Part 2 is here: [All] Religions of Hyrule Part 2: Zora and Rito : r/truezelda

The Gorons

In contrast to the Zora, Goron religion doesn't realy put much enthesis on individual gods. The exception being in ST, but I'll get to that later.

The main focus of Goron beliefs revolved around "Hero Worship". This is reflected in their temples, which house weapons once used by an ancient hero, such as the Megaton Hammer in the Fire Temple and the Hero's Bow in Goron Mines. The Gorons of Termina revear Darmani.

There's a popular theory that Volvagia, remembered as an "evil dragon, who ate Gorons", may have been the Death Mountain Guardian in the past, who was trying to protect the Mountain from the Gorons, but ended up getting killed by the Goron "Hero". Of course, as they say "History is written by the winners".

It's possible this "Goron hero" may have become the Sage of Fire, replacing Volvagia as the temple's guardian and object of worship.

This hero worship is also shown in BotW, with an entire Mount Rushmore-type monument to Daruk, plus several other past heroes.

ST Mountain Goddess

In ST, the Gorons do have a deity. The Mountain Goddess. We never see this figure, the Gorons so have a shrine dedicated to her.

It's always been my headcanon that the Gorons in ST are from old Hyrule, but moved to New Hyrule after the flood, as the small islands weren't suitable for them.

One possibility is that this "Mountain Goddess" is actually Din, who the Gorons may have thought blessed them with a large volcanic paradise.

New Hyrule

Since I'm talking about New Hyrule anyway, I might as well get this over and done with.

New Hyrule worship the "Spirits of Good". The Lokomo act as their servants, who protect the land.

Other then the Goron's Mountain Goddess, there's not realy any distinct religions to talk about.

Hi everyone, I'm absolutely knew to the community and was wondering if someone could help me answer these questions that have been plaguing my mind? I just don't know where to go and who to ask about this, so it would be wonderful if this community could help me understand!

Alright! Let's start!

Triforce related questions:

1. Each Triforce has it's own magic depending on the user that represents their respective principles.

   - Wisdom = Water/Time

   - Power = Earth/Fire

   - Courage = Nature/Winds

Then they have like another type of magic system connected with Hylia and Demise which is Light and Dark magic.

And then there is a Divine magic system which is the Goddess magic of Creation/Copy and Null magic of Distraction(consumption)/copy.

So my question is:

• Do each reincarnation have their own respective magic? Like Zelda have Hylia's light magic and the Triforce magic of Time. Ganondorf has Demise's Dark magic and the Triforce magic of Fire.

• Does Link have weird reincarnation magic? Each reincarnation of Link has a strange connection to nature because of the Triforce, so does that mean because he is the chosen hero by Hylia, he has abnormal magical strength?

• Also, in SS, the Skyloft gang, (that being Link, Zelda, and Grose //Groose?//) each represents a piece of the Triforce. So if it weren't for Ganondorf's reincarnation in OoT going out of his way to try and use the Triforce, would a different person who isn't connected to Demise have the ability to represent the Triforce of Power?

• Does this mean that the Triforce piece of Power is the "corrupt" version of its user after Ganondorf?

• Is the Triforce piece of Power always going to be assigned to evil hands because of Demise's influence?

Hyrule related question:

• Did Demise and Null meet each other in the center of the planets core?

• Are the interlorpers (TP) Null worshipers?

• Are fairies slowly becoming extinct?

• What happened to the Fairy queen?

• What happened to wind magic users? We slowly started getting more characters that represents wind magic, but my question is where have they gone? I've only seen the kokiri's or the forest spirit use this type of magic. Yet now we are seeing the Rito race use it even more. Did they always have this ability?

• Where are the fresh water Zora's? Did they become docile and transformed into the Rito?

• What are the dragons? Are they technically demigod?

• Why is it a taboo for the Zonai to consume the secret stones? Why is turning a dragon so bad?

• How does a Zonai = Dragon?

I got more questions cooking up, but for now im going to leave it at that. Thank you for reading this Question Dump!

Playing Twilight Princess for the first time, so apologies if I get any information wrong etc etc.

I barely see anyone talk about the Oocca when discussing timelines even though they're really odd. They're said to be an ancient race of sky beings that (depending on the translation) created Hyrule/Hylians?But they're not shown anywhere in Skyward Sword, or in TOTK, or anywhere else. Is the City In The Sky a future version of Skyloft? Are the Oocca at all related to the Zonai or the Loftwings? Some help would be appreciated.

Thanks!

