Lanayru (Dragon)


 * This article is about the dragon from Skyward Sword. For the Spirit of Light, see Lanayru (Spirit).

Lanayru is one of the three elemental Dragons who protects The Surface in SS undefined. He was assigned to protect Lanayru Province by the Goddess Hylia and he has power over thunder.

Biography
When Link visits the Lanayru Gorge where the Thunder Dragon is said to rest, all he finds are his skeletal remains. To revive him, Link has to transport a Timeshift Stone through the Lanayru Gorge where an old mining facility remains in ruins. Once Link transports the Timeshift Stone Cart to the power pedestal that uses the Timeshift Stone as a power source, the power pedestal will amplify the Timeshift Stone's effect radius, restoring the area around it to its once lush landscape. Upon reviving Lanayru, Link discovers that he is deathly ill and cannot teach Link the "Song of the Hero". He tells Link that the Ancient Robots were worried about him, so they planted a seedling from the Tree of Life in the Gorge. However, the seedling will not grow anywhere in Lanayru Province, and thus cannot grow the Life Tree Fruit that is said to cure all illnesses.

After relocating the seedling to the Temple of Hylia and allowing the fruit to grow in the Sealed Temple in the present, Link returns to Lanayru Gorge to heal Lanayru. He grasps the huge Life Tree Fruit by the stem and tosses it into Lanayru's gaping mouth. After the Thunder Dragon teaches Link his part of the "Song of the Hero", he tells the young hero to come back soon. If Link does, Lanayru will let Link participate in his Lightning Round mini-game. Here Link may fight all of the previous bosses again, excluding Levias and Bilocyte, or explore the Silent Realms once again for prizes. However, Link is not allowed to use any Adventure Pouch items other than his equipped Shield. Most of the prizes are Rupees or Treasures that can be obtained elsewhere, but there are also two unique prizes: a Piece of Heart after the fourth round and the indestructible Hylian Shield after the eighth round.

Trivia

 * Even after being healed, Lanayru only appears in the past and disappears completely in the present, except when all three dragons, along with Levias, show up in the Thunderhead to teach Link the full "Song of the Hero".
 * Lanayru considers giving Link a model number, "LD-Link-16", but Link isn't fond of the name. The number 16 is likely a reference to the number of canon Legend of Zelda titles released at the time.

Etymology
Lanayru is a reference to the goddess Nayru.