Sage

Since their introduction in A Link to the Past, the Sages have become one of the prime elements of the The Legend of Zelda mythos. Serving as a bridge between the Sacred Realm and Hyrule, guarding the Master Sword's power and overall protecting Hyrule are included with their duties, which puts them among the most important of the Hero's allies.

Oftentimes, before the Sages can help him, Link is required to save them or awaken them as the new Sage. This is because often the villain attacking Hyrule is aware of their powers, and as such, they tend to find taking care of the Sages a priority.

Many things about the Sages still are a mystery, and instead of answering questions, the younger games have made things even more complex. A Link to the Past introduced the Sages, back then a group of seven known as the Wise Men and their equally numbered descendants, the Maidens. This composition of seven Sages was carried on in Ocarina of Time, which associated them with various elements, and Four Swords Adventures. The Wind Waker deviated from this by introducing a second group, this one responsible for keeping the Master Sword capable of defeating evil. How this group relates to the first group is unclear. Also, unlike in the first group's case, the second group's total number was never specified. Twilight Princess complicated things further by seemingly featuring the first group of Sages. However, their nature was very different from that of the other incarnations. For one, they were ghost-like creatures, all looking the same, while all other Sages have been shown to be random people, who in the course of destiny happened to be chosen as the next "Sage of (...)". Secondly, they seemed to consist of only six, "Princess Zelda" not being part of their group.

A Link to the Past
In A Link to the Past, the prologue mentions the seven Wise Men (renamed "Sages" in the GBA re-release ) as the ones who, with the aid of the Knights of Hyrule, sealed Ganon away in the Sacred Realm long ago. During the beginning of the game, it is made clear that Agahnim, the King's right-hand man, is using his power to find and capture the seven Maidens, who are the descendants of the seven Wise Men and have inherited their status of Sage. Agahnim planned to send them to the Dark World one by one in order to destroy the seal that kept Ganon locked up.

Princess Zelda was going to be the seventh sacrifice, but she managed to telepathically send a message to Link, requesting him to rescue her. Link did succeed, but Princess Zelda was recaptured later while Link was gone in order to obtain the Master Sword. Link then traveled to the Dark World to save each of the Maidens, therein meeting and receiving help from three other descendants of the Sages: Aginah, Sahasrahla and the Old Man. When after the long quest all of the Maidens were freed, they destroyed the barrier around Ganon's Tower, allowing Link to defeat Agahnim and later Ganon.

Ocarina of Time
In Ocarina of Time, the nature of the Sages is further elaborated on. Each Sage (bar the seventh) is established to have their own associated element, an accompanying symbol and appropriately themed temple. At times of peace, there are no Sages, only those who could become them if evil takes control over Hyrule. If that happens, the Sacred Realm sends out a call to them, awakening the destined ones as Sages. Usually, the Sages-to-be have no knowledge about their status until they are awakened. An exception to this is the seventh Sage, who is always a member of the Royal Family of Hyrule, keepers of much of Hyrule's history.

As revealed by Rauru, the original Sages were the ones who built the Temple of Time to protect the Triforce against those who would use it for evil. The Triforce was hidden in the Temple of Light, the only of the Sage-temples to be built in the Sacred Realm. While each of the Sage-temples seems to grant access to it, only the Temple of Time is meant to do so for not-Sages. Therefore, it was protected with a seal controlled by the Master Sword, which evil cannot touch, and the Door of Time, which could not be opened unless one possessed the three Spiritual Stones, the Ocarina of Time and knowledge on the Song of Time.

Ganondorf managed to bypass all this by manipulating Link into doing the work for him. After seizing the Triforce and corrupting the Sacred Realm, he caused that corruption to seep into the temples of the Sages, which became infested with all kinds of monsters, so that the Sages-to-be would not be able to fullfill their duty and aid Link. Led by Rauru's and Sheik's instructions, Link managed to cleanse the temples and help each Sage to gain their power. Upon Rauru's advice, he then returned to the Temple of Time, where he found Sheik waiting. His mysterious ally revealed himself to be none other than Princess Zelda, keeper of the Triforce of Wisdom and the seventh Sage, leader of them all. The reunion was cut short when Ganondorf came and abducted Zelda, leaving Link with one more reason to take him on.

