbits, their skin apparently has dragon-like scales, and they don't seem to perfectly consistent among one another; Rauru has a mane like a sheep while Mineru seems to most resemble a jackal with her upright ears. The Ancient Hero's Aspect makes Link look like the Egyptian Jackal god Anubis, albiet with long hair and a lion-like tail.
Moon Rabbit: They are a (vaguely) rabbit-like race of highly advanced magitek wielders who originally lived in the sky of Hyrule and descended to the surface, where they helped lay the foundations of Hylian civilization.
Mythology Gag: Prior games claim that the reason Hylians have large pointed ears in order to hear the voices of the gods. From the two examples we see, Zonai ears are proportionally even larger, befitting a race assumed to have directly descended from the heavens.
Physical God: They were worshipped as deities by the ancient Hylians, and the secret stone magatama they possessed could confer godlike power on those who possessed them.
Precursors: The Zonai are an ancient civilization who left crumbling stonework ruins dotting Hyrule's landscape — many of which happen to contain Sheikah shrines. It's confirmed in Tears that they were the ones who helped to establish Hyrule itself, and possessed a third eye similar to the Sheikah symbol, implying that their magic and technology was inherited by the Sheikah. In fact, Rauru's Kingdom of Hyrule was itself preceded by the Zonai civilization, which he and his sister are the last known remnants of.
Punny Name: Their name is a play on nazo (or 謎 as written in kanji) the Japanese word for mystery.
Riddle for the Ages: Very little is known about the Zonai, aside from what can be inferred from their ruins and what was revealed in the Breath of the Wild — Creating a Champion databook: they were Triforce worshippers who viewed dragons as the symbol of courage, owls as the symbol of wisdom, and boars as the symbol of power, with the Springs of Courage, Wisdom, and Power also being sacred to them. Everything beyond that was shown in Tears of the Kingdom is left a mystery, such as why they arrived, why they left monuments across all of Hyrule, or why they vanished.
Righteous Rabbit: They are a race vaguely resembling humanoid rabbits (with goat and dragon-like traits here and there) who helped the Hylians fight the Imprisoning War against Ganondorf uncounted ages ago. In Tears of the Kingdom, Ganondorf is initially being imprisoned in a tomb deep below what is now Hyrule Castle by an ancient Zonai artifact.
Scary Teeth: The Zonai characters we see in the flesh have sharp, carnivorous teeth. Much like with the Zora, the "scary" part is usually deemphasized due to those characters being very benevolent, but Rauru's enraged teeth-baring when Ganondorf mocks him over the murder of his wife Sonia shows how they can look intimidating when the situation calls for it. This is also present on the design of their combatative Constructs save for the Flux variant.
Sufficiently Advanced Alien: Their incredible technology caused ancient Hylians to mistake them from gods when they first came down from their Sky Islands to make contact with them. Unlike most examples of this though, the Zonai themselves may indeed have divine heritage according to their own historical lore.
Suspiciously Similar Substitute: The Zonai are effectively a Composite Race of several species from Zelda lore.
- They are sky-based beings who helped establish civilization like the Skyloftians.
- They are long-eared hidden benefactors of Hyrule like the Minish.
- They are a technologically advanced race close to the gods like the Oocca.
Third Eye: Of the two Zonais revealed, they've got a third eye on their forehead, which is normally kept closed unless they're using their powers or are feeling extreme emotions such as anger.
Unusual Ears: They have extremely long, leaf-shaped ears that emerge from the sides of their heads and jut out over their shoulders, which are their most blatantly rabbit-like feature.

Rauru (UNMARKED SPOILERS)

King Rauru

Voiced by: Riki Kagami (Japanese), Chris Hackney (English)^{Foreign VAs}

The figure that Link meets after he awakens in Tears of the Kingdom, and the first King of Hyrule. His special power gives him immense control over Light, allowing him to call upon it to smite unholy enemies. Link's new arm used to belong to him.