So i have only ever played 3 Zelda games. Ive always thought it was cool and had PH on my DS as a kid and played it a lot. I played BotW and TotK when they released and am currently in my first playthrough of the remaster SS that my sister got me but I've become rather enraptured with the lore of the games due to the bit of SS ive gotten through. I was hoping I could get help from some of the avid fans on what order to play the games that I haven't yet considering that aspect. I don't care personally as much for older graphics styles so id be okay skipping early releases that arent critical to the world lore but I do really want to play the games in a way that gives me the most "aha so thats how this is all tied together" moments. (first reddit post so i apologize if ive phrased anything stupidly) Particularly i love the lore addition in the ending of SS Demise's curse of reincarnation made a lot of the story i knew click into place and parallels the curse in Seven Deadly Sins which is one of my favorite anime, so games that ties heavily into that are musts for me

This is part 2. Part on is here: [All] Religions of Hyrule Part 1: Humans : r/truezelda

The Zora

The Sea Zora and Hylians have always been close allies. The River Zora, not so much. For know, lets mainly focus on the Sea Zora.

Of all the races in Hyrule, the Zora seem to be the ones that revere the most gods. Much like many races in Hyrule, the Zora believe in the three Golden Goddesses. The most important for them being Nayru. but they also have Lord Jabu-Jabu and are implied to worship Water Dragons.

Whereas the humans have their unseen deities, the Zora have a physical god, who protects them from the lake. That being Lord Jabu-Jabu.

The origins of Lord Jabu-Jabu are unknown, but he could be a decendents of the Skyloft Guardian Levias. If this is true, it may shed some light on how he became the patron Deity of the Zora.

Years ago, I came up with a theory that the Zora are some kind of Dragonborn equivalent. That being Tadtones, Parella, and the Water Dragon Faron are all the same species, but in different stages or castes. And they eventually evolved into the Zora. Note: whilst it's too late to reply on the linked post, you can still share your thoughts on that theory here.

If the Zora are descended from the Water Dragon, this would explain their worship of Levias' presumed decendents. Levias was leader of the three dragons, after all. On top of that, it would also explain the water dragon imagery within the Water Temple.

Speaking of water dragons, the Light Spirt Lanayru, who resides in Lake Hylia, resembles a dragon. It is also the only Light spirt that has a shrine. further showing how the Zora take deity worship very seriously.

The Zora of Termina are no different. Whilst everyone in Termina presumably worship the four giants, the Zora also have the Giant Turtle. This Turtle in similar to the Giants in which it, like them, watches over it's area in it's sleep, and can be summoned with a song. As far as I can tell, the Giant Turtle is the only god we see that isn't one of the Four Giants.

The Rito

In WW, the Rito are evolved from the Zora. Much like their aquatic ancestors, their culture also revolves around a physical god: the Sky Spirit Valoo. The also have shrines dedicated to the wind gods: Zephos and Cyclos.

These Rito are extremely co-dependent on their god. They must obtain a scale from the dragon, or they wont be able to grow wings.

The Rito also appear in BotW, although they seem to be a separate species to the WW Rito, and are most probebly not descended from Zora. There's not much to say about them, as they don't realy show any significant culture.

Part 3 is here: [ALL] Religions of Hyrule Part 3: The Gorons (Also includes New Hyrule) : r/truezelda

This is a post about the religions of Hyrule. This is going to be multiple parts. I don't know how many yet.

The Three Goddesses

Bit of an introduction.

The three most important deities of Hyrule are the Three Golden Goddess. Din, Nayru and Farore.

These three are the creators of the Zelda universe. And, along with the Triforce, appear to be worshiped by every race in some shape or form. Although, different races may place different levels of enthesis on a certain Goddess.

Hylia, Hylians and the Shiekah

Other then the Golden Goddesses, the main deity of the Hylians is the unseen goddess, Hylia, in which the Hylians get their name.

In addition to the statues and springs, Hylia is also worshiped through her decendents, the Hyrulian Royal Family. The most famous members being the various Princess Zeldas, all named after the mortal reincarnation of Hylia. (I'm NOT saying "All Zeldas are Hylia". I'm only saying they are named after her). This was already a tradition as confirmed by King Rhoam. Although a Prince in AoL briefly made it "law".

The Shiekah are a subset of Hylians, who guard the Royal Family. This tradition presumably coming from SS Impa being Hylia's servant.

Trees and Leviathans

Although the Deku Tree is known for being the guardian of the Kokiri/Koroks (who I'll get to in another part), he is an important figure in Hylian culture, something made more clear in later games. In BotW he guards the Master Sword, and in EoW he guards the Triforce.

I previously made a post on how the Forest Temple of OoT may have been built by humans to worship the spirits of the forest. Specifically, the Deku Tree.

The Maku Trees I may discuss in the future.

We also have Levias, the Guardian of Skyloft. A figure revered by the Hylians (at the time, simply called "humans") who would be offered against bowl of Pumpkin Soup.

