Hero's Shade

The Hero's Shade is a character from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. Once a famed swordsman of Hyrule, he died lamenting that he was never remembered as a hero, and calls Link of this era 'son.' This is the reason why he passes down the secrets of the sword to this Link. He manifests himself as a spectral golden wolf in the world of the living, and as an armored, skeletal warrior in the strange otherworld of the Ghostly Ether. The Hero's Shade's left eye glows bright red, while his right eye is missing; as a wolf, it is closed and appears scarred, while as a warrior, it is unlit and transparent.

The Hero's Shade is impervious to attacks and cannot be damaged, although he can be knocked down during training sessions. He also possesses the ability to replicate himself, which he uses during training sessions involving multiple enemies, can launch large fireballs from the end of his sword, and is left-handed.

According to the book Hyrule Historia, the Hero's Shade is a spiritual manifestation of the regrets of the Hero of Time, the Link seen in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask.

Biography
When Link, a young man from Ordon Village, learns of his destiny to overcome the evils of Zant, usurper to the throne of the Twilight Realm, the Hero's Shade sees the potential for a master swordsman within him. In his golden wolf form, he approaches Link on his way to the Forest Temple, and transports the youth to the Ghostly Ether.

In the Ghostly Ether, the Hero's Shade offers Link his knowledge of the sword. After teaching him the first skill, the Ending Blow, he tells Link that in order to meet him again, he must approach a Howling Stone in wolf form and howl the notes that the stone echoes. When Link successfully does so, the Hero's Shade will appear somewhere in the land of Hyrule as a golden wolf. Link can then approach the wolf in his human form to enter the Ghostly Ether and learn a new skill. However, before he is allowed to learn a new one, Link must prove his mastery of the previously learned skill by utilizing it against the Hero's Shade, who seems to grow frustrated with Link when he forgets or has a hard time mastering a skill.

When Link has learned six of the Hidden Skills, the Hero's Shade makes his final appearance in front of Hyrule Castle and teaches Link the Great Spin Attack. His destiny fulfilled, the Hero's Shade then passes on to the world of spirits. Interestingly, even though Link seemingly blacks out during his sessions with the Hero's Shade, Midna never remarks on it, nor does she seem to notice anything amiss, this implies that the training sessions are instantaneous.

The Golden Wolf
In Link's world, the Hero's Spirit takes the form of the Golden Wolf. The Golden Wolf is a ghostly-looking wolf, glowing a golden yellow color. Like the humanoid form of the Hero's Spirit, the Golden Wolf's left eye glows red while the right eye is missing. The wolf is summoned by finding a Howling Stone, with the exception of the first time, in which he confronts Link directly. Once a Howling Stone is found, the song has to be howled in tune with the Spirit. He then tells Link to take "sword in hand" and find him, implying that Link had to return to human form before searching for the Wolf and the Golden Wolf will appear as a symbol on Link's map. When Link confronts the Wolf, the Wolf will leap into Link, transporting him into an ancient arena near Hyrule Castle. The arena is described as being a different world and has an ethereal appearance. The wolf then finally transforms into ghostly humanoid form, the Hero's Spirit, who then teaches the young hero one of the seven Hidden Skills.

Appearance
In the other world, the Hero's Spirit's form has bluish skin and a pallid, decaying appearance, with a skeletal face and his left eye glows red while his right eye is missing. He carries a rusting sword and shield and wears ancient armor, which is covered with leaves in sections, and has details reminiscent of the Owl Statues. His sword's scabbard is belted to his waist. From the back, his armor appears to be filled with a ghostly mist, rather than flesh, and his torso is not connected to his legs. The humanoid form of the Hero's Spirit resembles the spirits in Hyrule Castle's graveyard.

Theories
While many facts about the Hero's Spirit have been put forward and confirmed, some popular ideas still persist. These include:

The Hero's Spirit regrets not finding Navi - While the Hero of Time is confirmed to have been searching for Navi before and after the events of Majora's Mask, it is still unclear if he ever found her. As such, it is believed by some fans that he failed to find her, thus filling him with regret (in addition to his other sources of regret) and so prompting his transformation.

The Hero's Spirit is a Stalfos - Given that the Hero of Time (a Hylian) was last seen riding through the Lost Woods, some believe that he was affected by the curse of the woods and became a Stalfos. A counterargument to this idea is that the Hero's Spirit is shown to be rational, intelligent, and emotional, while Stalfos are generally mindless and violent. However, certain Stalfos, such as those in Ikana Canyon, have displayed higher thinking skills, so it isn't inconceivable. The fact that the Hero of Time carried the Triforce of Courage in the Child Timeline may also have played a role in maintaining his sanity.

Trivia
The first song that Link howls in order to begin the quest of easing the Hero's Spirit's regrets is the Song of Healing.

Link plays the Song of Healing, then takes over the Spirit's powers and eases his troubles, causing him to pass on. This is similar to how the Hero of Time used the Song of Healing in Majora's Mask.

Once Link learns the final Hidden Skill, the screen goes white and the Hero's Spirit speaks his final sentence, "Go, and do not falter, my child!". This is similar to how the Seven Sages from Ocarina of Time speak their final words to Link.

As the Hero's Spirit is an incarnation of Link, this marks the first time in a game where Link has major dialogue that is not a result of the player's choice. This also marks the first interaction between two different Links.

The symbols on the clothes he wears slightly resembles that of Renado's.

Gallery
Sombra del Héroe