The Legend of Zelda series races

Hylians

In the Legend of Zelda series of video games, Hylian generally refers to the Hylian race, a race of humans with certain magical abilities. They have pointed pixie-like ears, and are often mistaken for elves. It is believed that these ears allow them to hear the gods and that they were created to tell the other races their message.

Hyrulean means from or related to the mythical land of Hyrule. Note that not all inhabitants of Hyrule are Hylian, only those with pointed-ears, such as Link, are Hylian. The spelling 'Hyrulian' used to be used by fans until Nintendo announced that Hyrulean is the offical and correct spelling, although Hyrulian is still widely used.

In Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, most Hylians live in the Hyrule Castle Town, though a few individuals inhabit land outside of this town, namely Talon of the Lon Lon Ranch and the Lakeside Scientist.

Many items created by the original Hylians make reapperences in other Zelda games, like the Master Sword. The Book of Mudora in A Link to the Past allows Link to translate things written in the ancient Hylian language. In Kodai no Sekiban, the hero does not have the Book of Mudora, so they must bring Princess Zelda along with them to translate the Hylian text for them.

The language of the Hylians

The Hylian written language is derived from Japanese hiragana, katakana, and romaji. The script is syllabic or more precisely moraic, and each symbol represents either a vowel, consonant-vowel combination, or a syllable final n.

Note that the character set varies significantly beween games. The Hylian text in Ocarina of Time is different from that used in The Wind Waker. The script used in The Legend of Zelda (tentative title) is the same as The Wind Waker's, so it is to be assumed that this is now the standard.

A Link to the Past actually has two differing scripts in its Japanese and English versions. This is probably because at the time Nintendo had a policy of removing or altering any potentially offensive religious references in English-language versions of games for their systems (most famously demonstrated in the Castlevania series), and the Japanese Hylian had designs of a vulture and an ankh that are clearly inspired by two very similar Egyptian hieroglyphs, both carrying religious meanings. Regardless, this was the first and last appearance of an Egyptian-styled Hylian, and all consecutive games have featured Japanese-derived symbols.

Zoras

Zoras were originaly an aquatic enemy (river Zoras, also called Zolas), appearing mostly in 2-D games. Nowadays, they are a proud, but peaceful, aquatic race of amphibious humanoids (ocean Zoras), appearing mostly in 3-D games. The rest of this article concerns the latter. For "river-zoras", see .

Biology

Zoras can live on ground and in the water. They are very sensitive, especially in the water. They have long head-tails much like the tails of dolphins. Zoras are also scaled; their scales are silver, but from a distance they appear pale blue. Many have dark blue spots as well. Zoras lack ears in the traditional sense, though they do have noses. Zoras can breathe underwater though they have no visible gills.

Zoras lay eggs. which need to be kept in cold, clean water in order for it to be healthy, and each egg has to be kept together in order for all of them to hatch.

Culture

Zora culture revolves around the water, swimming, and fishing (at which they excel). Zora Government is monarchial, and as with Deku Scrubs royalty has a different appearance than commoners.

Religion

Zoras worship Lord Jabu Jabu VII, a giant fish. He lives in a lake outside Zora's Domain, and they offer him smaller fish on a regular basis.

Notable Zoras

• Princess Ruto
• King Zora

Evolution

It is possible that the Zoras have evolved into a bird-like race in The Wind Waker. This half-bird, half-human race known as Ritos make multiple references to the Zoras. The most convincing is the fact that Medli's ancestor is a Zora. Also, we see the symbol of the Zora sapphire (which is used as the Zora's royal family symbol) is seen in multiple places on the Ritos' home of Dragon Roost isle. It is unknown why this change occurred since a water-logged environment would favor the aquatic race, and none of the games give us any clues, but it is possible due to ocean water is colder than river water that the Zoras could no longer live in it. It should be noted that the Zoras in Oracle of Ages lived in the sea. However, while this theory has been not been proven, and indeed the Oracle appearance seems to contradict it, the name similarity between "Rito" and "(Princess) Ruto" cannot be ignored.

Deku scrubs

Deku scrubs are a race or species of plant-like humanoids introduced in Ocarina of Time and based on the octorok enemy.

