Link may be the chosen hero of the gods in the Legend of Zelda games, but the swordsman often relies on the help of others. Whether teaming up with Princess Zelda to defeat Ganon or calling upon the power of his grandmother’s special soupmuch of Link’s strength comes from those who support him in his never-ending quest to defeat the evil that threatens Hyrule.
Enter the wise: a mysterious group of characters who have supported Link in various games in various forms. As recurring characters, the sages have appeared in games such as The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time And The Legend of Zelda: The Windwaker. Now they are returning inside The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Their reintroduction to a regular Zelda game marks a throwback to a classic Zelda trope, but their seemingly sudden appearance raises questions about their role in Tears of the Kingdom and further. Here we’ve broken down the history of the Magi in the larger world of The Legend of Zelda and the most recent game.
Who are the Wise Men in the wider Zelda lore?
As mentioned above, the Magi are a recurring group of characters seen in several Zelda games. As with other mainstream characters like Link or Zelda, the sages function as a character archetype that the developers can customize and place in completely separate stories in different timelines. As a result, the sages in one game are not necessarily the exact same characters in another, but they may serve similar roles or purposes.
In the greater Zelda lore, the roles of the sages generally include protecting the Triforce and supporting the royal family of Hyrule. The sages can trace their lineage back to the earliest days of Hyrule. As the origin story goes, goddesses descended on Hyrule and gave birth to the land. When they did this, they also left behind a legendary powerplant known as the Triforce. The place where the goddesses left the Triforce became known as the Sacred Realm, and those charged with protecting the Sacred Realm became the sages.
In Zelda lore, early Hylians possessed magical powers. Over time, many Hylians lost their connection to these magical powers. The exception to this was the Magi and the Royal Family, so the Magi are notable for their special powers and ties to Hyrule’s royal family. A notable example is Rauru, a sage who helped Link Ocarina of Timeand now Tears of the Kingdom.
[Ed. note: The rest of this article contains spoilers for the story of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.]
Who are the Wise Men in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom?
While the role of the Magi varies from game to game, the characters recur widely Tears of the Kingdom. At the start of the game, Zelda is transported to Hyrule’s distant past, where she meets the original sages of Hyrule. We don’t know all their names, but the sages we meet are Rauru (the first king of Hyrule), Sonia (the first queen of Hyrule), Zelda (who replaces Sonia), Mineru (Rauru’s sister), as well as a Goron, a Gerudo, a Rito and a Zora.
During that time, Rauru and the sages battle Ganondorf in what is known as the prison war after the villain kills Sonia and takes her secret stone, a magical power-enhancing object that every sage possesses. The Sages and Rauru are unable to defeat Ganondorf, but the King manages to imprison him. After that, Zelda goes from wise to wise, asking them to rise up and fight alongside Link when the time comes, thousands of years later. They agree, and all that remains is for time to pass.
Image: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo via Polygon
Enter Link and our journey within Tears of the Kingdom. Ganondorf rises again and it’s up to Link to fight him. Link then travels from region to region to meet and awaken those reborn as the New Sages. We won’t list them all to avoid the worst spoilers, but the main ones are Tulin, Sidon, Makeela Riju, Yunobo and Mineru/her Zonai robot. Each of those sages has a connection to a certain element and uses that power to help Link on his journey.
While in other Zelda games the Wise Men play more of an advisory role or largely serve to advance the plot and provide Link with a long series of quests, in Tears of the Kingdom lend Link their power in a very literal sense. By playing through the main missions, each character wakes up as a sage and they can give Link a special elemental power. For example, Tulin as the Sage of Wind harnesses the power of gusts of wind, while Sidon has the unique ability to deploy and attack water shields. The sages swear an oath of loyalty to Link and manifest avatar versions of themselves that allow Link to invoke their power anywhere.
Together, the sages play a central role Tears of the Kingdom by being a driving force both behind the bigger story and in how you play the game.