Ranking Each Champion’s Relationship with Their Descendant

You have to admit you screamed a little when you saw the Champions’ descendants time travel in Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity. (Well, at least I did.) Some were better-written than others, though. Today, I’ll be ranking each Champion’s relationship with their descendant by three factors: emotion, interestingness, and depth. I will rate them by a number of stars from 0-5. In Prince Sidon‘s words: “Here we go!”

4. Revali and Teba

I really, really do not enjoy saying this. Really. But Omega Force (the development team behind AOC) honestly messed up what could have been a truly star-studded character dynamic. Seeing the two Ritos in action was nothing short of thrilling, but either the storywriters hate Revali or they just didn’t really care to make this relationship worth it. When Revali meets Teba, he doesn’t thank his biggest fan at all, but instead only works with him to conquer Windblight. But the biggest setback is Teba’s goodbye: unlike the three other Champions, Revali only bids him farewell with a slight “Hm.”

I, among many other players, am shocked at how the devs totally ripped out everything players found likable about Revali in Breath of the Wild, only to make his arrogance his whole being in Age of Calamity. Even Teba comes off a little disappointed in what they did to Revali. My greatest apologies to my (still) favorite Champion and descendant.

3. Daruk and Yunobo

Daruk and Yunobo’s relationship wasn’t amazing, but it was enough to make us laugh. The scaredy cat Yunobo at least drops some of his fear while saving his troubled grandpa, which was fun to watch. And they are the cute kind of awkward around each other even after the big rescue. Yunobo can’t help but call Daruk by his formal title, the “Great Daruk,” while the latter insists on casualness. While Yunobo doesn’t make a huge impact on the story or bring much to his dynamic with Daruk, it’s still something.

2. Urbosa and Riju

Urbosa and Riju’s dynamic is first professional, then motherly. Most of their interactions don’t get too emotional, but at the same time hold off on being too bland. They speak to each other like two Gerudo Chiefs would about war business, which is clearly what they intend to limit it to for 90% of the time. The other 10% is the emotional part: Urbosa encourages the young Riju to stay strong despite their enemies’ numbers. This is also primarily what makes their dynamic particularly unique and interesting. Riju is still a pre-teen needing a lot of coaching from older Gerudo Chiefs, and Urbosa is the perfect candidate for this role.

1. Mipha and Sidon

By far, Mipha and Sidon’s dynamic is the most fun to watch. And I don’t think it’s just Mipha’s absolute cuteness and Sidon’s optimism that drives this relationship to the max. It’s their unconditional love for one another, being as close as close can get before the Calamity happened. In Sidon’s timeline, he lost everything when he lost Mipha, and can clearly be seen trying to cope with her loss ever since Waterblight took her life.

That’s why hearing him boldly proclaim that the Blight will not take her life again is so powerful. None of the other descendants declared that as proudly as he did — and that’s probably because none of them actually personally knew their ancestors enough to cry over them. Yunobo doesn’t express obvious sadness over Daruk’s death, Riju doesn’t seem to mind much at all, and Teba only idolizes Revali. But on the other hand, Sidon actually loved Mipha, and it hurt a lot when he lost her.

Even after Sidon rescues Mipha, you can tell he is giving it his all to protect her and the rest of Hyrule. He refuses to accept defeat and presses on, even though he knows saving Mipha in this timeline doesn’t affect his — when he returns home, she’ll still be gone. That’s the really, really heartbreaking part. Mipha also fights with her entire being for her brother and is deeply proud of the kind of person Sidon has become, calling back to a BOTW DLC cutscene where she entrusts the Zora’s future to him.