Equal parts scholar and mad scientist, Purah is one of the more intriguing characters in Breath of the Wild. While the circumstances surrounding Purah’s story are depressing and lonely, Purah somehow maintains a mischievous style of humor. Although misunderstood and ostracized to the outskirts of Hateno Village, Purah plays a critical role in stopping Calamity Ganon.
We first meet Purah at the Hateno Ancient Tech Lab on the fringes of the village. After finding Impa in Kakariko Village and learning the history of the Great Calamity, Impa instructs Link to head southwest towards Hateno Village to meet this great scholar. As we meander through this peaceful little town towards the lab, the locals cannot stop gossiping about the strange happenings on the hilltop. Even the children confess that the Hateno adults want nothing to do with the bizarre Sheikah scientist.
Fueled by the town’s skepticism, we are more curious than ever to meet this strange scholar. As Link crosses the threshold of the lab, a twinge of disappointment settles in. There is nothing strange about this place at all! The lab is simply occupied by a scholarly man and what appears to be his young daughter. What made the townspeople so cynical of these two?
Then something strange happened. As Link speaks to the elderly man named Symin, we learn an unsettling truth: Symin is not the lab’s director. The great Sheikah scholar is none other than the little child standing on a chair! Purah laughs at how quickly Link fell for the stereotype and asks us to help rekindle the furnace with the blue Sheikah flame. Link obliges and Purah upgrades our Sheikah Slate with a few new features.
Purah then starts to put together some of the story pieces for us. Link learns that Purah is not from Hateno Village, but she is instead the older sister of Impa. Her primary duty was to research the Sheikah Slate runes with Princess Zelda prior to the Great Calamity. After Ganon destroyed Hyrule Castle, Purah placed Link in the Shrine of Resurrection at Princess Zelda’s request. Fearing that Ganon would discover both Purah and Impa at Kakariko Village, Purah left for Hateno Village to wait for Link to awaken.
As she continues to explain her backstory, Purah omits a glaring detail: If Impa is Purah’s sister, how is it that she looks like a child? As Link gently broaches up the subject, Purah sheepishly admits that her appearance is due to a faulty experiment and prompts Link to stay away from her diary. With his curiosity at an all-time high, Link sneaks to the roof of the lab and begins to read Purah’s autobiography.
It is only after leafing through the pages of Purah’s written past that the story fully comes into focus. Underneath the cheerfulness and mischievous sense of humor, Purah’s tale is one of loneliness and misunderstanding.
Purah was born in Kakariko Village to a notable Sheikah family whose mission was to protect a sacred Sheikah heirloom. Despite being the eldest daughter, the responsibility of protecting this treasure was passed down to the younger sibling Impa. While the details are hazy, the implication is that Purah was intrigued by her tribe’s technology to the point of obsession. That ambition caused her to be reckless at times, which likely resulted in Impa rising to prominence and Purah being left to her own devices.
Her burning curiosity not only cost her a reputation within the Sheikah tribe but also resulted in family disappointment. As Impa became a respected advisor to the King of Hyrule, Purah pressed on with her research, and eventually became a mentor to fellow tribe members Nanna and Jerrin. As Purah continued her own unique rise to prominence, rumors of her work spread and the King of Hyrule sent Princess Zelda to Kakariko Village to request the aid of the Sheikah tribe. Little did Purah know that she was about to meet someone who was just as curious and misunderstood.
Princess Zelda was also obsessed with researching Sheikah technology even though her principle duty was to unlock the power to seal Ganon. As Zelda and Purah set off on their first excavation of an ancient Sheikah technology site, Purah must have known right away that she and Zelda would become lifelong friends. They slowly unlocked the secrets of the Sheikah Slate and other ancient technology, and the two scholars likely shared the struggles of being intellectually curious at the expense of family responsibilities.
The research continued, and much to Princess Zelda’s delight, Purah eventually restored the Camera Rune functionality to the Sheikah Slate. How delighted Purah must have been to watch a prominent member of the Kingdom of Hyrule relish in one of her discoveries! As Princess Zelda continued to document their work with the Sheikah Slate’s camera, Purah made sure to capture at least one memory of the entire group.
Then tragedy struck. Despite the best efforts of Link and the four Champions, Calamity Ganon could not be stopped. As Purah prepared to carry Link’s body to the Shrine of Resurrection, she watched as the only person who truly understood her departed for Hyrule Castle. Would she ever see her friend again?
After sealing Link’s body in the shrine, Impa suggests that Purah and her colleague Robbie leave Kakariko Village so the calamity could not destroy all three of them at once. As Robbie escorts Purah to Hateno Village, they pass the ruins of Fort Hateno. The destruction is another sharp reminder that Purah is once again all alone. As they cross the shambles of the fort’s main gate, Purah leaves her protégé behind without saying goodbye. Depressed and defeated, Purah makes the difficult climb to the hilltop of the Hateno Ancient Tech Lab.
But then reality hits her. This is no time for self-pity! Link and Zelda are still alive so Purah sets out to do what she does best: conduct research to help her friends. Purah tirelessly works to create solutions for the Hylian army, and just as she is about to have a breakthrough in her anti-aging rune, the lab’s furnace goes out. Unable to rekindle the flame or continue her research, all Purah can do is wait for the hero to awaken.
Days turn into weeks, and weeks turn into months and years. Much to Purah’s delight, the hero finally rises from his slumber after 100 years. Not only does Link rekindle the flame for the lab’s furnace, but he also rekindles Purah’s hope that she would see Princess Zelda again. As Link defeats the Calamity and reunites Purah with her lost friend, the hero recalls the photograph Purah took so long ago. With the picture hung proudly over the mantle of his new home, Link will always remember the person who snapped the photo: the quirky yet lovable scholar, Purah.
