Hero's Shade


 * "White Wolf" redirects here. For the recurring enemy in the Legend of Zelda series, see White Wolfos.

The Hero's Shade is a character from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. Once a famed swordsman of Hyrule, he died with the eternal regret of never having passed on his knowledge of the art of the sword. The Hero's Shade is impervious against 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 for purposes of training sessions involving multiple enemies.

The Hero's Shade manifests himself as a red-eyed, golden wolf in the world of the living. He is missing his right eye in both humanoid and ghostly form, according to the GameCube version (which is considered canonical). As a wolf, the left eye is bright red while the right eye is closed and appears scarred. As a ghostly warrior, the left eye is a bright red sphere, while the right is unlit and transparent. He is also left-handed.

Biography
When Link, a young man from Ordon Village, is pointed out as the one destined to overcome the evils of Zant, usurper to the throne of the Twilight Realm, the Hero's Shade sees the potential to be a master swordsman within him, and in his golden wolf form, approaches Link on his way to the Forest Temple. Link is taken into another world &mdash; 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, in wolf form, approach a Howling Stone and howl the notes that the stone echoes. When Link successfully performs this, the golden wolf manifestation of the Hero's Shade will appear somewhere in the land of Hyrule. In his normal form, Link can then approach the wolf to once again enter the other world and learn a new skill. However, before he is allowed to learn a new one, he has to prove his mastery of the previously learned skill by utilizing it against the Hero's Shade. He seems to grow frustrated with Link when he forgets or has a hard time mastering a skill.

When Link has learned six of the skills, he makes his final appearance in front of Hyrule Castle and teaches him 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 says anything of it nor seems to even notice anything amiss, but this could be because time freezes while the training sessions are going on: no matter how much time is spent in them, the time is always the same when Link returns to the real world. However, after Princess Zelda allows Midna to exist in the Light World without being hurt, Midna is seen atop Link's back whenever he howls a song at a Howling Stone.

Relation to Link
One of the small pieces of his backstory that the Shade reveals to Link are "I accepted life as the hero," which has led many to believe he is the spirit of the Hero of Time. It should be noted that four of the six songs used to summon the Golden Wolf are songs from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, the games which centered around the deeds of the Hero of Time. In the GameCube version of Twilight Princess, the Hero's Shade is left-handed, just as the Hero of Time is. Many claim that the Hero's Shade's sword and shield resemble the Gilded Sword and the Mirror Shield from Majora's Mask. However, they are in fact drastically different when closely compared, and have no common characteristics that are not also shared by every other sword and shield in the series. The character's name further supports this theory: "Hero" could refer to Hero of Time, and a shade is a kind of spirit or ghost &mdash; one who leaves behind a ghostly imprint of themselves in the physical realm when they die. However, the Hero's Shade may simply have been another hero entirely. His final words to Link, "Go and do not falter, my child", may signify some blood relation between him and Link &mdash; perhaps even a direct parentage, although this could also simply be a term of familiarity or even endearment. However, similar words are spoken earlier when he teaches Link certain skills: after learning the Ending Blow, the Shade claims that only those of the hero's bloodline may learn the sacred art. He later refers to the bloodline as our bloodline, presumably indicating that both him at Link at the very least share a common ancestor. It is possible this could simply be metaphorical; an indication that Link has become a successor to the lost art. Adding to the blood-relation theory, however, is the fact that the Shade takes the form of a wolf in the physical realm &mdash; the same as Link. However, just like with calling Link "my child", it could be metaphorical, or just because he was also a Hero. The quote could be interpreted as validation of various theories: that the Shade is a blood relative of the Link of Twilight Princess or perhaps blood-descendant of the Hero of Time, and that the the Shade is, if not the Hero of Time, then at least a heroic descendant of him and/or ancestor of the Link of Twilight Princess.

The Hero's Shade's appearance, in his ghostly warrior form, is very similar to that of a Stalfos, suggesting that he might be a similar creature. Even the round shield and simple t-shaped sword resonate with classic Stalfos design. According to Fado from Ocarina of Time, people who venture into the Lost Woods without a fairy will inevitably become lost and in the end, transform into a Stalfos. Supposedly, after the events of Majora's Mask, the Hero of Time returned to Hyrule without Navi or Tatl and therefore could have become lost in the Lost Woods and transformed into one of these skeletal creatures. This seems doubtful, however, as Link was able to find the Sacred Forest Meadow without changing into a Stalfos on two occasions, and also made it through the Lost Woods and into Termina despite lacking a fairy. Also, whereas Stalfos are corporeal beings, the Hero's Shade is an ethereal being that apparently requires its own dimension to interact with Link. It is also odd that Link, were he to become a Stalfos on his return trip from Termina, would appear as adult height and wearing/wielding equipment he did not have at the time, nor at any other point on his journey.

