Characters / The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

The Triforce WieldersRecurring: Goddesses and Allies, Villains and Enemies, Races Main Series: The Legend of Zelda, Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, A Link to the Past, Link's Awakening, Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, Oracle games, Four Swords, The Wind Waker, Four Swords Adventures, The Minish Cap, Twilight Princess, Phantom Hourglass, Spirit Tracks, Skyward Sword, A Link Between Worlds, Tri Force Heroes, Breath of the Wild & Tears of the Kingdom Spin-Offs: Philips CD-i Games, Hyrule Warriors, Cadence of Hyrule, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity

Characters from The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword.

WARNING: Unmarked, very sensitive spoilers await on this page, particularly in regards to the main characters, including the antagonists. Read at your own risk.

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Heroes

Link

Voiced by: Takashi Ohara

"You must take up this sword. As the one chosen by my creator, it is your destiny."

— Fi

The main protagonist and resident of Skyloft. At the outset of the game, he is a knight-in-training, studying at Skyloft's Knight Academy. On the day of his graduation, a mysterious black tornado sweeps Zelda away. He is then chosen to pierce the cloud layer between Skyloft and the surface world by the Goddess Sword (and its spirit, Fi), fulfilling a prophecy and searching for Zelda in the harsh world below.

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• Affectionate Nickname: Zelda refers to him as "sleepy head", due to his inability to wake up early, with her usually being the one to wake him. When Zelda goes into her hibernation to contain Demise, she notes that this time, it would be his turn to wake her up.
• Almost Kiss: Near the beginning after the flight challenge. Cue Zelda pushing him off the statue instead.
• Badass Normal: Unlike his childhood friend Zelda, Link is regarded to be an ordinary human by everyone, especially the demons. Even his implied predecessor was treated as a mere footnote in history rather than some powerful deity. Despite this, he is able to defeat the Demon Lord Ghirahim three times and vanquish the Demon King Demise, causing the former to ask what kind of human he is and the latter to praise him as a worthy patron of his kind.
• Beware the Nice Ones: He's got a reputation in Skyloft as a nice and helpful guy. Then his friend is kidnapped, and he will slice through any number of monsters to get her to safety.
• Blow You Away: The item Gust Bellows allows Link to blow wind in front of him. It can be used to erase sand or annoy enemies, for example.
• Blue Oni: He's considerably calmer and more inclined towards strategy than Groose.
• Bow and Sword in Accord: An interesting case as the bow is the last weapon obtained by Link. For much of the game, Sling And Sword In Accord might be a better phrase.
• Brilliant, but Lazy: Zelda and Gaepora both make comments that suggest Link was this as a student. He drops the "lazy" part real fast once Zelda is in danger.
• Butt-Monkey: At the beginning, Link gets no respect.
• Cassandra Truth: Shortly before Zelda has Link train for the race, Link tells her that he can't sense his scarlet Loftwing anywhere. Zelda thinks Link's attempting to weasel out of training. So she shoves him off the floating island in the sky. Fortunately, she realizes he was telling the truth in time to catch him with her own Loftwing.
• The Champion: For Zelda. Along with his Determinator nature, this is why Hylia chose him.
• Character Development: He goes from an ordinary student to a formidable and courageous swordsman.
• Chick Magnet: He gets attention from several girls in the game. Cawlin even asks Link to deliver his love letter because he considers Link to be good with the ladies.
• Childhood Friend Romance: These incarnations of Link and Zelda are stated to have been close for a long time prior to the game's events (their entire community knows; Link's classmate Groose holds it against him), and there are hints of deeper feelings between the two, both in the game and in the marketing material. The end of the game doesn't state whether they're a couple, but it does end with them choosing to stay together.
• Childhood Friends: Link and Zelda grew up together in Skyloft, and are also classmates in the Knight Academy.
• The Chosen One: One of the first, if not the first, in a long line of future Chosen Ones. Specifically, he is Hylia's Chosen Hero destined to vanquish Demise and reunite the people of Skyloft back to the Surface.
• Clothes Make the Legend: His tunic comes from the Skyloft Knight Academy. Every student in his year wears dark green.
• Cool Sword: Starts off with the Goddess Sword, which he levels up to the proper Master Sword.
• Crazy-Prepared: By the end of the game, he has enough weapons to take on a small army of enemies.

• Deadpan Snarker: Some Dialogue Tree choices can make Link this.
  Link: Nice hair. ^note In reply to The Bully who has a funny pompadour.
  Link: Am I late? ^note In reply to Impa, who previously berated him for being late when Zelda was in danger.
• Death Glare: He gives a few in the game, mostly to Ghirahim. When Link is confronted with Demise, Link is furious. Special mention has to go to the one he gives to Ghirahim after he kidnaps Zelda and announces he's going to sacrifice her to Demise.
• The Determinator: He will find Zelda, no matter what. Zelda even reveals that her past incarnation Hylia uses this to her advantage, though Zelda wasn't happy about it. Lampshaded when Guld, the Mogma leader, warns him of how dangerous the Fire Sanctuary is (via Dialogue Tree):
  Guld: You're gonna do this no matter what I say, aren't ya?
  Link: Pretty much.
• Dialogue Tree: Sometimes, the game prompts you to give a certain answer out of two or three of them that are displayed. This will affect NPCs' reactions.
• Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Another example of this Link setting the trend for heroes throughout Hyrule's history, as he defeats Ghirahim, the Demon Lord of the surface world, more than once. In the end, he takes out the Demon King Demise, who has absorbed the power of Hylia on top of his own.
• Dual Wielding: He uses two Clawshots to explore different areas.
• Dude, Where's My Respect?: Even after he's saved her life and powered up his sword, Faron doesn't treat him with respect until after he's completed her Fetch Quest.
• Famous Ancestor: Implied, rather than stated, but he gets a Maybe Ever After with Zelda, founding Hyrule can imply that he and Zelda are the ancestors of all the Zeldas we've seen - and quite possibly most of the Links, aside from the Downfall and Adult timelines, depending on how you take Demise's comment about how his Dying Curse will follow all those who "share the blood of the goddess and the spirit of the hero". It would certainly explain why every game pre Ocarina has Link as a close childhood friend of Zelda.
• Forgiveness: Understated, but it's there. He doesn't hate Groose for his constant bullying, he doesn't hate Scrapper for his verbal putdowns, he doesn't hate Faron for treating him like an errand boy. Even when Zelda admitted Hylia's plan involved her getting in danger on purpose to get him to seize his destiny, Link merely takes it in stride.
• Good Feels Good: One of the lines referring to Link's feelings is "Helping people feels good."
• Greater-Scope Paragon: His exploits in this game have a heavy impact on future games, most notably his forging of the Master Sword.
• Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Like his future incarnations, Link has blond hair and is noble.
• Hello, [Insert Name Here]: The default name is "Link".
• The Hero: Comes with being the Player Character and The Chosen One.
• Heroic Mime: Played with. He can be seen speaking (with mouth movements) during some cutscenes, but the game displays no text to show exactly what he is saying, nor does the player hear what he says.
• Hidden Depths: Exploring his room will reveal that he has a talent for wood carving.
• Innocent Blue Eyes: Par for the course: he's a kindhearted and good-natured young man.
• Just a Kid: Gets a fair share of it. Scrapper in particular refuses to show Link any respect, as "serving children is very low on my task priority," and dubs him Master Shortpants.
• Kid Hero: 17.5, according to Hyrule Historia, and already a better swordsman than his seniors.
• Kleptomaniac Hero: Subverted on occasion; some people will call Link out for breaking their pottery, and he won't take anything from people's homes. When he breaks the chandelier in the Lumpy Pumpkin, the owner is furious and forces Link to work off the debt. But he can take from Zelda's cupboard to get a Piece of Heart.
• Lady and Knight: The White Knight to Zelda's Bright Lady.
• Legacy Character: He's currently the chronologically first playable Link in the series.
  • During the Sailcloth Ceremony, Zelda mentions that Hylia had once given the sailcloth to her chosen hero a long time ago, implying that Link had a predecessor before him. However, whether the hero with the sailcloth was Link himself traveling to the past or not is left ambiguous.
• Leitmotif: Shares one with Zelda entitled as "Romance". Also, the main theme of the series comes back as his motif with an arrangement: the Song of the Hero.
• Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: Played with this time; the shield in Skyward Sword has a breaking point. Heap too much abuse on it and it will shatter. Any shield can be fixed up to reset how much damage it can sustain, though, and the Sacred Shield and its upgrades, the basic form of which can be bought after the third dungeon, repair themselves if left idle at the cost of being less durable than the other shields. In addition, wooden shields are not completely replaced by metal ones. Certain enemies have attacks that can actually shatter metal shields on contact, meaning that you have to switch out a wooden one that won't. Electric attacks will also still hit if you're using an metal shield rather than a wooden one. On the flipside, wooden shields are flammable, but make blocked enemy arrows recoverable (as they stick in the shield), so switching them out and upgrading as needed is key. Played straight with the Hylian Shield, obtainable through an optional boss rush, which blocks all damage types and has infinite durability.
• Knight in Shining Armor: Maybe a bit rough around the edges at first, but he gets there in the end.
• Magic Music: He plays Zelda's harp throughout the game.
• Manly Tears: When Zelda is put into an enchanted sleep.
• Master Swordsman: One of several Links who's pretty good with a sword from the get-go. He can receive a few pointers from his sparring instructor, but it's implied that he's already capable with a blade.
• Maybe Ever After: His relationship with Zelda after the finale is left up in the air.
• Mechanically Unusual Fighter: One of two Links in the series who isn't (canonically) a lefty^note The other one being in Breath of the Wild. Although he could be ambidextrous — if you play Fledge's pumpkin-shooting mini-game after completing his side-quest, Link holds the bow in his right hand while drawing the arrow with his left hand like his successors. ^note Archers typically hold their bows in their off-hand while drawing the arrow with their dominant hand, although it can also depend on which is their dominant eye.
• Nice Guy: Despite the pressing need to save Zelda, there are a lot of sidequests involving helping people out.
• Nice to the Waiter: His relationship with Fi, in a nutshell. Though it rarely rises beyond the level of master and servant, he’s never unkind to her, and by most of his Dialogue Trees, he appears to regard her rather chummily. Come the end of the game, he's visibly upset at having to return the Master Sword to its pedestal, knowing that Fi will never be able to manifest outside of it again.
• Odd Couple: Link is a gentle, calm, silent guy with a noble personality and a lazy, dreamy attitude toward training while Zelda is a tough, sassy, outgoing Genki Girl who lives a simple, fun-loving lifestyle but is more responsible about training. Yet the two have been best friends since childhood.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • A brief one at the beginning. After he wins the Bird Statue, Zelda sees him and excitedly jumps off the edge of Skyloft. The look on his face as he swoops in to catch her says it all.
  • Later, he gets a hilarious one when Groose is skydiving at a ridiculous speed towards him.
• One-Man Army: This incarnation of Link is probably the most defining example of all the Links, going through waves of Bokoblins and Moblins just to save Zelda.
• Ordinary High-School Student: Before the test at the beginning of the game, he was living in a dorm, going to school, studying to become a knight, had an implied romantic interest with one of his closest friends whom could be seen as "the most popular girl in school", was bullied by a Jerk Jock, and like most high school-esque scenarios, has most of his problems solved by the end of the story.
• The Paragon: Demise calls him as much. His first re-sealing of The Imprisoned inspires Groose to set up his Groosenator to help contain subsequent breakouts, and even inspires Groose to try to impede Ghirahim when he abducts Zelda and escapes through the time gate. He fails, through no fault of his own, but courage was still inspired in Groose.
• Parental Abandonment: Link is a native of Skyloft, but unlike some of the other students, his family does not live there. The game doesn't address where his parents are or what happened to them.
• Pintsized Powerhouse: He's implied to be short: Scrapper keeps calling him "Master Shortpants". However, the guy is a formidable swordsman and a One-Man Army who manages to get Demise to call him a "paragon".
• Precursor Heroes: He is, in the very least, the earliest hero who has ever carried the Master Sword into battle and unless the manga is taken as canon, he is the progenitor Link through which all future Triforce of Courage bearers inherit their heroic spirit. There was, however, a previous champion of the Goddess mentioned, the role of whom Link even assumes during the Wing Ceremony.
• The Quiet One: Though still a Heroic Mime, Link has BioWare-esque text options in certain cutscenes, often when talking with Zelda.
• Red Baron: Breath of the Wild retroactively gave him the title "Hero of the Sky".
• The Reliable One: Despite a bad habit of sleeping in, he's the go-to guy in Skyloft whenever you need a favor. Karane even lampshades it.
• Shield Bash: A maneuver Link can perform to get the drop on the enemy. Mastery of this is important because it's the only way to deflect an enemy attack without harming your shield.
• Sleepyhead: What Zelda calls him, with reason.
• Spin Attack: In this game, Link gets a vertical version of his Signature Move.
• Stab the Sky: The Skyward Strike allows him to charge up his sword and perform Sword Beams and other techniques.
• Staring Down Cthulhu: In the Final Battle, Link throws his Death Glare to Demise; the Demon King remarks that he didn't expect a human to display such courage.
• Sword Beam: The Skyward Strike allows him to turn a normal slash or stab into one. For the player, this is the first time a Sword Beam existed in a 3D home console Zelda game since The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask.
• Took a Level in Badass: He went from the Ordinary High-School Student who was nearly in over his head and chewed out by Impa to a true Hero of the Goddess and One-Man Army. Watch carefully during the brief cutscenes during which Link walks through the door of each dungeon. At first he is hesitant, but by the final dungeon he doesn't even flinch. In fact, he runs.
• Tranquil Fury: Link versus the hordes of Bokoblins and other enemies at the end of the game. It's almost impossible to lose against them. While in other games Link's most clearly motivated by duty to the kingdom/world, and doing what's right for a Princess he met, at best, a couple weeks before, this time, the villains have messed with a Zelda who he's been best friends with (and perhaps more) for years, and he is pissed.
• Work Off the Debt: You can break the Lumpy Pumpkin's precious lamp, and far from going unpunished, the owner makes you pay off the bill by working at the restaurant.
• Yes-Man: Carries out the will of the gods and Hylia, without ever questioning them, offering an alternative, or answering back. This is revealed to be entirely because Zelda's safety is hanging in the balance, and that Hylia knew this, which Zelda (her mortal incarnation) is horrified by.
• You Are Too Late: Impa berates him for arriving at Eldin's fountain way too late, when Zelda was already saved and fine. She even stops Link from following and protecting them through Lanayru Desert. She later shows him more respect after he fights his way through the Lanayru Mining Facility in time to intercept Ghirahim and buy them the chance to get through the Temple of Time - a moment which even has the opportunity to snark, "am I late?" at Impa, who ruefully admits he's right on time.

Fi

Voiced by: Ayumi Fujimura

"Fi is the name I was given. I was created for a single purpose, long before the recorded memory of your people. I must aid you in fulfilling the great destiny that is your burden to carry."

The titular blade, the Goddess Sword, which houses a spirit named Fi that manifests itself in the form of a girl to aid Link.

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• Adaptational Nice Guy: She is designed to be less intrusive, and therefore less patronizing, in the HD version. In particular, the remake removes an interaction where Link could potentially mistake a Kikwi for Zelda, which results in Fi subtly mocking him in an Overly Long Gag.
• Admiring the Abomination: In a rare show of personality, Fi will admit to being impressed by the tenacity shown by Scervo, the miniboss of the Sandship, who manages to fight Link completely unaided in the present despite being composed of ancient technology.
• Arc Hero: Of Skyward Sword. She is Link's primary companion and guide, receives a fair amount of media attention and some gameplay mechanics are modified to accommodate for her presence.
• Armless Biped: Unless you count her wing-like cloak as her arms. Concept art actually reveals that she originally had arms under her cloak, but lacks them in the game proper (as is clear with her playable model in Hyrule Warriors).
• Aura Vision: She can pinpoint the auras of certain characters and objects, provided there’s a source available for her to scan for them.
• Auto-Tune: Fi's voice has been pitch-shifted to sound more robotic, emphasising her non-human nature.
• But Now I Must Go: Having completed her mission, Fi's consciousness fades into the Master Sword at the end of the game, entering a sleep without end as Link inserts it into its pedestal. That said, she temporarily awakens in the final memory of Breath of the Wild, where she advises Zelda to save an Only Mostly Dead Link. In addition, should the player complete the Trial of the Sword, she will say something to Link, though the audience is unable to hear what she says. We only hear her chime.
• Canon Character All Along: Of sorts. She's introduced as the spirit of the Goddess Sword, a weapon previously unseen in the series. On finishing the Fire Sanctuary, however, it's revealed she's actually tied to the legendary Master Sword itself, with the Goddess Sword being the unfinished form of it. Breath of the Wild confirms she's continued to serve as the spirit inside the weapon ever since.
• Captain Obvious: Fi tends to exposit information that was just explained by other characters or is clear through simple observation, seemingly to reflect a low faith in human intelligence, as she is essentially a holy AI with expansive knowledge sent to help Link, a pretty ordinary human. This aspect is immensely toned down in the Switch version.
• Chrome Champion: She's the spirit of the Goddess/Master Sword, so her metal-like body is justified.
• Clothing Appendage: She's uses the flaps of her cape to motion as though they were her arms, particularly when dancing. They also have the same metallic luster as her skin and hair.
• Cool Sword: She’s responsible for many of the extraneous abilities the Goddess Sword has.
• The Comically Serious: Her demeanor comes off as serious and no-nonsense, but some of her reactions and dialogue indicate otherwise.
• Contrasting Sequel Main Character: Fi is the antithesis to her console-release predecessor Midna. Midna is highly charismatic, emotional, mostly hints instead of explicitly spelling out what's going on, and most of all starts out just using Link before coming to genuinely care for him. Fi is robotic, borderline emotionless, spells out every little detail, and is incredibly loyal from the start thanks to her programming while eventually growing to enjoy her time with Link.
• Dainty Little Ballet Dancers: Very graceful and ethereal, and often engages in elaborate ballet routines when translating messages for Link, or in accompaniment to the songs he plays on the harp.
• Deadpan Snarker: Some of her dialogue is extremely deadpan, usually when faced with human stupidity.
• Deuteragonist: As Link's companion character and the spirit of the Master Sword itself, Fi naturally fills this role.
• Dream Walker: As an extension of her Telepathy. She first appears in the dream Link is having that opens up the game, forewarning him of the destiny he will soon need to fulfill.
• Dub Name Change: She's given various different spellings in other language dubs — Fay in French and Spanish, Phai in German, Faih in Italian, and Fai Korean and Russian — to preserve the phonetic sound of her name.
• Empathic Weapon: She alerts Link when his health is low and will allow him to dowse for hearts to restore it once you reach Eldin Volcano. She can also analyze the surrounding area and provide tips and warnings on how to improve his odds of survival.
• Enemy Scan: She can pinpoint enemies' weaknesses as well as rate Link’s performance against them. She can also do this for bosses, being able to present more and more information the longer each fight goes on.
• Energy Absorption: She uses this power to call down divine energy for Skyward Strikes, as well as to direct the three sacred flames into the Goddess Sword to temper it. The final battle sees Link use the Master Sword as an Improvised Lightning Rod, and ends with Fi absorbing Demise's own consciousness into the blade and sealing it there.
• Exposition Fairy: The best-informed of the series' Exposition Fairies. She's a font of backstory and gameplay advice all couched in a charming turn of phrase.
• Fashionable Asymmetry: The two flaps of her cloak are bright blue and purple, respectively.
• Foil: To Ghirahim, her fellow sword spirit with an opposing temperament to hers. Both were endowed with Undying Loyalty to their respective masters, but Ghirahim's bombastic behavior juxtaposes how thanklessly Demise ultimately treats him, whereas the much more modest and aloof Fi is treated with decency by Link, in spite of how impersonal their companionship is.
• Go Out with a Smile: Despite knowing her consciousness will be sealed away and forgotten inside the Master Sword, Fi admits to feeling happiness in her final moments, as she is grateful to Link for the experiences they've shared and hopes they have a chance to meet again one day.
• Good Colors, Evil Colors: Her blue and purple color motifs contrast Ghirahim’s black, red, and orange ones.
• Herald: Functions as one for Hylia, who stored significant amounts of information, including messages to Link, in Fi's memories.
• If My Calculations Are Correct: Much of her advise is given as probability percentages. It's unknown where she gets the variables from.
• My Sensors Indicate You Want to Tap That: She's very attuned to Link's devotion to Zelda and concludes that any updates on her status and whereabouts will usually boost his morale. In the event that Link "professes" his love to Peatrice, Fi also claims to sense his attraction to her whenever she's in the vicinity, though this could just be her teasing.
• Mythology Gag:
  • Fi is visually similar to the Great Fairies from The Wind Waker.
  • The blade of her sword form flashes blue when her power is active, similar to how the Master Sword had the same glow in Ocarina of Time when Link was preparing to impale Ganon.
• No Biological Sex: According to Eiji Aonuma, Fi is a feminine figure, but doesn't really have a sex per se. Fitting, since she's a sword.
• No Sense of Personal Space: More of a sense than Ghirahim, at least, but she does get uncomfortably close to Link a few more times than is strictly necessary.
• Not So Stoic: She has moments that imply she's not quite as unfeeling as she appears. Her final interaction with Link suggests that she does experience some emotions but isn't programmed to recognize or express them properly.
• Out-of-Character Moment: She’s almost consistently logistical and avoids interacting with other characters, but the Lanayru Sand Sea arc manages to show a few cracks in her facade.
  • After finding the sea chart at Skipper’s Retreat, she takes note of the nearby paintings showing the happy days the skipper enjoyed with the robotic crew of the Sandship.
  • After fighting the second Moldarach at the shipyard, she advises you to leave the area as there’s only a limited probability that it houses further clues. If you try to keep searching anyway, she’ll forgo her usually arbitrary calculations and tell you chances have dropped to 0%, just to drive the point home that you should leave.
  • She shows a marked admiration for Scervo, the robotic pirate who stole the Sandship from the Skipper, complimenting how well he functions in the present without needing a Timeshift Stone.
  • After you obtain the bow, one of her pieces of flavor text is some advice about how to amass more arrows...in which she tells Link a story about a warrior who approached a Bokoblin fortress and used his wooden shield to collect the arrows they fired upon him. For context, Fi’s hints usually consist of just telling Link he can do a certain thing, without relying on some kind of framing device.
• Proper Tights with a Skirt: Fi is one of the most feminine and serious companions in the Zelda series, and her form gives her the appearance of wearing black and green tights under a mini dress.
• Revision: As she is the spirit inhabiting the Master Sword, and Breath of the Wild confirms that she still has a consciousness within it, every mention of the Master Sword choosing Link or actively doing anything else takes on a different meaning. These scenes originally made it seem like the otherwise inanimate sword sensed Link was The Chosen One, but after this game, it's because Fi herself recognizes the reincarnation of her master.
• Robot Girl: She's a femininely designed mystical spirit, reflected in her body shape, voice, and the facial features she has. She's also a highly analytical, vocally tuned to sound robotic, and highly unemotional spirit who constantly calculates percentages just like an artificially intelligent android.
• Servile Snarker: Although bound to serve Link, she clearly thinks little of his intelligence early on and isn't above popping stealthy quips and insults if he does something stupid or unbecoming. More generally, she snarks at other moments of human stupidity.
• Signature Sound Effect: Anytime Fi speaks, wants to speak, or emerges from the sword, it's accompanied by a distinct high-pitch chime-like sound.
• Speaking Simlish: She speaks largely in incomprehensible gibberish, although some bits of it can be tied to specific textual parts of her dialogue.
• The Spock: Fi leans towards this, speaking with an analytical, emotionless tone.
• Sugar-and-Ice Personality: She's extremely calculated and aloof to the end of her mission with Link, but she shows a warmer side and speaks cordially with him after the Master Sword is driven into its pedestal, relieving her of her duty as his servant.
• Talking Weapon: She is able to comunicate from inside the Goddess Sword, although she typically manifests outside of it.
• Translator Buddy: One of her roles is to translate divine messages left for Link by the gods.
• Undying Loyalty: From the moment Link draws the Goddess Sword, she declares her eternal loyalty to him. She even demonstrates the "Undying" part by saving the life of his future incarnation in Breath of the Wild.
• Unusually Uninteresting Sight: With the exception of Gaepora, the Kikwis, and Scrapper, Fi's presence as Link's companion who resides in his sword goes unacknowledged by most of the game's cast. It's possible that she can either only be perceived by certain entities (which would explain the mystically knowledgeable Gaepora and the magic robot Scrapper... though possibly not the Kikwis), or she can make herself imperceptible.

