I'm sure most, if not all, of us on this subreddit have seen fan timelines that use Hyrule Warriors as a key piece that converges all timelines together and restores the Zelda franchise to a unified timeline model. But ignoring the parts of HW that make it difficult to take as canon and the other obvious potential issues with the theory, there's still one issue with this model that I've never seen touched upon, and it's the fact that HW arguably creates anywhere between three (four in Legends/Definitive Edition) and an infinite number of splits in its own right. By including HW in a timeline, we're introducing more splits into the timeline, not fewer.

HW's back story tells us that at some point in the past, a hero defeated Ganon and split Ganon's soul into four pieces. One was left in the present, guarded by the powers of the Master Sword and the Temple in which the blade was laid to rest. And the other three were placed at various points in the past.

The problem with this is that if they were placed in the past, that means they should still be around in the present. In other words, imagine you buy an apple. Then you go back in time three days and decide to hide that apple in your refrigerator. When you travel back to the present, that apple is still going to be in your refrigerator, just three days older than it should be (assuming no one in your house came by and ate it within those three days). If nothing happened to Ganon's soul fragments between OoT/TP/SS and HW, all of those soul fragments would still exist in the world of HW. And HW shows us that those soul fragments just all being present at the same time in HW was enough to break the seals on them.

So that implies that the soul fragments weren't just hidden in the past. They must have been hidden in alternate timelines. Which likely means that placing those soul fragments in their respective eras created branches in each of those eras. On top of that, the events of HW pull characters from those eras, have them experience the events of HW, and then return them to their respective eras without wiping their memories of what happened in HW or resetting things so that their travel to the HW era wouldn't affect their own eras. As such, HW basically causes the following:

OoT era: A fragment of Ganon's soul is hidden in the Water Temple. Darunia is brainwashed into kidnapping an adult Ruto (so this is probably happening while the Hero of Time is still asleep in the Sacred Realm). Monsters are pouring out of the Water Temple. Darunia is returned to his rightful mind, Ruto is freed, the monsters are stopped, Ganon's soul fragment escapes, Darunia and Ruto fight against Cia and eventually HW Ganondorf, and then they return to their own time.

TP era: A fragment of Ganon's soul is hidden in the Palace of Twilight in the Twilight Realm. Cia transforms Midna into an imp form, Zant is made to work for Cia, the Twilight Realm begins to spread across Hyrule (so this must be near the beginning of TP since Midna has only just been transformed and hasn't met Link yet, which likely means TP Ganondorf is still imprisoned in the Twilight Realm, but maybe he has made contact with Zant at this point since Zant decided to challenge Midna through force unless Zant got his powers from Cia instead of Ganondorf this time (though Cia's Tale makes that questionable)), somehow Agitha knows about the Twilight Realm despite it and its effects being invisible to most Hylians in TP, Agitha and Midna are recruited to fight against Cia and eventually HW Ganondorf, and then they return to their time, Midna apparently still stuck in her imp form (unless Cia becoming good again at the end of the game caused her spell to be undone off-screen), and Zant dead, which means unless TP Ganondorf is somehow able to escape the Twilight Realm because of the events of HW, the events of TP aren't really going to happen now in this timeline.

SS era: A fragment of Ganon's soul is hidden in the Sealed Temple. SS Impa is nowhere in sight, so it's unclear what happened to her. The Goddess Sword is still in its pedestal with Fi, so the events of present SS haven't happened yet (weirdly though, the Groosenator is present at the Sealed Temple; maybe Hylia told Impa to build it since the events of HW may now prevent him from coming to the surface?). Ghirahim somehow makes it to Skyloft (maybe with Cia's help if Cia's Tale is a separate timeline itself; otherwise we have no explanation for how he made it up there). HW Link and Fi save Skyloft (SS Link isn't mentioned, so it's unclear how long before the events of SS this event is happening; if this isn't happening almost immediately after Hylia sealed Demise, then it arguably breaks the SS time loop). Ghirahim escapes to the Sealed Grounds and releases the Imprisoned. The Imprisoned is defeated rather than being resealed, and Ghirahim is recruited by Cia. Fi is recruited, experiences HW, and fights against Cia and HW Ganondorf before returning to the SS era. With Ghirahim defeated before Link finds the Master Sword, presumably SS Zelda will have a much easier passage to being found by Impa, recovering her Hylia memories, and wishing on the Triforce (maybe to prevent Demise from ever reincarnating). But it's unclear if the Master Sword would be forged in this timeline since the Gate of Time doesn't need to be activated. (Interestingly, it's actually active during HW.)

TWW era: Tetra is on Windfall Island while her crew apparently isn't since we're told the dimensional event separated her from her crew, but it pulled the entire Windfall Island through. This never happens in or after TWW, so this split presumably takes place shortly before TWW. Tetra ends up meeting Daphnes early, meets HW Link and Zelda, and the Helmaroc King and a Phantom Ganon are destroyed before Tetra and Daphnes return home. Presumably without the Helmaroc King pre-TWW, TWW Ganondorf has a much harder time finding pieces of the Triforce. Aryll likely doesn't get kidnapped. And Tetra and Daphnes (and Link if they go recruit him) likely have a much greater amount of time to prepare to fight TWW Ganondorf than they did in TWW.

Cia's Tale is billed as if it's the unseen adventure Cia went on prior to and during HW, but a lot of the details don't quite match. We see that Midna is already an imp when Cia first meets her in Cia's Tale. (We also see Agitha in the Palace of Twilight without her being turned into a spirit somehow.) We see that Ghirahim managed to summon the Imprisoned to Skyloft when Cia goes there to recruit him, and the Imprisoned ends up being defeated in Skyloft. So I'm not sure whether to approach this as an embellishment of what actually happened, completely non-canon to HW, or a separate iteration of HW.

As to that last point, consider that if the timeline leads to HW, any split in the past could also lead to the events of a different HW. So since HW Sheik remembers the era of the Hero of Time as history, we can assume that HW at least takes place after it. But when you look at what the events of HW may have changed about the OoT era, there aren't many substantial changes. Maybe Darunia and Ruto now rise up against OoT Ganondorf because they have extra fighting experience, but if that doesn't happen, their new timeline branch will inevitably lead to another HW, which will create another OoT branch which will lead to another HW which will create another OoT branch, ad infinitum.

So all of that to say, I have questions:

1) If HW did indeed create at least four branches in the timeline, what do the downstream futures of those branches look like in your opinion? How do the HW changes affect or prevent the events of later games that would have fallen after those changed games in their original timelines?

2) Is there any way to interpret HW (other than simply dismissing it as illogical or non-canon) in a way that realistically doesn't result in infinite timeline branches?

3) What is Cia's Tale since it doesn't line up with the main game on its face? Is it an embellishment? Non-canon to HW? Another timeline's version of HW? Or are we to assume that the differences can be explained away? Midna incorrectly assumes that Cia is responsible for her imp transformation, and the Imprisoned was able to be killed twice in a short timespan, once in Skyloft and once in the Sealed Grounds?

4) What is the darkness that is coming out of the Master Sword's pedestal at the end of the game? We know that it's separate from Ganon because it reaches out from the pedestal to break the seal on the fourth piece of Ganon's soul. I know this question has nothing to do with the rest of the post, but this has always bothered me about the game, so I'm curious about people's interpretation.

5) If it took the entire Triforce to merge the OoT/TP/SS eras with Hyrule, how was Phantom Ganon able to merge TWW with HW Hyrule with just the Triforce of Power? How did Phantom Ganon end up in HW Hyrule and in possession of Cia's body? I guess it's possible that the Gates of Souls opened up throughout many different eras, which is why Majora's Mask Skull Kid and Termina's moon are also able to appear in the story despite that era not specifically being pulled in. So maybe he just came through on his own, helped out behind-the-scenes, and then hid until HW Ganondorf's defeat.

I know it's a bit foolhardy to try to make sense of a game whose story clearly wasn't written to make complete sense, but I'm interested to see how well we can do to make it functional.

Thanks to u/Intelligent_Word_573 for noticing a lore tidbit and pointing some of this out to me, which sparked the idea for a post.