Sheikah
The Hero's Shade could also be a Sheikah, or at least have a connection with them, as the Howling Stones used to summon him are adorned with what appears to be the Sheikah symbol. His glowing red eye could also be seen as similar to the red-colored eyes characteristic of the Sheikah tribe. Furthermore, three of the six Howling Stone songs are warp songs taught to Link by Sheik in Ocarina of Time. However, if the Howling Stones are connected to the Gossip Stones, as their appearance would suggest, it's not implausible that the Hero of Time, who learned to interact with these just as he learned to use other Sheikah artifacts, could be associated with them despite the lack of Sheikah descent. Similarly, the songs echoed by the Howling Stones, which the Golden Wolf howls alongside Wolf Link, would be part of the Hero of Time's repertoire.

Hylian Knight
In "A Link to the Past" a hero not unlike Hero Shade is mentioned. In the intro to the game its said that a hylian knight fought Ganon when he tried to get the triforce the frist time and failed. Hero Shade also says that he once fought a great evil in his life. Knowing this its nearly proven that that evil was at least some incarnation of Ganon.

{{{Q|You have at last mastered all of the Hidden Skills. Although I accepted life as the hero, I could not convey the lessons of that life to those who came after. At last, I have eased my regrets. You who have marched through countless foes, each mightier than the last... You, who now gaze to the future with vision unclouded... Surely you can restore Hyrule to its stature of yore as the chosen land of the gods... Farewell!... Go and do not falter, my child!|Hero's Shade}}

As stated in the theories prior to this It is possible that the Hero's Shade is related to Link. In "A Link to the Past" Zelda tells Link that he is the last known descendant of the ancient Hylian Knights. If Hero Shade is indeed one of the Hylian Knights Zelda spoke of then Twilight Princess Link would most likely be the adult form of Link from "A Link to the Past" and maybe even the Hero of Time because in some timelines The links from "Ocarina of Time","Majora's Mask","A Link to the Past","Oracle of Ages", "Oracle of Seasons" and "Links Awakening" are all the same Link. This would be logical if the games are connected to "A Link to the Past" Link can tell the differences between the real and the fake Master Swords in "Link to the Past" indicating he used it before. Also the Master Sword In "A Link to the Past" is in the same location as the Master Sword in Twilight Princess which is then proven to be the same location as In "Ocarina of Time". If Link is the Link from Link's Awakening he would still have the triforce of courage he received in the oracle games which explains why he starts out with the triforce unlike other games like "Zelda 2", "Ocarina of Time", and "Wind Waker".

Back to Hero Shade. If Hero Shade is a Hylian Knight it would explain why he wears armor and why a ghost image of Hyrule's Castle appears while talking to Hero Shade. If Hero Shade is Link's Father the only question left is how, "If he is" he became a Stalfos. Well in the "Ocarina of Time" Manga Link's mpther makes it to the Great Deku Tree having Link grow up as a kokiri. But what happen to his father. Well it would stan to reason that after his defeat he would search for his family probably getting lost in the "Lost Woods" on the way to the Deku Tree and in turn became a Stalfos.

{{Q|You may be fated to become the hero of legend...but your current power would disgrace the proud green of the hero's tunic you wear

This however is a problem with the theory although with the new info of "Skyward Sword" Hero Shade could be talking about Link from "Skyward Sword" since an adult tunic wouldn't have been wore by Twilight Princess Link in this timeline. "Ocarina of Time","Majora's Mask","A Link to the Past","Oracle of Ages", "Oracle of Seasons" and "Links Awakening". Plus there are differences between this Links tunics but it is identical to the tunic from "Skyward Sword"

Also thanks to the reset of "Ocarina of Time" This Link never saved Hyrule only Labrynia/Holodrum, Termina and The Scared Realm not Hyrule. {{Theory by IS333}}