Zelda

Voiced by: Yu Shimamura

"Have you ever wondered what's beneath the clouds? Some say that it's an empty, barren place, or even that there's nothing at all down below, but I just have this feeling that they're wrong."

A resident of Skyloft and friend of Link's since their childhood. The daughter of the Knight Academy's headmaster, she serves as the goddess surrogate for the Wing Ceremony. She is sucked into a vortex early on in the game, but rescued by Impa.

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• Action Survivor: She doesn't seem to have any noticeable fighting skills like Link, but she was able to make her way across two monster-infested lands on her own.
• Amnesiac God: She's revealed to be a physical reincarnation of the Goddess Hylia, who gave up her immortality to save humans from Demise.
• The Atoner: While not an evil character, she (or rather, Hylia) did take advantage of Link's motivation to find and rescue her. The plan was set into motion back when she was the goddess Hylia, and despite her current self, Zelda, not being conscious of the plan at all, she still blames herself for it. To atone, she puts herself to sleep for thousands of years to seal away Demise in the past until Link finds a way to destroy him in the present.
• Barrier Maiden: As the reincarnated goddess Hylia, Zelda's mere soul possesses incredible amounts of power that she uses to empower the seals placed on Demise.
• Bully Hunter: She's not shy about speaking her mind to Groose in order to defend Link.
• Call-Forward: The same character doing the same throw when the Big Bad is chasing her down as in Ocarina of Time. With another musical instrument no less.
• Childhood Friend Romance: These incarnations of Link and Zelda are stated to have been close for a long time prior to the game's events (their entire community knows; Link's classmate Groose resents Link over it), and there are hints of deeper feelings between the two, both in the game (they even share a Leitmotif called "Romance", and another song called "Romance in the Air") and the marketing material. The end of the game doesn't state whether they're a couple, but it does end with them choosing to stay together.
• Childhood Friends: Link and Zelda grew up together in Skyloft, and are also classmates in the Knight Academy.
• Crystal Prison: At one point in the game, she encases herself into one in order to strengthen the seal on the Imprisoned.
• Daddy's Girl: She and her father are quite close. She even has a large painting of them together in her bedroom.
• Damsel in Distress: Played with; she was spirited away by Impa and is spending her time trying to evade Ghirahim's capture. Played straight near the end of the game, where Ghirahim manages to capture her.
• Damsel out of Distress: She managed to make her way through Faron Woods without getting caught, and got to the Earth Temple's entrance on Eldin Volcano before she was captured.
• Deadpan Snarker: Several of her dialogue can come off as sassy, especially if you choose Link's more dorky dialogue.
  "And just what are you thinking? Don't be silly. This is your big moment, Link."
• Genki Girl: She starts off as one. As a kid, she's described as having thrown a long, unbearable tantrum about Link's special connection with his Loftwing. As a young girl, she's not above pushing Link from lethal heights, leaping in his arms from even higher heights herself, and dragging her lifelong friends around wherever she sees fit.
• Girl Next Door: A drastic change for her namesake in other games, she's just another girl at the school and a good friend of Link (one he's got emerging romantic feelings for but nothing more serious than close friendship at the outset of the game). She's the headmaster's daughter but everyone just treats her as another student at the Knight Academy.
• God in Human Form: She's the reincarnation of the goddess Hylia, but she doesn't know this at first.
• Gold and White Are Divine: Which is why she changes outfits.
• Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: She has blonde hair and is pure-hearted. Although she feels bad for abusing Link's love towards her to further her divine goals.
• Harp of Femininity: Which she uses in her prayer ceremonies to restore her body. As per tradition of the series, she lends it to Link to use to play Magic Music.
• Hime Cut: She sports a traditional Hime Cut in place of the tiara favored by her other incarnations, as she's not a princess this time. She's technically a "spirit maiden", not a miko, but they are similar in function and the hair decorations in her post-Skyloft outfit appear similar to the kind worn by some shrine maidens.
• Hero of Another Story: Although she is technically the Heroine of the Same Story, like Link, Zelda made her own journey across the surface alongside Impa, facing her own trials.
• Hostage MacGuffin: Both Link and Ghirahim are looking for her, but for vastly different reasons. During the climax, Link has to save her from having her divine spirit fed to The Imprisoned/Demise. He's too late, but she gets better.
• I Hate Past Me: Less than impressed after discovering that her previous iteration as the goddess Hylia had so much disregard for whom would ever become her appointed chosen hero, this case her childhood friend Link - putting them through a series of arduous challenges to make her wish on the sacred relic. Not to mention said Triforce being left behind for the benefit of mortals, and just because she couldn't use it, sealed it away.
• Implied Love Interest: Link and Zelda are strongly implied to have romantic feelings for each other. At the very least, she has them for him.
• Incorruptible Pure Pureness: Ghirahim needs Zelda for his plans because of her "holiness". Later subverted when we find out that she's actually the Goddess Hylia reincarnated. Her "holiness" actually refers to the raw divine power in her soul. She, herself, is actually not. And in her opinion, neither was Hylia.
• Innocent Blue Eyes: Like her future incarnations (with the exception of the one from Breath of the Wild) she has blue eyes. Her innocence comes from her obliviousness to her true nature, which is noticeably upset about when she regains her memories as Hylia.
• Lady and Knight: The Lady with Link as the Knight - though both of them are at the Knight Academy, Link is the skilled swordsman.
• Legacy Character: She's the first incarnation of Zelda. This is cemented during her reveal that she's the Goddess Hylia.
• Leitmotif:
  • Has one shared with Link called "Romance".
  • As is tradition in the franchise, she has "Zelda's Lullaby".
  • "Ballad of the Goddess" counts, too, due to her origin as the goddess Hylia.
• Little Miss Almighty: Inverted with Zelda being the mortal incarnation of the Goddess Hylia. As part of a Batman Gambit to rid Demise, Hylia gave up her divinity in the hope to acquire the power of the Triforce to tip the scales of war in her favor. However, she has no memory of this as Zelda until it was awakened by Impa and her visit to the temples.
• Living MacGuffin: During the main story, the plot is mostly driven by both Link and Ghirahim racing to get to her first, though she herself doesn't take much action other than giving the Master Sword its final blessing.
• Maybe Ever After: She and Link remain on the surface at the end of the game, but it's ambiguous if the two start a relationship.
• Meaningful Appearance: Since she purified herself in Farore's fountain, she wears a long, white robe, also representing pureness.
• Messianic Archetype: She is the incarnation of the Goddess Hylia, and her Christ-like nature eventually comes to a head when she seals herself away for thousands of years in order to help strengthen the seal on Demise.
• Miko: Played with; she's referred to as a "spirit maiden" by Fi and a few other characters, and the hair decorations in her post-Skyloft outfit appear similar to the kind worn by some shrine maidens. Justified considering the role given to her by the Goddess.
• My God, What Have I Done?:
  • When she believes Link is trying to weasel out of training by claiming that he can't sense his Loftwing, only to find out he was telling the truth after she pushed him over the edge. As soon as she manages to save him, this is her reaction.
  • This is also her reaction to the Batman Gambit that she set up as Hylia — despite having had no idea about it until she got the memories of her past life back.
• Mystical Waif: A beautiful and loving young girl with great powers and a mystic role to fulfil.
• Nice Girl: Zelda is perky and extremely kind towards most people, especially Link. Just don't try to pick on him…
• Odd Couple: She is a Genki Girl while Link is The Quiet One. She is more outgoing and takes training more seriously than Link. Her dialogue in the beginning can be sassy and she can be impulsive until her Character Development kicks in. The game doesn't confirm if their friendship is more than platonic, but they are obviously good friends.
• Omniscient Morality License: Defied. Towards the end, after regaining her memories, she actually apologizes to Link for the actions she took as Hylia, setting up his difficult journey. While it may have been necessary, it was not fair to him.
• Ordinary High-School Student: In much the same way as Link. Who would have thought the first in a long line of princesses started out as a normal girl?
• Pals with Jesus: Zelda may be Hylia reincarnated, but she is still Link's friend.
• Pink Means Feminine: Her first costume has a pink dress, although she later trades it for a white robe.
• Platonic Life-Partners: Her relationship with Link growing up. Now, it seems the platonic part is changing.
• Plucky Girl: Zelda has no noticeable combat skills in spite of being a student of the Knight Academy, but she has every bit as much Heroic Spirit as Link does.
• Running Gag: We never get to hear her finish singing the Ballad of the Goddess.
• Scatting: Zelda's singing is actually fully voice-acted, it's just that her actress is singing gibberish in imitation of Scatting.
• Silk Hiding Steel: Pretty fun-loving girl with a bit of a temper, and no known major survival skills. Managed to trek across two monster infested regions without much help while being chased by a Demon Lord, then a third with no other back-up than a magical bodyguard, and sacrifices herself to seal Demise for millennia.
• Single Woman Seeks Good Man: She is fawned over by the rude and pigheaded Groose, but she is less than impressed and only has eyes for the Nice Guy Link.
• Smooch of Victory: Subverted. The lead-up certainly makes it seem like she's going to give him a kiss as part of the Wing Ceremony (with her even leaning in close to him), but she actually pushes him off the statue so he can use his new Sailcloth.

• Swallowed Whole: She is the subject of this by The Imprisoned in Link's dreams. At the end of the game, The Imprisoned swallows her soul from her body.
• Targeted Human Sacrifice: Her soul is needed to free Demise and return him to his original form.
• Tears of Joy: When Demise is finally vanquished at the end.
• Textile Work Is Feminine: She personally sewed the sailcloth that Link uses throughout the game. Knitting supplies can also be found in her room (along with a Tingle plushie she presumably made).
• The Ugly Guy's Hot Daughter: She is prettier than her owl-like father.
• Took a Level in Kindness: Downplayed. She starts off as a bit inconsiderate and reckless, but she becomes more mature by the end of the game.
• Tsundere: With emphasis on the dere. She's generally sweet, but doesn't hesitate to chastise Link for not training for the Wing Ceremony, even pushing him off the edge of Skyloft when he says he can't sense his Loftwing (which leads to a massive Oh, Crap! moment when she realizes he's not just making things up).
• Victorious Childhood Friend: Implied. Though it is possible to accept Peatrice's affections, doing so will change nothing in the game's cutscenes in regards to Zelda.

Groose

Voiced by: Kenji Takahashi

"I know you, and you're no hero, shrimp!"

Link's rival on Skyloft, Groose has a crush on Zelda. A typical Jerk Jock at first (and second, and third) sight, there's more to him than even he realises.

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• Abhorrent Admirer: To Zelda, who is less than impressed with him and with his interest. Eventually, he realises that she only has eyes for Link and bows out gracefully.
• Anime Hair: Sports a ridiculous-looking pompadour that everyone from you to Ghirahim insults.
• Badass Normal: For a guy who doesn't have any special powers or Goddess-given destiny, Groose sure does pull off some ridiculously cool things. He even gets praise from Demise for having the guts to save Zelda.
• Berserk Button: Don't mock his hair. Link has the option to mock it, and Groose doesn't take kindly to that.
  Link: Nice hair.
  Groose: You lay off my 'do right now, or I'll flatten you. Everyone knows I've got the slickest pompadour in town!
• The Big Guy: He's incredibly tall, and conversely incredibly strong. Strong enough to build an entire function train-track circling the sacred grounds on his own.
• Big Damn Heroes: Helps Link seal the Imprisoned away the second and third time, and at one point catches Zelda's nearly depleted body. Even Demise is mildly impressed, remarking that he and Link are the first humans he's ever come across to do more than just gibber and wail and cling to Hylia.
• Boisterous Bruiser: No matter where he is in his character arc, one element that stays consistent is his larger-than-life personality.
• The Bully: Initially to Link and Fledge. In an interesting deconstruction, Link himself barely takes him seriously and is in far better social standing than Groose; Link's dialogue options and interactions imply that he sees Groose as a nuisance at worst and a potential friend at best.
• Bully Turned Buddy: He starts out as a bully to most of the Knight Academy and sees himself as The Rival to Link for Zelda's attention, though Zelda never shows any interest in him. After he finds out that Link is The Chosen One while he himself has no prophecied part in events, he has a minor breakdown and then decides to help anyway, and in the end is instrumental to defeating the Big Bad.
• Character Development: Goes from a Jerkass to an ally as the game goes on.
• Cannot Talk to Women: When Zelda's around, he tends to lose his train of thought...
• Dark Is Not Evil: Groose rides a unique black Loftwing, but he turns out to be a Jerk with a Heart of Gold.
• Ditzy Genius: Despite initially appearing to be nothing more than a Jerk Jock and Dumb Muscle, once he starts his Character Development, Groose proves to be a surprisingly gifted engineer and strategist, able to single-handedly build a massive catapult on a rail system and improvise a solution after running out of ammo in the middle of a battle.
• Dub Name Change: His original Japanese name is "Bado", which can be transliterated as "Bad" or "Bird". This original name is also used in the German and Italian localizations. His name also changes in other languages: "Hergo" in French, "Malton" in European Spanish, and "Vilán" in Latin American Spanish.
• Egopolis: When he first arrives in Hyrule, he suggests naming it Grooseland. Even the music thinks it's stupid.
• Friend to All Living Things: Hilariously, the small birds in Hyrule seem to love him.
• Gadgeteer Genius: He rigs up the Groosenator, a moving bomb catapult on rails, just in time to help Link fight off the Imprisoned again. He's actually surprised he did so.
• Gang of Bullies: He, along with his flunkies Cawlin and Strich, like to harass and make fun of Link.
• Genius Bruiser: While he may not come off as very bright, he's a Gadgeteer Genius - to everyone's surprise, including his own. Even "Grannie" is impressed, despite being the first to know of his potential (and she had an unfair advantage given that she saw his Character Development in the past). He's also strong enough to build a functional train track around the sacred grounds all by himself.
• Go Through Me: He attempts to block Ghirahim from accessing the Gate of Time in the Sealed Grounds, but is easily kicked out of the way.
• Green-Eyed Monster: He is very jealous of Link's relationship with Zelda at the beginning of the story. He gets over it by the end.
• Heroic Build: Downplayed, since he starts out as a bullying blowhard, but he ultimately rises to the occasion and proves himself a true hero despite his flaws. He's also one of the most muscular characters in the game.
• Heroic BSoD: When he utterly fails to stop the Imprisoned, and Link succeeds, he beats himself up for being useless. He takes awhile to get over it. Prior to that, he freaks out when he (and Link) arrive on the Surface, hysterically demanding to know where they are. He calms down after Link explains things.
• Heroic Wannabe: He thinks he's The Chosen One, mostly trying to be a hero for the Standard Hero Reward and the glory that such a thing entails. When Groose learns that he's not the Hero of Legend, he doesn't react well at first. Then he gets a close up look at the Imprisoned, and has a Heroic BSoD, realising that he just froze. But, thanks to some character development, he decides that he'll help Link save the world instead, becoming heroic only when he decided he didn't need to be a hero. And when he does, he's heroic enough to mildly impress Demise, who gives him props - and literally the only other human who earns his respect is Link.
• Hopeless Suitor: Groose has an obvious crush on Zelda, and at the beginning of the game hopes to earn her affections. Unfortunately for him, Zelda only has eyes for Link (though his attitude didn't do him any favors). He comes to accept this by the end.
• Idiot Hair: Has an entire Idiot Pompadour.
• Idiot Savant: Bordering on this. He's not all that smart, though not a complete idiot, yet he's able to build a working catapult and railway track that circles the entire Sealed Grounds.
• Inferiority Superiority Complex: His initial disdain for Link is rooted in jealousy towards Link's natural talent and relationship with Zelda, making Groose feel insecure about his own skills and loneliness. Luckily, he manages to overcome these feelings during his time with the Old One.
• Intergenerational Friendship: He gets pretty close with "Grannie" after he ends up in Faron Woods. Outside of setting up the Groosenator to help contain the Imprisoned, his motivation to stay on the surface comes from his empathy towards her loneliness. In turn, "Grannie" subtly hints that she enjoys his presence, and encourages him to become a better man even at his lowest point. When she disappears before his own eyes, Groose looks pretty sad, knowing that he'll never see her again. Knowing how he was at the beginning of the game, this is quite a moment for him.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: He eventually accepts that Zelda prefers Link over him, and shakes Link with joy when they're finally reunited.
• Jerkass Has a Point: He tends to bully Link about how much he needs to be mothered by Zelda and wonders whether he can make a single decision without her there. He's not technically wrong about this, as Zelda demonstrates the need to mollycoddle Link during many of their interactions and is the primary motivation for him to accept his Call to Adventure. She's even the one who jumps to his defense both times that Groose is shown picking on him.
• Jerk Jock: The top student of the Loftwing Academy is Link's bully.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's an envious bully, but he is determined to be a knight and genuinely cares about Zelda. Even before his Character Development, if one scans him with Fi, she claims that he's pure of heart.
• The Lancer: After his Character Development, he becomes this to Link.
• Leitmotif: A slightly jerky one, usually using the Trombone, which goes flat in instances when Zelda is calling him out on his behavior. It gets a more heroic reprise when he suddenly rushes in to save Zelda.
• Long-Range Fighter: Despite his physique, he uses the Groosenator to launch bombs from a distance.
• Lovable Jock: After his Character Development, Groose stays athletic.
• Non-Action Guy: Downplayed. He admits that his eventual role in helping Link isn't very action-packed, but he doesn't mind it. On top of that, he does help out pretty nicely against The Imprisoned with his Groosenator.
• Odd Friendship: Groose, the pompous, arrogant young man forms a close bond with the Old One, a humble, wise elderly woman during their time together at the Sealed Grounds. Needless to say, he's visibly devastated when she finally succumbs to her old age.
• Red Herring: He traps Link's loftwing, is very envious of him and tries to steal Zelda's affections, setting himself up to be Link's Arch-Enemy, as Ganon is in other games. Also he shares the yellow eyes, large physique and red hair with the series' iconic villain, and their names begin with a G. Then comes the Character Development.
• Red Oni: While Link is a thoughtful Heroic Mime, Groose is a Boisterous Bruiser with a side of ham.
• Refused by the Call: He's not very happy when the old woman tells him that Link, not him, is the one who will save Zelda and bring her home, but he gets over it.
• The Rival: Openly considers himself the rival to Link, though it's eventually averted when they become friends.
• Siege Engines: He builds a catapult called the Groosenator that he launches bombs and Link from.
• Stealing the Credit: Groose is determined to be the one who saves Zelda and not Link, though only with the selfish intent of winning over her for himself.
• Theme Naming: Like most of the residents of Skyloft, he is named after a bird—two species in his case; the grouse and the goose.
• Took a Level in Kindness: After letting go of his jealousy towards Link, Groose mellows out and becomes a nicer guy.
• Virtuous Character Copy: An incredibly tall, large-framed, muscular man with red hair who is a little bit too smug for his own good and has a strong sense of entitlement. That's a description that fits Ganondorf, but he's not present in this game. Instead, Groose seems to take his place as a more heroic (and vaguely ridiculous) take on that character archetype.
• Wrong Genre Savvy: After following Link to the surface, he initially believes that he's The Hero, and tells Link to step aside so he can go save Zelda (and possibly get the Standard Hero Reward). He is most displeased to hear from the old woman at the Sealed Grounds that the opposite seems to be the case.
• You Shall Not Pass!: When Ghirahim arrives to capture Zelda after Demise is defeated for good and takes her into the past, Groose attempts to block Ghirahim's way. Unfortunately, Ghirahim simply pushes him aside with little effort.
• You Are Better Than You Think You Are: He's eventually convinced by "Grannie" that although he may not be The Chosen One of this story, that doesn't mean he doesn't have his own significant role to play.

