Ahhh, the loremaster. Keeper of records, rich with knowledge unknown to the always-trying-to-catch-up Link, and, generally speaking, someone with a tendency to have really interesting information presented in the most “Is it over yet?” manner possible. As equally important as they can be long-winded, loremasters are always a great help in guiding all Zelda players to where we need to go.
Almost as common would be characters left behind by the events of the story. Be they Link’s fellow villagers, family and loved ones of characters who are missing or fallen, or even those waiting specifically for Link to come home, these characters are often the beating heart hidden beneath the rich story of a Zelda title.
In Skyward Sword, those two character types combine, and also somehow fuse with an owl, in the form of one character: Knight Academy Headmaster Gaepora.
It is not very often that we meet a direct parent of either Link or Zelda, and it’s even less common to be able to interact with said parent at any point in the course of the game. It is also rare to encounter a human character who so closely resembles an animal, especially one they happen to share an almost-identical name with. Goodness, the man even laughs like an owl, making it very hard for some players not to end all of his sentences with a hearty “Hoot!”
But rarity and hilarity are hardly all that Gaepora brings to the table. He is the main keeper of Skyloft’s hidden secrets, passed down mostly through, as Fi so delicately puts it, the oral tradition. Yet even with his vast knowledge, actually seeing the legends he has been told come to pass often shocks and amazes him. It is not uncommon to see him, even as he is explaining what is going on, still be surprised that what he is saying is true.
But beyond the lore, the Knight Academy’s founder is, above all else, a caring father. Zelda’s caring father, specifically, who can do nothing but wait and infrequently provide guidance to the only one who can save his daughter. He is a character who stands out not only due to his funny looks or the fact that you can spy on him bathing all night, every night, but also because he never waivers in his faith that Link will be able to bring Zelda home safely. The sky can fill with massive storm clouds, Zelda can be sent through time and space, and even a large chunk of his home can plummet to the ground below, and Gaepora will never stop believing that Link, a boy from his academy, can accomplish this seemingly impossible task.
For one character to fill the roles of the guide, keeper of legends, heartbeat of the adventure, and occasional hilarious interlude is a difficult ask for anyone. Yet Headmaster Gaepora does it all without even being one of the main characters in the story of Skyward Sword and is, in this writer’s opinion, a small but important part of what makes the game truly great, and an underappreciated masterpiece of the Zelda series as a whole. Hoot hoot, my good man. Hoot hoot.
Skyward Sword is 10 years old on November 18, 2021! We’re celebrating with dedicated articles all week.
