The world of Skyward Sword is home to many colorful and unique creatures, and the first ones that Link gets to interact with when he descends to the Surface are the adorable forest dwellers known as the Kikwi. Part flora and part fauna, they are some of the most intriguing critters in the entire game. If only they spent less time cowering in fear and more time letting us get to know them.
Link is able to meet each of the Kikwi, learn their names, and rescue them from the Bokoblins (or “red monsters”, as the Kikwi like to refer to them) that are roaming Faron Woods. They are all quite fearful of these nasty beasts, but young Oolo is particularly sensitive, even by their standards.
Oolo is a little male Kikwi with a cute leaf mohawk atop his head. Every member of the Kikwi tribe is named after a different type of tea, with Oolo’s name being derived from oolong. While he may seem like an insignificant NPC, his anxious personality and the role he plays in an optional sidequest make him one of the more memorable Kikwi (aside from Bucha, the Kikwi Elder).
Oolo is first introduced when Bucha tasks Link with locating and rescuing four Kikwi that have gone missing. The little guy is found pretending to be a bush in an isolated corner of Faron Woods. According to Fi, Oolo is the most easily flustered of all the Kikwi, and his fears and anxieties are evident in every encounter. Upon discovery, Oolo is relieved that Link is not a monster that wants to eat him, but he still trembles with fear and jumps in alarm when Fi suddenly appears. It may seem like Oolo is just scared of the darkness overtaking the surface, but in reality, he is terrified of pretty much everything in the forest (and perhaps everything outside of the forest as well).
Later in the game, Oolo becomes an important part of a sidequest in Skyloft. Instructor Owlan is intrigued by all sorts of plant specimens, but he has documented every species native to the skies and is searching for something new. He asks Link to bring him something from the surface to study, and that something turns out to be a Kikwi. Fi only estimates a 40% chance that Oolo will be suitable for Owlan’s needs, but Link still decides that it will be safer for the timid creature to live in the sky.
Unfortunately, Oolo’s constant state of anxiety means he never gets to leave Owlan’s room. Owlan does this to protect the little creature and keep him from being overwhelmed. After all, if one green Link is all it takes for him to start shaking, imagine what a swarm of curious Skyloftians enraptured by his cuteness would do to him.
While Oolo is now an object of intense scrutiny far away from all that is familiar, at least he won’t have to worry about being eaten by Bokoblins anymore. But I wonder what happens to him once the Hylians return to the Surface? It’s possible that he and all the other Kikwi vanish forever more, but I like to think that they were just the beginning of the long line of forest creatures who protect the woods they call home.
