Hyrule Warriors: Character Wish List (Skyward Sword Update)

Oh, the excitement! Hyrule Warriors looks more and more fun with each update. Today they announced Fi as the 7th character and alternate weapons and costumes for Link and Zelda. The Ball & Chain looks really cool and is probably the best solution. The only reason, why I wanted Onox in this game, was the Ball & Chain, so I will drop him from my list. It's easy to make a list with many characters on it, but you should also ask yourself, what potential each character actually holds. If a character can provide different forms and alternate weapons, he certainly adds more value than a character, who only has the one thing. Of course if this one thing is really special, like Agitha's giant bugs, the character still might be a welcome addition. But on other hand you would really have to bend some characters to make them work like that.

But with the trailers they present each character with a weapon and the weapons really change the play style of the characters. So, you could argue that the weapons might be like a character of their own. With Midna it says "cursed shackles" or "cursed form" as her weapon. This might be actually an indication that her true form turns up to be her alternative "weapon" in the game.

With all of this in mind, I want to condense my wish list to a more realistic scope, which also tries to take alternate weapons into account. And it really looks like this is going to be Skyward Sword, Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask and Twilight Princess only (with some tributes to other games). So, I will focus on characters from these games.

I kept updating my previous list so far, but for a major overhaul like this I want to create a new post/list. So, the old list won't be updated anymore!

Confirmed Player Characters:

Link
(costumes: Twilight Princess, Skyward Sword, Ocarina of Time, Ravio?)
- Hylian Sword -> Master Sword
- Magic Rod -> Ice Rod Upgrade
- Silver Gauntlets + Ball & Chain -> Golden Gauntlets ?
- Whip ?
- Biggoron's Sword ? -> Great Fairy's Sword ? -> Double Helix Sword ?
Zelda
(costumes: Twilight Princess, Skyward Sword, Ocarina of Time, Hilda?)
- Rapier
- Wind Waker
Impa
(costumes: Skyward Sword, Ocarina of Time)
- Giant Blade
- Whip ?
Midna
- Shackle
- True Form ?
Lana
- Book of Sorcery
- Time / Portal Magic ?
Agitha
- Parasol
- Bug Net ? -> Big Bug Net ?
Fi
- Goddess Sword -> Goddess White Sword ?

I'm not going too crazy with the already announced characters and I've been wondering about Link's fourth weapon mostly. It could be the whip, which he established as a new weapon, however, Majora's Wrath could also add way crazier whip action than Link could. But I thought the same thing about Onox, so... An alternative would be giving the whip to someone else, Impa for example might look good with it. The Biggoron / Great Fairy's Sword is also possible for Link, but we already have Impa with the Giant's Blade. However, the demo explicitly named Link's first weapon "One-Handed Sword", so there's a good chance his final weapon will simply be a Zweihänder.

But we also have to think about weapon upgrades. It's not just having different weapons, the weapons will become stronger and maybe even more versatile. The Hylian Shield and Master Sword will replace the Hylian Sword and the soldier shield from the early game. It might even add Skyward Strikes as an additional technique. With the Magic Rod I personally think that they intentionally didn't call it "Fire Rod" - it might get an Ice Rod upgrade, which let's you combine fire and ice magic (freeze and melt them). With a two-handed sword you obviously could upgrade from Biggoron's Sword to the Great Fairy's Sword. Well, maybe even Fierce Deity's sword, if Fierce Deity really isn't a character option. The Silver Gauntlets would have the Golden Gauntlets, most likely.

I was thinking about having the Fierce Deity's Mask as an alternate weapon for Link, which could work, if it wasn't for the costumes. You wouldn't be able to apply them there, so it might make sense to have Fierce Deity (Link) as separate character still. Or there are simply "weapons", which have their own skin or act more like a different character similar to Midna. In that case I could also picture Sheik as "weapon style" for Zelda. However, the demo only showed two weapon slots for Zelda and those are already taken.

With the costumes, they announced that there will be Courage, Wisdom and Power packs. The first two will have three costumes and the latter two. And so far it looks like Courage offers costumes for Link and Wisdom for Zelda. Power probably adds costumes for Ganondorf or Impa and the remaining costumes are most likely their designs from Ocarina of Time.

But for Link's and Zelda's costumes I also thought that Ravio and Hilda could work nicely here. Ravio isn't a fighter anyway, he probably would just use Link's items in a clumsy way. And Hilda wouldn't add anything to the game, because we already have Cia fighting with a staff like hers. But as costumes they could be fun and still possible, even though A Link Between Worlds didn't make it into the plans of the game.

For Lana we already saw an artwork with portals similar to the Gate of Time behind her, so her second moveset will probably have to do with that. And Agitha simply NEEDS the Bug Catching Net as an alternate weapon. The Big Bug Net from Skyward Sword would even be a perfect upgrade.

Possible Player Characters:

Sheik
- some Ninja weapons like a whirling scythe
Darunia / Darmani / Dangoro
- Goron Fists & Megaton Hammer
Mikau
- Fin Blades
- Fishbone Guitar
Nabooru
- Dual Scimitars
- Gerudo Halberd & Mirror Shield
Deku Princess / Deku Butler's Son
- Deku Bubbles / Nuts
- Deku Leaf
Scrapper
- Scrap Hands
- Gust Bellow
Groose
- Bazooka (Groozooka)
Hero's Spirit
- Hero's Sword
Beedle
- ???
Ghost Dampé (as requested by the comments :D)
- Shovel and Poe Lantern
Fierce Deity Link
- Double Helix Sword

Well, it makes sense to only have one Goron character, who uses different weapon styles, instead of having three different Gorons with their own fighting stlye. Whether it's an established character or a new one, I don't really care, as long as we get some Goron. Darunia would make the most sense though, especially if he uses the Megaton Hammer. That would be perfect. Darunia could also have a Darmani costume or vice versa.