Impa

Voiced by: Rei Shimoda

"It took you far too long to get here. Looking at you, I fear the goddess is mistaken in her choice of agents."

A mysterious Sheikah woman who rescued Zelda from Ghirahim and becomes her bodyguard.

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• Action Girl: Impa is an accomplished warrior, saving Zelda’s life from Bokoblins in the Earth Temple and holding her own against Ghirahim with her barrier magic.
• Actually Pretty Funny: If the player chooses to have Link respond "Am I late" after saving her from Ghirahim, in relation to her chewing him out for not reaching Zelda in time earlier, Impa actually gives a small laugh before admitting that he's right on time.
• Badass Cape: She only wears it in the artwork and her very first appearance.
• Barrier Warrior: She is shown holding up a barrier when fighting Ghirahim, although he eventually breaks through it with one of his swords.
• Bifauxnen: She has a tight, lean physique to contrast Zelda. The concept art notes state that she was designed with this trope in mind as a nod to Sheik.
• Bodyguard Babes: Played With. She's an attractive female bodyguard, but her looks aren't remotely emphasised by design or narrative.
• Continuity Nod: This one might as well be the younger Impa.
• Cool Big Sis: She is a somewhat older woman who serves as Zelda's guide and protector.
• Death Glare: Shoots one to Link before dishing out a "The Reason You Suck" Speech. Given her red eyes, Link promptly backs off.
• Decomposite Character: Impa's two traditional roles, Zelda's Sheikah protector and an elderly woman who advises Link, are split between Impa and The Old One. Subverted; they're the same person.
• Determinator: Especially when it comes to protecting Zelda.
• Dislikes the New Guy: She's disappointed in Link as a brash an untested warrior despite being The Chosen One. Her scolding encourages him to get his act together, and eventually he earns her respect.
• Facial Markings: Impa has various markings on her face, typical of the Sheikah.
• Good Is Not Nice: She gives a biting "The Reason You Suck" Speech to Link when he manages to catch up to her and Zelda. Link eventually earns her respect after saving her from Ghirahim.
• Kung-Fu Wizard: She's got ninja skills and magic enough to hold off Ghirahim (though he was overpowering her when he finally cornered her and Zelda, until Link intervened).
• Legacy Character: Currently the first Impa in the Zelda series chronologically.
• Legacy of Service: She states that serving the Goddess Hylia is the Sheikah's duty, and she's the first Impa in the series.
• Ninja: She has the aesthetic and agilility, as the Sheikah always do.
• Noodle People: She's a lot taller and skinnier than the rest of the cast. Lampshaded when Ghirahim refers to her as a 'beanpole'.
• Praetorian Guard: As one of the Sheikah, it is her people's sworn duty to protect Zelda.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: Inverted, as she is protecting Zelda.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: While Link could have caught up with Zelda at the Temple of Earth, where they meet again for the first time after their separation, Impa explicitly forbids Zelda from even speaking to him. After sending her away, she gives Link a caustic speech about his shortcomings, explicitly says that he was too slow, and since she had to save Zelda by herself, she is actually wondering if the Goddess made a mistake in choosing Link to be her hero, departing after advising Link to work harder next time and prove he is worthy of his role.
• The Slow Path: After Ghirahim and Demise are defeated, she remains in the past to watch over the Sealed Temple and Zelda. When Link and Zelda return to their time, The Old One reveals she's Impa.
• The Stoic: She rarely shows much open emotion, though she does reveal more as time goes by.
• Sugar-and-Ice Personality: Mostly ice at first, but she mellows over time.
• Two Aliases, One Character: She and the Old One below? Same person. Impa is the version from the past, while the Old One is her present self.

The Old One

Voiced by: Masako Nozawa

"I have sat here for many years waiting for you to arrive. All so that I could fulfill my purpose as your guide."

An old Sheikah lady who watches over the Sealed Ground. She helps Link and Zelda out in their quests.

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• Ancient Keeper: She is the keeper who watches over the great evil imprisoned in the Sealed Ground.
• Barefoot Sage: She doesn't wear any footwear, though this is less noticable since she usually sits in a Lotus Position.
• Canon Character All Along: It's easy to assume she's a brand new character, given the game already has Impa. She's actually Impa herself, hundreds if not thousands of years later.
• Cool Old Lady: She's a wise, patient, and kindly mentor to Link, Zelda, and even Groose (the latter affectionately calls her 'Grannie').
• Decomposite Character: Impa's two traditional roles, Zelda's Sheikah protector and an elderly woman who advises Link, are split between Impa and The Old One. Subverted; they're the same person.
• Disappears into Light: What happens at the end of the game. She's fulfilled her duty protecting Hylia and so is going to the heavens. Also because she's several thousand years old when that happens.
• Elderly Immortal: Until she fulfils her task and Disappears into Light.
• Foreshadowing: Both she and Impa have the same tear-like tattoo over their left eyes, share the same skin tone and have long hair with a braid going over their right shoulders. While one can assume this is supposedly a common Shiekah appearance, it also hints the two aren't that different.
• The Hermit: She's the only person in the Sealed Grounds until the arrival of Zelda and later Link and Groose.
• Insult of Endearment: Groose first refers to her as "Grannie" when she refuses to acknowledge him as the chosen hero. Following his Character Development, he continues to use the nickname to address her, but in a genuinely affectionate manner.
• The Mentor: To Link, to an extent, but arguably mostly to Groose, of all people. She helps him come to terms with not being The Chosen One and shows him how he can help anyway - which makes sense, because she used to be Impa, in a very similar supporting role. It's also clear that she remembers Groose's post Character Development self and how he was helpful to her at that point in time.
• Miniature Senior Citizens: Especially jarring considering the beanpole she used to be.
• Ms. Exposition: She fills in a lot of the gaps for Link, though she does hold a few things back. Such as her true identity.
• Not So Above It All: Though she's rather demure and focused on what's ahead, the old woman does seem to enjoy some of Groose's antics after his Character Development. It probably has something to do with how she witnessed some of his antics in her youth and recognized that he was becoming the man she originally knew him to be.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: Until it's revealed that she was Impa all along, not even Fi knows what her true name might be. Groose takes to calling her "Grannie" in the meantime, whereas she's called "the old woman" by everyone else. The Switch remake adds character name labels for dialogue, but still only identifies her as The Old One.
• Purpose-Driven Immortality: She held on to life for thousands of years to watch over the Sealed Grounds. Once she is finished with her duty of protecting Hylia/Zelda, she finally Disappears into Light.
• Robe and Wizard Hat: Played with. Her robe has a huge hood that doubles as a pointy hat.
• Took a Level in Kindness: Age has made Impa become a much more laidback and tolerant person, compared to the younger and more chastising person she is when she met Link.
• Two Aliases, One Character: Impa is a much younger version of her coming from the past. They're the same person.

Gaepora

Zelda's father, and the headmaster of the Knight Academy.

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• Ambiguously Related: His name and appearance strongly implies him to be an ancestor of Rauru, but this has never been explicitly confirmed.
• As You Know: Said word for word when he explains about the connection between Skyloftians and their Loftwings.
• Big Ol' Unibrow: It's in a V-shape.
• Cool Old Guy: Even when he's very worried about the situation of his daughter, he never loses his cool.
• Eccentric Mentor: His looks and manners of speech are unorthodox, but he's still a wise person.
• Mr. Exposition: Mainly when it comes to Skyloft's history.
• Mythology Gag: His name is explicitly a reference to Kaepora Gaebora. He also bears a resemblance to Rauru, who was eventually confirmed to be the original form of the aforementioned owl. His eyebrows also somewhat resemble the horns of an owl, and the intense glare of his neutral facial expression resembles an owl's eyes.
• Red Herring: He looks similar to Ganondorf from Wind Waker, and his relation to Link and Zelda would imply that he may be a previous incarnation; he isn't.
• Shipper on Deck: He seems to be aware of Zelda's feelings for Link, as he muses how she was jealous of Link's relationship with his Loftwing when they were younger.
• Unusual Eyebrows: He has the full Unusual Eyebrows trifecta: huge, fluffy, white Big Ol' Eyebrows connected in a straight line across his face in a Big Ol' Unibrow, and to each side they fly up to and then off of his temples to become Disembodied Eyebrows that until closely examined look more like a hairdo. Combined with his wide-open eyes and bolstered by the allusion of his name, he looks quite owl-like.

The Goddess

Hylia, the Goddess who sealed the Demon King away. Zelda is her reincarnation, and Ghirahim wants to capture Zelda so his master Demise can gain ultimate power.

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• Action Girl: Implied to be this in the prologue due to her wielding a sword, most likely Fi. Even moreso by the fact that the three goddesses had her protect the Triforce.
• The Atoner: By the game's end, speaking through Zelda, she acknowledges that it was nothing short of inhumane of her to manipulate Link and Zelda in the manner than she did, and seeks to make it right by using herself to bolster Demise's seal. This carries on in Breath of the Wild, as she began appearing to the struggling Zelda within her dreams, attempting to aid her and warn her of Ganon's immanent coming — failed only in that Zelda's spiritual powers were too weak to make a stable connection. Beyond this, she also directly assists Link through the Goddess Statues, giving him greater vitality and stamina.
• Batman Gambit: Knowing her chosen hero would stop at nothing to save her, she orchestrates Zelda's descent to the surface.
• The Chessmaster: Sets up more or less the entire game, including most of the dungeons, with the intent for her destined hero to create the Master Sword and claim the Triforce.
• The Chooser of the One: Though she (as Zelda) doesn't realize this at first, as she simply believes she's following the traditions.
• Ethnic Goddess: Hylia is the patron goddess of the Skyloftians, protecting them from Demise by various measures.
• Fantasy Counterpart Religion: As a benevolent goddess of light who is also the ancestor of Hyrule's Royal Family, she's essentially Amaterasu with a somewhat westernized aesthetic.
• God in Human Form: It's revealed through the last arc of the game that Zelda is Hylia reincarnated.
• God of Good: Her duty is to protect the living ones from Demise, the God of Evil.
• Greater-Scope Paragon: She's the biggest opponent to Demise, and uses her power to take humans, and secretly the Triforce, to a place that is out of reach for the hordes of demons. She also entrusts Levias and the guardian dragons the Song of the Hero so a worthy adventurer can prove his worth and get access to the Triforce to wish for the definitive eradication of Demise. And she doesn't mind giving up her divine form in the whole process.
• Hot God: In the special prequel manga in the back of the Hyrule Historia, she is shown to be this.
• I Did What I Had to Do: Downplayed, while she-as-Zelda acknowledges it was necessary to provide motivation for Link to throw himself into danger in order to awaken his Heroic Spirit so he could claim the Triforce, she admits that this wasn't right and apologizes to Link for it. She considers herself sealing herself away to strengthen the seal on Demise as part of her atonement for her actions.
• Lack of Empathy: Downplayed. In her desperation to rid the world of Demise for good, Hylia enacts a complex plan that leads to Link both endangering and possibly traumatizing himself, something that she seemingly didn't take into account. However, as Zelda, she apologizes and acknowledges how apathetically her divine counterpart treated Link. In Breath of the Wild, Hylia herself is both kind and helpful to the future Link, indicating that she does actually care about his well-being at the end of the day.
• Loophole Abuse: The fact that the golden goddesses decreed no deity can weld the Triforce didn't deter her in the least. She simply devised a plan that would ensure if a chosen hero ever came forward, they would have to pass her trials to get to the relic and make her wish upon it to destroy Demise.
• Manipulative Bitch: Given that Hylia's plans for her and Link never took into account their feelings on the matter, Zelda thinks so.
• Mythology Gag: Hyrule and Lake Hylia, as seen in later games, are named for her. Also, a very specific and very subtle one that connects it to the original game: In the first game, the manual explains that the pointy-eared Hylian people are said to be descended from the gods.
• Seers: She has the power to see into the future, as seen by preparing messages "from the edge of time" (from the past to the present) for Fi to translate for Link.
• Too Awesome to Use: What she thinks of the Triforce given to mortals by the supreme golden Goddesses, her frustration in being unable to use it as fellow-deity, hence her labors and efforts to seal it away from everyone (except for her chosen hero after passing grueling trials and challenges). It's not until she returns as a mortal reincarnation, Zelda, and after meditating, does she surmise the old gods devised this deliberately to give mortals hope, and sealing it away wasn't her place or decision to make.
• Walking Spoiler: The fact that she gave up her divine form and reincarnated as Zelda is one of the game's big twists.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Her reincarnation Zelda has this opinion of her, seeing the Goddess as manipulative and underhanded in trying to achieve her aim.
• Winged Humanoid: All depictions of Hylia have her with a pair of angelic wings. Rarely, one may find a treasure called a "Goddess Plume"^note These randomly and rarely spawn in place of Amber Relics, which is implied by the name to be her wings' feathers.
• Worthy Opponent: Is seen as this by Demise. He finds her human reincarnation, Zelda, to be rather underwhelming in comparison.

Villains

Ghirahim

Demon Lord

^{Click here to see his second form} 

^{Click here to see his final form} 

Voiced by: Anri Katsu

"Still... it hardly seems fair, being of my position, to take all my anger out on you. Which is why I promise up front not to murder you... No, I'll just beat you within an inch of your life!"

The main antagonist of the story, Ghirahim is a white-haired man who claims to be the ruler of the surface (interestingly, Fi has no idea who he is). He wishes to revive his master, and seeks out Zelda for that purpose.

