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Makeela Riju (JP), also known as Riju, is a member of the Gerudo Royal line and their current monarch, ruling over them from Gerudo Town during the events of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. She is very young and was thrust into her position of power prematurely, only because of her mother's passing. Riju also possesses a personal Sand Seal named Patricia and is shown to be a skilled Sand Seal surfer.
Personality[]
Riju is a young dignified caring chieftain of Gerudo Town who happens to be wise beyond her years. She happens to know that several of her people doubt her role as the Gerudo Chief due to her young age and she'll do what it takes to prove that she is competent in spite of this fact. Riju is also shown to tolerate the presence of voe (man) in Gerudo Town, but due to the law that they aren't allowed inside under the belief that doing so would invite disaster upon them, if the voe is found in town she must exercise the law and have them thrown out. This is shown with Link, whom she willingly bends the rules to out of respect of his Champion status and his friendship with Urbosa, if it meant that she would get the Thunder Helm back and stop Divine Beast Vah Naboris, but even after Naboris is appeased, Riju isn't willing to repeal that law.
Because of her late mother's death, Riju was forced to take the throne before she was even ready to be the chief, Riju seems to be worried about her qualification for that role, along with the fact that Naboris is ramping in the desert causing lightning sandstorms, and the Thunder Helm, the family heirloom, being stolen by the Yiga Clan while she and Buliara are away investigating the recent behavior of the Divine Beast didn't help her self-doubt as these scenarios are too challenging for her to take on alone. When she first meets Link and realized his connection with Urbosa, Riju saw her hopes of dealing with her situation rising and asks him to retrieve it as she is not in a position to fight, and she needs it to create a barrier that protects her from its lightning. Riju's stress was eased along with her people once Naboris is calmed and relocated to take aim at Hyrule Castle.
While Riju is mature for her age, she is still a child who loves her sand-seal plushies and tries to manage her time wisely, performing her duties as the chief of Gerudo Town during the day, and making time to play with her plushies from sunset to nightfall, which hints that she is living out her childhood as much as she can as she will eventually become an adult. She also cares deeply for her sand seal Patricia, since it was a gift from her mother, and is very close to her. She enjoys sand sealing when she's not on duty.
In Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, is noticeably braver than she previously was and was quick to go back in time to save Urbosa from Thunderblight Ganon and she is shockingly skilled in not only sand seal surfing, but also combat. She retains her inferiority complex as she had quickly regrets believing that she was strong enough to help Urbosa and again when she saw vast numbers of Guardians and monsters surrounding Fort Hateno before the battle. Being the mother figure to Riju as she did Princess Zelda, Urbosa had reassured her that she would not have made it if she had not come, which brings Riju back up. Her words would eventually rub off on Riju when the Gerudo Champion herself becomes flustered by the reinforcements, when it was Riju who reminded her to stay focused and by the time Ganon was defeated, Riju is more confident when she is sent back to her time with Sidon, Yunobo, and Teba.
History[]
End of the Timelines[]
Breath of the Wild[]
Riju is encountered not long after she ascended to her position as the chief of the Gerudo following her mother's death. While investigating Vah Naboris's strange behavior on her sand seal, Patricia, she gets into an accident and Buliara, upon finding her blames herself for the incident and has been more protective of her since. However, their absence led to their heirloom, the Thunder Helm, to be easily stolen by the Yiga Clan. These misfortunes have made Riju more anxious about her role in leadership, not helped that her people often have doubts about her.
When Link arrives at Gerudo Town, disguised as a Hylian vai since voe are strictly prohibited entry due to the belief that having a voe in town would bring certain disaster upon them, he visits Riju's throne room at her palace and introduces himself. She quickly sees through Link's disguise due to the information she holds about the events that occurred during The Great Calamity, but she lets him stick around as long as Link does not reveal his disguise to the Gerudo public as she will have him kicked out of town. Riju asks him to reclaim the Thunder Helm, a Gerudo relic stolen by the Yiga Clan and held at the Yiga Clan Hideout.