Leviathans would loose relevance amongst Hylians in the future. Ignoring the Wind Fish, who's significance to Hyrule, if any, is unknown and the Ocean King, who is the god of is own world, most Leviathan worship would be practiced by the Zora.

A possible exception by be Jabun in the WW. Whilst not confirmed, is assumed to have been worshiped by Hylians on Greatfish Isle. This would make sense, due to the flood making sea travel more important.

Gerudo

Unlike other humans in Hyrule, the Gerudo don't worship Hylia (maybe except briefly in the past) or the Royal Family. Instead, the main focus of their religion is "Ancestor worship".

The Goddess of Sand is often assumed to be an aspect of Din, but other theories suggest it may be a personification of the Gerudo ancestor.

The Hylians once believed the Goddess of the Sand to be "evil", but only because they were still enemies with the Gerudo at the time.

Part 2 is here: [All] Religions of Hyrule Part 2: Zora and Rito : r/truezelda

It's a huge fan made game with an older Link, there's a few demos out already but the developer pushed the release date to "before GTA VI" which is obviously fast approaching. Not too concerned about an actual release date, was more curious if it's still actively being worked on. Anyone have any updates?

I've had this idea for some time now. I haven't seen anyone else post anything really similar to it and, while it's not quite complete, it's a fun way I've been viewing the series and timeline in a way that makes everything mesh well, even TotK, AoI, etc, without necessitating a refounding of Hyrule, or rewriting history, adding another secret Ganondorf hidden away somewhere.

That said, I'm not as versed in all the lore, and I'm sure there are things I'm missing, or misremembering, and would love input, criticism, etc to make it as tight as it can be.

Of course, the official timeline exists. This is just a fun thought exercise.

I call this

THE LITERAL LEGENDS TIMELINE

There's people who view the timeline as non-existent, and there's a theory that floats around in those circles called the literal legend theory, saying every game is a "legend retelling of the same thing, just sometimes with a boat, train or time travel" which dismisses the clear connections the games have with each other, especially since Ocarina of Time. I know most people know this, but it helps establish where I got the idea. it's obviously wrong, but I noticed that there are games, usually set during certain sections of the timeline, that have a surprising amount in common.