100% Heroism Rating: Link is this for Rauru as soon as he hears the mention of his name. As Zelda describes how great of a hero and how good of a friend Link is, Rauru is nothing short of amazed of her description of him and eagerly finds he wants to meet Link himself, a sentiment Sonia happily agrees on. Before he gives his life to seal Ganondorf in place, he gives the Demon King one final declaration that Link will come with the Master Sword to finally destroy him one day, cementing just how much he admires Link and how much faith he has in the hero Zelda has told him so much about. After seeing Link's determination to find Zelda by going past the obstacles on the Great Sky Island, Rauru admits Link is everything Zelda had said he was.
Actually, I Am Him: His ingame profile at first assumes that he's someone who happens to share the same name as the first King of Hyrule, until you watch the relevant Dragon's Tear memory which confirms he's that Rauru and changes his profile info accordingly.
Adaptation Species Change: The original Rauru introduced in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time was Hylian, but could turn into an owl. Here, he's a member of the newly-introduced Zonai race, which are more beastlike in appearance.
Animal Motifs: Owls, representing his wisdom and also as a Call-Back to the Kaepora Gaebora disguise used by the Rauru from Ocarina of Time. His pendant has an owl design and he's referred to as "King of Owls" in several ancient tablets.
Arch-Enemy: Ganondorf, for a whole myriad of reasons. To begin with: he lied about swearing allegiance to Hyrule, murdered Rauru's beloved wife Sonia in cold blood and corrupted her Secret Stone (and brazenly mocked her death to his face), sent an army of monsters to slaughter and torment the whole kingdom, and that's not even getting into all of the stuff Ganondorf (and to an extent his more "calamitous" self) does in the future. Ganondorf is a personal enemy to Rauru and not even death will stop him from making sure the bastard's put down for good.
Bait-and-Switch: Ganondorf mentions Rauru in his introductory cutscene, seemingly referencing the Sage of Light from Ocarina of Time. It's then established that the Rauru of Tears of the Kingdom is a Zonai with the same name and title.
Barrier Warrior: As Ganondorf fired a blast of Gloom at Rauru and Zelda, Rauru immediately conjured up a large shield made of light magic to counter it. Sadly it couldn't hold against Ganondorf's immense power for very long, but thankfully Zelda was able to use her Purah Pad to warp him, Sonia's body and herself away from the scene just before Ganondorf's Gloom shattered the shield.
Benevolent Mage Ruler: Rauru is the founding king of Hyrule and flashbacks show him to be a patient ruler beloved by all his subjects. He's also a phenomenally powerful sorcerer, capable of wiping out entire armies with a few seconds of preparation.
Beware the Nice Ones: For all his kindness, he is still a force to be reckoned with, as shown when he blasted away the Moldugas, and was utterly incensed at Ganondorf when he killed Sonia for her stone.
Big Good: In the past, he was the first King of Hyrule and the leader of the Sages, contrasting him with Ganondorf.
Big Little Brother: He is noticeably taller than his older sister, Mineru.
Composite Character: Of King Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule and— more obviously— the original Rauru. He is the benevolent ruler of a long-forgotten era of Hyrule with a personal enmity with Ganondorf (like King Daphnes) and the King of Light, who swears to lead the Sages, defend the kingdom, and guide Link in his quest (like Rauru, the Sage of Light).
Contrasting Replacement Character: Rauru serves as this for Rhoam, the last king of Hyrule and Link's previous spirit guide, who can't be around because he passed on to the afterlife. Both have similar positions in the story, as the tutorial overseer whose mistakes built up their respective foes, but Rauru takes a far more active role in the tutorial than Rhoam; he even saves Link's life with literal hand-holding. The memory system in both games portrays them as very different in life, too; while Rhoam had very little power beyond his station and was incredibly anxious towards unseen threats, Rauru was a Physical God and a perpetual optimist, far more confident against threats that were right in front of him.
Dancing Royalty: According to ancient texts, every now and then Rauru and Mineru would entertain each other by singing and dancing together, with Sonia just watching the whole scene.
Death Glare: Gives a chilling glare to Ganondorf (accentuated by his sharp bared teeth, his third eye opening, and his ears trembling) after the latter kills Sonia and he proceeds to try to kill the new Demon King immediately, held back from the likely suicidal charge only by Zelda's plea that Sonia needs him.
Determined Defeatist: Zelda points out that, since she was first cast back in time by Ganondorf, Rauru's campaign to defeat him is doomed to fail. He calmly accepts the news and resolves to fight anyway for his kingdom's sake.
Didn't See That Coming: A small light-hearted example. When Rauru asks Zelda's name after they found her in a forested area, he blinks in confusion upon hearing her father Rhoam is the King of Hyrule. Both him and Sonia correct her that they are in fact the ones who founded Hyrule... Or at least they were last time Rauru checked.
Expressive Ears: Rauru's large ears tend to move to showcase the current mood he's feeling. They lower when he's sad or bored, twitch when he senses something, become a trembling rigidness when he's angry, and pulled back when he's alarmed or focused.
Face Death with Dignity: Rauru's not afraid of dying. To him, protecting the kingdom he rules over and those within it are all that matters, and one way or another he's gonna see to it Ganondorf is no longer a threat to Hyrule.
Fatal Flaw: Not so differently from Ganondorf, Pride. Although he is much, much more humble than Ganondorf, he is shown to believe that he is always in control in the earlier flashbacks, or at the very least, believes he can get things under control fairly quickly if they go pear-shaped, and it's not hard to see why when he manages to curb-stomp an entire army of Molduga with little effort. He deliberately lets Ganondorf get close to the Kingdom of Hyrule despite his Obviously Evil nature under the belief that he could better keep an eye on him that way. This would end up costing him his wife, and throwing Hyrule into centuries worth of chaos as a result.
