Rauru

Rauru is a character from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Rauru is the Sage of Light and the architect of the Temple of Time, according to the game. He names Link the "Hero of Time".

The fame of Rauru became so great that a town in Zelda II: The Adventure of Link was named after him. Additionally, a stained glass window of Rauru holding the Master Sword, together with windows featuring the other Sages, Ganon and the Triforce, can be seen in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker.

A Gossip Stone in Ocarina of Time tells Link that the owl, Kaepora Gaebora, is the reincarnation of an ancient sage. This is believed to be Rauru.

Biography
Rauru is the first person Link meets after having been sealed in the Temple of Light for seven years. The wise old sage tells Link that after he was sealed away, Ganondorf entered the Sacred Realm and touched the Triforce. The sacred golden triangles split apart, leaving Ganondorf with only the Triforce of Power, but still powerful enough to conquer Hyrule and turn it into a land of despair, of which he became the ruler of after usurping Hyrule's Throne. Rauru tells Link that the only way to stop the Evil King is to awaken the five other Sages in the five temples of Hyrule. Before he sends him out into the world to fulfill this dangerous task, he gives him the Medallion of Light, adding his power to Link's.

After Link has awakened all the five other sages, Rauru telepathically contacts Link and tells him that someone is waiting for him in the Temple of Time. Later, together with the other sages, Rauru helps create a bridge to Ganon's Castle. Strangely, in the ending, all the Sages except for Rauru can be seen, perhaps indicating that he is incapable of leaving the Temple of Light.

In the Ocarina of Time manga
In the Ocarina of Time manga, Rauru is only a spirit who lives on in the Chamber of the Sages. He also tells Link that Link was born into the guardian house that served the King of Hyrule. He goes on to say that Link's father was killed in battle and his mother brought him to the Great Deku Tree.

Kaepora Gaebora
It is believed by many that Rauru is the true form of Kaepora Gaebora, the wise owl that helps Link throughout Ocarina of Time. A major reason for this is that a Gossip Stone seen in the game 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:


 * As mentioned before, 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 seems to already know Link's name when he meets 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 in a game turn out to be the same person, as the King of Red Lions turns out to be King Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker and the Owl from The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening turns out to be the Wind Fish's spirit.
 * Kaepora Gaebora seems to hold extensive knowledge 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.
 * Rauru would still be alive before Link had taken the Master Sword. This means that the Owl is more like a projection of Rauru from the Sacred Realm into the Light World, much like Ganon had done with Agahnim in The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past.
 * Although non-cannon in the manga Rauru states his body has withered and died long ago and that only his soul remains. If true this would be reason as the why he cannot physically leave the sacrad realm.

Ancient Sage
When Link meets Rauru from his seven year sleep, Rauru says that he is an ancient sage. This could prove he is in fact one of the Ancient Sages in Twilight Princess, instead of one of the Seven Sages in Ocarina of Time. By referring to himself as "one of the anicent sages", he is suggesting there is more than one Ancient Sage. In Twilight Princess, there are six Ancient Sages. He can't be referring to the Seven Sages because they're not "ancient". Saria is about as old as Adult Link, as are Princess Ruto and Zelda. Therefore, he must mean someone else other than the Seven Sages, possibly the Ancient Sages.

Although, another theory could disprove this; if Rauru is an Ancient Sage, and if the theory that the Ancient Sages are the power source of the Seven Sages is correct, then who is Rauru's corresponding Sage? It is possible that, if the connection between the two are true, Kaepora Gaebora could be one of the Seven Sages; the Sage of Light. But this can also be disproved; all of the Seven Sages live near their respective temple of their element. Kaepora Gaebora only appears in a few areas, which aren't even close to the Temple of Light. Although, he might not need to live near the temple since Rauru lives in the Temple of Light. Yet another theory could disprove this; if Kaepora Gaebora is one of the Seven Sages instead of Rauru, why does Rauru appear on the stain glass window around the Master Sword in The Wind Waker instead of Kaepora Gaebora? All of the Sages around the room give Link their Medallion. It is possible that if the owl is the Sage of Light, he could have as much power to give Link the Light Medallion as Rauru. It is possible that Rauru appeared instead of Kaepora Gaebora because it was Rauru who gave Link the medallion. Same with Zelda; she is one of the Seven Sages, but she doesn't appear in the room. Like Kaepora Gaebora, she didn't give Link a medallion. But if it is true that the owl could have given Link the Light Medallion, why didn't he give it to Link at first? As it is said above, Kaepora Gaebora didn't believe in the legend of the Great Cataclysm, so he probably thought that there was no need to give it to Link. But when Link met Rauru in the Sacred Realm, Rauru could have realized that the legend was true, so Rauru gave Link the Light Medallion. That could be the reason why not only Kaepora Gaebora doesn't appear on a window, but for Zelda as well.