Navi

Navi is a character from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. A fairy, Navi serves as Link's fairy companion throughout the game.

Navi stands as a milestone in the series, as she is the first of many side-kick companion characters that would appear in later games in the The Legend of Zelda series. She is also the first character in the canonical entries in the series to have voice acting, emitting words like "hey", "watch out", and "listen" whenever Link comes across anything interesting. She also occasionally provides Link with the last known objective in the game for the player's convenience. Her voice acting is provided by Kaori Mizuhashi, who would later voice Ciela, another one of Link's fairy companions from The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass.

Biography
At the beginning of the game, in the depths of Kokiri Forest, the Great Deku Tree, sensing a looming power that threatens to destroy Hyrule, asks one of his fairy children, Navi to take a young boy named Link to see him. Unlike the rest of the inhabitants of the forest, Link does not have a guardian fairy companion. Navi arrives in Link's House, and is surprised to see what a small child Link is, and has little belief that he has the power to rescue the land of Hyrule from the powers of evil. Despite this, she tells Link about the Great Deku Tree's summoning, and together, they travel to the grove of the wise tree. The Great Deku Tree tells the two about a curse placed on him by an outsider, and asks them to travel inside him to break the curse. They indeed dispel the curse by defeating Queen Gohma; however, the Great Deku Tree reveals that he was fated to die no matter what the outcome of their excursion into his insides would be. The Great Deku Tree explains that he was cursed by the Gerudo mystic Ganondorf, whom had been seeking the Spiritual Stones; magical stones that have the power to open the door to the Sacred Realm, where the omniscient Triforce can be found. He asks them to stop Ganondorf from achieving this at all costs, and after presenting them with the Kokiri's Emerald, tells them to travel to Hyrule Castle and converse with Princess Zelda, who resides there.

From this point, Navi and Link work together to prevent this disaster. While initially, Navi seems to have a general disliking for Link, they eventually grow fond of each other during their quest. After many ordeals, Link and Navi confront Ganondorf at the very top of Ganon's Castle. Ganondorf uses a spell that prevents Navi from helping Link in the ensuing battle. Despite this, Link defeats Ganondorf, who uses his final strength to try and bring the castle down. Link and Zelda narrowly escape, and the tower collapses in on itself. As they celebrate their victory, they hear a slight rumble from the direction of the ruins. Link surveys the scene, and Ganondorf rises from the rubble, utilizing the true power of the Triforce of Power to transform into a monstrous, pig-like beast. Navi promises Link that she will not be held back by Ganondorf again, and together, they defeat the beast and seal it away. Even though Ganondorf is defeated and peace is restored, in the ending, Navi is seen departing from Hyrule in the Temple of Time, where she soars towards the lit window and is never seen again. The reason for her departure is never ascertained.

Possible love interest
Though never directly stated in-game, Shigeru Miyamoto revealed in an interview conducted by Famimaga 64, that Navi is jealous of Princess Zelda and has feelings for Link.

Departure
There are many theories as to why Navi would so abruptly leave Hyrule without any apparent explanation. One is that owing to the fact that Link is not a Kokiri and thus, was never meant to have a fairy companion in the first place, Navi had to depart once his quest had been fulfilled.

Another theory is that Navi realized that she and Link could not ever truly be together as romantic partners, and decides to leave him to escape the unavoidable rejection.

The location that Navi departs to is debated by many, but in Twilight Princess it should be noted that the same general location that Navi was seen departing in Ocarina of Time corresponds to a secret entrance to the 'rest' of the Temple of Time. It is quite possible that she departs through this entrance and either settles there in solitude, or moves on to parts still unknown.

The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
In the opening cutscene of Majora's Mask, the direct sequel to Ocarina of Time, it is stated that Link went on a journey to find a "beloved friend" with whom he "departed ways when he fulfilled his heroic destiny". There are many interpretations of what this is supposed to mean, one of the most prominent being that this beloved friend is Navi, who departed at the end of Ocarina of Time. Some believe that because Navi's familiar chiming sound can be heard directly after this section of the cutscene, this indicates almost explicitly that the "beloved friend" is referring to Navi, though it is also possible that the sound emanates from Tatl and Tael, who are seen shortly thereafter. It should be noted that Link's final line in the Majora's Mask manga is, "Let's go look for Navi!"

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
A blue fairy serves as the on-screen pointer for the Wii version of Twilight Princess. This could indeed be Navi, however this seems unlikely as Link never interacts with her in any way and there is never any mention of her involvement in the game. Regardless, the Nintendo GameCube version is the canonically accepted version of Twilight Princess, and the blue fairy is never seen in the GameCube version.

Etymology
"Navi" is actually the Latin word for "float" or "fly", a possible origin for Navi's name. It could also be short for "navigation", or "navigator", as Navi helps Link throughout his adventure in ways similar to a ship's, or aircraft's navigator assists the captain.