Flash Step: As soon as Ganondorf's back was turned deflecting the Sages' Recalled attacks, Rauru was already upon him ready to ram his hand into his chest.
Foolish Husband, Responsible Wife: According to one Ancient Hylian Text, Rauru would often avoid his royal duties and sneak out of the castle to go hunt. However, Sonia was always one step ahead of him every time he did so and would drag him back to the Castle soon after. Fortunately, this was never a source of tension between them.
Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Debatable. Rauru is the younger brother, and according to the Ancient Hylian Texts if you look for them, he loved to sing and dance and would often try to shirk his responsibilities as King to do some hunting. Mineru also liked to sing and dance with her brother, but personality-wise she's much more mellow and mature than he is, and seems to know a lot more about their people than he does.
Founder of the Kingdom: Both him and Sonia founded Hyrule together.
The Good King: Flashback scenes show that Rauru was a paragon of a ruler, establishing the Hylian dynasty and fighting for his kingdom's welfare until the end.
Go Out with a Smile: Subverted since he's already long dead when it happens. Once Link has enough hearts to open the final door in the Temple of Time, Rauru looks out the open balcony ahead with a satisfied smile on his face as he slowly begins to fade away. Rauru's last exchange with Link is how happy he is to have finally met the hero, who is indeed exactly as courageous as Zelda described him as.
Greater-Scope Paragon: In the present, Rauru is long dead and most historical records don't even mention his existence. Nevertheless, his ghost still appears to save Link and train him on how to use Zonai magic, and his Shrines appear all over Hyrule and the Sky to help hone Link's skills.
Happily Married: He and Sonia, the first queen of Hyrule, are perfectly happy in their relationship together. When she's killed by Ganondorf, he's both grief-stricken and enraged.
Hartman Hips: Male example. He's got a slim figure but has rather noticeably wide hips.
Heroic Sacrifice: Rauru sacrifices himself to seal Ganondorf away for countless millennia, awaiting the time Link is ready to face the Demon King. By the time Link and Zelda discover the chamber under Hyrule Castle, all that is left of the first King's body is a disembodied arm, though there's enough life left in it to save Link from falling to his death and teleport him to the Sky Islands.
The High King: He's the Founder King of Hyrule and during his time, numerous other cultures and tribes (No doubt the ones we see in the current time) were swearing fealty to his kingdom and forming an alliance with him. Even Ganondorf, who was the leader of the Gerudos at that time, swore fealty to Rauru (though he was lying in order to steal a Secret Stone).
Interspecies Romance: He, a Zonai, married Queen Sonia, a Hylian.
It's All My Fault: In one flashback, we see Rauru standing in front of Sonia's grave in the Forgotten Temple, a heartbroken look on his face as he quietly whimpers her name. Considering it was his suggestion to keep a close eye on Ganondorf in the first place, it stands to reason Rauru feels immense guilt and grief for letting things get as bad as they did and losing his beloved wife in the process.
It's Up to You: Says this word-for-word after Link opens the second door in the Temple of Time before disappearing.
Rauru: I've done everything I can for her. Now it is up to you.
Keeping the Enemy Close: As it turns out, Rauru could already tell from the get-go that Ganondorf was up to no good. Confident there's nothing to worry about however, he accepts the appeal in order to keep a close eye on the Gerudo King. Unfortunately this turns out to be a big mistake as soon as Ganondorf catches Sonia alone and unprotected...
Large and in Charge: Zonai are rather tall creatures, with Rauru being over one head taller than Sonia.
Last of His Kind: He alongside Mineru are the last two remaining living Zonai by the time of Hyrule's founding.
Lazy Husband: Downplayed. Rauru's by no means lazy or incompetent, but rather humorously he liked to play hooky on his royal duties to go off and do some hunting. Sonia would often drag him back to the castle and chew him out for it, but there's no resentment or malice between the couple for it.
Light 'em Up: Rauru possesses the divine ability to channel holy light, and becomes the Sage of Light — with Zelda inheriting her own holy powers from him.
Light Is Good: He's the Sage of Light and Hyrule's First King, and he's unfailingly kind, patient and even has a bit of a fun side to him as well (according to Ancient Hylian Texts). He also has very long white hair with golden highlights to them, further emphasizing his association with the forces of light.
Long-Haired Pretty Boy: Rauru has a very slender figure and long hair that reaches all the way to his heels.
Mark of the Supernatural: His eyes (including his third one) are a shade of bluish green, no doubt due to his magical nature as a Zonai.
Mirror Character: To Rhoam Bosphoramus Hyrule. Both of them were Kings of Hyrule who served as father figures for Zelda in years past, and helped Link in the early parts of his adventure as ghosts. However, Rhoam was a very strict and unempathetic father to Zelda who didn't realize how much pain and self-doubt he was instilling into his daughter until it was too late, and spent his time helping Link as a way of making amends. Meanwhile, Rauru was nothing but cordial and encouraging to Zelda in Hyrule's ancient past, allowing her to become more powerful than ever.
Modest Royalty: Despite being a king (Hyrule's FIRST king in fact), Rauru doesn't wear a crown on his head. You could make the argument however that the small yellow horns on his head and his third eye could count as his "crown".
Mythology Gag: To Ocarina of Time:
- He shares his name with the Sage of Light from Ocarina of Time and even has a necklace that bares a great resemblance to the owl Kaebora Gaebora, who the original Rauru was said to have reincarnated into.
- Like the Hylian King, he is betrayed by Ganondorf after accepting a false pledge of fealty from him. The difference here however is that Ocarina of Time's King didn't believe for a minute that Ganondorf would be capable of any kind of villainy, while Rauru was fully aware of Ganondorf's evil intentions and chose to keep him around to keep an eye on him.
