[LinkedUniverse AU] F̶̝̼̪̆̿a̸̧̛̪̫͉̔̈͘r̵̫͌̓̈͠ô̵͍̟r̴̨͉̮͆e̷̡̞̙̯̔ SPIRITS Series - final sketch preview

Here's all nine of the featured Heroes. It took me a while to get to this point but made it nonetheless. Also the series' now renamed to just [SPIRITS Series]....for lore reasons I have in mind.

It will take me a while to complete all nine parts so please bear with me for taking so long. I hope to complete this series within this year!

My notes taken while reasearching the Zelda Timeline lol, mostly cannon a little headcannon in places. Also my Zelink rating aren't how much I like them it's how likely they are in the narrative.

Power: Din ->Demise->Ganondorf. The Gerudo give birth to a male every 100 years, and it's only ever been Ganon. The 100 year system got screwed though because Ganon keeps not actually dying. Pigs. Fire. Red.

Courage: Farore-> heros spirit (fierce diety?)-> Link. Only the hero's spirit is reincarnated in Link, so he's not the same person. Not related at all, except for Twilight Princess where Link is a descendant of Ocarina of Time Link. Wolves and horses. Lighting. Green.

Wisdom: Naydra -> Hylia-> Zelda. Every Zelda is actually Hylia reincarnated through a consistant bloodline. Loftwing. Ice. Blue.

-The three goddess create the earth and the triforce, and that's their only relation to Demise, Hylia, and the heros spirit. They're not reincarnations at all, more like patrons. (Unwillingly in Dins case). Din created the land, Farore created life, and Nayru created order.

-possibly Zonai and Sonia and Rauru founding the first kingdom of Hyrule. This would imply there is a Ganon unconnected to Demise sealed for the rest of everything and a dragon Zelda floating around. Rauru and Sonias light and time magic start off the royal family.

-a long undisclosed time with robots for some reason

-A battle between the Hylia, Demise and the races in Hyrule breaks out over the Triforce. Hylia takes the Hylian kingdom into the sky to protect them, then becomes a Hylian to protect the triforce. She also created a sword with a spirit named Fi with her godly power. With Demise sealed for now, she waits to be born.

-Sheikah are probably started around here, as like a Hylia cult.

-First incartion is Skyward Sword, when Hylia chooses to be born as Zelda and chooses Link as her champion to hold the heros spirit. They fight Demise who then curses them to reincarnate forever, and establishes his own incarnation, kicking off the rest of the series. Hylia, now Zelda, is shown to use her time powers. Link, Zelda, and a few Hylians from Skyloft restart the kingdom on the surface.

Link and Zelda are in love, Zelda chosing Link specifically for that reason. This could imply that Hylia and the heros spirit are soulmates in some way, and every incarnarion after is an extension of that. They don't end up together every time, but that makes it even more beautiful and heartrenching. (Just to specify, Links aren't related so don't worry about it) 10/10 Zelink potential this shit is cannon.

Kikwi present. Impa is there as part of the Shiekah. Impa seems to be either a repeated name or a title given to Shiekah warriors meant to protect the reincarnation of Hylia, not their own incarnation.

-another very long time gap

-evil sorcerors are after the triforce which is hidden in the sacred realm. A new temple of time (after the one in Hylias time used to hide the sealed Demise and Zelda) is built around the master sword, which has been holding in Demise this whole time.

-Another long time passes. Zelda's descendants have become the royal family. Princesses are named Zelda after the original incarnation (note, they aren't all reincarnations, just named after her). There is still a lot of magic floating around the bloodline.

-sheikah are sworn to Hylias blood and therefore the royal family.

-Hyrule is again in danger, a special species called the Minish come from the sky to protect them with a special sword, which was then wielded by an incarnation of Link.

-a bitch named Vaati wants light powers, turns the current Zelda (actually an incarnation, you know because there's a hero) to stone, and that times Link turns the Minish's sword into the 4-sword. Zelda is the light power source, as the light power is still in the royal family. 8/10 Zelink potential

Gorons present

-Another time skip

- the four-sword is used to defeat Vaati again by another Link and Zelda incarnation. 6/10 Zelink potential

- time skip

- Giant ass civil war

- shiekah go into hiding but are still used by the royal family for sketchy shit. (Queue shadow temple 'nam flash backs)

- the first actual Ganondorf is born, or the second depending on if the Zonai are before or after.

- Ganondorf is born as king of the gerudo, and pretends to be allied with the king to gain access to the triforce which is still in the sacred realm, sealed with the master sword. This Link incarnation pulls out the master sword as a child and opens the sacred realm, allowing Ganandorf access to the Triforce, the triforce of power attaching itself to him forever. This also gave Link the triforce of Courage and Zelda the triforce of wisdom. The sacred realm becomes evil and Ganondorf is sealed in it. There's a lot of time travel and it ruins just everything.

Zora, Kokiri, Gerudo, and Gorons present.

Great deku tree dies and is reborn.

and now shit hits the fan

Fallen hero time line

- Link freaking dies and Ganondorf wins, taking the while triforce for himself. He still gets sealed in the corrupted sacred realm, but now he has the triforce. 0/10 Zelink potential long term, as Link is dead, but like 8/10 short term.

- time passes and homies keep going into the sacred realm to get the triforce but they never come back and monsters keep coming out. The sealed it again, at great cost of life and resources

- Agahim, some bitch, takes over the kingdom and the remaining sages to break the seal on Ganon. This reincarnarion of Zelda magically contacts the new Link. He kills Ganon and uses his newly acquired triforce to put everything back to normal. Now the royal family has the triforce. 7/10 Zelink potential. Same Link then has Links awakening acid trip. I'd knock down the Zelink potential but Malin like isn't real so.

Zora present

- same Link then has another acid trip but this time it's real, ending with Ganon being brought back to life as a mindless force of chaos. Ups Zelink to like 8/10, and confirms existence of other kingdoms beside Hyrule that aren't in another dimension.

- triforce splits again somehow, power returns to beast Ganon

- time skip

- new Link, new sages, Lorule exists so that's fun, opposite Hyrule dimension without a triforce. Ganon is freed and eats a man probably. Confirms this Link and Zelda have their respective triforces. Upon returning to Hyrule, the triforce is again in 1 piece and peace is restored to Hyrule and Lorule. 8/10 Zelink potential and like 9.5/10 Hildio potential.

- same Link goes to Hytopia, yet another kingdom in the same dimension.

- time skip. Great time, royal family again has the United triforce.

- King breaks up the triforce and sends Courage to the next Link incarnation, hiding its physical location from all except his daughter Zelda. New King puts that Zelda under a sleeping spell and regrets it. Tries to rule with just power of Wisdom but it doesn't go great.

- time skip

- same Ganon steals the triforce of power, new Zelda and Impa. New Link, without triforce of Courage, again postponed Ganon

- same Link is helping Hyrule not burn down, when suddenly he is given the triforce of Courage mark. He wakes up the old Zelda. I'd say the Zelda born in his time is the actual incarnarion, the older Zelda just a princess. 9/10 Zelink actually but like also he's a little weird with old Zelda to little odd but okay.

Child timeline

- Link defeats Ganondorf and is sent back in time to relive the childhood he didn't have. He warns the royal family before Ganondorf can gain any power and therefore the events of Ocarina of Time never happen. Link leaves on a horse to look for Navi and has a Majoras mask acid trip. 10/10 short term Zelink and like 2/10 longterm, but also one of my favorite dynamics. This is one of the tragedy timeliness, where Zelda loved him before sending him back in time (Sheik was a simp). He could have ended up with this Zelda, but he probably didn't because his descendant in the next game isn't royalty like at all. Scrodingers Zelink, if the next Zelink happened then this one didn't, but we don't know if it does.

-Ganondorf is banished to the Twilight realm, where the wizard sent there a Hella long time ago got busy. He gains power with a guy named Zant who takes over the Twilight realm and breaks out to Hyrule. The princess of the Twilight realm named Midna finds the new Link incarnation, an actual descendant of the last one and holder of the triforce of Courage.

Link is trained by the like ghost of the hero of time, who is an adult and missing an eye. The hero of time means nothing to this Hyrule because Ocarina of Time never happened.

They kill Ganondorf finally holy shit and the Twilight mirror is shattered, forever separating the two places.

Like 8/10 Zelink potential, frick Illia freaking hate her. I follow that Zelink both had a crush on Midna but she's gone sooooo

Gerudo, Gorons, and Zora.

-big ass time skip

-new Ganondorf is born finally, but is like immediately sealed with the 4-sword by a new Link. I don't think there even is a Zelda so 0/10 Zelink potential

Adult timeline

-this is what's left when Link gets sent back in time. Ganondorf is sealed in the corrupted spirit realm and the triforce of Courage shatters into 8 pieces, master sword is returned to the temple of time. 10/10 horribly tragic Zelink poor Zelda good lord.

-time passes without any reincarnations.

-Ganon escapes his seal in the sacred realm but there's still no Link or so Hyrule is effed. The gods flood Hyrule, society continues on mountaintops that are now islands and Hyrule is frozen underneath a giant ocean. The Triforce of Wisdom is split in two between Zelda, who stays on land, and her father, in the frozen Hyrule.

-Time passes badly

-Gannon escapes to the surface and kidnaps "girls with pointed ears", or descendants of Hylia. A new Link appears and gets the master sword from the frozen Hyrule, but it doesn't do shit until he fixes the triforce of courage. The king appears and bestows Links pirate captain the other half of the triforce, as she's reveled to be this time's Zelda. The triforce is restored and the old Hyrule gets genocided. Ganon is sealed, not dead, and Link and Zelda/Tetra go to establish a new hyrule. 10/10 Zelink potential this is some good shit. Rito, Kokiri, and Gerudo present

-same Link and Zelda have a bit on their quest, no lasting consequences except for 11/10 Zelink potential. They discover New Hyrule.

