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 come the time of his trial. 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 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. She also refers to Link as "Master" throughout most of the game. Initially, she is shown to be devoid of all emotion, but as the game 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. She is very calm about her being put into an eternal slumber, as she states she feels happiness towards the end.

Her personality is somewhat similar to Spock or Data from the Star Trek canon.

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 that the Goddess's chosen hero, Link, is 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 holds 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.

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 cease to be. In her final moments before entering eternal sleep, 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.

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 Goddess Flames into the Master Sword. Fi possesses the capacity to communicate non-verbally with machinery, and may do so over extremely large distances.

Theories
It is 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.

Etymology
The Chinese character 輝, which is pronounced "fai" in Cantonese, 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.

Gallery
Fi