The Sages helped Link first by creating a bridge to get to Ganon's Tower with. Rauru used the moment to inform Link of the barriers Ganondorf had put up to protect himself against the Sages. Link destroyed them, clearing the path to Ganondorf.

When Link defeated him in the form of Ganon, the Sages joined their powers and sealed the King of Evil into the Sacred Realm. As such, it is suggested that these are the Sages referred to in A Link to the Past.

The owl Kaepora Gaebora, who kept track of Link since the start of his quest, is said to be the reincarnation of an ancient Sage.

The seven Sages include:

Rauru


Rauru is an ancient Hylian and the Sage of Light. Unlike the others, he is not a new Sage. Rather, he is one of the ancient Sages, and possibly the only remaining one. He seems to act as the leader in absence of the seventh Sage.

Rauru made his appearance after Link opened the Door of Time and drew the Master Sword from the Pedestal of Time. Recognizing the destined hero, he took his chance and kept Link sealed within the safety of the Sacred Realm for the seven years he needed to mature. Upon Link's awakening, he summarized the events that had taken place during his slumber and informed him of his role as the Hero of Time. Then he instructed him to find and help the other Sages so that they could assist him in taking on Ganondorf, handing Link the Light Medallion to start off his quest. After that, it wasn't until all Sages had been awakened that Rauru contacted Link again, telling him that the time of the final confrontation had come. He fullfilled his role as Sage during that final fight and was the only one of the group not to return to Hyrule once Ganon had been defeated, presumably opting to stay in the Sacred Realm.

Saria


Saria is a Kokiri and the Sage of Forest. She's the second Sage that lends their power to the Hero of Time.

Deciding that something had to be done about the evil emanating from the Forest Temple that brought danger to Kokiri Village, she left to give it her best. When Link arrived in the Forest Temple some time later, he defeated the monsters infesting it and thereby awakened Saria as Sage. She and Link had a conversation thereafter on their childhood friendship, after which Saria bestowed her powers on Link in the form of the Forest Medallion. When the time to face Ganondorf came, she fullfilled her role as Sage and could later be seen travelling to Death Mountain with the other Sages.

Darunia


Darunia is a Goron and the Sage of Fire. He's the third Sage that lends their power to the Hero of Time.

In the future years, Ganondorf wanted to make an example out of the Goron race by feeding them all to a dragon. Darunia was one of the few to escape this fate, but as leader felt the obligation to go free his people who were locked up in the Fire Temple. There, he met his Sworn Brother Link again after seven years, though he knew this wasn't the time for reunion. As such, he gave Link instructions to free the Gorons, while he would take on the dragon. Link followed into the dragon's lair later and killed the beast, thereby awakening Darunia as Sage. The two had a talk about their old brotherhood, followed by Darunia giving him the Fire Medallion. During the final stages of the Hero of Time's quest, he fullfilled his role as Sage and could later be seen travelling to Death Mountain with the other Sages.

Ruto


Ruto is a Zora and the Sage of Water. She's the fourth Sage that lends their power to the Hero of Time.

Like many races, the Zoras didn't want Ganondorf as their king, and as revenge they and their domain were locked away under ice. As one of the few to dodge the curse, Ruto obeyed her obligations as princess and went to the Water Temple to save her people. There she met her fiancé Link again after seven years, whom she requested to help her save Zora's Domain. Link lost track of her in the temple, but managed to find his own way to the monster that kept the curse intact and defeat it. Ruto awakened as a Sage because of that and told Link their childhood vows could not be kept now. Instead, she gave him the Water Medallion as symbol of her support. When Link went to defeat Ganondorf, she fullfilled her role as Sage and could later be seen travelling to Death Mountain with the other Sages.

Impa


Impa is Sheikah and the Sage of Shadow. She's the fifth Sage that lends their power to the Hero of Time. It is hinted that she, like Zelda, was aware of her status as Sage before becoming one.