-some train shit in New Hyrule, new Link and Zelda have a soft romantic adventure with no lasting consequences except no more trains. 10/10 Zelink it's the whole plot.

Gorons present

After or before

-all the three timelines get just apocalyptic and society is just like gone, so the Zonai come from the Heaven's and with their arrival comes the merging of the three timelines.

-OR potentially Rauru and Sonias time is actually before Skyward Sword, as Ganondorf isn't actually a reincarnation. This would imply that every other game happens inbetween Rauru and Sonias time and Breath of the Wild, which i like better but it makes some leaps in logic, however it also explains the existence of both time and Light magic in the royal blood line.

-time passes

-Hyrule is once again reformed OR formed for the first time, by the last of the Zonai, Raruru and his Hylian wife Sonia. The incarnations are still going strong, so Ganondorf is born but their kind of hosed because there isn't a Link or Zelda OR the incarnations havent started yet and this is the first Ganon, before he was tied to Demise.

Luckily, either way, a Zelda comes from the future, and after a battle ending in the death of Sonia, Rauru uses himself to seal Ganondorf away and Zelda turns into a dragon.

-Time passes, the kingdom grows and hyrule castle is built over Ganondorf.

-Time passes and either all the other games happen or nothing happens, either way Zelda is still a dragon.

Definitely after

-a Link and Zelda are reincarnated to fight Calamity Gannon, whatever is left of the monster Ganon that was never killed in the other timelines. They, with the highly technogically advanced Shiekah, build weapons and postpone his return. We don't know much but like 8/10 Zelink I don't know could be cool. Shiekah go off, creating shrines and all types of shit.

-abreak off of the shiekah called the Yiga form, which is like the shiekah but for Ganon instead of Hylia.

-a new Link and Zelda are born. They are so far ahead that they no longer have a grasp on the incarnations before them besides a few sparce legends. They know Ganon is coming back but they don't know who he is. They know Zelda is suppose to have powers, but they have no idea how she's gets them. Link finds the master sword in the lost woods, guarded by the great deku (the 2nd actually the first one died somewhere).

So they fail, whoops. Link dies and gets put in a Sheikah shrine for healing while Zelda holds of Ganon for 100 years.

-hyrule collapses and turns into almost a tribal society very unconnected.

-Link wakes up, wrecks havoc, and defeats Calamity Ganon, freeing Zelda and starting the reconstruction of hyrule.

10/10 Zelink potential. We got the before when Zelda cononicly loved him but we don't know Links feeling, and then Link might remember her and its like a reuniting thing and it's lovely or he doesn't and they fall in love again. Or possibly he didn't love her before and either way its a saga and his rubber band was in her study in "her" house thats all I'm saying.

-7 years, hyrule is being rebuilt by Zelda.

-A sickness is spreading through Hyrule, Zelda and Link go to investigate and find what's left of the Ganondorf Rauru fought, who is either the first ganondorf or the most recent one. Zelda is sent in the past to Sonia and Rauru, along with the destroyed master sword.

Zelda is turned into a dragon and lives out thousands of years as one, potentially during every other game in the series. If so, the cloud layer established by Hylia was probably around until the upheavel, hiding her.

-The Upheavel happens and the world gets a little more cracked out, but Link defeats the Ganondorf and Zelda is turned back to her Hylian form. 11/10 Zelink potential and the dragon bit is so upsetting.

The three goddesses are present as dragons. Are they dragons? Are they just manifestations of their power? Idek but it's sick.

What the hell is Beedle? I read a fanfic once that he never dies because he helped Hylia once and it was really good so I highkey stand by that.

Sages kinda hop around, usually there's 7, one for each major group, even though not every race exists in every game. Are they extensions of the gods somehow?

(Rito, Zora, Gerudo, Gorons, Hylians, Shiekah, and whatever weird shit they got going on that game usually just Zelda)

One main issue with the Zonai before theory is that there's all the races when the Rito specifically doesn't seem to exist outside of the adult timeline.

There is a possible Kikwi, Kokiri, Korok pipeline.

I prescribe to the fierce deity as the original hero incarnation because it's just fits well and I'm obsessed with him, but it it doesn't really matter either way. I also read a fanfic once where the Fierce Deity loved Hylia and fought with her against Demise, but he died and the hero's spirit in each Link is what's left of him. Also read one where he saved Farore once from Demise and that's why he's specifically blessed with courage. Might have been the same one. I cannot remember it is 5:30 am and I haven't slept yet.

Ears are cool and plot relevant. The closer they are the Hylia the pointier their ears are, they get less pointy over time. Which adds to the Zonai being before because they got the pointiest ears. Also Gerudo ears get more pointy as time goes on.

Din gerudo pipeline? That's interesting. Farore and Nayru don't really have anything like that. Hylia has the Hylians but that's it.

Great Deku tree? Who? How? Why is he still kicking? Kind of adds to the Before Zonai theory or else he would have had to survive whatever apocalypse destroyed everything

In summary, somebody off me and therapy is probably a good investment.

I return with a short list of headcannons

Twilight has anemia. He is so pale despite being a farm boy and the only farm boy I knew who was as pale as him also had anemia. Give this boy some iron supplements pls.

You may think Wild and Hyrule are the problem children when together, but if you added Four it's as if you sent three overly hyper children into a candy store. Zero brain cells are to be found.

Every bird loves Sky. Every. Single. One. He has Disney princess vibes.

Warriors cannot sing for the life of him. You know Scuttle from the Little Mermaid? Thats what he sounds like.

Fairies love Hyrule and Time so much that it isn't uncommon to see the small balls of light attempt to "kidnap" them. (Which in reality is just them repeatedly hitting themselves against the two since they can't push them, and it's adorable.)

Time, in his youth, would starve himself since he was so used to eating very little. Malon threatened to throw a cow at him if he didn't start eating. Time hasn't starved himself since.

Wind believes babies come from storks and I will die on that hill.

Legend, despite what many others headcannon for him, is religious. I like to think that he doesn't worship Hylia, but Farore.

Twilight is also religious, but for the light spirits. I like to think that Ordon's religion is simular to our paganism.

All the Links (minus Legend and Wind) experienced horrible sea sickness when they first got on Tetra's boat.

Twilight has a prosthetic arm after his arm was cut off during his adventure. You know the "need a hand" joke? That's how he revealed his prosthetic to the chain. He threw his arm to Sky, causing the man to pass out out of shock and horror (since Skyloft hasn't made the medical advancements for prosthetics!)

Cats love the Links, even if Four is deathly afraid of them. It's because the remlets loved Sky back when they existed.

Thanks for sharing these I had fun reading them!! I’m sorry it took me so long to respond to ur ask, I wanted to make sure I had enough time to read through all of them and respond :)

- Oooh Twilight with anemia is interesting. I personally headcanon that Twilight has one of the darkest skin tones of the bunch, along with Sky and Hyrule, while Legend and Time are the two palest

- Four to me gives off incredibly responsible energy, but when you pair him with someone else, he goes nuts and gets real silly real quick

- SKY DISNEY PRINCESS REAL. That boy has sung and held out his hand and a bird has landed in it, I just know it.

- I actually have a fic series I wrote where Wars was just completely tone deaf but did not let that stop him from screaming along to the radio. I think normal Wars would secretly be a decent singer but be bad on purpose because its a skill he’s anxious about

- I headcanon that fairies will just it in Time’s hair and let him walk around and carry them, and that they also do this to Hyrule and Wild as well

- I have a similar headcanon that Time used to only live off of nuts and fruits and cried the first time he saw Malon kill a cow for food. He’s over it now, but he’s still upset if he has to see it happen and will not kill an animal himself

- WIND ABSOLUTELY BELIEVES THAT AND I THINK HE’D CRY IF SOMEONE TOLD HIM OTHERWISE

- As far as the Links and religion go, I don’t think any of the hate Hylia, I think some are a bit bitter but I think at the end of the day they all know its not her fault. And yes to Legend worshipping Farore and Twilight the light spirits!

- I would like to add that I don’t think Wild would get sea sick. But all the others? Dead. Gone actually. One boat ride and they’re on the floor. Sky’s been in boats before but he hates them

- Twilight with a prosthetic arm would be an absolute menace to society oh good god 😭😭😭 (I’m obsessed with this headcanon btw, i love it)

- CATS LOVING LINKS BECAUSE REMLITS LOVED SKY IS SO CUTE. TEARS IN MY EYES RN THAT’S ADORABLE.

The triforce..

Power, red, related to fire, the godess Din, and the gorons.

Wisdom, blue, related to water, the godess Nayru, and the Zora.

Courage, related to wind, forest, lightning, the godess Farore, the kokiri and the rito.

The colours of the triforce are very deliberate.

Look familiar? This is RGB, the primary colours of optical colour mixing. There are three additional colours from the triforce colours, and though it varies through the different games, I don't think these colours are too unfamiliar to us.

Magenta, represents shadow in ocarina of time.

Yellow represents lightning in tears of the kingdom, and could easily be switched out for the orange we see representing the sage of spirit in ocarina of time.

Cyan is a tricky one, but honestly I think that this is actually a better representation of water, because I think blue, aka wisdom, is more related to time.

