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Link’s Champion Ability

Pre-note; I wrote this essay for my English class and really liked how it turned out so I thought I’d share! I’m open to constructive criticism and any things y’all would like to point out.

In The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, the player takes on the role of Link, the current hero chosen by the master sword tasked with saving the kingdom of Hyrule from the evil known as Calamity Ganon. Along his journey he ventured into large machines taking on forms of mechanical animals called divine beasts, each one piloted by powerful warriors known as the Champions, who each possess a unique ability either gifted to them at birth or created through hard work. Each of the Champion's abilities portray their personality, yet there's one that no one talks about; Link’s Champion ability. 

Firstly, to get an understanding of Champion abilities we’ll need to look at the set Champions and their abilities. These warriors are the most powerful of each race in the vast lands of Hyrule; Urbosa of the Gerudo, Mipha of the Zora, Daruk of the Goron, Revali of the Rito, and finally Link of the Hylains. Four of these Champions possess abilities that are, from a lore point of view, interconnected with their personalities. As you play and come to understand each character it becomes apparent why they were chosen to have these abilities.

Urbosa’s ability is dubbed “Urbosa’s Fury” which creates a dome of lightning that strikes any enemies with it, which is particularly useful against enemies that are weak to electricity. Urbosa is a proud Gerudo warrior and chief to her people, it was very obvious why she should be chosen to have the ability most useful in a fight as she is no stranger to one and does everything she can to protect her loved ones and people.

Mipha’s is dubbed “Mipha’s Grace” which is a healing ability that restores Link’s health when he falls in battle, which is useful when facing enemies that deal heavy damage and when he runs out of healing items. Mipha is a soft and caring princess of the Zora, her being chosen to have the ability most helpful in health and healing was the best choice here.

Daruk’s ability is dubbed “Daruk’s Protection” that creates a small bubble-like dome around Link that deflects any and all attacks, which is useful when facing multiple enemies that can attack from any direction. Daruk is the loud Goron chief who sometimes can be oblivious to the mood of a room, he’s a fast and great leader who is ready to do anything to protect his friend and people so he was the best fitting choice for this ability. Unlike the previous two Daruk’s ability is spectacled to be genetic as he has a descendant with the same ability.

Finally Revali’s is dubbed “Revali’s Gale” which creates an updraft anywhere necessary that launches Link into the air, allowing him to reach high places hard to climb to and evade oncoming attacks, which is most useful for exploration and mobility. Revali can be arrogant and sometimes down right mean but he’s a proud Rito warrior, his behavior stems from a jealousy of Link getting the lead role in defeating the evil instead of himself. He is a Rito warrior most skilled in aerial archery, which he says that not many can achieve mastery of the sky’s, so it’s obvious that he would be chosen for the ability related to the sky’s. Unlike the rest of the Champions it is said in a cutscene that Revali developed his ability himself, creating and working the air to make an updraft at will.

Secondly, now that we’ve taken a look at the Champion’s abilities you’ll have noticed one isn’t mentioned; Link. Although it is not explicitly expressed or stated that he has one, it is believed that as being a champion he would have one. That is where the theory of Link having one is formed.

The theory suggests that Link has the ability to manipulate time. This stems from the many game mechanics in the game that have something to do with time. Firstly, when engaging in aerial combat Link is able to move into something called “bullet time” which slows down everything. This is very useful in being able to have more time in aiming and catching enemies before hitting the ground, there is a drawback to this though that provides further evidence that this could be his ability, the more time spent in bullet time the more of Link’s stamina is used. Suggesting that it takes a lot of Link’s stamina and strength to maintain bullet time for long amounts of time.

Another game mechanic almost similar to bullet time is called “flurry rush”, which is able to be used when Link dodges an attack at the correct time, with some enemies' range for it being larger than others. When in action time slows down allowing players to flurry rush an enemy as many time before a certain time limit, unlike the previous evidence there are no drawbacks to this ability as taking large amounts of stamina, though to be able to flurry rush the player would need to evade the attack at the right timing.

Additionally, Link is able to pause or at least slow time when opening the sheikah slate. This is more of a game mechanics thing than a story aspect, since opening the sheikah slate is opening the players menus. Though when doing so the player is able to look through healing items, weapons, arrows, and even armor. From a story perspective it would seem Link is able to heal, change weapons, arrows, and armor in an instant.

Link having a Champion ability would make sense within the story of the game, as Link is a Champion himself. Being the hylian champion he is chosen by the goddess to be the hero of his time to stop Calamity Ganon, in being so he is the holder of the Triforce of Courage with the spirit of the hero. As it stands he was chosen by the goddess, Hylia, to be a champion unlike the others who were chosen by Princess Zelda and King Rhoam, providing that Link would be chosen to have this ability unlike the champions.

Therefore, it would make sense for Link to have a champion ability like the others since he is also one. Although this is just a theory, there is strong evidence that helps prove it, and nothing has been expressed or stated about whether it is true or not. Meaning everyone is entitled to their opinion, and it would be cool to think of Link having a champion ability like the other champions.