Nice Guy: Rauru is shown to be an immensely compassionate and benevolent king who cares for his people and legitimately wants to be a fair and just ruler with no ulterior motives. Unlike Zelda’s father, he is a warm, gentle, and loving father figure who lifts her spirits, treats her concerns and feelings with the upmost respect, and acts as a teacher to her mastering her time magic. He doesn't even seem upset or worried when Zelda tells him the War against Ganondorf will prove pointless because of how he'll still be alive in the future, instead he warmly assures her that Link will stop him and that he (Rauru) has to accept responsibility and protect his people as a King, even if it means losing his own life.
No Body Left Behind: Upon sealing Ganondorf away, Rauru's body presumably rotted away the same way Ganondorf's did, as by the time Link and Zelda discover him in the present day, there's nothing left but his glowing arm.
O.O.C. Is Serious Business: In all the Dragon's Tears memories, Rauru is shown to be a very kind and affable man who never lets emotion get the best of him, even in dangerous situations. However, upon discovering his beloved wife's corpse, complete with a newly-empowered Ganondorf mocking her death straight to his face, Rauru flies at the newly-crowned Demon King in a visceral rage, with him only being swayed from outright attacking him by Zelda.
Our Founder: As the co-founder of Hyrule, alongside his wife, Sonia, there are murals and statues of Rauru across Hyrule.
Parental Substitute: While he was at first a bit skeptical of Zelda, as soon as his doubts are cleared, Rauru becomes a supportive father-figure to her, taking her feelings into consideration and giving some helpful advice for her to develop her time powers. When he sees how upset Zelda is when she brings up how Ganondorf will survive thousands of years, he puts an assuring hand on her shoulder and warmly tells her that Link will finish the job.
Power Palms: Rauru's right hand glowed a bright green light on the palm literally seconds before he plunged it into Ganondorf's chest to begin the sealing process.
Prompting Nudge: When both him and Sonia notice how distraught Zelda is on returning to her own time, Sonia immediately elbows Rauru in the hip urging him to do or say something. Amusingly, he frowns at her back. When Sonia approaches Zelda to comfort her, Rauru is seen rubbing his hip with his ears lowered.
Repeated Cue, Tardy Response: Apparently Rauru had sent multiple invites to Ganondorf requesting him to form an alliance between the Gerudo and Hyrule. During the meeting, Ganondorf apologizes to Rauru and Sonia for taking so long on responding to the invites...but Ganon being Ganon, one can't help but wonder if he ignored the invitation on purpose because he was busy planning to conquer the kingdom, or if he just found the repeated invites annoying.
Royals Who Actually Do Something: Rauru didn't earn his royal prestige for nothing. As shown in one flashback, if a major threat ever comes by (such as a Molduga stampede), Rauru will not hesitate to use his powers of light to drive said threat back or eliminate it entirely. Another example is the Imprisoning War. As soon as Ganondorf began his conquest as the Demon King, Rauru wasted no time in throwing everything he could to stop him (even if his final option could only keep Ganondorf sealed away and the act cost Rauru his life).
Ruling Couple: He ruled Hyrule's earliest years with Sonia.
Say My Name: He says Sonia's name in a heartbroken cry as soon as he sees her wounded body on the floor. Soon after, he then says Ganondorf's name in an enraged, snarling scream as Ganondorf was the one who attacked her. Rauru is then on the receiving end of the trope when Zelda shouts his name in despair as he finishes the sealing on Ganondorf.
Sealed Good in a Can: According to a developer interview, Rauru was locked in a contest of power with Ganondorf that lasted for untold millennia, using his innate power of light to draw out and purify Ganondorf's dark magic—in tandem with Hyrule Castle itself—in a manner identical to the Zonai Shrines of Light. Unfortunately for Rauru, Ganondorf's hatred and malice were still able to manifest as Calamity Ganon, which eventually broke the balance between them with the Great Calamity. Over the next century, Rauru's physical body decayed until by the time Link and Zelda stumbled across the Sealing Chamber only a spectral hand was left.
Shut Up, Hannibal!: Ganondorf attempts to give him a Breaking Speech about how he'll inevitably die sealing him away, while from the Demon King's perspective the millennia will pass by rapidly and the sealing will amount to nothing more than a delay. Rauru's response is to curtly cut him off, telling Ganondorf he's perfectly aware of the consequences.
Ganondorf: You bind my heart and steal my magic... You plan to hold me here. What a clever way to solve your problems. But are you ready to pay the price for this?
Rauru: Don't be so smug. I know exactly what it will cost me.
Ganondorf: (laughs) Thousands of years will pass in the blink of an eye. You only delay the inevitable.
Rauru: You're wrong. Years from now, someone will appear with the sword that seals the darkness. A swordsman with the power to defeat you - Link. Remember... this name.
Stroke the Beard: He often wraps his fingers around his small goatee whenever he's thinking about something.
Third Eye: He has one on his forehead that opens when he uses his powers, specifically when he destroys the Molduga horde, when he's about to attack Ganondorf for killing Sonia, and when he seals Ganondorf away.
Together in Death: After the thousands of years he spent maintaining the seal on Ganondorf, Rauru's spirit finally reunites with Sonia's when Ganondorf is at last slain.
Too Clever by Half: He thought he could monitor Ganondorf by accepting his false pledge of loyalty and keeping him close, but Ganondorf managed to steal a Secret Stone and devastate Hyrule.
Tragic Hero: Despite being a genuinely benevolent ruler and a Nice Guy altogether, Rauru's arrogance when dealing with a potential threat to his kingdom costs him the lives of both his wife and— ultimately— himself for thousands of years, along with his sister soon after, leaving their people extinct. Fortunately, he does live long enough to learn from his mistake and pave the way for Link to finish the job.
Walking Spoiler: Rauru's story cracks the entire plot of Tears of the Kingdom right open.
Young and in Charge: He's the younger sibling of the two Zonai present in Tears of the Kingdom, and he's the First King of Hyrule.

