Daruk

Daruk is a playable character in Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity. A Goron warrior who possesses the power to deflect attacks. He cares deeply for his fellow Gorons. Now, he is entrusted with piloting Divine Beast Vah Rudania.

Role in Games
Hailing from Goron City in Hyrule’s Eldin Canyon region, Daruk was considered a powerful warrior among his people due to his great fighting ability and skill with his sword Boulder Breaker. This led him to be chosen by King Rhoam and Princess Zelda to become the Goron Champion to pilot Divine Beast Vah Rudania. Link, Zelda, Impa, and Terrako; the Guardian who came from the future to warn of the future events that will occur, they travel to Goron City to find a potential Champion and meet with Daruk, who happily accepts his calling to pilot Vah Rudania and accompanies Zelda’s party to climb up Death Mountain to reach and activate Van Rudania, but they had to deal with the invasion of various monsters that disrupt the work at the Goron Mines, and they needed to capture the outposts to secure the mines and eventually dealt with Igneo Talus. They find Divine Beast Vah Rudania inside the volcanic crater and Daruk boards it to take control of it in order to fend off all of the monsters from the city and destroying a ton of Igneo Taluses. Daruk eventually gets the hang of controlling Vah Rudania despite having a bit of trouble at the start. Daruk accepts their offer to use the Divine Beast to drive Calamity Ganon back and is also impressed with Link as they became sworn brothers after bonding over their mutual love for food (though Daruk's insatiable appetite was mainly reserved for Rock Roast) and he offers him a Prime Rock Roast, which he chows down with a straight face, leaving Impa, Princess Zelda, and Terrako shocked, but Daruk realized that he doesn't have enough for them, but promises that he will try to remember to provide enough next time.

After all the Champions are recruited, Daruk walks with the others through Castle Town where he develops a big brother-little sister bond with the Zora Princess, Mipha, who asks him for help with her training. They are soon attacked by the Yiga Clan led by Sooga and some of Ganon's minions. While they were able to fend them off, with a Hinox serving as a boss enemy, it was all a trap to leave Princess Zelda helpless and vulnerable to Sooga's kunai blades, but Link manages to intervene and block the attacks just in time, and Sooga is forced to call for a retreat. Daruk joins Link, Princess Zelda, and the other three Champions as they journey to Korok Forest where Revali uses Divine Beast Vah Medoh against a horde of giant monsters before letting them know that it is okay for them to proceed. While navigating the forest, Mipha makes a statement about the fog, which Revali scoffs that they're probably going in circles since they couldn't see a thing, but Daruk chastises him, with Revali shooting back that he could not see through the mist, even when he is flying. They find themselves helping the giant Korok, Hestu around the monster infested woods. They soon encounter vague appearances of Malice and four Malice creatures (known as Hollows) take the form of the Champions themselves including that of Daruk, created by Astor. Link and Zelda are cornered by the Prophet of Doom, where the former's standard sword is destroyed and rush at Zelda on Astor's orders, but the Master Sword responds to their situation and Link's will to defend her, by emitting a powerful light to dispel the evil Hollows and pulls it out of the pedistal. Astor eventually retreats upon learning that he doesn't stand a chance against the power of the Blade of Evil's Bane. Daruk and the other Champions meet with the Great Deku Tree, who lets them know they are ready and assures Zelda that she will awaken her power, which the princess strongly doubts due to her countless attempts to accomplish this. They make their way back to Hyrule Castle, only to be met with more of Ganon's forces. After accomplishing the task, Daruk and the Hyrulean Soldiers cheer Link on when he eats some edibles as Zelda and Urbosa look on. Daruk and his friends are declared the official Champions of Hyrule and are given their new attire. Daruk replaces one of his chains with the scarf that cements his status. While Terrako and Impa fight, Daruk agrees to assist Mipha with her training. They eventually return home to prepare for the following events, with King Rhoam evacuating the civilians to minimize possible casualties and some reinforcements retreat to Akkala Citadel and Fort Hateno to raise their defenses, since the fall of these strongholds would mean that Hyrule's fall is certain.

Robbie and Purah continue to research Terrako but are suddenly held at spear-point as their staff were Yiga Clan members in disguise. Purah tosses the Sheikah Slate to Terrako and tells it to flee. Just as Terrako arrives at Hyrule Castle to warn Zelda, Calamity Ganon's seal suddenly ruptures and Hyrule Castle is covered in darkness. Daruk was the first person to notice the event unfold and the Sheikah Towers lose their power, which cuts him off from the other Champions and was left without a choice but to head to his Divine Beast. King Rhoam tells Link, Zelda, Terrako, and Impa to leave despite the fact that the now corrupted Guardians have him and the Royal Guard at gunpoint and presumably dies from their lasers. Meanwhile, Daruk is fighting against Fireblight Ganon within Divine Beast Vah Rudania and used Daruk's Protection to shield himself often against the attacks, but a very powerful attack shatters his forcefield, leaving him completely vulnerable as Fireblight hurls jets of fire at him, with Daruk remaining defiant to his potential death. However, before he is slain, Terrako had already created four time portals through Zelda's grief earlier, which in Daruk's case, summons Yunobo from the future and blocks the attack with a similar forcefield, leaving Daruk shocked that Yunobo is also capable of using his power. They fight the monster, but they eventually start to struggle again. After Mipha and Sidon are saved from Waterblight Ganon, Mipha stays behind to assist in cooling a river of lava to allow Link and the heroes to cross over. Yunobo's intervention has brought enough time for Link and his companions reach Vah Rudania and provide backup and they eventually destroy Fireblight Ganon, allowing Daruk to regain control over his Divine Beast and securing his safety. They are joined by Mipha and an older Prince Sidon, and Daruk asks Zelda about Hyrule Castle's fate. Yunobo is excited to meet Daruk, though Daruk tells him not to address him with any formalities and proceeds to destroy the bridges to prevent the corrupted Guardians from attacking an important outpost and annihilating any foes that have already crossed over.

