Kaepora Gaebora

Kaepora Gaebora is a recurring character in the Legend of Zelda series. He is a wise old owl that assists Link throughout his adventures. He can rotate his head in the owl-like fashion, as one would expect, but when he does so, his markings resemble another face looking down at Link.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Kaepora Gaebora assists Link throughout his childhood, and can also be seen when Link is an adult when he learns the "Requiem of Spirit" from Sheik at the Desert Colossus. One of the Gossip Stones in the game says that Kaepora Gaebora is the reincarnation of an ancient Sage; some believe that this sage is Rauru, the Sage of Light.

The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
Kaepora Gaebora appears in the Southern Swamp, when Link is traveling the Woodfall Shortcut. The owl teaches Link the "Song of Soaring", which allows him to warp between Owl Statues. He appears again in the Goron Village, helping Link to find the Lens of Truth, which is essential for obtaining the Goron Mask. He is not encountered again after this.

The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures
The four Links are often guided by Kaepora Gaebora. He is the one who wakes them after they are sent away by Vaati. He appears most often at the beginnings of levels.

Possible Connection to Rauru
It is believed by many that Kaepora Gaebora is the alternate form of Rauru, the Sage of Light, who helps Link during his quest in the Imprisoning War as one of the Seven Sages. A major reason for this is that a Gossip Stone seen in Ocarina of Time states that Kaepora Gaebora is the reincarnation of an ancient Sage, and Rauru is implied to have been residing within the Temple of Light for ages, awaiting the time when the Sacred Realm would be opened. It would seem this theory would be refuted by Kaepora Gaebora's statement late in the game that he thought that the tales of the Hero of Time were "merely a legend." However, it is a high possibility that over time, Rauru had been waiting in the Temple of Light for the Hero of Time for so long that he eventually began to believe the Prophecy of the Great Cataclysm was merely a legend that would quite possibly never come to pass (especially since the Sacred Realm's gateway was sealed by the Master Sword, which could only be removed by one of pure heart), not too unlike the legends of the end of the world in the real world. Had he been waiting in the Temple of Light for centuries as he implied, it would explain why Kaepora Gaebora had grown skeptical that the Great Cataclysm would ever actually happen (and by extension the legends of the Hero of Time), and it would also explain why Rauru did not appear with the other Sages at the end of Ocarina of Time, because he could only exist in the form of Kaepora Gaebora outside the Temple of Light.

Some things supporting this theory include:


 * A Gossip Stone states that Kaepora Gaebora is the reincarnation of an ancient Sage, and the Sage known to have been around the longest of any was Rauru, the Sage of Light.
 * Rauru seemed to already know Link's name when he met him in the Chamber of Sages seven years after Link pulled the Master Sword from the Pedestal of Time, and it seems logical the only way he could have known Link's true name was if he had met him before, which Kaepora Gaebora did.
 * The other Sages are last seen overlooking a celebrating Hyrule atop Death Mountain at the end of the Imprisoning War, with Rauru nowhere to be seen; However, Kaepora Gaebora was seen in the exact same place earlier in the game.
 * This would explain Rauru's never appearing in his Hylian form in Hyrule itself (as well as his absence from being with the other Sages at the Imprisoning War's end), since he could only appear outside the Sacred Realm henceforth as the seemingly immortal owl, Kaepora Gaebora.
 * This would also explain why Rauru did not have to be awakened by the Hero of Time, because he remained active across time as Kaepora Gaebora.
 * Rauru's robes are the same color as Kaepora Gaebora's feathery body, and his facial expressions greatly mirror those of Kaepora Gaebora.
 * It would not be the only time two characters within a game have turned out to be the same person, as Sheik turned out to be Princess Zelda in Ocarina of Time, the King of Red Lions turned out to be King Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, Oshus turned out to be the Ocean King from The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass and the Owl turned out to be the Wind Fish's spirit in The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening.
 * Kaepora Gaebora seems to know an awful lot about Hyrule and its history, and only someone that had been around for ages would seem to know as much about Hyrule as he did; One of the only people known to have been around that long in the game was Rauru himself.

The Watarara Tribe
The Watarara tribe seem to bear a striking resemblance to Kaepora Gaebora. As they only appear in the manga, and in an original side story at that matter, they are probably not related at all. But the Watarara may have been designed after Kaepora Gaebora, trying to support the reincarnaion theory.