Mineru

Voiced by: Tamiyo Nonaka (Japanese), Heather Gonzalez (English) ^{Foreign VAs}

She is the older sister of Rauru and the Sage of Spirit. Her special power allows her to separate her soul from her body.

Amplifier Artifact: Like her brother and Sonia, she too wielded a Secret Stone, the Stone of Spirit, hence her ability to astral project.
Anger Born of Worry: She freaks out when Zelda reveals her plans to transform into a dragon to survive into the modern era, as it would cause a Death of Personality in the process and is essentially suicide.
Astral Projection: She off-handedly mentions that she's capable of separating her soul from her body, which comes in handy after her physical body ultimately succumbs to her wounds from the battle with Ganondorf eons ago.
The Atoner: Declares herself as this for failing to kill Ganondorf the first time, and is prepared millennia later to make sure the heroes succeed.
Badass Back: Her Construct can have objects placed on its back, including offensive devices like Flame Emitters. It's a valid, if clunky way to attack enemies that are coming up behind.
The Big Guy: Her Construct is even bigger than Yunobo, towering over everyone else, and has the strength to match.
Big Sister Instinct:
- When Rauru feels pressured about facing Ganondorf on his own, Mineru lets him know that he has the Sages and her to protect and serve him.
- She's protective and kind to Zelda, and only wants what's best for her. Given that Mineru is Zelda's distant great aunt, this isn't surprising.
Birds of a Feather: She and Zelda bonded over their fascination with technology.
Brain Uploading: The historical documents mention that Mineru was working on a potential Construct body for herself in the event that she dies, which she can then possess using her Secret Stone's ability. After the disastrous attempt to kill Ganondorf which only resulted in his temporary imprisonment and left her with mortal injuries, she agrees to Zelda's plan and possesses her Purah Pad for the next 10,000 years until Link finds the means to help her build the Construct she never finished.
But Now I Must Go: The Golden Ending has Mineru passing on to the afterlife to reunite with Rauru and Sonia. She is overjoyed when the current sages swear their loyalty to Zelda, as she can move on knowing that Hyrule is in good hands.
Cool Aunt: By virtue of being Rauru's sister, she was related to Zelda. The two of them bonded over Zonai engineering and they both prepared to help Link after Ganondorf's sealing.
Dancing Royalty: According to ancient texts, she and Rauru would sing and dance as a source of entertainment.
Difficult, but Awesome: Mineru's construct is normally a Mighty Glacier and a big target when facing multiple enemies. To use Mineru at her full potential, Link needs to use Fuse to provide her with weapons on her arms and Zonai devices that enhance her mobility on her back.
Eye Scream: In scenes from near the end of her physical life, one of her eyes is almost totally closed while a dark mark is placed over it, heavily indicating it was damaged during the fight with Ganondorf.
Forgets to Eat: The ancient chamberlain documented in the stone tablets that Mineru was prone to being so engrossed in her work that she neglected to feed herself.
Gadgeteer Genius: Even among the Zonai, she was capable of some incredible engineering, including a mechanized humanoid construct whose pieces she wore in life and which she inhabits to fight alongside Link millennia after her body's death.
Golem: After dying due to injuries suffered from Ganondorf's Gloom, Zelda placed her soul within her Purah Pad, and Link ends up placing the soul inside a Zonai construct that she can control.
The Insomniac: She forgot to sleep and drink when she focused too much on her research.
Incurable Cough of Death: After the battle against Ganondorf, she's left with mortal injuries from a Gloom-induced affliction (a symptom of which includes painful coughing if she exerts herself), necessitating that she separate her spirit from her body before she dies in order to stay in the living world and aid Zelda's plan.
It's Personal: Ganondorf killed her sister-in-law and made her beloved brother and her many times great-grandniece sacrifice themselves to seal him away and power up the Master Sword respectively. As such, Mineru is understandably the angriest of Link's friends when confronting Ganondorf.
Mineru: We settle this now, Ganondorf!
Last of His Kind: She and her brother were the last two remaining Zonai. With his sacrifice to seal Ganondorf, this left her as the single last member of her race in the living world. Mineru's spirit later moves on to the afterlife in the true ending of Tears of the Kingdom, causing the Zonai to go extinct.
Little Big Sister: She's smaller than her younger brother, Rauru.
Magical Floating Shawl: Befitting her Semi-Divine nature as one of the Zonai, Mineru sports a floating hagoromo shawl as part of her attire.
Mini-Mecha: Her Construct form functions as this for Link, with Link being able to pilot her and use her for combat.