When the evil spirit she had locked away in the well of Kakariko Village years ago broke free, Impa immediately headed for the Shadow Temple to seal it away again. When Link followed after her and defeated the spirit, she awoke as Sage. She told Link her point of view on the day she and Princess Zelda fleed Hyrule Castle and ensured him he'd do fine as hero. Then she gave him the Shadow Medallion, staying quiet until Link took up arms against Ganondorf himself; then she fullfilled her role as Sage and could later be seen travelling to Death Mountain with the other Sages.

Nabooru


Nabooru is a Gerudo and the Sage of Spirit. She's the sixth Sage that lends their power to the Hero of Time.

Nabooru tried to infiltrate the Spirit Temple in the past years to thwart Ganondorf's plans, but got captured and brainwashed into a servant of Ganondorf for seven years. Her mental imprisonment ended when Link defeated her Iron Knuckle form, but she was recaptured shortly thereafter. Link permanently freed her and awakened her as a Sage when he defeated Twinrova. For that, she gave him the Spirit Medallion, but not before she complimented him on the results of seven years aging. At the battle with Ganondorf, she fullfilled her role as Sage and could later be seen travelling to Death Mountain with the other Sages.

Zelda


Zelda is a Hylian and the leader of the Sages. Her element, provided she has one, is unknown, though it is often assumed to be Time.

Zelda waited for Link at the Temple of Time to reveal herself as the seventh Sage, leader of them all, and speak with Link about the battle ahead. However, Ganondorf found her as well and abducted her to his tower. Link went after them and freed her, causing Ganondorf to change into Ganon. While Link took him on again, Zelda prepared for her role as Sage from the sideline and when Ganon fell, she united her powers with the other Sages to lock him away. After that, she and Link had a private conversation about all that had happened since they met, and Zelda revealed that she wished to use her powers as a Sage to return Link to the past, so time could flow as it should've done. Goodbyes were made shortly thereafter.

The Wind Waker
The Wind Waker introduced a new group of Sages. These Sages are responsible for keeping the Master Sword capable of defeating evil. It was not stated how big this second group was, but it at least consists of two Sages: the Sage of Wind and the Sage of Earth.

Makar
The songs the Wind God's Aria and the Earth God's Lyric are used by them to empower the Master Sword and serve to awaken the new Sages.

Before he was sealed away by the Great Flood, Ganon had ensured his victory by killing off Fado and Laruto. In order to stand a chance against him, Link had to find the new Sages (Makar and Medli), awaken them and safely guide them to their respective temples. After Link defeated Ganon, he and Tetra were picked up by Tetra's crew who apparently had also already picked up Makar and Medli.

The Wind Waker also confirmed the original six Sages from Ocarina of Time, displaying their likenesses in stained-glass windows in the submerged Hyrule Castle basement where the Master Sword was kept.

Four Swords Adventures
On a stormy night, Princess Zelda and the shrine maidens fear that the reason for these events is that Vaati's seal is weakening. They summon Link and bring him to the castle so he can protect them while they open the portal to the Four Sword Sanctuary. When they do however, a shadowy figure appears from the portal. This figure was Dark Link, who then kidnapped the shrine maidens and sealed them in crystals. Link must then go around Hyrule and free the maidens from Vaati's wrath.

Blue Maiden
The Blue Maiden the first of the Six Shrine Maidens from Four Swords Adventures. In the game the Links' objective is to rescue her, along with the other five Maidens, and Zelda, from Vaati's Dark Shield. The Blue Maiden is found in the Whereabouts of the Wind, specifically in Hyrule Castle after the Links rescue her from the clutches of Phantom Ganon. What makes this Maiden unique from the rest of the other Maidens, is that she has a small village named after her.

Yellow Maiden
The Yellow Maiden is the second of the Six Shrine Maidens from Four Swords Adventures. In the game the Links' objective is to rescue her, along with the other five Maidens, and Zelda, from Vaati's Dark Shield. The Yellow Maiden is found in Eastern Hyrule, specifically in the Eastern Temple after the Links rescue her from the clutches of Stone Arrghus.

