Sidon

Sidon
Species	Zora
Affiliation	Sages
Eye color	Tan
Relatives	Dorephan (father) Mipha (older sister) Yona (wife) Ancient Sage of Water (ancestor) King Zora, Ruto (ancestors)
Voiced by	Jamie Mortellero
Debut	The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Sidon is a prominent Zora character from the The Legend of Zelda series who was featured as a supporting character in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and its sequel The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. He was introduced as a Zora prince who was the brother of Mipha, the Zora Champion who had been slain during the Great Calamity, and in the sequel he became the Zora's king as well as the Sage of Water. He was additionally featured as a playable character in Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity. Sidon is known for being energetically optimistic and supportive in most situations.

Background

Sidon was born to Dorephan, king of the Zoras, and he was the younger brother of the princesssMipha. He always had an upbeat disposition and a tendency to flash a sparkling smile, ever since he was little. He was a small child when Mipha was chosen to serve as a Champion. In one of the flashbacks seen during the Champions' Ballad DLC, Mipha was shown demonstrating to the small Sidon how to scale a waterfall and entrusted him with taking care of Zora's Domain should something happen to her. Ultimately, Mipha perished during the Great Calamity, after Calamity Ganon's forces took over her Divine Beast, Vah Ruta.

Over the course of the next century, Sidon grew up to become an exceptionally tall Zora. Growing up, he had a childhood friend named Yona, who was a royal Zora from another domain, but they did not see each other for a long time. Dorephan told Sidon many tales about Mipha and Link growing up. This caused Sidon to understand Mipha's romantic feelings for Link and originated his respect for the Hylian hero. Unlike many of the older Zoras, Sidon did not blame Link for Mipha's fate. Sidon started performing heroic feats of his own growing up. According to one of the stone slabs detailing the History of the Zora, Sidon once battled a giant Octorok that was attacking fisherman at Hateno Bay. Sidon was swallowed by the Octorok, but he stabbed his silverscale spear into the monster's stomach repeatedly until it spit him out and escaped. The people of Hateno Bay passed down this story as the tale of "The Prince Who Slew the Fell Octorok". Aside from his skill with the spear, Sidon was also known for having exceptional power in producing and manipulating water.

Breath of the Wild

During the timeframe of Breath of the Wild, Vah Ruta suddenly became active and started a perpetual rainfall that threatened to overflow the Zoras' reservoir and cause deadly floods that could damage Zora's domain as well as the villages of Hyrule. The Zoras quickly began looking into a way to stop Vah Ruta before the floods began. They came to realize that the only way to stop Vah Ruta was with shock arrows, which Zoras could not properly use due to their vulnerability to their electricity. It was decided that they would need the help of a Hylian, and Sidon was entrusted with seeking one out. He eventually discovered Link along the river leading to the Domain and quickly saw that he was a skilled warrior, even though he did not initially recognize him from a century ago and merely thought that his name sounded familiar. Sidon implored Link to help them, and he offered Link support and guidance as the hero made his way to Zora's Domain. Once there, Sidon attended Link's audience with King Dorephan and finally reaized who Link was after Dorephan recognized him. As they spoke, he learend about Link's task passed on from Princess Zelda to reclaim control of the Divine Beasts. Sidon also helped to convinced the stubborn old Muzu to help Link find shock arrows.

After Link had enough shock arrows, Sidon came with him to face Vah Ruta. Sidon swam speedily through the waters while Link rode on his back. With their combined efforts, Vah Ruta stopped its attack, and Sidon then left Link to board Vah Ruta and carry out his mission. Ultimately, Link succeeded in banishing the evil from Vah Ruta, so that Mipha's spirit could reclaim control over it. Afterwards, Sidon showered Link with praise and a 'top-tier expression of gratitude' which included a Zora chant. He came to see Link as the greatest of all Hylians and as his "most treasured friend of all time". Dorephan commended Sidon as well as Link, expressing that Sidon was a worthy heir to the Zora throne. Afterwards, Sidon could be regularly found by Zora's Domain. At night, he would spend time by Mipha's statue, lamenting his sister's fate and wishing that he could still hear her advice. He would then become embarrassed after realizing that Link heard him and admitted that it was a moment of vulnerability.

Tears of the Kingdom

Shortly after the fall of Calamity Ganon, Princess Zelda visited Zora's Domain to personally apologize for Mipha's fate. Sidon and the other Zoras agreed that it was not her fault, and they built up a strong respect for her due to that gesture. Sidon came to be inspired by the inner strength that Zelda displayed, and it inspired him to try building up a similar type of strength, which he previously assumed to come naturally with one's physical strength. Over the next few years, Dorephan began giving Sidon more responsibilities in preparation for his ascension to the throne. He reminded Sidon that his bloodline did not guarantee him the throne, and it ultimately relied on the will of the Zora people. One task that Sidon took up was the restoration of the Zora slabs located around the Zora's Domain. The original slabs were written by Dorephan, but they had fallen into disrepair and could not be salvaged. Sidon was reluctant to write over his father's work, and some Zoras questioned it being done by someone so young, but Dorephan ultimately assured him that it was for the best. And so Sidon wrote the new slabs, which talked of Zora history and his own experiences in his own words. This included mentions of the impact of Mipha, Link and Zelda on him and the Zora people. He also oversaw the construction of Mipha Court on Ploymus Mountain, where Mipha's statue was moved. A new statue was also unveiled of the saviors of the Domain, which was a statue of Sidon with Link riding on his back.

