Koume and Kotake, known collectively as Twinrova, are interesting characters in the world of Zelda. From Ocarina of Time to the Oracle games, they acted sort like the Kamek to the world of Hyrule, magic assistants to the main antagonist. Unfortunately, the two witches did not end up having the kind of permeance in the series that Kamek did to Super Mario and have not been seen since their apperanance in the Oracle games.
That being said, their presence in the world has not been forgotten. Koume and Kotake have been referenced several times despite not having a physical appearance. What is rather odd, however, is that their names seem to featured commonly engraved on blades associated with Ganondorf.
You may have heard that Phantom Ganon‘s blade in The Wind Waker is emblazoned with the name of Zubora Gabora, blacksmiths from the world of Termina in Majora’s Mask. Phantom Ganon’s blade is not the only blade that bears a name in The Wind Waker, in fact, there are two more. Ganondorf‘s twin blades both bear names engraved on them in Hylian, being “Koume” and “Kotake”. Both names are also accompanied by the symbol of the Gerudo. The names are slightly diferent colored, not enough to stand out too much, but enough to be able to tell it represents a specific witch. This isn’t the only time Twinrova’s names have been written on a blade, though.
The Gloom set of weapons, wielded by both Ganondorf and Phantom Ganon of Tears of the Kingdom, have the names of Twinrova engraved in Hylian on the blade. These weapons are ones that even Link can use after having collecting that from Phantom Ganon. An even more shocking inclusion compared to The Wind Waker, as The Wind Waker was one of the first Zelda title the witches hadn’t appeared in since their introduction so it made sense to include a small tribute to them. On the other hand, many years have passed since the inclusion of Twinrova in Ocarina of Time and Tears of the Kingdom, making it much more surprising for them to have earned a cameo.
If Phantom Ganon’s blade in The Wind Waker bearing the name of a blacksmith is anything to go off, it would seem that Koume and Kotake were in some way responsible for the creation of these blades that bear their names. It’s also possible, of course, that the blades are simply named after the witches, considering they did technically raise the Ganondorf of The Wind Waker, but that still doesn’t explain why they’re included in Tears of the Kingdom. It’s possible that this Demon King Ganondorf was also raised by two witches named Koume and Kotake, as Tears of the Kingdom‘s story takes a lot from Ocarina of Time. It’s likely we’ll never get a full answer to this question, but it’s an interesting detail that has always had me thinking about how the relationship between Twinrova and Ganondorf. Personally, I always liked to believe these weapons were magically crafted by the two witches.