Green Maiden
The Green Maiden is the third of the Six Shrine Maidens from Four Swords Adventures. In the game the Links' objective is to rescue her, along with the other five Maidens, and Zelda, from Vaati's Dark Shield. The Green Maiden is found in Death Mountain, specifically in the Tower of Flames after the Links rescue her from the clutches of several Dodongos.

White Maiden
The White Maiden is the fourth of the Six Shrine Maidens from Four Swords Adventures. In the game the Links' objective is to rescue her, along with the other five Maidens, and Zelda, from Vaati's Dark Shield. The White Maiden is found Near the Fields, specifically during Infiltration of Hyrule Castle after the Links rescue her from the clutches of Jalhalla.

Red Maiden
The Red Maiden is the fifth of the Six Shrine Maidens from Four Swords Adventures. In the game the Links' objective is to rescue her, along with the other five Maidens, and Zelda, from Vaati's Dark Shield. The Red Maiden is found in The Dark World, specifically in the Temple of Darkness after the Links rescue her from the revenge of Phantom Ganon.

Purple Maiden
The Purple Maiden is the last of the Six Shrine Maidens from Four Swords Adventures. In the game the Links' objective is to rescue her, along with the other five Maidens, and Zelda, from Vaati's Dark Shield. The Purple Maiden is found Desert of Doubt, specifically in The Pyramid after the Links rescue her from the clutches of a Big Moldorm.

Twilight Princess
In Twilight Princess, the Sages (excluding Princess Zelda this time) appear as ethereal forms of old men. However when one of the Sages turns his head, you can clearly see that they are wearing masks and that they do not have faces underneath, indicating that they are unable to be seen without their robes. They are shown using the Sword of the Sages in a failed attempt to execute Ganondorf, which resulted in the death of the Sage of Water and the banishment of Ganon to the Twilight Realm.

Although the American version of the game states that the Sages were Zelda's tutors, the Japanese version of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess says that Auru tutored her instead.

Phantom Hourglass
In Phantom Hourglass, there is a graveyard on the Isle of Ruins where nine sages were laid to rest. In order to traverse Brant's Tomb, Link would first need to find a way into the graveyard. The graveyard contains a set of directions on six of the sages' gravestones. The other three Sages' tombstones are unreadable.

"...Those without the way of the six sages are doomed."

- Stone tablet inside Brant's Tomb.

If these directions are not followed, Link will wander helplessly through Brant's Tomb, much like in the Wind Fish's Egg or the Lost Woods.

Beta Ocarina of Time/The Wind Waker
Ocarina of Time went through a lot of changes before it became what it is known as. Due to the effort of various The Legend of Zelda enthusiasts, details of the beta stages are becoming revealed to the public. One set of such details relates to the development of the Sages, who at one point were to be quite different from the eventual group.

It is currently concluded that a group of three Sages were to power up the Master Sword during Link's quest, namely the Sage found at Turtle Rock (presumably the Sage of Fire), the Sage found at the Ice Temple and the Sage found at the Wind Temple. Whether these three were part of the group of six or a different group is unknown. Each of these three Sages' functions and context have been altered for the released game, though hints of their development history remain. Turtle Rock is the development predecessor of the Fire Temple, which was altered quite little compared to the other two. The Ice Temple is what the Ice Cavern once had to become, but those plans were tossed out in favour of the Water Temple. Along with it, the Ice Medallion became the Water Medallion. Small hints of this are left in-game in the form of the ice-themed challenge in Ganon's Tower for the water barrier and Zora's Domain perpetual frozen state. The Wind Temple in turn was even further removed from the game by being completely scrapped to make room for the Forest Temple, the only remaining in-game hint at this development being the wind-themed challenge for the forest barrier in Ganon's Tower. Like the Ice Medallion became the Water Medallion, the Wind Medallion became the Forest Medallion. Furthermore, it is currently believed that instead of Saria, the Kokiri girl Fado was to be the Sage of Wind.

