Who is the Hero's Shade?

[An Hero of Time]

The Hero's Shade Was SS Link. Nintendo's Been Throwing a Curveball at Us All Along.

The evidence continues to stack up with each new video or article. It's just too obvious to ignore now. The Hero's Shade is - most likely - NOT the Hero of Time, but it's slowly gravitating towards SS Link's favor.

1. The "Ancient Hero" mentioned throughout Twilight Princess...

-... Is never once stated to be the Hero of Time. The title for this specific hero wasn't mentioned AT ALL throughout the entirety of TP, but was frequently mentioned in WW's backstory. There aren't any nods or hints of a boy traveling through time either... However, TP does mention another mysterious entity, and that's...


2. The Messenger of The Heavens, mentioned by Impaz.

- She describes that this "messenger" from the skies acted as their ambassador to those that lived in the lands of Hyrule. If we had to limit it to a certain hero throughout the franchise's history, then SS Link is the only one that fits the bill. Don't forget that the land-dwellers in SS haven't seen hylians for hundreds of years, and vice-versa.


3. The tunics.

- TP and SS Link share near identical tunics, and the light spirits claim that garments once belonged to "the ancient hero." The Hero of Time's tunic looks nothing like theirs'; it lacks the chain mail, the extra straps and the simple, smooth-layed gloves and boots. It's the only odd one out of the trio.


4. The Sword Skills.

- From what we've seen in numerous clips and trailers so far - SS Link shares several sword moves with TP Link. 4 of these skills have been revealed in SS as of now - The Ending Blow, The Shield Attack, The Back Slice and The Great Spin. These skills were originally practiced by the Hero's Shade, which he then passed on to TP Link. However, the Hero of Time shares none of these, with the exception of the Great Spin.


5. Numerous Connections with TP.

- Eldin Volcano. Faron Woods. A plot that seems to connect with TP's mysterious Interloper Backstory. The Silent Realm, which forces us to collect tears of light. TP and SS's Lake Hylia sharing the same geography. Constant talk about sky-people founding and creating Hyrule throughout TP. Too much to brush off and ignore.

6. Interesting Observations.

- You meet the Shade in an ethereal realm that appears to be in a misty cloud overlooking Hyrule's surface. When singing the Howling Stone songs, the Hero's wolf form is sitting on top of a hovering, floating landmass. The Howling stones are an obvious reference to the gossip stones from the N64 Zeldas, but the devs confirmed that the stones will reappear in SS.

that's all I have for now. Thoughts?

-

 

[PK Love Omega]

Oh
My
Fi.

For years we thought it was the Hero of Time, with quite a lot of back up, and your theory comes and wipes that all away. He is referred to Ancient hero, never Hero of Time...

My Fi. But.... Eldin Volcano isn't in TP.

 

[LinkGoro]

Hmm.. Interesting...
I just realized that the ooccoo's could be the sky people invaded by cuccos!
I've always thought it was '' The Hero Of Time''.

 

[the_gamer]

Oh
My
Fi.

For years we thought it was the Hero of Time, with quite a lot of back up, and your theory comes and wipes that all away. He is referred to Ancient hero, never Hero of Time...

My Fi. But.... Eldin Volcano isn't in TP.

TP Spoiler ahead

Spoiler

A volcano spits out the hot stone with which you unfreeze Zora's domain. That was Eldin Volcano. And please don't spoil any contents of SS. Thanks

 

[PK Love Omega]

Perhaps Skyloft becomes the City in the Sky? Skyloftians could transform into Oocca. And Death Mountain is in the Eldin Providence... but what became of the mogmas? Anyway, interesting notice, perhaps they had the next Zelda game in mind at the time?

 

[Katelynn]

Eldin Volcano isn't in TP.

No, but The Eldin Province was, so Death mountain is sorta the equivalent.

 

[PK Love Omega]

^^ See my post above.

 

[geek4887]

Perhaps Skyloft becomes the City in the Sky? Skyloftians could transform into Oocca. And Death Mountain is in the Eldin Providence... but what became of the mogmas? Anyway, interesting notice, perhaps they had the next Zelda game in mind at the time?

There could have been a war of some sort between them and the Gorons over territory, and they got extinct? The Gorons do pride themselves of being brave and mighty creatures (at least Darunia gives me that vibe).

 

[Night Owl]

By An Hero of Time
4. The Sword Skills.

- From what we've seen in numerous clips and trailers so far - SS Link shares several sword moves with TP Link. 4 of these skills have been revealed in SS as of now - The Ending Blow, The Shield Attack, The Back Slice and The Great Spin. These skills were originally practiced by the Hero's Shade, which he then passed on to TP Link. However, the Hero of Time shares none of these, with the exception of the Great Spin.

In the Wind Waker, Link has the back slice, helm splitter, and in some cases the ending blow. Albeit as a parry move.

So TP link isn't the only one with great moves.