Dekus have leaves on their heads, red glowing eyes, and their mouths are short, wide, hollow tubes that they can't shut tight. They can shoot nuts out of their mouths, similarly to how octoroks shoot rocks. Unfortunately, this also means they can't swim without drowning. Dekus have bark rather than skin, and may be made entirely out of wood; they perish quickly if set on fire. Deku scrubs typically live inside Deku Flowers, and spring out of their flowers momentarily to attack any intruder.

There are 3 main kinds of scrubs:

• Deku Scrubs: These are the most common type of Scrub, having green leaves and often looking for a conversation.
• Mad Scrubs: These have red leaves, move more quickly, and don't talk. They tend to be the most violent form of Deku scrub.
• Business Scrubs: These scrubs have arms, speak, and offer to sell an item at an increased cost when approached. When the player defeats a Business Scrub, it will speak to them either about hints on playing certain sections of the game, or selling items for rupees. The Business Scrub makes a comeback in The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap.

In Majora's Mask, Link is able to turn himself into a Deku Scrub — in fact, at the beginning of the game, he is stuck in this form for some time, leaving him virtually powerless. The form has a number of useful abilities, however, such as:

• Stunning enemies by spinning into them
• Hopping across the surface of water
• Blowing magical bubbles at enemies to damage them
• Blasting out of Deku flowers and hovering through the air

However, ordinary Deku Scrubs have never been observed doing any of these. The game also includes an intelligent community, a kingdom, of Deku Scrubs, which is tied to the first dungeon. This kingdom includes the notable Deku Scrubs:

• Deku King
• Deku Princess
• Deku Butler
• Deku Butler's Son

Gerudos

The Gerudo is a tribe of thieves in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Their race consists entirely of women, but legend has it that a man is born every hundred years. This man is destined to be the king of the Gerudo. They have dark skin, red hair, and a rather bird-like appearance, causing some to link them to the Rito. They are known to have relations with Hylian men, who they form relationships with or simply use for procreation.

Link first enounters the Gerudo when he is a child. Princess Zelda tells him to look through the window, and he sees Ganondorf, the legendary king of the Gerudo and rumored to be the "Prince of Evil". He later confronts Ganondorf outside of Hyrule Castle and is promptly defeated. However, this encounter results in Link receiving the Ocarina of Time from Princess Zelda. Link vows revenge against Ganondorf and continues on his quest. He travels to the Temple of Time and uses his Spiritual Stones and ocarina to reach the Chamber of the Master Sword. He grabs the sword, hoping to use it against the Gerudo king, but is imprisoned for seven years so that he may become a true hero. Meanwhile, Ganondorf enters the Sacred Realm through the portal the Master Sword left, stealing the Triforce of Power and becoming the new King of Hyrule.

Seven years later, Link wakes up and continues on his quest.

The last overworld area Link encounters as an adult is Gerudo Valley, home of Gerudo Fortress, the desert stronghold the Gerudo call home.

Link sneaks into the Gerudos' tightly-guarded compound and frees several unjustly-captured prisoners inside. A Gerudo who has been following him comes out of the shadows and praises his abilities. She then gives him the "Gerudo Membership Card," a proof of ID letting all Gerudos know that he is a friend. From this day forward, Link becomes an honorary Gerudo.

The Gerudo happily help Link train with his bow on their archery range and let him test skills in their Gauntlet. Once Link has completed the Gauntlet, he receives the fabled Ice Arrows. The Gerudo tell him that he must cross the Haunted Wasteland to reach their Spirit Temple.

When Link crosses the Haunted Wasteland at the edge of Gerudo's Fortress, sure enough, he finds the Spirit Temple. According to the owl, Kaepora Gaebora, he must return to the Temple of Time and become a child again to finish his work in the area and gain full access to the next sage. Link does so and returns to his childhood. He then returns to the temple where he meets the second signifigant Gerudo character.

The woman he meets is Nabooru, the second in command of the Gerudo tribe. Nabooru is a celebrated hater of Ganondorf and she protests his evil ways. When she finds out that Link agrees, she enlists his help in finding the Silver Gauntlets, the only way into the body of the Spirit Temple (and a fine piece of treasure).