Morphic Resonance: Sort of. Her original form had a unique headpiece, and it ends up serving as the head for her Construct.
Mundane Utility:
- A good use for her avatar is simply climbing on and then dismounting, letting you have some air time to fire some slow-motion bow shots if the environment prevents Link from gaining any altitude.
- Her hand attacks can destroy a good number of objects including boxes and ore deposits for the tiny cost of the energy needed to operate her, meaning you can use her to farm arrows and ores without damaging your own weapons.
- The extra elevation you get by mounting her mecha allows you to pick items that are normally too high up to jump to, such as apples on a tree, without needing to first climb the interfering terrain.
My Greatest Failure: Mineru considers her inability to help in the first fight with Ganondorf to be this, as she was incapable of helping Rauru by being the first Sage to be defeated, leading to Rauru sacrificing himself and Zelda turning into a dragon to restore the Master Sword.
Navel-Deep Neckline: Her neckline is so low that it goes past her modesty, which is covered by a loincloth.
Nepotism: Mineru, while also being the Sage of Spirit, seems to work under her brother as his royal advisor, as he seems to come to her for answers to any problems he may have (if the cutscenes of Rauru suggesting Mineru to Zelda and the two of them talking to her are of any indication).
Nice Girl: Is a pleasant and nurturing sort, and is nothing but encouraging to Zelda and Link in their quest.
Offscreen Moment of Awesome: She defeats the Seized Construct by herself without relying on Link's help while he goes to fight Ganondorf and the other Sages defeat their own bosses.
Rubber-Hose Limbs: The arms and legs of her Construct are animated like this, having no discernible elbow or knee joints, instead bending and waving around while Zonaite energy courses through them.
Satellite Character: In-Universe example. Most historic texts only acknowledge her as Rauru's older sister. Downplayed in the stone texts which describe her personality and relationship with Zelda.
Sir Not-Appearing-in-This-Trailer: She's the only major character introduced in Tears of the Kingdom who does not appear in any advertising other than the shot of her mecha activating, though no one knows it's her from that trailer alone. This is presumably because of her plot-heavy role in the story and the fact she joins the Champions from the first game as an ally who fights alongside Link as a rideable Construct, which is only revealed late in the game (although it's possible to get there early through Sequence Breaking).
Sixth Ranger: Her status as the fifth sage is largely kept under wraps in the game's promotional material and, if you follow the order the storyline nudges you in, will end up being the last sage you discover. Otherwise, it's entirely possible to find her first if you explore the Thunderhead Isles early. Bonus points for even being the sixth member of your team with Link included.
Top-Heavy Guy: Her Construct body has a massive torso and long arms, yet its legs are rather blatantly short. It can still move at a fairly brisk pace without issue, even faster if a Fan is attached to its back.
Unskilled, but Strong: Her Construct possesses a lot of physical strength to shatter boulders and can use Zonai weaponry. However, the Construct is slow and requires Link to use Fuse since Mineru is unable to use it.
Vapor Wear: There appears to be nothing binding the two halves of her chestpiece together, aside from a loose-fitting loincloth in front, with her shawl loose enough that it just floats behind her.
Weak, but Skilled:
- She's the Sage of Spirit and an expert in Zonai technology. However, she was not a warrior. This is seen when she's the first one to be defeated by Ganondorf, leaving her unable to help Rauru and the Sages defeat him.
- Her Construct body is this in a way. While it can easily break rocks, boxes, and other objects that would require hammers or axes to destroy, it's otherwise kind of clunky and awkward to control in a straight fight, especially against multiple enemies. It also lacks a separate health bar, so any damage it takes while Link pilots it is treated as if Link took the blow. Its strength is in how modular it is, as it can have up to three different objects fused to it, one for each arm and its back. Zonai Devices are particularly powerful, especially Cannons on its arms, letting it blast foes from afar and disrupt crowds while Link can safely fight the scattered enemies.
Workaholic: Mineru spent a lot of time in her constructs according to the ancient chamberlain. As a result, she forgot to eat and sleep regularly.
You Are Not Alone: Tells Rauru that he doesn't have to fight Ganondorf alone, as he has Zelda and the other Sages from Hyrule to help him. She then tells Rauru that she will support him.
Your Days Are Numbered: She's mortally wounded by Ganondorf during the first battle against him more than 10,000 years ago, and while she survives the initial battle, in Zelda's last few memories she's clearly slowly succumbing to her Gloom induced injuries.

