Terrako

Terrako is an unlockable playable character in Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity. A small, three-legged Guardian built by Princess Zelda in her childhood to comfort her after her mother, the Queen of Hyrule, passed away, Terrako proves to be a vital key in creating an alternate timeline for Hyrule against Calamity Ganon that ends on a much, brighter note compared to the original timeline in Breath of the Wild.

Role in Game
Terrako is first seen lying dormant in its box in Zelda's study in Hyrule Castle Citadel as the castle and the surrounding area is besieged by Guardian Stalkers during the Great Calamity as first seen in Breath of the Wild. When Zelda awakens her dormant sealing magic granted to her by Hylia and the Triforce, Terrako is awakened as a result. Upon climbing out of its box and surveying things from the window, hearing Zelda's heartfelt plea that she needs to protect everyone as she tries to save Link, tired and exhausted, and fatally wounded, along with Fort Hateno, from Calamity Ganon, Terrako knows what it must do now, and playing a magical flute-like tune, opens a time portal to travel into the past to right what has gone wrong. Before it can leap in, the door to Zelda's study is smashed to splinters, nearing knocking Terrako out the window in the process. When it recovers, it sees that a Guardian Stalker, glowing with Calamity Ganon's Malice, broke down the door, but upon being unable to squeeze through the smaller frame, begins targeting Terrako with its eye laser. Realizing it has to go now, Terrako leaps for the time portal, dodging the Stalker's eye laser a split-second after it attained lock-on and fires. However, the laser grazes the windowsill, and the resulting explosion flings Terrako into the time portal, leaving the devastated Breath of the Wild Hyrule behind as it heads back to try and save it in the past to create a better future for it in an alternate timeline. However, before the portal can close completely, Ganon, refusing to let the past be altered for the better of Hyrule, has the Stalker bleed off tendrils of Malice to follow Terrako into the past to ensure Ganon's revival is assured and the past remains unaltered.

The Malice tracks down the dormant Terrako of the past and corrupts it, turning it into Harbinger Ganon, which seeks out Astor and acts as a communicator between Astor and Ganon, asking Astor to ensure that the future in Breath of the Wild comes to pass. Meanwhile, Terrako itself is found by Link while he is dealing with an attack in Hyrule Field with the rest of the Hyrulean Army. Before Link can investigate further, he spots Impa fleeing from a group of Bokoblins. She stumbles and loses the Sheikah Slate she was holding on to, but upon getting near Terrako, the Slate activates, as does Terrako, and acting quickly, Terrako summons the Central Sheikah Tower, scaring off the Bokoblins that were chasing Impa, and triggering the first of several events that would alter this Hyrule's future for the better versus the Hyrule back in the Breath of the Wild timeline.

Shortly after the monsters are defeated, Zelda emerges from the castle. As Link kneels before his Princess and Impa speaks to Zelda, who is relieved to see her Sheikah friend is alright, Terrako, recognizing Zelda, rushes towards her, before being picked up by Link. Nevertheless, Impa shows Zelda the Sheikah Slate and explains how it activated in Terrako's presence and summoned the Sheikah Tower. Convinced that Terrako knows something, Zelda goes before her father, who agrees to allow Zelda to take Terrako to the Royal Science Academy to be analyzed by Purah and Robbie, with Link and Impa acting as her escorts. As they head there, Harbinger Ganon possesses a dormant Guardian Stalker and has it attempt to attack Zelda. Luckily, Terrako is able to activate some dormant Decayed Guardians to weaken the corrupted Guardian Stalker so it can be destroyed, but the encounter leaves Zelda, Impa, and Link concerned about how that happened. As they head to the Academy, they are unaware that Harbinger Ganon is watching them before slipping away unnoticed.

