Fi

Fi (ファイ) is a character from The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. She is a spirit residing within the Goddess Sword, created by Hylia to guide her chosen hero on his quest to defeat the Demon Lord. Her manner of speech is modeled after that of an artificial intelligence as they commonly appear in fiction; her dialogue is represented by audible, but incomprehensible, Auto-Tune vocalization. Physically, she has a feminine figure despite being genderless. She bears a resemblance to the Queen of Fairies from The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker and The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures; the significance of this, if any, is not elaborated upon.

Personality
Fi's personality is rather formal; she is very intelligent and level-headed, constantly analyzing any situation and giving a calculated assessment on the odds. In contrast with her dark counterpart Ghirahim, Fi is quiet and calm, while Ghirahim is passionate and fiery. Despite technically being centuries old, she is stated in the legend that Gaepora tells Link to be "youthful in likeness to her master yet wise with knowledge immeasurable.

Fi also refers to Link as "Master" throughout most of the journey. Initially, she is thought to be devoid of all emotion, but as the story progresses, she begins to learn more and more about the human spirit, and although she has trouble comprehending it, she is shown to greatly appreciate the new feelings that her travels with Link have given her, as Fi states she feels happiness towards the end. This fully proves that she does in fact have emotions like any sapient being normally would, but has trouble showing it.

Despite stating to have difficulty in feeling and understanding emotions, Fi also truly did come to care for Link as her friend, as evident when she states her gratitude to him.

Biography
Created by the goddess Hylia untold years before the events of Skyward Sword as part of a two-part fail safe against Demise, Fi is the humanoid representation of the Goddess Sword. When the time comes for the Goddess's chosen hero, Link, to set out on his quest to stop Demise, Fi appears in one of his dreams, and once he awakens, guides him to a hidden chamber found inside the Statue of the Goddess in Skyloft. There, Link uncovers the Goddess Sword; once he wields it in his hand, Fi enters Link in her registry as her "Master".

Throughout his adventure, Fi aids Link in a multitude of ways: these include giving sage advice about the current situation, summarizing the story for him in broad strokes, and providing him with information on nearly all people, enemies, and objects that can be Z-targeted. She will also notify him when his Heart Containers, Shield Gauge, or the batteries in the Wii Remote are nearly depleted. She also allows Link to use dowsing to find certain targets based on their energy signature. Whenever Link must play a song on the Goddess's Harp to advance in the game, Fi sings along with him to cause the desired effect of the song.

Speaking to her while low on hearts will unlock the ability to Dowse for Hearts.

At one point, Fi uses her "powers of persuasion" to convince the reluctant Scrapper, an Ancient Robot, to aid Link in retrieving a missing propeller needed to restore functionality to one of Skyloft's windmills. Scrapper, who refers to her as "Mistress Fi", aids Link on several other occasions, but claims to be doing so only to please Fi. Link and Fi are separated on several occasions; when Link enters a Silent Realm, she cannot follow him on his journey of spiritual advancement, rendering him defenseless against the Watchers found there. They are also briefly separated when Link is imprisoned and relieved of his equipment at the Eldin Volcano.

Eventually, after Link imbues the Goddess Sword with all three of the Golden Goddesses' Sacred Flames, Fi's vessel is transformed into the Master Sword. Once she has successfully aided Link in defeating Demise, she asks of him to return the Master Sword to its pedestal; however, doing so will cause Fi, her purpose fulfilled, to fall in a deep slumber. In her final moments before falling asleep, Fi tells Link how she learned much from their time together and thanks him wholeheartedly with the hope that they would one day meet again.

Hyrule Warriors


Fi appears in the spinoff game Hyrule Warriors as a playable character. Her fighting style is based on her dancing moves whenever Link triggers a hidden recording deep within Fi's consciousness. Her arsenal incorporates the three sacred flames used to empower the Goddess Sword and, when transformed into the Goddess Sword form, her strikes are similar to how Link uses the sword to access the trial gates and seal the Imprisoned.

