Mipha

Mipha
Species	Zora
Affiliation	Champions
Eye color	Tan
Relatives	Dorephan (father) Sidon (younger brother) Ancient Sage of Water (Ancestor)
Voiced by	Amelia Gotham
Debut	The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Mipha is a supporting character from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. She acts as one of the four Champions of Hyrule, representing the Zora people, and she pilots the Divine Beast known as Vah Ruta. She was also the princess of the Zoras.

Background

Mipha was born to Dorephan, the king of the Zora people, and his queen. The smithy Dento created a spear called the Lightscale Trident for her to celebrate her birth. She also had a younger brother named Sidon. Mipha grew into a smart girl who was known for her kind and compassionate nature, which she extended to strangers as easily as her own kind. When she was old enough, she wielded the Lightscale Trident and started to receive lessons from the royal order of knights. Her main tutor was Sergeant Siggins, who cared for her as if she were his own family. She also developed remarkable healing powers, which were known as Mipha's Grace. When she was young, some outsiders visited Zora's Domain at the request of King Rhoam. It was then that she first met Link, who was only around four years old at the time. He was curious and full of energy, but he was also reckless and got himself hurt often. So Mipha took to healing his wounds, and the two got along very well.

Breath of the Wild

Over the years, one of the Four Divine Beasts, Vah Ruta, was unearthed within Zora's Domain. Mipha found it to be cute and wondered who would end up piloting it. She was later reunited with Link, who had become an accomplished knight and the wielder of the Master Sword. Though she was glad to see him again, she noticed that he had become more serious and silent in addition to growing older faster than she was. Mipha was later visited by Princess Zelda, who asked her to become one of the four Champions and to pilot Vah Ruta. She agreed out of a desire to protect her people from Calamity Ganon and to help Link. However, it be some time before her father gave her his blessing, because he was conflicted about Mipha risking her life. Mipha was still found worthy of being a Champion, having accomplished several sacred trials such as defeating a group of Guardians. When Link later visited the Zoras, Mipha informed him about a Lynel on the nearby Ploymus Mountain that had been terrorizing the Zoras. Link went to face it, and Mipha insisted on accompanying him despite his protests. Link was able to make quick work of the monster, and Mipha was impressed. It was at this time that she realized that she was falling in love with Link, and she wanted to imitate his Spin Attack with her spear.

Mipha began working on crafting a set of Zora Armor, with which she would propose to Link, according to royal Zora tradition. She was thrown off when she learned that Link would become Zelda's appointed knight, and she was implied to be envious about the time that the two would spend together. She still finished her armor and prepared to give it to Link, empowered by legends of a past Zora princess who fell in love with a Hylian swordsman, but it does not seem that the proposal ever materialized. They did spend some time together riding Vah Ruta, at which point Mipha healed one of Link's wounds and reminisced about old times. She was unsure of how they would fare against Calamity Ganon, but she was determined to heal Link's wounds no matter what, and she expressed her hope that they could spend time together after Calamity Ganon was dealt with.

As a Champion, Mipha took to piloting Vah Ruta very quickly, and it was implied that she was the fastest learner of the four Champions. Eventually, the day came when the Champions offered support to Zelda when she went to the Spring fo Wisdom on Mt. Lanayru as a last-ditch effort to awaken her healing powers. The four of them were waiting at the base of the mountain when Zelda returned, only to find that she had failed. Mipha attempted to offer her advice, only to be interrupted by a sudden commotion. Calamity Ganon had awakened and began to attack Hyrule Castle. All of the Champions retreated to their Divine Beasts to begin the battle, only to find that Ganon had planned for them. One of Calamity Ganon's phantoms, Waterblight Ganon, was able to enter Vah Ruta and killed Mipha. This caused Vah Ruta to fall under Calamity Ganon's control. Mipha's spirit still remained within the Divine Beast and also seemed to make contact with her people at one point. It happened when the Zora people prepared to send her Lightscale Trident drifting down the Zora River as a way of mourning her. Mipha's voice then came through the trident, telling them that she and the trident were one, and that the Zora people should abandon their grief in order to know joy once again. The Zora people, though still devastated by Mipha's death, held onto the Lightscale Trident in her memory and began holding a Champion Festival. A statue of Mipha was also constructed within Zora's Domain.

