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legendofzoodles · 2 years

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LOZ Character Analysis/Rant

Ravio, The Hero of Lorule

“I’m a coward at heart. There was no way that I had the courage to stand up to you and Yuga.”

A very curious fellow. He’s very much a chosen hero like his Hyrulean counterpart Link, yet he’s nothing like him, prefering to coordinate from the background rather than charge ahead with a blade. He’s a strategist, not a fighter. A merchant, not an adventurer. An advisor, not a leader.

He may not be one to pass up the opportunity to make a profit but he’s a pure soul. And he believes himself unworthy of being called a hero, despite the courageous and righteous acts he took to save his kingdom.

~~~

So I’ve heard people call Ravio “the hero without courage”, and I have to say I don’t agree with that. He’s a very proactive character, helping out in small but important ways.

His problem is that he lacks strength (as in literal strength, not inner strength) and power. He had the will to act, but his poor physical ability prevented him from acting in a way a traditional hero would. Unlike Link he didn’t have access to his piece of the Triforce, he didn’t have a Master sword and he was going up against Hilda and Yuga.

Ravio’s weakness only highlights his courage and makes him an even more selfless and righteous hero than some of the Hyrulean heroes. Every Link in the series has some amount of power to back up his actions, whether it’s the might of the Master sword, the faith and guidance of the princess, a powerful companion, items that enhance their strength and much more. Aside from having copious amounts of stuff in his possession Ravio had none of that to work with.

By the way, all of Ravio’s items and relics must have come from somewhere. Sure he may have traded a few of them, but the majority must have come from years of raiding dungeons. If he was able to escape Lorule without getting caught, then he for sure had the skills to sneak in and out of dungeons to collect their treasures.

Ravio had only a little bit of magic left, he had no weapons and was likely very afraid, yet despite that he did what he knew was right and went to Hyrule to find help. He knew he was going against Hilda, a person he cares deeply about, and knew there was a possibility he’d never be able to return to her, but that didn’t stop him. He basically risked everything to save his people and free Hilda of her obsession with Hyrule’s triforce and herself.

If he didn’t do what he did, both Hyrule and Lorule would have fallen into chaos.

In his journal, there’s a three day countdown (MM reference?) to the day he leaves Lorule where he documents his thoughts and feelings:

“3 Days to go She wants to do the right thing. I wish I could help her. But leaving is my only option.”

The “I wish” is pretty powerful here, it shows how much this weighed on his mind. He probably came up with multiple scenarios in his head about he could help her, some more idealistic than others- but in the end he was resolved to leave. “only option” is an interesting word choice. Clearly Ravio didn’t see any other possible way, and even though he didn’t want to leave he felt he had to.

2 Days to Go She's being duped. Doesn't she realize that? He's just a leech. There's no choice but to go.

“duped” he used the word “duped”, oh my days that’s adorable. I’m going to say now for the record that Ravio has the most delightful lines of dialogue. His manner of speaking is so charming!

But back to serious analysis, he was clearly heartbroken that she didn’t see in Yuga what he saw. And left to find help because at the time he had no hope of convincing her. The use of “leech” is interesting. Ravio knew what was up and recognised that Yuga was relying on Hilda. But since he couldn’t get through to her and didn’t have the power to confront her and Yuga directly, there was nothing he could do but leave.

He said that there was “no choice”, like he had to keep repeating that to himself otherwise he’d get cold feet and wouldn’t go through with it. Really emphasises just how scared and conflicted he was.

1 Day to Go I have so little magic. Enough to go there—maybe not to come back. But tomorrow must be the day. I may never see her again, but I vow to save her from all of this."

“I have so little magic”- ok this is irrelevant, but I hate that HW made his main weapon a huge hammer. It goes against the established fact that he’s, physically speaking, a weakling and that part of his character is centred around him not using weapons. He does use magic, but it seems like he can only use it with the help of items. I guess I’d just prefer it if he was trickly a merchant who dabbled in magic and never carried weapons.

That dash in the second line is heartbreaking- like he had just thought of that while writing this and it pulled him short. Again the use of “must” show he was mentally preparing himself for what had to be done and “vow” reflects how much he wanted to help her. Hilda is the subject of the last line so clearly his thoughts and motivations were mostly about her.

Ravio’s treatment of and subsequent friendship with Link has led to them now being one of my favourite dynamics in the series.