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• Agent Peacock: He's quite flamboyant, but he's extremely powerful.
• Ambiguously Gay: With an emphasis on ambiguous, though he's technically genderless. There's his effeminate clothes, jewelry, makeup, and haircut. Also, that tongue thing, which often results in a very gross wet willy for Link.
• Arch-Enemy: To the very first incarnation of Link. Since Ganon doesn't exist yet and Demise is still trapped, Ghirahim is the one antagonizing Link throughout the game, frequently showing up to either fight him or impede his progress, and gradually drawing his ire as the game goes on. Likewise, Link's repeated victories against Ghirahim cause the latter to become increasingly enraged that a mere human can stand up to him. By the climax, their conflict has reached It's Personal levels on both sides.
• Attack Its Weak Point: In the third fight, Link hits him with successive Finishing Blows, creating a diamond-shaped wound in his chest, which serves as a stab target thereafter.
• Ax-Crazy: He has unabashed bloodlust, first promising to beat Link within an inch of his life, then burn him alive, and then finally torture him until he's deafened by his own screams.
• Badass Cape: He wears a fancy red cape, although he makes it magically disintegrate every time he prepares to fight.
• Badass Finger Snap: He snaps his fingers whenever he uses magic, such as summoning a boss or creating a sword.
• Bad Boss: Right before his third fight with Link, he summons hordes of enemies to stall for time, and he tells them that he doesn't care if they impale themselves all on Link's sword - if they fail and live, they will suffer for it. Given the intensity of the following Zerg Rush, they take him quite seriously.
• The Bad Guy Wins: After Link beats him the third time, he proceeds to gloat that the ritual he had began beforehand continued on its own, and thus Demise will return and Link fought him for nothing. Though said victory doesn’t last very long, he nonetheless succeeded in his goal.
• Bare-Handed Blade Block: During his boss fights. If you can't get out of it in time, he steals your sword and uses it against you (in the first fight), or else shoots crystal daggers at you (in his second fight). Exceptionally impressive considering that he does it with two fingers.
• Beware the Silly Ones: Don't let his narcissism and flamboyance fool you, he is still a crazed and evil villain who needs to be treated with extreme caution.
• BFS: He wields a heavy, two-handed sword during the final phase of his final fight. He also plays this trope literally when Demise's sword is formed from Ghirahim. So, Ghirahim himself is a BFS.
• Big Bad: He is the main antagonist of the game, even though he is The Dragon to his master, who he is trying to revive. And even though Demise is the Final Boss of the game, Ghirahim does have more of a role in the entire story, plus he's fought one more time before Demise is released and takes the Final Boss role.
• Bitch Slap: A backhanded variant is how he attacks in the first phase of his first battle. It deals a heart of damage per slap.
• Black Magic: He can conjure blades of various sizes, teleport, and summon minor demons.
• Blank White Eyes: Has these in his final form.
• Blatant Lies: During the first encounter with him in Skyview Temple, he promises not to murder Link and to simply beat him to within an inch of his life. If you are reduced to your last heart in the resulting battle with him, he does not stop fighting and will kill you with any subsequent hits.
• Blood Knight: He really enjoys violence and conflict, which is justified because Ghirahim is the humanoid form of the Demon King Demise's sword. On the other hand, he only seems to "enjoy" fighting in the sense of being able to brutalize weaker opponents; he takes all of his losses to Link rather poorly.
• Blood Lust: In the second fight, he licks Link's blood off his blade whenever he lands a hit. Justified perfectly once you realize he is actually a Sword Spirit, thus suiting his personality,
• Blow You Away: He's the one that summoned the tornado to capture Zelda early in the game.
• Bond Villain Stupidity: Ghirahim reconstructs this trope. He spends most of his fights with Link simply screwing around and toying with him, which allows him to repeatedly interfere with and foil his plans. He becomes increasingly self-aware of this, and very much regrets not simply killing Link when he had the chance over the course of the game. At the same time, he ultimately manages to succeed in his quest to revive Demise, not in spite of, but because of his putting aside his bloodthirsty urges in service of his goal.
• Boss Banter: He chastises you if you do very badly against him.
• Boss Remix: His battle music is based on his Leitmotif.
• Boss Subtitles: Demon Lord: Ghirahim
• Braggart Boss: While he's more violent than most examples, Ghirahim has the arrogance, hamminess, and Recurring Boss status down pat.
• Breaking the Fourth Wall: He hums his own Leitmotif when he does his victory dance right before he starts the ritual to sacrifice Zelda. In the beginning of the cutscene before the second battle, he can be seen blowing a kiss at the camera.
• Broken Armor Boss Battle: His third fight amounts to this, with him assuming a Chrome Champion form that renders him impervious to the True Master Sword's attacks. To overcome this protection, Link must stun him by knocking him off the platforms on which they fight, then use the Finishing Blow to break his chest open and expose his gem-like weak point, at which point he switches back to his swordplay and is vulnerable to being stabbed by Link's sword.
• Camp: Quite possibly the campiest Zelda villain yet.
  Ghirahim: This news has just filled my heart with rainbows.
• Catch and Return: A rare close-range example. Let him hold onto your sword for too long, and he'll pull it out of your hand and start slashing you with it. This even applies to the Master Sword during Lanayru's boss rematch with him (though the fact that it's a replica made by Lanayru probably gets around the fact that only Link can wield it).
• Catchphrase Insult: In the Japanese version, after his Villainous Breakdown, he refers to Link exclusively as "kozou", which got translated as "boy" in English.
• Character Tics: Some people have noticed that he wiggles his fingers quite a bit.
• Chrome Champion: His One-Winged Angel form is visibly metallic and makes a "clang" when struck by Link's sword. For his first phase, this renders him impervious to even the Master Sword's attacks.
• Contrasting Sequel Antagonist:
  • Although the game is a prequel, Ghirahim was designed with this mindset, making him a contrast to Ganondorf. While Ganondorf is a coarse, heavyset man in black, Ghirahim is a flamboyant Pretty Boy with a white suit.
  • He's also interestingly a near polar opposite to Zant, who was The Heavy to a hidden master in the previous home console Zelda adventure. While Zant wore a heavy helmet and a black robe that seemed a couple sizes too big for him, Ghirahim wears a red cloak over skintight white clothing. Whereas Zant appears chillingly Stoic and composed for the majority of the game before going off the rails once actually confronted by Link and losing control during battle in a hysterical Villainous Breakdown, Ghirahim is a flamboyant and affable antagonist from his first meeting but becomes less and less so as Link genuinely crosses his nerves, with his breakdown culminating in a dead-serious attitude and terrifying level of competence both in their final duel and in executing his plans. It could be said that one begins as the No-Nonsense Nemesis but falls apart as one as his plans unravel, while the other starts off as playful yet proves himself as one the more he's pushed. It's no wonder the two were paired as Ganondorf's Co-Dragons in Hyrule Warriors.
• Cool Sword: He is Demise's sword. In sword form, he looks like an evil version of the Master Sword.
• Crucified Hero Shot: Inverted. After Demise is revived, he thanks The Dragon for his loyalty by forcibly converting him back into his sword-form, with Ghirahim being in this pose during the process. Ghirahim doesn't seem to mind much, though.
• Dark Is Evil: His sword has been seen to have a dark glow around it and Ghirahim himself turns out to be a Demon with dark powers.
• Deal with the Devil: He offers Link a chance to avoid "punishment" if he tells him where the other Gate of Time is. Link, of course, refuses.
• Death Glare: At the end of their second duel, Ghirahim briefly loses his temper... And let's just say that his face isn't pretty.
• Demon Lords and Archdevils: His title is Demon Lord, and he rules the surface in the absence of his master Demise.
• Determinator: He is absolutely devoted to his goal of unsealing and reviving his master Demise, to the point that he willingly puts aside his sadistic love of violence and torture multiple times to focus on his first priority.
• Die Laughing: This is what he does while Demise forcefully converts him back into a sword.
• Dissonant Serenity: In the first phase of all of his fights, he approaches Link calmly.
• The Dragon: Ghirahim's main motivation is to resurrect some "Master" of his, using Zelda in some way to do so. Said master turns out to be the Demon King Demise.
• Dragon-in-Chief: With Demise sealed away, Ghirahim takes over the Demon Tribe in his place and continues to terrorize the surface world.
• Drama Queen: Ghirahim is an extremely campy master of ham, both large and cold. Often combined with violent rage for extra drama.
  Ghirahim: Do you have any idea how that made me feel inside? Furious! Outraged! Sick with anger!!
• Dual Boss: Of a sort; he is converted back into a sword and used by Demise in the final battle, essentially meaning Link is fighting both of them.
• Dual Wielding: He wields both his sabre and his more rarely-seen longsword in his second fight.
• Dub Name Change: His name was slightly modified for the Spanish localizations (both European and Latin American) as "Grahim", probably because it's an alternate transliteration of the Japanese name that rolls better with the tongue in Spanish.
• Dub Personality Change: In the Japanese version, Ghirahim's effeminate, Faux Affably Evil speaking style disappears completely after his second defeat, becoming much rougher and more masculine. The English version keeps it up throughout the entire game, making him come off much more campy and theatrical.
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: As the only humans he faced prior to Link were cowardly and either hid or turned to Hylia for protection when faced with him, Ghirahim is utterly perplexed that Link keeps ignoring his threats and challenging him. It's more along the lines of Evil Cannot Comprehend Courage, but the basic idea is the same.
• Evil Counterpart:
  • To Fi. They're both swords, with Ghirahim being Demise's sword and Fi being the Master Sword. His One-Winged Angel form resembles a black-and-white version of Fi with arms instead of a cloak and his sword form is basically an evil version of the Master Sword. Also, their temperaments are complete opposites, with Ghirahim as a Red Oni and Fi as a Blue Oni.
  • He's also an Evil Counterpart to Link, being a Bishōnen warrior who serves as the agent of a godlike being. Unlike Link he's a sadistic monster who enjoys the suffering of others. They even have similar fighting styles by the final battle, with Ghirahim using his own version of Skyward Strikes.
• Evil Is Hammy: Until his second boss battle with Link, more than half of his lines are him being flamboyant and overdramatic. When the battle ends, he starts dropping this.
• Evil Overlord: He claims to be the ruler of the surface world, only subservient to his master.
• Evil Tastes Good: He licks his lips during his first battle with Link. Though considering how he was acting towards Link earlier, this may be implying something else entirely. It also qualifies as Violence Tastes Good as well, which also acts as foreshadowing as he is actually the humanoid form of Demise's sword.
• Evil Weapon: His true form is the evil opposite of the Master Sword, wielded by Demise.
• Expository Pronoun: In the Japanese version, he uses the formal and somewhat feminine "watashi" at first. But after he's defeated at the Fire Sanctuary, he switches to the much manlier "ore".
• Facial Markings: His eyes have purple bags and, when he enter his second form, his left eyes has a dark scar-like marking.
• False Reassurance: On his first encounter with Link in the Skyview Temple, he promises not to kill him... he'll just beat him within an inch of his life instead. In the Japanese version, he instead says that it seems wrong to vent the full extent of his anger on a child like Link, since he is the current leader of the demon tribe, so he "forgives" him... but he won't be able to give Link any less than 100 years to recover from his wounds.
• Family-Unfriendly Death: Link repeatedly impales him through the chest, carving a hole into it. Then Demise converts him back into a sword by summoning his blade form — forcing it out through the very same hole and sealing Ghirahim's soul back inside the blade.
• Fangs Are Evil: In his final form, highlighting his evil nature.
• Fantasy Counterpart Religion: Curiously, despite serving under what is essentially just Susanoo-no-Mikoto, Ghirahim shares some hallmarks of Lucifer. He is beautiful (or at least attempts to be), incredibly prideful, a counterpart to Fi, and near the end of the game invites Link to an 'endless plunge'.
• Fashionable Asymmetry: In his first two forms, he only has one Pointy Ear, with the normal ear hidden under his asymmetric hairstyle, as well as an off-center belt. His final form has asymmetric body markings.
• Fatal Flaw: Single-mindedness. Despite recognizing that Link may be a potential threat, Ghirahim always puts off ending him on the spot since his first priority is capturing Zelda and unsealing the Demon King. While he ultimately succeeds in his goal thanks to his devotion, he and Demise are unable to enjoy the fruits of his labors since he has allowed Link to grow strong enough to end the Demon King himself.
• Faux Affably Evil: He mostly tries to keep a semblance of a dignified, calm gentleman most of the time, but he has barely-repressed temper issues and an appetite for bloodshed which leads to his horrific promises to torture Link.
• Feels No Pain: When Demise pulls out his sword form, Ghirahim doesn't mind the pain.
• The Fighting Narcissist: Over half of the cutscene before his second fight with Link is Ghirahim talking about how perfect his body is.
  "Behold! Such beauty! Such a pure form! Such an exquisite physique! Such stunning features! Yes, I've pretty much got it all. Though there is one teensy, tiny thing I lack... Namely, mercy."
• Flaming Devil: He's incredibly effeminate, flamboyant, and narcissistic, and additionally a Demon Lord.
• Flaying Alive: He appears to do this to himself in his final confrontation with Link, stripping away his upper layer to show off his metallic true body.
• Flechette Storm: He can summon a flurry of diamond knives to attack Link.
• Foe Romance Subtext: When Link confronts Ghirahim in the Fire Sanctuary, Ghirahim says they are bound by a "thread of fate" that he'll stain crimson with Link's blood. He also tends to get very up close and personal with Link in cutscenes, and in the Japanese version often calls him "Link-kun" before the campy facade drops.
• Foil:
  • Eiji Aonuma has said Ghirahim was designed to contrast with Ganondorf's "very masculine, powerful, evil" characteristics. As a result, this makes Ghirahim also somewhat resemble Vaati, who is somewhere in the middle of the effeminate/masculine spectrum. This also makes him contrast his master Demise, who is exceedingly masculine.
  • He also serves as one to Fi when he transforms into Demise's sword. He is one to Fi overall, his over-the-top, emotional, and flamboyant nature contrasting Fi's subdued and stoic manner.
  • Lastly, he's one to Link. Both are expert swordsmen with Bishōnen looks who are chasing after Zelda for different reasons. Both are also servants of polar opposite divine beings. Aonuma says that he was designed to be similar to Dark Link from Ocarina of Time in that he also reads Link's attacks and forces the player to fight more strategically.
• For Doom the Bell Tolls: Part of his leitmotif.
• Glamour Failure: Throughout the game, Ghirahim's body becomes covered in black markings, starting at his arms and legs. Near the end of the game, his face is marked. Then he goes One-Winged Angel, and hell breaks loose. Even more poignant, immediately before the final boss battle, after Ghirahim assumes his Chrome Champion form, Link has a vision of him in his sword form when he says "You stand before a demon... or should I say, a weapon without mercy!"
• The Gloves Come Off: In your second fight against him, he makes his gloves disintegrate, and true enough, he isn't playing around this time. In the final fight, he uses kicks (he's made of metal, so these hurt just as much anything else), though after getting knocked off the platforms, he goes back to using a sword.
• Good Old Fisticuffs: In the last fight with him, he initially just uses punches.
• Grayscale of Evil: He begins the game with white skin, white hair, and white clothes under a red cloak, but can summon knives and swords with black blades. Parts of his body begin to turn black in his second fight with Link, and he eventually sheds his outer layer to show off his real form, a pitch-black humanoid with white stripes. He is finally reconverted into a sword by Demise, and becomes pure black.
• Happy Dance: He dances awkwardly while trying to get Zelda's soul out of her body. It's pretty hilarious.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: If there's one trait Ghirahim is known for besides Chewing the Scenery, it's blowing his incredibly short fuse.
• Heart Light: Develops one during his third encounter with Link.
• The Heavy: He is the most active villain in the plot. Technically The Dragon to his master, Demise, but he stayed a Sealed Evil in a Can until the very end of the game. Ghirahim's quest to free him drives the plot.
• The Hero's Journey: A rare villainous example, yet Ghirahim's story follows the trope near-perfectly.
  • Departure: After serving as a sword spirit for who knows how long, Ghirahim's master, Demise, is defeated, forcing Ghirahim to strike out on his own. Eventually, he sets out to explore (and conquer) the Surface in a quest to revive his master.
  • Initiation: Ghirahim starts his quest by knocking Zelda out of the Sky, yet hits several roadblocks due to Zelda being more evasive than expected and Impa's intervention. He then meets Link, who gradually proves to be his toughest opponent. After Zelda and Impa escape and ruin his initial plan, Ghirahim fully explores the Surface, conquering multiple trials and becoming more powerful, even physically transforming as a result. He eventually breaks into the Sealed Grounds, brings Zelda back to the past, and successfully sacrifices her to the Imprisoned.
  • Return: After his master is revived, Ghirahim reverts back to his original form as Demise's blade, having completed his quest and now content with the knowledge that humanity is doomed.
• Hoist by His Own Petard:
  • After going One-Winged Angel, he tells Link that he'll knock him to the edge and then push him off in a method he calls the "Endless Plunge." That's exactly how Link defeats him.
  • A more subtle example that serves from the very beginning: he chastises you if you telegraph your attacks, but he does the same thing outrageously, making it comparably easy to counterattack.
• Hot-Blooded: Ghirahim is an extremely emotional, scenery-chewing villain prone to fits of violent rage.
