Midna

Midna is the princess of the Twili race and ruler of the Twilight Realm. She made her debut in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, where she teamed up with Link to stop the Kingdom of Hyrule from being enveloped by the Twilight Realm. There, she had been overthrown by Zant and had been transformed into an imp. Midna's actual form is more humanoid, although she is usually depicted in her imp form, even in later games.

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
In The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Midna first meets Link when he strays into the Twilight Realm, in which he is transformed into a wolf (Midna says that the savior of the Twili was to appear in the form of a divine beast). She helps him escape and return to Hyrule. Midna makes it clear that she is only helping Link to save her own world and has no concern for the Light World. She informs Link that they should recover a powerful magical artifact known as the Fused Shadows.

Later, after gathering the third Fused Shadow, Zant appears and exposes Midna to the light of the spirit Lanayru. This purifies Midna, allowing her to live within the Light World, yet it also gravely injures her. He then puts a curse on Link to trap him in Wolf Form, and takes the three Fused Shadows away (Strangely, he allows Midna to keep the one she wears on her head). Lanayru transports the cursed Wolf Link and injured Midna back to Hyrule field. Wolf Link takes Midna to Princess Zelda, hoping she can reveal how to remove the curse on him and heal Midna. She tells Link to find the Master Sword in the Sacred Grove to break the curse on him; less could be said for Midna. As Midna is nearing death, Zelda decides it's for the best that she give her own powers to Midna (making their hearts one), though Midna tries to stop Zelda. With Zelda gone and Midna restored, they set off to find the Master Sword.

Following this event, Midna becomes more altruistic, and she decides that the Light World must also be saved along with the Twilight Realm. Midna tells Link that to destroy Zant, they must find the Mirror of Twilight to access the Twilight Realm again. When the two find it in the Mirror Chamber of Gerudo Desert, they realize that it has been shattered into four shards, one of which still remains on the Mirror's pedestal. The Sages of Hyrule appear and explain that it was Zant who broke the Mirror, but this only happened because the sages had previously sealed Ganondorf in the Twilight Realm, who inevitably gave Zant his power. Midna later reveals that Zant could only shatter the Mirror; only the true ruler of the Twili could utterly destroy it. After going through several other locations, the pair go to the Mirror Chamber to restore the Mirror of Twilight. At this point, the Sages reveal that Midna is the Twilight Princess, leader of the Twili. When Link and Midna confront Zant in the Palace of Twilight near the end of Twilight Princess, a long battle ensues spanning tactics and arenas from past bosses and sub-bosses of the game. After the fight, Midna retrieves the Fused Shadows from Zant but does not return to her original form as she had hoped. Zant then reveals to her that only by killing Ganondorf can the curse truly be lifted and Zant truly be destroyed. That was the purpose of the barrier erected outside Hyrule Castle &mdash; it would allow a safe place for Ganondorf to hide so Zant could stay alive. In a fit of rage, Midna uses the Fused Shadows to impale Zant with several locks of hair. She then regains the magic of her inheritance and becomes able to use the Fused Shadows to transform into a gigantic, dark arachnid-like creature and shatter the barrier surrounding Hyrule Castle.

Link and Midna face Ganondorf and after Link battles both Zelda (who is being used by Ganondorf) and Ganondorf himself in beast form, Midna teleports Link and Zelda out of the castle and faces Ganondorf alone. After transporting Link and Zelda to safety, Midna once again transforms into a spider-like creature and engages Ganondorf in battle, with the castle being destroyed in the process. However, it is soon revealed that Ganondorf was victorious. He emerges from the castle carrying Midna's helmet before crushing it in his hand. Thus, Midna was seemingly killed. After Link, with some assistance from Zelda, defeats Ganondorf once and for all, it turns out Midna survived and Ganondorf's spell on her was broken, allowing Midna to regain her true form. In a comical moment when Link first sees her true form, she is amused by his silence and asks, "Am I so beautiful that you've no words left?". Link is speechless. She then takes leave of the Light Realm, saying good-bye and thanking Zelda. Turning to Link, she begins a sentence "I..." before breaking off and saying "See you later" (Which she says to Link throughout the game). She states that so long as the Mirror of Twilight remains intact, she and Link could see each other again someday before throwing a tear into the Mirror, shattering it. Midna returns to her realm just before the Mirror shatters, destroying the only known bond between the worlds.

Super Smash Bros. series
In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, there is a trophy of Midna in her imp form. There are also two stickers of Midna: one in her imp form and the other of her riding Wolf Link.

