There are many characters who have walked the halls of Hyrule Castle throughout the ages, many of them being recorded in the annals of the history as important members of the Hyrulian Royal Family. However, not every important figure of Hyrule Castle is a royal. Found standing by the King’s side throughout almost the entirety of The Minish Cap, Minister Potho is the supporting pillar of the Hyrule Royal Family. Minister Potho is one of the most politically significant members of the Hyrule Castle staff that is not a member of the Royal Family himself, and the people of the Castle regard him highly as an advisor.
Minister Potho is one of the Zelda characters that likely has a much more significant role in the world than he does in the story of the game. He will ultimately only speak to Link a few times and does not have much to provide besides exposition and providing Link with the Smith’s Sword before Link sets off on his quest. As the resident Elder, Minister Potho happens to be the one that tells the old tale of the Minish Door to Link. The Minister might even be the one of the only people in Hyrule old enough to know the tale of the Minish Door. During the climax of The Minish Cap, many members of the Hyrule Castle staff and Royal Family are turned to stone, including the Minister.
The guards of the castle seem especially upset that Minister Potho has been petrified, which shows how highly they regard the Minister. The figurine description for the Minister reveals that he is in charge of Princess Zelda’s education, and is frustrated with her constant sneaking out. If Zelda was not petrified for the majority of the game, we might’ve seem much more of Potho being annoyed with the free soul of the Princess.
Although he isn’t a particularly important character, I always found Minister Potho memorable. Maybe it’s my personal relationship to The Minish Cap, but if you were to ask me if I remembered the old man next to the King in The Minish Cap, I would know exactly who you were talking about. Despite having solid memories of this character, I have to admit: I only just now learned his name was Potho. I’m actually not sure anyone in game ever actually refers to him by anything other than “Minister”.