I would probably categorize it like this:

Red = Fire

Blue = Time (or water)

Green = Forest(oot)/Wind(totk)

Magenta = Shadow(oot)/Spirit(totk)

Cyan = Water (or time)

Yellow = Spirit(oot)/Lightning(totk)

This would also place Fire and Water as opposites, which they technically are, so that fits well. But this doesn't actually really matter, because there are only three godesses, and by that I mean that these abilities of the secondary colours are contained within the three godesses!

I would suggest that the triforce of Power contains both Fire and Shadow(oot)/Spirit(totk), the triforce of Wisdom contains both Time and Water, and the triforce of courage contains both Forest(oot)/Wind(totk) as well as Spirit(oot)/Lightning(totk). This also fits very well because in botw/totk there are three types of elemental enemies: Fire, Ice (ice is just frozen water, remember), and Electricity. These abilities mirror the three dragons, and it's extremely clear that lightning belongs to Farore in a way.

Anyway, you probably understand what I'm building up towards, because you've noticed that there's something missing, haven't you? There's this thing where if you mix Red, Blue and Green, just like in the picture above, you get..

White light.

Okay so, I don't believe in the tetraforce, however..

The thing is, in rgb, white isn't a primary colour. If we were talking about the primary colours of paint that would be CMY and if you mix them you get black, and white is the lack of colour, but now we're talking about RGB, in which white isn't the lack of colour but is Red, Blue and Green mixed together! This means that Hylia - the godess of light - could very well be seen as a godess but also not one of the main godesses, because she was created by the three godesses powers working together.

The three golden godesses also created two other things together; The planet which hyrule is a part of, as well as the triforce.

We have never actually seen Hylia exactly, so what if Hylia is.. kind of like mother earth? What if Hylia is the personification of the planet?

I was also thinking that Hylia could be the personification of the sun, However if the sun is a godess then it wouldn't be one, but be the three golden godesses together, because they are the ones who created the earth and gave it life, like a sun would, and Hylia would be more like a ray of sunshine sent by them to the planet. Every time we see the triforce itself, it is shining as if it's emitting light, which is extremely appropriate for it to do in this theory. So what if Hylia might be the triforce in a way that she is a misinterpration of a princess of sorts that once held the complete triforce inside her, like the kings of the fallen timeline, as well as zelda from breath of the wild.

I guess this series might be more symbolic than we think.

What do you think? Does any of this make sense? Feel free to add to the speculation!

unnnghhh, I just need to get this out of my system before it gets stupid.  I promise, it is a -very- silly and light criticism of current totk discourse revolving around the three Goddesses, Din, Nayru, and Farore. Honestly I shouldn’t even be negatively affected by just some fun theories being thrown around, but clearly I’m bothered by it for some reason. And I can likely explain why. (This isn’t to stop fun fan theories from being made or me being an old codger and saying NO to fans, because that’s completely rude. If those developments are genuinely exciting to you, I getchya.) 

Current talk is that at least in BoTW and ToTK, the dragons that are roughly named after the three goddesses (not my assumption) (and are referred to as she) by the Goddess statues, are Zonai who consumed their stones. So at least in this universe that BoTW and ToTK decides to be in, these goddesses were mortal in some way or somehow turned their secret stones into the triforce or... something along those lines. I don’t inherently like this line of thinking, for a few reasons. Sort of the same reasons I don’t inherently like the idea of Zelda basically being the Virgin Mary figure in skyward sword and onward. It’s just opinion, and shouldn’t affect your fun times. And for some dumb reason it bothers me and I just want to explain why. The Golden Goddesses, Din, Nayru, and Farore, were not sideliners when it comes to the entirety of Zelda lore. They made the world, full stop, and possibly other worlds that also appear in the Zelda series. They -made- the kingdom of Hyrule, and left the Triforce behind after their creation was complete. They have no official appearance in any game (these are not the oracles), but their hand is -felt- in certain ways. Even if their presence is subdued, they still call the shots on their creation. Just like them, their respective Triforce Pieces represent their philosophy. Din is most comfortable in their Power. Nayru has ageless Wisdom, and Farore gives courage to all she holds dear. Together, they represent The Legend of Zelda’s whole philosophy: As one, they are perfect, working in tandem. Apart, they are still powerful, but become imbalanced and that imbalance throws the world into chaos, as it has time and time again since the Triforce’s original separation in Ocarina of Time. The Goddesses Themselves continue to have namesakes within the series, which is where the Dragon’s names in BoTW and ToTK will become more familiar. At least since Twilight Princess, the Light Spirits that protect the world of reality from shadow, are named subtly after their creators. Faron (Not Farore), Lanayru, (Not Nayru), and Eldin (not Din). They bear the responsibility of protecting creation and the Sacred Realm from the shadow the Twili created, and naturally were eventually banished to the Twilight Realm due to their sacrosanct acts. This is, as far as I remember, the first time we hear of these names. They were created by Din, Nayru, and Farore, but they themselves are not the gods incarnate, and never were. They simply had a purpose, and carried their namesake due to who mothered them into existence.  Now, again, I don’t really subscribe that much to a timeline, and never really have regardless of the “Official” timeline existing. BotW and TotK feel wildly different in terms of what is included in them. We at least know there are *stories* of the Hero of Time, the Hero of Winds, the Hero of Twilight, etc, etc. or they are at least vaguely mentioned in ancient rites and likely moldy tomes that haven’t seen the light of day in thousands, if not tens of thousands of years. Most of this ancient era has come and gone, to the point where the Sheikah tribe of old developed frickin computers with magic powers, and by the time THAT was featured in BoTW, it was already ANCIENT Sheikah tech. But with the events of ToTK, I’m completely complacent in thinking this could be a completely different -universe- then the actual “Official” timeline.  Much like how Termina exists, It’s not really difficult to imagine several different Hyrules existing in many alternate realities, dimensions, planes, what have you. And just because the Zonai exist does not inherently mean the Triforce and the Goddesses don’t also somehow exist in this set universe. I don’t believe the Goddesses would suddenly decide to become Zonai, when perhaps they are the ones who created them anyway, much like the Hylians, the Gorons, the Zora, etc. And even if there are multiple Hyrules, The Goddesses literally made it. I doubt, in any timeline, plane, reality, dimension, that fact would somehow be different, as they are literally the ones responsible for its actual existence. The Zonai, after all are said to be -descended- from Gods, and are only seen as gods themselves due to how these Gods GIFTED these guys with Secret Stones.  This of course, brings us to the dragons in question: I do understand where people believe these three dragons could be the Goddesses. Though the Zonai consider the process of Draconfication forbidden, I don’t really think it’s as forbidden as we think it is. Where I differ from the current discourse, however, is that I don’t remotely think Din, Nayru, and Farore were somehow Zonai, and partook of their sacred stones and it became the triforce. This just doesn’t make sense with the very little we have to go on, for a lot of  reasons. 1, we have to presume Din, Nayru, and Farore already exist, and have existed for Milennia. Otherwise, the Kingdom of Hyrule -would not exist-. Neither would the Hero, Neither would Princess Zelda, Ganondorf, etc.  However. I have a theory that the Dragons are the God forms of the Zonai. Though they are a bit goat like, they also share... quite a few draconic traits on their own, no?Sharp teeth, hair that more serpentine dragons have from Japan and China. They came from the literal sky and wished to bring their bounty to the races of the land. The Zonai -revere- dragons and dragon kind. The Secret Stones themselves obviously don’t just turn Zonai into dragons, as we can see from Zelda consuming hers. I presume, that these gifted Secret Stones likely come from the God-like dragons that the Zonai likely descended from. When swallowing a stone, you are inheriting the power of presumed God-hood as defined by the Zonai. You become immortal. You lose yourself. Because mortals and Gods are profoundly different. Now, whether or not Dragons are capable of becoming mortal on their own is a good question I can’t answer, but I suspect the Zonai have -way- more relation to the concept of the dragons then they do Din, Nayru, and Farore. The same goes for the Dragons that are already within Hyrule: Dinraal, Naydraa (Wtf that isn’t even close to Nayru), and Farosh.. These guys have way more in common with their other namesakes, the light spirits of twilight princess, then they do with the actual Golden Goddesses. And they presumably also share something with their Light Spirit Namesakes. They are guardians of the springs of Power, Wisdom, and Courage respectively. However I picture this relation to be more of these dragon gods wishing to protect creation from ages long past. Perhaps these Dragons never became Zonai. Perhaps these dragons are Zonai who wished to fulfill a purpose in protecting these springs. But being the Golden Goddesses themselves? I highly doubt it. There is plenty of room within the Zelda universe to have the Golden Goddesses remain as such, and to have other gods and spirits fulfill myriad roles deemed important to the Cycles.  If anything, I would say the Zonai are an interesting addition to the many races of Hyrule, and their story is a more compelling one, when viewed in a lense that encompasses their relationship to dragonkind. Not God-kind. Or... at least DragonGod Kind. I also feel like viewing it this way is -way- easier to swallow then somehow relating the Secret Stones to the Triforce. These are their own unique goodie. ToTK, more or less, is a lesson that the Triforce has already taught many times, but through a different lens. Might and Power can obviously come from many different things in Hyrule, and a DragonGod’s essence? Well.  How could Ganondorf, one who seeks power with relentless force, resist?  In her Wisdom, Zelda chose to seek this power to protect her Kingdom from the plague she so feared.  And Link, once again, is the edge of the sword, stuck within the power struggle. Yet his courage and valor lead to the destruction of the Demon Dragon.  I don’t know about you, but the Goddesses are definitely watching. And not as dragons. 

My biggest botw/totk headcanon is that Zelda is supposed to be the hero and Link is supposed to be the princess which SOUNDS like bullshit, but like...