Starting with Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U'', Midna appears as an Assist Trophy, retaining her imp form. She attacks by grabbing players with her hair and throwing them. If any fighters are far away from Midna or if she falls off the stage, she teleports back near one of the fighters. Both games have a trophy of Midna in her imp form, although the Wii U version also has a trophy consisting of Midna with Wolf Link.

Super Mario Maker
Midna makes a small cameo in Super Mario Maker as one of the Mystery Mushroom costumes. Instead of receiving a standalone costume, she appears with the Wolf Link costume, riding on top of him. This costume can either be unlocked by scanning the Wolf Link amiibo, or playing the Event Course titled "Twilight Princess HD", based on The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD.

Hyrule Warriors
In Hyrule Warriors, Midna is attacked by Cia during her battle with Zant's forces and is banished from the Twilight Realm when Cia allies with Zant. While antagonistic at first, Midna allies herself with Lana and Agitha to help Link and Zelda defeat Cia and restore order, and later to defeat the revived Ganondorf. She is also playable in her true Twili form as part of the Twilight Princess DLC pack. In Hyrule Warriors Legends, a mysterious crystal briefly restores Midna to her true form. She uses her restored power to aid Princess Zelda with help from Linkle, but she is forced to destroy the crystal and returns to her imp form.

Physical appearance
Midna is most frequently depicted in her imp form, where she appears as a small, humanoid creature. She has long, orange hair with some yellow streaks, and she wears a barrette near the end of her hair. Midna has pointed ears. Her body has alternating dark markings that appear to be in a swirled shape, and her visible eye is yellow with an orange iris. Her face generally has more child-like proportions, with large eyes and a smaller nose and mouth. She wears a Fused Shadow fragment for a mask. In the Nintendo GameCube version and promotional artwork, the mask covers Midna's left eye, while in the Wii version, it covers her right eye. When Midna's mask is off, it is shown that her forehead is entirely black and that near the stem, her hair has a brownish color. Her body also has small proportions with some adult-like characteristics mixed in, having long, spiked arms, round hips, short legs, and small, featureless feet.

Midna's original form is a turquoise-skinned woman with dark turquoise body markings on her limbs, hair, and red eyes. She has the same long, orange hair and wears the same barette as in her imp form. Midna wears a dark robe and a loincloth. In her concept art, Midna has some sort of leg band around her right leg. In Hyrule Historia, the design of Midna's original form is described as having an "air of the Middle East" to it, in contrast to Princess Zelda's design. A concept of this design showed it more akin to her imp form, notably still having long arms and short legs. This design is closer to the few other Twili seen in the game.

In earlier versions of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Midna had longer, flame-like hair that was red-orange with green running throughout it.

Personality
In fitting with her dark nature, she has a devilish sense of humor and shows a somewhat cynical demeanor. She is often uninterested in Link's plight unless they suit her needs. As the story progresses, Midna and Link start to become friends. Because of this, Eiji Aonuma has described Midna as "".

Speech
Midna is one of the characters that has the most extensive voice acting in The Legend of Zelda series. Her on-screen dialogue is often accompanied by a babble of pseudo-speech, which was produced by scrambling English phrases sampled by Akiko Kōmoto.

Powers and abilities
Midna has some magical abilities, such as levitation. Her main magical ability is having her hair take the shape of an arm, allowing her to open doors, or catch charging enemies. While Link is a human or, during earlier parts of the game, in the Light World, Midna hides in his shadow. Whenever she talks to Link, she emerges from the shadow, having a silhouette appearance of herself.

While Link is a wolf, Midna usually rides on his back. Her role is comparable to Navi in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, as Midna teaches the game controls at the start and provides advice to Link. She also helps Wolf Link with the Energy Field attack, which is required to defeat the Shadow Beasts. The attack involves Midna generating a dark, circular field that locks on to enemies caught within, allowing Wolf Link to charge at all of them consecutively. Once Link has the Master Sword, he can freely call on Midna to alternate between his wolf form and back. However, if they are around people, Midna forbids Link from transforming so that they do not startle the people nearby.

Midna does not provide as much advice as fairy companions in earlier games; she only provides small hints for progression or how to defeat a boss. When Midna's icon appears on-screen, she can assist Wolf Link with long jumps that he cannot perform otherwise. Early in the game, Midna allows Wolf Link to instantly teleport to other Twilight Portals across Hyrule.

Trivia

 * The concept of Midna came from another game Nintendo was working on before Twilight Princess, which was eventually abandoned.
 * In the table of contents for The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess's instruction booklet, the true form of Midna's face is visible in the background.