When it comes to Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom characters, the open-world RPG’s cast comprises a mix of new allies and returning friends. You’ll also battle with your oldest enemy after disturbing him from his slumber deep beneath Hyrule Castle.
Set a few years after the events of Breath of the Wild, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom characters you knew from the Nintendo Switch launch title have moved on in the world. Prince Sidon, the hero of the Zora, has found stability leading his people, content not to run off on an adventure at the first sign of trouble. Yunobo of the Gorons is no longer the scared youngster you knew before but a brave champion of his people. And Princess Zelda, well, Zelda may have the biggest transformation of them all.
As you travel through the world, you will find new allies who can give you access to new abilities and upgrade your gear. So we’ve put together this guide to give you an idea of the most important characters in the new Zelda.
Zelda Tears of the Kingdom characters
Below, you'll find a list of the main characters you'll meet while playing through Zelda Tears of the Kingdom. We've left some of them out, to avoid spoilers, but here's who you need to know about.
Link
Princess Zelda's sworn guard, Link, has saved Hyrule numerous times over the centuries. In The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, he begins his adventure by accidentally awakening and freeing Ganondorf, the ancient enemy of Hyrule, who had been trapped beneath Hyrule Castle.
Link loses his arm in the fight, replacing it with an ancient gauntlet once worn by the first Hyrulean King, Rauru. The gauntlet allows Link to manipulate time and fuse objects together. His quest is twofold, to find Princess Zelda and defeat Ganondorf.
Princess Zelda
Never one to shy away from danger, Princess Zelda leads Link down into the depths of Hyrule Castle to face whatever evil has been infecting the land. She and her swordsman discover the ancient evil king, Ganondorf, and in the ensuing fight, the princess is knocked into a chasm where she seems to teleport away.
Princess Zelda awakes in Hyrule's distant past, where she must find a way to return to the present and Link to save her kingdom from Ganondorf. After all, she is the Sage of Time, so she is responsible for protecting the land at whatever cost.
Rauru
One of the ancient Zonai race that brought their technology to Hyrule, Rauru became the first king of its people, marrying one of the land’s native people, Sonia. He has the power of light, and she has the power of time.
Rauru died in The Imprisoning War, trapping The Demon King Ganondorf beneath Hyrule Castle. When Princess Zelda and Link awaken Ganondorf centuries later, the spirit of Rauru saves Link's life and gives the swordsman his arm, granting the hero powers to manipulate the world around him. In the past, Rauru helps train Princess Zelda in her abilities as the Sage of Time.
Ganondorf
In ancient times Ganondorf was a king of the Gerudo tribe who, only once every 100 years, bears a male child. He raised an army against King Rauru before submitting to the Zonai's rule. However, his time of submission was short, as he betrayed the king of Hyrule and, again, tried to take power. Rauru and his sages couldn’t defeat Ganondorf, but they did imprison him beneath Hyrule Castle, hoping that someone stronger would defeat Ganondorf in the future.
Thousands of years later, after the events of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, the chains imprisoning Ganondorf are weakened, and he is accidentally freed by Link and Princess Zelda. He now threatens to destroy Hyrule all over again.
Prince Sidon
Longtime hero of the Zora and an ally of Link's, the aquatic Prince’s watery kingdom is threatened by a toxic sludge polluting its clean streams. While still the keen warrior Link knew in Breath of the Wild, Sidon is willing to put his own thirst for adventure aside to focus on the needs of his people.
Only with aid from Link, Prince Sidon can save his domain and become the Sage of Water, joining Link in his fight against Ganondorf.
Riju
The deserts that hold Gerudo Town seem to have risen up against its people, with sandstorms and zombie-like gibdos trapping the leader Riju and her sisters in the caves below the settlement. With Link's help, Riju can free her town and become the Sage of Lightning, saving her people and weakening Ganondorf's hold on Hyrule.
Yunobo
In Breath of the Wild, Yunobo is a young Goron struggling to live up to the name of his ancestor, the champion Daruk. He’s no longer that inexperienced warrior prone to panic, but when you meet him in Tears of the Kingdom, he isn’t the warm friend you came to know either. Despite being a longtime ally of Link, when you meet Yunobo in Gordon City, he seems more focused on getting a supply of marbled rock roast. In fact, most Goron in the area seem obsessed with the strange food.
When you eventually clear Yunobo of his fixation and save the city, he inherits the power of the Sage of Fire.
Tulin
A young Rito warrior who grew up hearing about Link's adventures, Tulin is headstrong and looking for experience. When you first meet the young bird, his home, Rito Village, is caught up in a blizzard, and despite warnings from his father, Tulin is still braving the weather to hunt for supplies for his people.
Fighting by Link's side and seeking the source of the blizzard threatening Rito Village, Tulin discovers his power as the Sage of Wind.
Mineru
The older sister of King Rauru, Mineru, was left nearly dead in The Imprisoning War. Ganondorf's powers badly burned and corrupted her body, and if it weren’t for her power to transport her will and spirit into objects, she would have died. Instead, the Zonai warrior can survive by uploading herself into the Purah Pad – the tablet Link is given at the start of the game, which you use to explore Hyrule.
That is not the only place in Hyrule Mineru survives. You can assemble a mech from Zonai technology that she can control in the fight against Ganondorf, once again becoming the Sage of Spirit.