 

[Ronin]

Also interesting to add: the Hero's Shade is wearing a rusted set of armor and a helm that, if studied carefully, almost bears the shape of a Loftwing. This would fall in line with SS Link becoming a Knight and mastering all the Seven Skills.

 

[PK Love Omega]

Also the shield upgrades. Perhaps he get's a rounded shield?

 

[BakerGuy]

In the Wind Waker, Link has the back slice, helm splitter, and in some cases the ending blow. Albeit as a parry move.

So TP link isn't the only one with great moves.

Well I dont think so. The Wind Waker Timeline and Twilight Princess Timeline go on two seperate paths.

 

[JakeProtagonist]

I actually had a Hunch of this a While ago but didnt want to post this untill SS was released. Mainly because Theres one problem with this. He resembles a Stolfos greatly, which is what a Hylian who dies in the Lost Woods becomes. And the Final Upgrade for SS Link's Shield is the Hylian Shield, in yet he has a metal rounded one. But all this could be changed with The release of SS maybe, so thats why I waited, but this still is a STRONG possibility.

 

[Heriod77777]

Interesting indeed, I feel this is more likeley to work than MM Link being the heros shade.

 

[JuicieJ]

1. The "Ancient Hero" mentioned throughout Twilight Princess...

-... Is never once stated to be the Hero of Time. The title for this specific hero wasn't mentioned AT ALL throughout the entirety of TP, but was frequently mentioned in WW's backstory.

The Hero's Shade isn't going to come out and say, "I am the Hero of Time," when his goal is to teach Link the way of the sword and eventually get to secret skills in their bloodline. Plus, if that was outright said in the game, it would ruin the mystery of who he is.

3. The tunics.

- TP and SS Link share near identical tunics, and the light spirits claim that garments once belonged to "the ancient hero." The Hero of Time's tunic looks nothing like theirs'; it lacks the chain mail, the extra straps and the simple, smooth-layed gloves and boots. It's the only odd one out of the trio.

No chain mail has nothing to do with anything. That's just a design choice they decided to go with, just like what they did with separating parts of Hyrule with the Provinces. It's something called a retcon.

4. The Sword Skills.

- From what we've seen in numerous clips and trailers so far - SS Link shares several sword moves with TP Link. 4 of these skills have been revealed in SS as of now - The Ending Blow, The Shield Attack, The Back Slice and The Great Spin. These skills were originally practiced by the Hero's Shade, which he then passed on to TP Link. However, the Hero of Time shares none of these, with the exception of the Great Spin.

I'm pretty sure we haven't seen the Back Slice in the footage we have, and I know we haven't seen the Great Spin. We've only seen a normal Spin Attack. The Ending Blow and Shield Attack also don't mean anything. Those are generic moves that any swordsman could use. It was only the last three Hidden Skills that were secret to the bloodline of the Hero.

5. Numerous Connections with TP.

- Eldin Volcano. Faron Woods. A plot that seems to connect with TP's mysterious Interloper Backstory. The Silent Realm, which forces us to collect tears of light. TP and SS's Lake Hylia sharing the same geography. Constant talk about sky-people founding and creating Hyrule throughout TP. Too much to brush off and ignore.

I think the locations simply boils down to Nintendo seems to have decided that the Provinces is now a staple in the land of Hyrule, which is another retcon. The Silent Realm is combining the aspects of the Tears of Light and avoiding the Phantoms, which are just gameplay elements. Those can't be used as evidence. And there's no talk of sky people founding Hyrule in Twilight Princess. I've played that game 10 times over, 100% it, and there's never any mention of that. Shad says that the Oocca supposedly created the Hylians, but that was just an old tale. He didn't really seem to know exactly what he was talking about, as it was so obscure. To add to that, the Oocca really don't look like they'll play into Skyward Sword.

6. Interesting Observations.

- You meet the Shade in an ethereal realm that appears to be in a misty cloud overlooking Hyrule's surface. When singing the Howling Stone songs, the Hero's wolf form is sitting on top of a hovering, floating landmass. The Howling stones are an obvious reference to the gossip stones from the N64 Zeldas, but the devs confirmed that the stones will reappear in SS.

This doesn't mean anything. It's just something they decided to use for those scenes. And there are no developers that said anything along the lines of the Howling Stones or Gossip Stones appearing in Skyward Sword. The Sheikah Stones will be in the game. Those are those things Link crawls into to receive a hint in the form of a vision. They don't have anything to do with the Gossip Stones.


All that said, I know it's possible that the Hero's Shade may be SS's Link instead of the Hero of Time, but this evidence doesn't support it properly. And, actually, one thing you mentioned is really the only thing that is keeping me believing that the Hero's Shade was intended to be the Hero of Time, and that is the Great Spin. The Great Spin is a clear rip from the Magic Spin Attack, and only OoT and MM Link have used that. I know that's not much to go by, but it's a toss-up to me with all the evidence there is until it comes to that point.