Midna
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| Midna | |
|---|---|
| Game series | The Legend of Zelda series |
| First game | The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (2006) |
| Creator(s) | Nintendo EAD |
| Voice actor(s) | Akiko Koumoto |
| Date of birth | |
Midna (ミドナ Midona?) is a fictional main character in the video game The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. A newer character to the series, debuting in Twilight Princess, she teams up with the protagonist, Link, to battle a "greater evil" that she alone cannot overcome. Like Navi in Ocarina of Time, she acts as a guide who helps the player learn the controls and advance in the game. In fitting with her dark nature, she has a playfully devilish sense of humor and a somewhat cynical demeanor until a certain point in the game. She also has the most extensive voice acting of any character in the series, as all of her dialogue is represented by audible (though unintelligible) vocalization. Most of her magical abilities features her hair taking on the shape of an arm, or having some other relation.
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[edit] Gameplay
Midna's role is similar to Navi, Tatl, or Ezlo in that she is a supernatural companion who assists Link. Unlike these, she takes a more active role in the action. Unlike the fairy companions, she does not offer information on enemies and talking to her will give Link a small tip on what the player must do to progress or defeat a boss. Link being in human form, and in early parts of the game in the light world, she hides in Link's shadow and only appears as a somewhat ghostly silhouette out of his shadow. In wolf form she usually rides on Link's back and assists him with an attack that creates a field of dark energy, allowing Link to lock onto any enemies within it and charge at all of them consecutively. (This attack is especially useful against enemies in large numbers or those that revive if only one is left). When her icon appears, she can assist Wolf Link with jumps the player normally cannot perform. Early in the game, Midna will allow Wolf Link to instantly teleport to Twilight portals across the world. Once Link obtains the Master Sword, calling Midna will allow Link to freely transform into wolf form and vice versa (except for when in the presence of people, where Midna will then forbid transforming to avoid startling them.) In certain points of the game, she has the ability to grab hold of charging enemies with her hair (taking the shape of an arm) and throw them aside like goats.
[edit] Story
Midna is one of the Twili, a race descended from wielders of powerful and evil magic, who were banished to an alternate dimension by the goddesses Din, Farore, and Nayru. This alternate dimension, out of which the sublimated descendants could only exist as shadows, eventually became known as the Twilight Realm. She remains as an imp-like creature through most of the game. In recent time, the Twili have been converted to fearsome "shadow beasts" (and Midna into an imp-like form) by the self-styled Twilight King Zant.
Late in Twilight Princess, it is revealed that Midna is the eponymous "princess" and true ruler of the Twilight Realm. However, Zant, using the power of his new-found 'god', Ganondorf, has cursed Midna into an imp form after he assumes power as ruler of the Twili, forcing her to flee.
Midna first meets Link when he strays into the Twilight Realm, in which he is transformed into a wolf (Midna says that the savior of the Twili was to appear in the form of a divine beast). She helps him escape and return to Hyrule. Midna makes it clear that she is only helping Link to save her own world and has no concern for the Realm of Light. She informs Link that they should recover a powerful magical artifact known as the Fused Shadows.
Later in the game though, after gathering the third Fused Shadow, Zant appears and exposes Midna to the light of the spirit Lanayru. This purifies her, making her able to exist in the Realm of Light, yet it also gravely injures her. He then puts a curse on Link to trap him in Wolf Form, and takes the three Fused Shadows away. Lanayru luckily transports the cursed Wolf Link and injured Midna back to Hyrule field. Wolf Link takes Midna to Princess Zelda, hoping she can reveal how to remove the curse on him and heal Midna. She tells Link to find the Master Sword in the Sacred Grove to break the curse on him; less could be said for Midna. As Midna is nearing death, Zelda decides it's for the best that she give her own powers to Midna (making their hearts one), though Midna tries to stop Zelda. With Zelda gone and Midna restored, they set off to find the Master Sword. From here on out, Midna is no longer cynical and takes on a much more serious and kind attitude, and she decides that the Realm of Light must be saved as well as her own Realm of Twilight. Midna tells Link that in order to destroy Zant, the duo must find the Mirror of Twilight to access the Twilight Realm again. When the two find it in the Mirror Chamber of Gerudo Desert, they realize it has been shattered into four shards, one of which still remains on the Mirror's pedestal. The Sages of Hyrule appear and explain that it was Zant who broke the Mirror, but this only happened because the sages had previously sealed Ganondorf in the Twilight Realm, who inevitably gave Zant his power. Midna later reveals that Zant could only shatter the Mirror; only the true ruler of the Twili could utterly destroy it. After going through Snowpeak Ruins, the Temple of Time, and the floating City in the Sky, home of the Oocca, the pair travel to the Mirror Chamber to restore the Mirror of Twilight. At this point, the Sages reveal that Midna is the Twilight Princess, leader of the Twili.
