At the very beginning of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Link meets a seemingly friendly mysterious being named Rauru who helps him. This good Samaritan clearly knows much more than he lets on, leaving a question hanging in the air of who Rauru really is. His placement and timing are crucial to allowing everything that happens in the rest of the game even transpire, but everything about him seems at first very secretive.
Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.The story of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom takes place following the events of Breath of the Wild; however, trailers for the game revealed early on that Link’s right arm was replaced in TOTK. Though Link lost his arm, he was given a new one with special magical abilities and powers which originally belonged to a Zonai named Rauru. This arm turns out to be incredibly useful to players, but the enigmatic Rauru may have more to do with the story than just lending Link a hand.
Rauru Is The First To Aid Link In Tears Of The Kingdom
Early in the game, certain events leave Link barely alive, but he is rescued and brought back to health with a new magical arm thanks to Rauru. Though Link has lost most of his hit points and his arm, he is at least alive, and his new arm becomes the key to Tears of the Kingdom‘s game mechanics. Rauru appears to guide Link through certain sections and is a helpful resource, but observant Zelda fans may recognize his name from other Zelda lore.
How Rauru Fits Into The Legend Of Zelda Lore & Canon
The name Rauru has popped up in other Legend of Zelda games where he has taken other forms. In Ocarina of Time, Rauru was the Sage of Light as well as the owl Kaepora Gaebora who appeared in Ocarina of Time, Majora’s Mask, and Four Swords. Rauru was also memorialized in a stained-glass depiction of him in Wind Waker and indirectly referenced in Skyward Sword through the similarities with Headmaster Gaepora. Eventually, in TOTK, players discover that Rauru was the first king of Hyrule alongside the queen Sonia, the Sage of Time. It was Rauru who is credited as having built the Temple of Time during the Era of Chaos and, with Sonia, sealed away Ganondorf long ago.
TOTK offers players a chance to experience a deeper dive into the Zelda lore thanks to the use of time travel, and Rauru’s history is an important piece of Hyrule. Early in the game, Rauru is a mentor to Link as players discover the abilities of his new arm as they travel to the Shrines and slowly gain the new powers that serve to make TOTK an innovative take on puzzle games. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom should perhaps be The Legend of Rauru in this case, and uncovering the lore he adds to the series’ canon is a fun adventure of its own.
