chief of the gerudo tribe.

Player: 'Drea
Age: 30+
Invited by: Jen
Contact: sovereignty
Current Characters: N/A

Character: Riju
Canon: Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, post game TOTK
Age: 18-20ish. She is 12 in BOTW and the amount of time that has passed is canonically /handwaves. What we do know is it's long enough for a child to be born and grow to something between 5-10.

Background Information: Riju on Zelda Wiki. The summary of TOTK stops short in the middle, but basically Link and Riju work together to solve the puzzle to unveil the Lightning Temple. There they are confronted by Queen Gibdo, a minion of Ganondorf responsible for the sand shroud plaguing the Gerudo desert. All of this was intended to obscure the location of the secret stone that was once possessed by the Gerudo Sage of Lightning so that a new sage for the modern times could not claim it.

Riju is that descendant and she takes up her new responsibilities in earnest. Proving to be a capable warrior and often times a voice of reason in the fight against the Demon King.

Personality: Under the limit without the questions!
1) Tell us about who your character is and what someone’s first impression would be upon meeting them.

Most people meeting Riju for the first time would probably find her somewhat reserved. Riju is in an interesting position as chief of the Gerudo. She recognizes that she represents her people and that her actions reflect on them. At the same time, her people are just one of the many races that make their home in the Kingdom of Hyrule, which means she still answers to the royal family. As a result, she's developed impressive political acumen for her age.

Upon their first meeting, she treats Link with respect, but she also expects him to prove himself to her. Even with Link only announcing himself by name, Riju recalls old lessons and stories from her mother and identifies him as the Hylian Champion, as well as a man who has infiltrated their town. What follows shows how she's prepared to handle complex situations. Rather than take a hard-line approach, Riju sees an opportunity for them to help one another. Link must do her a favor by retrieving the lightning helm. This benefits them directly, but it also helps her to save face after the helm was stolen, and it solidifies her position as chief.

In groups, Riju often tries to keep her cool and comes off as a voice of reason, likely due to long practice presenting a respectable face. When the sages first come together during the crisis at Hyrule Castle and their first confrontation with Ganondorf, she's the one that approaches the situation rationally, pointing out their enemy's weakness and suggesting that they regroup.

2) What is a driving force your character has? What goals do they have, what motivates them, etc?

Riju's chief motivations stem from her commitment to her people. From the very first moments when we meet her, we see someone who is deeply committed to the responsibility of the crown she wears. She is someone ready to take responsibility and willing to put herself on the front line of any challenges they face. She demonstrates this again and again throughout both games by personally investigating Vah Naboris, traveling together with Link to help him gain access to Vah Naboris, undertaking training to protect the Gerudo from the Gibdo invasion, and agreeing to support Link as the Sage of Lightning.

Riju is someone who simply shows up.

She also has a look of people she looks up to, something that also pushes her. She frequently invokes the memory of the Gerudo Champion Urbosa, believing that Urbosa is watching over them even in death. She even knows of the ancient sage Nabooru which goes to show how well educated she is.

As she grows older, we Riju gains additional allegiances. Based on her journal entries, it's clear that she has gained respect Link and Princess Zelda. She trusts Zelda's advice, likely finding a friend in a fellow ruler who faces similar struggles. When Link appears again to ask for help, she agrees without question despite the problem of the Gibdo. It's not an either-or for her, she'll find a way to do it all.

Finally, it would be remiss not to talk about Riju's mother. Although her mother died shortly before the events of the first game, Riju discusses her often. It's particularly interesting that Riju has such a close relationship with her mother because the Gerudo take a "it takes a village" approach to raising their girls, with many women taking on mentoring roles in a child's life. Yet Riju's mother took care to prepare her for the unique role she would have. Riju loved and respected her and took much of what she said to heart. She certainly hopes to live up to the expectations her mother had for her and become someone her mother could be proud of.

3) What are their flaws as a character? What is something they've messed up, or have done that they regret?