Steward Constructs

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/totk_steward_construct_model.png

Robots developed by the Zonai to fulfill several tasks and support visitors, unlike their combat-oriented counterparts.

See here for their hostile variants.

Absurdly Dedicated Worker: The Steward Constructs continue to diligently carry out their assigned tasks thousands of years after the death of the last Zonai. Rauru's spirit comments on the matter, finding it "disquieting" that they continue to intensely labour despite the fact it's totally pointless now. One even complains that their support requests have been ignored for an unspecified amount of time despite the implications that whoever they're trying to contact is very likely dead.
Cute Machines: These friendly Constructs built to guide and support visitors are designed to be much less aggressive-looking than their combative counterparts and their head lamps make them vaguely resemble robotic Yoshis.
Cyber Cyclops: They have a single glowing eye like their Soldier counterparts, although it's much smaller and overshadowed by their head lamps and "regular" eyes (which might be decorative).
Evil-Detecting Dog: They refuse to be active around hostile monsters or individuals such as the Yiga, who don't even have the means to activate them anyway. They can even detect threats that are not immediately visible, for example one construct can be found cowering in fear when the only thing near it is a banana. Which is a Yiga trap.
Mr. Exposition: They serve as the tutorial for newcomer players with basic survival and teach experienced players about how Zonai devices work.
Nice Guy: They are nothing but courteous to Link, with the Battery Forge constructs hoping to see Link again in the future and the ones manning the diving ceremonies complimenting him if he's wearing the full Glide outfit.
Non-Action Guy: They have no programming for self-defense other than to curl up in their "off" position when in danger.
Ragnarök Proofing: Downplayed as you can find some dead ones lying around which you can loot for a Zonai Charge, the surviving ones have been around since the founding of Hyrule and can perform their programmed tasks with no problem after activation. Zelda even entrusted one on Great Sky Island with her Purah Pad, who delivers it to Link by the time he arrives there in the very far future.
Spock Speak: The Steward Constructs universally speak with a very formal and emotionless diction, even when being attacked.