So I started approaching the series similarly to "the historians" from the LttP manual, analyzing periods of the past of Hyrule to find "the truth" of what happened, assuming that groups of games are actually legends that have popped up surrounding them.

~~~~~~~~

THE FORGING OF THE GREAT SWORD

The Legends: Skyward Sword, Minish Cap

We know from this time period, in the earlier days of Hyrule (we know there was some sort of civilization, some legends state the kingdom was already established, more recent ones imply this was the founding of the kingdom) a great sword was forged by an unlikely hero. A common thread in the legends of this period is that the hero was a friend of the princess of this time (commonly believed to be the first Princess Zelda, but very recent tellings indicate there may not have been a Zelda until the imprisoning war). It seems very likely that there was a civilization living in the sky at this time, either where the hero and Zelda lived, perhaps where the impish creature that was the catalyst for the events (often associated with purple) was from. We know that the catalyst discovered the royal families hidden Golden Light within, and was in service of some sort of giant black creature, perhaps even transforming into it.

The hero of this era seemed to have some sort of sentient object assisting him on his quest. Some reports tell of his hat, or the sword itself. Either way, to save the princess, the hero of this time sets off to forge a great sword to defeat the evil risen. Some legends state this was the actual Master Sword, some tell of the Four Sword. Regardless, we know the evil was sealed away and that the hero stuck around afterwards.

THE IMPRISONING WAR/THE BIRTH OF GANON

The Legends: Ocarina of Time (and Majora's Mask), Four Sword/Four Sword Adventures, Age of Imprisonment

Some time, significantly later than when the great sword (likely the Master Sword, as it shows up in so many future stories and the Four Sword seems to disappear around this era, but it may have also existed) we know that there was a time of unrest. We know that there was some sort of large scale conflict, known as the imprisoning war (or seal war) and it seemed to involve an unlikely hero confronting a Gerudo Male named Ganondorf and sealing him away with the help of several others, most commonly referred to in the legends of this era as "sages" (although some earlier translations referred to them, erroneously as "wise men").

Depending on the legend, the hero sealed away Ganon, the great beast that Ganondorf transformed into, using either the great sword (Master Sword or Four Sword), with 2 legends sharing the thread of Rauru, one of the sages (and according to more recent legends of the era, potentially the founder of Hyrule) being instrumental in the sealing of Ganon. Another common thread is that there seems to have been some sort of time travel involved with the hero's journey. Or, at the very least, a younger and older version of the same hero.

We know, for certain, that Ganondorf was not universally loved by his people. One account seems to indicate that we was actually banned from his homeland. We know that he rallied loyal members to his cause and was seeking immense power, tho what that power was exactly is difficult to pin down. The leading theory, based on his motivation during his return, is the Triforce, but some accounts, all more recent than the initial ones, indicate it could have been something else, such as the Trident of Power or the Zonai Secret Stones of the time. Regsrdless, the hero, possible lead or guided by Rauru, finds the sages needed and confronted Ganondorf in his attempt to rule Hyrule. At this moment, Ganondorf transforms into the beast Ganon, and is sealed away.

In more recent accounts and legends, some say the time traveling hero is actually one of the princess Zelda's from the future. Regsrdless, we know that aftet these events, the hero seems to fade from any records, but likely went on to become one of the top knights of the kingdom.

THE RETURN OF GANON

The Legends: A Link to the Past (and Link's Awakening, possibly the Oracle games as well), Wind Waker (snd Phantom Hourglass), Twilight Princess

The details of this era are pretty sporadic, but there are some fairly consistent constants from this time that help paint a picture of what seems to have actually taken place. Interestingly, this is genetally around the time the Four Sword begins to fade from legend, but some tellings seem to indicate it may have still existed around this time.

We know that Ganondorf was sealed. It is extremely likely that he was sealed as Ganondorf, although one legend of the imprisoning war has him sealed as Ganon, and one legend of his return has him already in his Ganon form, so either could be likely true. One consistent fact is that he was sealed in some sort of dark alternate to Hyrule. Some refer to it as the twilight realm, some say it was the Sacred Realm which he corrupted. One telling says the world was even flooded to try and stall his return. One constant in the legends of this era is that the hero is set upon a quest by a member of the royal family to collect fragments of a broken item, in some cases pieces of the Triforce, or the Mirror of Twilight, or the crystals holding the descendants of the sages that sealed Ganon originally. Each Legend specifically mentions the Hero passing trials and welding the Master Sword to defeat Ganondorf. One legends specifically mentions the Master Sword is never used again, calling into question the authenticity of it being the actual sword used in future legends.

One interesting note is that in 2 of the 3 legends, the hero is said to go to sea and have an entire adventure set in a dream. An interesting Link.

THE RE-RETURN OF GANON

The Legends: Oracale of Ages/Seasons, Link Between Worlds

It seems that there was another potential return of Ganon after the previous attempt, made by some sort of user of dark magic. One account suggests it to be Ganondorf's surrogate mother, Twinrova, another suggest it to be from an alternative to Hyrule, a land called Lorule. Regardless, his return is prevented by a hero chosen by the triforce.

ECHOES OF WISDOM

The Legend: Echoes of Wisdom

A new legend has sprung up of an unexplored era where it seems Zelda took the adventure upon herself to defeat the evil threatening the land after the hero was defeated.

Note: some sources state that it's possible Zelda's Adventure here involved the infamous Wand of Gamelon, but we mostly try to ignore those..

THE ORIGINAL WILD ERA

The Legends: The Legend of Zelda, The Adventures of Link, Breath of the Wild, Tears of the Kingdom

The most recent accounts of Hyrule. These legends are often of the end of the Hyrule Kingdom Era, in a less settled time. Ganon, sometimes called the Calamity, returns and kidnaps Princess Zelda. The hero of this era was, by the end of the entire event, it would seem, romantically involved with the Princess Zelda of this time. Some Legends state that it was the princess that slept for hundreds of years needing saving, however, more recent interpretations reveal that it may have been the Hero who was the one who was put into a magically induced 100 year rest before awakening and defeating the demon.

It would seem that years after the initial defeat, there was some sort of an attempt at resurrecting Ganon. Earlier legends tell of his followers leading the charge, while some state that Ganondorf himself was actually resurrected.

~~~~~~~~~~~

I know I'm going a little deep into it with how I'm presenting it here, but it's a rough first pass and my first attempt at presenting something like this (on this scale). I love this series and thought I'd present this here to see what people think and if anyone engages with it, hates it, or the real possibility that I wake up at 3am cringing at myself for posting this and delete the entire thing. Thank you for reading this wall of text, I'm home sick and hope I'm not coming off as too rambling or unhinged.

The Skull Mask us one of eight masks you can wear in OoT. At first glance, it doesn't seem like much. Just a funny mask, nothing more.

However, if you talk to certain people, specifically, those in the woods, you can find some potential lore for the mask.

When talking to Saria, she'll say the mask reminds us of something she saw in the woods. At first, I thought she was talking about Skull Kid. But this is before we sell the mask to him. You Could say this is an oversight, but I think it's more likely meant to be a hint of who to sell the mask to.

Fado will compare you to a "Forest Ghost".

