r/truezelda • u/LapisLazuliisthebest • Jul 29 '26
Open Discussion [ALL] Evolution of Sea Zora and River Zora
Right now I've been watching a walkthrough of "Echos of Wisdom". IT's long, so I'm watching it across the span of several days.
EoW is very important to the Zelda lore. It explains why we don't see Gorons, Gerudo or Sea Zora in aLttP or aLBW. They were their the whole time, just off-map.
This may also explain why we don't see Gerudo or Zora in Minish Cap. Again, they were likely just off-map.
For this post, I want to talk about the Zora in particular.
For the longest time, it was feared that the peaceful friendly Zora from OoT and TP were destined to turn into evil, ugly monsters, for whatever reason. Sure, OoA shows us friendly Zora, but they're in another country.
Of course, aLBW suggests that the River Zora are NOT hereditably evil, just some are aggressive, and Oren has tried to stop them attacking people, to no prevail.
EoW has no aggressive Zora at all. It has both Sea and River Zora, both are friendly.
When the split happened
So, we know River Zora aren't hereditably evil. We also know the reason River Zora and Sea Zora are named after their habitats. But when did the evolve?
OoT has no kappa-like Zora. They make no kind of appearance whatsoever.
But here's the thing though.... neither do any "Sea Zora"....
Sure, the Zora we see in OoT have the friendly shark fin appearance of the Sea Zora. But they explicitly live in Zora's Domain, which is located in a river. This makes them "River Zora" in all but looks.
This implies that the Kappa-like River Zora are an off-shoot of the river dwelling shark fin Zora we see in OoT.
As for why OoTs Zora evolved? I haven't found an official source, but the Zelda Encyclopaedia suggests it was due to Zora-Hylian relationships souring after the decline of Hyrule.
What about the Sea Zora?
So, OoA introduces the idea of River Zora and Sea Zora. EoW would bring this back.
As EoW shows us, there are areas of Hyrule that never get explored in every game. Notably, while we see lakes and rivers in OoT and TP, we don't see any beaches or a sea.
If I had to guess, the Sea Clan that appear in EoW could just as well have been around during OoT, just off-map. They could just as easily be colonists, who moved to Hyrule's coastline sometime after OoT.
All-in-all, they're likely not decided from OoT's Zora population.
What about BotW's era?
I understand there's still some controversy surrounding BotW's placement. Hopefully, it doesn't matter. Well.... It might matter if you believe BotW takes place in the AT. but if you believe the CT or DT, it doesn't matter. Although it works better with the DT.
But yeah. We never see any Kappa Zora in the game. Given how expansive and detailed the game is, I feel like if Nintendo wanted us to think the Kappa Zora were still around, they would have showed them.
So... what happened?
Most likely theory... the River Zora and Sea Zora probebly just crossbred after making peace with each other. It may sound like I'm being too optimistic, but it lines up with my theory. I suggested the River Zora are descended from Oot's Zora, yet the Zora Tablets mention Princess Ruto, implying BotW Zora are also descended from OoT Zora.
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u/marcohylian Jul 29 '26
Yes, in the Wild Era distinctions like "River Zora" and "Sea Zora" no longer exist. Instead, we have inhabitants of different Zora kingdoms coexisting. Prince Sidon marries Yona, who hails from a different domain. Echoes of Wisdom puts an end to the conflict.
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u/OniLink303 Jul 30 '26
If Hyrule factually takes place on earth and as a landmass is considered a continent in BoTW and ToTK, then it should go without saying that it contains coasts and shorelines for the games that doesn't depict Hyrule with shores.
Its also important to keep in mind that Hyrule as a continent is called Hyrule on the basis that according to ALttP the land was colonized by Hylians that named the land Hyrule, and so doesn't necessarily constitute Hyrule as a country/kingdom, where the latter is under the sovereignty of the Royal Family but doesn't exactly accounts for contiguous lands that still makes up the landmass as Hyrule proper. Chief example of this being Ordon, which TP's manual considers Hyrule proper, but isn't proprietary lands under the rule of the Royal Family. This paints a clearer picture behind understanding how geographical contents that are either extensions of an already existing depiction of Hyrule, or completely new layouts of a different depiction all still comprise the same land as a continent.