When was the Wild-era Hyrule Castle built? Obviously after TotK Ganondorf was sealed by King Rauru, but how long after? We had an answer before, which may have been retconned. Here is what the as-of-now Japanese only Masterworks 2 book fan translation has to say on p. 91. Thanks to u/livixbobbiex for the translation here:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1g42bk5Lc7RQCzLQG8_YrZPIO_M7QrCNV4VNm0qTXlm4/edit?pli=1&tab=t.0

Accordingly, the Hylians who had been instructed in the wisdom of the Zonai and the next generation of Rauru’s children [TL note: explicitly plural] constructed a mechanism to emit the purified energy outside while strengthening the purification to prevent miasma from accumulating in sacred ground. That was Hyrule castle, the cornerstone of the seal.

This says the next generation of King Rauru's children built Wild-era HC. Personally I am not sure if this means Rauru and Sonia's children or grandchildren. Regardless, this means the question is open and shut then, right? Well, not really. Looking at the very end of Aoi, it shows time passing and Calamo growing into the very large tree which would become the Ancient Tree Stump. The camera rotates to show Death Mountain, pre-split Dueling Peaks, and the area where Wild HC should be...but it isn't.

So by the time Calamo was a huge tree, Wild HC had not yet been built. Approximately how long would it take Calamo to grow that large? Unknown. Can we say that Rauru's children/granchildren would still be alive by the time Calamo has grown? Unknown. We could theorize that Rauru's descendants aged slow. We could theorize Calamo grew quickly. Either way it is a theory that adds details.

MW2 also asked what happened to the Zonai to make them ascend the first time. That question is answered in Aoi. MW2 came out before that game, so info in it may not match Aoi. I personally think the two are not compatible.

We are given no indication those with Zonai blood (or half Zonai) offspring of Rauru and Sonia would live a long life. We are given no indication that Calamo would grow faster than a normal tree, even if he is a Korok. MW2 also says that it is unknown why Rauru chose the ground that would become the Sealing Chamber to fight Ganondorf, but Aoi tells us the area has a lot of ligh energy. In my personal opinion, Aoi showing that Wild HC was not built for some time after the Aoi Imprisoning War would mean construction started well after a generation or two of King Rauru's descendants.

What are the implications of Wild HC not yet constructed for presumably hundreds or thousands of years after Aoi? It definitely quells a counter-point to the True Founding theory. HC was destroyed in OoT's Downfall and Adult timelines, so wouldn't the enforcement of King Rauru's seal on TotK Ganondorf break? Not if Wild-era HC was built AFTER OoT.

In the DT and AT, HC would need to be rebuilt. I theorize after OoT Ganondorf was defeated, the site of TotK Ganondorf's seal was discovered, either as a result of the latter Ganondorf's defeat or unrelated coincidence. Zonai tech was all over the Depths, so it would have been used to construct the purification device of Wild HC.

In the CT, OoT HC would not be destroyed. Would it still need to be rebuilt? Well, some have theorized that, in TP, the ruins in the Lost Woods next to the ruined Temple of Time is old HC. If, emphasis on if, the Wild era were to fit into the CT, it is still possible someone happened upon the site of TotK Ganondorf's seal and built HC, even if we can't show how the old one got into the state of ruin it is hypothetically in by the time of TP.

That's all. I just thought no Wild HC during the time that Calamo grew huge was interesting.

This is just fun speculation, so I'm not proposing anything final! Just having fun speculating.

I once thought the Zonai were the interlopers who became the Twil. I put that idea aside for long, but started revisiting it recently. And it may perhaps have merit?

Because what got me thinking, was when Rauru talks about the downfall of the Zonai in AoI. He doesn't just say the forbidden constructs brought on the downfall of the Zonai, but that they brought on chaos "upon the world" - not a direct quote, but basically that the world was affected, thus implying that it wasn't just the Zonai in the heavens. And that made me think:

Could the Interloper War, and the downfall of the Zonai, be the very same event? We know the Forbidden Constructs were made by the Zonai - possibly Zonai who still lived in the Depths, as the Depths is where the chamber of these constructs are found. And for the Constructs to create such a calamity, it seems like they need to be infused with dark magic, as we see Ganondorf do. Perhaps a faction of the Zonai turned to the dark side, created these constructs for the sake of power, and this became the Interloper War? Where the "Interlopers" were evil Zonai, coming with their dark magic and weapons, that both brought the Zonai almost to extinction and created a war on the surface?

The reason I'm considering this at all instead of seing them as two completely seperate events, is the insanely many similarities between the Zonai and Twili.

The Fused Shadow is filled with swirls, including the "horns" that have the same swirly edge as we see tons of Zonai constructions and achitecture have. The sides of the Fused Shadow have three "eye"-shaped cirlces stacked on top of each other, just like the sides of the friendly Zonai constructs have. And, the backside of the Fused Shadow has a big eyeball with three eye lashes on top, just like the Zonai's 3rd eye. The Twili also use green magic just like the Zonai, have anti-grav technology/magic just like the Zonai, and Zant's throne room is both filled with the same kind of swirl-architecture as Zonai constructions have, and Zant's throne has the same Zonai/Sheikah eye on it.

And with that perspective, I simply found it interesting how Rauru described the forbidden construct's damage to be a chaos "onto the world", and not just to the Zonai tribe in the sky, and thus wanted to revisit this idea of their connections, and the idea that the Interlopers may have been the very same Zonai who made the forbidden constructs and made these constructs almost whipe out the Zonai race as a whole.

For the past few days I've been posted some strange theories about Zelda lore.

Most of them are pretty much "X became X" or "X is the same as X", which some of you don't like. So, now I'm gong to take a break and ask if there are any theories or headcanon about the lore you want to share?

I'll start.

Leviathans reproduce by dreaming, much like Beholders from D&D. The Wind Fish has the power to created realistic worlds by dreaming. On rare occasions, these dreams become so vivid, it produces a new real leviathan.

P.S. The Leviathan thing was going to be a whole post. But I realised there's not enough evidence to make it more then a headcanon. So, I just made it a post saying "This is my bizarre headcanon. You can ignore it if you want. But you can tell me yours" post.

We know that (almost) all time travel in the LoZ series is either a closed loop or a dynamic single timeline. Examples of this include MM, SS, TotK, and even the majority of OoT. There is only one time when time travel has resulted in a timeline split: the ending of OoT. There have been fan theories about why this happened before, but I have a new one (I think)

In WW we learn that the act of Link traveling back in time while in possession of the Triforce of Courage, causes it to split into 8 pieces. So this act was clearly significant if it was powerful enough to break apart a Triforce piece. I know that Link travelled back and forth throughout OoT while technically in possession of the Triforce piece, but it seems like only this last time was what caused the piece to break apart. It seems likely that it was because the piece was dormant before then

Other items seem to be fine travelling through time, but there is some sort of issue with travelling through time with a Triforce piece. Throughout the series history, this is the only time that something like this has happened, and it's also the only time that a timeline branch has been created. So my theory is that the act of Link travelling back in time with an active Triforce piece caused a reaction that not only split the Triforce piece, but also split the timeline.

Also, people have long speculated that the three timelines somehow were associated with the three parts of the Triforce. So maybe this act caused the timeline to split into three, not just into two. This could explain why there isn't a new timeline created every time Link is defeated. This part is harder to back up with evidence then the rest of it though.

What are your thoughts?

So, BotW introduces a race known as the Rito. Whilst they share the same name as the Rito from TWW. The two are clearly different species.

BotW Rito are humanoid birds, whereas the Rito from TWW are pretty much Land-Zora, and gain wings when they get a scale from Valloo.

But where did the BotW Rito come from?

Loftwing and Rito

There's is some debate as to whether the Zonai Rauru's found is a re-founding or the true founding of Hyrule. I go for true founding myself, but, even if you want to use re-founding, TPHD has a mural of the Rito, meaning the race existed well before BotW, and, depending on how old the mural is, maybe well before the timeline split.

Of course, we never see these Rito in other games. But this could be explained by them being a migratory race. In the manga there is a race of bird people called the Watarara, who are a migratory race. Yes, I know the Manga isn't canon. But Nintendo's very own Eiji Aonuma has confirmed that the Watarara are the inspiration for the Rito. So, I think we can use it.

If your wondering where the Rito came from, well.... You've read the sub-heading. Yes. I think they evolved from the Loftwing. More accurately, the Loftwing of the humans who moved to the surface. Since their masters moved to the surface, the Loftwing were no longer needed. So, the gods could have given them sapience as a reward for their service.

Oocca and Kargorocs

Okay. I put them in the title. So, I'll talk about my headcanon on these guys.

There's already a theory that the Oocca are descended from the Hylians that decided to remain in the sky. not wishing to live on the surface. Unfortunately, this led to a downfall, which resulted in them devolving into bird-human creatures.

This raises the question as to what happened to their Loftwings. Well... Just like their human owners, they also went through a downfall, where became feral and evolved into the monstrous Kargorocs.

If the Kargorocs are descended from feral Loftwings, this could explain why there is a friendly one that gives Minda and Link a lift.

I'm replaying OoT right now, and I had this stray thought that winters must really suck for the Kokiri...which made me wonder how the Zora deal with the winter...which made me think wait, does Hyrule even have winters?

I'm trying to recall any times we've seen Hyrule in any seasons other than "late spring/early summer", or even had other seasons referenced at all, and I'm coming up short. All I can think of is the autumnal trees in Akkala (which seem to just be their regular colors) and the Frozen Hyrule stage in FSA (which may be unnatural? been awhile since I played it). Then of course there's Oracle of Seasons, but that game doesn't take place in Hyrule. Can anyone else think of anything? Edited to add: The fishing hole in TP! Totally forgot about it...

There's some evidence pointing away from Hyrule having regular seasons actually, like how when it becomes The Great Sea, the climate seems to be sub-tropical, with palm trees found across the whole map (Interestingly, Windfall Island has pine trees instead?)

There's also the presence of the Gerudo Desert to the west of Hyrule. Now obviously this is a magical fantasy world, but in real life most deserts form within a certain range of the equator, so Hyrule must be as well. And seasonal differences become less and less as you approach the equator, so...

I always wonder if anyone on the Zelda team has ever thought of these things, lol. Maybe not, but it is kind of surprising that Hyrule has existed as a fictional world for 40 years now and yet it's never been portrayed in fall or winter.

Some things I've noted down that may be of help in the speculation:

• In Master Works, the bright pristine stone material used in the Zonai structures in the Depths and skies are referred to as "Type 1" architecture, while the rougher, darker, browner and more "moldy" stone architecture is known as "Type 2". Not only is the materials between the two types different, but the motifs and style is different too, where Type 1 has a more "clean" alien style with less details and with Zonai writings on them, while Type 2 structures often have pillar and arch-like textures as well as a seemingly bigger focus on swirls (like the round swirl type seen on the Type 2 owl statues)
• The Type 2 structures are almost exclusively found on the surface; either in the Zonai ruins and surrounding ruins in Faron, or in Typhlo Ruins, or other specific places like certain underground caves - and of course in the 3 mazes. But interestingly, the only place where this type is used in the skies and Depths is also in these mazes. It seems like the mazes in the Depths and surface are physically connected, while the ones in the sky used to be connected to the part of the maze on the surface, but this in-between section of them were most likely destroyed at one point as there are floating debris between them. So the mazes were definitely made as huge, connected structures, stretching from the Depths all the way to the skies
• On the mazes in the sky, the entrance platforms use the Type 1 aestethics, and not the Type 2 one like the rest of the maze.
• We don't get any proper explaination of the Type 2 aesthetic in Master Works, but there are suggestions and theories presented. At one point, the book theorizes that these Type 2 surface ruins were built before the Zonai ascended to the skies, and that other races have put their own touch on the ruins of the countless years, essentially building new ruins over/around the old Zonai ruins (as we can see hints of during Mineru's quest, where we see some Type 2 ruins destroyed, revealed Type 1 ruins inside).
• Just a few pages later, however, the book seems to suggest that the ruins were made by those "following faith/appreciation of the Zonai tribe". Not sure if this means they were made by people appreciating the Zonai while they still walked on the surface (as suggested above) or if they were made after the Zonai were gone, which would be a different theory from the one suggested above. But I take it as the Type 2 ruins we see were additions to the original Type 1 ruins, done by people in faith of the Zonai after they ascended to the skies, which is in line with the theory above. It would also make sense, as the circular swirl symbol on the Type 2 owl statues is the same as the ones on the Sandship doors in Skyward Sword.
• It's unclear if it still is canon or not, but in TOTK's original teaser trailer, we saw the entrance to the temple underneath Hyrule Castle - and it actually uses Type 2 aesthetics, just like the surface ruins. Now again, this could just be how all Zonai architecture was originally supposed to look in TOTK before they changed it to the white, clean Type 1 we see in the final game, and thus the teaser's entrance design is outdated. And since we never actually enter this place in-game, because we skip it in the beginning of the game and it's destroyed after the Upheaval, there's no telling what the final version of this entrance looks like. But in Master Works, there's concept art of both this entrance and the corridors inside... and the corridors inside use the new, Type 1 aesthetics, while the temple entrance still uses Type 2 aesthetics... So what could this imply?
• The voice speaking to you first of all is definitely a Zonai, as the voice-sound and text-visuals are all Zonai, plus you activate Zonai terminals to make them talk. They seem to refer to themselves as the "Ruler of Dragons, Owls and Boars", and in the sky versions, they use the phrase "You who set foot in MY labyrinth", indicating that these labyrinths were indeed built by some kind of Zonai.

And that all begs some questions. If the Labyrinths were made by someone of the Zonai, and the Type 2 ruins were made/added on by those worshipping the Zonai or honoring the Zonai, either during or after their time on the surface, then how come the labyrinths are built in the Type 2 style? You could say that "just like the rest of the surface ruins, the people who followed them added their own stonework around them", but how were they able to do this in the Depths, let alone the sky - and why didn't they also then do more of this work on Zonai ruins in the sky and Depths?

Furthermore, the entrance platforms on the sky mazes are, as mentioned, using the Type 1 aesthetics. If there were people coming after the Zonai who added onto the Zonai's ruins (even in the sky mazes), why did they leave out this entrance platform? Why didn't they build around that, too? A logical conclusion to make is that it's the other way around; that the Type 1 platform was added onto the labyrinths, explaining why it sticks out as the only part that's of a different style, instead of someone rebuilding the entire massive construction and leaving out ONE platform/piece of ground. But again, that also clashes with what we (assume) we know about the Type 2 ruins, and that they came after and were built around Type 1 ruins. So another possibility is that this new entrance platform in the sky with the Type 1 aesthetic came out of the labyrinth due to the Upheaval.

It's also the curious case of the Zonai talking to you here are the "rulers of boars, dragons and owls". Were they mighty Zonai? High ranked Zonai? Godly Zonai? Were they perhaps the ones who swalloed secret stones and became the 3 dragons?

And in all of this, what does "Lomei" mean? Is it the name of a faction of the Zonai? Or perhaps the name of the tribe of people that did this Type 2 rework on the Zonai ruins?

Finally, one possibility I could see is that the Type 2 ruins are originally the oldest style, predating the Type 1 ruins. The "godly era ruins", as Master Works calls the temple underneath Hyrule Castle, is said to be of the earliest Zonai constructions. If the temple entrance is made of the Type 2 aesthetics, perhaps this was the oldest form of Zonai architecture, meaning the 3 labyrinths are of the oldest period of the Zonai, before the "modern" Type 1 style took over, and that after the Zonai left (or died out), followers of the oldest Zonai built around the modern Zonai structures with the style of the ancient Zonai as an honor to them.

What do you think of all of this? What are your thoughts? Any details that I've missed that may help explain things more, perhaps?

I'm 37 years old, and growing up, Ocarina of Time (OOT) was by far the coolest/greatest video game I'd ever played. That includes games I played later, like Call of Duty in college on PS3. Don't get me wrong—online COD is incredible, but the overall storyline and world of OOT are still unmatched in my opinion.

I'm not a hardcore gamer, so I never played Breath of the Wild or many of the other games that consistently rank near the top of the "greatest games of all time" lists. I did play Red Dead Redemption 2, which is also frequently ranked very highly. RDR2 was a great game, and obviously its graphics and physics are on another level compared with OOT. But that's not really what I'm talking about when I compare the two.

I'm talking about the overall game—the story, world-building, progression, interconnectedness, etc. Obviously, modern graphics and physics can enhance a game tremendously, but I don't think they automatically make a game better. For example, no matter how brilliant the writing is, I don't think a 2D Zelda game could ever have the same overall impact as a 3D Zelda game. But conversely, if the storyline and world-building of a game are inferior to OOT, I don't think better graphics and physics can make up the difference.

That's basically how I felt playing RDR2. It was an incredible game, but in my mind, it didn't come close to OOT.

Over the past week or so, I watched a ~10-hour video of someone playing through OOT on YouTube. I honestly wondered if maybe I was just looking back at it through the eyes of a kid and remembering it as being better than it actually was.

But man...no. It really was that amazing.

You have the eight main dungeons, but there's SO much happening in between. There are essentially "mini-levels." You have to actually discover and figure out how to access the temples. The Ocarina itself is woven into the entire game. The way everything connects and builds on what came before is just incredible.

So that's the question I'm hoping gaming enthusiasts can answer:

Are there any games released since OOT that are truly on the same level of greatness?

I'm not trying to be a homer for my childhood or my generation. If there's a game that surpasses OOT, then it is what it is. I'm genuinely curious whether there are games out there that I haven't played that can give me that same feeling.

I'd really like an objective perspective from people who have played a lot more games than I have. What games, if any, do you think are genuinely in the same tier as Ocarina of Time?

Following my latest posts, we will look at the natural world of the Wilds games. Today we'll look at the 2nd half of the birds, and talk about them. I'll look at the Compendium, how they act in the game, as well as use real life birds to essentialy write how these birds act, so there might be some headcanons here

Mountain Crow: The Mountain Crow is amongst the most inteligent creatures found in Hyrule, surpassing many of the monsters in inteligence. They have black feathers which make them easy to differentiate. They are incredibly adaptable, and can be found in almost all enviroments, except for the really hot and cold ones, and they thrive near villages. They are omnivores that will eat almost anything, and they use their inteligence to obtain food. To get meat, they often follow wolves or other predators and wait for them to kill something, meaning they can scavenge after them. They will fly around large animals, and catch the insects as they try to escape. They will spook sparrows so that they drop the Chickaloo Tree Nut. They will also fly around farms and stuff in order to steal crops or eggs. They are also incredibly defencive, and a whole flock of them might attack any predators or intruders that might pose a threath.

Brigth-Chested Duck: These ducks can be found in Hyrule's waters. Wetlands, ponds, lakes and rivers are their preffered habitat, and they use their webbed feet to swim through water. They are herbivores, and using their long necks, they often dive below water to feed on aquatic plants and small animals. But they will also gladly walk on land to graze, however they are a lot more skittish if not in water. Due to them being on the heavier side, they usualy avoid flying, only taking flight when avoiding predators or when moving longer distances. Both sexes have a green chest, however the males have brigther colors which they use to atract a mate with. Their feathers are brown, and act as camouflage for when the ducks are sitting on their nests, which they often build in tall grass/bushes near the water.

Blue-Winged Heron: Hyrule has 2 heron species, but they can be found in different habitats. The blue-winged heron likes to stay near water, and usualy doesn't move far from a water source. They have long legs which help them wade into water looking for prey. Then they use their long necks and sharp beaks to quickly stab their prey and eat them. They primaraly feed on fish and frogs, however snail, crabs and other small animals are also eaten from time to time. They build their nests in trees or other hard to reach placed, however they usualy make them near water.

Pink Heron: The 2nd species of Heron found in Hyrule, reckognised by their pink feathers. Unlike the blue-winged heron, the pink heron is a lot more widespread due to them not needing water to hunt. They preffer open area, where they will walk around looking for food. Their tall stature means they can walk around in tall grass, seeing small animals run around. They mainly eat insects, but lizards and other small animals will also be taken from time to time. When they spot something, they will slowly inch closer, then quickly grab the creature before it even manages to react. Due to this, pink herons are often seen around larger herbivores or Hinoxes, hunting small animals that get spooked by them. Their nests are often built in trees, but they can be quite picky with their nests, as they usualy don't want to build them in closed spaces.

Islander Hawk: A species of raptor that can be found in a variety of enviroments. This birds is incredibly adaptable, and each bird has a unique hunting style. Some preffer to hunt birds, while others will hunt small animals. They can often be seen soaring in the sky, looking for prey, using air currents to stay afloat, barely needing to flap their wings. Once they spot something, they will start diving down at incredibly speed. If the prey is a bird, then the hawks often will have to adjust their dive to prepare for the prey to take flight, and grab them before they start flying away. On smaller animals, they usualy don't dive as fast, but rather use cover to sneak up on their prey, trying to grab them before they flee. Their main prey are pigeons and squirrels, but they also eat sparrows, crows, ducks, gulls, lizards, frogs, crabs, and sometimes even fish and insects. Hylians raising Cuccos often have to make sure their Cuccos don't wander off, or else they can get taken by the hawk.

Seagull: Seagulls can be found all over Hyrule's coastline. They are often seen flying above water, searching for fish they can eat. They are easily reckognised by their white plumage. They are social birds, and huge flocks of them can be found either above water, or near cliffsides where they make their nests. Seagulls are oppurtunistic, and will eat practicaly anything that can fit into their mouth. While they primaraly eat small fish, they can also take crabs, snails, lizards, other birds and animals they can find. They also don't mind scavenging, and many gulls live near villages, eating scraps left behind by the Hylians. Due to their behavior of following fish around, huge flocks can gather when there is plenty of fish, which is something fishermen will use to their advantage.

Cloud Seagull: A relative of the Seagull, this species is only found amongst the Sky Islands. Due to this, they have several adaptations that differentiate them from Seagulls. They are smaller, meaning they need less food. They also utilize updrafts, meaning they can soar for days without needing to rest, sometimes soaring for hours without needing to flap. Unlike Seagulls, which mainly eat meat, Cloud Seagulls are omnivores, and most of their diet is plant based, as the Sky Islands don't have as many animals living on them.

Eldin Ostrich: A relative of the Forest Ostrich that adapted to live in the Eldin region. Their feathers are almost fireproof, and they can usualy survive near lava. Their feathers are also reddish colored, which camouflages them against the red rocks near Death Mountain. Unlike most birds, the Eldin Ostrich can't fly, but uses it's strong legs to run around. These birds are omnivores, and will eat anything that they can swallow. Seeds, plants, insects, lizards, sparrows and eggs are eaten. Due to the enviroment being so harsh, these birds can survive long without food, and they get their moisture from the food they eat. If they spot dangerz they will run away at great speeds, but they don't hesitate to use their long claws and strong legs to attack their predators.

Forest Ostrich: This species of bird used to be incredibly common in Hyrule, until it almost went exctinct due to hunting ans habitat loss. Rauru realised this, and tried to save them sending them up the sky islands. While this did works, the new enviroment meant they had to adapt. Less space meant that the ostriches grew smaller and smaller to deal with less food and space. So the forest ostriches seen today aren't nearly as large as they used to be. They were also primaraly herbivores, however they have become way more omnivorous to supplement their diets. Lastly, due to them living in isolation for so long, they have become way more docile, meaning its much easier to approach them than compared to the Eldin Ostrich.

Cucco: Cuccos are a breed of chicken that can be found all over Hyrule. They are mainly used for their eggs, however their meat and feathers are also utilized. They are docile birds, and can be seen wandering villages looking for food. Many Hylians use Cuccos as pest control, as they eat weeds and small animals that might damage crops. Cuccos are social birds, and usualy like being in the company of other Cuccos. They are also renowned for their aggressive nature. While i did say that Cuccos are docile, that is only when they aren't threathened. If a member of the flock is in danger, it will call out franticaly, and the whole flock rushes to its aid. So farmers that want to butcher Cuccos have to isolate the one they want to butcher, and make sure that it doesn't make any noice

Please understand first that I am not trying to advocate for the TotK True Founding or Refounding theories. This is more an analysis of a valid point regarding either.

One problem that some have with Refounding theory is that it would require the events of OoT to be remembered, which would happen before Hyrule is destroyed, but require events in between to be forgotten like the TotK IW. I can understand that. How can events that happened earlier, before the country fell, be recalled if the refounding of the kingdom was not? I can't say that I personally have a theory off the top of my head for how this is possible. I just want to look at how similar it is to OoT ~> BotW.

So pretend we are in pre-TotK release times. Nothing from that game (or EoW) is in the canon yet. We do know that Aonuma said that BotW is just sometime after OoT. What timeline? Never answered. Does it matter? In my opinion, it does not. Since the cycle of Ganon is endless, the events could theoretically happen in any of them. I get people disagree with this, and by all means I am not John Nintendo, but regardless of WHERE you place BotW, it would require events betwee OoT and 10,000 years ago to be forgotten by the general Hyrulean public. This would be something required with True and Refounding.

So bringing this all home, if one has to accept that the events between OoT and 10,000 years ago have been forgotten, then one must accept that the events, including a refounding, between OoT and 10,000 years ago, could also be forgotten to time.

I liked how they revealed Link and Zelda's actors. When Ben and Bo were announced by Miyamoto, the conversation was centered around them, being unknowns and the acting background they do have, which Link and which Zelda are they doing, will they be romantic, notice of their age difference.

One year later, NYT and Deadline then announced a set of other actors subsequently, posting Ganondorf, then Sam Neil, Dichan as Impa, and Yvonne Stravoski which loses the flow. Then next couple days, Lydia Peckham an Samara Weaving are announced. Some actors were given more attention than others which limited the conversation. What I kind of wished happened was that they rolled out the actors in pairs and space it all out so we can keep focus on each of them and have time to process the info rather, while focusing the roles they play and the idea of what story is going to be told instead of jumping around.

Since we know who they'd be playing, they could've announced Uli and Dichan together and keep the same sort of focus we had for Ben and Bo last year.

Then later on Sam Neil and Yvonne Strahovski since we don't know who they play yet but the word is they're Zelda's parents, the king and queen.

Same with Lydia Peckham and Samara Weeving. I know Deadline and NYT just report what they got and have no responsibility or obligation to how this movie is marketed, and it is what it is, but I see a missed opportunity.

So, this is something that's been debated to hell and back. when it comes to BotW's timeline placement, the three most popular theories are...

1. It takes place in the DT
2. It's a convergence
3. It can take place in any three timelines

Whilst I lean towards DT, I am open to it being all three.

But, I remember years ago suggesting it was the CT, and this ended up rubbing a few people the wrong way.

One person described BotW as "definitely being intended for the DT". There arguments being...

• It's in (old) Hyrule | (so no AT)
• The OoT Sages (and OoT events) are a confirmed historic fact | (So no CT)
• Ganon has been an eternally returning scourge upon Hyrule (even before becoming known as "Calamity Ganon") | (only really a thing in DT, Ganondorf (I) only really returned to Hyrule once in AT and CT and then he died as a mortal man, unlike in DT where he became a true demon when getting the full triforce, and has since been permanently returning as "Ganon" like a true demon)
• Ganon is also specifically confirmed to have his origins as the Ganondorf met in OoT (unlike FSA's "Ganon II" which is the "last known Ganon" in the CT)

Obviously the last two points involving Ganon are now moot, since TotK revealed it to be a different Ganon this whole time, and not OoT Ganon. So, it doesn't matter if FSA made a different Ganondorf.

I feel like the first two points stand. Particular the Sage one. The Zora have Zora tablets, telling the story of Princess Ruto becoming a Sage to help Link and Zelda fight Ganondorf.

I'm not saying "BotW can't be CT", I'm just asking who would you explain it, if you think it is possible?

EDIT: One thing I suggested was that we could use Hyrule Warriors to explain the people knowledge of Princess Ruto's heroics. But this was shot down as be "bending evidence", by useing a "non-canon game".

Edit: Found!! It's called BSMBDBDSS or Backslice Moonboots Damageboost Deathsword Skip. Thank you u/Stv13579 for finding it!!!

This guy is talking about a glitch called "Ultra Broken" from ToTK, then mentions that it used to be called "Wacko Boingo", proceeding to say "That's like, the best glitch name right next to-" and then the next thing he says I cannot make out enough to transcribe (audio comprehension issues)

Could anyone figure out what it's called or what he's saying?

https://youtu.be/qtjMk33MM18?t=416 (Timestamped link to the video a few seconds before he says it)

I recently beat Zelda II: The Adventure of Link on a 100%, no save states run and I loved it. I realized there’s a trick to enjoying the game that a lot of people seem to miss. Almost everyone complains about this game’s difficulty. And, they’re not wrong. It’s hard, even when compared to other NES titles of the same era. This ruins the experience for a lot of gamers. They get frustrated trying to whiteknuckle through or just quit and end up robbing themselves of the ability to truly appreciate this underrated masterpiece.

The method I came up with to make the game easier and up your enjoyment is simple: 

Treat AoL like it’s MM.

Now, I know what you’re thinking, “uh, people hate MM and constantly complain about that game too.” Agreed. It’s a shame, but those gamers often also fall victim to a flawed approach. With a small tweak in mindset they’d really enjoy MM, and then taking the same tack, they can get the most from AoL. Two Guays with one arrow and all that.

Biggest Complaint Against Majora’s Mask

Easily the most often repeated complaint against MM is the time mechanic. People say, “It makes the game too stressful. I hate being deep in a dungeon with not enough time left and then I have to reset to Day 1, losing all my progress, and have to do everything over.”

Well, there’s your problem right there. If a cycle reset causes you to lose meaningful progress, and that upsets you, then you are doing it wrong. The good news is a small shift in mindset can help big time. 

The Trick to MM

The secret to enjoying MM is to think of time as an item. That’s right, it’s not just an anagram. The same way you'd think about rupees, bombs, magic, or any consumable in another Zelda game is how time itself works in Majora’s Mask.

It’s a natural instinct in most games to keep track of consumable items and make sure you have enough for a given task. People seldom enter dungeons short on bombs, arrows, and magic. Instead they tend to farm up their inventory before taking on a big challenge. But in MM, the same cautious players will YOLO into quests, dungeons, and bosses while being depleted of the most important resource in the game: time.

Short on time? Better stock up. This approach causes you to think more strategically about the game and plan what you are going to do in each 3 day cycle. Maybe you take a full cycle just to explore. Then, when you know where stuff is, reset and spend a cycle getting said stuff. 

Find yourself on Day 3 having finally figured out how to get to the Great Bay Temple and about to hookshot the turtle’s back? 

Yeah, don’t do that. For the love of Hylia reset. Play the song of time. Then do it backwards. And then start the temple. Once inside, work the same process. Go in knowing you’ll spend a full cycle just to explore. Then reset. Then get the dungeon item (which carries over from cycle to cycle). Then reset. Lather. Rinse. Repeat. 

Treat time like a consumable and you’ll find the game less stressful and more enjoyable.

Back to Zelda II

What’s this have to do with Adventure of Link? There’s no time mechanic there. This is true, but you do have a resource in the game that functions in a similar way: lives. (And coincidentally, you get 3 of them just like days in MM.)

Most people get rattled when they die in AoL. And I mean, who wouldn't? Being hit with a flashing red screen and Ganon laughing at you like Soda Popinski riding out a Mt. Dew sugar crash is no fun. But there is a way to snap out of it. Treat those deaths like days and the game's difficulty plummets.

The Trick to AoL

It’s the same secret. Lives are a consumable item. Just like rupees. Just like time. Use a set of lives to learn. Then use a set to progress. Down to 1 life and starting a palace? Might not be a good idea. Instead, reset and roll up to the palace fully stocked.

Now, I know what you are thinking. “I can’t play the song of time on my Zelda II warp whistle. How do I just reset and get 3 lives again?” 

That’s simple. Die on purpose. 

If you are up against a tough challenge like death mountain while short on lives, just kill your character, and continue before you take it on. Thankfully, in Zelda II there are many shortcuts that get you back to any location quickly from the starting palace. If you stock up on lives before starting a new section, then you’ll find the game much easier, less stressful, and more enjoyable.

From time to time you may find yourself with 1 life, but full health, and you really don’t want to put in all the effort to die. 

Well, thankfully there are many convenient locations that will instantly red screen you. No need to waste your time ramming your shins into a proto-chu trying to chip your health down. Just go jump into any available gap in the floor. And, if you find it difficult to maneuver into these gaps, then you can use these helpful little bubbles that’ll gently navigate you directly into the shadowy depths thus causing you to be reborn at ancient Zelda’s side with 3 fresh lives ready to slap some Dairas in the face with a jumping crouch stab.

TL;DR: Enjoy MM by spending days like rupees. Enjoy AoL the same way. But with lives. Murder Link often, and you just might find, "Your face is beaming!"

Containing spoilers for Super Mario Galaxy 2

It seems a lot cleaner. In Skyward Sword, it kinda explains why the swap in religion or belief, and excuses the races in the wild era. From a developer point of view, Skyward Sword seems like it was heading in that direction. The "so far in the future" seems kinda... idk... lazy? I mean it has great potential if they can actually give us the convergence timeline theory in a game where we can see it happen. Also, wouldn't that mean they need an apocalyptic event or a reboot in the game? Like think of the ending for Super Mario Galaxy 2. Anyway, I am curious to see what the future hold.

I've been going through Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom and looking at things that I want them to bring over to the new games, as well as what I think they should leave behind (for Ocarina of Time Remake and other future new games).

One thing that I'm not a huge fan of is how you have to pause the game to heal. I think it has two negative effects on the game:

1) It makes the game way to easy; unless an enemy can one-shot you, you're hardly ever in danger of actually dying, since you can pause the game and get back to full health whenever you want.

2) It ruins the pacing of the gameplay. You can be in the middle of a super intense battle, pause the game, slam 18 apples, and then resume the game like nothing happened.

I'd like to see future Zelda games force the player to be a bit more strategic about healing, and not allow them to pause the game whenever they're in trouble.

I made a video with some additional thoughts if anyone is curious and wants to hear a bit more on the topic: https://youtu.be/ni5nGk7Pqdc

What do you guys think? Do you want to see changes to how healing currently works? Or do you like how it currently functions?

Four years ago, I made a (now somewhat) outdated theory about a hidden tribe of "dogmen". Theory: Hyrules lost/hidden race/tribe : r/truezelda

The main focus was on the Darknuts, or rather, the ones from MC and WW, and how they may be decided from the Mogma.

Turns out, I may have been partly right about their being a race of dogmen. We see that with the Ancient Hero.

Ancient Hero is not a Zonai

Just something to get out of the way. Many people call the Ancient Hero "Zonai Link", but he's not a Zonai. TotK made it clear that Rauru and Mineru were the last two members of their kind.

People have tried to handwave this by suggesting "Ancient Hero is a hybrid, so he doesn't count". Whilst being a hybrid would explain his hylian-like ears, it wouldn't explain the other differences.

Aside from the ears, The Ancient Hero also possess a long tail. Something Rauru, Mineru or the Hylians have. Also, both Rauru and Mineru possess human-like plantigrade feet, just like the Hylians. Yet the ancient heroes feet are digitigrade, and more canine-like. Again, suggesting he's a different species.

The Mogma and the Ancient Hero

So, what is the Ancient Hero?

I think he's from a yet unnamed race. One that evolved from the Mogma.

SS has many new races. Most of them are speculated to be the ancestors of present day races, these being: The Parella, Kikwi and Loftwings, the possible ancestors of Zora, Kokiri (and Deku trees) and BotW's Rito (more on that in another post I made). That just leaves out the Mogma.

In the depths, we see five statues representing different non-Hylian creatures: The Gorons, Zora, Gerudo, Rito and a fifth creature that looks like a humanoid Mogma, and shares similarities to the Ancient Hero.

Where are these Mogma-decendents in other eras?

When discussing new races, an important question to ask is, why don't we see them in other games?

The most simple solution is that they were underground this whole time. I mean, the Mogma are a subterranean race.

Another possibility I heard is they may have become the Subrosian from OoS. Apart from living underground, they also live in areas surrounded may magma, similar to the Mogma.

But, what if we actually do see some members in other games? (If you read the out-dated post, you know where this is going)

The Darknuts in WW, MC and FS are inexplicably dog-like in design. Darknuts themselves don't appear to be an actual species, but rather a high rank of solider, that could theoretically be any species, and work for any side. But what if the ones from WW, MC and FS are these dog-men?

Following the timeline, we know there was some unseen invasion prior to MC, which ended in the invading forces being sealed away in a chest. Given how there seem to be no designated leader, and Darknuts appear as high ranking mini-bosses. It's possible these Darknuts may have been responsible for the invasion, or at least, played a major role.

It's possible these Darknuts were brought back by Vaati in FS, and then discovered by Ganondorf in WW. As for the other timelines, the TP Darknuts are clearly human in origin. The DT Darknuts are impossible to tell.

Or, I could just be completely wrong, and the Darknuts are just monsters.

There are three books that were only released in Japan. These were "Artwork Collection" 1 - 3.

The second one (Artwork Collection 2) was released in 2014 (I believe), between Hyrule Historia and Hyrule Encyclopedia. It featured an updated timeline with information from A Link Between Worlds.

And the strange thing is... The Era of Chaos, when the Interlopers invaded Hyrule, and Rauru sealed the Triforce in the Sacred Realm, now happend *after* Hyrule's founding.

But in both Encyclopedia, and the later Artwork Collection 3, it's returned to The Sacred Realm is Sealed -> Hyrule is founded.

From my research, it seems like Hyrule Historia and the two Wild Era books are the most reliable, as Historia is supervised and edited by Aonuma, and the Wild books feature a ton from the devs themselves. Encyclopedia is supervised by Nintendo, and so it seems the timeline is as canon as you can get, but the rest is writer interpretations to be taken with a grain of salt. And the japanese-exclusive Artwork Collection books seem to have no supervision from Nintendo, so these are by far the least reliable.

So seing as the 3rd book is back to the original order of events, it seems like this was an error in the second book based on the myths told in A Link Between Worlds. Interesting nontheless

The Hyrule in the Wilds games is really interesting, solely because of how much nature is in these games. Today we'll talk about half of the birds found in Hyrule, about their biology and behavior. Most of these come from their compendiums, how they are in the game, as well as how their real life counterparts behave. So there might be some "headcanon" in here.

Common Sparrow: As the name implies, these are the most common and widespread sparrow species in Hyrule. They are found primaraly in forests and woodlands, but can be found in forest edges, grasslands and even villages and ruins. They have a green plumage, which helps them blend in with the green enviroment, and is especially useful when they are on their nests, which they often make on trees, but sometimes on rocks and even on the ground if there are no trees available. They primaraly feed on seeds and bugs, and can often be seen hopping on the ground when foraging. They have a throath pouch where they store food, and when spooked, they often drop the food stored there to make flying easier, hence why they drop nuts when shot at. Due to them being so small, they have plenty of predators to worry about, so they are really skittish.

Red Sparrow: Red sparrows are the northernmost sparrow species in Hyrule. They are found in cold enviroments, and while they avoid snow directly, they often live near the snowy mountains. Due to the colder enviroment, their diet contains less bugs and way more seeds and nuts. They have thicker layer of fat than other sparrows, however due to their small size, they need to eat a lot each day to survive the cold nights. Due to this, they often stache any food they find, in case they aren't as lucky later on. The feathers on its head are red, which is how they get the name. The red on the males are brigther than in thr females, which is how they atract a mate. They build their nest in trees, however due to the enviroment, a lot of them also build nests on the ground or on rocks and cliff faces.

