Liniju

Liniju is the friend ship between Link and Riju from The Legend of Zelda fandom.

Breath of the Wild
Link pays a visit to Gerudo Town disguised as a woman, since the law forbids males from ever entering town, where he enters Riju's palace to speak with her about Vah Naboris. Her guard Buliara keeps her guard around him and tells him to state his business and not to approach any closer, with Link speaking of Vah Naboris and giving out his name when asked. It took a moment for the two of them to find out who he really is and find out that he is a voe, but they let him off the hook since he is a friend of Urbosa. Riju explains Vah Naboris's potential threat to her people if it ever came near it with its sandstorms and lightning generation which only the Thunder Helm can absorb without harming the wearer. Due to the helm being taken, Riju is unable to help Link and asks that he must retrieve it so she can be of use, with Buliara asking if trusting a stranger is a good idea, though Riju has faith in him. After Link gets it back, Riju will be happy for him and tries it on and asks how it looks on her, leading him to recall his meeting with Urbosa. He then comments that it looks big on her, which she later admits that it does and heads out to meet him at the outpost. Once Link meets her there, she instructs Link to stay close to her to avoid being struck by lightning as he shoots Vah Naboris's feet. Once Link bests it, Riju wishes him luck. After Link successfully calms Vah Naboris, Riju will be thankful for his help that the town is no longer under threat and returns to doing her normal routine.

Age of Calamity
Link meets up with Riju, who saved Urbosa from certain death by Thunderblight Ganon and she will note that she is happy to see him again. While there was not very much interaction between them this time around, the battle dialogue between them consists of praise and gratitude.

Tears of the Kingdom
When Riju hears that Link and Princess Zelda have gone missing, she becomes distraught over the situation and nearly loses hope but resolves to practice her lightning power. Her accuracy is not that great up until Link managed to find her and she is happy to see him again, having been worried that something terrible happened to them, though Zelda is still missing in action. Riju and Link head to Kara Kara Bazaar to help the Gerudo fend off the Gibdos which Riju uses electricity to help them learn of their weakness. After that, Gibdo hives make an appearance around Gerudo Town leading everyone to head there and strategize their next move and with everything in place, they successfully destroyed the hives and eliminated the invading Gibdoes. After Link solves the riddle causing the Lightning Temple to rise out of the ground, Queen Gibdo attacks them before they can enter and only managed to make it flee and after they charge the batteries to allow the elevator to rise to the highest floor, they are confronted by Queen Gibdo again and they managed to finally defeat her, ending the sandstorms and the Gibdo attacks. Riju accepts the Secret Stone from her ancestor and passes her power to Link to summon her avatar.

Riju and the awakened saves Link from Ganondorf's attack at Hyrule Castle which the Demon King shows a vision to them to show them the full extent of his power and lack of any mercy. After that, they head to Lookout Landing to discuss recent events and they realize that they need to find the fifth sage to complete the assembly, which Link later finds out that it was Mineru that he was seeking, and after that, it was time to confront Ganondorf in the Depths. Much later, Riju and the Sages save Link in Gloom's Origin, and they fought the Demon King's army together and they help in fighting the bosses as Link faces Ganondorf. The Sages help Link during the battle with the Demon King and Ganondorf resorts to the last drastic measure and consumes the Secret Stone he stole from Queen Sonia to become the Demon Dragon and takes Link above the surface, to the dismay of the Sages. Working together with the Light Dragon, Link destroys the Demon Dragon forever and the ghosts of Rauru and Sonia help Link revert the Light Dragon's transformation which restores Zelda's original form. During the epilogue, Mineru shares the view of Hyrule with the Sages and says her good-byes before she departs from the world once Link, Zelda, and the Sages vow to ensure Hyrule has eternal peace.

Fanon
Liniju is a very common ship amongst the Zelda community where the two of them are good friends with each other and helping each other through and through. Link was the reason that Riju was able to go through character development from a doubtful and insecure young girl who tends to beat herself up when she messes up, even when it is not her fault, to being a more confident young woman who aspires to become a strong leader despite her upbringing and having been hoisted to the throne too early due to her mother's death. There are some romantic ships between them though they are not as common as the platonic friendships and those who do ship them romantically prefer to have Link be together with the older Riju in Tears of the Kingdom. This ship also contains some devoted fan arts of Link and Riju in various sites as well as elsewhere. Riju also cares for Link to which she will become very worried for his well-being and helps him work to get things done and set things right again.

Fandom

 * FAN FICTION