Hero's Spirit

:"White Wolf" redirects here. For the recurring enemy in series, see White Wolfos.
The Encyclopedia, Dark Horse Books, pg. 276, also known as the Hero’s Shade, is a character appearing in . The Hero's Spirit is a skeletal specter who can assume the form of the White Wolf.
== Biography ==
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Although appearing to be a mere ghostly Stalfos, the Hero's Spirit is actually the Hero of Time - the Link from and , in the form of such due to his death and is restless, filled with regrets from being unable to pass on the "lessons of his life to those who came after him" after he was sent back in time to his childhood by the Princess Zelda of his time. He also lamented the fact that he was not remembered as a hero.The spirit of Link’s ancestor, the Hero of Time, teaches him his secrets. Ever since returning to the Child Era, the swordsman has lamented the fact that he was not remembered as a hero. This is the reason he passes down the proof of his courage and his secret techniques to the Link of this era, addressing him as “son.” — , Dark Horse Books, pg. 118 In order to ease his regrets and finally pass on his long-lost great knowledge of the arts of the sword, he teaches the highly advanced seven to his descendant, Link, the Hero of Twilight from . In Hyrule, he appears as the White Wolf, similar to the Hero of Twilight's wolf form, who can be summoned by finding a Howling Stone, with the exception of the first time he is encountered, in which he appears to Link directly. Once a Howling Stone is found, the song has to be howled along with the Spirit. He then tells Link to take "sword in hand" and find him, implying that Link should return to human form before searching for the Wolf. The White Wolf will then appear on Link's Map indicating his current location. When Link confronts the Wolf, it leaps through Link, transporting him into another world. The Wolf then transforms into a ghostly knight, the Hero's Spirit, who then teaches Link one of the seven Hidden Skills, which would ultimately prove handy in order to defeat powerful foes and Ganondorf.
	
The Hero's Spirit is mostly transparent save for his armor, which appears to be filled with a ghostly pale blue apparition, rather than flesh, with a seemingly decaying body and mostly skeletal face. He carries a rusting sword and shield and wears armor, which is covered with leaves in sections. He carries a scabbard belted to his waist. Similarly to his White Wolf form, his left eye glows red while his right eye is missing.
==Other Appearances==
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The thirty-fifth puzzle in the Picross series and the twenty-sixth puzzle in the Mega Picross series depict the .
== Trivia ==
* Although the Hero's Shade was not directly revealed as the Hero of Time in-game, Hyrule Historia confirmed it as such in its release.
* The Hero's Spirit being the Hero of Time is not without controversy, as the character is this rather iconic Link in a sad, horrific state.
* As he is indeed the Hero of Time, the voice of Nobuyuki Hiyama can be faintly heard as the Hero's Shade teaches the Link from the Hidden Skills. In addition, his fighting stance is similar to how he did in the N64 games via Z-Targeting. 
* The Hero's Shade missing his right eye as seen in both his forms implies a serious injury the Hero of Time once took in the past before his death.
** Oddly, his profile icon in My Nintendo Picross: Twilight Princess shows both the Shade's eyes open.
* In his White Wolf form, when he howls with the Link of Twilight Princess in his own wolf form, he can be heard singing the "Prelude of Light", "Requiem of Spirit", and even "Song of Healing", three songs from the Hero of Time's adventures via the Ocarina of Time.
* Although only the first Hidden Skill, the Ending Blow, is required to complete Twilight Princess, if Link manages to learn all of the seven by the Shade, the Hero's Spirit will acknowledge the Hero of Twilight as his worthy successor and tells him he has what it takes to be a true hero.
** Because the Ending Blow technique is the actual move used to ultimately defeat Ganondorf during the Final Boss battle, this would make the Hero of Time indirectly responsible for the villain's death, unlike what he experienced at the end of Ocarina of Time (as Ganon survived the brutal finishing blow via stabbed in the mouth with the Master Sword in that game).
* Due to his appearance as a ghost in swordsman armor with leaves on him, fans have speculated that the Hero of Time possibly died in a very intense war in Hyrule as a Hylian Knight or turned into an actual Stalfos while searching for Navi in the Lost Woods.
** Ironically, according to Hyrule Historia, he was possibly such a knight in his life.
==Nomenclature==
==Gallery==
File:TP Hero's Spirit Concept Artwork.png|Concept art of the Hero's Spirit from 
File:Shade Sword.png|The Hero's Spirit's Sword from 
File:TP Hero's Spirit Model 2.png|The Hero's Spirit preparing to fight from 
File:TP Hero's Shade Wolf Artwork.png|Artwork of the Hero's Spirit's wolf form from Zelda Encyclopedia
File:TP White Wolf Model.png|The White Wolf as seen in-game from 
File:TPHD Golden Wolf Model.png|The White Wolf as seen in-game from 
File:TPHD Hero's Shade talking to Link about his lack of skills.png|The Hero's Spirit remainding his desendant he needs more skill and courage from Twilight Princess HD
File:TP Hero's Spirit Sparring.jpg|The Hero's Spirit preparing to teach Link a Hidden Skill from 
File:TPHD Helm Splitter.png|The Heros Spirit teaching the Helm Splitter from Twilight Princess HD
File:TP Mortal Draw.png|The Hero's Shade teaching the Mortal Draw from Twilight Princess
File:TPHD White Wolf Howling.png|The White Wolf howling from 
File:TPHD Ghostly Ether 2.png|The White Wolf in the ghostly ether realm from 
File:TPHD Ghostly Ether.png|Wolf Link brought to a ghostly ether realm by the White Wolf from 
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