Lord Jabu-Jabu

Lord Jabu-Jabu is a large whale-like creature that serves as the guardian of the Zora in several games.

Ocarina of Time
Little is known about Lord Jabu-Jabu. In, he resides upon an altar in Zora's Fountain, a sacred lake behind Zora's Domain, where he is worshiped by the Zoras and acts as a guardian deity similar to the Great Deku Tree. According to Zora legend, offering a fish to Jabu-Jabu is supposed to bring the bearer happiness.

Lord Jabu-Jabu is apparently very benevolent, and the Zora encourage all visitors to see him. After Ganondorf encountered him, however, Lord Jabu-Jabu began displaying outward symptoms of the curse cast on him; as King Zora cites Ganondorf's interference as a reason the whale may have swallowed Ruto, these possibly include changes in his behavior.

Jabu-Jabu is very fond of Fish, and Young Link must feed him one in order to gain entrance to his Belly to kill the parasite which ails him and save Princess Ruto.

Seven years in the future, Jabu-Jabu is inexplicably absent.

Oracle of Ages
In, Jabu-Jabu once again lives among the Zoras in Zora Village, though the exact relationship between this incarnation and the one that appears in Ocarina of Time is unknown. He appears in both the past and present ages of Labrynna, but in the former, he is too small to enter. As part of his quest, Link must venture inside Jabu-Jabu's Belly in the present to obtain the Rolling Sea, the seventh Essence of Time. However, King Zora will initially prevent the young hero from visiting the deity, and in order to gain his permission, Link must first find a way to save Jabu-Jabu's life by cleansing the polluted Zora Seas. To do this, he must rescue the Fairy Queen, allowing her to purify the filthy seawater.

Other Appearances and Cameos
Jabu-Jabu has been compared to the Wind Fish from, as both are god-like whales or whale-like creatures. He also shares strong similarities with Jabun in ; not only are they both large round fish, but Jabun's theme music is a remix of the dungeon theme for Inside Jabu-Jabu's Belly, and according to Jabun is implied to be Jabu-Jabu's descendant. Both of these deity-like fish also resemble the Ocean King from on a lesser scale.

In the Lakebed Temple of, sculptures that resemble Jabu-Jabu can be seen. Some of the Zora guards also wear masks that resemble Jabu-Jabu as he appeared in Ocarina of Time.

In, Link can catch a fish called Lord Chapu-Chapu in the Swamp Fishing Hole. It resembles a smaller version of Lord Jabu-Jabu. The owner of the Swamp Fishing Hole calls it "the king o' the swamp."

Theories
In, after Link takes the Master Sword and travels 7 years into the future, Jabu-Jabu is nowhere to be found. Some fans believe he may have been killed by Ganondorf or fled into hiding. Others think he was ordered away by the King Zora to save him from Ganondorf. A clip of him rising to the water's surface in Zora's Fountain, which went unused in the final game, was originally going to be inserted into the end credits, and the presence of his implied descendant Jabun in The Wind Waker suggests that he may have survived.

Trivia

 * An emblem of the Zora's Sapphire can be seen across Jabu-Jabu's crown.
 * "Jabu Jabu" is the Japanese onomatopoeia for splashing water.