Game-Art-HQ

Impa is one of the oldest recurring Legend of Zelda protagonists. She has appeared in 8 different Zelda games always as a wise woman who helps both Princess Zelda and Link in different forms.

In The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, Impa appears in two different ages and passes away during the events of the game. I recommend visiting the Zelda Wiki for much more information about her.

Impa was the only one of the Friends of Link who got two spots so far due to her being in different games and also having changes in her visual designs.

It was nice to see that three artists wanted to draw Impa in her Skyward Sword design, especially since these three are all drawing in very different styles as you can see.

The first submission (shown above) was made by LaLa-Volpe who also contributed multiple works to Link’s Blacklist. She wrote:

“So I chose to paint Impa for Link’s Friendlist. Initially I had planned on doing her beautiful young self helping Zelda around in Skyward Sword, or maybe her jumpin’ around being badass and stuff. But I got to thinking… The moment Impa won my heart over was when I had realized that she gave up her youth to help the hero on his quest… So I wanted to pay respect to her in her old age. Because I think what is most beautiful about her is her devotion and loyalty to the royal family.

She did a lot of growing up and I cannot imagine what it must have been like sitting there in the temple waiting for The Hero… IMPA…YOU ARE ONE AMAZING LADY AND I APPRECIATE YOU FOR ALL YOUR SACRIFICE.

This is the first time I’ve ever painted an old person and my god it was quite the journey. Also the first time I’ve ever painted braided hair.”

The 2nd submission was drawn by Keikilani, who also participated in our first Legend of Zelda Art Collaboration, Link’s Blacklist, and she described her take on Impa with the following:

“I really liked her as a character and because she’s badass, but no seriously Impa is so cool in Skyward Sword. She’s totally devoted to Zelda and protects her throughout the game, and totally isn’t afraid to call Link out when he’s wrong.

“Do my words anger you, boy? Do my words sting? Let them. If I had not come when I did, your Zelda would have already fallen into the hands of the enemy.”

She’s so devoted to Zelda, she even stands guard over her for 1,000 years while she sleeps!! (Oops spoiler – but honestly it’s been like two years now since the game came out, so spoilers are fair game at this point ;D)

All in all, Impa is one cool Sheikah.”

The last submission just made it in time and was drawn by GreenYosh, who made his debut on Game-Art-HQ with his take on Impa:

“I LOVE ZELDA! My favorite game is Skyward Sword, so it’s fitting this is my first real Zelda fanart, but also weird how it’s Impa of all people. At first I never really cared for her character, but as I was drawing this I realized just how important of a character she is and I began to like her a lot more.

When I chose her I was just looking through the character choices, and I knew it was inevitable I would pick someone from SS, and I don’t know if all 3 spots for Fi were already taken, or if I just didn’t feel like drawing her at the time, but when I saw Impa’s name,

I just got a really cool image in my head, which turned out generally how I first imagined it! I had fun with this as I listened to a LOT of Zelda music!”