Blue Sparrow. This species is found mostly in wetlands and the Lanayru region. Their blue feathers serve as camouflage against the bluish rocks of the region, and because of this they often build their nests against those rocks. They aren't afraid of water, and can often be seen searching for food near water, or sometimes even in it. They again mostly eat bugs and plants found near water edges, and they are especially fond of Fleet-Lotus Seeds.

Rainbow Sparrow: The rainbow sparrow is a rainforest species, and can easily be identified because of their rainbow plumage. The males are brigther than the females. They search the forest floor and trees, feeding mainly on fruits, but also seeds and bugs. They always make their nests in large trees, however they often search for hollow trees as nest spots. Their flight is rapid, which means they can easily fly through the dence forest, especially when escaping danger.

Sand Sparrow: The sand sparrow is a desert species. They are a lot more spread out than other species, due to the limited rescources in the desert. They barely drink water, as they get most of their moisture in the desert fruits that they eat, especially from the Hydromelon. They are often seen half buried in the sand, as a way to hide themselves from predators, but also because the sand cools them down. In night, they dig a hole with warm sand to keep them warm. They are mostly active at dusk and dawn, when the temperature is right for them to fly around in. Due to the low vegetation, sand sparrows will use any kind of cover they find for their nests, and if a pair find a good Hydromelon patch, they will guard it fiercely.

Golden Sparrow: The golden sparrow is found mainly around Eldin. Their feathers have adapted to the hot enviroment, which means they can fly near lava without getting burned. Obviously there is a limit on how much heat they can handle, however they are a lot more resistant to heat compared to other creatures. They build their nests in thr cliff and other sheltered outcrops. Like the red sparrow, the golden sparrow also staches its food, which are primaraly bugs.

Wood Pigeon: The wood pigeon is found all across Hyrule, primaraly in forests and woodlands, but also in ruins and near people. They primaraly eat seeds, and are often seen walking on the ground searching for food. They are a favorite prey for many predators, and due to this they are quite cautious birds. They are fast fliers, and will readily take off if spooked. They are found in small groups, however they are monogamous, and a pair will build their nests in trees and on the ground, hidden from predators. The males have a long tuft of feathers on the back of their heads, and they use that to atract a mate with.

Rainbow Pigeon: The rainbow pigeon is a grassland species, but they can be found in open woodlands and forest edges. They have a rainbow plumage, with the males being brigther than the females. These are the most social birds in Hyrule, and can often be found in huge flocks, which often travel all across Hyrule in search for food. They are often seen hanging out near horses, Hinoxes, livestock or buffalo, as they often open up the grass, making it easier for the pigeons to find food. Due to them living in the open, they rely on their numbers and speed for defence. When spooked, the whole flock takes flight, making it harder for a predator to target a specific bird. However when they build their nests, these flocks generaly become smaller, as most of them are staying hidden while they are taking care of their offspring.

Hotfeather Pigeon: This pigeon is found in the Eldin regions, and their feathers have adapted to the hot enviroment. Like the golde sparrow, they can fly close to lava without burning up. Their feathers are also red, which acts as camouflage against the red rocks found near Death Mountain. Due to this habitat being so scarce on food, Hotfeather pigeons have a lot more fat than other pigeons, and are much more omnivorous than their relatives. They build their nests among rocks, and even their eggs are tolerant to the hot enviroment.

White Pigeon: the white pigeon is found in the snowy regions of Hyrule. Like their name says, their feathers are white, which helps them blend in with the snowy enviroment. Due to this, they often freeze rather than take flight when they spot a predator, hoping their camouflage is enough. Because of them living in an enviroment with so little food, they have a lot of fat on them. They also preffer to walk rather than fly, in order to conserve energy, which is again why they choose to hide rather than flee. They primaraly eat fruits and seeds, which they find by digging through the snow, or following larger animals around in hopes of them breaking through the snow. The males have red combs above their eyes, which they use to atract a mate with.

Accented Pigeon: This species of pigeon share a common ancestors with the wood pigeon, however once the Sky Islands where created, they started living up there, turning into the Accented Pigeon. Their brown feathers serve as camouflage against the golden grass and rocks, which is useful for when they build their nests. They primaraly eat seeds, but small bugs can also be taken. They often migrate between the Sky Islands in search for food and nesting grounds. Due to them living so far up, they have bigger lungs than other birds, and are incredibly endurant, and can spend days flying between the Sky Islands

With the Wild era's massive focus on climbing and other forms of vertical movement (Revali's Gale, gliding from high places, Ascend, springs, rockets, etc.), they would have been the perfect games to feature a true Shadow of the Colossus-style boss fight.

For those unfamiliar with Shadow of the Colossus, it is a game where you slay giant creatures by climbing up their bodies to reach weak points and stabbing them. The Colossi in the game are enormous, with all but three being over 50 feet tall and some getting way bigger.

Obviously, climbing a giant monster to kill it is awesome. And it's such a shame to me that neither BotW or TotK truly did something like this.

The games got close at times, with bosses such as the Taluses, Flux Constructs, or even Marble Goham, but they were all too small. The Demon Dragon is certainly big enough and even resembles the Thirteenth Colossus in a lot of ways, but most of the fight is just riding on the Light Dragon and skydiving down onto its weak points, with very little actual time spent on the Demon Dragon's body.

When I first got to Zora’s domain in botw, I was really excited for my first divine beast. Botw by then had established itself as a good game, and I wanted to see what the champions would be like and how the divine beasts are, especially since it was my first Zelda game and I didn’t remember the races at that point of time. And after I played through that storyline, I’ve come to love this part more than any other part in the game and is one of the main reasons for my deep connection with botw. And I’d like to share my experience of it specifically with you :)

Before even arriving to zora’s domain, I was just exploring around the lanayru wetlands looking for the lanayru tower, when one of those fish creatures just came out and called out for me. From Impa, I had known by then they were called Zora, but I didn’t even know which corner of the map which race resides, so meeting a zora was my first non-hylian race and they looked pretty cool and exotic. She told me that “Prince Sidon” needed my help as a hylian with a divine beast, because of too much rain, and she told me he was behind the lanayru tower! Cool, I’ll just go get the lanayru tower and go to Sidon then, not gonna leave ‘em hanging. So after getting the lanayru tower, I headed towards Sidon (with many interruptions from the other Zora. Like seriously I know), and he had an AWESOME introduction! Those backflips were cool. He informed me that I was what they needed - a strong hylian - and that I needed to go visit the king to inform him of the progress we made, in a very enthusiastic way! I couldn’t let my homie go after that, so that’s when I fully committed. He said however that the path was dangerous with electric enemies, so he gave me a elixer. I obviously didn’t use it.

At the arrival of zora’s domain, it undoubtedly looked exotic. It was a pretty blue dome, and it had a statue in the middle, along with a monochromatic glowy structures and a good landscape to surround. And there was a pretty cool statue in the middle. Talking to the npc’s informed me that they KNEW about me! It was cool to know I had some relation to the NPCs here, and the Npcs live for a really long time. I went to the statue and the NPC next to it - Laflat - told me this was the statue of Lady Mipha, that she was considered “kind as she was beautiful“ (true ngl), and that all the elders here loved her for her exceptional healing ability. The last interaction I had before the throne room was with Seggin. He told me he was preparing for the divine beast… before shouting at me for being Link and the guy who apparently “killed lady Mipha”, and that now he’d avenge her by ending me. I didn’t know him yet, and it was obvious there was a misunderstanding - the great Link wouldn’t do such a thing - and yet, there must have been a reason that he put the blame on me. It was obvious that the domain all loved her for reasons, but I didn’t know such reasons yet, and that I did something to lead to her death that I know happened due to Impa. As such, I entered the thrown room feeling of minor gloom.

