Sages

This article is about the individual groups of Zelda characters. For the characters from Pokémon: Black and White Versions, see Team Plasma.

The Sages (referred to as The Wise Men in the original localization of A Link to the Past) are recurring figures appearing throughout the Zelda series. There are inconsistencies in their portrayals over the years, but they are usually portrayed as important figures in Hyrule with special powers who are connected with the mythology of the Triforce, the Master Sword and the will of the Three Golden Goddesses. They also are usually shown to consist of seven members (with a Princess Zelda as the seventh member and leader) and play prominent roles in sealing away evil and/or empowering heroes.

Background

Pre-Timeline Split

There was known to be at least one incarnation of the seven sages existing prior to Ocarina of Time. Often referred to as the ancient sages, they were known to build the Temple of Time to close off the entrance to the Sacred Realm and protect the Triforce. One of their number was Rauru, who eventually confined himself to the Chamber of Sages within the Sacred Realm's Temple of Light. Rauru was the only known member of this incarnation, and not much is known about them, although they may be the same sages who later appeared in Twilight Princess.

Ocarina of Time (Adult/Defeated Timeline)

Link was held within the Chamber of the Sages during his seven-year slumber and was watched over by Rauru. Once he awoke, he was tasked by Rauru with gathering the six sages, by which he meant himself as well as five new sages. The other sages, each of which was of a unique species, were still unaware of their fates and would have to be awakened to it. Each of them were assigned to their own temple and had their own corresponding medallion with their element. Link had to defeat the darkness in each temple to free them, at which point they were awakened as sages and transported to the Chamber of Sages.

After all six of the sages had moved on to the Chamber of Sages, Princess Zelda revealed herself as the seventh sage and the leader of the sages. Although Zelda was soon captured, the other six sages were able to use their combined power to build a rainbow bridge that Link could use to access Ganon's Tower, where he saved Zelda. In the Adult Timeline, the seven sages were able to seal Ganondorf within the Sacred Realm after Link had defeated him. During the ending, five of the sages (Rauru being absent, while Zelda was elsewhere) traveled to Death Mountain in forms resembling fairies and then assumed their true forms, overlooking the festivities going on below at Lon Lon Ranch.

In the Defeated Timeline, a hypothetical split described in the Hyrule Historia and based on the original backstory of A Link to the Past, Link actually lost to Ganon during their final battle. Ganon was able to gain the entire Triforce, but the sages were still able to combine their powers to seal him away in the Dark World. Soon afterwards, a war known as the Imprisoning War broke out. In this war, many people resorted to violent warfare to enter the Dark World in search of the Triforce, and demons from the Dark World also attacked. Under orders from the king of Hyrule, the seven sages ultimately sealed the entrance to the Sacred Realm/Dark World in order to bring the war to an end. Many members of the knights of Hyrule sacrificed themselves protecting the sages in the process.

The Seven Sages

• Rauru - Sage of Light
• Saria (Kokiri) - Sage of Forest
• Darunia (Goron) - Sage of Fire
• Princess Ruto (Zora) - Sage of Water
• Impa (Sheikah) - Sage of Shadow
• Nabooru (Gerudo) - Sage of Spirit
• Princess Zelda - Leader of the Sages

Defeated Timeline

A Link to the Past

In the years following the Imprisoning War, the sages handed down the prophecy of the Great Cactaclysm through their families, and the Pegasus Boots were also handed down as an heirloom in one family.

Several centuries later, within the game's timeframe, Aganhim began capturing the maiden descendants of the seven sages and sacrificing them to open the seal of the Dark World. These maidens had all inherited their ancestors' power, but the decline of the Hylian bloodline caused their powers to be lesser. One maiden claimed that their powers would still be amplified by the power of the bloodline of the Knights of Hyrule, of which Link was the only known descendant. The first six maidens who were captured and successfully sacrificed were unnamed, although one was the granddaughter of an old man found on Death Mountain. The seventh maiden was Princess Zelda, and Link managed to keep her safe from Aganhim for some time, but his minions eventually attacked the cathedral and captured her. He then sacrificed the princess just as Link arrived.

Despite the implications of the sacrifices, the seven maidens were still alive within the Dark World and imprisoned within crystals. Each of them was held by a different monster imprisoned within the Dark World. One of the bosses, Blind the Thief, even impersonated a maiden to trick Link until his disguise was undone. After all seven maidens were rescued, their combined power was able to break the seal on Ganon's Tower. Once Ganon was defeated and Link claimed the Triforce, Zelda and the other maidens seemed to be restored to normal in Hyrule.

A Link Between Worlds

In this game, Yuga sought out the current generation of the seven sages, who had not yet awakened as sages, though some number of them were known to be descended from the original sages. Yuga managed to find them all and used his magic to trap them in the form of paintings, and he did the same to Princess Zelda. The eight of them were successfully used in a ritual to revive Ganon, and afterwards the portraits of the seven sages were distributed to bosses inhabiting different dungeons across Lorule. Link tracked them down and saved each of them, at which point they were awakened as sages and sent to the Chamber of Sages. There, they used their combined power to summon the Triforce of Courage for Link, as he had proven himself to be a true hero.

After the crisis was resolved, the sages were returned to Hyrule and seemed to continue their normal daily lives.

