Fado (Ocarina of Time)

Fado (ファド Fado) is the blonde Kokiri standing at the end of the bridges leading from Saria's house in Ocarina of Time. On a previous version of the official Zelda website, the caption under a screenshot of her stated that the game designers gave her the name "Fado" during development, though it was never mentioned in the game itself.

Fado seems to have a fascination for the Lost Woods and a bond of sorts with Mido. She also seems to have permanently traded Kokiri Forest for the Lost Woods in the future years. Her behaviour is a bit ambiguous, as she often reacts in eerie laughter about what fate could befall those wandering into the Lost Woods, but at the same time displays childish loyalty and dependency towards Mido.

Ocarina of Time
In the past years, she taught Link how to look around and warned about the Lost Woods' dangers.

Seven years into the future, Fado could no longer be found in the village and only showed up during the Biggoron's Sword sidequest. When Link returned to give the medicine to Grog, Fado was there instead of him. She demanded Link give the medicine to her, since it was made of forest mushrooms. In return, she handed Link the saw the other guy left behind. Fado mentioned that all who enter the Lost Woods become Stalfos and wondered aloud if Link would turn into one too.

Development
Despite and because of her minor role in Ocarina of Time, Fado is a rather noticeable appearance. She has her own model (which is unusual for any character that's not a Hylian or has an important role), different lines from the other Kokiri and she mysteriously disappears later on in the game. For all this attention her character was given, she holds no significance to the game whatsoever though.

Interestingly, she appears in some of the early Ocarina of Time screenshots and is thereby indicated to be created at about the same time as Saria. On those screenshots, Fado appears to be sitting on the roof of the shop in the Kokiri Forest which in the released version is occupied by the common model Kokiri girl.

Furthermore, through investigation into beta Ocarina of Time by various fans, it is known that at one point there was going to be a Wind Temple rather than a Forest Temple in the game, the only remaining hint to that being the wind-themed challenge for the forest barrier in Ganon's Tower. It is currently believed Fado was to be the Sage of Wind, scrapped along with the Wind Temple. This seems supported by Nintendo's post-Ocarina of Time tendency to implement unused ideas from one The Legend of Zelda game into another; in this case Fado from The Wind Waker then would be the recycled form of Ocarina of Time Fado.

In February of 2009, Fado's beta model was fully restored by Zeth Alkar of Team Beta Triforce, which is the same one that was shown in the pre-release pictures. Her model was then also located in the Zelda 1.0 Gold Cartridge edition, which proved false the speculation that her model was removed from the cartridge.

Theories
Mido is Fado's brother - It is speculated that Mido is Fado's brother. Aside from having similar names, Fado often displays concern for his opinion. When Mido blames Link for the death of the Great Deku Tree, Fado is the only other to repeat that accusation to Link. When talked to with a mask on that she doesn't like, she threatens Link she will tell Mido about it and that he will beat him up. In contrast, when she's spoken to with a mask she likes (except for the Skull Mask ), she requests Link that he doesn't tell Mido. While it is possible she's simply a very good friend of his, the dialogue supports siblinghood just a bit better.

Fado is her era's Sage of Wind - While not mentioned until The Wind Waker, the "Master Sword"-Sages should logically have been around long before then, leaving a minimum of two Sages unidentified in Ocarina of Time. As apparently Fado was to be the Sage of Wind prior to the story's finalization, it is possible she still is. She is, after all, nearly completely absent during the future years, when the sword needs the Sages' prayers.