One hundred years after her demise, Link awakened from his time at the Shrine of Resurrection without his past memories and worked on freeing the Divine Beasts. At Vah Ruta, Mipha guided Link in activating the Divine Beast's terminals and fighting Waterblight Ganon. After Waterblight Ganon was destroyed, Mipha's spirit was able to regain control of Vah Ruta. She thanked Link for freeing her spirit and for seeing her once again. She bestowed her healing ability, Mipha's Grace, onto Link. She then brought Vah Ruta onto a nearby mountain, from which she would launch her strike upon Calamity Ganon. She also wondered about her father's wellbeing and hoped to see him once again. After Calamity Ganon's destruction, Mipha's spirit was seen with the spirits of the other Champions and the king, watching over Link and Zelda before disappearing.

Tears of the Kingdom

Although she did not physically appear in Tears of the Kingdom, she continued to be mentioned and referenced. Her statue was moved to the top of Ploymus Mountain, as part of an entire area dedicated to her memory that was called Mipha Court. She was also mentioned on the stone slabs around the domain that were authored by Sidon, where he related stories about her and her influence on him. Additionally, Mipha was mentioned by Yona when she determined that Sidon was holding back due to his fear of losing others that was rooted in having lost Mipha.

In Other Zelda Games

Mipha was featured as a playable fighter in Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, in which an alternate timeline is formed by Terrako's time travel from the time period leading up to Calamity Ganon's return. One of the results of this time travel is that Zelda tried recruiting the Champions earlier than she originally did, and that Link worked directly with Zelda prior to gaining the Master Sword.

The Champions were recruited in a series of scenarios making up Chapter 2, with Mipha's being called "Mipha, the Zora Princess". In that scenario, Dorephan initially refused to let Mipha become a Champion in an attempt to protect her. The meeting was disrupted by a sudden monster attack. Mipha aided the Hylian forces in repelling the monsters and also helped to rescue Sidon, who was trying to fight a Lynel. She ultimately piloted Vah Ruta in order to drive away the monsters. In the aftermath of the battle, Dorephan reluctantly allowed Mipha to become a Champion. The Champions were officially appointed in Chapter 3. She also asked Daruk to train with her, as she hoped to learn more styles of fighting and become stronger so that she could fight alongside Link.

In Chapter 5, the Calamity began. As in the original timeline, the Champions boarded the Divine Beasts and were trapped within them with Blight Ganons. In the scenario called "Water and Fire", history was changed a second time by Terrako, who opened up time portals to pull in the future successors of the Champions. This included the adult version of Sidon, who saved Mipha from being killed by Waterblight Ganon. With help from one of the others, Waterblight Ganon was slain, and Mipha was saved along with the other Champions. Afterwards, Mipha and Sidon piloted Vah Ruta together. In Chapter 6, the Zora siblings worked together in piloting Vah Ruta to clear a path to Akkala Citadel, and Mipha then went to join the fight.

In the end, Calamity Ganon was successfully destroyed by Link, Zelda and the Champions, and the people from the future were returned to their time. Mipha said her farewell to Sidon before he disappeared.

Abilities

She is known for her healing ability, Mipha's Grace, which seem to be capable of healing any wounds. Once Link gains the ability, it will activate only if Link's heart meter is completely depleted, at which point it will revive him with a temporarily extended heart meter. It has to be recharged before each use, however.

Despite the focus on her healing ability, Mipha was also an exceptional fighter. It is mentioned that she trained with the Zora royal knights and became very skilled at wielding the Lightscale Trident. It is also known that she defeated a group of Guardians, who are among the most powerful enemies in Breath of the Wild, especially considering that Mipha is not known to have had any ancient gear for the battle. As expected of a Zora, she was also an accomplished swimmer, with one of her sacred trials involving quickly swimming up a series of waterfalls along Upland Zorana.

Within Age of Calamity, her skills are expanded upon. She is shown to be a lightweight and nimble fighter. She possesses hydrokinetic powers which allow her to make water constructs that she can use to attack enemies and/or ride upwards to strike enemies directly.

Other Appearances

Video Games

• In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, she appears as an Advanced-rank Support Spirit. Her Spirit's Support effect is to raise the player's stats when they are badly damaged. When fought in a Spirit battle, Mipha's Spirit would possess an Inkling for a stamina battle in which she would regularly undergo automatic healing. Mipha was also represented by an Inkling in the Spirit battle for the Breath of the Wild version of Zelda, which pit the player against representatives of the four Champions.

Trivia

• Her name is taken from "mi fa", part of the Western solfège known as 'do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti', as most of the Zoras' names in Breath of the Wild are musical references.
• She is similar to Ruto in that she is a Zora princess who met Link as a child, developed an affection for him and wanted to marry him, as well as ending up taking on a higher responsibility (Ruto becoming a sage while Mipha becomes a Champion). Some of these similarities are noted within the game.
• Although Mipha was not in Tears of the Kingdom, her voice actor played the role of the Ancient Sage of Water, who had a similar build as Mipha.