When Link and Midna confront Zant in the Palace of Twilight near the end of Twilight Princess, a long battle ensues spanning tactics and arenas from past bosses and sub-bosses of the game. After the fight, Midna retrieves the Fused Shadows from Zant but does not return to her original form as she had hoped. Zant then reveals to her that only by killing Ganondorf can the curse truly be lifted and can he, Zant, truly be destroyed. That was the purpose of the barrier erected outside Hyrule Castle - it would allow a safe place for Ganondorf to hide so Zant could stay alive. In a fit of rage, Midna uses the Fused Shadows to impale Zant with several locks of hair. She then regains the magic of her inheritance and becomes able to use the Fused Shadows to transform into a gigantic, dark arachnid-like creature and shatter the barrier surrounding Hyrule Castle. Link and Midna face Ganondorf and after Link battles both Zelda-who is being used by Ganondorf, and Ganondorf himself in beast form, Midna teleports Link and Zelda out of the castle and faces Ganondorf alone. Enraged, Midna once transforms into a spider-like creature and attacks Ganondorf, destroying the castle in the process. Ganondorf emerges from the castle carrying Midna's helmet and it appears that she was killed. After Link, with some assistance from Zelda, defeats Ganondorf, it turns out Midna survived and Ganondorf's spell on her is broken allowing Midna to regain her true form. In a comical moment when Link first sees her true form, she is amused by his silence and asks, "Am I so beautiful that you've no words left?". Link is speechless. She then takes leave of the Light Realm, saying good-bye and thanking Zelda. Turning to Link, she begins a sentence "I..." before breaking off and saying "See you later" (Which she says to Link throughout the game). She states that so long as the Mirror of Twilight remains intact, she and Link could see each other again someday before throwing a tear into the Mirror, shattering it (Thus proving that she is indeed the true leader of the Twili). Midna returns to her realm just before the Mirror shatters, destroying the only known bond between the worlds. It is also interesting to note that one of the major similarities between imp Midna and human-like Midna, is that in both of her forms, her eyes remain the same.
[edit] Relationship with Link
When Link first meets Midna he was very reluctant to trust her, especially since her earliest involvement with him was nothing more than to use him to save her own world. Over the course of the story however, Midna and Link begin to develop a strong bond as they work together to find the Fused Shadow pieces. Following a near fatal blow by Zant, Wolf Link carries Midna all the way to Zelda in the hopes that she could be saved. Zelda seemingly sacrifices herself in order to save Midna. Following this event, Midna has a change of heart and holds Link, Zelda, and the entire light world in a much higher regard, becoming more altruistic. She then vows to help Link save the light world as well as her own Twilight Realm. The bond between Midna and Link continues to grow stronger. Before their journey together to collect the Mirror of Twilight shards, Midna seems to have developed an attraction to Link; for example, when she strokes his face while asking him to help her find the Mirror of Twilight. At the end of the game, Midna seems saddened to leave. Before she throws a tear to shatter the Mirror, she turns to Link and says: "Link... I... See you later," leaving the impression that she had indeed fallen in love with Link but felt it was better to keep her feelings to herself.
[edit] Early design vs. new design
One aspect that has changed in Midna was her hair. Normally, it is natural red. When it takes the shape of an arm, it is blood red with a hint of orange in the light. In the early design, it was more flame like, longer, and bright red with green randomly moving from root to tip. These colors are seen later when Midna uses the fused shadows.[citation needed]
[edit] Trivia
- Her spoken dialog is vocal samples of what amounts to gibberish while the character is talking. In this sense, Midna is the first fully "voiced" character in a Zelda game. However, Midna's "language" does not actually have defined words; that is, the same sentence will be pronounced different ways each time Midna speaks it.
- It should be noted that in the Wii version, her right eye is covered, but in the GameCube version (as well as promotional images), her left eye is covered. This is because during development, the entire game had to be mirrored to make Link fit with the Wii's general right-handed controls (Link is traditionally left-handed). Due to this, the markings covering her body are also reversed in the two versions.
- Midna's irises are colored red in the inner parts and orange in the outer parts. This can be seen clearly in close-up shots of her face throughout the game. Her sclera are also yellow.
- The name "Midna" probably comes from "midnight", in accordance with her race's "darkness" theme.
- Shown in the table of contents in the instruction manual included with the game, a picture showing, left to right, Zelda, Zant, and a preview of Midna's true form.
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