Link retrieves the Gauntlets, but meets up with Nabooru too late. She is captured by Koume and Kotake, two old Gerudo witches.

Once Nabooru disappears, Link keeps the gauntlets for himself so he can use them as an adult to gain access to the Spirit Temple and try to save Nabooru. He returns to adulthood and sets on his way.

Once Link has braved the trials of the Spirit Temple, he fights an Iron Knuckle, who turns out to be an imprisoned Nabooru. Koume and Kotake return to re-imprison Nabooru and subsuquently start a fight with Link. They use their powers of ice and fire to try to destroy the young hero, but to no avail. Link has already found the Mirror Shield and uses it to reflect their powers back on them.

Soundly defeated, the witches reveal their true form: the evil Twinrova sorceress sisters who were the surrogate mothers of Ganondorf.

After destroying the evil witch, Link finds Nabooru in the Chamber of the Sages. She is the sixth sage, the Sage of Spirit.

Link, having awakened the sages, travels to Ganondorf's dark castle and faces him in battle. Ganondorf, being brought up by accomplished sorceresses, tries to destroy Link with magic power, but fails and is killed. With his "final breath," he knocks down the castle. Link escapes with Zelda and faces Ganondorf in a final battle. Ganondorf unleashes the true force of the Triforce of Power and turns into Ganon, the true King of Evil. Once felled, the former Gerudo king is imprisoned until further games in the Sacred Realm (Golden Land).

Gorons

Gorons are a fictional humanoid rock-eating "race" (species) in the Legend of Zelda game series. Gorons are usually considered to be unintelligent by Zelda fans.

Goron biology

Gorons eat rocks and as they grow older they develop rocky growths on their backs. Since Gorons eat rocks, the Gorons themselves gets heavier. With their heavy weight, they are hopeless on water because they'll sink to the bottom. Some Gorons grow to an extremely large size for no apparent reason. They can curl up to look like odd-shaped stones or boulders. This is also how they sleep. When curled-up, some Gorons can roll around rapidly. Gorons who are endowed with fairy magic grow metal spikes when they do, which can be used as a weapon. Gorons are also resistant to heat, to the point of being able to walk through lava. This is a valuable capability when searching for food inside mountains.

The Goron "special crop"

Gorons grow Bomb Flowers, their "special crop" which resemble bombs in both appearance and function. These look like a standard bomb with a flower growing on top, and 3 large leaves growing outwards. Bomb Flowers will only grow in a dark area. Underneath the "bomb" is the stem (with the leaves growing out), but normally this is not visible. Bomb Flowers break easily from their stems but once plucked they soon explode. The stem and leaves of the flower are bomb-proof so a bomb-flower can't blow itself up, probably a defense-mechanism. Apparently Gorons use the plant for mining.

Notable Gorons

• Darunia
• (Player Name): (Player Name) is the son of Darunia. He is named after the player, so his name is dependent on that chosen in the begining of the game.
• Darmani
• Biggoron
• Goron Elder
• Traveling Merchants
• (Player Name)-goro: Goron staying at the Stock-Pot Inn. You can claim "your" key during the first day.
• Infernal Wailing Baby Goron

Goron culture

Apparently Goron culture revolves around family, honor and strength (compare Klingon). Somewhat oddly it appears that they don't find mining their ancestors corpses dishonorable or unethical (see below). They are a peaceful, sometimes lazy race with little ability to defend themselves, although they are quite large and strong.

Gorons and Discworld trolls

Gorons and the trolls of Discworld bear a bit of resemblance. They both eat rocks, and Gorons appear to grow rocks (perhaps better termed boulders in old-age) in their backs so when they die they leave rocky corpse. With as big as some Gorons get mountains could be formed from their corpses much as old trolls become mountains.