In Tears of the Kingdom, an event known as the Upheaval occurred. In the aftermath of the Upheaval, Zora's Domain was plagued by sludge that fell from the sky and polluted the waters, making some Zoras sick. In order to control the crisis, Zoras from the other domain were called in to help. This included Yona, who Sidon had not seen since childhood, but with whom he had become engaged at some point. Although Sidon felt strong affection to her, he also felt awkward and ended up not spending much time for her, as Yona looked after the Zoras at the domain, while Sidon spent his time at Mipha Court, the source of the domain's water, where he used his powers to contain and purify the sludge that was constantly falling into the water. As Sidon had exceptional powers when it came to controlling water, he saw it as a task that only he could carry out. He was overjoyed to be reunited with Link when he came to see him at Mipha Court, but he remained set on not leaving Mipha Court. Yona later came to confront him, although they were distracted by an attack from a Sludge Like. Sidon helped Link to defeat the monster, and then he resumed his conversation with Yona. Yona felt that Sidon should help Link to stop the source of the sludge, while she and other Zoras took up the work he was doing in Mipha Court. Sidon initially refused because of the danger, but Yona helped Sidon to realize that he was holding himself back due to a fear of losing others that was rooted in having lost Mipha. This realization helped Sidon to restore his usual good spirits, and he endeavored to not let his fear control him as well as to trust in Yona.

With that, Sidon accompanied Link in exploring the source of the sludge, which turned out to be a Water Temple located high up in the sky. As they explored the Water Temple, Sidon heard a voice calling out to him. Together, Sidon and Link destroyed the Mucktorock, the monster that was the origin of the sludge, which resolved the problem that was plaguing the Zoras. In the process, Sidon also found a secret stone and received a vision of his ancestor, who acted as the Sage of Water during the time period of Hyrule's formation. This ancestor told Sidon about the threat of Ganondorf and his need to rise up as the new Sage of Water. Thus, Sidon wielded the secret stone and was awakened as the new Sage of Water. He made a vow to Link and produced an avatar, which was a ghostly copy of himself. This avatar would accompany Link in battle whenever Sidon could not. After returning to Zora's Domain, Dorephan commended Link and Sidon, and he decided that it was time to pass the throne onto Sidon. A ceremony followed in which Sidon was crowned as king of the Zoras, with Yona as his queen. Sidon stayed at Zora's Domain afterwards to begin acting as king, but he continued to pass information onto Link. After four of the sages were awakened, they went into action together for the first time at Hyrule Castle, where they arrived in time to save Link from Ganondorf's assault of gloom. Ganondorf forced them to experience a vision of the world that he would create, but the sages remained determined to stand up for him. After regrouping at Lookout Landing, the sages all returned to their respective homes to look into any information regarding the fifth sage. At Zora's Domain, Sidon continued to pass what information he could onto Link.

Eventually, the fifth sage was found, and Link traveled to the Depths of Hyrule to confront Ganondorf. The five sages arrived to help Link fight off Ganondorf's forces. Ganondorf then summoned the boss monsters to keep the sages busy, with Sidon facing off against Mucktrock on his own while Link went ahead. The sages defeated their monsters and arrived in time to help in the battle against Demon King Ganondorf, although they were later knocked out by his power. Regardless, Link was able to slay Ganondorf, and peace returned to Hyrule. In the aftermath of the crisis, the sages gathered at the Great Sky Island, where they bid farewell to Mineru and swore an oath to protect Princess Zelda.

In Other Zelda Games

In Age of Calamity, the miniature Guardian Terrako traveled back in time to the time period leading up to Calamity Ganon's return, which resulted in the formation of a new alternate timeline. Sidon's child self made an appearance during Mipha's part of Chapter 2, when he tried fighting a Lynel and had to be rescued by the others. Mipha scolded him for endangering himself, while also commending him for being brave. During Chapter 5, Terrako created additional time portals within the Divine Beasts in order to summon back-up to save the Champions from the Blight Ganons. The adult version of Sidon was summoned into Vah Ruta while Mipha was fighting for her life against Waterblight Ganon and managed to prevent her death. With the help of one of the other warriors, they were able to destroy Waterblight Ganon, and Sidon had an emotional reunion with his sister. Sidon continued to help in the further efforts to prevent the Calamity, including helping Ruto to pilot Vah Ruta during Chapter 6. There was also a DLC chapter featuring the Zora siblings fighting enemies at Goponga Village. At the end of the chapter, Sidon's child self showed up in an attempt to protect Mipha from an Electric Moblin while she was busy healing another Zora, and the older Sidon arrived just in time to save his younger self. Sidon proceeded to assure the child that he would grow up to become big and strong.

After Calamity Ganon was successfully slain, Sidon and the others from the future were pulled back to their original timelines. In their farewell, Mipha told Sidon that they would meet again, and Sidon was sure that their hearts would always be connected.

Trivia

• His name seems to be derived from the musical notes "si" and "do", matching Mipha's name being composed from musical notes, and his name may also be referencing Poseidon, the Greek god of the sea.
• In Breath of the Wild, there is an alternate scene with voiced lines that plays if Link manages to reach Zora's Domain without encountering Sidon beforehand. In that scene, Sidon will initially tell Link to leave the throne room as the king is not accepting visitors at this time, but upon realizing that the visitor is a Hylian, he apologizes and asks him to speak with them.
• He is the only 'successor' character in Breath of the Wild to have a different voice actor than the corresponding Champion, likely due to Sidon and Mipha having different genders.