Irene

Irene
Species	Hylian
Affiliation	Sages
Hair color	Indigo
Eye color	Indigo
Relatives	Old Witch (grandmother)
Debut	The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds

Irene is a supporting character from The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds who appeared as one of the game's seven sages.

Background

Irene was the teenage granddaughter of Hyrule's potion-brewing old witch. Despite being a junior witch herself, she claimed to be the best witch of her generation. She had her own flying broomstick, she used to travel around Hyrule and to run errands for her grandmother. She also was a big fan of fortune telling, despite her grandmother's animosity towards the profession.

In A Link Between Worlds, Irene had recently received a fortune telling her to "look out for green". She was not sure what it could mean until she came across Link, a boy dressed in green. This caused Irene to guess that her fortune meant that she should look out for Link. So she offered him free rides across Hyrule on her broomstick at any time, and she gave him a bell that he could ring to summon her whenever he needed a ride. Irene could take him to any of the weather vanes that he had activated. She also advertised her grandmother's potion shop to him. At one point while she was at her grandmother's, they were suddenly attacked by Yuga, who captured Irene by turning her into a painting. This was because he was aware of her status as part of the new seven sages of Hyrule. While she was captured, Link could still summon and utilize her broomstick with the bell; it simply arrived without a rider.

The paintings of the seven sages and Princess Zelda were then used by Yuga in a ritual to revive Ganon. Afterwards, the paintings were distributed to different bosses across Lorule. Irene's painting was kept at the Desert Palace and protected by Zaganaga. Eventually, Link saved her, which caused her to be awakened as a sage and teleported to the Chamber of Sages. Irene was surprised that Link and saved her and assumed that it must have been the pay-off of her fortune. She still chastised him for taking as long as he did to save her and rushed him to save the other sages so that she could return to her grandmother. She did not thank him much at that moment, but she offered to write him a thank-you letter once this was all over. Link could continue to use her broomstick at this point, and although it was still without a rider, Irene was able to telepathically contact him each time he used it.

Once all of the sages were freed, they combined their powers to summon the Triforce of Courage for Link. After the crisis was resolved, the sages were all returned to Hyrule. Irene returned to her grandmother's shop. During the credits, she was seen trying to mix a potion, only for it to blow up in her face.

Trivia

• Her name seems to be derived from the Japanse word for the color "indigo", which matches her hair and eye color. Most or all of the new sages introduced in A Link Between Worlds are named after colors.
• Irene seems to be inspired by Maple, a witch who was introduced in the Oracle games and was also present in the remake of A Link to the Past as the assistant to that game's witch. It is also possible Irene's grandmother is an older version of Maple, as the old witch's Lorulean counterpart is referred to as "Mapes" as a pet name.
• The old witch's Lorule counterpart does not recognize the name Irene, implying that Irene has no existing Lorulean counterpart.
• As a joke during one of the times when Link summons her broom, she calls her broom Irene's Taxi and claims to charge 9,999 Rupees.