In the Guardian of Remembrance DLC, Daruk brings Yunobo to Kakariko Village upon seeing a horde of monsters and an army of Yiga Clan soldiers led by Sooga and assists with defending the town and ensuring they did not succeed. After the battle, the crowd of Sheikah cheer for them as Daruk waves back and casts a quick glance at Yunobo, who saw this and panics, to Daruk's confusion as Yunobo refused to be called a hero and explains that he used to be a coward who was always scared of everything until a certain friend came into his life and helped him overcome most of his traits, which was the reason why he came to the past to protect Daruk. Pleased with this, Daruk takes Yunobo's wrist and raises it and creates another round of applause from the crowd and tells him that he is proud to have him as his descendant and dubs him the Champion of the Future, and to give his friend his regards, which brings Yunobo's spirits back up.

He joins the other Champions, whose lives are also spared from their fates by their future counterparts; in an effort to save Akkala Citadel and Fort Hateno from falling to Ganon's hands. With Purah having created a failsafe to wipe out Ganon's powerful forces mainly consisting of Guardian Stalkers, and Zelda's eventual awakening of her dormant power, giving Hyrule an advantage over their foes. Zelda rallies her troops to never give in and to embrace hope for their victory and is soon met with a newly reformed Kohga and his surviving army who sides with her, since Astor had betrayed them and used the souls of the fallen members to revive the Blight Ganons earlier. They make their way to the Great Plateau to take control of it, and Zelda is reunited with her father, who still lives thanks to the Ancient Guardian Shield that she gave him earlier to deflect the lasers meant to cut his life short. His survival gives his troops a morale boost and they head to Hyrule Field, where Purah was able to bring the Sheikah Towers' power back online, which brings all of the tribes across Hyrule together as a single Allied Coalition, with Zelda and King Rhoam as their commanders and proceeded to take back Hyrule Castle. Astor is becoming increasingly unhinged and agitated as he vows to ensure that his prophecy comes true. Daruk and the warriors fight off several monster forces and destroyed the Blight Ganons for good. After they defeat Harbinger Ganon, a crazed Astor loses what was left of his sanity and shouts for Ganon to devour the heroes, only to be consumed by its Malice. This process causes Terrako to become corrupted and attack Link and Zelda, but they were able to best it. The Princess fully remembers Terrako's role in her past, while Daruk and the heroes mourn for the severely damaged Little Guardian and Zelda angrily assures that Calamity Ganon will fall. They head upstairs to the Sanctum where Ganon awaited them, but they weren't able to inflict any harm to it and Zelda resorted to using her power. Terrako barely manages to get up and runs upstairs to sacrifice itself to bring down the beast's defenses, making it more vulnerable to general attacks. After a long difficult battle, Link uses the Sword that Seals the Darkness to clieve Ganon and Princess Zelda uses her power to seal the monster away for good, ending the war and returning piece to Hyrule. Daruk and the other Champions say their good-byes to their future counterparts as they return to the future and look on as their future is looking brighter than ever before.

Daruk contributes with his friends to search for fifty of Terrako's components across Hyrule, where they eventually succeeded in finding all of them with effort. Terrako is reassembled and functioning normally, bringing much joy to the heroes and is reunited with the Princess. Following its reconstruction with the end credits, he is greeted by the little Guardian and later they are at Hyrule Castle, where Daruk gives his friends in his time a group hug.

During the secret DLC ending, Daruk and Yunobo hang out on the high cliff of Death Mountain, enjoying the sights as well as their Rock Roasts. Later, Daruk hangs out with the rest of the Champions, present and future as Terrako joins in, much to their amusement. After that, Daruk is seen with his fellow pilots, who are all back into their original attires which meant that they served their duties well, and watch Zelda take off on a paraglider with Terrako in tow and admires the scenery and agrees that the kingdom was worth protecting.

Personality
Daruk is a brave and happy-go-lucky Goron whose passion and strong comradeship make him a good leader in his own right. He tends to be loud when in battle and dislikes showing weakness like his childhood fear of dogs.

Powers and Abilities
Daruk has the ability to generate a red barrier around himself, called Daruk's Protection, which shields him from attacks from all sides. In Breath of the Wild, he bestows it to Link as a reward for defeating Fireblight Ganon. Additionally, his descendant Yunobo can also use Daruk's Protection to protect himself when being shot out of a cannon.

His trademark weapon is the Boulder Breaker, the strongest Goron-made two-handed sword. Coupled with his own physical strength, Daruk is truly a formidable opponent to any foe who stands in his way.

Quotes
See also: Daruk/Quotes