Syrup

Syrup is a recurring character in the The Legend of Zelda series. She is an old witch who brews Potions and sells them to Link on his adventures. Syrup is always found in or around her Witch's Hut, where she sells her potions, and is always stirring a cauldron filled with some concoction. Syrup has an apprentice named Maple, who is also her granddaughter. Maple runs errands for Syrup, who never leaves the shop. Despite this, Syrup seems to be rather unappreciative of her apprentice.

A Link to the Past
Syrup appears for the first time in A Link to the Past, just outside her potion shop near Zora's River, where she sells her Red, Green, and Blue Potions. Maple serves as the shopkeeper for the potion shop, but only in the Gameboy Advance version of the game (a Hooded Shopkeeper is found in her place in the original version). Syrup herself will be stirring her "mushroom brew". Link can give her the Mushroom he found in the Lost Woods to help her complete her brew, the final product being Magic Powder. When Link returns to the Witch's Hut, he can pick up the Magic Powder held by the apprentice.

Link's Awakening
Syrup appears for the second time in Link's Awakening, living inside her hut on the Koholint Prairie. Reminiscent of A Link to the Past, Syrup will make Link some Magic Powder once he gives her the Sleepy Toadstool he found in the Mysterious Woods. She will also teach Link how to use the powder. As Crazy Tracy already sells potions, this is Syrup's only role in the game. Syrup will replenish Link's supply Magic Powder whenever needed, so long as he provides the mushrooms. Syrup does not have an apprentice in Link's Awakening.

Since she lives on Koholint Island, this version of Syrup does not really exist, and may be based off Link's memory of the real Syrup similar to how Marin and Tarin are based off the memory of Malon and Talon.

Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons
Syrup plays her most prominent role in the Oracle Series. Her appearance, as well as that of her hut and her apprentice, Maple, are nearly identical in both games. On top of selling her Magic Potion, Syrup will also sell Gasha Seeds and even Bombchus once they have been obtained via a secret password in a Linked Game. In Oracle of Ages, her hut is located in the north-eastern corner of the Yoll Graveyard in the present. The hut is inaccessible without the Flippers. The Magic Potion Link obtains from Syrup can be used to cure the King Zora of his illness, saving his life and ultimately allowing him to enter Jabu-Jabu's Belly, the next-to-last dungeon of the game.

In Oracle of Seasons, Syrup resides in the Sunken City. To reach her hut, it must be winter in the city, as the snow creates a slope leading to the otherwise inaccessible rise on which the hut is built. At first, Syrup will not have anything on sale in her shop, as she does not have the ingredients to make her Magic Potion. However, as part of the Oracle of Seasons Trading Sequence, Link must trade her the Mushroom he obtained from Talon atop Mount Cucco in exchange for her Wooden Bird. With the mushroom, Syrup is able to make her Magic Potion, allowing her to open her shop.

The Minish Cap
Syrup's latest appearance is in The Minish Cap, selling Blue Potion in her hut in the Minish Woods. She will also sell Red Potion once Link has fused kinstones with the Minish living in the south-west corner of South Hyrule Field. It is also necessary for Link to buy a Wake-up Mushroom from her in order to wake up Rem, the shoe salesman of Hyrule Castle Town. Rem will then make Link the Pegasus Boots, allowing him to cross the Castor Wilds.

Syrup does not yet have an apprentice in The Minish Cap.

Trivia

 * Syrup's name, along with that of her apprentice Maple, contribute to a pun, as they can be put together to make "Maple Syrup".
 * In The Minish Cap, Syrup refers to herself as "Granny", a reflexion on the character Granny of Ocarina of Time.
 * Syrup also has a similar role to Kotake in Majora's Mask.
 * Syrup is one of the chronologically oldest characters in the Zelda series, first appearing as early in the timeline as The Minish Cap and appearing as far as A Link to the Past, Oracle of Seasons, and Oracle of Ages.
 * One of Syrup's quotes is taken from the William Shakespeare play Macbeth. In the play, the line is used by the Weird Sisters to conjure the prophecy of Macbeth's eventual defeat at the hands of Macduff.