See also: Zora, Deku Scrubs, Rito, Trolls (Discworld)

Kokiri

The Kokiri are a fictional race of fairy folk in the Nintendo 64 game, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time who inhabit the Kokiri Forest. Cautious, child-like and secretive, the Kokiri believe that they will die if they leave the forest. (This is contradicted by Mido appearing in the Lon Lon Ranch in one scene, however.) Therefore, the Kokiri never leave the forest and know nothing about the outside, only the magics of the forest. Though they appear to be children, the Kokiri are actually ageless, and never grow old. Each Kokiri has a guardian fairy that functions as a friend, parent and teacher. They are watched over by the Deku Tree and later Saria the sage of the forest. Mido is their boss. The Kokiri are "the spirits of the forest" and were probably created by the deku tree. Kokiri always wear green tunics and the males wear green hats and have pointy ears. It is possible for a Kokiri to have green hair. It may be possible that the green-tunicked "twin lumberjacks" from A Link to the Past were Kokiri (compare: elf).

There have been two records of Kokiri sages known to have aided the legendary hero Link. The first is Saria, the Sage of Forest, whom was awakened by the Hero of Time in the Forest Temple at the end of the Sacred Forest Meadow.

The other is Fado, the Sage of Wind, known for his excellent skill with the violin. He stayed in the Earth Temple and prayed for the Master Sword, untill he was killed by the evil Ganondorf.

An interesting note is that all named Kokiri, except for Saria because she was named after a town from Zelda II: Adventure of Link, have their names created from the concatenation of 2 words from the musical scale "do re mi fa so la ti do." Mido = Mi + Do. Fado = Fa + Do. A rare known fact is that there actually was a Kokiri the Ocarina of Time Designers named Fado, but never mentioned her name in the game itself. It is likely they recycled this "unspoken" name when naming Fado, the sage from Wind Waker.

After the gods sealed Hyrule under an ocean, the Kokiri took on a different form above the sea. They took on the form of leaf like creatures known as Koroks, and are still the Great Deku Tree's cherished children.

Notable Kokiri:

• Saria
• Mido
• Know-It-All Brothers
• Twins

Koroks

The Koroks are a fictional race from the video game The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker.

They come from Forest Haven but can be found on various islands on the Great Sea.

The Koroks were once the human-shaped Kokiri, but when Hyrule was transformed into the Great Sea, they took on a more plant-like appearance, and become fearful of other people. They have wooden-like bodies (somewhat simlair to the Deku Scrub) and wear what looks like masks made from various types of leaves, though they might be their actual faces. Koroks are very light, and can travel on the wind by using sprouts as propellers. They often make a hollow jingling sound when they move.

Unlike Their Kokiri ancestors, who never left the Lost Woods for fear of dying, most of the Koroks actually spend most of their lives far away from Forest Haven, planting the seeds of the Great Deku Tree. Only returning to Forest Haven once a year for an annual ceremony held every year when the Great Deku Tree bears seeds.

Notable Koroks

• Makar

Rito

The Rito (or "Bird People") are a "race" (species) of bird-like humanoids in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. Their main habitat is on Dragon Roost Island, in which all known Rito reside. They have a tribal elder, with numerous followers and elaborately dressed guards. No Rito is born with wings, and must visit the tribes' guardian, the great dragon Valoo, to receive one of his scales which enables them to grow wings. It is a coming of age ceremony of the Rito, to journey to the great Valoo to receive their scale. Children with no wings are called chicks.

Rito are viewed upon by outsiders somewhat dubiously. Some have an inexplicable bigotry directed towards them. Still, Rito are widely accepted as mail carriers, as only they can traverse the seas without cumbersome ships. Rito are capable of flying quickly, and full-grown members can carry humans for a short time.

The Rito may be inspired by the Watarara race in one of the Zelda mangas (generally considered not to be canon). These people were more like giant birds than humans, but had a similar gaining of wings past a certain age and the same chieftain leadership structure.

It is implied in the game that they are the desendants of the Zora race, as one Rito, Medli, tells Link that the Rito were once without wings, and it is also revealed in the game that she is a descendant of the Zora sage Laruto. Though, in the Japanese text of The Wind Waker, "descendant" is not used in the context of a direct relative, but rather Makar and Medli are descendants of the Sage Bloodline. Additionally, the Rito postman's figurine says he is descendant of a famous post man (think Termina). Later installments, which introduced the Wind Tribe, offer alternatives to the Zora Evolution theory. Remember, the Rito did not evolve, they grew wings when Valoo gave them scales.