Since Ocarina of Time, Nintendo seems to have been trying to bring over unused ideas of one game into later games. In context of the Sages, this sheds an interesting light on the "The Wind Waker" Sages, because they are noticeably similar to the presumed original idea for the "Ocarina of Time" Sages.

The most obvious connection would be the Master Sword-supporting function of both groups. In The Wind Waker, Link has to awaken the new Sages Makar and Medli to return power to the Master Sword, alike to the Sages described two paragraphs above. Additionally, it is known that two dungeons have been cut from The Wind Waker, which together with the unusual trial-free way Nayru's Pearl is obtained hints that a Sage was removed from the final game, bringing the number of Sages needed to power up the Master Sword to three. The third link between the groups would be the identity of the Sage of Wind, in both cases a Kokiri named Fado.

Differences are to be found as well. While the development-Ocarina of Time Sages represented the elements of Fire, Ice and Wind, the The Wind Waker Sages represent Earth, Wind and a possible, unknown third element. These differences might be explained by Fire already being taken by a Sage of the group the "Master Sword"-Sages were opted not to belong to, thus meaning Nintendo had to find a new element to assign. If the possible third Sage was to be the Sage of Ice is unknown, as is whether or not that Sage exists in current canon or not.

Theories
Zelda is the Sage of Time - Since every other Sage in Ocarina of Time was associated with an element, it is often assumed the seventh Sage, Princess Zelda, has one too, despite no mention being made of it. Time is the most heard suggestion, due to that Link met Sage Zelda at the Temple of Time, comparable to how he met the others at their respective temples. Zelda also states she can send Link back to his youth because she is a Sage, linking her, time, and Sageship together. It's nothing conclusive though, as time travel happens through the Sacred Realm, which all Sages hold influence over.

Ocarina of Time Fado is her era's Sage of Wind - While not mentioned until The Wind Waker, the "Master Sword"-Sages should logically have been around long before then, leaving a minimum of two Sages unidentified in Ocarina of Time. As apparently Fado was to be the Sage of Wind prior to the story's finalization, it is possible she still is. She is, after all, nearly completely absent during the future years, when the sword needs the Sages' prayers.

Sage Kasuto - The names of the towns from The Adventure of Link all were reused for the Ocarina of Time Sages, with two exceptions. The name Mido was given to the leader of the Kokiri, who wasn't a Sage, while the name Kasuto wasn't featured in Ocarina of Time at all. With certain ignorance of Mido's case, this has led to speculation of a missing Sage named Kasuto. Some suggest they may be the former identity of Kaepora Gaebora, whereas The Wind Waker made it possible that Kasuto might be one of the "Master Sword"-Sages at that time.

The Twilight Princess Sages are the spiritual incarnations of the Sages' power - Due to the appearance of the Sages' insignias on their robes, it is possible these ethereal Sages are the spiritual incarnations of the powers of the six Sages awakened in Ocarina of Time, or in other words, the unawakened forms of the six Sages that were awakened in the future era. This would mean that while Saria, Darunia, Ruto, Impa, Nabooru and Rauru were the pre-destined physical counterparts, the source of their powers came from these spirit Sages. This would explain why the six Sages appeared as normal beings in the past era of Ocarina of Time but gained great power later in the future era after the Hero of Time helped each of them to fuse with his or her own respective ethereal Sage (the ones shown in Twilight Princess). This would mean that these ethereal Sages, alongside the Oocca, were the original builders of the Temple of Time, as Rauru stated in Ocarina of Time, and, by extension, the creators of the Master Sword itself.

Trivia

 * With the exception of Zelda and Impa, each of the Ocarina of Time Sages was named after a town from The Adventure of Link. Zelda and Impa got their names from the characters from the original game, who reappeared in The Adventure of Link.
 * In the original Japanese text of the Oracle games, the Oracles are referred to as "Shrine Maidens", the same title as the Maidens of Four Swords Adventures. It is not known if there is a connection between the two.