Link being way more spiritually sensitive is what first set me off, like. Zelda spent her entire life up until adulthood desperately, DESPERATELY attempting to contact the spirits, the goddesses, trying to be the priestess she was told she was destined to be, only for it to just never happen. Only in the eleventh hour did her powers even begin to activate and not even fully allowing her to destroy the Calamity, only stop it.

Link, however, has been able to talk to not just the koroks but the GODDESS STATUES from the jump. Like, it's one of the first voices you hear when starting botw: you can talk to Rhoam, but also the statue in the ruined temple of time. The koroks make a big deal about being able to talk to them and sure it could be because they're descended from the kokiri, etc etc but it's still weird.

Another voice that feels weird is Fi's voice - one that Link cannot hear but Zelda can. She's heard Fi's voice on multiple occasions, the soft buzzing of the sword that we - as Link - cannot parse but SHE can. Also, coincidentally, immediately afterward she hears Fi for the first time, as if in response to her powers...

Additionally, light and time as motifs are kind of muddied throughout the series but one of the bigger constants is that of the two, it's primarily Link - the Hero of Time - that's capable of manipulating it and traversing between time periods. Meanwhile, it's Zelda who's the more capable at wielding the light against the darkness, a shield against the monsters.

In totk specifically, the roles are switched. (Spoilers for totk from here on out) The reversal power you get at the beginning is the Sage Power of Zelda. It's the same iconography as the other secret stones that the sages give you, so it's her lending you her ability to manipulate time, as seen by Sonia in the past using Reversal as well. Meanwhile Link's main abilities draw from the Light, though that's primarily through things like using the Master Sword and he's not very magically adept.

I also heavily think that the idea of naming her the Light Dragon rather than the Time Dragon was primarily a misnomer to make you think that she was Hylia instead of Zelda (fitting with the motif of the other three dragons being Din, Nayru, and Farore). She's explained to have both time and light powers, but her primary abilities seem to be time, rather than light.

(Also it's so minor and tiny but SILENT Princess? Hmmmm??? Which of the two is silent it's not ZELDA it's LI-) (I KNOW it's her motif I KNOW it's cute and I like the idea of not being able to thrive in captivity blah blah blah but hear me out,)

All of this to say t4t masc-nonbinary Zelda and transfemme Link rights, the end

Ocarina Song Correspondences

As I further develop my own Hylian Faith that I practice in a way that emulates Link, I find the ocarina to also be an important spiritual tool as the Ocarina of Time was an important tool in the Hero of Time’s arsenal, as well as the key to open the door to the sacred realm. Of course other instruments may also be used, considering how important a lyre harp has been in the series as well.

Most of my practice is energy cultivation, meditation, and prayer, but I’m also slowly working on my own magical system utilizing various tools for spells, such as talismans and music magic. Due to this, I have devised a basic correspondence list for many songs from The Legend of Zelda. Please bear in mind: I am super new to this so my correspondences will be fairly limited. Also please remmber that your path is your own and you may make your own correspondences. Intention and sincerity are the most important elements. Some of these correspondences are related to specific deities, sages, races, and even characters since people will have very individual practices and I want to hopefully provide inspiration for one’s own faith.

Zelda’s Lullaby

Princess Zelda, royal family, Goddess Hylia, sacred power, access, relaxation, healthy sleep.

Epona’s Song

Epona, comfort, bounty (connection to LonLon Ranch), Horse God Malanya, transport.

Saria’s Song

Sage of the Forest, friendship, nature, forest, trees, Goddess Farore, Great Deku Tree, Kokiri (Koroks and Kikwi too).

Song of Time

Goddess Hylia, Sacred Realm, time.

Song of Storms

Rain (literal or beneficial symbol), Storm (literal or baneful symbol).

Minuet of Forest

Goddess Farore, Sage of the Forest, Sacred Forest

Bolero of Fire

Goddess Din, Sage of Fire, fire, passion, Gorons

Serenade of Water 

Goddess Nayru, Sage of Water, water, nourishment, cleansing, healing, Zora.

Requiem of Spirit

Goddess of the Sand, Sage of Spirit, strengthen and fortify spirit, Gerudo.

Nocturne of Shadow

Goddess of Death, Sage of Shadow, Sheikah, shadow work, death, darkness.

Prelude of Light

light, Sage of Light, protection

Song of Healing

Healing, breaking curses.

Song of Soaring

Travel, safe journey.

Sonata of Awakening

Deku, swamp, awakening of inner self, awakening of desired qualities.

Goron Lullaby

Gorons, soothing, warm feelings, snow, restful sleep.

Oath to Order

Giants of Termina, support for heavy emotions, strength (mental, emotional, physical).

New Wave Bossa Nova

Zora, ocean, musical skill.

Ballad of the Windfish

dreams, waking, dispelling illusion, processing complex emotions

Ballad of the Goddess

Devotion to Goddess Hylia, sky, sacred power, protection, Hylians.

Fi’s Theme

Communing with Fi, primary sacred tools, creativity

I decided to dedicate this new art book, I got it just the other day, to my Zelda ideas and studies- 'cause it's such a creative series, and also it's fun/stimulating to try and "modify" Totk (since we all know by now that it's not all that well thought out.. not to throw any shade lol) Info dump over

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I've heard many people talk about how they find the difference between Botw's Zonai and Totk's Zonai to be too jarring - Which I don't personally mind because I've also heard that the difference is because apparently Botw's Zonai structures were already ancient ruines (aka the beginning of Zonai civilization) by the time of Mineru and Rauru (aka the end of the Zonai civilization). Which is really interesting.

And also a shame why Totk didn't spend any major time giving us any insight beyond the Zonai devices being a major part of their culture. Or even how the Zonai managed to make whole islands float. And they never even explained how or why the Zonai just... Ascended into the sky???? 'Cause we know they were surface dwellers at one point due to the Zonai ruines in Botw.. But at the very least if Nintendo wanted them to have originated from the sky as like a holiness thing, they could've just said that they were Skyloftians that somehow never descended onto Hyrule, or that they come from the Wind tribe, or that they were crafted by Hylia Herself or something et cetera, at cetera. I feel like the lack of a clarification is just a major oversight in my opinion, because it would have become a welcomed addition to the Zelda lore. The Zlore...

So in order to elaborate on the divide, and also the sky-thing, I decided to delve into the theory that they were originally surface dwellers!

The post-ascension Zonai are basically just Totk Zonai but with the basic scale colours modified so they resemble the Botw/Totk dragons more, and the pre-ascension Zonai just flat out have dragon heads because of, y'know, the Zonai's whole shtick?

I wanted the Zonai, as a race, to be descended from dragons because:

1. It explains why they haven't shown up in any previous Zelda game. They're a relatively "new" "cross breed". (Though I haven't figured out what the dragons "bred" with yet- if at all. Sheikah, hylians, Rito, whatever the hell Kilton and Koltin's race is..)

2. It fits nicely with the ouroborous thing Totk has going on. What came first: the chicken or the egg? The dragons or the Zonai?

3. Dragons have already appeared in previous Zelda games like Ocarina of Time and Oracle of Seasons ( I think). And that only helps to link Botw/Totk's dragons to the Zonai.

×××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××

Anyway back to my drawings:

I used a achromatic colour scheme for my default zonai because I think it would be really interesting if the Zonai's colours were based on their "powers".

Mineru's design is purple due to her being the sage of spirit, Rauru's is yellow/white because of his light magic, and so on- but I hc the pre-ascension Zonai to be split into three (3) sub-tribes? clans? Based on the three Godesses: Din (power), Nayru (wisdom), and Farore (courage). So these pre-ascent Zonai will have red, blue, or green/gold colourings (unless they're too important I guess? Or just specialise in a different power like a sage would). So just swap out the black/grey for a different colour and you'll see what I'm trying to get at lol.

I also made their hair less scaly so there would be a more obvious connection to them and the Sheikah, just look at that 3rd eye man c'mon Nintendo, the theories!!..

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Side note: I don't think there would be much of a difference between male and female zonai, except that female Zonai are bigger because they follow reptile lore. (Also giant dragon women 👀👀👀).

I also believe that, the Zonai are a matriarchy (meaning women are expected to be in authority) because of the Godess/Goddesses being female, Zonai women being larger when they live in a warrior-heavy society (see: Botw barbarian armour). And this would also explain Botw/Totk's dragons (Dinraal, Naydra, and Farosh) having female pronouns and a very high status. Leaving credence for the theory that they were once Zonai and weren't always dragons. (This will feed into the 'plot' later).

However, Mineru's height is still considered "smaller" for a Zonai because she is trans. Hope this helps!

Essay Over

Has anyone linked (ha.) the titles of the latest Legend of Zelda games to the three golden goddesses of the games lore? I can't find anyone referencing it anywhere but I can't be the first person to put that together. It clicked when the title of the new game was also written as "____ of the ____".

Ocarina of Time gave the Hyrule creation story as the three golden goddesses shaping and forming the world:

Din's power created the red earth, that piece of the triforce glows red—we don't have a game for that yet.

Nayru's wisdom gave the spirit of law to the world, accented by the blue sky in the game, that piece of the triforce glows blue. Tears 😭 like in this emoji are frequently colored blue, and among other things, kingdoms themselves represent their law over the people and land within them. Maybe that's a stretch but next to the previous title, Tears of the Kingdom feels like it's meant to represent the glowing blue triforce piece of wisdom.

And Farore's rich soul created the life forms that would uphold those laws, she breathed life into the world accented in the game by green grass and other flora. And yeah, even though the wild is more than just trees and grass (it's also the deserts, the mountains, the tundras, even the ocean), I think a lot of us imagine being in the middle of a green forest, jungle, or valley. By itself, the title just represented the open-world genre of the game to us, but now that we have a second game with the same motif I think Breath of the Wild was meant to represent the glowing green triforce piece of courage.