Also, I dropped my idea of having the six sages playable in their entirety. I simply don't see Ruto and Rauru as fighters, though they somehow could be twisted into one, if really needs be. Ruto could fight with some sort of water magic for example, but Impa already does that and I'd rather have Mikau with his tattoos and his guitar! He would be a lot more interesting than Ruto. Rauru/Gaepora is just boring and doesn't need to take a character spot just to have the six sages.

The two characters I want to see the most, however, are Nabooru and Fiece Deity Link. This goes way back to my first time playing Majora's Mask nearly 14 years ago. There I wanted more from Fierce Deity and I also wanted to transform into a Gerudo with a mask (even though this probably would have looked silly). As for Nabooru's alternate fighting style I'd like her to utilize the typical Gerudo halberds on one hand, but maybe the Gerudo Mirror Shield with the other.

Scrapper and Groose would be for the lulz. I could see them adding interesting fighting styles though, much like Agitha. Though it could collide with the bomb item, which is why Groose needs something like a Bazooka to stand out. Scrapper would simply use his hands (and probably his mouth) and maybe even the Gust Bellow from the Lanayru Mining Facility as an alternate weapon. I'm only worried, because with each update they introduced two new characters. The last update was Skyward Sword themed, so why not show Groose or Scrapper along with Fi? It would have fit perfectly... but hopefully they will keep some characters secret for now.

I was also thinking about Tingle, he could offer some kind of aerial combat, where he hovers above everyone with Tingle Balloons to drop Tingle Bombs or whatever. I'm not so sure about him though, he might be too comical and deformed for this game. That and the fact that many people hate Tingle.

I also dropped Saria for now. The original idea was to have her fight with the Fairy Ocarina and magic songs like the Song of Storms. The Fairy Bow was her secondary weapon. But the Bow is now a normal item and Zelda uses the Wind Waker, which is too similar already and looks a lot better.

I'm also undecided about Sheik. It would be weird to have two different Zeldas, after all they're giving him all those costumes for her different versions, so if Sheik is in the game, it would make more sense as a costume or alternate "weapon". But as with Fierce Deity Link this is difficult to say, so Sheik might be a character after all. The again we already get Sheik in Smash Bros and we have Impa in this game. Everything Sheik could or would do, probably make a good alternate fighting for Impa instead. After all Impa is a real Sheikah and not some fake. But Sheik definitely has many fans and this is a fanservice game, so I won't write her off completely.

Also, keep in mind that simply because a character isn't playable, doesn't mean he or she plays no role in the game. There are many different ways to score a cameo in this game. But it's interesting that they chose a random Goron as the shopkeeper, instead of using Beedle. Might he be a character after all? I would add him to my list, but I can't think of any good fighting style for him right now.

Potentially Playable Enemies:

Cia
- Crystal Staff
Valga
- Dragon Claw Lance
Wizro
- Ring Magic
Zant
- Dual Daggers
Ghirahim
- Magic Swords

I'll only list the humanoid bosses, because those are the ones, which might be unlockable as playable characters.

Ganondorf
(costumes: Twilight Princess, Ocarina of Time)
- Sword of the Sages
- dual sabers from TWW
- Trident of Power
Demise
- Dark Master Sword
Shadow/Dark Link
- all of Link's weapons
Skull Kid
- Skull Mask
- Majora's Mask
Majora's Wrath
- Blade Whips
Gomess
- Shadow Scythe
Igos du Ikana
- Stalfos Broadsword

Not too many changes with the bad guys. I think that the Garo Master, Gomess and Phantom Ganon are more likely to appear as captains similar to King Bulblin or the Aeralfos. But having King Bulblin as a captain and not as a boss already shows that we probably shouldn't look too deep into mini bosses. But I still kept Gomess in the list, because I really like the design and the weapon. Igos du Ikana doesn't really have an interesting weapon, but he might utilize other special attacks like detaching his head from his body. Maybe the Eligy of Emptiness could be also a thing for him, where he creates clone Stalfos soldiers. So, he still might have good chances to become more in this game.

Twinrova by now I see more as one of the other bosses, where you have in her fused form, but also as the twin witches, but nothing that could be playable. Link's Magic Rod could potentially house ice magic as well, so we don't really need her to be more than a boss.

Shadow Link should basically be a Link clone for the bad guys. Like in Four Swords Adventures or A Link Between Worlds Shadow Link could yield all of Link's weapons, the sword & shield, the Magic Rod or the Ball & Chain. It's just that he works for the bad guys and might even become a formidable opponent during the story mode.

Skull Kid I picture as the "humanoid boss character" from Majora's Mask. Thing is, he could easily become playable as a good guy by switching masks. And I think it would be nice to have a character, who establishes different fighting styles with masks. The "Skull Mask" mode would have him fight normally with his flute and maybe by summoning puppets like in Twilight Princess. The "Majora's Mask" mode gives him bad evil stuff or whatever (you can really pull down the moon with the Hookshot, so...)

Last but now least I want to have a list for the (potential) secondary items, which every character can use:

Secondary weapons: