Link is an apprentice Railroad Engineer living in New Hyrule 100 years after it was discovered by Link and Tetra from The Wind Waker. The game begins with Link on his way to Hyrule Castle to be declared Royal Engineer by Princess Zelda herself.

Calling him to a secret meeting, Zelda brings Link along to investigate the disappearance of the Spirit Tracks, which quickly evolves into a perilous quest to keep an ancient evil from being released from it’s prison.

Princess Zelda is part of the royal family of New Hyrule, the kingdom founded by the Princess Zelda of the Wind Waker era 100 years earlier.

Early in the game, the villainous Chancellor Cole takes away Zelda’s body to be used as a vessel to resurrect the ancient Demon King. Zelda’s spirit is separated, and so she accompanies Link in his quest to restore the Spirit Tracks and save New Hyrule.

 Introduced in Phantom Hourglass, Phantoms are malicious spirits possessing an invulnerable suit of armor. Usually they are Link’s enemies, but the spirit of Princess Zelda has the ability to take over a Phantom and use it to help Link throughout the Spirit Tower.

In this form, Princess Zelda has the ability to use the suit’s resilience to protect Link from harmful traps, and can even carry Link on her shield as she walks through lava! Zelda cannot possess a Phantom until Link has collected three Tears of Light from that floor of the tower and used their power to stun it, and she cannot take the Phantom outside of the Spirit Tower.

Anjean is the first member of the mysterious Lokomo people that Link encounters on his journey. She is the protector of the Spirit Tower, and it is all she can do to keep what is left of it standing.

She entrusts Link with the mystic Spirit Train so that he can stop the return of the Demon King.

Chancellor Cole is a politician at Hyrule Castle, and has a bad habit of watching Princess Zelda like a hawk. Zelda is suspicious of the Chancellor, and she slips Link a note to meet her in secret.

Later, she is proven right when Chancellor Cole ambushes them, revealing his two demon-like horns and zapping Zelda’s spirit from her body, so as to use it as a vessel to resurrect the Demon King. The Chancellor is also accompanied by a mysterious henchman, who appears to have a robotic arm.

Byrne is seen as one of the main antagonists in this game. He is a magician who also enjoys wielding the metal claw on his arm. He was trained under Anjean herself, and taught by the wisdom of the Gods of Light. However, somewhere along the line, Byrne decided that his training was no longer necessary, and he began working to resurrect the Demon King under Chancellor Cole.

After Chancellor Cole and the newly resurrected Demon King shun Byrne and nearly destroy him, Byrne is rescued by Link and company. As they discuss their plans to disrupt the Demon King’s full resurrection, Byrne awakens and aids them, telling the group what they’ll need to stop him. Later on, Byrne physically helps the group by defending them during the final battle, thus becoming somewhat of an anti-hero.

Alfonzo is the Master Railroad Engineer and Link’s mentor figure for the beginning of the game. Alfonzo was also once a very skilled swordsman serving under the royal family of Hyrule. He left at some point, however, for reasons that are never quite mentioned. His skills are shown when Chancellor Cole and Byrne attempt to take Princess Zelda’s body. Alfonzo attempts to protect her, but his skills fall short against Byrne’s magic. However, even Byrne himself noted that Alfonzo’s moves were not those of an amateur.
Despite his impressive history, Alfonzo seems quite content to live in the peaceful Aboda Village as a train engineer.

Settling down his pirate ways, this old man was once well acquainted with the Hero of Winds and the Princess Zelda who settled on the new continent of Hyrule. Now retired in the town of Aboda, he lives with the new Link and continues his famous storytelling technique of using still illustrations. He doesn’t offer much to the plot, but he is the centerpiece of one of the main sidequests- stamp-collecting. Niko wants to relive the good old days when he used to travel the world and collect stamps from all of the places that he visited. Since he can no longer do this, he puts Link up to the task and sets up one of the main sidequests of the game. If Link brings his stamp-book back to Niko with certain amounts of stamps, Niko will reward Link with prizes that also help him relive the past.

Not much is known about this rather terrifying piece of machinery. It is said to have originated in the Dark Realm, and Chancellor Cole and Byrne supposedly utilize it as a mode of transportation between this realm and New Hyrule. It is first seen when Chancellor Cole and Byrne attempt to kidnap princess Zelda as it can apparently fly through the air in this realm, Hyrule.

At some point before the events of Spirit Tracks, the spirits of New Hyrule fought an epic battle against an evil Demon King known as Malladus. Unable to kill him, they instead locked him away with chains and shackles and then buried him deep underground. These shackles became known as the Spirit Tracks, which are now a vital part of New Hyrule’s culture, not to mention their means of transportation.

Unfortunately, the Spirit Tracks have begun to disappear, and it is up to Link and Zelda to fix them and stop the Demon King from spreading destruction once again.

This young fellow enjoys spending much of his time outside along various sections of the Spirit Tracks with a camera in-hand, hoping to capture photos of passing trains. Ferrus meets Link along his journey and is astounded that Link is in possession of ‘THE Spirit Train.’ He has made his home in the Wellspring Station, but is rarely seen there.

Gage, like Anjean, is a member of the Lokomo people and is the first of the realm guardians that Link meets in his quest. Gage is the guardian of the Forest Realm, and he resides in the Forest Sanctuary. He is a mild-mannered man who appears to play the cello.

Another member of the Lokomo people, Steem is the guardian of the Snow Realm. In accordance with this, Steem resides in the Snow Sanctuary within the Snow Realm. He also possesses a pipa- the instrument with which he performs a duet with Link in order to restore some of the lost spirit tracks.

Carben is the guardian of the Ocean Realm who resides within the Ocean Sanctuary one the Lokomo people. He aids Link in restoring the lost spirit tracks of this realm. He, like the other guardians possesses a sacred instrument which appears to be a flute.

The guardian of the Fire Realm is, quite fittingly, a somewhat hot-tempered man named Embrose. He is another member of the Lokomo people, and appears to play the tympani. He uses this sacred instrument to aid Link’s quest in restoring the lost Spirit Tracks.

Rael is the last realm guardian for Link to meet in his adventure. Rael keeps watch over the Sand Realm from within the Sand Sanctuary. He, too, possesses a sacred instrument, an oboe, with which he helps Link restore the lost spirit tracks.

This rather arrogant fellow is allegedly descended from a well-known sailor from long ago. Linebeck owns a trading company in new Hyrule which is located on the far edge of the Forest Realm. He deals in trades of valuable treasures for rupees or for train parts.

Linebeck is rather greedy and is reluctant to give up anything of worth or value. He will not object to extreme forms of flattery from anyone and will often oblige otherwise ‘absurd’ requests with enough praise.

The postman is a busy man who spends all of his time delivering letters across new Hyrule. Despite this, however, he seems to enjoy his job. The postman is following a new code of conduct that has mail carriers hand-deliver mail rather than read it aloud to recipients. He enjoys making a train motion with his arms and producing train sounds as he travels from place to place.

Beedle is a familiar character who can be found within other games such asThe Wind Waker and Phantom Hourglass. This time, Beedle owns a hot-air balloon that he uses to travel the land of new Hyrule. He tells prospective customers that he needs only a train whistle when nearby to signal him to lower his balloon.

Teacher is Princess Zelda’s personal teacher. He has grown up with Zelda, and, as such, cares for her very deeply. Throughout the story, Teacher is preoccupied only with Zelda’s well-being. When Zelda is kidnapped, he refuses to believe so, stating that she is merely hiding somewhere in the castle.