So I'm wondering if that means they already planned for a third game, that in half a decade or more we're going to get a ____ of the ____ title representing the glowing red triforce piece of power. Maybe not though, the gameboy games Oracle of Ages and Seasons were directly meant to be a series of three games representing the triforce and that fell apart to the two games we got instead. So maybe that'll happen again, but until then I'm going to assume a 3rd game is in the works, likely for the next generation of Nintendo console. You're welcome to guess the title with me in reblogs and comments. Something like Strength of the People, or Force of the Heavens

Tears of the Kingdom: Lore I Made Up for  Zonai

Spoilers!

Zonai Lore:

The Zonai arrived after the Great Convergance, an event that merged all the timelines together which slowly created strife and conflict within the Old Kingdom of Hyrule, and settled in in the Faron Region. Even then they were masters of magic and technology, however they weren’t always so benevolent. In the distant past, they were worshipped as gods even though they weren’t and took advantage of it. The most warlike of them wanted to invade the rest of Hyrule and rule it. However there were those who knew they weren’t and tried to live peacefully with their neighbors and even forming deep bonds with the Hyruleans while sharing and spreading their technology. 

Eventually, these viewpoints, those that want to conquer Hyrule vs those who want to live in peace would reach its head when the Hyrulean Royal Family fell and the Zonai fell into a period of Civil War that seemed to be without end due to their advanced technology. Eventually, though the warlike half won out over the peaceful side and they were driven underground with three Secret Stones into the Depths where they slowly rebuilt their civilization for the next 1500 years continuing to perfect their technological advancements.

On the surface, the warlike faction then began to plan for trying to take over Hyrule using the remaining Secret Stones they’re ancestors said to have passed down to them. However without their common enemy anymore, backstabbing and corruption slowly took over until they slowly wiped themselves out. Some even committed the forbidden act of Draconification in an attempt to gain more power but since their hearts and intentions were impure they were felled and the 4 remaining secret stones seemed lost forever.

Underneath meanwhile, the Depths proved to be quite a challenge slowly over the course of a thousand year the harsh environment and the lack of people caused their population to drop dramatically until there were only two Zonai left, Mineru who was a young girl who was chosen to be the Sage of Spirits and her brother Rauru the new Sage of Light named for a past one.

Zonai worship the three great dragons as the three golden goddesses who blessed their ancestors with their own spikes that were reforged into the Secret Stones. However, the tribe of the Depths also came to worship another god, the god of spirits, the Great Bargainer who is willing to grant blessings in exchange for helping him with ferrying the souls of the lost to the next world. They didn’t really worship the goddess Hylia until Rauru married a descendant of hers int the form of the priestess Sonia.

They mainly worshipped the goddess Farore (one version of the origins even say they’re descended from her) and thus created a series of dangerous endeavors to prove their worship to her including the gliding contest that young Zonai warriors would perform as a rite of adulthood. 

As a mark of adulthood, Zonai would chop off their tails.

Were they descended from the gods? No one is actually quite sure. Even the Zonai themselves are not sure. Some believe that they evolved from strange creatures that inhabited the ancient cities in the sky. Some believe that they come from a tribe of Hylians who perfected their magic that managed to ascend to the skies using the winds. Some believe that they are descended from the first people of Hylia who remained behind while their cousins populated the surface. Perhaps, it was the goddess Farore herself that granted them their blessings. Or perhaps they evolved from nothing and just been secretly hiding just under the surface before rising to the heavens.

Sooo… Third time’s the charm?

Back at it again with my LU [Farore’s Spirits] series! Four sketches are completed. Five more to go.

The Three Golden Goddesses and Creation Mythos

Masterlist

Trying something new here so if anything goes wrong when it comes to the Masterlist, please let me know! This will be a series of worldbuilding exercises I’m doing to build up a more solid world for my own stories, as well as to help you understand the world of Oath of the Forsaken more!

I do apologise for all of the stuff I will be releasing at once, I want to get a few headcannons out there to fill the Masterlist quickly.

Content under the Cut!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When three local Suns collided, in the wake of destruction, three celestial beings formed. These beings came to be known as Din, Nayru, and Farore. For aeons, they searched the universe for a purpose until they found a planet full of potential to be shaped into their own. However, this planet was inhabited by a Demon Tribe, reigning with malice and dark intent. The Three wiped the chaotic world of the tribe, started the planet anew. Demise, the Demon Tribe’s god, however, was more than angered by this. Planning to take back his world in the future, he embedded the spirit of his High Priest into his sword, hiding both himself and the sword away from the goddesses. This sword would later become Ghirahim.

The goddesses formed the Triforce as their gift to humanity, with the ability to give the holder any wish of their choosing. They decided to place the Triforce in a place which would later become the Kingdom of Hyrule and built their magical defences around the state. They took the energy from dying stars to form an immortal saint and guardian, calling her Hylia. Hylia’s purpose was to protect the Triforce and the people inhabiting Hyrule, forever in a state of neutrality due to her immortal status.

Before leaving to find a new planet in this one’s potential likeness, the Three each broke off a shard of their souls to create beings able to protect the land they formed in their stead. These shards would fall into what would become known as the Eldin, Lanayru, and Faron regions.

From Din’s shard, a volcano formed, so dangerous to those with mortal flesh, it was named Death Mountain.

From Nayru’s shard, Hyrule’s river systems formed, bringing life to the people that would roam the lands.

From Farore’s shard, lush forest formed, rife with magic that could grow whole woodlands in less than three decades.

Each of these areas had a guardian created from the shards, protecting the people who resided there. Their forms were many and often reflected the popular aspects of mythology at the time. Their first forms were mystical dragons, which seemed to be a favourite form for the guardian spirits. They were also said to be oracles, giants, and even the first Great Fairies, known as Great Mothers at the time.

When the guardians gifted a piece of their power to their respective races, they formed as shining orbs encased in a diamond, of which the wielders could use a small portion of the magic immortals held. The first stone was Nayru’s Love, which would protect the holder from all harm. Then was Din’s Fire, which would create a shockwave of heat that lit everything in the immediate area on fire. And finally, the Farore’s Wind, which could be used to teleport across the region freely. Originally, these spells came from the stones gifted to the races; the Zora Sapphire, the Goron Ruby, and the Kokiri Emerald, however the Great Fairies had to separate the spells from the races once people learned of their properties and became power-hungry. Over time, these stones travelled across Hyrule, disaster after disaster, eventually smoothing into the Goddess Pearls during the time of the Great Flood and Era of Winds. Nayru’s Peal was discovered to the Zora, who passed it onto their patron deity, Jabun, Din’s Pearl washed ashore Dragon Roost Island with the Rito, and Farore’s Pearl remained in the Korok’s possession long before the Great Flood.

In the days before Skyloft, humans worshipped all five major deities; The Golden Three, Hylia, and Demise. Due to geographical locations, Din was seen as the Goddess of Fire, Nayru as the Goddess of Water, and Farore as the Goddess of Nature. Hylia and Demise were opposites which neither’s symbols could exist without the others’. Hylia was the Saint of Light and Protection, with symbols such as the Sun, warmth, and happiness. Demise was the God of Darkness and Danger, associated with the Moon and stars, coldness, and isolation. If something bad were to happen, one was thanked for it happening as a learning experience, and the other for the protection the situation had gained.

Legend of Zelda: 25th Aniversary Poster

Still can't get over this incredible masterpiece of a poster created by a Japanese artist on Pixiv named Ag+

The original image had a resolution of 1216 × 6650. Too bad Tumblr won't let me upload it in the highest resolution; if anyone knows a workaround, let me know!

There exists another version of 3588x19632 quality. The 1216px one is an original copy, and the 3588px one is something that someone enlarged and ran through photoshop filters to minimize quality loss. I don't have a source of who I got it from, but the quality is actually pretty nice for printing considering they made it thrice as large. Both these versions are now available as a 59mb zipped file on MediaFire. You can download them here.

In case the MediaFire link gets taken down in the future, notify me in the comments or shoot me a DM and I will fix it immediately.

List of LoZ characters in this poster

Source

Row 1:

Farore (Oracle of Ages/Oracle of Seasons)

Nayru (Oracle of Ages)

Din (Oracle of Seasons)

Row 2:

Rauru w/ Kaepora Gaebora (Ocarina of Time)

Impa (Ocarina of Time)

Saria (Ocarina of Time)

King of Hyrule (Zelda series)

Nabooru (Ocarina of Time)

Ruto (Ocarina of Time)

Darunia (Ocarina of Time)

Row 3:

Link (Zelda series)

Zelda (Zelda series)

Ganondorf (Zelda series)

Row 4:

Wind Fish (Link’s Awakening)

Great Fairy w/ Fairy Queen (The Wind Waker)

Great Fairy (Twilight Princess)

Fi (Skyward Sword)

Ciela (Phantom Hourglass)

Navi (Ocarina of Time)

Tatl (Majora’s Mask)

Tael (Majora’s Mask)

Great Fairy (Ocarina of Time)

Valoo (The Wind Waker)

Row 5:

Great Deku Tree w/ little Deku tree (Ocarina of Time)

Fado (The Wind Waker)

Makar (The Wind Waker)

Medli (The Wind Waker)

Laruto (The Wind Waker)

Jabun (The Wind Waker)

Row 6:

Renado (Twilight Princess)

Rusl (Twilight Princess)

Ashei (Twilight Princess)

Shad (Twilight Princess)

Auru (Twilight Princess)

Tarin (Link’s Awakening)

Marin (Link’s Awakening)

Ilia w/ Epona (Twilight Princess)

Talon (Ocarina of Time)

Ingo (Ocarina of Time)

Row 7:

Anju (Majora’s Mask)

Kafei (Majora’s Mask)

Linebeck (Phantom Hourglass)

Aryll (The Wind Waker)

Gonzo (The Wind Waker)

Senza (The Wind Waker)

Nudge (The Wind Waker)

Row 7.2:

Tingle (Majora’s Mask)

Romani and Cremia (Majora’s Mask)

Niko (The Wind Waker)

Mako (The Wind Waker)

Zuko (The Wind Waker)

Link’s Grandma (The Wind Waker)

Row 8:

Tijo (Majora’s Mask)

Toto (Majora’s Mask)

Evan (Majora’s Mask)

Lulu (Majora’s Mask)

Ralph (Oracle of Ages)

Maple (Oracle of Ages, Oracle of Seasons)

Darmani the Third (Majora’s Mask)

Row 9:

Japas (Majora’s Mask)

Mikau (Majora’s Mask)

Skull Kid (Ocarina of Time)

Mido (Ocarina of Time)

Deku Royal Family (Majora’s Mask)

Goron Elder w/ Goron Baby (Majora’s Mask)

Row 10:

The King of Red Lions (The Wind Waker)

Byrne (Spirit Tracks)

Anjean (Spirit Tracks)

Midna (Twilight Princess)

Oshus (Phantom Hourglass)

Sahasrahla (A Link to the Past)

Ezlo (The Minish Cap)

Row 11:

Happy Mask Salesman (Majora’s Mask)

Bellum (Phantom Hourglass)

Row 12:

Veran (Oracle of Ages)

Zant (Twilight Princess)

Aganhim (A Link to the Past)

Vaati (The Minish Cap)

Onox (Oracle of Seasons)

Row 12.2:

Koume (Ocarina of Time)

The Moon (Majora’s Mask)

Kotake (Ocarina of Time)

Chancellor Cole (Spirit Tracks)

Row 13:

2x Four Giants (Majora’s Mask)

Moon Children with boss masks (Majora’s Mask)

2x Four Giants (Majora’s Mask)

Row 14:

Ganon (Ocarina of Time)

Fierce Deity Link (Majora’s Mask)

Link’s Mother (Ocarina of Time)

Hero’s Shade w/ Golden Wolf form (Twilight Princes

Edit:

Added the link to the "Making of" YouTube video in the post.

Hey, I'm the anon from the ask about Hyrule's religion! I meant it as question one, with the information that we know of. Thank you!

For those wondering, this was the original ask

Hyrule's religion is polytheistic, meaning that they worship a pantheon of gods. However, since the term "god" is pretty generously used, I'm going to be dividing that up a bit further for clarity's sakes.

Gods/Goddesses refers to the beings that created the world, but left it behind. Across the Zelda games, we've heard these referred to all the time, most notably in Skyward Sword.

This includes the High Three: Din, Nayru, and Farore, as well as the unnamed gods of which they’re a pantheon of (if those three were the only gods in the pantheon, it would stand to reason that they’d be called the Golden Goddesses in this context, like they were in Ocarina of Time. There are other gods named throughout the series, like the Goddess of Time in Majora’s Mask, so it stands that there are various divine beings that go unnamed in Hyrule’s religion)

Deities refers to beings that stay in Hyrule and have power over its elements. Hylia toes the line between Goddess and Deity by this definition, because she’s seen as a Goddess that was left behind by the others to guard over the world. However, this term is more concrete in people like Cyclos, Zephos, and Malanya.

Guardian Spirits refers to beings that are tasked with guarding a region, but have limited control of the world beyond their states of being. They might be tied to forces of nature, but they don’t wield its power completely at will.

Like how Hylia toes the line between Deity and Goddess, the Light Spirits of Twilight Princess and the dragons of Skyward Sword toe the line between Deity and Spirit. They’re guardians of the world, but they do have at least some influence over their element; we just don’t get to see that influence, not beyond Lanayru vs Midna or Faron stopping a waterfall.

Divine beings that more directly fit here are things like Lord Jabu-Jabu, Valoo, or Majora’s Mask’s four giants.

Now, with those technicalities out of the way, let’s get to the religion itself.

Worship of divine beings varies from location to location. The Gods and Goddesses are fairly broadly prayed to across the land, of course, but it wouldn’t make sense to make an offering to Lanayru when you’re all the way up on Death Mountain. That’s why you’ll see the yet-to-be-named Snake Goddess and the Eight Heroines in Gerudo, while running into various dragon carvings in Eldin and Faron regions.

Worship of Gods requires prayer and devotion, and it’s generally understood that they do not reply; they left this world ages ago, so it must be a dire circumstance to draw them back.

There was a brief resurgence in urgent prayer when the Oracles were known to roam the earth.

But it was short lived, as the Oracles were as mortal as Skyward Sword Zelda, and eventually had to return to the heavens.

Worship of Deities is a lot more finicky. They tend to be very fussy about their work; they consider themselves leagues above humans, and get bitter if their domains or shrines aren’t well cared for.

Then worship of Guardian Spirits is a lot more casual, as far as the Hyruleans are concerned. Spirits influence their day-to-day lives and protect their homes from things like Ganon, so the people of Hyrule give regular offerings to them. You might have seen dishes of apples or durians out in the wilds of Breath of the Wild, or heard about masks that offer tribute to Termina’s various gods (Terminian religion is an offshoot and parallel to Hyrulean; they share similar origins, but went off in different directions).

As for how the Princess of Hyrule plays into religion, her influence has waned significantly as the ages pass.

In Skyward Sword, Zelda was, quite literally, Hylia reborn.

We can assume based on the history that followed that this status gave her family the ruling rights over Hyrule, along with custody of the Triforce.

In Minish Cap, she’s honored for the Light Force, and the Royal Family keeps the secret of the Picori, very minor Guardian Spirits that look after the Hylians themselves.

However, the true peak of Hyrulean religion comes in Ocarina of Time; we don’t see people worshipping Zelda, of course, but the reaches of the Royal Family are everywhere, most notably in hidden temples.

This tells us that, despite us not seeing it directly in dialogue, the Royal Family has taken a position of power as head of both the state AND the church. This is punctuated by the fact that the Temple of Time, the resting place of the Master Sword, the legendary Triforce, and the Sacred Realm, is right at the palace doorstep.

In all other games, the sword and Triforce are either stored separately, or the temple has fallen into ruin, most often hidden away.

From there, however, we see a sharp decline. In the child timeline, the temple of time fades away into nothing; Zelda maintains her power as the Seventh Sage, which has its own religious implications—

—but loses the Triforce’s full form and the Master Sword.

In the downfall timeline, we see a similar fate, though the Triforce of Courage and the Master Sword are lost entirely by the end of it due to royal mishap and shrinking borders.

Instead, our best sword is a gold-hilted magical sword we get from a hermit in a cave.

And then in the adult timeline, it’s snuffed out entirely. No one knows who Zelda is when she’s Tetra, and Tetra’s descendant has no religious ties; in fact, in her time of need, Spirit Tracks Zel prays to Tetra, not any gods.

She even doubts if there’s a sacred power to be had in her at all.

Now Breath of the Wild. That’s...trickier.

We know that Zelda herself knows she has a tie to the Gods of old through her prayers to them; she might not know she’s Hylia’s descendant, but she knows that that’s where her ability to seal Ganon away comes from.

She has ceremonial gear bearing Hylia’s symbol, as well as bracelets that match Skyward Sword Zelda’s.

Yet it also bears some similarity to the Door of Time in Ocarina of Time, namely  via the circle with rays extending out from it.

That being said, by Breath of the Wild’s era, I don’t think that the Royal Family are heralded as the leaders of Hyrulean religion anymore. Rather, their tie to the power that seals Ganon is more important than the place it came from, and Zelda’s ceremonial garb is modeled after the royal crest, instead of Hylia herself’s symbol.

We can also see sign of this in the Sanctum. Compare the Triforce here

with its counterpart in Twilight Princess.

By Breath of the Wild, all traces of connection between the Triforce and the Goddesses are gone. Considering how far in the future BotW IS compared to the rest of the timeline, we don’t even know if Zelda knows what the Triforce IS; not in its wish-making state, anyways. With how desperate she and Rhoam were, if they HAD known, it would have been their top priority to find, rather than freezing to death in a cold spring.

By Breath of the Wild, worship of the old gods has faded into near-obscurity, save for people among the royal family. However, worship of tangible spirits, things that the Hyruleans have come to know they can rely on for even small things, has flourished. You’d be hard pressed to walk a kilometer without finding a little bowl to leave some fruit in, and may fortune befall whoever fills it.

☕ 

Long Awaited LoZ Thoughts

I’d like to start this off by explaining my background. I have a BA in English with a minor in Humanities. I have lived all my life in the Bible Belt of America, so my PoV of this series is inevitably going to be, at least in part, from the perspective of a Western-centric, Christianity-influenced woman. I have grown up with a deep interest in folk tales and mythology though, and took several classes on ancient cultures, so my base knowledge of religion all over the world is broader than what you’d probably expect. I am not religious myself, I’m actually agnostic. And this is just an in-universe look at the very strange religion of Hyrule. So, to make things easier, let’s just put aside the obvious meta issues with this world. The wonky timeline, complex lore changes between said timelines, and the fact that the whole series has clearly grown wildly over the course of its development without an overarching plot. The game mechanics being game mechanics. All of it. This whole thing will just be me trying to make sense of the world without the ‘it’s just a game, bro’ crutch. I will be drawing on what I know from the many games I’ve played myself, so if I don’t mention a big piece of lore from a specific game, it’s because I didn’t play it. Go ahead and rule out the early games before Ocarina of Time, as that’s the first game in the series I can remember playing. I was legitimately too young to have ever played anything prior to that, having been born in 1996. Now let’s get started, shall we?

