Princess Ruto

Princess of the Zoras, Sage of the Water Temple, and…Link’s fiancée?!? It seems that Ruto seems to score no matter how old she is, but the ends certainly don’t justify the means in this case, as the Zora princess has had a pretty tough life from the time both Ganondorf and Link entered her life…

Biography

It is unknown how old Ruto is or when she was born, although it appears that she is the same age as Link in Ocarina of Time. Going by that assumption Ruto would be around 10 in the “past” and around 17 in the “future”. Ruto is the daughter of King Zora, and is also in charge of feeding Lord Jabu-Jabu, the guardian deity of the Zora race. While feeding a customary fish to Jabu-Jabu, Ruto was swallowed whole by the water god. Apparently, Ruto was use to this, but while she was swallowed, the Zora's Sapphire (the Spiritual Stone of Water) was lost within Jabu-Jabu's belly. Not only that, but Ruto noticed strange and hostile creatures that had taken root within the innards of Jabu-Jabu.

Writing a note asking for help, and placing the note in a bottle, Ruto sent her message out into Zora's Fountain, where it eventually was carried to Lake Hylia. At one point, Link, still just a boy, dived in the waters of Lake Hylia and came across the bottle and the note inside. Showing the note to King Zora, Link gained access to Zora's Fountain, where he used a fish to get inside Jabu-Jabu. There Link met Ruto. At first the Zora princess was angry at someone coming to her rescue, but eventually Link was able to reunite Ruto with the Zora's Sapphire and then defeated the evil that was plaguing the insides of the water deity. Outside in Zora's Fountain, Ruto remarked how cool Link was and gave him the Zora's Sapphire. But in Zora culture, the stone is used as an engagement ring. And so, the Zora princess proposed to Link, who, unknowningly accepted!!

Imprisoning War
As Link slept in the Chamber of Sages for the next seven years, Ganondorf used the Triforce of Power to spread his evil reign all across Hyrule. In order to prevent the legend of the Hero of Time from coming true, Ganondorf decided to eliminate the possibility of a Sage of Water, by creating Morpha, a great evil that stayed within the sacred Water Temple. As long as Morpha remained in the Water Temple, a great curse would befall the Zora race. And indeed, it did. Zora's Domain was completely frozen, and its inhabitants trapped beneath between thick, magical sheets of ice. However, the mysterious young Sheikah, known as Sheik, managed to save the Zora princess, Ruto, who had grown into a fine young woman. Ruto raced to the Water Temple to defeat the evil curse and save the Zoras.

After The War
Then the Hero of Time woke up. When Link raced to Zora's Domain, and saw the ice that covered it, Sheik taught Link the song known as the Serenade of Water. With this song, Link could warp to the entrance to the Water Temple in Lake Hylia (which was nearly drained, due to the evil in the temple). Upon entering the Water Temple, Link found Ruto, who told him her mission in the sacred place. Eventually Link was able to defeat Morpha, awakening the Sage of Water, who was, not surprisingly, Ruto! After granting Link the Water Medallion, Ruto remained in the Chamber of Sages with the other Sages, until she was needed to help the other six Sages sealed Ganon within the tainted Evil Realm. Once the evil king had been imprisoned within the realm, Ruto returned to Hyrule with the other Sages and watched the people of Hyrule celebrate joyfully over Ganon's defeat.

Other Games
In Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, most of the towns are named after the Sages or important people from the Ocarina of Time era. So of course there’s a town called Ruto. This was purposely done by the creators as a nod to past Zelda games. However, from historian’s point of view, since AoL happens long after OoT, the towns were named after the Sages.

Ruto also has a minor appearance in The Wind Waker: she is represented as the Sage of Water in a stained-glass window in the chamber where the Master Sword rests inside Hyrule Castle.