Riju is someone who exemplifies the struggle of a child who was forced to grow up too fast. She's so young that when her mother dies, she struggles to understand what that means. The first game focuses on her journey to succeed in a very adult role as a girl who clearly still has a childish side to her. It's a side she's reluctant to show to others as well. For example, her room is inaccessible in the first game if you try to enter it like a normal person and not a parkour wizard. Upon gaining access, the player will find it full of plushies. By the second game, there are no such restrictions even after Gerudo Town is saved and evidence of those sample plushies is now spread all over town, showing how she's more comfortable with herself, although there's still room to grow.

As a result, Riju came away with a lot of insecurities about her age. She "sees the worry" in the eyes of other Gerudo. This shows she's someone who cares a lot about how people see her, precisely because she's in such an important and visible position. Shortly after her failure to investigate Vah Naboris, her family heirloom is stolen, and she blames herself, questioning if she's really right for the job. Her eventual success gives her more confidence so that when she's older, she's much more capable of tackling her problems head-on on but you still see moments when her old doubts creep in. Her inability to master he lightning powers -- like better women before her who she looks up to -- brings with it a shadow of those old insecurities. Rather than work through them in Gerudo Town, she decides to train alone away from the eyes of her people.

Riju showcases the themes of the two games in her own way. Breath of the Wild is a game that centers on the struggle of the individual -- man against the wild kind of vibes. Riju had to overcome herself in this setting. Conversely, Tears of the Kingdom is a game that focuses on ~*~The power of friendship~*~. This means Riju must learn that she doesn't always have to rely on herself; there are people in her life who are willing to lend a hand if only she reaches out her hand first. Hands are also a theme of the game, so this metaphor really works.

4) Optional: What is something unique and interesting about them, or what is a fun little tidbit that sets them apart from the crowd?

"Creating a Champion" describes Riju as having both "dignity as the chief" and some "childishness appropriate to her age". Nowhere is that childishness more apparent than her love of sand seals. She dotes on her beloved pet Patricia, who was a gift from her mother. Patricia is special enough to reside in her own corner of the palace apart from other sand seals, and Riju is in the habit of visiting with her every day.

Aside from that, her room is filled with plush sand seal toys of multiple colors. As previously mentioned, access to her room is generally restricted to others. As a child concerned with outward appearances, she seemed to hide part of herself that could be mistaken for a sign of weakness. However, by the time the upheaval rolls around, these plush toys are much more prevalent around Gerudo Town and the wider world. Which leaves one to wonder if Riju is responsible for starting some kind of trend with them.

Abilities & Inventory:
- Power of Lightning: Riju can summon lightning strikes on command. It has a small recharge time and her aim is not great. It works best in tandem with a partner who can provide aiming assistance through the use of some kind of conductive projectile.
- Combat skills: The Gerudo have a strong warrior culture and as their leader Riju has trained to stand with the best of them. She's particularly skilled at swordplay, with a preference for dual-wielding. If you were to assign an RPG type to her, she is pure DPS.
- Secret Stone: This designates her as the Sage of Lightning and also amplifies said lightning abilities (once regained). If anyone were to take it from her it would morph to to fit that person's unique abilities instead.
- Scimitar of the Seven x 2
- Patricia: Riju's pet sand seal. Patricia is something of an oracle but only if you feed her the right kind of fruit and only if you can actually understand her.

Corsairs. The Gerudo are largely a tribe of warriors and wandering merchants in Riju's time, though early in their history, they had a reputation for being thieves. Regardless of whether that was a fair assessment of the Gerudo or not, as their chief Riju is a proud defender of their culture centered around commerce and a nomadic life which aligns more with the corsairs. Also, her preferred weapon of choice is dual scimitars and that's basically a fancy cutlass.

Surviving in the harsh desert climate has also molded the Gerudo into a particularly resilient group, affording them the skills to overcome uncertainty with limited resources. No matter the situation that comes their way, they confront it with a flexibility that serves them well both at home as well as out in the wider world. They hold their own when traveling on their own and maintain a fearsome reputation in groups. Which has led to some of the more unsavory prejudices held against them in the past (due in no small part to Ganondorf thanks dude).

Test Drive Sample:
TDM Toplevel

Questions: None!