 So, obviously everyone knows that the LoZ world is said to begin with the three goddesses. Din, Nayru, and Farore came together to create the world and before they yote themselves out of the narrative as direct players, they created the Triforce. A powerful artifact capable of granting a wish and giving their respective bearers undefined power. This is directly from Ocarina of Time and we see their symbol, the Triforce, all over the many games with very few exceptions. Now, to be clear, having a polytheistic religion with three main gods is hardly new. Hinduism has three main gods after all (Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva), and depending on your flavor of Christianity, you have the holy trinity (God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit). There’s even the Celtic goddesses that come specifically in threes (collectively called The Morrigan; Eriu, Fodla, and Banba). This isn’t an exhaustive list of three divine beings, by the way, just know that three is a weird trend in western-centric stories, including religion. But what’s different about the three Hyrule Goddesses? Well, they’re weirdly small for big shot gods. Let me explain.

        So, the three Hindu gods I mentioned earlier each handle a specific aspect. Creation, destruction, and preservation, not necessarily in that order though (which god does what isn’t the point, so just roll with me here). These are very broad and powerful subjects. Christianity is much the same, even though it’s a monotheistic religion. God is literally an all-powerful, omniscient, omnipotent deity. Jesus is his son who gave his life to basically forgive all sin. And I’m not totally clear on the Holy Spirit, but these three are clearly Big Deals with Big Ideas behind them. A good rule of thumb for old religion is that the older the deity, the wider the scope of their job or what they represent. Which makes sense. If you had to personify the forces of the universe, you’d probably start with the sun instead of like… whatever god is responsible for the creation of rice specifically. The bigger and scarier the natural force, the bigger deal that god usually is, putting aside politics and cultural trends. Egypt is a good example of this, as their roster of gods tended to change a lot depending on who was Pharaoh at the time and wherever the city center was. Horus is the god of the sun, or at least one of them, and is generally considered king of the gods. Which makes perfect sense for a land largely made up of a desert.

But what are the three goddesses’ rulers of? Power, Wisdom, and Courage. Each with clear elemental associations and people that are obviously affiliated with them. Nayru, Goddess of Wisdom, is clearly associated with water and likely has a close connection with the Zora. Din, Goddess of Power, is associated with fire and has clear connection with the Gerudo (unclear if the same goddess as the one present in the desert temple in Ocarina of Time). Farore, Goddess of Courage, is associated with all things green and of the earth, including the child-like race of Kokiri who perpetually inhabit the forest. Sure, these are broad topics, but not really… the first thing you’d think of for creators of the universe, are they? And it raises the question about the Hyrule people, who are said to be able to hear the gods due to their pointed ears… let’s put a pin in that and move on.

So, we know there are many gods in this universe, primarily because we meet them. For example, Zephos, God of Winds, in Wind Waker. But he’s clearly a fairly forgotten god, as he shares a shrine with Cylcos, God of Cyclones, which is about as bare as it can be. Just what appears to be a Tori gate with two stone monuments with the simple notes to summon them, almost completely out of the way. Which… I mean, I don’t know many gods with their extension number written on their monuments. That would kind of like going to church on Sunday and seeing “Hit me up if you need me, J-Boy 555-TAKE THE WHEEL” written on the podium. And remember, this is a world and game where the gods actively flooded the world and would therefore hold or have held enough power to directly interfere with Hyrule.

And Skyward Sword clearly has divine beings, one of which even flooded a whole area, though they’re subservient to Hylia. Who we will get back to later, I promise. The three dragons (again, that magic number), capable of divine power, though where that power comes from in unclear. The dragons are of a high status though, as evident by their servants and clear reference to high-class dress of their clothes. These dragons are revered, but clearly not worshipped, much like nobles in that regard. A curious note is the parallels to the three goddesses, and how the symbols are muddled and mixed for these dragons.

Lanayru clearly has the symbols associated with the Zora, and by extension Nayru, but is yellow. He also is saved by time travel used to grow a magic fruit, which Link often uses (time travel) in many games to advance the plot himself (and wouldn’t you know it, but mixing blue with yellow does produce green. Weird). Faron is the water dragon who flooded an area, and she is almost entirely blue (as well as unsettling to look at), surrounded by a species clearly related to the Zora though closer to octopi. But her name is Faron, which is weirdly close to Farore’s name, not Nayru. I mean, they are close to locations that resemble their names of course, but it’s still an interesting note. Finally, there’s Eldin, clearly bearing a symbol associated with the Gerudo without any strange mixes of symbols for the series. Oddly, he’s also the most open of the three dragons, especially considering the Gerudo’s traditional stance of being a ‘no-sausage’ club. Not terribly relevant, but I just thought it was interesting to point out. You can consider the Giants in Majora’s Mask on the same level as them, though their status is unclear (Since they’re summoned by a song and can stop the moon from falling, they probably straddle the line between mortal and divine).

Now, spirits also exist in this world, both as the ghostly variety and the more pseudo-divine. Not to be confused with actual divinity. Divine being can be spirits, but not all spirits are divine. In this context, spirits can be defined more as being of power capable of granting aid in return for something. Zephos can change the winds if called upon, but you don’t need to feed him, for example. But the spirits in Twilight Princess need aid before they can help you. And they’re also not very independent and are able to be fooled easily, which isn’t usually a god-like quality. While more physically present than the three goddesses, they’re also not strictly tangible, and seem to be extremely limited to their location. At best, these spirits could be classified as minor deities below the gods we see in Wind Waker. They also share the same abilities in keeping the realm of Twilight from falling over the land of Hyrule, as well as their weakness to parasites of undetermined origin. An interesting note is that they all seem to live in bodies of water. Let’s put a pin in that one too.

Someone that also counts as a spirit would be Fi and her counterpart, Ghirahim. Literally two halves of the same coin, these two are both very limited in power and function. They don’t represent anything on their own and are very dependent on others to achieve results. How or why they were made is unclear, but it is obvious that both were forged at some point, and clearly gained sentience. Even their personalities and allegiances are a bit odd. Fi for her sci-fi appearance and calculating personality in a fantasy land, and Ghirahim for his… well, everything. I don’t know why the root of all evil would make his weapon a full-tilt diva, let alone on purpose. Ghirahim always struck me as odd since his bombastic personality seemed to clash with his ultimate fate of just being a weapon for Demise.

Okay, so the Great Fairies are weird, okay?! Like, really weird. They act as spirits (I can’t think of any that aren’t restricted to a body of water in some form), but are very independent. They also don’t necessarily need anything from Link to offer assistance. Sometimes, just opening the fairy fountain is enough to gain items needed to progress. And there’s also the fact that fairies heal you upon ‘death’, though with a limited heart capacity. Sometimes they need you to do something though, like the Breath of the Wild fairies need rupees to function or items to upgrade equipment. They also usually look human, like Majora’s Mask Great Fairies are clearly just… giant women with color coded accessories. But like, they float. Where Great Faires come from, or even just regular fairies, is unclear. Until Wind Waker, Great Faires were adults. But when you finally meet the real Great Fairy in Wind Waker it’s… a child. With a doll that looks just like the ‘Great Fairies’ you’ve seen along the way. This sort of implies that Great Fairies age and die, though clearly with a different lifetime than most races in Hyrule (the child Great Fairy also only looks somewhat human compared to other Great Fairies, so make of that what you will). And it also implies that all the adult Great Fairies are dead (you’re welcome for that depressing thought), with the last one trapped in a hollow tree only accessible by the power of a God.

In Breath of the Wild, the Great Fairies are both diminished but more powerful. They literally are stuck in a giant flower with water in it, with few fairies around them, and require riches to get stronger. The connection to their new restrictions to this need for material wealth is unclear. It’s also interesting to note that their fountains are no longer places that appear to be man-made holy temples and they seem to be out of the way… well, for a given value of ‘out of the way’ (looking at you ninja village). These fairies can accomplish more tasks, but certainly won’t be doing it for free or with minimal effort. A far cry from their first appearances (no, I don’t consider using explosives a difficult task).

But Fairies are also companions with nebulous tasks, such as in Ocarina of Time, where Tatl follows Link until the end of the game. And Kokiri have their own fairy as a sign of whatever accounts for adulthood in their race. The Skull Kid in Majora’s Mask has two fairy friends who seemed to have been either lost or abandoned. Who or what gives them purpose and life is unclear, though the Great Deku Tree from Ocarina of Time can give commands, it doesn’t seem to be something he does normally? As a side note, it’s really not clear what, if anything he can actually do. Though the relative safety of the surrounding area is clearly tied with his wellbeing in all iterations, he doesn’t seem to directly influence it, or be capable of self-defense.

Now, onto the elephant in the room! Hylia! Who the hell is this?! A more recent entry to the series, her divine roll is unclear (though she clearly guards the Triforce in some capacity). It can be assumed that she’s somehow a goddess tied directly to the Hylian people, but when she appeared is up for debate. Timeline wise, it’s almost like knowledge of her was suppressed for some reason, giving rise to the Triforce mythos we all know and love without hide or hair of her seen. We know that she favored the original Link greatly, enough to shed her divinity to be reborn as a mortal and assist him. How or why is also unclear, though it wouldn’t be unfair to assume she loved him, as divine ladies holding an affair with a mortal isn’t uncommon in mythology (or even male gods doing the same, before anyone brings up Zeus). But she makes a resurgence in Breath of the Wild, with statues and everything, with the three goddesses left to only vague references in the background. Which is super weird, though not uncommon for places like Ancient Egypt. The fact that the ruling family was literally descendant from a goddess is what makes it weird though, since any monarchy worth their salt would milk that until the peasant folk revolted and made a new religion to justify killing a god.