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Done to him repeatedly in his third fight with Link, but inverted with his "death", as he seems to fall lifelessly after Demise yanks his sword from Ghirahim's body.
• Impossibly Cool Clothes: Notice that his form-fitting costume is mostly skin-baring cutouts.
• Inferiority Superiority Complex: Ghirahim is completely full of himself, yet his ego is gradually revealed to be as enormous as it is fragile. Upon being bested in combat by Link during their second battle, he completely breaks down and begins raving in disbelief of the fact that a mere human could overpower him.
• It's All About Me: Ghirahim is completely self-absorbed, often going on about his own problems and how beautiful he is, while either ignoring or outright relishing in the suffering he causes to those around him. Even his devotion to Demise appears to be nothing more than an extension of his own love for destruction.
• Just Between You and Me: See Hoist by His Own Petard. He even lampshades his tendency towards this trope earlier in the game.
• Justified Tutorial: The first battle's banter serves this purpose through Rainbow Speak: "But so long as you continue to telegraph your attacks like the novice you are, you'll never land a blow."
• Just Toying with Them: Ghirahim holds back in his first fight with Link (Fi notes that he has more power and isn't using all of it), as he doesn't see Link as much of a threat and decides to just beat him to within an inch of his life. He starts to realize that this was a mistake as Link continues meddling with his plans.
• Kick the Dog:
  • Upon meeting Link for the first time, Ghirahim decides to beat and torture him For the Evulz.
  • At the end of the game, Ghirahim literally kicks Groose and the Old One— the latter of whom is too frail to pose any threat whatsoever— out of the way.
• Knight of Cerebus: Despite the ham, any time the guy arrives, things take a turn for the terrifying. He's that dangerous.
• Large Ham: Ghirahim's speech is flamboyant and he's prone to shouting.
• Last-Second Chance: Inverted. He gives Link a chance to tell him where the second Gate of Time is, which in turn will lead him straight to Zelda. Link promptly refuses.
• Laughably Evil: His effeminate mannerisms and flowery dialogue can be quite amusing despite his bloodthirsty nature.
• Laughing Mad: Laughs maniacally when Demise is resurrected and when he is forcibly reconverted into his sword. It's pretty safe to say that he wanted it to happen.
• Left the Background Music On: He hums his own Leitmotif at one point.
• Lean and Mean: In comparison to Ganondorf, he's pretty scrawny. Doesn't make him any less dangerous. Averted with his Sword Spirit form, which is rather muscular. Even Fi notes a 90% increase in muscle mass.
• Leaning on the Fourth Wall: It's subtle, but in his last form (capable of speech), his dialog box looks like a black version of Fi's.
• Leg Focus: The first shot of him, where he watches Link enter the Deep Woods, obscures most of his appearance by only showing his legs.
• Leitmotif: A rather creepy-yet-whimsical one. He actually starts humming it before beginning the ritual to resurrect Demise.
• Licking the Blade: If he hits Link with an attack, he pauses and licks the blood off.
• Lightning Bruiser: Though he moves slowly during his fights, the Temple of Time cutscene shows he can move quite fast if he wants to.
• Living Weapon: It is revealed that he is Demise's Sword.
• Loves the Sound of Screaming: For starters, he outright threatens to torture Link so brutally that Link's ears will bleed from the sound of his own screams.
• Made of Iron: Literally. His final form can only be damaged in his weak point; anything else will just push him backwards.
• Make Wrong What Once Went Right: He travels to the past to free Demise after he is permanently dealt with in the present.
• Magic Knight: Ghirahim is an exceptional swordsman, but he's also able to use precise and formidable magic powers.
• Maniac Tongue: He intimidates Link right before their first battle by teleporting behind him and waggling his disturbingly long tongue. He's also prone to licking the blood off his sword whenever he lands a hit.
• Mask of Sanity: He pretends to be calm and collected, but this belies his Mood-Swinger tendencies and his casual sadism towards his enemies.
• Master Swordsman: Unsurprisingly, since he's literally a sword - and the Evil Counterpart of the Master Sword, at that. It's worth noting that he's actually a considerably better swordsman than Demise himself (though it might also be that Ghirahim has multiple fights to realise that he's up against a genuinely dangerous opponent, so he stops messing around. Demise, by contrast, is a Fair-Play Villain in part out of respect, but also because he doesn't take Link all that seriously).
• Maou the Demon King: Well, he's not exactly a Demon King like his master, Demise. But he still fits that archetype in a regent sense, since he's a Demon Lord who commands the monsters of the Surface in Demise's absence and serves as the main antagonist of the story.
• Meaningful Name: Ghira is an Arabic word for Pride (specifically, responding to perceived insults with violence). Him may derive from himsa, the Sanskrit word for injury or harm.
• Melee Disarming: Can take the Goddess Sword off Link after a Barehanded Blade Block in the first phase of his first fight.
• Milking the Giant Cow: To accentuate his flamboyant nature, he makes large, dramatic body movements in just about every scene he's in.
• Mirror Character: Ghirahim's arc heavily parallels Link's. Both of them are searching for Zelda and have to explore and solve dungeons in order to find her as part of a divine prophecy to reawaken someone they are loyal to. The difference is that, while Link is primarily motivated out of love and altruism, Ghirahim is motivated by hatred and sadism, with his loyalty to the satanic Demise reflecting his own destructive desires.
• Misanthrope Supreme: Much like Demise, Ghirahim thinks very lowly of humanity. Unlike Demise, however, Ghirahim is unwilling to even consider a human to be near the same level as him, and completely breaks down when Link defeats him.
• Monster Clown: His diamond-pattern clothing, white skin with a facial marking, flamboyant gestures, and occasional humorous moments all evoke the appearance of a Renaissance-era harlequin. He qualifies for "monster" as a Demon Lord and the game's acting main antagonist.
• Mood-Swinger: Ghirahim's mood can change at the drop of a hat. He can be happy and giddy one minute, brooding and serious the next minute, and violently angry the next minute.
• Motifs: Seems to have a thing for diamonds.
• Mouth of Sauron: For his master, since he's been sealed in the Sealed Grounds and Ghirahim is trying to free him.
• Mr. Fanservice: The lower half of his body gets a lot of the camera's attention. His theatrics even draw attention to this, such as squatting in the middle of a conversation with Link for no apparent reason.
• My Defense Need Not Protect Me Forever: He may lose the final fight with Link, but that doesn't mean he couldn't complete the revival ritual.
• Narcissist: He goes on about how beautiful and perfect he is.
• Nested Ownership: A sword that can wield his own swords.
• Nigh-Invulnerability: In his final form, nothing can hurt him, not even the Master Sword. Trying to attack him just knocks him backward. The only exception is the Achilles' Heel in his chest.
• Not Worth Killing: When Groose does his Go Through Me moment to bar Ghirahim's access to the Gate of Time in the Sealed Grounds, he just knocks Groose aside instead of ending his life despite the vast difference in power between them.
• Ominous Latin Chanting: Added to his battle music in his third and final fight.
• Ominous Pipe Organ: Part of his leitmotif and battle music.
• One-Handed Zweihänder: Subverted. He does use a zweihander in the final phase of his final battle with Link, but he only wields it in one hand while repairing it, since said sword requires two hands to use in attacking.
• One-Winged Angel: His true form looks like a dark version of Fi, as well as being about a head taller and is considerably more muscular. Appropriate, considering he is the sword for his master Demise. Oh, and let's not forget that in this form, his skin is so tough that even the Master Sword can't touch him, except for the Achilles' Heel in his chest. Fi says it best:
  There is a 90% change in outward appearance compared to previous encounters with him. I detect a dark aura emanating from his entire body. Be cautious, Master. This opponent is extremely dangerous and likely to fell you with a single blow.
  He is now revealing his true power. I am detecting a significant increase in muscular strength. Unfortunately, I must also conclude that none of your weapons will be effective against him.
• Our Demons Are Different: One of two ruling demons in the game, alongside his master Demise, and the Big Bad overall.
• Overly-Long Tongue: He shows off his snake-like tongue to creep out Link in their first encounter.
• Practically Joker: Ghirahim's a deceptively cheerful villain with a near-constant smile. He has a primarily white color scheme with hints of red, yellow, and black, making him look somewhat like a jester or a Renaissance clown. Behind his easygoing exterior, he's particularly vicious by the standards of Demise's army, often issuing colorful death and torture threats over being delayed in his quest to revive his master. Other than being a sword of Demise that can take on a sentient form, he has no backstory whatsoever.
• Pre-Final Boss: The third fight with Ghirahim is the semifinal battle scenario of the game, and then he becomes Demise's sword and used in the final-final battle of the game.
• Psycho Knife Nut: He's a vicious fighter who can summon an endless supply of daggers in his boss fights to use in conjunction with his sword.
• Psycho Supporter: With heavy emphasis on the "psycho" part. He's fanatically loyal to Demise and his ultimate wish is to free the Demon King in order to wipe out humanity and plunge the world into darkness.
• Rank Scales with Asskicking: He's the "Demon Lord", and the strongest of them all. Except for Demise, who's his master and even stronger than him.
• Really 700 Years Old: According to Aonuma, he was designed to look around the same age as Link, but besides constantly calling the hero a "boy," it turns out that he's actually the personal weapon of the ancient demon Demise.
• Recurring Boss: He's fought no less than three times, plus one more as part of the Final Boss if you count him being as a sword for the Demise encounter.
• Red Baron: He's known as the "Demon Lord" because he has control over them. This includes all kinds of Bokoblins.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Red Oni to Fi. They contrast one another well: Where Fi is stoic and emotionless, Ghirahim is flamboyant and over-the-top. They are both Equippable Allies as well, and refer to their owners as their Master. Driving the point home is that Fi's Master is Link, who wields the Master Sword, and Ghirahim's Master is Demise, who wields a literally Darker and Edgier Master Sword.
• Red Right Hand: Sort of. His hair mostly hides it, but his left ear is an ordinary human ear, while his right is the telltale pointy ear of a Hylian.
• Ring-Out Boss: In the first phase of his third fight, Link must knock him off the platforms on which they fight.
• Sadist: Being the evil spirit of Demise's sword, Ghirahim lives for bloodshed and the suffering of others, and it shows in his various disturbing threats. In the Japanese version, his idea of holding back and "forgiving" Link for pulling a sword on him involves a thrashing so severe that he won't recover for 100 years.
• Scary Black Man: His final form has dark, metallic skin, and by the time Ghirahim reveals it, he's more than proven himself to be a frighteningly evil foe.
• Serrated Blade of Pain: As Demise's sword, he has a serrated blade to contrast the Master Sword's straight blade.
• Sissy Villain: Most of the time. His heart is full of rainbows! Also, he wears skintight clothing that only barely censors his nipples, he seems to be wearing white lipstick, his short white hair hangs down over his eye, and he enjoys approaching Link in molestacular poses. However, he has serious Mood-Swinger tendencies, he's a Demon (Lord) with a blade, and the overall effect is less "sissy" and more "completely balls-out bonkers." Some fans have said he reminds them of a male Lady Gaga.
• Smug Snake: Lampshaded by Fi in her scan on him. He displays overconfidence in his ability to beat Link while holding back, even after Link beats him the first time. After Link beats him twice, however, he stops acting smug and does not hold back in his third fight.
• The Sociopath: Despite being a demon, Ghirahim very much behaves like a human. Unfortunately, beneath his friendly exterior, he is devoid of empathy, enjoys the suffering of others, has an inflated ego, can effortlessly manipulate others, and is wildly impulsive.
• Spontaneous Weapon Creation: His favored form of magic is to generate swords and knives made of dark power.
• Starter Villain Stays: He's the very first boss of the game, and sticks around to serve as The Heavy.
• Suave Sabre: Subverted. He's a stylish, classy-acting demon who carries a sabre as his main weapon, but he turns out to be very Ax-Crazy and as the game goes on, stays just a hair away from completely losing it. In the final battle, he ditches his sabre for a two-handed claymore to hack with.
• Suddenly Shouting: When expressing his anger at having missed capturing Zelda a second time in the Earth Temple.
  Ghirahim: [Impa] had once again... You see, what I'm trying to say is... THAT GODDESS-SERVING DOG ESCAPED WITH THE GIRL!
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: He looks very similar to Vaati, a recurring villain ultimately serving a greater bad guy in the GCN era, and his third form looks pretty similar to Fierce Deity Link in Majora's Mask.
• Tactical Suicide Boss: If he didn't throw Link's sword back at him after taking it during the first boss fight, he would be literally impossible to defeat, as the sword is the only weapon that can damage him. Justified, in a way; Ghirahim is only toying with Link at the moment, and there's no point (or fun) in toying with a defenseless opponent. He later berates himself for allowing Link to survive that time and grow strong enough to challenge him more evenly.
• Talking Weapon: More specifically, Demise's talking sword.
• Tennis Boss: If you're a pro, you can whack back his flying dagger arrays perfectly with your sword. This will send them back at him, causing him to always defend against them and leaving him open to attack. Note that they are all done in the direction of slashes, going from the floor-up. You can also do this in the last two parts of the final fight with him by using Skyward Strikes against his red strikes, though this knocks his out of function, or play a classic game of Dead Man's Volley. Just make sure that they are in the same kind of slash and you don't strafe. On a different note, you should have a good idea what this trope references.
• That Makes Me Feel Angry: Line from his introduction aside, he has a tendency to say how he feels in a very over-the-top manner.
• Throwing Your Sword Always Works: Actually it doesn't, because it means that Link can pick it back up and hit you with it.
• To the Pain: He's quite fond of telling Link just what he will do to him, such as beating Link within an inch of his life or making him suffer to the point that his ears will bleed from the sound of his own screams.
• Uncertain Doom: As Demise's Sword, it's unclear if it disappeared because it was destroyed or put away somewhere. Regardless, Ghirahim has yet to appear in any chronologically later games, spin-offs aside.
• Undying Loyalty: The only positive trait he has is his loyalty to his master. And even then, his master is Demise, the source of all evil.
• Unskilled, but Strong: Zig-Zagged. Ghirahim is not a particularly sophisticated swordsman, relying on wide, telegraphed slashes with his swords and using daggers as projectiles instead of handheld weapons. Although he starts off his final boss fight with his fists and is more than capable of spinning Link around and using his momentum against him if he makes a mistake, he eventually gives up and goes back to using his sword, and then switches to a larger, heavier BFS when even that doesn’t work. His strength, magic, and toughness are usually enough to close this gap, except when he’s fighting Link.
• Variable Mix: His battle music varies between having the occasional bass drum beat for its percussion to instead having a more fast-paced snare drum with a few cymbals for percussion. The snare drum version has yet another variation with a freaking choir.
• Villain Teleportation: A pretty cool-looking teleportation to boot.
• Villainous Breakdown: He loses his temper whenever things don't quite go his way. He actually admits it's a flaw of his. After Link defeats him for the second time, he stops pretending to be Affably Evil and starts acting like the Ax-Crazy demon — or, should we say, weapon — he really is.
• Wake-Up Call Boss: Subverting the franchise's tradition, the item found in the dungeon where Ghirahim is first fought is useless against him. Instead, Ghirahim must be hurt with precise sword slashes, which are meant to test the player's timing and accuracy with the motion controls.
• Weapon Grip Failure: The second boss fight against him ends when he looses his grip on the sword in his right hand. While he still has the sword in his left hand, he chooses to leave the boss room.
• We Have Reserves: At the end of the game, Ghirahim orders an army of Bokoblins to keep Link busy while he performs a ritual to release Demise. His speech doesn't hide how he views his minions as little more than disposable servants.
  "Hear me, my hordes! The spell is nearly complete! The Demon King returns! Until then, you WILL keep that whelp from interfering with my ritual! I don't care if the lot of you get skewered on the end of his blade! You will buy me the time I need! Do not fear him... Fear my wrath if you fail me!"
• What the Hell Are You?: This after Link beats him for the final time:
  "This... This is preposterous. Driven to my knees by a simple child of man? Laughable! No matter how many times we clash, I can't prevail! You think I can't defeat you? You think I can't win?! Boy...what are you?"
• White and Red and Eerie All Over: When he has his cape on, its red coloring contrasts with his white outfit as well as his pale grayish-white skin. And Ghirahim is definitely an unnerving foe, stalking his enemies and giving speeches about how he will torment them.
• White Hair, Black Heart: And then he gets black skin with white patterns to go with it.
• Why Won't You Die?: He gets increasingly irritated as Link seems to survive everything he throws at him. Ghirahim eventually loses his Smug Snake demeanor once Link beats him for the second time.
• Would Hit a Girl: He won't hesitate to kick out Impa, in her elderly form, when she and Groose try to stop him from taking Zelda to the past. And never mind performing a spell on Zelda to revive Demise with her soul.
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Subverted. Demise seems to do this, but Ghirahim's laughter at it makes it clear he's completely fine with it because he was Demise's sword the entire time. So less 'outlived your usefulness' and more 'assume a form where you can be more useful to me.'
• Your Princess Is in Another Castle!: He crashes the party after you defeat the Imprisoned the final time, knocking out Link, Groose, and the Old Woman in rapid succession, and then taking Zelda captive for use in reviving his master. Also an aversion of No Sneak Attacks.

