Veran

Veran (ベラン, Beran) is the antagonist of Oracle of Ages. She is the Sorceress of Shadows and possesses the ability to possess anybody she wishes to. Although she appears to be the ultimate evil, Veran is nothing more than a loyal servant to Twinrova, dedicated to bringing about the Dark Lord Ganon's revival by bringing sorrow to the hearts of everyone in Labrynna.

Sorceress of Shadows
Veran first meets Link while controlling Impa and tricks him into moving a boulder that can only be moved by one who bears the sign of the Triforce. She then tricked him into getting close to Nayru, and then released Impa, so that she could possess Nayru. Quickly assuming control of Nayru's body, Veran immediately traveled back in time, to alter history to her liking.

As Nayru, Veran tricks Queen Ambi into trusting her and warping the purpose of the Black Tower, which was to be used to search for Ambi's lost love, convincing Ambi to order the town to build the Tower to the heavens. Veran also quickly dismissing anyone from the castle who may have brought Queen Ambi to her senses, leaving her grip on Ambi unopposed.

It soon came to Veran's attention that her bane grew deep within the woods outside of Lynna Village. In an attempt to rid herself of what might undermine her, Veran had Ambi offer a reward to anyone who could bring back the Mystery Seeds for her. Ironically, it was Link himself who would present the Seeds to Queen Ambi, unknowing of their advantage. Although it is never stated what Veran actually did with the seeds Link gave Ambi, it is mainly thought she had them destroyed. However, Veran remained unaware of the abundance of Mystery Seeds among others in the dungeons across Labrynna, as well as the Mystery Seed tree that grew on Rolling Ridge. Presumably, she was also unaware of the fast growth rate of Mystical Seeds.

Just before the Black Tower was completed, Link eventually came face-to-face with her, in Ambi's Palace, but Veran tells him that if he were to attack her, only Nayru would bear the damage. However, Link had found out about Veran's weakness to Mystery Seeds, and was prepared to take her down through their use. Following a short battle, Veran was driven from Nayru, almost immediately into Queen Ambi herself, however. Taking full advantage of her situation, Veran was able to drive Link, Nayru and Ralph, who had burst into the palace at the same time as Link, away, Nayru rescuing them all to the disappointment of Veran. As Link continued to finish his quest, the Black Tower reached completion as the seventh Essence became his.

At this point, Veran had gained the power to control time to an extent, even without Nayru, freezing many in time as she cultivated her new power and restoring the chaos that Naryu's freedom had reversed. However, after Link obtained the eighth essence, another face confronted Veran before he could: Ralph.

Although Ralph knew that, by killing his ancestor Queen Ambi, and thus Veran, he would vanish, he cared only for the people of Labrynna, and so attempted to kill her, ultimately failing. However, due to Veran's 'generosity', Ralph lived on, and Veran moved on to face Link. After Link managed to free Ambi, he was only just able to avoid possession himself. Continuing the battle, Link was eventually able to overcome Veran's final forms. However, Veran simply laughed, calling Link a fool as she died, her task complete. The revival of Ganon was simply closer to fruition.

Strategy
Veran has several different strategies, depending on which form she is in.

Possessed Ambi
The strategy for Ambi was little different than it was for Nayru. As Ambi, the only new ability Veran obtained was the ability to summon small and annoying spiders. Besides this, the strategy is still to use Mystery Seeds when she stops moving, then to use the Switch Hook to pull Veran out of Ambi.

True Form
Veran's true form is drastically different in appearance to the normal form she takes. Taking on the form of a demonic fairy, Veran is now accompanied by four Dark Links, which act as little more than Arm-Mimics.

Veran's attacks in this form changed little from her other form, her signature energy attack becoming much faster, she will also shoot small and large blue fire balls, and of course physical contact. To defeat this form, Link simply had to attack her with his sword whenever she came into range, taking care to dodge her attacks. By repeating this method, Veran appeared to be defeated. As Link, Ralph and Nayru exited the Black Tower, a sudden rumbling had Link push Ralph and Nayru away, as a Wallmaster carried Link back to the top.

Metamorphosis
As the Wallmaster released Link, a truly horrific side of Veran was revealed, as she appeared to Link in the forms she had wished to keep a secret from everybody. Now, with no other choice before her, Veran revealed her Metamorphosis state.

During this phase, Veran is prone to randomly changing between her three shapes. There is no order in which Veran will change shapes, with the exception that she will always start in Beetle form. Although she will normally change back to Beetle after assuming one of her other two forms, it is entirely possible for her to go from Spider to Bee and vice versa.

Beetle
As little more than an oversized, grotesque beetle in this form, Link quickly realized that all Veran could do now was jump and land, creating a pool of acid underneath her when she landed. By attacking her face when she emerged with the sword, she would then transform into one of two forms.

Bee
One of Veran's three Metamorphosis forms, Veran's weakness remains her head, which must be attacked with the sword. However, the bee form is faster than the beetle form, able to move alarmingly fast at times. Her main attack is a barrage of stingers, although she may also summon a swarm of bees to attack Link.

Spider
Arguably Veran's hardest form, this state has no obvious weak point at first. Its attacks include high-speed charges and using web to pull itself onto the Tower roof, then slamming down in an attempt to crush Link. In this form, Veran can also catch Link in her web and slam him on the ground.

Out of all the weapons in Link's inventory, the only one which can reveal Veran's weak spot is one of his bombs. By using a bomb on this state, Veran would show her face for a few valuable seconds, allowing Link to attack her with his sword. After Veran had taken enough damage, given her life, she will either revert to her beetle form or she will fall.

Trivia

 * Though Veran bears the Gerudo Symbol on her shoulder-pads, in addition to the single eye on her dress, her true form is that of a demonic fairy. However, her human form somewhat resembles that of a Twili from Twilight Princess (she resemble Midna's true form). The Gerudo Symbol likely represents her affiliation with Twinrova.
 * The form that Veran takes when possessing people is strikingly similar to the form the Nightmare takes when between forms.
 * Curiously, Link never fights Veran in her normal form, besides the few attacks he inflicts on her after forcibly removing her from Ambi or Nayru's body.
 * Before fighting Veran in her "true form" phase, Veran attempts to possess Link, but Link avoids this by doing a back-flip to dodge her. Unless Link has the Roc's Feather equipped, this would not technically be possible.
 * The four Dark Links Veran summons in her "true form" phase always give one heart each on their defeat.
 * There is debate as to whether Veran's true form is what she refers to as her true form, or Metamorphosis. In-game, Veran mentions she wishes to keep this form a secret to everybody.
 * More often than not, the spiders that Ambi summons will give Link bombs upon their death, subtly hinting of Spider Veran's weakness.
 * Any being possessed by Veran would be signaled by their skin turning blue, a trait that would remain until Veran left that particular body.
 * In the manga of Oracle of Ages, Veran also possessed Ralph at one point, in an attempt to destroy the Mystery Seeds Link had gathered.

Gallery
 File:Nayru-Possessed.png|Veran possessing Nayru File:Veran_Sprite.gif|Veran's in-game sprite File:darklinkooa.png|Veran creates 4 red-eyed copies of Link 