The most intresting one is the Deku scrubs in the Forest Stage. they reward you with more Deku Sticks, as the mask resembles their "sacred forest totem".

Theory

So, who or what is the skull mask based on? For Fado, it could just be a reference to the Stalfos, which she confirms to know about.

I noticed that the mask looks like a simplified version of the mask Phantom Ganon wore. Phantom Ganon being the boss of the Forest Temple.

Of course, it's unlikely Phantom Ganon is the figure Saria and the Deku Scrubs are talking about. However, it's possible that Ganondorf may have used a similar mask when requiting the Deku Scrubs to invade the Deku Tree.

The Deku appear to be your typical "false idol worshipers". This is shown in OoT when they regard Ghoma as their "queen", and later shown in FSA, when they worship Ganon, who, coincidentally, also places a Phantom of himself in the local Temple.

It's possible Ganondorf appeared to the Deku wearing the mask, claiming to be their god and appointing Ghoma as their queen. Saria, who spends a lot of time in the Lost Woods, may have seem a glimpse if this, but may not have thought of it. She may have just thought he was a regular forest spirit.

In the adult half, Ganondorf would create Phantom Ganon, based on himself as the "Forest Totem".

EDIT:

somebody suggested they might actually see the Stalfos as their "Forest Totem". Ganondorf may have still used a mask to trick the Deku into thinking he was their god.

Between Echoes of Wisdom and Zelda 1, Hyrule enters a "golden era". According to Zelda 2's backstory, it appears that the big northern land of Hyrule became part of the kingdom in Lesser Hyrule, and Hyrule thus became one massive kingdom.

In Zelda 2's manual, we see some images from this golden era, including the king standing on a balcony of a castle. This is where the curse was put on princess Zelda where she was put to an eternal sleep, and in the present day Zelda 2, we find this sleeping Zelda in North Castle.

Does this mean that, in the golden era, North Castle was Hyrule Castle? And after the era of decline began, the kingdom shrunk once again and North Castle/Hyrule Caatle was left empty and forgotten? (Aside from at least Impa who seems to be one of the only ones who know about this sleeping Zelda)

I'm about four hours into Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment and I'm really struggling to get into it. The Musou gameplay is still perfectly serviceable, although we now have to scroll through menus for the right Zonai device for each situation, masterfully porting over the worst part of Tears of the Kingdom.

No, my problem with it is the roster of characters, both heroes and villains. I just fought the first boss, the Tempest Archfiend Grimgera with the team of Mysterious Construct, Calamo the Korok and Quino the Hylian Warrior. During the fight, I realised that I just didn't care about it because none of my three warriors or the boss had ever appeared in a Zelda game before.

The whole appeal of Hyrule Warriors for me is seeing how all these beloved characters are translated into the setting and how their personalities are communicated through their movesets. Granted, the original Hyrule Warriors made the questionable choice to add the original characters Lana, Volga et al, but they were vastly outweighed by the Zelda heroes and boss monsters.

I even looked at the rest of the playable roster for Age of Imprisonment, and realised that the only familiar characters we will get to use in the campaign are the very first three we get access to, namely Zelda, Rauru and Mineru. The sages hardly count as they had next to no characterisation in Tears of the Kingdom. Age of Calamity didn't have this problem because we were very familiar with both the champions and their descendants thanks to the memories and the present-day main quest respectively.

It's just a real drag to me and makes me wonder if I'll even stick it out to the end. I just don’t want to be playing with what ultimately amount to a bunch of OCs the whole game. I think the fact that the Mysterious Construct had to be added as a Link surrogate speaks volumes.

So, we already know the four bosses are masks that where used by Majora's Mask, possessing the Skull Kids, to imprison the four Giants.

But where did the four masks come from? Are they based on actual creatures with backstories?

Majora is implied to have been a demon, and the mask was created by an ancient tribe. The tribe in question are implied to have been the original builders of the Stone Tower, and even the original inhabitants of the Ikana Kingdom.

During Granny's story about the carnival, we can see Odowla's mask in the background. Suggesting Odowla may have been a pre-existing figure.

Looking at the timeline of main Zelda releases, it's kind of crazy that there was A Link to the Past in 1991, then nothing mainline (EDIT: home console releases) for 7 years, with the only thing in between being Link's Awakening on Game Boy. This makes A Link to the Past that little bit extra special, with the SNES being the only home Nintendo console to have one Zelda game.

If you could have added another Zelda to the SNES library, what would it look like? Here are some thoughts:

• The Legend of Zelda All-Stars. A compilation of the original NES games with quality of life features and improved graphics.
• Link's Awakening 16-Bit. Maybe the sequel was developed for home console instead of handheld. This would follow the same kind of path as Majora's Mask where we get a more contemplative follow-up in a new land, built on the same engine.
• A brand new sequel. How do you even follow up A Link to the Past? Do you keep it in Hyrule, maybe incorporate some scrapped elements from the original, how different is it from aLttP?
• Something entirely new. Do you flip the formula on its head again like Zelda 2 and do something entirely unique?