The Imprisoned/Demise

^{Click here to see its true form, the Demon King Demise} :

Voiced by: Tsuguo Mogami

"My hate... never perishes. It is born anew in a cycle with no end! I will rise again! Those like you... Those who share the blood of the goddess and the spirit of the hero... They are eternally bound to this curse. An incarnation of my hatred shall ever follow your kind, dooming them to wander a blood-soaked sea of darkness for all time!"

A huge, monstrous beast which haunts Link's dreams frequently. It is the sealed form of Demise, the source of all monsters, Ghirahim's master and the Greater-Scope Villain of the game. The English translation and Hyrule Historia additionally imply that he's the Greater-Scope Villain of the franchise as a whole.

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• Adaptive Ability: The first incarnation of The Imprisoned is relatively easy to beat thanks to it only having feet. The second incarnation has arms, which helps it climb out of the pit a little faster. The third time, it gains the ability to defy gravity, making it a nerve-wracking Race Against Time to stop it.
• Almighty Idiot: The Imprisoned is the primal form of Demise after being sealed away by Hylia. And in this form, it is nothing more than a mindless beast bent on reaching the Sealed Temple and devouring Zelda's soul since it's the only way to restore his mind and former glory.
• Ambiguous Situation: The English localization has him declare that an "incarnation of [his] hatred" will haunt Hyrule forever, implying that he will eventually reincarnate as Ganondorf, but the original Japanese production has him phrase his Dying Curse as a general declaration of war against the goddesses' subjects. Hyrule Historia goes for the former interpretation, but it is left vague whether this applies to all Gerudo Kings.
• Ancient Evil: As the progenitor of all monsters, he is this to the franchise as a whole.
• The Anti-God: As the Demon King he is the opposite of the Goddess Hylia, and in the English version eventually parallels her final actions by incarnating his hatred into a mortal form, his wording "I will rise again" also seems to imply that it will be an incarnation of himself as well. He also wields an evil version of her sword.
• Arch-Enemy: To the Goddess Hylia, who nearly got herself killed trying to stop Demise's initial conquest of Earth and sacrificed part of her divinity to destroy him once and for all a millennia later.
• Armless Biped: The Imprisoned's first incarnation. Averted in its second and third incarnations, where it actually does gain arms (plus a tail and the ability to fly or resist gravity by the third incarnation).
• As Long as There Is Evil: He curses Link and Zelda so that a form of his hatred is reborn with them in the English version, but in the Japanese version, his curse is worded more to indicate that his hatred of the gods will continue with the monster armies and that their conflict will repeat, as explained here.
• Ax-Crazy: He hides it well at first, but the longer he talks, the clearer Demise's rage and thirst for blood become.
  Demise: When I finish with you, you can take solace in knowing your friends and kin will soon follow, as I wipe all who oppose me from the face of this world!
• Become Your Weapon: Demise uses Ghirahim as his weapon in the final battle.
• BFS: That wicked, black Master Sword? That's Ghirahim, in his original form.
• Bishōnen Line: He starts off as a monster with two legs, and later gains two arms to become more humanoid. with After Ghirahim's ritual is complete, Demise looks more like a ruggedly handsome giant made of stone. Justified, as this might as well be his original form.
• Blood Knight: Doesn't get going on his return to the mortal world, instead waiting to challenge Link to a sword duel for honor and amusement. The last thing he says to Link before their battle begins is to make it interesting for him.
• Boss Subtitles: As with Ganon in Ocarina of Time, subverted. All you get when you get to fight him is:
  DEMISE
• Call-Forward: As noted on the Main page, this boss references all of the other bosses. Demise is regarded as the origin of all monsters.
• Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: Unlike many other villains in the series, he's remarkably civil and polite, and never undergoes a Villainous Breakdown, even when he loses.
• Cool Sword: He wields what appears to be the Evil Counterpart of the Master Sword, which turns out to be Ghirahim.
• Dark Is Evil: The king of demons himself with all the dark and unholy powers you'd expect from sone of his position.
• Deader than Dead: Downplayed, Link destroyed him so badly that he's unable to ever reincarnate himself ever again as either the Imprisoned or as Demise. His Dying Curse is but a final resort, but if the land he obsesses over perishes (as with The Wind Waker) even his manifestation cannot even hope to return.
• Death from Above: After Link, as a last resort, wished to the Triforce to annihilate Demise for good, the Isle of the Goddess sinks back to Earth and squishes The Imprisoned just as he was emerging from his broken seal. This, however, only works for the present, and Link must travel back in time in order to initiate the final battle.
• Devour the Dragon: After he was released from his imprisonment, he pulls this on Ghirahim, who apparently consented to it if his laughter was any indication.
• Diabolus ex Machina: Just as Demise is finally about to be defeated in the English version, he curses the reincarnations of Link and descendants of Zelda to fight an incarnation of him and his hatred for all eternity, thus subjecting them to a never ending war of sorts. There is no foreshadowing or hints that he can do this beforehand.
• Diabolus ex Nihilo: It's never explained where he and his army of demons came from. All that is known is that they invaded from Beneath the Earth one day in a bid to gain control of the Triforce.
• Die Laughing: As Demise damns the future incarnations of Link and Zelda to be eternally plagued by an incarnation of himself and his own hatred, he gets in one last Evil Laugh before he dissipates into nothing and gets absorbed by the Master Sword.
• Draconic Abomination: Downplayed by the Imprisoned, as while it doesn't have the full body of a dragon, it is very lizard-like in appearance, being covered in scaly skin, having a crest along its spine, and having a somewhat pointed head.
• Dual Boss: Of a sort; he converts Ghirahim back into a sword following his resurrection, which comes after the last boss fight with Ghirahim in the Sealed Grounds. He then uses sword Ghirahim as his weapon in the final battle, meaning Link is essentially facing both of them at once.
• Dub Name Change: His names changes from language to language, each one as terrifying as the previous one. Their literal translations to English would be:
  • Japanese: The Sealed / the Person of Demise.
  • European Spanish: The Sleeper / the Harbinger of Death.
  • Latin American Spanish: The Captive / the Harbinger.
  • French: The Banned / the Avatar of Nothingness.
  • German: The Exiled / the Deathbringer.
  • Italian: The Imprisoned / Mortipher, a variation of the Latin word for "Deathbringer".
• Dying Curse: Once he is defeated for real in the Japanese original, he curses Link and Zelda's descendants/successors, stating that the war between the people of Hylia and the Demon Tribe will never end. The English translation instead states that his "incarnation of hatred" will be his reborn self to once again wreak havoc on the world, implied to be Ganon.
• Eldritch Abomination: His Imprisoned form, though each phase is gradually more definite than the previous one, ending with a Humanoid Abomination, which occurs when he is freed. Although given that Fi states that Demise has taken on different forms over the years, it's likely that even after absorbing Zelda's soul, it still counts as one and that might not have been his true form.
• Evil Counterpart: To Link, as they both wield living swords that are themselves counterparts to each other, and use similar moves in their duel. Unlike Link, Demise is a sadistic tyrant that enjoys killing for fun. Also to the Goddess Hylia (see The Anti-God above).
• Evil Is Bigger: Even in his most humanoid form, he towers over Link.
• Evil Overlord: Of the horde of demons Ghirahim commands while he's sealed.
• Evil Sounds Deep: His voice is remarkably deep.
• Evil Weapon: Your weapon doesn't get much more Obviously Evil in the Zelda franchise than a reddish black, serrated version of the Master Sword.
• Fair-Play Villain: Upon his restoration, Demise is so impressed that Link is not only not afraid of him, but willing to fight him directly, that he agrees to a duel with him before moving on to the Triforce... and this proves to be his undoing.
• Fantasy Counterpart Religion: Shares some hallmark traits of Susanoo-no-Mikoto from Shinto, being the rival to the Royal Family's progenitor, wielding a sword, expressing great bloodlust, and near the end of the game becoming associated with storms.
• Faux Affably Evil: He's polite to Link, is mildly impressed by Groose's courage, and even creates a fair-play arena for him and Link to fight with no trickery involved (even when he summons lightning, it's not exclusive to him). However, behind his polite attitude is a vicious personality that gleefully describes how he's going to kill all of Link's friends and bring the world under his foot. And after his final defeat, Demise frames his Dying Curse as a form of flattery and compliment.
• Final Boss: Of Skyward Sword, though his Villainous Legacy of hatred persists through the rest of the series and its chronology.
• Final Boss, New Dimension: He sets up a pocket dimension battlefield consisting of a disconcertingly beautiful reflecting pool and cloudy sky once freed (though it rapidly warps into darkness once the fight starts).
• Final Solution: In the past, Demise slaughtered most of humanity during his war against Hylia. Upon being revived, he vows to both finish the job and exterminate any other mortals who dare to oppose him.
• Flaming Hair: One of his physical traits once he is fully freed from the seal is a mess of glowing orange hair.
• Foreshadowing: At the beginning of the game, Link dreams of this creature swallowing Zelda. Thanks to Ghirahim, this is essentially what it finally manages to do.
• A Form You Are Comfortable With: Inverted. Fi's description of him says that he actually changes forms in each era in order to make mortals less comfortable around him.
• "Get Back Here!" Boss: All three "fights" with The Imprisoned involves Link having to catch up to it and do enough damage before it can escape the Sealed Grounds. With Demise proper, however, it's a sword duel.
• God of Evil: He's not only the source of evil in this game, but also of the other games as well, technically.
• God of Thunder: Demise is an evil god who can control the weather in his personal dimension. He uses this to darken the battlefield and summon lightning storms.
• Graceful Loser: Zig-Zagged. He's certainly more graceful than Ghirahim, and compliments Link for beating him, being genuinely impressed with the fight that Link puts up given that Link is a mortal, stating that he fights "like no man or demon I have ever seen", and he refers to him as "a paragon of your kind." However, he also vows he'll rise again and that his hatred will curse him and his descendants to have to fight for eternity as well.
• Greater-Scope Villain: Although he is the Final Boss of Skyward Sword, Ghirahim seems to be more of the main antagonist than Demise. Besides this, Fi refers to him as the origin of all monsters, implying the monster army that serves all the major villains that follow may be his fault in some fashion.
• Heroic Build: As Demise, though he obviously subverts the "heroic" part. It's a contrast with his Agent Peacock Dragon Ghirahim.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: Once he opens up the sky to summon lightning to his sword, Link can do the same, and the blast from Link's supercharged Skyward Strike is what stuns him so Link can deal the final blow. That said, him electrifying makes him a lot more dangerous.
• In-Series Nickname: At one point, Groose, once he finds his calling sticking around the Sealed Grounds and helping to fend him off, calls him "Stanky Toes". Fitting, since he does have gross, toe-like... things that Link needs to attack in order to make him lose his balance and fall over.
• Implacable Man: Demise isn't stunned when you shield-bash his attacks.
• "It" Is Dehumanizing: While most people will refer to Demise with masculine pronouns, Fi calls Demise "it". Considering that she also notes that Demise appears differently to every beholder, this probably has something to do with being an Humanoid Abomination.
• Kill All Humans: Was his goal in the past (which he very nearly succeeded at), then he plans to finish the job when unsealed.
• Knight of Cerebus: Whenever he breaks out of his seal, everything in the game comes to a complete halt and makes it clear that you must destroy him as fast as possible. His true form lacks any of of Ghirahim's quirky traits, and therefore is much more threatening.
• Leaking Can of Evil: It breaks free from its seal three times, and every time you recreate a magic seal keeping it in its prison. Impa says that it is taking a gradually shorter time to break free from of its seal...
• Lightning Bruiser: Both forms display this. The Imprisoned is much faster than one would expect from its size and appearance. Demise is faster than Ghirahim despite being several times larger.
• Lost in Translation: The English translation implies that Ganondorf is Demise's heir, specifically his "incarnation of hatred" that exists to carry on his will to war against the gods and their creations. However, the Japanese original instead states that the Demon Tribe is instead cursed to hate the gods and that they will continue to do battle until the end of time; instead of Demise stating that he will return, he states that their war will repeat forever. As stated here, the concepts mentioned by Demise are very specific to Japanese beliefs, so the implications are significantly altered in the simplified translation.
• Maou the Demon King: The game reveals that, in the series' cosmology, Demise is the progenitor of all monsters in the Zelda universe. He also has subservient demon lords, most prominently his dragon, Ghirahim.
• Meaningful Name: The Imprisoned a Sealed Evil in a Can of the Demon King Demise. Where Link is the player's "link" to the game world, Demise is the player's "demise" whenever the player loses.
• Monster Progenitor: He's the progenitor of all demons which have appeared in the Zelda Series.
• Monstrosity Equals Weakness: Despite being more monstrous, The Imprisoned is the sealed form of the Demon King Demise. While the Imprisoned is larger, it appears to be lumbering and mindless compared to how agile and sane Demise is.
• More Teeth than the Osmond Family: As the Imprisoned. He has a more standard set of teeth in his true form.
• Morphic Resonance: Even after being restored, Demise retains the Imprisoned's scaly skin, and has a mark in his forehead from where the sealing spike was driven into it.
• Mother of a Thousand Young: He is the origin of all monsters, though Encylopedia this may be more like The Corruptor.
• My Death Is Only The Beginning: In his final moments, he declares a Dying Curse that Link and Zelda's descendants would be forever locked in battle with an incarnation of his hatred.
• Names to Run Away from Really Fast: The Imprisoned... sounds pretty pleasant, doesn't it? And wouldn't you love to have tea with a guy named Demise?
• No-Nonsense Nemesis: While Demise himself is a Fair-Play Villain, his Imprisoned form is a primal beast that doesn't screw around and just tries to reach the Sealed Temple ASAP, only stopping to fight Link if he's in the way.
• Not Quite Dead: Played with. In both the Japanese and English version, he vows eternal war between the Demon Tribe and the creations of the goddesses before his body disintegrates. The English version implies that either Ganondorf is Demise reborn or that Ganondorf is someone who he created with the power of his hatred to forever torment the heroes who defeated him. Hyrule Warriors and Hyrule Historia go with the former, outright stating Ganondorf to be Demise's reincarnation; Breath of the Wild does so implicitly by stating Ganon to be the incarnation of an ancient evil that took on the form of a Gerudo; and Tears of the Kingdom takes it even further by showing that after Ganondorf becomes the new Demon King, he looks nearly identical to Demise.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: Neither he nor Ghirahim give any recognition to the name 'Demise', but it's the only word the humans could use to describe him. The way Demise is translated in other languages (included the original Japanese name) implies that his "name" is actually a kind of title.
• Our Demons Are Different: Demise is referred to as The Demon King when he rises.
• Painting the Medium: Demise's text bubbles are cloudy with flame-like borders.
• Person of Mass Destruction: According to Zelda, even in the weakened, monstrous form of the Imprisoned, Demise is more than powerful enough to destroy the world if left unchecked.
• The Power of Hate: He states that he is fueled by his hatred of the gods, and that even with his death, his demon army will still repeatedly torment the gods' creations. In the English version, he curses the bloodlines and reincarnations of Link and Zelda to forever fight the manifestation of his hatred.
• Predecessor Villain: As the the progenitor of all monsters, he is posthumously responsible for much of the trouble of the following games.
• Reality Warper: Conjures a whole Pocket Dimension just for a guaranteed-fair fight with Link.
• Recurring Boss: The Imprisoned has to be fought and sealed thrice, then when Demise is fully revived, he is fought as the Final Boss.
• Red Baron: His actual identity is Demise, who has the ominous title "Demon King".
• Restraining Bolt: The Sealing Spike in the Imprisoned's forehead weakens him into the lumbering, vaguely lizard-like form with limited power.
• Rule of Symbolism: Like the Master Sword, Demise's sword has a Triforce on the blade near the hilt... but unlike the Master Sword, the Triforce is upright^* Well, upright for Hyrule, anyways when the blade is pointed down (and he notably does hold his sword pointed down when he blocks Link's attacks). Whereas Link raises his sword skyward as a beacon of hope for all, Demise holds his sword towards the earth to which all life will return if he gets the chance.
• Satanic Archetype: He is Hyrule's equivalent to the Devil. Demise seeks nothing but destruction and, after being sealed away by Hylia, is naturally pissed. When released by Ghirahim, Demise wastes no time fighting Link to the death. However, when he is impaled by the Master Sword, Demise states that As Long as There Is Evil, the monster army will always do battle with the gods; in the English version, he instead curses Link and Zelda that his hatred (Ganon) will follow them forever, making him the ultimate Sore Loser.
• Sealed Evil in a Can: The Imprisoned is sealed within the Sealed Grounds. It breaks free from its weakening seal several times and has to be resealed until Ghirahim forces his release, at which point Link has to kill him.
• Small Role, Big Impact: He only appears very briefly towards the end of one game and is killed beyond any chance of ever coming back, but his war against Hylia and his Dying Curse against Link and Zelda makes him responsible for the events of the entire franchise.
• Sore Loser: After losing his final fight with Link, he curses all of his future incarnations, as well as those of Zelda, to be plagued by an incarnation of his hatred, for all eternity.
• Stab the Sky: He does this in the 2nd phase of his boss fight. You can do the same.
• The Stoic: Even when he's being sealed away, he remains calm.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Serves a very similar purpose that staple villain Ganon(dorf) does in several games, being a large, muscular, orange-haired being of darkness who rules over the monsters harrassing the people of the surface. The English version takes this further by implying that Ganon himself is his "incarnation of hatred" that exists to carry on his will.
• Sword Beam: Imbues his blade with lightning during the fight with him to fire blasts of electricity. Also an example of Shock and Awe. Unfortunately for him, Link can copy his technique and use it against him.
• Take Your Time: Demise, when he first appears, actually allows Link time to go back and make preparations before the final battle. This is partly because he's a Fair-Play Villain who's genuinely impressed by Link's courage, partly because he's totally confident that he'll win — as he puts it, he's been waiting for thousands of years. What's a few moments more?
• Tactical Suicide Boss: While not a pure example, the third form of the Imprisoned has a flying ability with shades of this, in that it allows you to send him to the bottom of the gorge instead of merely halting his advance as it would if he stayed on the ground.
• Time-Limit Boss: The player must defeat the Imprisoned before it reaches the Sealed Temple or they will receive a Non-Standard Game Over. Fortunately, the player can stall The Imprisoned's progress, buying more time, but on the other hand, it can take time off the clock by dashing forward, climbing along the walls and cliffs in the second encounter, or flying in the third.
• Tranquil Fury: For a guy that talks about how much hate he has, he's surprisingly calm about it.
• Ungrateful Bastard: Doesn't even so much as say thanks to Ghirahim upon his resurrection before reverting him to his true form as a sword. Ghirahim doesn't seem to mind.
• Variable Mix: The music in the Imprisoned's battles adds a catchy drum beat when it's covering ground quickly or becomes chaotic and faster when it's on the final stretch. Groose also gets his riff thrown in when he helps out, making a total of six different possible themes.
• Villainous Legacy: The English version implies that the machinations of Ganon are the legacy of Demise, the Demon King who cursed Link and Zelda to be plagued by an incarnation of his hatred forever, manifested in Ganondorf (and perhaps others). In any case, as the source of all monsters, any appearance of the Blins, Lizalfos, and others are tied to him.
• Villain Respect: Even before the fight, he grants Link the time to make preparations when it becomes clear he is willing to fight him head on, respecting his courage. Upon his defeat he openly declares that Link is a paragon of his kind who fights like no human or demon he has ever known. He's even mildly impressed by Groose, for having the courage to intervene to catch Zelda and assure Link that she'll be safe.
• Walking Shirtless Scene: Apparently, being an Evil Overlord doesn't leave him a lot of time to get dressed.
• Walking Spoiler: His very existence, and even his mention, trigger this.
• When All You Have Is a Hammer…: Demise doesn't have (or perhaps more accurately, doesn't use) any fancy tricks beyond temporarily electrifying his sword with a lightning bolt, but given the fact that shield bashing him doesn't stun him, his extremely hard to dodge dash attack, and the complications added by electrifying his sword, that's all he needs.
• Worthy Opponent: Views both Link and Hylia as one, waxing lyrical about how the former is a paragon of his kind who fights unlike anyone he's ever faced after he's defeated, and wistfully remarking on Hylia's magnificence in divine form. Some of his dialogue indicates he has a degree of respect for Groose as well, thanks to his intervention to catch a falling Zelda and successfully ignoring Demise to tell Link that Zelda's going to be all right.
• You Are a Credit to Your Race: He mentions how all the humans he's known were weak cowards who hid behind their goddess Hylia... until he met Link. He is initially impressed merely by Link's courage, but after being defeated he gives full praise to the hero.
  Demise: How amusing to think those cowards begot someone like you.
  Demise: Extraordinary. You stand as a paragon of your kind, human.
• You Cannot Grasp the True Form: Fi says that Demise's appearance changes throughout the ages and looks differently to everyone who sees them, and does not even use gendered pronouns for Demise, calling them "it." ^note  Ghirahim calls Demise "he," though. It's therefore likely that the large, muscular, fire-haired figure that players see is just what Link himself sees, and that what Link sees is entirely different from what Groose or Fi or Ghirahim see, even though Groose and Link look at Demise at the same time.
• Your Soul Is Mine!: He plans to absorb Zelda's soul so he can gain immense power. Fortunately for her, that doesn't happen. Or rather, it does, but he doesn't have time to digest it, per se, before being defeated.
• Zombie Gait: Once The Imprisoned gains arms, it walks with them outstretched in front of itself.

Scaldera

Pyroclastic Fiend

A fiery beast which Ghirahim summons in order to kill Link in the Earth Temple.

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• Animate Inanimate Object: Justified via Ghirahim's magic, as it's the same boulder that tried to kill Link after he grabbed the Dragon Sculpture, now given life by Ghirahim as a monster ordered to kill Link just to help him get over Impa killing his men and taking Zelda from him (again).
• Boss Subtitles: Pyroclastic Fiend: Scaldera
• Breath Weapon: Its attack is similar to that of King Dodongo in Ocarina of Time, only instead of exhalating a continuous breath of fire, it expels fireballs.
• Broken Armor Boss Battle: The more bombs it eats, the more its rocky shell gets blown off, making it easier to hit its eye.
• Dub Name Change: In the original Japanese it's called Hellfire Boulder Vaira Dharma (roughly "Hostile Justice" in Sanskrit). Further, it's Incandescent Rock Fusiok in Canadian French, Incandescent Rock Bela Darma in European French, Infernal Rock Fireeye in Italian, and Great Rock of Infernal Flames Saagar in Korean.
• Feed It a Bomb: While it's inhalating air to shoot its fireballs, Link has to throw it a bomb to stun it.
• Go for the Eye: Notably among most Zelda bosses, the eye moves constantly while the boss is stunned, so Link has to change his slash aiming to hit it as many times as he can.
• Indy Escape: Before the fight with it, the boulder that eventually becomes Scaldera rolls after Link after he acquires the boss key in a booby trap, making an homage to the famous boulder chase scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark.
• Living Lava: It starts out as a spherical boulder, but Ghirahim's magic transforms it into a living blob of lava covered by a rocky shell.
• Our Monsters Are Weird: It's a giant... rock... lava... monster... thing.
• Playing with Fire: Its only attacks (fireballs and rolling) are fire-based.
• Rolling Attack: One of its attacks is to roll down the sloped arena in which it's fought.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Of King Dodongo from Ocarina of Time, being a fire-breathing creature that rolls around and has to be defeated by throwing bombs in its mouth. To drive the point home, it is also fought in a volcanic second dungeon.

Moldarach

Thousand-Year Arachnid

A scorpion-like boss located in the Lanayru Mining Facility.

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• Attack Its Weak Point: Its eyes in the claws and in the face. Link can either hit them continuously, or shoot at them first with the Slingshot to stun it briefly and land 2-3 hits.
• Big Creepy-Crawlies: It's this for being originally an Aracha.
• Boss Subtitles: Thousand-Year Arachnid: Moldarach
• Degraded Boss: Another Moldarach shows up in the Shipyard later in the game as a Mini-Boss, but the battle goes by faster since the sword deals twice as much damage as in the original encounter.
• Dub Name Change: It's called Millenium Crustacean Insect Moldgut in Japanese. Further, it's called Millenium Arthropod Moldgath in French, Dark Aeon Scorpion Moldoghad in German, Millenium Crustacean Skorpyo in Italian, Millenium Scorpion Moldarg in American Spanish, and Millenium Scorpion Morgrad in European Spanish.
• Eyes Do Not Belong There: It has eyes in its claws.
• Foreshadowing: If you ask Fi for advice on an Aracha, she will note that they can live to be 1000 years old. Since Moldarach is the only boss in the game that dies in the same small explosion as any common enemy, this hints that you're going to meet another of its kind later in the game.
• Go for the Eye: Link has to slash at its eyes in the claws.
• King Mook: Of its offspring, the Arachas. The one in the Mining Facility isn't even a unique specimen, since Arachas are all over the desert, so another one is met in the Lanayru Shipyard.
• Mole Monster: It burrows beneath the sand of its arena after its claws are damaged, striking at Link with its stinger from beneath the surface. In order to defeat it, Link must use the dungeon's item to remove sand and expose the beast.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: It telegraphs which claw it will attack with by having the eye in it glow red.
• Scary Scorpions: It has the habit of taking preys by surprise by popping from the sandy floor.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Of the Gohma bosses, being an arachnid (albeit scorpion in this case) that has a prominent eye and sics its offspring at Link.
• Weaponized Offspring: Late in the fight, it spawns its young, the common Arachas, in order to distract Link.

Koloktos

Ancient Automaton

A huge, golden statue which Ghirahim brings to life with his dark magic. It is located in the Ancient Cistern.

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• BFS: In the second stage of the battle, it wields six huge swords, which Link can take advantage of.
• Boss Subtitles: Ancient Automaton: Koloktos
• Bright Is Not Good: This artistically designed golden robot in a beautiful pillared room is definitely out to kill you.
• Bring It: This official artwork◊.
• Dub Name Change: It's called Demon-Tainted Sacred Instrument Dah Ilooma in Japanese, and is further renamed Thousand-Armed Guardian Koloktos in Canadian French, Thousand-armed Guardian Da Ihloma in European French, Artefact of Darkness Da Ihlohm in German, Thousand-Bladed Demon Malgare in Italian, Demon-Possessed Sacred Machine Da Ilowama in Korean, Golem of the Darkness Koloktos in American Spanish, and Golem of the Darkness Iruoma in European Spanish.
• Easily Detachable Robot Parts: Justified, given that the only thing holding it together is some sort of dark magic.
• Giggling Villain: Upon its defeat it starts shaking and giggling like a laughing child, then explodes.
• Go Out with a Smile: Creepily, its once-stoic face changes to a smiling one the closer Link gets to defeating it, suggesting either that it wanted to be freed from Ghirahim's curse or that it's a Combat Sadomasochist.
• Heartbeat Soundtrack: Plays when it first assembles itself.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: Link must use Koloktos's own swords against it during the second phase.
• In Case of Boss Fight, Break Glass: In its second phase, a grate covers the weak point. You have to break it open with one of its own swords.
• Multi-Armed and Dangerous: In later phases, every one of its six arms wields a gigantic sword.
• Pulling Themselves Together: Link can pull it to pieces to get a shot at its weak point, but after a few seconds it'll reform.

Tentalus

Abyssal Leviathan

A tentacled beast which is encountered in the Lanayru Desert. Boss of the Sandship.

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• Attack of the Monster Appendage: The first appearance of him is his tentacle-like hair bursting through the walls of the Sandship, trying to sink it.
• Boss Subtitles: Abyssal Leviathan: Tentalus
• Cthulhumanoid: Vaguely humanoid, with tentacles everywhere.
• Combat Tentacles: It attacks with its tentacles both directly and from the ground.
• Dub Name Change: It's called Ancient Marine Monster Daidagos in the original Japanese, and is further renamed Ancient Sea Horror Daidagos in German, Ancient Marine Creature Meduclope in Italian, and Ancient Sea Monster Gloctas in Korean.
• Giant Space Flea from Nowhere: While most of the other bosses are Ghirahim's monsters, this thing doesn't actually appear in the Sandship, it just suddenly appears out of nowhere and attacks the ship.
• Go for the Eye: Link has to shoot it in the eye. This is more difficult than you might think, given that this has to be done while it's winding up for a giant blow.
• Prehensile Hair: Eel-like head tentacles in the vein of Medusa.
• Tentacle Hair: It has some of its tentacles act as hair, covering its single eye. Link has to cut the tentacles to attack this weak spot.
• Too Many Mouths: Its tentacle hair is revealed late in the fight to have mouths on the end.

Bilocyte

Ocular Parasite

A parasite who seems to have lodged itself inside the whale deity Levias.

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• Body Horror: No wonder Levias was acting irritable. The thing's tentacles are the size of small buildings.
• Boss Subtitles: Ocular Parasite: Bilocyte
• Dub Name Change: It's called Giant-eyed Parasite Paras Paras in the original Japanese, and further renamed Giant-Eyed Paraside Palparas in European French, Foul-Eyed Giant Parasite Baras Baras in German, Giant Parasite Drosera in Italian, and Giant Ocular Parasite Aléginor in Korean.
• Go for the Eye: Its weak point is its large, winged-pupil eye.
• No Ontological Inertia: Kill it, and Levias goes back to his normal, affable state. The skies in the Thunderhead also stop being grey and stormy.
• Tennis Boss: The only way to defeat it is by deflecting the slime attacks it throws at Link.

NPCs

Owlan and Horwell

Two instructors that assist Gaepora and the students in the academy.

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• Cute Kitten: Horwell always takes care of Gaepora's Remlit, Mia, so much that he feels he wants one. Because of the Remlits turning into vicious little things at night, he puts Mia out.
• Dub Name Change:
  • Owlan is called Owl in the original Japanese, and further renamed Arfan in French ("harfang" means "snowy owl", Otus ("owl" in Latin) in German and Italian, and Buhel in Spanish.
  • Horwell is Hornell in the original, Hulul in French, Tytor in German, Cornelio in Italian, and Asteus in Spanish.
• Eyes Always Shut: Instructor Horwell. There's also Rupin, the gear shop owner, during the daytime. However, it's only a facade to help with sales.
• For Science!: Owlan has a fascination with plant research and he wishes to find new species. And that includes fetching him a Kikwi, which is both a fauna and flora example (much to his delight).
• Theme Naming: Like most of the residents of Skyloft, they are named after birds or, more specifically, owls in order to coincide with Gaeopora.

Cawlin and Strich

Groose's lackeys.

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• Beetle Maniac: Strich has a fascination with bugs and can give Link ridiculous amounts of money if he collects some for him.
• Dub Name Change:
  • Cawlin is Ras in the original, and is further renamed Orbo in French, Rax in German, Corvy in American Spanish, and Calvin in European Spanish.
  • Strich is called Ost in the original, and is further renamed Lastruche in French, Stru in German, Dacio in Italian, and Vestro in Spanish.
• Fat and Skinny: Cawlin is the fat guy and Strich is the skinny guy.
• Friend to Bugs: Strich, to the extent that he actually buys bugs from people to add to his collection. The sums of money he hands out aren't exactly chicken feed, either.
• Gang of Bullies: Part of one with Groose; he's in charge and they're not very bully-like without him, mostly lacking the courage or inclination to do anything particularly malevolent.

