#i woke up stupid early. drop riju infodump at 6:20 AM

[arosnowflake]

Riju's character is so incredibly interesting to me because of the ways she parallels Zelda (and Link, to a lesser extent). Breath of the Wild has a consistent theme of 'the weight of duty', and shows this with Zelda by having her receive her duty way too young, having others put too much stress on her, and showing the ways in which she cracks under that stress. Riju, too, received her duty way too young and finds this duty heavy, but unlike Zelda, she is not cracking, and this is entirely due to their differing circumstances.

Everyone around Zelda put a lot of stress on her to succeed. This is especially shown via Rhoam; we see the flashback scene with him scolding her and forbidding her from engaging with her (very useful!) interests, and Rhoam's diary talks about constantly scolding her, fighting with her, putting relentless pressure on her to train and just generally not treating her well as his daughter. Rhoam also mentions other people talk about Zelda behind her back, and not in a good way, so it's clear Rhoam is not a one-off. While Rhoam is clearly worried about Zelda, he prioritizes her duty and never ceases to put pressure on her, only resolving to do so once it's already too late. Zelda, the person, was seen as less important than her duty. All everyone talks about in regards to her is whether she has succeeded in her duty yet, whether she will succeed in her duty, and all avenues in which Zelda tries to express herself as a person are curbed. People see her, first and foremost, as a princess with a duty, not a person.

On the other hand, the moment you step into Gerudo Town, you are greeted by people worried about Riju. They are proud of her as chief and what she's accomplished, but they are worried about the pressure she's under at such a young age. After you defeat Vah Naboris, Padda, the woman who takes care of Riju's sand seal Patricia, talks about how Riju has been so busy with her duties she's barely had time for herself, and is relieved that she's now playing with Patricia and resting in her room again. In Padda's room, you'll also find a large sand seal plushie in progress, the style matching the several in Riju's room. People in Gerudo Town constantly talks about how much they adore Riju, and how worried they are for her, too.

And importantly: none of this worry or adoration seems contingent upon Riju's performance as a chief. Sand seal plushies do not aid Riju in her leadership, but they do comfort a child. While the Gerudo are proud of how well Riju has done as chief, praise of it always comes with the caveat that they hope it's not too hard on her. The Gerudo care about Riju as a person, recognize the pressure she's under, and do what they can to try and help her.

Things aren't perfect, of course; it's clear that people are too formal with Riju, indicated in the piece of dialogue where she mentions nobody's called her by her name in a long time. But ultimately, the Gerudo clearly love and support Riju as a person in a way the Hylians never loved and supported Zelda.

This does not mean Riju has no issues. As mentioned in the cutscene before Vah Naboris and the diary in her room, she deals with feelings of inadequacy and worries others see her as weak and unfit to rule. She acknowledges everyone looks at her with warmth in her eyes, but this does not stop her from being convinced others must blame her for the loss of the Thunder Helm. She feels unworthy of the adoration and worry of the others. So, much like Zelda, she has self esteem issues and is convinced people see her as unworthy, but unlike Zelda, this belief is not based in reality; Riju even seems aware of this on some level, yet still can't shake the worry. This is only natural; she's a kid trying to fill her dead mother's shoes by leading a nation. No matter what, she was always going to develop some issues from it. There is very real pressure on her shoulders, despite how kind everyone is and how much they wish to help her.

Yet ultimately, the one harshest on Riju, the one who puts the most pressure on her, is herself. This is in contrast to Zelda, who yes, does put a lot of pressure on herself, but who receives far more pressure from outside. But the #1 person who doubts Riju is Riju.

Even so, Riju is clearly much more centered than Zelda ever was. We never get an explicit reason as to why Zelda was failing to awaken her powers, but personally, I feel the implication that it was due to an overabundance of pressure is clear. By contrast, Riju is doing a stellar job leading the Gerudo despite her worries to the contrary. I find it obvious that this is because she's receiving a kind of love and support Zelda never received.

I find Riju an extremely interesting character because of how well she rounds out and plays into the overarching weight of duty theme. Ultimately, despite the issues she has, Riju's duty is a manageable weight. Yet, it is still a complex situation with very real pressure resulting in self esteem issues and a seeming lack of close connection because of the formality everyone displays with her. Riju's character shows that the weight of duty is a heavy one to carry even when people try their best to support you, yet it also shows that it's so much easier to manage when people do so. In doing so, it creates parallels to primarily Zelda and to a lesser extent Link, two characters for whom the weight of duty was, in effect, fatal; not necessarily due to their duty itself (as shown in Link succeeding in his quest during the game), but due to the undue pressure put on them.

[HAS NOT PLAYED TEARS OF THE KINGDOM DISCLAIMER]