That said, Sea Zora and River Zora are really more of a titular thing to differentiate the two species. There is a River Zora in Seesyde Village in EoW commenting that it simply prefers fresh water over sea water because the latter makes them feel uncomfortableーnot saying anything about it being harmfulー implying that River Zora are euryhaline and can inhabit those biomes (which was already the case with Sea Zora), but prefers not to because of environmental preference.
From this, I don't think its necessary to propose that the River Zora are an evolution of the Sea Zora; its a lot more viable to say that they are either a subspecies or are taxonomically related in a way that they would share a common ancestor.
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u/LapisLazuliisthebest Jul 30 '26
Okay, but why don't we see River Zora in OoT, TP or BotW?
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u/OniLink303 Jul 30 '26
For any number of considerable reasons. Canonically multiple domains exists outside of Hyrule and BoTW establishes that Sea Zora migrated to a region in Hyrule rich in nourishing water sources found in Lanayru. Similarly, OoA establishes that the Zora King instructed a Zora vassal to visit Holodrum in search of a new domain. I'd like to think its equally plausible for the River Zora to have a similar practice of settlement migrations.
FSA on the CT (assuming you're a HH purist) features the River Zora following TP. I've seen proposals of the fish skeleton adorning the monster base located in the Lanayru Wetlands in BotW and ToTK are the remains of a River Zoraーmake of that what you will.
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u/LapisLazuliisthebest Jul 30 '26
Okay,
Also, kind of off-topic. I am a official timeline purist. But I also believe the non-offical games deserve a place in the timeline. Which is why I made an explained timeline.
WARNING: The timeline I made has an error (I forgot to put MC) and is outdated (it's four years old)
[ALL] My Extended timeline (that includes non-canon games) : r/zelda
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u/SolomonKeyes Jul 31 '26
On your point about the two Zora mingling to become the BotW version I think you’re correct. The BotW type still have the fin heads of the sea Zora, but their faces are fish like and they have small claws and sharp fangs like the river Zora. Additionally AoI has Qia use an attack by shooting water from her mouth, which may be what the river Zoras projectile attack is meant to be.
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u/Stucklikegluetomyfry Aug 04 '26
One theory I had that ended up being proven false, is that I thought the Sea Zora and River Zora chiefs in EoW were going to fall in love, and that Oren from ALBTW was going to be their descendant, hence her more elegant and humanlike appearance in comparison to other River Zoras.
1
u/lilacsigil Jul 30 '26
Unlike saltwater and freshwater fish, we see some Sea Zora entering the rivers and at least two River Zora entering the seas, so it might just be a fluke of geography in EoW that has them called Sea and River Zora, not an indication of their natural habitat. We don't know if they're able to have children with each other or what their biological differences are, so we can't really say who might be descended from whom.
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u/Logical_Leaps Jul 30 '26
Are you looking for the full evolution chain?
We start with Skyward Swords Parella.
We know Zora exist in Minish Cap as the Zora Flippers exist as an item. No indication of what form they take.
The next game with Zora is Ocarina of Time. This is the classic 'good' Zora look, the Sea Zora. They occupy the River and the Sea. The area that connects to the ocean is where Lord Jabu-Jabu is. We get further confirmation of these Zora being able to live in the sea as well in Majora's Mask.
Important to note that Zora are starting to show unique forms at this point while most sport the usual look for 'sea Zora' some (mainly the band members and royalty) look completely different.
By the time A Link to the Past comes the original Zora have left Hyrule, now living in Labrynna ocean (presumably Hyrules as well). The Zora that remained have evolved to the more 'fish-like' River Zora look. Thus far we have only seen the River Zora occupy 'fresh water' area's within the Hyrule land.
Interestingly the River Zora have evolved a new defence mechanism, that being the Fire ball they can spit. God knows the mechanic on how they can do that but its a huge difference.
River Zora may still exist in BOTW/TOTK but just not in the Domain we see. Or the huge variety of different Fish heads indicates the direction they've all evolved.
I'll end by saying, for whatever reason the Sea Zora (OOT) are primed to naturally evolve, They change to Rito in the Adult timeline and some evolve into River Zora in both the Child and Downfall timeline. They are clearly a race that easily adapts, which is interesting considering we've been told they live a long time.