Rhoam Bosphoramus

Rhoam Bosphoramus
Species	Hylian/Zonai
Hair color	Gray
Eye color	Green
Relatives	Queen of Hyrule (wife) Zelda (daughter)
Voiced by	Bill Rogers
Debut	The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

King Rhoam Bosphoramus Hyrule is a former King of Hyrule who appeared as a supporting character in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. He is known as The Last King of Hyrule.

Background

King Rhoam originally ruled over Hyrule with his wife, the queen. They had a daughter together who was named Zelda, in accordance with the traditions of the Royal Family of Hyrule. They lived in a time where a fortune teller's prophecy foretold that Calamity Ganon would soon be returning. Hyrule had lived at peace for ten thousand years, and they needed to prepare to fight Ganon again. The king oversaw excavation of various relics of the machines that had been used in the past conflict with Calamity Ganon: the army of Guardians and the Four Divine Beasts. Rhoam's wife later passed away abruptly, when Zelda was only six years old. In the following period of mourning, Rhoam admired the strength that her daughter displayed, which gave him hope. Faced with raising the princess by herself, he was determined to prepare herself for "her difficult future as princess of Hyrule". Things were truly difficult, as the queen had passed away before she could teach Zelda how to unlock her sacred magic that was essential for sealing Ganon away.

For a decade, Zelda took part in rigorous self-training to attempt to unlock her powers, but to no avail. While the king sympathized wih her, he saw how urgent it was for the power to be unlocked before Calamity Ganon's arrival, so he was often harsh with Zelda and put pressure on her to continuously train herself. He consciously decided to act as a king before being a father. At the same time, he appointed the Four Champions who were to pilot the Divine Beasts, and he also recognized Link, the wielder of the Master Sword, as Hyrule's Champion. He proceeded to assign Link as Zelda's appointed knight, seemingly to help keep an eye on his daugher. He had also grown to disapprove of the time that his daugher devoted to helping with the research of ancient Sheikah technology. Even if it was helping them to understand and utilize the ancient technology, Rhoam saw it all as a distraction from her training. This resulted in a confrontation at Hyrule Castle where Rhoam told Zelda that commoners were gossiping about her being an "heir to a throne of nothing but failure", and he proceeded to forbid her from taking part in any more research. In his journal, he claimed that he wanted to console her and had regrets about his behavior, but he also saw it as doing his duty to help Zelda life up to her own duty. Rhoam composed one last journal entry when Zelda went to the Spring of Wisdom as a last-ditch effort to unlock her powers. He came to the decision that if she failed this time, he would try to speak kindly to her instead of scolding her. He started to feel that her power would "stubbornly awaken some other way", and he considered encouraging her to continue her research, in case it led to new answers that he was unaware of. Rhoam awaited Zelda's return from the Spring, but they never were able to meet again. Calamity Ganon suddenly resurfaced that time, and King Rhoam was killed in the ensuing conflict, which came to be known as the Great Calamity. Zelda finally unlocked her powers and used them to keep Ganon contained within Hyrule Castle, but it was only a temporary solution to the problem.

Rhoam's spirit endured and appeared to Link at the Great Plateau one hundred years later. Link had lost all of his past memories due to his time in the Shrine of Resurrection. Rhoam appeared in the guise of a simple old man and acted as a guide to Link. He advised Link about a variety of topics that mostly related to wilderness survival and cooking. He also gave Link a Warm Doublet in exchange for successfully preparing a Spicy Meat and Seafood Fry for him. He also tasked LInk with finding four Spirit Orbs from the shrines located across the Great Plateau. In return, he would give Link the means to leave the plateau. This was Rhoam's way of preparing the amnesiac Link for his journey. After Link gathered the four orbs and prayed at the Temple of Time's Goddess Statue, the old man had Link meet up with him on the roof. There, he revealed his true form and informed him about the events relating to the Great Calamity from one hundred years ago. He was aware that Zelda's power was weakening, and he humbly implored Link to destroy Calamity Ganon and save Zelda. He also suggested that Link seek out Impa, the elder of the Sheikah tribe, and he gave Link the Paraglider that he could use to leave the Great Plateau. WIth his message delivered, Rhoam proceeded to fade away.

At the end of the game, Calamity Ganon was finally defeated, and Zelda was freed. Rhoam's spirit was seen overlooking the victorious Link and Zelda alongside the spirits of the four fallen Champions. The spirits all proceeded to fade away.

In Other Zelda Games

Rhoam was featured as a playable character in Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, where he could switch between his default king form and his Old Man form, both of which moved and attacked differently. The game's storyline depicted an alternate version of the Calamity from Breath of the Wild. Within the storyline, Rhoam made several appearances throughout the first chapters of the game, in which he coordinated Hyrule's efforts to fight off monsters and prepare for the coming of Calamity Ganon, including reluctantly allowing the help of the time-travelling Diminutive Guardian. He was also shown scolding Zelda for her lack of progress in unlocking her powers, as in Breath of the Wild. In Chapter 5, he stayed behind to fend off the attack on Hyrule Castle and seemingly sacrificed, but he turned up alive with a cavalry in Chapter 7. It turned out that his life was saved by an ancient relic that Zelda gave to him, which turned out to be an Ancient Shield that was effective at defending against the Guardians. Rhoam then continued to aid Hyrule's forces in the remaining battles of the campaign, which ended with Calamity Ganon being defeated without him or any of the Champions dying. A flashback also revealed that Rhoam had originally confiscated Terrako when Zelda was a child and kept it boxed on a shelf, where it remained until the events of the game.

Other Appearances

Video Games

• In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, he makes an appearance as the Old Man in the Great Plateau Tower stage. He occasionally soars to the tower with the Paraglider and observes the battle before departing.

Trivia

• Rhoam's wife is mentioned as having the sacred powers associated with the royal family. This implies that Rhoam married into the royal family as opposed to being born into it, unless their marriage was one between different descendants of the bloodline.
• One area of Central Hyrule is also named Mount Rhoam after him. This area reappears in Tears of the Kingdom, with a Rhoam Canyon Mine located beneath it in the Depths, acting as the only references to Rhoam in the game.
• His journal can be found in a hidden room of the Hyrule Castle's library. He refers to it as his 'royal memorandum'.
• He also has a diary in his home on the Great Plateau, known as the Old Man's Diary and written reflecting his disguise as the old man, although the last two entries appear after Link learns the truth and involve him apologizing for his deception while reaffirming his belief in Link.