List of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom characters
's action-adventure game The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is a game in The Legend of Zelda series, originally released in 2017 for the Wii U and Nintendo Switch. Following a century of stasis in the Shrine of Resurrection, an amnesiac Link awakens to the kingdom of Hyrule ravaged by Calamity Ganon. He sets out to free the spirits of the Champions, the riders of four enormous animalistic machines known as Divine Beasts, rescue Princess Zelda, and save Hyrule by defeating Calamity Ganon. The game's sequel, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, released in 2023 exclusively for the Nintendo Switch, takes place a few years after the defeat of Calamity Ganon and expands on its predecessor's map and cast of characters. In this game, Link works to defeat the newly revived Ganondorf and save Hyrule again, while Zelda is time-displaced and must figure out a way back to her time.
Link is the sole playable character in both games. Throughout both games, he encounters multiple characters such as: Robbie and Purah, a pair of Sheikah researchers who operate the Hateno Tech Lab; Master Kohga, leader of the Yiga Clan; Hestu, a large, maraca-playing Korok who upgrades Link's inventory slots with Korok Seeds; Urbosa, a Gerudo chief and Champion of the Divine Beast Vah Naboris; and Sidon, the younger brother of Champion Mipha, prince and eventual king of the Zora, and the Sage of Water. Many of these characters, including Link, reappear in Breath of the Wild alternate timeline prequel spin-off Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity. Some characters reappear in its follow-up Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment, a prequel to Tears of the Kingdom which takes place during the flashback sequences depicting the Imprisoning War.
Breath of the Wild is the first canon Zelda game to implement full voice acting, which is continued with its sequel Tears of the Kingdom, although Link remains a silent protagonist in both games. According to series producer Eiji Aonuma, this decision was made following the first time he heard a character's voice early in the game development, a moment which he felt "was really striking emotions." Both games were released to universal acclaim, being nominated for and winning multiple gaming awards. While the voice acting in both games received some criticism, the characters were generally well received by multiple gaming publications. Certain characters, in particular Purah, Urbosa, and Sidon, became fan favorites and were identified as standout characters.
Creation and conception
When designing The Legend of Zelda mainstay characters Link, Zelda, and Ganon for Breath of the Wild, game director Hidemaro Fujibayashi discussed the different approaches taken to each of the characters. Link wears a blue tunic as opposed to his previous incarnations' green tunic and hat, a decision art director Satoru Takizawa says was the result of the developers wanting to depart from series tradition and subvert player expectations. Both he and series producer Eiji Aonuma describe this design as a way to make Link feel more "neutral" to the player. Zelda's design, according to Fujibayashi, was the result of the game's designers and story planners combining their different perspectives into how her design should look. While the story planners drafted designs stemming from who she is and why the player should care about saving her, the game designers drafted designs prioritizing "first impressions" and how she could "make feel something deep inside." Ganon, known in game as Calamity Ganon, was designed with him as the game's final boss in mind. Fujibayashi described "'final boss' criteria" such as his size and visual design, along with the "material feeling of the world", as factors in his design. When designing Ganondorf, Ganon's human form encountered in Tears of the Kingdom, the design team wanted to highlight both his physical attractiveness and his evil nature. Fujibayashi characterizes his design as "overwhelmingly evil", "handsome enough that both men and women would fall for him", and "sexy".Breath of the Wild marks the first major appearance of the Sheikah, a race of ninja-like warriors that operate as one tribe. Previously, the only Sheikah to regularly appear in the series was Impa, with the Sheikah tribe only ever being mentioned. They were designed with a Japanese aesthetic to differentiate them with other characters, according to lead artist Hirohito Shinoda. Characters of the Sheikah tribe and the recurring Hylian race had their faces created with a specialized tool, with their faces changed almost every day during development. Four of Hyrule's other races, Goron, Zora, Rito, and Gerudo, were designed with the sketches of the Champions as their foundation, which in turn are based on how a generic member of each race would look. One of the champions was planned to resemble a Kokiri before being changed to a Rito. The Champions were designed to be "a bit of a throwback to characters of previous titles", such as Daruk who is "reminiscent of Darunia from Ocarina of Time." The Gorons' designs forego their usual tattoos in favor of a "clean design." They were designed similarly to sumo wrestlers, focusing on their body fat and muscles to make them look big and "powerful." The Zoras are more physically diverse than their past appearance, having different colors and head sizes. Their appearances are based on a variety of fish, sharks, dolphins, and other animals. The Rito were designed to "emphasize their bird-like silhouette", and have a more bird-like appearance since their then-only appearance in The Wind Waker. The Gerudo were redesigned to have shorter torsos and longer legs, with details influenced Buddhist statues.