Ancient Hero

The Ancient Hero

^{Click to see his physical appearance}

A warrior chosen to wield the Master Sword in the fight against Calamity Ganon 10,000 years ago.

Ambiguous Situation: The Ancient Hero's species is unclear. He resembles a Zonai, but has several features not seen at all on the only Zonai present in the game; digitigrade legs, much smaller ears, two very unusual eyes, and a tail. It's possible that he was some kind of hybrid between Zonai and one or more other races, from a different race or subspecies of Zonai than Rauru and Mineru, or something else entirely. This is more complicated by the fact that Ganondorf mentions that Rauru and Mineru are supposedly the last of the Zonai (or at least the ones present in Hyrule), while the Ancient Hero existed during the first Calamity which happened after Ganondorf was sealed and both Rauru and Mineru are no longer alive.
The Chosen One: He was chosen as the wielder of the Master Sword during the first Great Calamity 10,000 years before Breath of the Wild.
Creepy Good: His appearance can be quite intimidating, not helped by his many beastly features, but he was nonetheless a genuine hero who fought against the calamity when it first arose in Hyrule.
Curb-Stomp Battle: Assuming the legend is accurate to history, he delivered one to Calamity Ganon 10,000 years ago. With the Sheikah having received prior warning that the Calamity was about to manifest, this hero marched into battle alongside an army of Guardians and with the Divine Beasts ready to fire as soon as he emerged; the Sheikah tech pinned Ganon down, the hero attacked with the Master Sword, and the princess of the time sealed him away.
The Ghost: He only appears on an ancient Sheikah tapestry, though one of the armor sets in Tears of the Kingdom reveals what he looked like in-life.
Greater-Scope Paragon: He is the first hero that fought against the Calamity, and succeeded in defeating it, long before the events of Breath of the Wild.
Half-Human Hybrid: Implied. The item you use to take his form has the general shape of a Zonai, but also has Hylian ears and his eyes are more like a Hylian's. Assuming he is an incarnation of Link, he is the only in-game Link that we know of to be at least partially non-Hylian.
Hero of Another Story: Remember the Calamity that struck Hyrule 10,000 years ago before the events of Breath of the Wild? Well this is the guy who wielded the Master Sword during that era, and fought it head on alongside the champions of that time. And won.
Legacy Character: He's the original Hero that fought against the Calamity, and is possibly an incarnation of Link.
Master Swordsman: Considering he's shown using the Master Sword, it is likely that he was a very proficient swordsmen.
Mysterious Past: Aside from the few titbits of information that we've been given, we know next to nothing about this individual. His actual appearance adds more mysteries, as he might have been a Zonai despite being alive during a time were the last Zonai to be seen on Hyrule were already deceased. There's also the heavy implications that he was the incarnation of Link before the one of Breath of the Wild.
Nigh-Invulnerability: Once fully upgraded, wearing the Ancient Hero's Aspect gives Link an astronomical amount of defence, making it incredibly hard for him to actually be killed in battle.
No Name Given: He's never given a personal name, although his status and ability to use the Master Sword imply that it might have been "Link."
Precursor Heroes: He was a member of the group of Champions who fought the Calamity Ganon 10,000 years before the events of Breath of the Wild.
Red Is Heroic: Unlike other incarnations of Link, who possess blond or brown hair, the Ancient Hero had a mane of red hair.

Characters / The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild: Other Races

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Koroks and the Great Deku Tree

The Koroks

The Great Deku Tree

Hestu

Chio

Rito

The Rito

Saki

Harth

Kass

Amali, Notts, Kotts, Cree, Genli, and Kheel

Kaneli

Penn

Zoras

The Zora

King Dorephan

Muzu

Kodah, Kayden and Finley

Bazz, Rivan and Gaddison

Yona

Gerudo

The Gerudo

Buliara

Barta

Isha

Ashai, Dina, Risa and Pasha

Shabonne and Tali

Gorons

The Gorons

Boss Bludo

Slergo and Offrak

Bayge, Heehl and Kabetta

Zonai

The Zonai

King Rauru

Mineru

Steward Constructs

The Ancient Hero

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