• Jerkass: Strich later shows a nice side, but Cawlin is a jerk through and through.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Or maybe bronze. Strich. He did help kidnap Link's Loftwing, but he's happy to talk to Link regarding bugs, and later on in the game, he's genuinely sorry for wanting to keep Beedle's bug despite the guy being so stressed over it. Though, he was willing to keep the bug anyway unless Link beat his challenge.
• Hypocritical Humor: Cawlin snickers at Groose for being upset over Zelda's disappearance. Later on in the game, he's much more upset when he doesn't get to hook up with Karane.
• Laser-Guided Karma: Delivering the letter to the ghost in the bathroom instead will upset Cawlin really badly; in addition, said ghost will haunt him every night. Who's worse, the jerk who throws eggs in the Wing Ceremony or the guy whose 'bungling' gets the guy haunted by a lovestruck ghost every night? Or, you can just hand over the love letter to Karane, then inform Pipit, stirring him into a Love Confession that breaks Cawlin's heart in public. Karma really has it out for that guy.
• Minion with an F in Evil: Stritch usually doesn't mind Link being around and would rather do his own thing. When Groose isn't around, he's even shown to get along well with Link.
• Theme Naming: Like most of the residents of Skyloft, they are named after birds—the macaw and the ostrich.
• Those Two Guys: They're always seen together at first. They later become more independent of each other.

Pipit

A senior student at the Knight Academy who the other students look up to.

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• Big Brother Mentor: To Link, giving him all kinds of advice and explicitly stating the role is his responsibility.
• Broken Ace: Pipit is a senior class student, winner of the previous year's Wing Ceremony, crushed on by Karane, and is constantly upbeat and happy to help Link out. As it turns out, he's barely able to pay the Knight Academy tuition fees due to his mother constantly squandering their money, which they only have because Pipit works a night shift patrolling the academy grounds to keep monsters away. What makes it worse is that it's one of the few problems that Link can't help with — in fact, he can potentially actively harm the issue by playing the cleaning minigame repeatedly.
• Dub Name Change: He's called Kikoa in the original Japanese, Kiko in French, Cuco in German, Sparvio in Italian, Cocu in American Spanish, and Coocker in European Spanish.
• Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: Inverted, Pipit is a good guy who often scolds his mother because she pays Link to clean their incredibly dusty house using money they only have because Pipit works hard doing night patrols to both fund his tuition at the Knight Academy and put food on the table.
• Relationship Upgrade: With Karane if Link delivers Cawlin's letter to her.
• The Reliable One: Pipit is one of the most upstanding knights at the academy and works hard every night to support himself and his financially irresponsible mother.
• Theme Naming: Like all the residents of Skyloft, he is named after a bird—the pipit.

Karane

A senior student at the Knight Academy who is popular with the male students.

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• Dub Name Change: She's called Krané in the original Japanese, Grida in French, Grudia in Italian, Grusi in American Spanish, and Gracielle in European Spanish.
• Dude Magnet: Both Cawlin and Pipit end up falling for her, and Fi even points it out. Depending on Link's actions, she and Pipit can start dating.
• Fiery Redhead: She has red hair, and is more brusque and athletic than most of the other women on Skyloft.
• Girlish Pig Tails: Downplayed. Though she has pigtails, she’s overall quite serious and adult, though occasionally a more playful side of hers sneaks out.
• Love Triangle: She gets caught in a Type 4 triangle between Cawlin and Pipit. If Link delivers Cawlin's love letter to her, she'll choose Pipit. If Link gives it to the ghostly hand, neither of them will win.
• Relationship Upgrade: With Pipit if Link delivers Cawlin's letter to her.
• Single Woman Seeks Good Man: She has a crush on Pipit, though occasionally she'll give flirty compliments to Link. Curiously, she'll continue to do so even if she gets together with Pipit.
• Theme Naming: Like most of the residents of Skyloft, she is named after a bird — the crane.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: She's a Tomboy compared to Zelda, the Girly Girl.
• Two Girls to a Team: She and Zelda are the only female students at the Knight Academy. According to background info, they're close friends. Their dormitory rooms are right next to each other, and a fairly large opening in the wall between them suggests they communicated through it quite frequently.

Fledge

A weak and timid student from the Knight Academy.

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• Blush Sticker: Seems to be a permanent fixture on his face.
• Charles Atlas Superpower: Thanks to an insane regimen of exercise aided by stamina potion, Fledge eventually becomes strong enough to do thousands of push-ups in a setting and lift a huge barrel with one arm, although he doesn't bulk up in any visible way.
• Dub Name Change: He's called Sebasun in the original Japanese, Libri in Canadian French, Célestin in European French, Grus in German, Gentirosso in Italian, and Gruyo in Spanish.
• Shrinking Violet: He's very timid and is easily pushed around by Groose and his lackeys, but can become stronger and more confident with Link's help.
• Theme Naming:
  • Like most of the residents of Skyloft, he has a bird themed name — the fledgling is the earliest stage in a bird's life and comes immediately before developing the ability to fly, which fits his shy and meek demeanor and eventually muscling up.
  • His Italian name, "Gentirosso", is a portmanteau of "gentile" ("kind") and "pettirosso" ("red chest", the name for European robins).

Phoeni

A ghostly hand of a young girl that haunts the Academy's toilet.

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• Abhorrent Admirer: Her stroking of Cawlin's head at night gives him nightmares that negatively affect his sleep.
• The Artifact: Despite her being properly named "Phoeni" in the Switch version, Fi's summation of her from the Wii version is caried over verbatim, wherein she claims the ghost's name is unknown.
• Cute Ghost Girl: We actually only see her hand, but it's a pretty cute hand, and she generally acts pretty nice.
• Love at First Sight: Her reaction to Cawlin.
• No Name Given: In the original game, your only source of information on her - Fi - has no idea what her name might be. The Prima Skyward Sword guidebook gives her the name "Pheoni", which is also used for her dialogue boxes in Skyward Sword HD.
• Running Gag: She continues a tradition of random toilet hands at night demanding paper from Majora's Mask and Oracle of Ages.
• Theme Naming: "Phoeni" is just one letter off from "phoenix".

Crimson Loftwing

A Loftwing of a rare red color who has a bond with Link.

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• Bond Creatures: It and Link share a bond that keeps them together spiritually.
• Dub Name Change: In general, Loftwings are called Loftbirds in Japanese, Célestriers in French, Wolkenvogels ("cloudbirds") in German, Solcanubi ("cloudfurrowers/cloudsailers") in Italian, Nebokryl ("skywings") in Russian, Neburís in American Spanish, and Pelícaros in European Spanish.
• Giant Flyer: Like the other Loftwings, it's big enough to carry Link through the Sky.
• Horse of a Different Color: It's red, a very rare color in its species.
• Law of Chromatic Superiority: It's red, again due to the rarity.
• No Name Given: It's just known as "Link's bird" or the Crimson Loftwing. Its actual name, if it has one, is unknown.

Skyloft Bazaar

Gondo, Rupin, Luv, Bertie, Sparrot, Piper, Peatrice, and Peater, eight people located in the Skyloft Bazaar who offer various services to Link. Note that Piper is only located in the Bazaar and doesn't offer any service to Link, while Peater's mini-game is located on a different island.

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• Acrofatic: Peater is rotund and looks incredibly out of shape, but is quick enough with his tiny sword to cut a stalk of bamboo upwards of 30 times before it falls. This odd combination is justified as he was once a top-ranked Sky Knight but has since retired—presumably, Peater was once even better than he is now.
• Big Eater: Fi mentions that Luv's hobbies are eating and sleeping.
• Chubby Mama, Skinny Papa: Luv and Bertie, respectively. Luv's relative girth is at least partially a result of her Big Eater tendencies.
• Crystal Ball: Sparrot uses one to foresee the future. In his sidequest it breaks and Link has to get him a new one.
• Defrosting Ice Queen: The more you visit her at the Item Check, the more Peatrice will loosen up and become enamoured with Link. She is a classic Tsundere, starting out tsun-tsun (with lines like "not that I care, anyway") and becoming dere-dere, gushing every time she sees Link. Inverted if you choose to reject her; when you see her, she describes herself as "the woman who got over her broken heart and is getting prettier by the day."
• Dub Name Change:
  • Gondo is called Dolko in the original Japanese, and is further renamed Dorco in European French and Kondoroy in Italian.
  • Rupin is called Korkin in the original Japanese, and is further renamed Arpigon in European French, Kulkan in German, Ruperio in Italian, and Rupín in Spanish.
  • Luv is called Manda in the original Japanese, and is further renamed Mandalia in Canadian French, Mandy in Italian, and Mandi in Spanish.
  • Bertie is called Arin in the original Japanese, and is further renamed Darin in French, Rino in Italian, and Arín in Spanish.
  • Sparrot is called Suzuha in the original Japanese, and is further renamed Caïk in European French, Amadin in German, Prunello in Italian, and Aspir in Spanish.
  • Piper is called Jona in the original Japanese, and is further renamed Jonalie in Canadian French, Gianna in Italian, and Joana in Spanish.
  • Peatrice is called Jacqueline in the original Japanese, and is further renamed Panelie in Canadian French, Pavelle in European French, Pica in German, Vania in Italian, Panalí in American Spanish, and Paula in European Spanish.
  • Peater is called Jackson in the original Japanese, and is further renamed Panolo in Canadian French and American Spanish, Léon in European French, and Pavello in Italian.
• Expy:
  • Sparrot, being fortune teller, is a gender-flipped Madame Fanadi. They even have the same body type.
  • Rupin, the man running the Honest John's Dealership at the Bazaar during the day and at his home at night, is modeled after the Happy Mask Salesman from Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask.
• Formerly Fit: Peater used to be about as fit as Link, but age and stress have caused him to become quite obese.

• Gadgeteer Genius: Gondo, who, along with upgrading your items, likes to tinker with things in all his spare time. This becomes helpful when he needs to repair his grandpa's robot for Link.
• Hartman Hips: Piper.

• Honest John's Dealership: Rupin, though he isn't dishonest about his wares, just puts on an overly-friendly demeanor to sell his stuff.
• I Was Quite a Looker: Peater, apparently, before he started putting on the pounds.
• The Insomniac: Bertie, thanks to his crying kid. The typical crankiness that comes with this trope is averted, though.
• Jiggle Physics: Peater's belly often visibly wobbles when he moves.
• Nice Guy: Gondo isn't too bothered if Link decides he doesn't have anything for him to upgrade/repair (which happens more often than you'd might think, if you aren't consulting a guide on what items you need to upgrade something) and indignantly demands that Scrapper show Link some respect.
• Smitten Teenage Girl: Peatrice, towards Link.
• Stepford Smiler: Rupin appears overly cheerful and bubbly while running his shop at the Bazaar, but drops this act at night. However, he also notes that his nighttime persona is also not his "real" self.
  Rupin: What? You think I'm being gruff? You think I'm totally different during the day? Well, I get tired of having to be a smiley shopkeeper all day, all right? Just don't think that this is the real me.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Rupin strongly resembles two other infamous shopkeepers whose ingratiating smiles mask their darker personalities when they are upset. His is less creepy, more grumpy, however.
• Team Chef: Piper serves this role, though she usually spends more time making the food than letting people eat it.
• Top-Heavy Guy: Gondo, who's massively built up top.
• When All You Have Is a Hammer…: Despite his impressive Utility Belt, Gondo somehow does all his repairs and upgrades with a simple screwdriver.

Beedle

A shopkeeper who continuously pedals on a bike to keep his airship afloat.

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• Beetle Maniac: He loves his prized horned beetle.
• Friend to Bugs: Beedle is an insect lover in this game (it was never specified in his prior appearances whether or not he was already an enthusiast on the matter back then). He not only sells you a Bug Net to capture insects, but also a special Medal to track their locations. At one point uyou have to find his missing pet beetle.
• Hamster-Wheel Power: He keeps an airship afloat by constantly pedaling on a bike.
• Honest John's Dealership: Has shades. He admits he doesn't know what some of the items he sells do, but he'll still charge you more than a thousand rupees for them.
• Karmic Trickster: If you enter his shop, look at the merchandise, and then try to leave without buying anything, he chastises you for wasting his time and pedaling energy, and pulls a lever that drops you out of his flying shop through a trapdoor.
• Legacy Character: Chronologically, he's the very first Beedle.
• Pun: Beedle has a pet beetle.
• Purple Prose: Beedle's "real persona", which he assumes only outside of work hours, is this trope.
• Scolded for Not Buying: If Link attempts to leave the airshop without buying any of his wares, Beedle complains that Link made him pedal harder to keep the shop afloat only to not buy anything, before opening a trapdoor to drop Link out unceremoniously.
• Stealth Pun: Beedle, being a merchant, keeps his shop flying by generating electricity with a stationary bicycle. What's another word for merchant? He's a peddler.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: To past appearances. There's no membership cards for discounts and eventual rewards (and the discount he gives you for finding his lost rare beetle only extends to the next item you buy), his prices reach into the 4-digit range, and if you leave the shop without buying anything, he yells at you for making him pedal harder due to the added weight, then drops you out a trap door.

Batreaux

A demon in Skyloft who wishes to become human.

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• Ascended Demon: If you collect all the Gratitude Crystals, he becomes a human. Mostly.
• Become a Real Boy: He becomes human once Link gets all the Gratitude Crystals, taking his dark magic away.
• Camp: That he's a big, imposing demon doesn't take away from the fact.
• Collection Sidequest: Gratitude crystals.
• Dark Is Not Evil: He may be a demon, but is otherwise a nice and considerate being unlike all the other demons.
• Devilish Hair Horns: After becoming human, Batreaux's horns are replaced by spiky hair shooting up from the sides of his otherwise bald head.
• Face of a Thug: Even if he turns into a human, he's still a scary looking guy with a heart of gold.
• Mook Maker: Unintentionally, his demonic aura attracts monsters to Skyloft. Once he's human, they vanish and the Remlits become tame.
• Nice Guy: He just has a bad reputation.
• Uncle Pennybags: He's implied to be very rich, judging by the amount of Rupee wallets he can give Link. He's also a nice, amicable guy.

Pumm and Kina

This father and daughter team are the owners of The Lumpy Pumpkin, a pub popular with the Skyloft Academy Knights that specializes in Pumpkin-related food like Pumpkin Soup. At one point, Link breaks their chandelier, starting several sidequests.

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• Berserk Button: Pumm goes nuts if you break the chandelier, but it's inevitable if the player seeks to reach 100% Completion.
• Chubby Chef: Pumm is the main owner of The Lumpy Pumpkin, and has a large beer gut as well.
• Dub Name Change:
  • Pumm is called Puukin in the original Japanese, and is further renamed Potiro in Canadian French, Potron in European French, Biskur in German, Zuko in Italian, and Vito in Spanish.
  • Kina is called Panan in the original Japanese, and is further renamed Tironne in French, Kabocha in German, Pepa in Italian, Calabel in American Spanish, and Calabelle in European Spanish.
• Dude Magnet: Kina. A few boys (and a mogma) at the Lumpy Pumpkin are seen fawning over her, and Fi calls her "the pretty face of the Lumpy Pumpkin".
• Edible Theme Naming: Their names are based around the word "pumpkin".
• Recurring Element: They fulfil the Talon and Malon role as the simple agricultural father daughter duo. Like Malon, Kina is also a singer. They specialize in pumpkin soup rather than milk, however.
• The Ugly Guy's Hot Daughter: Kina is pretty cute, while his dad is rather... not good-looking.

Gorko

A Goron archeologist who is trying to uncover the history of the surface and sky worlds.

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• Adventurer Archaeologist: Gorko is fascinated with Skyloft culture, and asks Link for help on his research. He also likes to travel to dangerous places just to get some research.
• Dub Name Change: He's Malgo in the original Japanese, Marcogoro in Canadian French, Marp in European French, Marugo in German, and Pigoron in Italian.
• Endearingly Dorky: He gets very enthusiastic about Skyloft and ancient history, which is amusing from the point of view of the player (goodness knows what Link thinks of it), and it makes the giant rock guy look rather sweet.
• Entertainingly Wrong: His ideas of what Skyloft itself is like are rather... out there. In regards to the ancient mysteries on the ground, however, his information is generally pretty reliable.
• Large Ham: Becomes one when he gets really excited.
• Mr. Exposition: Tends to take on this role, especially when it comes to explaining the Goddess Walls and Gossip Stones.
• Recurring Traveller: Early on, you find him all over the place on the surface investigating ancient mysteries, but later in the game, he permanently stays next to the Goddess Wall behind the Sealed Temple.
• Redundant Researcher: Gorko the Goron has been unsuccessfully researching various things, such as the owl statues, which he can't figure out how to activate. Link just walks up to one and they all turn on automatically. Later, you can "solve" the mysterious Goddess Cubes for him by swinging your sword at them, and sketch things on walls to help him determine the meaning of some ancient puzzles. Gorko, of course, had no chance of figuring out any of these things himself, simply because he doesn't have Link's magic sword.
• Spock Speak: He rarely uses contractions, if at all. From the perspective of his scholarly experience and the fact that he's not a Hylian, it makes design sense.

Scrapper

An Ancient Robot designed to haul objects between the Surface and the Sky. Once Link restores him to operations, he agrees to help him in his quest... but only in the hope that he'll win Fi over in the process.

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• Dub Name Change: He's called Salvo in the original Japanese, Récupix in French, Salbot in Italian, and Serbot in Spanish.
• Entertainingly Wrong: At one point, he chides Link for dragging Fi around the world without considering her say in the matter, never realizing that she accompanies Link due to being programmed to and secretly cherishes the time she spends with him, to boot.
• Hate Sink: While he's not a villain by any stretch, Scrapper makes up for that by being the game's biggest Jerkass, even more than Demise and Ghirahim. He's constantly rude and ungrateful to Link (who saved his life) for no good reason, to the point that even Gondo chastises him for it. He also only helps Link due to his pathetic and one-sided crush on Fi. This dialogue option says it all:
  Fi: To transport the Water Dragon's basin to the volcano, you will need to enlist the service of that transport robot. Shall I send word to him?
  Link: Not that guy…
• Hopeless Suitor: He's head over heels in love with Fi, who has zero emotions and even less interest in him.
• Interspecies Romance: He has a rather one-sided crush on Fi.
• Jerkass: He acts rude towards Link the whole time, though he does eventually stop openly insulting him.
• Love at First Sight: He becomes enamored with Fi from the first time he lays eyes on her.
• Robot Buddy: Scrapper is on call after being repaired and sees a lot of use hauling items...only, he's a jerk to everyone but Fi, whom he has a crush on, and only helps Link because Fi asks Scrapper on Link's orders.
• Ungrateful Bastard: Even though Link is the one who found the materials needed to repair him, as Gondo irritably points out, Scrapper never tries to hide his disdain for him even after agreeing to help him. Apparently helping a child is beneath his dignity.

Faron

A dragon-like deity that lives at Lake Floria.

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• The Chooser of the One: She won't accept the word of Hylia or even Fi as to whether Link truly is the chosen hero. In her mind, the only way to know for sure is if she tests him herself.
• Fantastic Racism: She prefers having the humans gone from the woods, even when they had complete respect for nature.
• Good Is Not Nice: She's loyal to her role as one of the Goddess's chosen servants and does aid Link on more than one occasion, but that doesn't stop her from being rude, persnickety, and harshly judgmental of others at every opportunity.
• Jerkass Gods: She has a good mind to eat the hermit that helped you find her, she floods the woods to get rid of the monsters (not caring about the Kikwis - though they take the flooding fairly philosophically as they reckon it'll clean out the monster problem - or the nearby Sealed Temple), she refuses to let Link know her part of the final song even after he saved her, and she clearly thinks little of her fellow dragons.
• Making a Splash: She's the deity of water, so that's kind of a given.
• Offscreen Moment of Awesome: You first encounter her in a basin tending to her wounds, which, as she is quick to inform you, came from Ghirahim. Prior to those injuries, she was eating her way through his Bokoblin hordes — literally, with some of them.
• There Is No Kill Like Overkill: Her response to the rising monster population in Faron Woods is to flood the entire place, regardless of the Kikwis living there. Oddly, the Kikwis don't actually mind, hoping that it'll do as intended and get rid of said monsters.
• Took a Level in Kindness: She does eventually warm up to Link a little bit, conceding that the Goddess chose well in her choice of hero.
• Water Is Womanly: Out of the three Dragons that have lived in the surface, Faron, the female one, represents the water element. She watches over the crystalline waters of Lake Floria within Faron Province, and is an elegant (if sometimes also cocky) Proper Lady.

