Shortly after being thrust out of his normal life and into adventure, the ranch hand Link encounters the Hero’s Shade, taking the form of a mysterious golden wolf. He prepares for battle before it attacks him and he is swept away to a mysterious realm, where the being’s true form, a skeletal knight, teaches him how to wield his blade. This undead mentor is an enigma to many but his motivations conceal a stunning truth.
The Regrets of the Hero’s Shade
Most of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess’s story has the Hero’s Shade play a muted but memorable role. His functionality is to teach our hero how to use various sword attacks, but there is far more to him than that. He proudly wears his ideals on his sleeve with his most memorable quote: “A sword wields no strength unless the hand that holds it has courage.” The meaning of his words rings true to the game’s central themes, in which many characters view powerful weapons as tools to destroy those they fear, yet abuse their power to oppress others.
After learning every sword skill, the master unveils his secrets. He reveals himself to be a hero of the past, who lamented being unable to pass on his knowledge to a future generation. In the official Zelda encyclopedia, Hyrule Historia, he is revealed as the Hero of Time from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. In the 100 years between Ocarina of Time and Twilight Princess, the hero remained as a spirit, waiting for someone worthy of his knowledge.
The Manga’s Expanded Lore
While the manga adaptation of Twilight Princess is not canon, it does give us more insight into the Hero’s Shade as he takes on a more prominent role in the plot. His ideals and motivations remain the same, but the manga incarnation of Link is fairly different, for he is not at first truly worthy of the Hero’s Shade’s teachings. When Link finds himself easily able to defeat giant and wicked creatures with the legendary Master Sword, he becomes consumed by its power. Link goes on a violent rampage, murdering monsters for the sole purpose of proving how powerful he is. This causes him to fall into his enemy’s trap, only surviving because the Hero’s Shade rescues him.
Link’s failure plunges him into a deep depression, in which he barely clings to the will to live. After days, the Hero’s Shade appears before him and harshly criticizes him for becoming drunk on power and losing sight of his destiny. Despite this, the Shade also encourages Link to accept his fate as a hero and push past his misery, telling Link that he once carried the same burden. This encounter causes Link to gain reverence for him and pulls himself out of his depressed state.
When Link reaches the Temple of Time, he receives a vision of a young boy, the Hero of Time. He quickly puts two and two together, realizing that this boy is the skeleton that has shown himself. The Hero’s Shade appears to tell Link his story, explaining how he defeated the evil king of thieves Ganondorf in another timeline yet was unable to in this one. Inspired by his tale, Link vows to defeat Ganondorf and asks to learn new skills with his sword. Deeming Link worthy, the Hero’s Shade agrees to teach him.
The Hero of Time’s Message
The Hero’s Shade, in both the game and the manga, embodies the idea that power must be held by those who use it wisely. Where evil villains such as Zant use it to oppress those that once oppressed them, the Hero’s Shade rejects such a notion. One may assume that his purpose is only to give the player fun new attacks in gameplay, but this assumption only looks at the surface. In actuality, his goal is to pass on techniques to only those he believes will not be corrupted by them. Whether you call him the Hero’s Shade or the Hero of Time, his wise faith in courage is something everyone can learn from.
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