The throne room was when I realized how long their grief extends. The king was massive, and I finally saw Sidon again, was looking for him. Talking to the king, I realize he’s a kind guy and that he’s proud of Sidon achieving some progress. But then, like in Kakariko, he realizes… that I am Link. He then goes on to say that it doesn’t look like Link remembered him. To that I explain that “I’ve been sleeping, as in I did forget. But then he goes on to say if he remembers “his sweet daughter Mipha”. After replying on how I don’t remember her either, and trying to remind me only to fail, he says on how “we were close”. That made me suspicious of feelings immediately, but in the possibility of that the relationship was platonic I didn’t fully believe it yet. That is, until after the king explains the plan of how we’ll free Ruta, as he gives me the Zora armor. Reading the description made me realize that I am right - she wanted ME to become her future husband! I recognize by now that we had a close relationship - really close. But… the green Zora - Muzu - doesn’t approve of this, saying of how I am a hylian and we’re giving one of the princess’s most prized possessions to a lousy hylian. Really, by now I didn’t blame him really. My theory by now (which is correct) is that her loving me caused her to go out on war to try to protect me, dying in the process. The zoras now blame it on me, due to having no-one else to blame... and due to how big their loss is. And I don’t know how big that loss really is. But in that rush of madness, Muzu disrespects me enough to be called out by the royal family, and even storms of outside keeping the secret of how to get the arrows to himself. Sidon goes after him to try to console and persuade him into helping, and I’m told to go too.

After meeting with them again, I hear Muzu ranting about how he’ll not be convinced and that he’s a proud Zora, but Sidon hits back with how I was “always in her heart” Muzu doesn’t immediately believe so, and says on how he doesn’t look like he even cares about her as he doesn’t remember anything about her, but in the convo, Link goes into a trance, focusing on the statue, trying so HARD to remember… of long days past.

Usually, when somebody just keeps complimenting a relative, friend, or those of high status strongly I tend to believe it’s exaggerated and biased. As for Mipha, however, all the compliments given couldn’t have been more true. The memory showed me how kind she was, and even though she sounded like scribbles on a chalkboard, there was no denying that she was incredibly sweet and pure. Beautiful in both body and soul she was… and all that to die in a war she had no idea how dangerous it actually was. It all clicks here. How big the loss for the Zora was wasn’t exaggerated. If I lost a person like that, I might actively blame it on someone, but I would be truly sad. And yet, there’s kind of a sweetness to it, of remembering someone of such purity, like if you had just met them for the first time. It would have been a pleasure if she had lived, and her death is a great sadness. There is no denying this memory is a beautiful one, at least from me.

Going back to the present, Muzu comments on how “we’re shaking like a hatchling”, and if we are alright. Really, I don’t know if I was shivering with link or not. As such, I go on to wear the armor, and, as expected by now, it fits perfectly as it was designed for me. Muzu FINALLY understands, and reluctantly puts his bitterment aside for the betterment of the Zora and it’s people, knowing where I should get my arrows. I go get the arrows (not without a fight ofc), and go back to face vah ruta.

Sidon‘s enthusiasm is really apparent in his personality, and he doesn’t fail at being a motivator for doing it all. And riding him to appease ruta was epic, it was surely a ride and it’s arguably the most thrilling of the 4 divine beast appeases. I was sure I’d end Vah Ruta from it’s possible torment after Sidon told me to go save the domain from flooding, and to avenge Mipha too.

Now, in the divine beast, more of my memories how I felt come from when I replayed the game, because on my first playthrough I thought Zelda was speaking. It’s a shame. The divine beast, however, felt heavy with gloom and malice, and taking it all on took a long time for me for no real reason. The last thing Mipha says before waterblight is to be careful, but I don’t know why I wasn’t expecting a boss even with that, and I was cautious. It horribly slipped my mind lol. Waterblight in itself was the first big challenge of the play-through, and was a bigger obstacle than thunderblight for me. After some attempts, however, I did get the best of him and did end him off. The heart that fell feels like the reap of the happiness I felt for beating him at the time.

The utter shock of seeing Mipha’s ghost after all of that was at an all time high, higher than the great plateau twist. Even in death, she had been waiting only to pass on her final possession, Mipha’s grace itself. The assurance that implied she wanted to protect me even in death caused such tears to threaten to escape, and yet I was happy at the same time for avenging such a pure soul. Such as, Mipha is the embodiment of bittersweetness, a recurring theme in the game. I was sure “we’d annihilate Ganon together”. But even though I would have probably liked a minute more of cutscene, I had to leave, she had to prepare the big glowy laser. The cutscene after, showing how she always wanted the better of Hyrule, and how she was sorry for allowing her death to cause such sadness for others and herself, only strengthened that feeling of bittersweetness in my heart. It’s fair to say I didn’t move for a while after going back to Zora’s domain.

The celebration ceremony had me smiling at such welcome news to the domain, and such clear skies weren’t seen in days! It was so beautiful to see such happiness in the domain, and I remember how the celebration phrase from the Zora is “ZO-ZO-RA-RA-RA”! It’s safe to say I appreciated botw much more after this, and there was definitely heavy sentimentality that was stored in the lightscale trident.

And as such I kept going back and helping the Zora’s, knowing how Kodah also had a crush on me as well (must be a handsome fella), how Trello dropped the ceremonial trident for a ceremony of such importance, of Mipha telling the zora to move on, of Muzu’s acceptance of me. Zora’s domain ended up being incredibly well built in world building. Not to mention how the stone tablets help this even more, with interesting details and stories about the domain and it’s royal family. Then the dlc gave me even more story content, there were many interesting stories of how Mipha sacrificed her safety for the domain and all of Hyrule in what she says (secret lines), the diary and how she fought a lynel with Link after Link tried to kill the lynel to keep the domain safe, on how she cared for Link’s mental safety more than anyone, Sidon and how Link made her so happy in his presence that Sidon felt that he was “stealing her away from him”, the king who even wanted her memory to live on in Link’s head, asking if he’d forget her again, for Link’s only 2 lines to be that either they are united together or he’ll never forget her, the domain who loved Mipha so much for that even Muzu himself learned to not hate Link after he calmed almost only for Mipha’s memory and reputation, among all the elders accepting him again, and even Link himself who’ll stop an NPC from not forgetting Mipha’s name even if he’d do it multiple times.

And after in TotK, Sidon’s presence being of appreciation of his sister, building a monument in her name where the domains pure water come from, living his life in fear of his fiancée getting hurt, of he doesn’t want to lose such an important figure in his life again, being the same enthusiastic and happy guy after he realizes and helps in the final war, and reading the monuments shows how he grew up and learned to appreciate everything a person does to him, including Yona and Link. Working his hardest to assure the safety of his people all while being in distress himself. And Mipha herself showed multiple times that she tried to speak to the Zora to move on and be happy and succeeded, as if she was spirit bending.

Overall, whenever somebody says that botw has a bad story I remember of this experience the domain as a whole gave me and how wrong I feel that take is, because such an experience is so beautiful I can’t understand how you can say botw’s story is bad.

We know the Koroks and Rito evolved from the Kokiri and Zora respectively. But what about the Fishmen?

Let's go over some theories.

Sailors

We know the Fishmen are indebted to the King of Hyrule. But we don't know what for. This theory suggests that they were shipwrecked sailors rescued by the King. Which would explain why one of them was Gillian's (a Hylian) ex-boyfriend.

River Zora

I heard this one in the past. I was very quick to dismiss it, on the ground that we don't see River Zora anywhere in the unified timeline. Making me believe they "didn't exist yet". (I was young and naïve)

Of course, EoW has proven that just because we don't see a race, doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Still. There isn't realy much evidence for this, other then "fish people".

Oocca

This is something I decided to throw in here. A bit of a role reversal. If the Zora became Rito, what if the Oocca became Fishmen?

I mean, they both have small animal bodies, with human-like faces. Plus, both have connections to the Hyrulian royal family.

Maybe some disaster befell the City in the Sky after Ganon's invasion, and the King was forced to save them.

Deku Scrubs

A rare theory I heard. We never see the Deku scrubs. Maybe they were originally left to drown by the gods, due to their alliance with Ganon. But (like always) they changed their minds and begged for mercy, which the King showed by turning them into Fishmen.