The Seven Sages

• Impa
• Irene
• Gulley
• Oren
• Osfala
• Seres
• Rosso

These sages receive no specific titles unlike in other games, though they each have a unique symbol. Additionally, out of these sages, only Impa, Osfala and Seres are explicitly said to be related to past sages.

Child Timeline

Twilight Princess

A sage from Twilight Princess with the Master.

A set of six sages appeared in Twilight Princess, but they were all very different from the ones in the other games. They were identical floating spirits that resembled elderly men with masks. Each of the sages did have one of the medallions from the Ocarina sages as their respective emblems. These sages were based at the Arbiter's Grounds and had been appointed by the goddesses to watch over the Mirror of Twilight, apparently since ancient times (possibly connecting them to the generation of ancient sages mentioned in Ocarina). The sages were also described as servants of the royal family (and the American translation goes as far as to say that they tutored Zelda when she was young, but the Japanese version has Auru himself saying he was her tutor). They tried to pass judgement on Ganondorf after he was captured thanks to the warning delivered by Link after he came from the adult timeline. They decided to impale him on the Master Sword, but Ganondorf survived due his the Triforce of Power awakening. One sage compared this development to some kind of "divine prank". After Ganondorf broke free, he killed one of their number (the Sage of Water) before they activated the Mirror of Twilight to seal him within the Twilight Realm.

The sages appeared before Link and Midna when they arrived to tell them about Ganondorf's sealing in the Twilight Realm and of Zant's shattering of the Mirror of Twilight. They passed one shard of the Mirror onto them and hinted at the locations of the other three shards while warning them about the power contained within them. The sages appeared again when the Mirror was complete and tried to apologize to Midna for setting Ganondorf loose in her realm and starting this crisis, recognizing her as the Twilight Princess.

The Shrine Maidens

They were identified as "shrine maidens" rather than sages, but this set of characters from Four Swords Adventures were unique due to the fact that they are based on the maidens from A Link to the Past combined with powers similar to the sages. There were six unnamed maidens, and they were led by Princess Zelda. The shrine maidens helped to maintain the seal on Vaati, which was upheld by the Four Sword. Each of the maidens had a specific color to their hair and magic which corresponded with the colors associated with the sage from Ocarina of Time. They could also transform into fairy-like creatures. Zelda and the shrine maidens were all captured by Dark Link and were held within various dungeons, where they were imprisoned within crystals. With the power of the Four Sword, the four Links were able to slowly rescue them all, and each shrine maiden would act as a guide in fairy form after being freed. At the end of the game, they were able to use their powers to seal Ganon within the Four Sword.

Adult Timeline

The Wind Waker

This game contained a unique set of only two sages that had two generations: the Sages of Wind and Earth. These sages were originally appointed by King Daphnes Nohansen to offer prayers at their respective temples which would keep the Master Sword strong over the years while waiting for the day when the Hero returned. The Kokirki Fado was appointed the Sage of Wind, while the Zora Laruto was the Sage of Earth. Each of them also had their own musical instruments that they played with their prayers, and the king was known to conduct them using the Wind Waker. When Hyrule was flooded, Fado and Laruto were believed to be safe within their temples. However, at some point Ganondorf was somehow able to find and kill both of them. Their spirits still lingered within their respective temples however.

The Hero of Winds met Laruto and Fado's ghosts, and he was appointed to finding successors to both of them. They each taught Link a song that would awaken their successors to their destiny as a sage. The Rito girl Medli turned out to be Laruto's descendant and was brought to the Earth Temple to offer her prayers as the new Earth Sage. Link also found the Korok Makar (the game being less clear about whether they are related by blood, likely due to the unlikelihood of Kokiri reproducing) and brought him to the Wind Temple to act as the new Wind Sage. Each of them had instruments that were identical to the ones that Laruto and Fado had played. In Medli's case, it was implied to be the very same instrument passed down her family line. With their prayers, the Master Sword was energized for that Link's final battle with Ganondorf. It is uncertain whether or not the sages continued to live and pray in their temples afterwards, considering that the Master Sword was then lost with Ganondorf's petrified body and that they were shown aboard Tetra's boat in the ending, although they were no longer traveling with her in Phantom Hourglass.

Trivia

• They may be inspired by the Saptarshi from Hindu religion, a group of seven rishis (sages) who were said to work under the guidance of God to uphold divine law.
• The seven sages from Ocarina are also depicted in stain glass windows in Hyrule Castle in The Wind Waker.
• Five of the sages from Ocarina share names with towns from Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, which gives the implication that the towns were named after the sages from an in-universe perspective.
• In Phantom Hourglass, a graveyard on the Isle of the Dead contains graves for six sages which reveal the path through the Phantom Corridor to the resting place of Brant of the Cobble Kingdom. They seem to be unrelated to Hyrule's sages.
• One notable continuity problem is that the maiden descendants of A Link to the Past are said to be blood descendants of the seven sages and are all Hylians, yet most of the sages that were shown in Ocarina are of different species (including ones that does not seem to be capable of individual reproduction, the Kokiri). This also applies to A Link Between Worlds to an extent, although one of the sages in that game is a Zora, and only some of this incarnation of the sages are explicitly said to be descendants of the original sages.
• It was believed that the sages were also involved in the creation of the Master Sword, with it being said in Twilight Princess that it had been "crafted by the wisdom of the ancient sages". However, Skyward Sword later showed them to have no known role in its creation.
• A trophy for the sages of Twilight Princess appears in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.