Inside, Robbie and Purah are able to comb Terrako's memory banks and show on the Sheikah Slate what they found: Images of Hyrule Castle Town and Hyrule Castle being devastated by the Great Calamity. Realizing that Hyrule is in grave danger, Zelda tells her father of Purah and Robbie's findings, and King Rhoam sends her, together with Link, Impa, and Terrako, to gather the Champions who will pilot the Divine Beasts. In Rito Village, Link and Impa are attacked by Revali and his Rito warriors, until Zelda intervenes just as Revali was about to fire a potentially lethal shot at Link's back, before Zelda's shouts make him hesitate, allowing Link to block the strike. Revali explains that Rito Village was attacked by something that looked identical to Terrako recently, so when he saw Link with Terrako, he thought the look-alike had returned for another round, and thus the hostility. In Zora's Domain, Zora King Dorephan is initially against having his daughter, Crown Princess Mipha, pilot Divine Beast Vah Ruta against Calamity Ganon. However, after Mipha rescues her younger brother, Prince Sidon, from the Lynel that lives on Ploymus Mountain, upon seeing the Lynel return with reinforcements, Terrako suggests bringing Vah Ruta into action via the Sheikah Slate. At Death Mountain, Daruk is more than happy to pilot Vah Rudania once he gets it out of the crater of the volcano, though Terrako is shocked when Link digs into Daruk's favorite food, Prime Rock Roast. In the Gerudo Desert, Terrako has to be carried by Impa as they escape the Gerudo vai warriors that chase after them until fighting their way into Gerudo Town to speak with the current Chieftain, Urbosa. However, as Urbosa is about to strike Zelda herself, she is suddenly electrocuted harshly by lightning and collapses, triggered by the real Urbosa having just returned and seen what was going on. After proving herself the authentic version by calling Zelda "Little Bird", Urbosa protects Zelda with Link, Impa, and her vai honor guards as the fake Urbosa reveals herself to really be Yiga Clan leader Master Kohga, who summons several of his warriors to battle the heroes while he bugs out, to his warriors' confusion, and that of even the good guys, including Terrako. Although Kohga escapes later thanks to his right hand Sooga, Urbosa agrees to pilot Divine Beast Vah Naboris against Calamity Ganon.

Back in Castle Town, Zelda is with Link, Daruk, and Mipha when they are ambushed by Sooga and the Yiga Clan, backed up by Ganon's monsters. At one point, Sooga manages to get behind Zelda and fires three kunai at her. Though Terrako heroically jumps up to block them and protect Zelda, its moment of glory is ruined when Link smacks it away to block the kunai himself with his shield. After Sooga orders a retreat, Terrako scolds Link for ruining its heroic moment with protecting Zelda. Later, Terrako joins the Champions as they head into Korok Forest to recover the Master Sword, meeting Hestu, and having a run-in with Astor, though Astor retreats once Link gains possession of the Master Sword. On the way back to Castle Town, when Zelda starts to feel despondent with how Link has the Master Sword now, but her own sealing magic has not surfaced yet, Terrako comforts her with playing Zelda's Lullaby. This causes Zelda to have a flashback of Terrako lulling her to sleep when she was younger with that same song, but before Zelda can fully remember, more of Ganon's monsters attack, disrupting the moment.

After Link and the other Champions are given their Champion attire and are celebrating later on the Central Sheikah Tower, when Terrako argues that it is a knight or Champion as well, Impa tries to scold it, but Terrako deliberately smacks Impa's hand away every time, further angering her at Terrako's disrespect in front of Zelda since Terrako won't, or can't, accept otherwise. Terrako's squabble with Impa soon gets Revali involved, forcing him to take flight to escape being a part of it, much to his own disgust at their behavior. Later, as Zelda and Link are walking down a corridor of Hyrule Castle, King Rhoam confronts them regarding Zelda focusing more on the Divine Beasts than awakening her sealing magic. When Terrako tries to talk to the King, though Rhoam seems to recognize it, it is when Zelda gives him a Sheikah disc that she had been researching with her mother before the Queen passed away that Rhoam softens and allows Zelda to continue her research. Soon enough, through further investigation into the Sheikah Towers, Purah discovers several more dotting the landscape around Hyrule. Once the rest of them have been activated, including the final one at Akkala Citadel, despite interference from Sooga and the Yiga Clan, they are able to pinpoint the Yiga Clan's main hideout, and with Urbosa clearing the way with Vah Naboris, they attack and defeat Kohga and Sooga, forcing them to retreat.

