Princess Ruto


 * This article refers to the Zora princess that serves as the Sage of Water in Ocarina of Time. For the town of the same name seen in The Adventure of Link, see Town of Ruto.

"Don’t tell my father!"

- Princess Ruto

Ruto (ルト), Princess of the Zoras, is a female Zora introduced in Ocarina of Time. She is the daughter and only child of King Zora, the ruler of the Sea Zora population residing in Hyrule, and serves as the attendant of Lord Jabu-Jabu, the Zoras’ patron deity. As a child, Ruto appears to be a tomboy and is shown to be very strong-willed and stubborn even in the face of danger, a trait she would temper and yet benefit from in her adult years when danger once again threatened her people. Though she initially shows a selfish streak in her youth, she grows to become much more benevolent in her adult years, especially after she is awakened to the knowledge that she is the Sage of Water that guards the Water Temple beneath Lake Hylia.

Biography
Ruto is the daughter and only child of the Zora ruler King Zora, who rules from his throne chamber within the watery grotto that serves as the home of the Zoras, Zora’s Domain. Constantly proving to be a major distraction for her father as he executes his duties in governing the Zora population, Ruto is described by other Zoras as being a tomboy in nature with a wildly independent streak while at times showing a selfish demeanor (at least in her youth). It is implied that Ruto’s mother passed away some time before the events of Ocarina of Time, though she did give Ruto the Zora’s Sapphire at some point in her youth while telling her that the stone serves as the so-called “Zora’s Engagement Ring” by tradition, and thus instructing her to give it only to the man that would one day become her husband. As the Princess of the Zoras, it became Ruto’s duty to serve as primary attendant to Lord Jabu-Jabu, the giant fish that serves as the Zoras’ patron deity and lives in the source of Hyrule’s water behind Zora’s Domain, Zora's Fountain. In this capacity, Ruto would prepare Jabu-Jabu’s meals and feed him regularly at his shrine. At some point in her early childhood, Ruto discovered that she could enter Jabu-Jabu's belly and exit unscathed and chose to make it a practice of coming here when she felt the need to be alone. Though her father worried about her constantly even into her adulthood, Ruto often rebuffed his concern and gave little thought to his worry in her early life. Little did she know that she had a much greater role to play yet in Hyrule’s history and that her fame would grow so much that her name would survive for ages beyond her lifespan.

Appearances
Ruto has made only a single actual appearance within the series, with that appearance being in Ocarina of Time, where she, like several of the other Sages of that game, receives her name from one of the towns featured in The Adventure of Link.

Ocarina of Time
In Ocarina of Time, Ruto is first mentioned when Link comes to Zora's Domain in search of the Zora's Sapphire (of which Ruto is coincidentally the keeper). When Link arrives, Zora's Domain has been thrown into a state of disarray with the sudden disappearance of Ruto, the Princess of the Zoras. After learning of Ruto's disappearance and earning the Silver Scale from the Zora diving game, Link makes use of the object to investigate Ruto's disappearance, as her father does not seem to be able to give any attention to Link's quest for the stone while his daughter remains missing. Taking the shortcut leading from Zora's Domain to Lake Hylia, Link discovers a bottle with a note inside it at the bottom of the lake. The note is signed with Ruto's name and reveals she has been swallowed by the Zoras' patron deity, Lord Jabu-Jabu, and requires rescue. Showing the letter to King Zora, the Zora ruler is astonished at the note's contents, believing that Lord Jabu-Jabu would never swallow Ruto, though he thinks twice when recalling that Ganondorf, the Gerudo King of Thieves, had recently visited Zora's Domain to demand the Zora's Sapphire and that Lord Jabu-Jabu has seemed ill at ease ever since the Gerudo leader was turned away. The Zora ruler then grants Link access to Zora's Fountain, the abode of Lord Jabu-Jabu. Using a fish, Link is able to get Jabu-Jabu to open up and swallow him in the same manner in which Ruto was swallowed. It is later revealed that when Ruto was attending to Jabu-Jabu one day, he swallowed her along with his food. Ruto accidentally dropped the Zora's Sapphire inside Jabu-Jabu and lost it. Instead of getting help, Ruto chose to go deeper within Jabu-Jabu hoping to find the stone on her own.

Link finds Ruto fairly quickly upon his entry into Jabu-Jabu's belly. The feisty Zora princess denies knowledge of the letter Link had found in Lake Hylia and initially vehemently tries to deny any need of assistance, telling Link she could care less about her father's worry and ordering him to leave her. Link continues to pursue Ruto however, attempting to get her to either come with him or to accept his help in recovering what she had lost. Eventually Ruto reconsiders her opposition to the idea and accepts Link's assistance, deciding to have him carry her around Jabu-Jabu's interior while they search for the stone together. In this manner, the duo begins to search Jabu-Jabu's belly for the lost stone, with Link carrying Ruto while also using her to weigh down switches and at times kill enemies by throwing her at them. Eventually, the two finally locate the stone, resting upon a raised platform deep within Jabu-Jabu's belly. Link tosses Ruto up onto the platform, where she recovers it, though this causes the platform to rise into the chamber above them with Ruto still on it. The platform descends again carrying a Big Octo, which Link is forced to battle. After defeating the beast, Link jumps onto the platform and rises into the chamber above, but finds no trace of Ruto.