Straight out of the gate Ravio calls Link “buddy”, which isn’t wholey genuine since it’s their first meeting, but it suggests an easy-going and friendly personality, which wasn’t something I expected when I first got to know his character. You could argue that his boisterous mannerisms are a front to mask his insecurities for lacking power and in his eyes courage- but I don’t think it is.

Sure, he may not believe he’s worth much as a hero, or have faith in his own unique strengths, but he’s still comfortable with himself. He has the sort of charisma only a seasoned tradesman would have, and that confidence very much comes naturally to him when he’s in his element, i.e. negotiating trades, whether it’s making a sale or convincing Link to let him crash at his house.

Also another sidenote, Ravio is a shrewd little cinnamon roll. I get the feeling he was planning on living in Link’s house the moment he entered it, calling it “vacant” to justify moving in. After he learns it’s Link’s he says it “Looked empty-ish”, as it to imply that there’s more than enough room for another person to move in while also hinting at the idea of redecorating.

Which he ultimately ends up doing, basically to the point of taking over. This mad lad even moved Link’s bed. The nerve of this kid! For a self-proclaimed coward he’s really brave when it comes to pushing people’s boundaries.

Ravio was an important ally to Link. He gave him access to many useful and powerful items, such as the bracelet that allows him to turn into a painting. If Link didn’t have that, he wouldn’t have made it past the first dungeon. It’s not that Ravio stays in Link’s house and lets Link do all the hard work because he lacks the courage to do it himself and is afraid. It’s because he recognises that Link is an experienced adventurer who would be able to use the items better than he could. Besides, Ravio is always happy to make a profit help out a pal.

Plus there’s nothing wrong with being afraid, it’s only a weakness if it dulls your decision making and makes you shy away from taking action. That doesn’t apply to Ravio who’s very proactive despite his fears.

Speaking of pals, he seems to consider Link a friends pretty early into the story and like him a lot. Not only that but he almost idolizes Link for being a hero, saying, “A real, live, genuine hero!” during their first meeting with the word choice and punctuation showing his excitement. This admiration may come from a place of wishing he was more like Link in that sense. He also calls Link “Mr Hero” rather than his name, which from Link’s point of view would become very annoying since it is pretty objectifying. Like buddy, there’s a person attached to this sword y’know?!

I like to think that Link likes Ravio too eventually.

Ravio’s role in the story was perfect. Hilda needed to realise the error in her plan to take Hyrule’s Triforce, not be defeated in an epic battle- not that Ravio would do that even if he could. As for Yuga...ok fair enough that jerk needed to be taken out, but Ravio wasn’t strong enough to stand a realistic chance, and he knew that.

The situation was pretty hopeless, with the other two holders of the Triforce against him, and he needed help. Thus he had to think outside the box and come up with a plan to save Princess Hilda and Lorule that didn’t involve any direct fighting on his end. He was wise enough to recognize that he couldn’t have won the fight alone, but worked hard to make sure his side did.

Ravio finally convincing Hilda to do the right thing was his moment to shine. It was something only he could do and he’d wanted to do it since the beginning. With Yuga out of the way and all the pieces in place he was able to persuade her to give back Hyrule’s Triforce and make her see the error in her ways.

He definitely became part of her council again after this, there’s not way she wouldn’t want and need his advice.

Ravio, Hilda and Yuga all differ from their Hyrulean counterparts. Ravio had courage and inner strength but he went about doing the right thing in an unconventional way. Hilda was smart, having helped come up with the plans to obtain a new triforce, but lacked true wisdom for she allowed her judgement to be clouded by a desperation to save the kingdom. Yuga was still a power-hungry monster, but he relied on manipulating Hilda rather than his own strengths.

~~~

Thanks for reading!

I have not played A Link Between Worlds, so I’m not very familiar with it’s lore and story but I hope I did Ravio justice with this analysis. At the very least, I’ve now got a newfound appreciation for him.

Also I’ve always believed the colour green to symbolises the Hero’s spirit, it’s the colour that links every hero. Ravio may not have it on his clothes (save for the green gem on his belt), but his eyes are green. The eyes are the window to the soul so...

Character analysis posts:

Hero of the Sky, Hero of Time, Hero of Twilight, Hero of the Wild, Hero of Warriors

Masterlist

#legend of zelda #loz #loz albw #a link between worlds #link between worlds #loz ravio #ravio #princess hilda #loz hilda #loz character analysis #character analysis #ravio my beloved

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