Yuga

Yuga
Hair color	Red
Eye color	Brown
Base	Lorule
Voiced by	Seiro Ogino
Debut	The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds

Yuga is an evil sorcerer from Lorule who acts as the main antagonist and final boss of The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds.

Background

Yuga was a sorcerer living in Lorule who served the kingdom's princess, Hilda. Among his magical abilities, his favorite was his ability to turn others into paintings, either wall paintings or framed portraits. He was obsessed with ideals of beauty and perfection. Yuga openly admired the beauty of others, but he considered them to be even more beautiful in the form of paintings. However, Lorule was a world that had fallen into ruin and became ugly in Yuga's eyes, so he resented it.

He was the one who discovered a mysterious fissure in a stone slab within Lorule's Sacred Realm. Investigating it with Hilda, they realized that it was the gate to another world containing a kingdom named Hyrule. Hyrule prospered with the power of the Triforce, while Lorule's was destroyed long ago. Together, the two of them plotted to steal Hyrule's Triforce and to use its power for Lorule. Yuga was manipulated Hilda from the beginning, as his true plan was to take the Triforce for himself and use it to remake Lorule in his own image as an ideal of beauty.

Yuga was sent to Hyrule to carry out the plan, which involved capturing the current incarnation of the kingdom's seven sages and Princess Zelda, who held the Triforce of Wisdom. Along the way, he turned anyone else who got in his way into paintings as well. He was first seen at the Sanctuary, where he turned Seres into a portrait to capture her and evaded Link's attempt to stop him by merging with a wall, causing Link to hit the wall and knock himself out. Next, he confronted Osfala in the boss room of the Eastern Palace. He defeated the overconfident sage easily and turned him into a portrait as well. Link arrived at that time and battled Yuga again. This time, Link was able to best him, but then Yuga proceeded to turn Link into a painting on the wall, thinking that would be the end of him. He proceeded to place a magic barrier on Hyrule Castle to prevent anyone from getting in or escaping. He then rounded up and captured the remainding sages.

Soon, all that was left was Princess Zelda herself. He confronted her deep within Hyrule Castle and turned her into a painting just as Link arrived. He was surprised and frustrated that Link had managed to escape from being a wall painting. Now armed with the Master Sword, Link defeated Yuga once again, but Yuga claimed to bore of the fight and retreated back to Lorule Castle. There, he used the paintings of the seven sages and Zelda in a ritual to revive Ganon, the holder of the Triforce of Power. Bent on using his power to destroy all ugliness in all worlds, he merged with Ganon and became Yuga Ganon. He proceeded to attempt to destroy Link, only to be stopped by Hilda, who sent Link to safety. This was all part of a ploy. The paintings of the seven sages were scattered across Lorule, and Link went on an adventure to recover them. By allowing Link to be a hero, they were helping him to unlock the Triforce of Courage, which was the last piece that they needed.

When Link returned to Lorule Castle with the Triforce of Courage, Hilda revealed her true plan, took the Triforce of Wisdom from Zelda's painting and summoned Yuga Ganon to attack Link for the last Triforce piece.Link had the upper hand against the monstous Yuga Ganon, so Hilda eventually tried to convince Yuga Ganon to give her the Triforce of Power, but he refused and chose this moment to reveal his true intentions. He proceeded to turn Hilda into a painting and absorbed her into his being. This made him even more powerful, and he battled Link again. During this battle, he took cover in merging with the walls at several times, but during those points, Link could use arrows fired by the Bow of Light to strike him while in painting form, forcing him out of the walls and stunning him. After Link was able to strike Yuga Ganon enough times with the Master Sword, he was completely destroyed, leaving behind only a restored Hilda.

Other Appearances

Video Games

• He appeared as a playable character in Hyrule Warriors, being available as DLC in the first two versions and being part of the normal game in the Definitive Edition. His weapon is the Picture Frame, which allows him to fight with the element of lightning. His attacks also employ fire, Ganon's trident and magic circles that bind enemies in place.
• In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, he appeared as an Ace-rank Primary Spirit. When fought in a Spirit battle, he would possess an Inkling. The player would have to fight the initial Inkling and a larger Inkling that appeared after the first was defeated.

Trivia

• His name refers to the Japanese word for 'oil painting' and may also reference the Yuga, a term for an era in a four-age cycle in Hinduism which involves the universe's inhabitants degenerating and losing their values and spirituality as the universe's end nears, which reflects the state of Lorule in the game.
• Yuga hums part of his theme tune during his first appearance, a habit which is also shared with Midna and Ghirahim in other games.
• The earrings that he wears are nearly identical to those worn by Ghirahim.