In the story, Fi first appears in the Skyloft stage of the Skyward Sword path. Meeting Link inside the Statue of the Goddess, Fi assists Link by transporting the large tub of pumpkin soup for Levias in order for the Hyrulean Army to advance to the monster-held keeps. The sentient AI also tracks Ghirahim to the Sealed Grounds where the Gate of Souls lay open in the Sealed Temple, and is also where she can be playable from then on. After closing the Gate of Souls, Fi will unite with the other heroes in taking down Cia and her forces, and later against Ganondorf.

An interesting note is that when Fi meets Link for the first time, it states that he is not its true master, but still considers him a master regardless, indicating she is aware that he is another incarnation of her the Spirit of the Hero. As the Goddess Sword was in its pedestal inside the Statue of the Goddess at the time, this suggests that the Hyrule Warriors scenario takes place before the events of Skyward Sword. However the presence of Groosenators in the Sealed Grounds contradicts this and may simply be due to the non-canon nature of Hyrule Warriors.

Hyrule Warriors Legends
Fi returns as a playable character and plays much the same role she did in Hyrule Warriors, although she plays a slightly more active role in some scenarios due to the ability to switch between playable characters mid-battle. She also appears in Linkle's Tale: The Demon Lord's Plan, where she teams up with Linkle and her army of Cuccos to stop the Ghirahim's Forces plans to use the Gate of Souls to revive Demise. Fi's Standard Outfit (Great Sea) is her unlockable Wind Waker Great Fairy Recolor.

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U
Fi appears as a Trophy in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.

Abilities
Fi acts as a recorder of the messages left for the chosen hero by the Goddess Hylia. She can withstand large amounts of heat and energy, which she uses to absorb and redirect the Sacred Flames into the Master Sword. Fi possesses the capacity to communicate non-verbally with machinery, and may do so over extremely large distances. She also possesses psychic abilities, such as telepathy and sensing other's auras. Along with said capabilities, Fi has a dowsing ability which allows her sense people and items for Link to locate. The strength of her dowsing ability is increased when the Goddess Sword is bathed in Nayru's Flame. As the guide for Link on his journey, Fi is often shown to be very perceptive of things, which she uses to give him advice, said advice sometimes being comical in nature. Despite her supposed lack of emotions, she is a graceful dancer and capable singer.

Theory
It is quite possible that Fi still resides in the Master Sword while in her eternal slumber, remaining inactive and unaware of outside events. This would mean she would have been lying dormant within the Master Sword during the adventures of the various future incarnations of Link who wielded it. Therefore, in a sense, she would have fulfilled her wish of meeting Link again, though they would be different Links, and Fi would presumably not be fully aware of the meeting.

References to Fi's presence in Breath of the Wild, however, indicate that she somehow awoke from her perpetual slumber after the events of Skyward Sword. Zelda mentions hearing the sword speak to her and telling her that her destiny was not finished, strongly implying that Fi is aware of what is going on and may even possess a limited ability to communicate (though this may be limited to Zelda and her incarnations, as the princess of Hyrule is referred to as the Goddess-blood princess in Kass' retelling of the legend of how Calamity Ganon was defeated and sealed by an early incarnation of the Champions 100,000 years ago, and thus are implied to be descended from Hylia's mortal incarnation, who played a role in the Master Sword's creation) and presumably has lost her ability to manifest her spirit form like in Skyward Sword.

Etymology
The Chinese character 輝, which in Cantonese retains the pronunciation /faɪ/ (fahy), means brightness, possibly referencing the metallic luster of the Goddess Sword. Fi could also be a reference to the term "Sci-fi" and how Fi is more technological and robotic than other companion characters, such as Navi and Midna. Her name could also be a reference to "Fe", the chemical symbol for the element iron, since the Goddess Sword is made of metal. "Fi" could also be short for the Latin word "Fideles", meaning faithful, a reference to Fi's loyal nature. It could also be based on the Greek letter Phi; this spelling was used for Fi's name prior to the release of the game.