Minister Potho

Minister Potho is the minister to the Kingdom of Hyrule at the time of The Minish Cap. He is a short man with white hair only on the sides with a bald top, a large white mustache, and large glasses. He functions as the caretaker and tutor of Princess Zelda by order of her father, King Daltus, the ruling King of Hyrule. In his capacity as Minister, Potho has great access to the Royal Family of Hyrule and resides with them at Hyrule Castle, serving largely as the king's major-domo.

Biography
When the story begins, Princess Zelda sneaks out of the castle without Potho's knowledge or consent in order to find her childhood friend, Link, and attend the Picori Festival with him. Upon their return to Hyrule Castle soon after their visit to the festival, Potho is shaken to see that Zelda has been outside the castle walls without protection but soon brushes it aside as he accepts a sword from Link that was made by Smith, Link's grandfather, for the winner of the sword-fighting tournament of the Picori Festival. When the winner, Vaati, shows his true colors and prepares to blast open the Bound Chest, Potho is among the many that are ambushed by the wicked sorcerer before Princess Zelda is turned to stone by his evil magic. When King Daltus decides to send Link on a quest to restore the shattered Picori Blade to its former glory in order to break Vaati's curse and save Zelda, Potho gives Link the sword that was meant to be given to Vaati as the winner of the tournament, Smith's Sword.

Later in the story, Potho is shocked at the change in demeanor of King Daltus, unaware that Vaati has abducted the real king and is now impersonating him in order to use the country's military to search for the mythical Light Force. When Vaati successfully discovers the location of the Light Force within Princess Zelda, he transforms Hyrule Castle into Dark Hyrule Castle and turns all of its residents to stone, including Potho. They are soon restored to normal however by Link, who now possesses the sacred blade known as the Four Sword that is capable of breaking Vaati's curse. He helps to search the castle for other victims of Vaati's dark magic while Link heads for the castle roof to confront the evil sorcerer and save Princess Zelda from death. This is the last time he is seen with the exception of the restoration of Hyrule Castle to its former state by Princess Zelda after Vaati's defeat.



Trivia

 * Minister Potho looks like the character corresponding to Mako on the wall painting hanging in the sunken Hyrule Castle in The Wind Waker.
 * Minister Potho also bears some resemblance to Professor E. Gadd, a character from the Mario series.
 * In the Funday School, there is a statue that resembles Minister Potho just outside the classroom, and two more statues that resembles Potho outside the school.
 * Potho also has a family member which he mentions when Link tries to fuse the Picori Blade in the Elemental Sanctuary; he says his grandmother told him stories about such things as the Minish and the Minish Door that opens in Hyrule Castle Garden once a century, stating that his grandmother had seen it in her youth.