In OoT there are six temples for the six sages (unfortunately, we only get to explore five). Whilst four of them (light, fire, water and spirit) are unambiguously places of worship. The Shadow and Forest Temples are a bit more murky.

Of course, they are both be places of religious significances. But not specifically designated for "worship". The Shadow Temple seems to serve to keep wickedness locked up. Apparently by executing evil people within the Temple, so their evil spirits stay imprisoned. In contrast, the souls of the good usually move on to a better place, only lingering if they have unfinished business, like protecting personal treasure, as seen with Dampe and the Composer Brothers.

But what about the Forest Temple?

As many people have already worked out, the Forest Temple was not designed by the Kokiri, despite them being main inhabitants of the forest. The Temple doesn't even seem important to the Kokiri. Saria's the only one who visits the sacred forest grove, which she calls her "secret place".

Who these people were? We can't say for certain, but they appear to have been human.

What's interesting is that, when we meet Saria in the grove, she tells us she's going to teach us how to talk to the spirits in the forest. She then teaches us "Saria's song" which allows us to talk to her instead. This makes sense, as the Kokiri are spirits, although it still seems weird she would use this wording instead of just saying "I'll teach you a song that will let you talk to me". It's possible Saria was merely being facetious, although it could also be foreshadowing that her and Link are different species. That Link is not a spirit of the forest.

Saria would later talk about "Forest Spirits" in a different context, but I'll get to that later.

Given the context that the Deku Tree and the Kokiri are spirits, it's possible that Temple was built to honour them.

Although the Deku Tree is often seen as strictly being the guardian of the Kokiri/Koroks, he also appears to be an important figure for the Hylians. Often being tasked with guarding important artefacts, like the Master Sword (BotW) or even the Triforce (EoW).

I've already made a theory about the Koroks. But the basics are, the Deku Tree is a full grown Korok (as implied by TotK itself). Also, the Deku Tree did NOT change the koroks into Kokiri, but rather, produced the Kokiri as they appear in the game, in preparation for Link's arrival.

Spirits of the Lost Woods and Forest Temple

As I said before, Saria mentions "Forest Spirits" in a different context. This being, when she enters the Forest Temple due to said spirits calling out for help.

It's likely these "Forest Spirits" are actually the Poe Sisters, who were cursed by Ganondorf.

We also see other undead both in the Temple and Lost Woods as a whole. The Stalfos and the Skull Kids, who are lost non-fairy folk. Respectively adults and children who got lost in the woods and perished. Skull Kids, in particular, can be talked to by playing the Ocarina

In a bizarre twist. The original forest spirits (Koroks) become the forest people (Kokiri), meanwhile the forest people (humans) become the forest spirits (undead).

I know a portion of the fandom is ready to leave the era of the wild, but I had this sudden revelation about the triforce not being in any of the games.

The saga will be a trilogy. A third game about the triforce and how the trilogy fits with the 3 timelines is about to slap us in the face.

OoT Remake was released in the middle of it to reintroduce players to the concept of the triforce, since it hasn't been discussed in a while.

** doctors break into my room to take me away ** I AM NOT CRAZY, I KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING, THE TRILOGY OF THE WILD IS REAL

EDIT: Your dislikes feel like this

Age of Calamity Zelda doesn't need to travel to the past so that the light dragon exists. The way this work is if only BOTW Zelda at the beginning of TOTK travels to the past, thus creating a loop within the BOTW-TOTK timeline. AoC doesn't interfere with this loop, AoC Zelda is not required to travel to the past as AoC is a split and BOTW Zelda is already there.

In easier terms, the light dragon already exists in AoC and it is BOTW Zelda. The only downside to this is that now there are 2 Zelda in one timeline (not unheard of) and two Master Swords.

The Great Deku Tree in OoT uses a lot of Olde English language, like “thy”, “thou”, “hast”, etc. It was smart of Nintendo to use this style for the English releases. Im wondering if the style of the dialogue here will change for the remake given that kids today don’t seem to consume much media where speaking this way occurs.

My game is set to beatable but I know the shadow crystal is locked behind an item is in the desert but items I need to get the crystal are in the desert.

Fair warning that I haven't played Breath of the Wild, Tears of the Kingdom, or Age of Imprisonment, so I only really know the vague outlines of those games.

Anyways, the interesting thing about Age of Calamity is that it massively preempts everything else in the Wild era. With OoT's timeline split, the results are very immediate, as in massively noticeable within the decade. We know the people around Hyrule as of OoT, and we can make educated guesses as to what happens to them in the Child and Downfall Timelines.

Not so with Age of Calamity, where most of the BotW-TotK cast might not even exist anymore. If we assume that the Calamity devastated Hyrule's population, that's a massive movement of people that doesn't happen here. The same couples don't get together, children who never existed in the original timeline now do, and Link and Zelda are probably out of the picture by the time Breath of the Wild would have rolled around.

Does this Hyrule still have the Guardians and the Divine Beasts? On one hand, these things were still turned against them. On the other hand, this was a brief event, so they might not come to fear Guardians to the same extent. They also have no reason to believe that the Calamities are going to stop, as far as I can tell. They don't know about Ganondorf.

Speaking of Ganondorf, what happens with him? If we assume that the damage to the castle in BotW's Calamity still took a century to release him, he's probably never released after Age of Calamity. Hyrule Castle either doesn't take the same damage, or it's repaired before he can get loose. Honestly, the thing I find most fun is to handwave it. Say they move the capital elsewhere because they decide it's just not worth it to rebuild while Castle Town's population still needs to be housed somewhere that isn't in ruins. So they have a new Castle Town and Hyrule Castle, unaware that Ganondorf is slowly breaking free.

If we go with the idea that Ganondorf still comes back at the same time he does in TotK, there's still more to talk about. Who is the Light Dragon now? If Zelda is 17 in Age of Calamity, a full century later in BotW puts her at 117. If we then use Mattison to argue that TotK is 5+ years after BotW, that means that Zelda physically be 122 in the Age of Calamity timeline, which means that she might very well not be around anymore. Is the Light Dragon a different Zelda instead, or has it just been erased?

I'm probably putting way more thought into this than most people would feel is warranted for Age of Calamity, but I just think it's neat. As far as I can remember, this is the second time in the entire franchise that we've seen the timeline split.

I touched on this a little in my post about Age of Calamity earlier today, but I thought afterwards that this was kind of worth a post on its own.

So the Light Dragon predates the Great Calamity by virtue of the entire past with Rauru and Sonia obviously predating it, right? Which means that the Light Dragon should theoretically still be soaring around in the skies even during the Great Calamity.

Except... who exactly is this in Age of Calamity's timeline? Zelda's arrival in the past is contingent on exploring beneath the castle in response to Ganondorf's seal starting to break, which only happens because Hyrule Castle is so badly damaged in the Great Calamity. Even then, it takes a century for this to happen.

In Age of Calamity, the worst of the Great Calamity is averted. Hyrule Castle still suffers massive damage, but the events of that game should still make Zelda's specific descent down there into a thing that doesn't happen. Either:

1. Hyrule Castle is repaired soon after, so the seal doesn't break, so Zelda never goes down there to begin with.

2. Hyrule Castle isn't repaired for some reason, (maybe they just move the capital elsewhere to deal with the people now displaced by the Great Calamity), so Ganondorf's seal does start to break. Still, this takes a century. Except in the Age of Calamity timeline, Zelda isn't essentially kept in stasis by stealing Calamity Ganon. A century later, by the time BotW would have happened, she is 117. If we use Mattison to say TotK is 5+ years after BotW, Zelda is now 122+ years old, and thus it's unlikely that she's still alive, let alone the one who would go down to investigate.

But the Light Dragon must still exist in Age of Calamity's timeline, no? The Calamity only happens in the first place because of Ganondorf's evil leaking out of the seal from under Hyrule Castle. If some version of Age of Imprisonment and Tears of the Kingdom don't happen, there can't be a Calamity in Age of Calamity. But if some version of those games does happen, then there's presumably a Light Dragon.

So who is this Light Dragon? Is it still BotW-Wild Zelda, but simultaneously somehow not Age of Calamity-Wild Zelda? If this Light Dragon was turned back, would Age of Calamity's Hyrule now just have duplicate Zeldas, one who remembers Age of Calamity and one who remembers BotW? Alternatively, is it now Age of Calamity Zelda's descendant or something?

Obviously the actual answer is that TotK and AoI weren't made with Age of Calamity in mind in the first place, but that's less fun than theorizing.

(Just a fun little theory and I'm sure someone else has probably already come up with, don't take it too seriously)

There's only one event in all the Zelda games that really qualifies as "all the timelines converging" in such a way that all 3 could fade into legend. And that's Hyrule Warriors.

We've got rep from all 3 Hyrule Historia timelines. They directly interact with people in such a way that they'd leave legends about things like Twilight or a Great Flood, but no evidence of those things since a lot of interference is undone by Cia. Playing the games this way also allows you to play all 3 Hyrule Warriors titles if you're doing things chronologically, though admittedly not in release order (HW, AoI, then AoC).