After Link completes this task and Master Kohga falls to his death, she tells him to meet her at the South Outpost outside of Gerudo Town, where they will launch their assault on the Divine Beast Vah Naboris. With her Thunder Helm, often sliding to the side of her head since it is still too big for her, they ride their sand seals into the storm where Vah Naboris will become aware of their presence and launch lightning strikes at them. Link must stay inside the field around Riju as much as he can if Vah Naboris is about to strike him to avoid being hit; otherwise, he will take heavy damage. Link must aim Bomb Arrows at Vah Naboris's feet a few times to disable them. Once the Divine Beast is appeased, Riju will wish Link luck as he boards it.
After the Divine Beast and Urbosa's spirit are freed from Thunderblight Ganon, the Gerudo Champion will take back control of Vah Naboris and lead it to the spot where it takes aim at Hyrule Castle where Calamity Ganon is located. Riju will thank Link and reward him with Urbosa's weapons: the Scimitar of the Seven and the Daybreaker shield.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom[]
Following the Upheaval, Gerudo Town is engulfed in a sand shroud and infested with Gibdos. While Buliara and the others take refuge in an underground shelter, Riju goes to the northwest ruins to train.
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity[]
The Calamity is Averted[]
Riju saves Urbosa from Thunderblight Ganon.
Urbosa is fighting a losing battle against Thunderblight Ganon on Divine Beast Vah Naboris and is eventually pushed to her limits, and she collapses in exhaustion and remains defiant as Thunderblight Ganon goes in for the kill, but before Urbosa receive the deadly blow, a time portal from Terrako appears and both Riju and Patricia burst out of it to slam into Thunderblight, preserving Urbosa's life. Urbosa is confused about her sudden presence and Riju insists that they must focus on the fight. Thanks to Riju, Urbosa held on much longer than she would have and were able to hold off the beast despite that they began to struggle again. Riju was hard on herself for thinking she was strong enough, but Urbosa counters that, telling her that her support brought much needed time for Link and the party to arrive and back them up. After Link defeats Thunderblight Ganon, Urbosa stays behind to recover while Riju joins the party to help save Divine Beast Vah Medoh, Revali, and Teba from Windblight Ganon. Urbosa destroys a boulder on Mt. Rhoam to release an updraft for the heroes to paraglide their way to Medoh. They eventually reached the said Divine Beast and defeated Windblight. Urbosa regains her strength and boards Vah Medoh with the rest of the group to thank them for their help and Revali does the same, but in a begrudging manner. Teba was about to comment on that before Urbosa cuts him off and asks Princess Zelda about the fate of Hyrule Castle. Windblight was annihilated by Vah Medoh during its defense of western Hyrule.
Riju and Urbosa after saving the Royal Ancient Lab.
In the Guardian of Remembrance DLC, Urbosa and Riju join forces to defend the Sheikah and the Science Academy from the monsters and the Yiga Clan led by Master Kohga. Once the dust settles and Hylian soldiers regroup with the Gerudo vai soldiers, Urbosa praises Riju for her handling of the Thunder Helm and the latter was about to explain her duties before being interrupted by Kohga swiping the Thunder Helm and placing it on his top knot and taunts Urbosa that she won't hurt him until she unleashed Urbosa's Fury upon him, effectively shocking him. The Thunder Helm is dropped and Riju gets it back. When Master Kohga wants to know why it didn't work, Urbosa retorts that it would take him a hundred years for him to figure out how to properly use it, with Riju staring at him coldly. Pitching a fit, Kohga vows that he will get it, even when it does take that long before vanishing and leaving the Gerudo Chiefs to have their break.