Despite that victory, Impa delivers grim news to King Rhoam: Upon further scanning of Terrako's memory banks by Robbie and Purah, it has been discovered that Calamity Ganon's return is to occur on Zelda's 17th birthday. With time running short before that day arrives, King Rhoam sends Zelda to the Spring of Courage to try and awaken her sealing magic there. When she fails to awaken it, Zelda chooses to head to Mount Lanayru to train at the Spring of Wisdom as soon as she turns 17, thus granting her access to the mountain as anyone under 17 is prohibited from setting foot on Mount Lanayru. In the meantime, Terrako undergoes further analysis by Robbie and Purah, but as they check the Sheikah Slate for their latest info extracted from Terrako's memory banks, they barely have time to react before they find themselves being held at blade-point by two Yiga Clan spies that infiltrated the Academy as some of their Sheikah staff, with other Yiga spies holding their real staff members hostage. However, seeing an opportunity, Purah tosses the Sheikah Slate to Terrako, who grabs it and flees before the Yiga spies can stop it, heading straight to meet up with Zelda, Impa, and Link. Just as Impa and Zelda are checking the Sheikah Slate to see what was so important for Terrako to bring it to them, the seal on Calamity Ganon ruptures, and the being of Malice and evil incarnate engulfs Hyrule Castle. After Link, Zelda, and Impa are forced to flee from the corrupted Guardian Stalkers at the apparent cost of King Rhoam and his Royal Guard sacrificing their lives to give them time to escape, Impa shows Zelda the images from Terrako's memory banks of the Divine Beasts from the Breath of the Wild timeline fully under Ganon's control. Fearing that because she failed to awaken her sealing magic, Hyrule will fall, and it's all her fault, Zelda breaks down in guilt and grief. Terrako tries to comfort her with Zelda's Lullaby again, but as Zelda cries in frustration and guilt, one tear lands on Terrako's eye. In that instant, Terrako shines with a holy light that causes Zelda to stop crying and stare at him in shock before, playing the same tune that it played to open the time portal into the past, Terrako apparently opens up four more time portals, but they shoot off in several directions, their locations unknown. After that happens, Zelda, Impa, and Link stare at him in bewilderment, before hearing the cry of Divine Beast Vah Medoh, Revali's Divine Beast, they see that, despite it trailing Malice from the wings, its circuits still flicker with blue light, indicating Revali is still in control and holding on. Realizing Terrako may have given them hope and a chance to save the Divine Beasts and their Champions to tip the scales of the war in Hyrule's favor, Zelda, Link, and Impa head to rescue the Champions.

It turns out that Terrako's earlier summoning of the time portals had brought the future Champions from the Breath of the Wild timeline back to save their predecessors and the Divine Beasts from the Blight Ganons. Thanks to the reinforcements in Teba, Yunobo, the older Sidon, and Riju with her sand seal Patricia, Urbosa, Revali, Daruk, and Mipha are able to hold their own against the Blight Ganons until Link arrives to assist them and slay the Blight Ganons, keeping the Divine Beasts under Hyrule's control, giving them a valuable advantage against the Calamity. Later, Zelda realizes what Terrako had done after Sidon explained how he came back to help Mipha, and thanks it for its help before telling everyone that their next stop is Akkala Citadel to help the Hyrulean Army there hold the line and defend the fortress. With the support of Vah Ruta, Sidon, and Mipha, the Citadel is saved, giving the Hyrulean Army a much needed morale boost, and rescuing Robbie as well, who had taken refuge there after escaping the Yiga spies at the Academy, while Purah fled to Fort Hateno. Heading to the fort to defend it as well, Link, Zelda, and Impa are intercepted by Astor, who summons the Blight Ganons to attack Zelda again. Link faces them, despite it being 4-against-1, while Impa takes Zelda to safety. However, after losing her father, Zelda can't bear to lose Link as well, and manages to wrestle herself free of Impa and rushes back to aid Link. In the process, her dormant sealing magic finally awakens, stunning the Blight Ganons, and shutting down the corrupted Guardians by purging them of the Malice infecting them, saving Fort Hateno. Purah then activates a failsafe she developed to deactivate or destroy most of the Guardians under Ganon's control, delivering a huge blow to Ganon's army as, without the Guardians, Ganon has lost his main means to raze Hyrule to the ground, leaving only a handful to reinforce his monsters as the Divine Beasts purge Hyrule Field of Ganon's forces and Master Kohga defects to Zelda's side to seek retribution on Astor for using Kohga's Yiga warriors as a blood sacrifice to revive the Blight Ganons. Later, after defending the Great Plateau from Ganon's forces, Zelda heads to the Temple of Time to discover that King Rhoam is still alive after she thought he died protecting her as she fled the castle.

It turns out that the Sheikah artifact that Zelda gave King Rhoam earlier was responsible for saving his life. When the Guardian Stalkers were preparing to shoot and kill him and his Royal Guard, the artifact reacted, and Rhoam held it up as the Stalkers fired, causing a Guardian Shield to appear and deflect the lasers back at the Stalkers, stunning them long enough for Rhoam to order his Royal Guard to withdraw before the automatons recovered. After Zelda and her father make amends, Rhoam declares the time has come to take back Hyrule Castle and orders all their forces to rendezvous in Hyrule Field for the siege. After Purah uses the Sheikah Towers to teleport the Divine Beasts to Link, Zelda, Rhoam, Impa, and Terrako's location with additional reinforcements in the Gorons, Zoras, Rito, and Gerudo, alongside Kohga and his Yiga rejoining the Sheikah, Rhoam passes command of the united Hyrule forces to his daughter, and after a heartfelt speech, Zelda gives the command to advance and take back Hyrule Castle from Ganon.

