Twilight Princess is probably my favorite Zelda game to date. Newer releases like Breath of the Wild come close, but for a few reasons, Twilight Princess still remains on top for me. One of these reasons is definitely the character of Ilia.
Last year, one of us published an article painting Ilia in a negative light. This was an incorrect opinion, and so I’m here to make a defense for what I believe to be the best character in the entire Zelda franchise, Ilia.
Twilight Princess gets a lot of slack for its lengthy opening tutorial section, but, in my opinion, the tediousness of the segment is partially offset by Ilia’s loveliness. When you first come across her tending to your horse, she is nothing but kind and gentle — a perfect contrast to the official companion character of the game. Even when she’s chastising Link for overworking his horse, that frustration comes from a place of compassion for the horse’s well-being.
Later on, disaster strikes and Ilia loses her memories. “Amnesiac Ilia” is often a hot topic of debate in the Zelda community. Some see her as a pointless plot device, while I see nothing but a poor young woman who’s trying desperately to remember where she came from and who’s important to her, all while maintaining her kind personality and helping those around her during difficult times.
As an example: At some point after her kidnapping and memory loss, she comes upon Prince Ralis unconscious on the side of a road. So often in our modern society we train ourselves to turn the other way when we see a stranger in need of help. But Ilia, wrestling with her own personal troubles having just lost her memory, takes the time to rescue him from what would surely be a terrible fate. Only a genuinely courageous and caring person would take the time to do that, and few characters in the Zelda series would even be capable of such a thing.
Unfortunately, the game doesn’t spend nearly enough time exploring the relationship between Link and Ilia. But, in order for her Horse Call gift to Link to be the thing that triggers her memories, they’d have to be very close. At some point in the future, I’d love to see a sequel to the events of Twilight Princess that gives Ilia a bigger role, to prove once and for all why those who aren’t fans of her just need more of a chance to see the side of her that I do.
