The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks/Characters

The characters found in the Nintendo DS game The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks.

Main Protagonists

Link

Link returns yet again, in this incarnation as a young boy just setting out to get his train engineer's certificate from Princess Zelda.

• Badass Adorable
• Beware the Nice Ones
• Bow and Sword in Accord
• Blow You Away: The Pinwheel tool, new to the series.
• Chaste Hero: Although there is a Puppy Love of him and Zelda.
• Cool Train: Both in and out of universe. Better yet, you can upgrade it to many other looks, all cool.
• The Dulcinea Effect: Despite having just met Zelda, he's willing to throw himself between her and the guy who just kicked an adult master swordsman's ass.
• The Hero
• Heroic Mime
• Identical Stranger/Identical Grandson: No connection is ever made between this Link and Wind Waker/Phantom Hourglass Link, but whatever the case may be, he is identical in almost every way. The character model and animations are reused from Phantom Hourglass.
• Instant Expert: He's a train engineer, not a warrior, who needs to be trained how to use a sword at all. He's instantly an expert at every weapon and tool he picks up from that point onward.
• Jaw Drop: Several times, beginning with seeing Princess Zelda for the first time, accompanied by Blush Stickers.
• Kid Hero
• Kleptomaniac Hero/Rewarding Vandalism: I'm sorry, were those rupees stored in that pot inside your house yours?
• Knight in Shining Armor
• Nice Hat
• Parental Abandonment: Who and where his parents are is completely unknown, despite his apparent young age.
• Precision-Guided Boomerang: Even more precise than normal for this trope, since you can draw the path the boomerang will take with the stylus and, barring it smacking into anything solid, it will follow it exactly.
• The Southpaw
• Wall of Weapons/Hammerspace: By the end of the game, he's carrying a sword, shield, pinwheel, boomerang, whip, bow, and probably the optional bombs. And that's not counting the pan pipes, stacks of letters, potions, and treasure.
• Whip It Good

Zelda

The princess of Hyrule, although she and her country are mainly governed by her chancellor. She seeks Link's help for a clandestine trip to the Tower of Spirits when he comes to her for his license.

• Action Girl/Badass Damsel: She starts as a garden-variety Damsel in Distress (with a Lampshade hung on it for good measure), then gradually becomes this more and more as she possesses phantoms. In the final battle she takes up a bow and fights with Link.
• Animated Armor/Body Surf: She can posses the Phantoms.
• The Archer
• Demonic Possession: Malladus possesses her empty shell.
• Damsel in Distress: Strangely, both played straight and played with. Her body is kidnapped and needs to be rescued for most of the game, but her spirit accompanies you and grows into her Badass Damsel role over time.
• Eek! A Mouse!/Why Did It Have To Be Mice: She cowers in fear when a rat approaches her - which is hilarious, since she's in Animated Armor form at the time this happens and could thus squash the rat with a tap of her foot.
• Everything's Better with Princesses
• Exposition Fairy/Fairy Companion
• Identical Granddaughter: She looks exactly like Tetra did when she turned back into Zelda in Wind Waker.
• Ironic Echo: After Cole betrayed Byrne, Zelda stated that when she gets her body back, she's "gonna have a couple of words" with Byrne (which her motions imply that she wants to beat him up). Byrne later reminds her of that statement when holding Malladus back so Zelda could regain control of her body (and ultimately paying the price for it).
• Legacy Character: Somewhat unique amongst other Zelda's in that she is confirmed to be directly related to another. Specifically, according to Word of God, she's Tetra's granddaughter.
• Our Ghosts Are Different/Cute Ghost Girl
• Parental Abandonment
• Princesses Prefer Pink: Any phantom she possesses turns pink, including their glowing eyes.
• Properly Paranoid: She wanted to have Link aid her in escaping the castle, as she suspected that Chancellor Cole was not trustworthy. She's right. Unfortunately, Cole doesn't allow her to live long enough to reveal his plans to anyone else.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something
• Tsundere: Type B, unlike her grandmother.

Main Antagonists

Malladus

The main villain of Spirit Tracks is an evil demon that was sealed in the earth long ago, bound by the Tower of Spirits and the Spirit Tracks themselves. He makes his return when Chancellor Cole steals Zelda's body and uses it as a vessel for his spirit.