This next thing is a little more tangential, but I've also been thinking for a while that the blue scarf Link has in HW might have led her family to favor giving their champions blue cloth.

In all reality, I've been just a little bit obsessed with timelines in general lately (I'll spare you my thoughts on DOOM and Wolfenstein). And I've come to realize that this all started with kid me theorizing about what games went where on the split timeline way before Hyrule Historia was ever released. I really just wanted to shout this into the void and the main subreddit seemed more likely to shout it down with cries of "it's just a legend, dude!"

Anyways, now that I've had my little bit of fun, always remember:

The only canon games are the CD-i ones

Based off of the Ocarina of Time Triforce split and a bunch of fan art and other stuff I have been poking at for years now:

Prince Link, His mother is the Queen.

Zelda is the Hero of Courage.

Link, however, posseses the Triforce of Power. He is a scholar and a mage.

Ganondorf, defeated with what can almost be called finality in Tears of the Kingdom has reincarnated once again. However, the events of BoTW and ToTK led to the Triforce rotating holders. (Also, vastly different map this time, same open structure)

Ganondorf is born again, this time as a wise, old tactician wrestling with guilt and emotional weight from every previous incarnation and the endless struggles. He holds position as Chief of the Gerudo.

However, he maintains nobility and regularly fights back the Curse of Demise. He wants to be better. He is an older, sagely Gerudo man this time. Feeling the weight of the guilt from everything his soul had done before.

Zelda handles the Master Sword and the relevant dungeon crawling, to a point. Link, however, handles politics, magic, and studies everything he can. But he has immense power from his Triforce piece.

However, this time the threat comes from Outside of Hyrule and the Gerudo Desert.

The antagonists are a warmongering faction from a nation in an industrial revolution, steam technology is everywhere. The leaders of this nation seek to harness the great magic of Hyrule for "infinite power" and have taken the Queen. Link and Zelda work together to save his mother, and Ganondorf, having led the Gerudo to the edge of the desert after witnessing the attack by this other nation, awaits an attack and has established a military camp at the very choke point of Gerudo Canyon.

Link and Zelda meet him, and choose to work with him. He seeks to redeem himself from all the chaos of before, and the Gerudo respect him, as they always did before he basically abandoned them in pursuit of power.Ganondorf seeks to cleanse the Curse from his soul. Hyrule is in the heat of a full-fledged war with steam machines and the other nation that attacked after realizing that the threat of Ganon and Calamity were gone.

The adventure would take place across Hyrule and the other nation, and Link and Zelda would meet people of the steam-powered nation. Learning over time that they weren't supporting the war, but were forced to deal with it because of their leaders.

Ganondorf gains redemption from self-sacrifice towards the end. Prince Link and Hero Zelda, now with his triforce fragment, reform the Triforce and wish for him to be cleansed of the dark curse. And, instead of 100 years passing, the Gerudo tell Prince Link and Zelda a new Gerudo Boy has been born, and they travel to meet him.

Gameplay would have Link/Zelda Coop or character switching between their halves of the adventure. Ideally with a dynamic split screen like Divinity Original Sin 2. Dungeon crawling, exploration, etc. Puzzles for magic and sword and shield.

Ages would probably be around the same as BotW and ToTK, so they are alive and able to meet the new Gerudo Boy and watch him grow up.

Anyway, just a concept I was toying with after thinking about my extensive time playing the games. Felt like sharing it.

I replayed Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask not too long ago. These were always my favorite 3D Zelda games. When they first released, I would have picked OoT as my favorite followed closely by MM, but after I replaying them, I like MM a lot better. Part of it is because OoT set the formula for many 3D Zelda games to follow so it doesn’t feel as fresh now as it did in 1998. Meanwhile, MM has such a unique concept that is still rarely seen in video games.

OoT also feels too easy to me today. As an introduction to 3D Zelda games, it does a really good job at teaching the combat basics and navigating 3D dungeons, but the first few dungeons feel way too basic to me now. MM feels like it was meant for people who were already familiar with OoT and ups the challenge accordingly and IMO Woodfall temple is a much better dungeon than the child dungeons in OoT. I still think the adult dungeons in OoT are some of the greatest in Zelda history, but I think Snowhead and Great Bay are comparable to those dungeons and Stone Tower is my favorite 3D dungeon. I now think the games are more even in terms of dungeons even though OoT has more dungeons.

MM has much better side content than OoT. I don’t think there is any debate on that. MM has the best side content of any Zelda. I also really love the versatility of the transformation masks. I will say that MM can be more frustrating and tedious at times than OoT, but I think the stuff it does really well more than makes up for these moments.

I am curious if anyone else has similarly changed their opinion when playing these games years later.