Once the united coalition has advanced deep enough into entering the castle courtyard, they are confronted by Astor, joined by Harbinger Ganon, causing Zelda to recoil in shock when she sees that Harbinger Ganon looks just like Terrako before it transforms into its battle form. After besting Astor and Harbinger Ganon in combat, pushed to his breaking point, Astor orders Calamity Ganon to consume the heroes, but as Sooga has forewarned earlier, Calamity Ganon is no one's puppet, and instead consumes Astor, destroying the past Terrako/Harbinger Ganon in the process as Ganon creates a perfected body for itself. As Calamity Ganon roars in victory after gaining a physical form, Malice shoots from all over it, with some hitting Terrako, who is unable to avoid it this time, resulting in where Terrako finds itself struggling to maintain control, but finally submits to the Malice's influence, and fires at Zelda as it succumbs to Ganon's infection, forcing Link to fight it until he manages to purge Terrako of the Malice, but at the cost of Terrako being critically damaged. As Zelda checks to see if Terrako is alright, Terrako tries one last time to play Zelda's Lullaby before shutting down completely, at which point, Zelda finally remembers Terrako as she flashes back to when she first brought him to life and showed it to her mother, the Queen of Hyrule, then when Terrako comforted her after the Queen passed away, and then when King Rhoam confiscated Terrako, seeing it as a distraction to Zelda's studies and preparation for facing the Great Calamity, despite the young Zelda's pleas not to take Terrako away, only for King Rhoam to apologize as he had no other choice.

After finally remembering Terrako completely, Zelda is filled with a burning passion of hatred and fury towards Calamity Ganon, and promises, right then and there, with the Champions, her father, Impa, and Link in attendance, that the being of Malice and evil incarnate will fall, once and for all. However, despite their best attacks, Calamity Ganon proves invincible to their strikes. When Zelda is nearly crushed by debris before Link deflects it, and in return, Zelda uses her sealing magic to block Calamity Ganon's ferocious attack, in the process, Zelda's power once more brings Terrako to life, despite its critically-damaged condition, and sensing that Zelda needs it one more time, Terrako is able to muster the strength to move again, rush into the castle, and just as Zelda is about to be overpowered by Ganon, Terrako heroically rushes in and flings itself towards Calamity Ganon, self-destructing right in Ganon's face. Terrako's kamikaze attack shatters Ganon's defenses, leaving him no longer invincible and now vulnerable to attack. Once the heroes deliver enough damage to him, Link delivers the finisher with cleaving Ganon in half with the Master Sword, before Zelda then uses her sealing magic to imprison Ganon once more, despite Ganon attempting one last attack on her, only for the attack to be deflected, before Ganon is overwhelmed by Zelda's power.

Some time later, Hyrule is finally safe and free of Ganon's influence. As Zelda, Link, Impa, and the Champions gather on the castle balcony to overlook a freed Hyrule, the screw that Terrako left behind after heroically sacrificing itself to render Ganon vulnerable begins to glow, as do the future Champions. With Hyrule safe, their job is done, and it is time for them to return home to the Breath of the Wild timeline, yet at least they leave with the knowledge that they helped save the Hyrule of an alternate timeline, along with the original Champions. After exchanging final goodbyes, Teba, Yunobo, Sidon, and Riju with Patricia, are returned home, and Zelda holds the leftover screw from Terrako close, happy that Terrako's efforts ensured Hyrule will survive and prosper compared to the Breath of the Wild timeline in which Hyrule's salvation took another 100 years to be completed.

A little while later, Zelda, Impa, Link, and the Champions work to recover as many of Terrako's scattered pieces that they can in a bid to rebuild him. When they've collected enough, Robbie and Purah get right to work. When they add the screw back in, Terrako begins to wake up and reactivate, but it initially appears that its memory banks might have been damaged as it shows no reaction to any of them as it looks around the room. Only after Impa tries smacking Terrako before Zelda steps in to stop her that, upon seeing Zelda, Terrako fully recovers and sounds as cheerful and active as it was before its heroic sacrifice. As everyone laughs and chuckles at seeing Terrako is back, Zelda takes her old friend in her arms and hugs him before, with tears of joy in her eyes, welcomes Terrako home. Unaware that Zelda was crying tears of joy, not sadness or grief, Terrako tries to comfort her once more with Zelda's Lullaby, much to Zelda's happiness and amusement.

Gameplay
A: Fires its special attack of a powerful Guardian laser from its eye.

Quotes

 * "(Plays Zelda's Lullaby)"
 * "(Beeps and whistles)"