• Bigger Bad: The keys to Chancellor Cole's plans, while mostly remaining beneath a giant tower.
• Demonic Possession
• Evil Is Not a Toy: Cole and Byrne learn this the hard way.
• Expy / Jack the Ripoff / Suspiciously Similar Substitute: He looks and behaves a lot like Ganon. His final form is a giant boar-like demon, and he possesses Zelda at one point, just like Ganon did in Twilight Princess.
• Large Ham: While having three lines total in the whole game, none of which have voice acting behind them outside of the trademark Zelda "Hyyaaaahhh!" each of them still manages to be incredibly hammy.
• Sealed Evil in a Can

Chancellor Cole

The corrupt chancellor of Hyrule in Spirit Tracks who attacks Zelda and steals her body early in the game. He later serves as the vessel for Malladus's spirit in the final boss fight.

• Big Bad
• Black Eyes of Evil: He has reverse-coloured eyes, with black scleras and white irises.
• Dangerously Genre Savvy: Shows several instances of it. First he skips the elaborate plans and splits Zelda's soul from her body at the beginning of the game, and then, later on he uses Zelda's fear of mice against her in a boss battle.
• Dastardly Whiplash
• Evil Chancellor: With particular disdain in regards to the latter part (he thought it would be a position of power, but it ultimately turned out to just mean "royal babysitter")
• Giggling Villain: Keeps laughing during his battle with Link.
• Nice Hat: Two of them.
• Obviously Evil: Come on, just look at him.
• Punny Name
• Red Right Hand: He wears two top hats to conceal his prominent horns.
• Scare Chord
• Slasher Smile
  • Smug Smiler
• Sleazy Politician
• Smug Snake: Subverted. He is incredibly annoying and perpetually smug, but is actually an effective threat.
• The Unfought: He only aids in the first round of the final battle, he is never fought himself.

Byrne

Byrne (or Staven in the European English translation) is Chancellor Cole's right-hand man in Spirit Tracks. He is a renegade member of the Lokomo tribe who turned away from the Spirits of Good and served the Demon King. After Cole betrays him, Byrne helps Link and Zelda defeat Malladus.

• Arm Cannon: His main weapon is his oversized mechanical arm that he uses as a grappling hook.
• Badass
• Deceptive Disciple: He was once Anjean's apprentice, but he betrayed her and served the Demon King.
• The Dragon
• Face Heel Turn: See Deceptive Disciple.
• Heel Face Turn: Then Cole betrays Byrne. Byrne then decides to help Link and Zelda.
• Redemption Equals Death
  • Only Mostly Dead
    • Reincarnation

The Lokomos

Anjean

A woman of the Lokomo tribe, who is in charge of protecting the Tower of Spirits. She has powers similar to a Sage's, and is often refered to as one by Zelda (along with the other Lokomo Guardians), but she doesn't seem to agree with this term. Anjean apparently used to be Tetra's (The Princess Zelda of The Wind Waker) best girlfriend after they met in New Hyrule, which explains them wearing their hair in a similar fashion.

• Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: Her ultimate fate, along with Byrne and the rest of the Lokomo, who depart to the heavens after Malladus' final defeat, confident that New Hyrule is safe in Link and Zelda's hands.
• Badass Grandma: It's easy to forget, given that it happened offscreen, but she managed to fight Byrne to a standstill.
• Cool Old Lady: She seems to have picked up one or two habits from Tetra, which makes her an interesting character, especially standing next to Zelda, who is descended from Tetra but a little different in personality.
• Magic Music: The Spirit Flute used to belong to her, until she gave it to Tetra.
• Ms. Exposition
• Punny Name: Engine.

The Bystanders

Niko

Link's roommate, who is prone to rambling on about history (and a young man that Link reminds him of).

• Continuity Nod: He's the same Niko from The Wind Waker and Phantom Hourglass.
• Sidequest: He dispenses the stamp sidequest.

Alfonzo

Link's mentor and a famous train engineer. Prior to becoming an engineer, he was a master swordsman and a member of the royal guard.

• Generation Xerox/Identical Grandson: Of Gonzo, though he has a more dignified personality.
• The Obi-Wan: Link's older mentor who gets sidelined by injury early in the game.
• Retired Badass: Although it's more of an Informed Ability, since the one and only time we see him with a sword he gets his ass handed to him. Granted, the person doing the asskicking is insanely powerful, but it still undermines the "badass" part.