When Breath of the Wild first came out, I spent hours wandering the wide expanse of Hyrule. I spent most of my time climbing trees and mountains when I was not riding my horse through the open fields. I mostly ignored quest markers, preferring to stumble across the story randomly instead of seeking it out. This lack of interaction with NPCs and story, however, meant that my first few hours of gameplay felt incredibly empty, sometimes even lonely. With only Zelda’s warnings of the Blood Moon to keep us company, Link and I were completely alone in Hyrule.
Until I found myself in Zora’s Domain and encountered my favorite character: Mipha.
Since I spent most of my time away from towns, save for my brief trip to Hateno, the Zora were some of the first characters that really grew on me. In addition, Mipha was my first glimpse into the lives of Link and the other Champions. Through Link’s memories of her, I began to grow a strong attachment to Mipha.
Admittedly, we did not learn much of her in the few cutscenes we had with her, only learning that she had a crush on Link (much like some other Zora princess in another game) and that she was a healer. But her gentle and compassionate personality really stuck with me, especially since it seemed to permeate the Zora population 100 years after her passing.
What really drew me to Mipha, however, was how she seemed to make my initial lonely impression of Hyrule disappear. Her spirit was watching over her people, controlling Vah Ruta, and watching over Link’s journey. This lonely world of Hyrule was suddenly graced with her constant presence.
Mipha did not become my favorite character, however, until the first time I activated Mipha’s Grace.
This might sound silly after spending a couple of paragraphs talking about Mipha’s unconditional love, but I did not love Mipha until Link fell off of a mountain.
The moment came almost immediately after I had beaten Vah Ruta and I was back to my aimless wandering. I was climbing a mountain for fun, just to see how far I could paraglide off of it. However, a sudden bout of rain caused Link to slip and fall off the mountain, steadily losing hearts as he tumbled.
I was caught somewhere between utter frustration and hysterical laughter as I watched Link ragdoll off of the mountain. I had resigned myself to a Game Over that surprisingly did not happen.
Instead, the spirit of Mipha appeared next to Link the moment he lost his last heart and restored him to full health. He even had some extra hearts added on. I had forgotten this was the power Mipha had given me, and I sat there in shock.
I’m embarrassed to say that it brought me to tears, partially because I thought the gesture was sweet and partially because my laughter had amplified. Of all the moments I could have used Mipha’s Grace, it had to be during such a silly moment.
But Hyrule had changed for me in that little moment. I did not feel so lonely anymore, because I had proof that Mipha was with me. Even in my silliest little moments, Mipha was there to help me on my feet again. It feels trivial, but this moment really made the game for me, and inspired me to keep playing.
Mipha became my companion during my journey through Hyrule, as did the other Champions. But Mipha was special to me just because of the circumstances.
The large expanse of Hyrule felt a little less empty knowing that every so often I would hear a gentle voice tell me “Mipha’s Grace is ready.” Even if it was to protect me from falling yet again.
To celebrate the recent launch of Age of Calamity, we are dedicating all of our regular columns this week to the mighty Champions! Check out our Champions Week 2020 page.