Urbosa takes Riju and heads to Fort Hateno to obliterate large quantities of monstrous armies and infected Guardians that were surrounding the stronghold and are soon overwhelmed, but thankfully, they were soon reinforced by Mipha and Sidon with Ruta, Daruk and Yunobo with Rudania, and Revali and Teba with Medoh. Princess Zelda's sealing power awakens in this area to protect Link from Astor and the resurrected Blight Ganons and Purah used a failsafe to annihilate the Guardians that make up the main part of Ganon's army, shifting the tides in Hyrule's favor. Master Kohga, and the Yiga Clan have reformed due to Astor's treachery against them when he killed many of their Footsoldiers and used their spirits to revive the Blights. King Rhoam also survived the attack at Hyrule Castle thanks to the Ancient Guardian Shield that Zelda gave him earlier.
Riju and Urbosa wait for Zelda's orders.
The Divine Beasts, the Champions and successors are summoned by Purah with the Sheikah Towers along with the tribes across the kingdom, to Hyrule Field and unites them all. Princess Zelda, with her father's approval, takes command of the united army. After the main monsters are destroyed, the barrier around the castle drops and the Divine Beasts, under the command of the Champions, open fire on Ganon to weaken it. However, the Blood Moon rises, and the dead monsters are brought back to life. Despite these events, the army managed to push their way through.
The army charges into Hyrule Castle where Harbinger Ganon and Astor are waiting for them. As a result of the heroes defying the dark prophecy in every way, the seer is losing his composure over the course of these events. The heroes fought and defeated the Blight Ganons for good and they continued upstairs and defeated Harbinger Ganon and Astor, who loses his mind and commands Ganon to destroy the heroes, but he himself was absorbed by Ganon's Malice to achieve its new form, and some of the Malice infects the future Terrako, making it turn against Link and Princess Zelda and were forced to fight it. Riju and the Champions mourn for Terrako and the Princess of Hyrule swears to bring Ganon down once and for all as they charge into the sanctum where Ganon awaited them. The beast proved to be too difficult due to its maximum defense to which they could not make a dent on it, so Zelda tries to use her power to seal it. Terrako gets back up and charges upstairs and jumps between Ganon and the princess, obliterating itself and Ganon's invulnerability. As the heroes weaken it, Link slashes Ganon into two with the Master Sword and Zelda uses her power to finally seal Calamity Ganon away for good.
Riju and Urbosa saying good-bye.
The light returns to the land of Hyrule to mark the end of the second Great Calamity and the restoration of peace. All of the Champions look on in satisfaction and relief as they took a moment to take in the light that they always known. Terrako's blessed screw glows one last time and Riju, Prince Sidon, Teba, and Yunobo returned to their future, but not without exchanging their heartfelt good-byes to their predecessors. Princess Zelda wishes them well and for them to have their future looking bright.
In the secret DLC ending, Riju and Urbosa are having fun sand seal surfing through the desert together as they exchange smiles, and they are later seen with the Champions and interacting with them as Terrako joins in.
Trivia[]
- Her full name is only known via her diary.
| Characters in Hyrule Warriors | |
|---|---|
| Base game | Link • Princess Zelda • Impa • Lana • Princess Ruto • Darunia • Midna • Agitha • Fi • Zant • Ghirahim • Ganondorf • Cia (DLC) • Volga (DLC) • Wizzro (DLC) • Twili Midna (DLC) • Tingle (DLC) • Young Link (DLC) |
| Boss Mode | Ganon • Cucco |
| Legends | Linkle • Toon Link • Tetra • King of Hyrule • Skull Kid • Medli (DLC) • Marin (DLC) • Toon Zelda (DLC) • Ravio (DLC) • Yuga (DLC) |
| Age of Calamity | Link • Princess Zelda • Revali • Princess Mipha • Daruk • Urbosa • Impa • Hestu • Teba • Makeela Riju • Prince Sidon • Yunobo • Master Kohga • King Rhoam • Great Fairy • Monk Maz Koshia • Terrako • Calamity Ganon • Battle-Tested Guardian (DLC) • Purah & Robbie (DLC) • Sooga (DLC) |