Zelda in every incarnation is literally descendant from the original and still held at least a fraction of that divine power. So much so that a cornerstone of a powerful religious artifact inevitably ends up in her hands (or on the back of her right hand, as it were). But what is Hylia a Goddess of? We don’t know. It’s never said. Anywhere. And that’s super weird, even for a ubiquitous deity. Sure she’s a Goddess of Hyrule but… what does that mean? That can’t be all she is? Her reincarnation is literally locked in a generational struggle against the forces of darkness! What can she do as a Goddess? Well, she makes Link stronger in return for items, but that seems to be it. In Ocarina of Time, Zelda was capable of sending Link back to the past, but that was with a magic item. And we know Hylia isn’t the Goddess of Time, because Zelda references her in Majora’s Mask (sequel to Ocarina of Time, therefore implying that there are more gods unmentioned at that time), when Hylia should be mortal or at least fragmented (because Zelda exists at the time with powers and a Triforce piece). The Guardian of Time in Hyrule Warriors also fell in love with Link before splitting into Cia and Lana (and was unable to fuse back together again), so it’s unlikely that she’s the Goddess of Time Zelda was referring to, though that detail is interesting to note. No, I will not discuss if Hyrule Warriors is canon (either game), as this is already long enough as it is.

So, that brings us to Ganon, or in his original form, Demise. Which… what’s up with that? Who is this guy? He directly opposes the gods and just… gets away with it! Repeatedly! Sure, he loses most of the time, but still. It’s unclear where Demise came from, or even what he is, though judging by Ghirahim’s ‘Demon Lord’ title, it can be assumed that he is some type of demon himself. And that the many monsters we see are also considered demons, which makes sense with how they always work for Demise (or his many iterations) in some form or another. Considering how much it takes to simply seal him away, he can’t be just a demon though.

        Demise obviously pulled the same trick Hylia did, which directly sets him up as a counterpart to her, but what does it mean? Why would he do that? What is Demise that he can’t be beat with the power of a Goddess alone and needs not only a brave knight but a blade literally made to counter him? Within the context of religion, the best guess I can make is that he’s some form of a God of Darkness, possibly also Temptation, Greed, and Pigs Corruption. It fits within the narrative since power is often the strongest form of temptation and we know that demons capable of opposing the gods exist. The Horned Statue literally takes Hylia’s blessings in exchange for wealth, and was turned into a statue for it. What it stands to gain from any of it is unclear, but interestingly enough, Hylia doesn’t mind that it closely resembles her own statues. So, this raises the question… why isn’t Demise a forgotten statue somewhere along a dusty road? How did he curse(?) both a reborn goddess and a human in an eternal struggle for the fate of Hyrule?

        Being a god is about the only explanation for why he can do the things that he does. It explains why, in every incarnation, he ends up a rule (like Zelda). How he controls so many different species with ease. He corrupts the conflicted as easily as breathing. An interesting note is how Demise in his many forms usually ends up corrupting once good forces in some way, typically with parasites or evil spirits. And with this context, Hylia must be a Goddess of Light, and possibly some form of Will and Purity to oppose Demise’s power. It would also make her a good candidate for looking after the Triforce in that case. And yet we don’t know any of this for sure either, which is, again, very strange considering their presence from the very beginning. Literally.

Now, I want to mention the temples as a last point before wrapping this up, because it has bothered me since I was a wee little whipper snapper. For a place of worship, they sure are hard to navigate, even when they’re empty of monsters. And it’s not like Hyrule doesn’t get this, because the Temple of Time in Ocarina of Time is straight up a church. Just… without pews, so clearly not perfect, but it is possible for people to come in and… worship time, I guess. And no, not the Goddess of Time, because there’s no statue for that. I mean, I know it’s secretly hiding the Master Sword, but it is definitely a church otherwise. What a normal service looks like I can’t say for sure, but it’s definitely not like literally any other temples we see.

        Now, I know it’s a little hard to remember, but temples are usually places where one goes to worship the gods (or even just a god). And we know gods exist in a very real way in Hyrule! They still manage to name Zelda the same thing despite having seemingly buried their divine origins, so some knowledge of gods walking the mortal realm exists. But the temples/dungeons we see usually don’t have much in the way of religious iconography, with a few exceptions (interestingly it’s typically the desert area that actually has statues and could feasibly have had a real capacity for worship). You want to be a devout follower of a god anywhere else? Well, fuck you. Hope you brought a sword and a good pair of boots. If you’re allowed inside at all, since it’s usually the local leaders that are only allowed inside for some reason. And most games don’t seem to have very religious people, despite all the references to divinity. Not like we’d expect them to, at least. And I personally can’t blame them. If I tried to join a religion but found only a wall as an entrance, I’d be pretty disheartened too. Then I’d be pretty pissed to find out I needed not only a royal instrument handed down the monarchy, but their freaking lullaby to even get in to the place of worship. But we know they pray to the gods at least semi-often, since that’s one of the inciting incidences in Wind Waker. And they have offering to statues of Hylia.

        The temples suggest the bar to impress the gods is pretty high, and not in a ‘sacrifice your eldest child’ kind of way. To even get the chance to reach the inner chambers you better hope it’s been kept well and that you didn’t skip leg day recently. Something I didn’t really mention before is that usually, the less involved the gods are, the more independent the people are from worship. If you worry that your local deity will flood your fields, you’re probably leaving regular offerings at their nearby shrine or temple. But if you know that the gods don’t care about literally anything you do, why worship them at all? Why make statues, art, or temples? Why bother with any of it? The answer is you don’t. So these highly selective temples are pretty weird unless you go with the idea the gods are just really done with people and never want to talk to them unless absolutely necessary.

So, I’ve rambled for over twelve pages now. What’s the point? What does any of this mean? I’m honestly not sure, but I have a sinking feeling that there’s some serious shit going on in the Hyrule pantheon. Mortals have been mostly abandoned to their doom. Gods cast out and forgotten entirely. And somehow advanced civilizations keep forming and getting destroyed with only remnants left behind with zero explanation. Assuming the original gods are even alive at this point, which I’m not entirely certain of. Their death certainly explains how Demise/Ganon keeps getting stronger, looking less and less Hylian as time goes on, if he looks humanoid to begin with.

I wouldn’t even assume it’s entirely voluntary at this point either, as Ganon clearly doesn’t have the same motivations in every incarnation (see my previous post about Wind Waker). I’m rather excited about Breath of the Wild 2, as the implications of dehydrated husk Ganon is compelling. Particularly in light of the character development Link and Zelda have received in the first Breath of the Wild. I wouldn’t be surprised if Ganon/Demise turns out to be a fallen god trying to get back home (a nice parallel to Wind Waker, actually), cast out as a scape goat. Blamed for every form of corruption and greed that naturally follows in his wake. I think I said this before, but it is interesting that he is always reborn among the Gerudo, a race famously all females. Sometimes thieves, but nearly always in a position that would naturally crave power to take control of their lives compared to Hylians. Regardless of the consequences.

Is it true? I don’t know. Probably not, but the fact that I can draw these conclusions in three hours of writing is pretty neat. I have a lot of feelings about this franchise, having grown up with it, but I eagerly await what comes next. And I should probably go to bed. Make of all this what you will.

I recently watched a video on YouTube talking about Zelda Easter eggs in non-Zelda games and one example was the first Ori game, and the Easter egg is seen on one of the levels you can see a Tri-Force symbol carved into a tree.

This got me thinking of the larger connection this game could have with the Zelda Universe.

The Universe Ori takes place in is a giant forest and the protagonist’s father is a giant tree Spirit, that sure sounds familiar if you look at this game through a certain lens you can see similarities to Ocarina of Time with the protagonist connection to a forest (similar to Link’s connection to The Lost Woods) and the hero having a father figure that takes the form of the tree (similar to The Great Deku Tree). If you look at the game through certain symbolisms you can also find a connection between Ori & Zelda.

There is also a connection through color symbolism being that most of the game takes place in a forest there is a clear connection to green, in the Zelda Universe green has a strong connection to courage (Link’s Uniform is green, the goddess of courage, Farore is seen covered in a green aura, and in OoT Link’s adoptive home is a forest coming full circle to green meaning forest)

The second form of symbolism comes in the form of the game’s antagonist a monstrous owl called Kuro being an owl shows a connection to wisdom which is a big part of Zelda’s Lore as wisdom is one of the three aspects of the Triforce and that owls have shown up in various games throughout the series chronologically the first owl we see is named Kaepora Gaebora who is secretly the Sage of Light, in the game Link’s Awakening we meet another owl who is the guardian of The Wind Fish’s Island who guards Link on his journey, and most recently Owls have been an important symbol in the belief system of the Zonai Tribe which represents Wisdom, another thing to recognize is the appearance of Kuro she sports different shades of the color blue, blue like green has many meanings and is also tied to the Triforce with the goddess of wisdom, Nayru having a blue aura and the sheikah who sport blue in different ways,

So if you look at this game using the similarities between Ori & Zelda it’s a battle between Wisdom vs Courage, now I understand that this is all speculation and possibly fanon, but just for fun, I want to ask Why would Wisdom be against Courage, what made wisdom became “evil” let me now your guys headcanon/theories.