One of the most impressive changes that Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom makes from its predecessor is the way that many of its characters are utilized in the main narrative. Although players can explore Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom's Hyrule in any order and at any pace they want, the story beats from location to location tie together better, especially with characters like Purah who are more than a one-time NPC that passes off a valuable item to Link.
Purah's role in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom especially is a heavy evolution from both her utility in the story of Breath of the Wild, as well as that of the last NPC to gift Link a paraglider. Even the replacement for King Rhoam from the previous title has a larger role in both the present storyline and the memories from Hyrule's past.
Link's Paraglider in Tears of the Kingdom
Unlike Breath of the Wild, the paraglider doesn't come from the end of the tutorial section, as a ghostly, ancient king gifts it to Link in order to allow him to descend to the rest of Hyrule and start exploring. The version of that in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is Rauru, although his role is to impart Link with his new magic tools that will apply to the puzzles to come. This leaves the paraglider to come from Purah, a character who received a glow-up after her previous appearance in the series that takes on a much more important role than just handing off a part of Link's toolkit.
The start of the quest to even receive the paraglider from Purah is the one that sets the stage for Tears of the Kingdom's story and equips Link with a new way to fill out the map. However, Purah doesn't just give Link a handful of tools, she is also the central point of the main quest to explore the new dungeons that have appeared across Hyrule. This already sets the character up to have a much deeper connection to the plot than King Rhoam did when he disappeared after handing over the paraglider in Breath of the Wild.
Purah Leads Hyrule to Fight Ganondorf
Interestingly, Purah's role in Tears of the Kingdom doesn't end at starting Link on his journey through Hyrule and then standing to the side for the rest of the game. Instead, she is the center of many of the side quests and main questlines throughout Tears of the Kingdom, with players needing to come back to report their findings periodically. This is most notably the case after completing the Regional Phenomena quest and exploring the four main dungeons of the game, where reporting back to Purah sets up for the final confrontation with Ganondorf.
The result of these interconnected questlines is that Purah as a character winds up having a much stronger impact on the overall narrative of Tears of the Kingdom. It helps to make this character more than the source for the paraglider or the new Purah Pad in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, which helps her stand well above her previous role in Breath of the Wild. Outside of the narrative itself, Purah's character also does quite a bit of heavy lifting, acting as a leading figure in Hyrule during the absence of Princess Zelda and the retirement of Impa.
Another key feature about Purah and the new Lookout Landing location she oversees is the way that it acts as a hub, both for Link and for other major characters in the world of Hyrule. Between the Zonai Survey Team and the Monster Control Crew, Lookout Landing is the central point of this post-Calamity world. With Purah acting as the leader of this location in Tears of the Kingdom, this helps to give this character much more impact on the player experience and world-building.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is available now for Switch.