Eldin

One of the legendary dragons that lives in the Eldin province.

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• The Aloner: He doesn’t live alongside any native Surface tribes like the Water and Thunder Dragons do, and likes to recount how harmonious the volcano once was when people still lived on it.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Inverted, since we see the "beware" side first when he inadvertently causes Eldin Volcano to erupt. By the time you meet him, though, he recognizes Link as the hero instantly and even apologizes for the trouble the eruption caused him.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: The eruption he caused knocks Link out on his descent into the volcano, giving the native Bokoblins a chance to swipe his gear and imprison him while he's unconscious.
• Playing with Fire: His title is “Fire Dragon”, he lives inside and protects the Eldin Volcano, and can even cause intense eruptions using his power.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Between the uptight Faron and carefree Lanayru, Eldin comes across as this. Though his contributions are minimal, he never (intentionally) puts Link in danger or forces him to prove himself in exchange for things that he’s owed or entitled to as the chosen hero.
• The Storyteller: As designated by a Gossip Stone. Should Link revisit him, he regales the hero with tales of the other two dragons and the history of Eldin Volcano.
• Volcano Lair: He lives in a grand hall inside the summit of Eldin Volcano. He’s rather surprised to see that Link is able to enter.

Lanayru

The third legendary dragon, who resides in the past version of Lanayru Desert.

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• The Ageless: Implied to be this. However, he can "die" from other causes, or at least become unable to move, as evidenced by his skeleton, had the player not cured him of his illness. It still responds by lighting up his eyes, much like how the robots still respond, but cannot move or speak as he is only bones.
• And I Must Scream: Judging by his glowing eyes, it’s safe to assume that Lanayru is still somewhat conscious despite being nothing but a pile of rotting bones.
• Boss Rush: After completing his part in the main story, he offers you the option to revisit past boss battles in a randomly patterned marathon, with rewards for each boss fought and the option to stop at anytime. In New Game Plus, he also adds the Final Boss to the lot.
• Cool Old Guy: The eldest of the dragons with a love for helping in training heroes, and even when deathly ill, he's an affable conversationalist and apologetic for his state.
• Glowing Eyelights of Undeath: In the present, his glowing yellow eyes are the only thing besides his skeleton that make him out to be one of the three dragons.
• Incurable Cough of Death: When placing Timeshift Stone next to his skeleton, you find out that his past self is afflicted with an unknown disease that makes him cough sporadically, despite his immortality.
• Post Modern Magic: He may have developed the Ancient Robots, and even suggests designating Link with a model number, despite being an ageless dragon born eons ago.
• Shock and Awe: He rules over thunder.
• Undying Loyalty: His decency has secured him this from the Ancient Robots, who are desperately trying to cure him, and show sincere gratitude when Link manages it.
• Wizard Beard: Made from clouds.

Levias

A huge, whale-like deity who wanders around the collection of floating islands called the Thunderhead.

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• Demonic Possession: He's a victim of it by Bilocyte, who parasitically implants itself in the enormous whale. Fortunately Link saves him.
• Dub Name Change: He's called Narisha in the original Japanese.
• Gentle Giant: He’s a giant whale deity living in the skies and is quite a benevolent being and one of Link’s most important allies. The only time he’s not so kind is when he was taken over by Bilocyte.
• Meaningful Name: His name is derived from Leviathan, whose name also means whale.
• Space Whale: Levias, a flying whale who is the guardian deity of the skies. He bears a resemblance to the Wind Fish from Link's Awakening.
• Trademark Favorite Food: Pumm periodically prepares pumpkin soup for him. You actually have to bring it to him at a certain point of the game, carried by Scrapper in a gigantic pumpkin bowl.

Races

Kikwi

Machi

A race of potato-shaped, Kiwi bird-esque creatures that live in Faron Woods.

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• Cute Critters Act Childlike: The smaller members of the tribe are rather timid and prone to hiding.
• Dub Name Change: They're called Kyui in the original Japanese, Tikwi in European French, Kyu in German and Spanish, and Kyuri in Italian.

• Large and in Charge: Most of the Kikwis are roughly the size of a human child. Their elder, Bucha, on the other hand, towers over most monsters.
• Master of Disguise: Their ability to look like a normal clump of grass is quite effective, save for when Bucha tries it.
• Planimals: Even Fi has a hard time classifying them as flora or fauna. By her estimates, it’s about a 40-60 split.
• Ridiculously Cute Critters: They're small and quite adorable.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: They fill the role of the Kokiri and Koroks as the cute forest-dwelling race with an aversion to outsiders.
• Theme Naming: All of them are named after various kinds of tea, such as Bucha from Kombucha, Machi from Macha, Oolo from Oolong, etc.
• Verbal Tic: They cap off their sentences with variations of the word "Kikwi".

Mogmas

Ledd

A tribe of treasure-hunting Mole Men. They mainly inhabit the Eldin Volcano, but owing to their affinity for tunneling, they occasionally show up in other parts of the Surface, as well.

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• Distressed Dude: Two of them are captives in the Fire Sanctuary.
• Dub Name Change: They're renamed Dugma in the Korean dub and Moguma in the European Spanish one.
• Forgot I Could Fly: At one point, Link eavesdrops on two Mogmas searching for a key in order to enter a nearby temple. It takes a few seconds for one of them to remind the other that they can just dig down and tunnel their way inside.
• Leitmotif: A jazzy theme plays whenever you meet a particularly important one.
• Lovable Rogue: They're as greedy as they come and are distinguished by their love of treasure, but tend to be pretty chummy toward Link and never pass up the opportunity to repay a debt.
• Mole Men: They're heavily based off of moles, and spend most of their time digging around.
• Money Fetish: They have such a big one, you’re able to pick up the aura of a Rupee for dowsing just by talking to them.
• One-Gender Race: All of the Mogmas seen in the game are male.
• Rock Theme Naming: They're all named after things you'd find beneath the ground, and with the exception of Tubert (named for tuber, a type of plant part), their namesakes are all different types of metal or ore.
• Those Two Guys: Ledd and Cobal, two Mogmas of note who are almost always seen together.
• Top-Heavy Guy: Their torso is much bigger than their legs, which makes since since they move by digging underground.

Parella

A tribe of seahorse/jellyfish-like creatures that live in Lake Floria.

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• Cool Key: The key to the Water Dragon's chamber is a Parella's head.
• Dub Name Change: They're called Parage in the original Japanese, Paraduse in French, Paraduzi in Italian, and Paradusa in Spanish.
• Fantastic Racism: They don't exactly take kindly to people other than their own. Fairly justified with their hatred of humans, since the first 'human' they met was Ghirahim. They warm up to Link very quickly when they realise who he is and that he's present to help the Water Dragon.

• Law of Chromatic Superiority: The red one, named Jellyf, is described as being the leader of her species because she is more intelligent than the others.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Of the Zora, being the resident proud aquatic race. Their worship of the dragon Faron even parallels the Zora's worship of Jabu-Jabu.

Ancient Robots

A tribe of small robotic creatures of the LD-301 Series that live mainly in the past version of the Lanayru region.

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• Absurdly Dedicated Worker: Their entire purpose is to dig for Timeshift Stones, with the exception of a few, such as Skipper, his crew, and Scrapper.

• Dub Name Change: The name of their series goes from RS-301 in Japanese to LD-301 in English, DL-301 in French, WR-301 in German, and DL-301S in Spanish.
• Floating Limbs: Their hands are attached to their body by some sort of electrical current.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: The robots vary in how gruff and unhelpful they are, usually being hard at work in the mine, with some being plain neutral (the ones in front of the dungeon). However, all of the ones attending to Lanaryu, the Thunder Dragon, are both respectful of and very concerned about him, doing their level best to cure him by growing a fruit from the Tree of Life. Unfortunately, the province is only suitable for growing plants and flowers...
• Mechanical Lifeforms: They had an entire civilization, and are implied to have been created by Lanaryu.
• Nice Guy: Skipper is nothing but friendly and helpful to Link, as is the robot that gives Link a "current" map of the region.
• Undying Loyalty: To Lanaryu, who they're desperately trying to save. When you manage to cure him, they're deeply grateful.

Gorons

The only race that remains from previous games, besides the Hylians of course.

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• Rule of Three: You come across a total of three Gorons in the game.
• Walking the Earth: Possibly. As the Gorons have no real home at this point in the timeline (with their usual dwellings in other games being used by the Mogmas), they seem to be nomadic in this game, appearing all over the place to aid Link.

Guardians

The servants of the goddess Hylia. They inhabit the Silent Realms of the game, obstructing Link's progess in his trials. They come in two categories; Sky Guardians and Earth Guardians.

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• Carry a Big Stick: The Earth Guardians carry large maces.
• Dual Wielding: The Sky Guardians carry two blades each.
• Gold and White Are Divine: They are white automatons with gold highlights, and serve the goddess Hylia.
• Evil Counterpart Race: While they are not so much evil as single-mindedly in the service of Hylia, they are much more antagonistic than the Ancient Robots, and do not have individual personalities.
• Hero Antagonist: While they attack Link, they are only doing this so that he can prove his worth.
• Implacable Man: Unless Link can keep grabbing Tears of Light, they will relentlessly chase him through the Silent Realm. In the case of Sky Guardians, this includes passing through walls.
• Invincible Minor Minion: Or rather, "Invincible Hero Antagonist." They can give Link a One-Hit Kill and can't be harmed in any way. In particular, unlike the Earth Guardians, the Sky Guardians can easily fly in the air and avoid anything Link can try to hide behind.
• Lightning Bruiser: The Earth Guardians are huge, and move about as fast as a sprinting Link.
• Living Statue: As far as we can tell, they are animated statues.
• One-Hit Kill: Their attacks defeat Link instantly upon the first successful impact.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: When they become active and start to pursue Link, their eyes flash red.

Mooks

Bokoblins and Moblins

A Red Bokoblin

The most prominent enemy race in the game, and one of the most common. They have a loose society, traveling in gangs looking for places to pillage; though being demon footsoldiers, they ultimately answer to Ghirahim.

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• Always Chaotic Evil: While some other Zelda games contain helpful Blins, all are Demise's followers here.
• Bad with the Bone: Green Bokoblins found in dungeons wield hammers made of bone.
• Blow That Horn: A few Bokoblins carry Monster Horns that they can use to summon more Bokoblins. These can be stolen as a material by using the Whip.
• Elite Mook: Blue Bokoblins. The guide even refers to them as "the truly elite of the Bokoblin family."
• Expy: The Bokoblins, while being a carryover from The Wind Waker and Twilight Princess, take a few traits from the Bulblins (more organized and intelligent, have their own society and establishments) and the Moblins of the 2D games. They even have a variant in a similar garb to the Bulblins, and some even shoot flaming arrows.
• Fake Ultimate Mook: The Bokoblin leaders, encountered early in the game, seem to be the ultimate type of Bokoblin. They're soon overshadowed by Blue Bokoblins, Moblins, and Technoblins.
• Fan Disservice: The Moblins are huge, fat, and wear nipple rings and thongs.
• Fat Bastard: Bokoblins are thin, but have protruding potbelly, and all of them are Demise's followers raving Hyrule. Taken to extreme levels with the Moblins, which are fat enough to have Jiggle Physics in their gut.
• Giant Mook: Moblins forgo their usual pig/bulldog look for a fat oni-like appearance more similar to Bokoblins, though it's worth noting that they still make very pig-like snorts while patrolling.
• Goofy Print Underwear: Leopard print, to be specific.
• Gonk: The Bokoblins are all pretty ugly. But they're nothing compared to the Moblins, who have Jiggle Physics for Fan Disservice. Of course, they are non human.
• Lean and Mean: Bokoblins have skinny physiques with noticeable potbellies. They are also Link's most frequent foes, and are making things difficult for the regular people of the Surface.
• Machete Mayhem: Most Bokoblins wield machetes as their weapon of choice.
• Mascot Mook: They're the most populous Mook Skyward Sword, and appear prominently in publicity material.
• Musical Nod: One of the Bokoblins in the final face-off with Ghirahim plays the flute song from A Link to the Past on his monster horn.
• The Horde: Probably rivals the Bulblins in this department. Before the last fight with Ghirahim, you'll face an endless supply of them till you reach one of his barriers.
• Night of the Living Mooks: The Ancient Cistern's basement houses undead Bokoblins called Cursed Bokoblins.
• Oni: In this game, they derive much of their design from Japanese Oni, down to sometimes carrying heavy clubs and wearing cat-printed undergarments.
• Our Demons Are Different: This game reveals that they were originally part of the army that invaded the surface with Demise.
• Running Gag: Their undergarments are always mentioned in Fi's scans of them.
• Savage Piercings: Bokoblins wear large, heavy golden earrings that make their earlobes droop (as opposed to Links smaller, more discreet earrings). Moblins also have these, along with prominent nipple rings.
• Savage Spiked Weapons: Some Bokoblins in the Eldin region wield spiked clubs instead of their usual machetes. The difference isn't cosmetic either; getting hit by one will knock Link off his feet.
• Shield Bash: If a Moblin holds its shield sideways, attempting to slice it will result in Link's attack being countered with one.
• Shield-Bearing Mook: Moblins wield shields in conjunction with their spears.
• Skeleton Motif: All Bokoblins wear a skull-shapped belt buckle. It's also the main material they drop for defeating them, sometimes dropping a rare golden variant.
• Too Dumb to Live: Despite being a bit more competent in combat, they're still pretty damn stupid. This is even lampshaded in Fi's description of them. To give you an idea, throwing a bomb at them will make them take cover... even if that "cover" is lava. When fighting the army of them, some of them will use lit bombs. If you don't get within their throwing range, they won't throw them, and will blow themselves up. And if you don't kill them but remain out of range, they'll throw the bombs, likely taking out the massive group of Bokoblin massing for attack.
• Undead Counterpart: Cursed Bokoblins, an undead variant of Bokoblin found in the Ancient Cistern and the Sky Keep. In addition to dealing damage by latching onto you, they afflict you with the Curse ailment and can only be defeated by being dealt a Fatal Strike after being knocked down. You also have the chance to obtain an Evil Crystal after defeating them.
  Fi: This horrifying Bokoblin reanimates after death. Analysis indicates it fears pure, shiny items and will startle at the sight of a sacred shield. It is able to reanimate purely through its hatred of this world... and its attachment to outlandish underpants.

Lizalfos

The unmistakable race of lizards that don't appear as frequently as Bokoblins, but are still quite prominent. They fight with their massive metal gauntlets, spiked tails, and their fire breath, and are far more competent fighters than Bokoblins.

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• Always Chaotic Evil: All Lizalfos are followers of the Demon tribe.
• Beware My Stinger Tail: Their tails have spiked balls at the end, which they take advantage of in combat.
• Breath Weapon: They can breath fire. The later Dark Lizalfos breath cursed energy that disables Link's use of the sword.
• The Computer Is a Cheating Bastard: If you try to snipe them with a long-distance weapon, they'll always block it, even if they shouldn't possibly predict it coming. Although, this only applies to assaults to the front; their backsides are fair game.
• The Computer Shall Taunt You: If they block your attack, they'll stick their tongues out at you and make mocking sounds. Which actually provides an excellent opportunity to strike them, provided you attack them from the right angle, as if you hit the gauntlet instead, they retaliate with a Shoryuken.
• Lightning Bruiser: In addition to being quite durable and hard-hitting, Lizalfos are very good at dodging Link's sword.
• Lizard Folk: Lizalfos are humanoid lizards.
• Power Fist: They fight with giant gauntlets, which can either be equipped on the left or right arm.
• Shoryuken: If a Lizalfos blocks Link's sword with its gauntlet, it immediately follows up with a Shoryuken.
• Underground Monkey: Later on in the game, there's a dark variation of the typical Lizalfos, which are capable of cursing Link with their breath.

Chuchus

Slimy creatures appearing in nearly every location, ranging from small to large.

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• Asteroids Monster: The bigger versions will split into smaller versions when cut.
• Blob Monster: Chuchus are made of slime.
• Colour-Coded for Your Convenience: One for each region. There are red versions (Eldin Volcano) that set you on fire, yellow versions (Lanayru Desert) that electrify themselves, and blue (Skyloft) and green versions (Faron Woods) that... don't really do anything. There are also purple ones that live underwater when Faron floods her woods.
• Giant Mook: The biggest kind of Chuchu is truly gigantic.
• The Goomba: The blue and green versions are the weakest, most basic enemies in the game.
• Personal Space Invader: Their one attack is to leap and cling onto Link.

Spumes

A Magma Spume

Aquatic, frog-like creatures which come in many different varieties, appearing in basically every region of the game.

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• Breath Weapon: Their primary attacks are various kinds of elemental breath — depending on the variety, this can be fire, dark energy, electricity and water.
• Cartoon Creature: They resemble frogs more than anything else, but it's hard to determine. They seem to be a mix of various types of reptiles.
• Color-Coded Elements: Magma Spumes are red, Cursed Spumes are purple, Electro Spumes are yellow, and Aqua Spumes are blue.
• Dub Name Change: They're called Uppo in Japanese, where the name is used as a suffix only, and Piouts in French, Koppers in German, Getti in Italian, and Tracios in Spanish.
• Informed Attribute: Fi's analysis states that Cursed Spumes live in poisonous swamps. In-game, they're only found in the fiery crater of Eldin Volcano.
• Lava Is Boiling Kool-Aid: The ones found in Eldin Volcano swim in lava.
• Sand Is Water: The ones found in the desert swim in the sand.
• Underground Monkey: There are fireball-spitting Magma Spumes in Eldin Volcano, Cursed Spumes in the Volcano Summit, electrified Electro Spumes in Lanayru Desert, and water-spitting Aqua Spumes in the past of the Lanayru Sand Sea.

Stalfos

The reanimated skeletons of human knights who fought and died centuries ago but still continue to fight. A stronger variant called the Stalmaster has an extra pair of arms. There are also skeletal three-headed snake monsters called Staldras that can only be defeated by cutting off all three heads at once. Except for the Staldras, Stalfos are Mini-Boss-level enemies which appear in the dungeons of Faron Woods.

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• Badass Armfold: Stalmasters normally keep their second pair of arms folded.
• Dem Bones: Stal is the Hylian word for bone, while Fos means Folk. Thus Stalfos are animated skeletons.
• Dual Wielding: Their use of two (or, in the case of Stalmasters, four) swords requires that you carefully aim your sword swings.
• Elite Mooks: The Stalmasters are much tougher then Stalfos.
• Multi-Armed and Dangerous: The aforementioned Stalmasters use four swords with their four arms. They're pretty stronger than the regular Stalfos.
• Multiple Head Case: Staldras are skeletal hydras with multiple heads.
• Our Hydras Are Different: Staldras resemble three-headed snake skeletons; their name is a portmanteau of hydra and the stal- prefix associated with skeletal enemies in general.
• Shows Damage: As Stalfos and Stalmasters take damage, their ribcage gets progressively broken until it's virtually nonexistent and leaves them open to a final strike to the spine.
• Third Eye: Stalmasters have a third eye socket visible when their helmet is broken.
• The Undead: They're all animated skeletons of humans, and various other creatures.
• Wolfpack Boss: At the end of the revisit to Skyview Temple to get the water needed to heal Faron, three Stalfos ambush Link, resulting in a rather grueling mini-boss fight.

Armos, Beamos, Sentrobes

The game's resident Mecha-Mooks, native only to time-shifted areas of the Lanayru region. Although they are robotic, they have a certain mayincatec feel to their design.

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• Color Contrast: They have a red-and-blue motif as part of their designs, a Call-Forward to a similar motif among Gerudo designs.
• Eye Beam: Beamos only attack by firing a laser beam from their single eye.
• Go for the Eye: As in every game, you can kill a Beamos by hitting it in its eye. You can do this directly with an arrow, but until you get a bow you'll have to settle for stabbing it in the eye after slashing its segments off.
• Mayincatec: They look more like mechanical totems and tikis than traditional robots, especially the Armos.
• Mecha-Mooks: They're all mechanical.
• Our Monsters Are Different: Advanced robots with Mayincatec designs.
• Rule of Three: There are a total of three robotic enemies in the game.
• Segmented Serpent: Skyward Sword's incarnation of the Beamos is a stack of connected segments, which need to be slashed off one at a time to bring its head within Link's reach.
• Stationary Enemy: Beamos cannot move from their spots, and can only rotate to keep Link in their sights.

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