Daily Debate: Does Groose Redeem Himself at the End of Skyward Sword?

Mention a lack of character development in Zelda titles, and most people will reply with, “What about Groose?” Skyward Sword‘s anti-hero, Groose, spends the opening third of the game filling the role of high school bully, locking up Link’s Loftwing before The Wing Ceremony, then confronting him before the exam itself (then comically falling apart as soon as Zelda appears). Later, he “catches a ride” with Link to the Surface, before christening it “Grooseland,” and throwing a tantrum when Impa tells him he isn’t the hero chosen to save Zelda. Not a nice character so far, right?

Of course, the remainder of the story is kinder to Groose — he mellows while spending time with Impa, and even assists Link in defeating the Imprisoned. Surely, that makes anyone a good guy? Throughout the second half of the story, he develops quite the friendship with Impa, showing complete distress when she finally disappears (though, not as much distress as me when I remember this very scene).

Of course, this doesn’t mean his bullying ways never existed. The events at the start of the game, and presumably leading up to this point, still happened, and Groose makes no apology for this at any point.

Personally, I think he totally redeems himself. Not only this, but I think his character develops more than any other character in the Zelda series. Not only does his rude and offensive behavior disappear, but he generally becomes a better person, learning not to resent Link for his friendship with Zelda, understanding exactly what his role is to play.

What do you think? Does Groose’s heroism in the final stages of the game redeem his behavior at the start? Or maybe you think his old ways are too damaging for this redemption? Let us know in the comments below!

This Daily Debate was an original idea produced by our writing team. If you have an idea for a Daily Debate that you would like to see explored, join Zelda Dungeon’s Discord server and pitch it to us in the #daily-debate channel!