The young hero continues searching for Ruto and the stone, eventually finding his way into the innermost chamber of Jabu-Jabu's insides, where he discovers the cause of Jabu-Jabu's ailment: a hideous creature, the Bioelectric Anemone Barinade, has attached itself to the ceiling and is sapping Jabu-Jabu's energy. Link duels the beast, detaching it from Jabu-Jabu using his newly-acquired Boomerang and using it again to help him land sword blows on the creature. Eventually, Barinade is felled and Link sees a portal open leading out of the dungeon, with Ruto waiting for him within the ring of light. The visibly shaken Zora princess scolds Link for the time it took him to rescue her, but the two are soon transported outside via the portal. Once outside Jabu-Jabu's belly, Ruto's demeanor toward Link changes entirely, with the Zora princess having grown quite fond of him and asking him what reward he would ask for rescuing her and helping her recover the Spiritual Stone. Link requests the Zora's Sapphire, and Ruto happily hands it over to him, calling it her most "precious possession" and revealing that the stone effectively acts as the "Zora's Engagement Ring", meaning that she now considers the two of them engaged to be married. Though Link did not quite understand what Ruto meant, he now knew he had all of the three Spiritual Stones in his possession.

Seven years after Link is placed into suspended animation by the Master Sword, evil returns to Zora's Domain when Ganondorf uses the power granted to him by the Triforce of Power and causes the entire area and its inhabitants to be frozen under a thick layer of ice. This fate also befalls Ruto initially, but she is rescued from beneath the cursed ice by Sheik. She then goes to the Water Temple in the hope of finding a way to save her people from being eternally frozen. This is where she and Link meet again for the first time in seven years. Though Ruto is happy to see him, she is aware that this is not a time to talk about love. Ruto asks Link to assist her in saving the Zoras by destroying the monster at the heart of the temple and informs him on the workings of the Water Temple. After this, Ruto leads Link into one of the temple's upper chambers but mysteriously vanishes. Link does not see her again until he defeats the Giant Aquatic Ameoba Morpha, the monster responsible for the sad state of both Zora's Domain and the nearly-dry Lake Hylia. Inside the Temple of Light, Link learns that Ruto is the new Sage of Water that guards the Water Temple. She tells Link that she still loves him, but their engagement must be put on indefinite hold due to her duty a Sage, and he must continue his search for Princess Zelda. Right before he returns to Hyrule, Ruto gives him the Water Medallion, and asks him to thank Sheik for saving her if he sees him again.

Ruto appears within the Water Room inside Ganon's Castle after Link dispels the Water Barrier protecting the castle, where she urges Link onward to rescue the captive seventh Sage and Leader of the Sages, Princess Zelda. After Link defeats Ganondorf both in his Gerudo form and in the form of the Dark Beast Ganon, Ruto combines her power with that of the other Sages to cast Ganondorf back into the tainted Sacred Realm and to create a powerful seal that would imprison him there. She is last seen alongside several of the other Sages atop Death Mountain, overlooking a jubilant Hyrule now freed of Ganondorf's tyranny.

Minor References
While only appearing in a single game in the series, there have been multiple references to Ruto made in several subsequent games following the release of Ocarina of Time.

The Wind Waker
While Ruto does not physically appear in The Wind Waker, one of the stained glass windows in Hyrule Castle's basement, where the Master Sword now rests, depicts her as the Sage of Water. Curiously, the symbol in her window appears numerous times amongst the Rito tribe and is the symbol of the Zoras. This, combined with the fact that Laruto, another Zora sage with a very similar name, is Medli's ancestor, has led some to believe that Laruto is a relative or descendant of Ruto and that the Rito are perhaps the evolved forms of the Zoras, their tribe's new name perhaps being a reference to the famous Zora princess herself.

Phantom Hourglass
In the Phantom Hourglass, one of the available treasure items is titled the "Ruto Crown". In an obvious reference to Ruto herself, the description states: "Some say this regal crown was worn by a princess of Zora".

Spirit Tracks
Like Phantom Hourglass, the Ruto Crown reappears in  Spirit Tracks as one of the ancient treasures available to be discovered and traded around the re-established land of Hyrule, marking another reference to Ruto despite the long period of time that has passed following the end of her lifespan and the many events that have occurred in the meantime.

Ocarina of Time Manga
Ruto largely fills the same role in the Ocarina of Time manga as she did in the actual game, though there are some slight differences that can be seen in her character when comparing the two. In the story of the manga, Ruto is swallowed by Jabu-Jabu intentionally, as she hopes to escape engagement to a suitor presented to her by her father whom she deems unacceptable. After Link saves her, she grows quite fond of him and grants him the Zora's Sapphire in rebellion against the marriage her father was attempting to arrange for her. As in the game, she comes to truly believe she and Link are destined for marriage following these events. In this take on the story, she seems to be far less tolerant of her father, ill concealing that she considers him annoying. She also makes a habit of saying 'Zora' at the end of her sentences.

Trivia

 * Ruto's model is used again in Majora's Mask for the character Lulu. The model is slightly altered though: while Ruto did not wear any clothes, Lulu wears a dress.
 * Interestingly enough, if Link throws Ruto in the water near Lord Jabu-Jabu, she will fade away even though she is a Zora.
 * Ruto, like several other characters from Ocarina of Time, inspired a town featured in The Adventure of Link of the same name (though, from an out-of-universe perspective, the Town was created first).
 * Ruto's name may originate from kobaruto, the Japanese word for cobalt, a blue type of metal.