You probably remember the first time you climbed that steep, winding path up to the Hateno Ancient Tech Lab. You were expecting some wizened, ancient sage with a long white beard and a cryptic prophecy. Instead, you found a six-year-old girl standing on a stool, shouting "Checkie!" and demanding you go play with a blue flame. That is the essence of Breath of the Wild Purah. She’s jarring. She’s brilliant. Honestly, she’s the only reason Link has a fighting chance against Calamity Ganon, even if she did accidentally turn herself into a primary schooler during a botched anti-aging experiment.
She's more than just a quirky NPC.
Purah represents the bridge between the high-tech Shiekah past and the struggling, rustic present of Hyrule. Without her, the Sheikah Slate is just a heavy brick. While Zelda gets all the credit for the emotional heavy lifting, Purah is the one doing the actual engineering in the background. She’s the lead scientist of a world that’s basically forgotten what science even looks like.
The Mystery of the Age-Reversal Experiment
Let’s talk about the elephant in the room: why does she look like a child? If you’ve spent any time poking around her lab (and you should, because her diary is gold), you’ll find the "Anti-Aging Experimental Trial" records. Purah wasn't just vain. She was trying to figure out a way to make Hylian soldiers immortal—or at least more durable—to face the inevitable return of Ganon.
It went sideways.
On Day 1 of her experiment, she was over 120 years old. By Day 3, she looked like she was in her 50s. By Day 6, she was a teenager. The "beta" version of her Rune caused her cells to regenerate at an uncontrollable rate. She basically Benjamin Buttoned herself into a corner. By the time Link wakes up from his century-long nap, she’s physically six. It’s a hilarious subversion of the "wise elder" trope, but it also highlights her recklessness. She is a classic mad scientist, willing to use her own body as a petri dish for the sake of Hyrule’s survival.
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She’s a genius. But she’s also a mess.
Why Breath of the Wild Purah Matters for Gameplay
The Sheikah Slate is your lifeline. Think about it. Stasis, Magnesis, Cryonis—these aren't just spells. They are technological apps. When you first meet Breath of the Wild Purah, your slate is broken. It’s missing the core functionality that makes the game playable.
She fixes it.
She’s the gatekeeper to your most powerful upgrades. If you want to freeze enemies in time for more than a split second, you go to her. If you want a sensor that actually finds Shrines instead of just beeping at mushrooms, you talk to her assistant Symin and, by extension, Purah herself. She provides the literal framework for your interaction with the world. Without her intervention, Link is just a guy with a sword. With her, he’s a tactical powerhouse.
It’s easy to overlook her because she’s tucked away in Hateno Village, far from the central drama of the Divine Beasts. But her lab is the hub for your progression. She’s the one who tells you about the Ancient Furnaces. She’s the one who explains how the blue flame—the literal lifeblood of Ancient Shiekah tech—works.
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The Sister Dynamic: Purah vs. Robbie
You can’t really understand Purah without looking at her relationship with Robbie, the guy running the Akkala Ancient Tech Lab. They are the last two members of the original research team from 100 years ago. While Robbie focuses on hardware—ancient arrows, shields, and blades—Purah focuses on the software.
They’re competitive. It’s petty. It’s great.
Robbie has his "Cherry" (the ancient oven), but Purah has the Slate. There’s a distinct sense of rivalry between the two labs. Purah clearly considers herself the superior intellect, often speaking down to others (Link included) with a sort of frantic, high-energy condescension. She’s the older sister (technically) who never lets you forget she’s smarter than you. This dynamic adds a layer of lived-in history to the game. These aren't just icons on a map; they are survivors of a literal apocalypse who have spent a century bickering and researching in isolation.
The Tragedy Behind the "Checkie!"
People often find Purah’s "Checkie!" catchphrase and her bubbly attitude a bit much. It feels out of place in a post-apocalyptic wasteland. But if you look deeper, it’s a coping mechanism.
She lost everyone.
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A hundred years ago, Purah was there when the Guardians turned. She saw the castle fall. She saw Zelda’s despair. While Link was sleeping in the Shrine of Resurrection, Purah was awake. For one hundred years. She had to watch the world she knew crumble into ruin while she tried to keep the technology alive in a shed on a hill.
Her eccentricity isn't just a personality trait; it’s the result of a century of isolation and the heavy burden of being the only one who knows how the world actually works. If she stops being "Purah," she has to face the fact that she’s a ghost in a child’s body, living in a world that passed her by a long time ago.
Missing Details Most Players Skip
Did you know you can actually see the moment she realizes her experiment worked? If you read the journals scattered around the lab, you can track her mental state as she gets younger. Her handwriting changes. Her vocabulary shifts. It is one of the most subtle bits of environmental storytelling Nintendo has ever pulled off.
Also, her role in the Sheikah Slate's camera function is often ignored. She’s the one who realized that the Slate could capture images, which eventually allowed Zelda to record the memories that Link uses to recover his past. Purah isn't just a mechanic; she’s the historian who made it possible for Link to remember who he is.
Actionable Tips for Interacting with Purah
If you’re currently playing or re-playing, don't just rush through her dialogue. There are a few things you should do to get the most out of the Hateno Lab:
- Bring plenty of Ancient Screws and Springs. You’ll need them for the initial upgrades. Don't sell them to Beedle for quick cash early on; you'll regret it when you're trying to upgrade your Stasis rune.
- Read the diary on the top floor. It’s not just flavor text. It explains the exact timeline of the Calamity and her own physical transformation. It’s arguably the most important lore dump in the Hateno region.
- Talk to Symin. Purah’s assistant handles the Compendium. If you’re a completionist, you can buy pictures of monsters or items you missed. It’s expensive, but it saves hours of hunting down rare sparrows or elite enemies.
- Check the back of the building. There are usually some decent items and crates that people miss because they just teleport to the shrine and run inside.
Purah is the heartbeat of the game’s technological side. She’s loud, she’s annoying to some, and she’s a literal child, but she’s the most brilliant mind left in Hyrule. Next time you head up that hill to get your Slate fixed, take a second to appreciate the fact that this six-year-old has been holding the world together for a century.
To fully optimize your experience with Purah, prioritize the Stasis+ upgrade as soon as you have the materials. It allows you to freeze enemies, which completely changes the combat dynamic, especially against Guardians. Once you've secured that, focus on the Sheikah Sensor+, which lets you track specific items (like Hearty Blueshell Snails or Endura Carrots) instead of just Shrines. This makes late-game armor upgrading significantly less tedious.