Hero's Spirit

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The Hero's Spirit and Link cross swords.

In Twilight Princess, the Hero's Spirit, also called the Hero's Shade, was a skeleton-like spectre that taught Link each of the seven hidden skills throughout the game. The Hero's Spirit is also believed by some to be the spirit of Link from Ocarina of Time.

The Golden Wolf

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The Golden Wolf.

The Golden Wolf, also called the White Wolf, was the animal incarnation of the Hero's Spirit. The wolf was summoned by finding a Howling stone, with the exception of the first time, in which he confronted Link directly. Once a howling stone was found, the song had to be howled in tune with the Spirit. He then told Link to "take sword in hand, then find him," implying that Link had to return to human form before searching for the Wolf. The Golden Wolf also appears as a symbol on Link's map, which is useful in case the player forgets where the location of the Hero's Spirit is. When he confronted the Wolf, Link was transported into an ancient arena. The wolf then finally transformed into his true form, the Hero's Spirit, who then taught Link one of the seven hidden skills. The true form of the Hero's Spirit resembles a cross between a Stalfos and a Darknut. Link can also talk to him while in wolf form; he says "Take sword in hand, and find me." An interesting fact is that the first song is the song of healing, which could possibly mean that Link, similar to the way he did in Majora's mask, heals the spirits soul of regrets for not teaching his hidden skills to another hero when he was alive, and enabling him to teach them to Link.

The Skills

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A frontal view of the Hero's Spirit.

• Ending Blow
• Shield Attack
• Back Slice
• Helm Splitter
• Mortal Draw
• Jump Strike
• Great Spin

Hero's Lineage Theory

Theory Warning

One of the most brought-up discussions about the Hero's Spirit is the possibility that he might be an ancestor of Link. Some of the facts proving and disproving this theory are below.

Reasons supporting that the Hero's Spirit is an ancestor of Link:

1. At the end of his teachings, the Hero's Spirit said that he accepted the role as the hero long ago. This implies that he may be an earlier ancestor of Link. This theory is also supported by the Hero's Spirit saying the following to Link: "Go and do not falter, my child!" Though this in itself is not conclusive evidence, since many mentor-like characters in several stories refer to their young charges using the phrase "my child," it does serve to leave open the possibility of Link being his actual blood descendant.
2. Further more, evidence of the Hero's Spirit being an ancestor of Link is given just prior to learning the Mortal Draw. The Hero's Spirit said that the skills he taught Link were forgotten ways that "do not leave our bloodline". He implicitly used the word "our" instead of "my". This clearly indicates that Link and the Hero's Spirit are indeed related.
3. The Hero's Spirit was once one of the many great heroes of Hyrule. It is still not known if his name was once Link as well, or perhaps even is the same man who became the Hero of Time. However, one thing that supports he may be the Hero of Time is that most of the songs used to summon the Golden Wolf are from Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask, but why the Ballad of Gales is included is unknown.
4. In regards to physical appearance, the way the Hero's Spirit moves his feet is similar to the way Link moves his feet in Ocarina of Time when he targets an enemy.
5. Lastly, in both Wii and GameCube versions of Twilight Princess, Link and the Hero's Spirit both wield their swords in the same hand. The GameCube version (the version in which the game world was originally meant to be portrayed) shows Link to be left-handed. In every past game of the Zelda series, Link's sword-hand has always been his left one,[1] whereas there's been no other left-handed person to date in a Zelda game except in the Wii version of Twilight Princess.
6. It is also very worth noting the blade that the Hero's Spirit holds whenever he's seen in-game. The hilt is completely unrecognizable, although, along with the armor he wears, it appears archaic and much older than most of Link's gear was in Twilight Princess, or in Ocarina of Time for that matter. However, what makes this sword special is the blade: it is (or is at least an identical copy of) the blade of the Master Sword. Not only are the shapes and sizes consistent, but the two blades are the same right down to the etched emblem portraying the Triforce just above the hilt. Granted, the blade is worn, cracked, and tarnished, but when seen crossed with the real Master Sword during training, the fact is hard to ignore. Whether this is purely symbolic or is indicative of the Shade's true identity is still left undefined, but this glaring resemblance would imply that perhaps the Hero's Spirit was, in life, one of the few wielders of the Master Sword.

There are arguments against this theory, though:

1. While it is true that Link and the Hero's Spirit both wield their swords in the same hand, this proves nothing, seeing how Link's uncle in A Link to the Past also uses his sword on his left hand; therefore, Link is not the only left-handed person that has appeared in previous Zelda games.
2. The songs that summon the Golden Wolf are indeed songs that only Link from Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask knew. However, it is worth nothing that the Hero's Spirit does not teach Link the songs: on the contrary, it is Link as a wolf that howls them first, and the Golden Wolf responds to these howls.
3. After Link learns the final hidden skill from the Hero's Spirit, he mentions that although he accepted life as the hero, he could not convey the lessons of that life to those who came after. This might mean that the Hero's Shade failed in his mission and died (which Link from Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask did not fail in completing their missions); thus, he could not teach the skills to the next hero.
4. Finally, the hidden skills that the Hero's Spirit teaches to Link were not skills that were known by a previous Link, which means that these techniques could have possibly been made by another warrior.

Trivia

• The Hero's Spirit bears some similar resemblance to Majora's Mask's Igos du Ikana.