Main characters
Link
is the main protagonist of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, its sequel Tears of the Kingdom, and The Legend of Zelda series as a whole. This incarnation of Link is designated as the Hero of the Wild. Prior to his century-long stasis, he was a knight for Hyrule's royal family, Princess Zelda's appointed bodyguard, and the Hylian Champion. While he does not initially operate a Divine Beast in the main game, the downloadable content pack The Champions' Ballad rewards him with the Master Cycle Zero, a motorcycle-like Divine Beast resembling a horse. His signature weapon is the Master Sword, which must be restored to its full power in both games.In Breath of the Wild backstory, he is severely wounded following Ganon's surprise attack on Hyrule in an event that is later referred to as "The Great Calamity". He is placed in the Shrine of Resurrection by two Sheikah members under the orders of Zelda. His weapon, the Master Sword, is hidden by Zelda in Korok Forest under the protection of the Great Deku Tree. He awakens 100 years later to a ravaged Hyrule, where the spirit of King Rhoam, Zelda's father, implores him to rescue Zelda and defeat Calamity Ganon. Following a reunion with Impa, an elderly Sheikah and former advisor to the royal family, Link is tasked with purging the Divine Beasts and freeing the spirits of the Champions to assist his eventual battle with Ganon. Link is successful in purging the Divine Beasts and defeating Ganon, who transforms into Dark Beast Ganon. Zelda imparts to Link the Bow of Light to weaken Ganon, allowing her to seal him away and restore peace to Hyrule.
A few years later, in Tears of the Kingdom, Link and Zelda explore the cavern underneath Hyrule Castle to investigate "gloom", a mysterious substance that has been poisoning the people of Hyrule. They discover a mummified Ganondorf, who frees himself from a disembodied arm holding him in place and attacks both Link and Zelda. The two are separated, with Link's right arm heavily injured during the attack and the Master Sword shattered. Link is rescued by the arm that held Ganondorf in place, while Zelda is sent back into the distant past. Link awakens to find the arm, later revealed to be that of King Rauru, that saved him wrapped around his damaged arm, rendering it not only usable once again, but allowing him to access new powers. Throughout the game, he ventures into various ancient temples built by an extinct, technologically advanced race known as the Zonai, and discovers their secret stones, artifacts belonging to ancient sages, which are passed down to Link's allies who become the succeeding sages. With a restored Master Sword, and aid from his sage allies, he heads into Hyrule Castle to defeat Ganondorf. Following Ganondorf's defeat, Link and Zelda reunite, with the spirits of Rauru and Sonia restoring his right arm before passing on.
Marking a departure from his incarnations' signature green tunic and green hat, Link is depicted in promotional material and official art wearing a blue tunic. According to series producer Eiji Aonuma and art director Satoru Takizawa, he and the staff wanted to subvert players' expectations on Link's outfit and depict him as "a more neutral character that players could see themselves as." More than 100 designs were considered during the process of redesigning Link.
He is voiced by Kengo Takanashi, who provides Link's grunts, yells, and other vocal sounds.
Princess Zelda
is Hyrule's princess and leader of the Champions, serving as a major character in Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, and as the main protagonist of Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment. Her signature weapon is the Bow of Light, which is able to destroy Calamity Ganon's physical form.Prior to the start of Breath of the Wild, Zelda worked on training her magic to prepare for the day Ganon returns, much to her own struggle. At some point during her training, Link is assigned to be her bodyguard, with whom she forms a friendship with. On the day of the Great Calamity, she and the Champions unsuccessfully resist Calamity Ganon, leading to the deaths of most of the Champions. She is able to save Link, the surviving champion, by having him placed in the Shrine of Resurrection and having his sword safely hidden with the help of the Great Deku Tree. Her powers awaken in time for her to seal away Calamity Ganon for 100 years. Following Link's victory over Ganon, who quickly transforms into Dark Beast Ganon, she bestows upon Link her Bow of Light, which he uses to help her seal Ganon away once more.
In Tears of the Kingdom, she is separated from Link after a surprise attack by Ganondorf and is sent back 10,000 years in the past where she encounters Hyrule's founders King Rauru and Queen Sonia. After witnessing Ganondorf's rise to power and failing to stop him, she undergoes a process known as "draconification", where she turns into an immortal dragon. Now turned into the Light Dragon, Zelda is able to safely protect the Master Sword as its power grow over the course of 10,000 years, with the hopes of Link collecting the sword and using it to defeat Ganondorf. Following the final battle with Ganondorf, Zelda is able to return to her normal, pre-dragon self.
She is voiced by Patricia Summersett in English and Yū Shimamura in Japanese.