#sheikah tribe

[drawnbyshelly]

Linktober 2024

Day 9 & 10: Race/Mystery 🔎

[sokkas-first-fangirl]

New Impa-centric oneshot is up! "Guardian of the Gods"

The Impa was the most honoured position among the Sheikah, even more revered than the Elder. This was a title that went back to the edge of time itself, to the very first mortals, the very first Sheikah.

Impa was the name of the woman Chosen by Hylia Herself to protect the mortal forms She and Her dearest friend would take. Divinely tasked to protect Them, to guide Them, to wait thousands of years to be reunited with her sacred charges and she did so gladly, with reverence and soul-deep dedication.

Did the first Impa ever suspect the legacy she would leave behind?

*

The Queen is dead and Calamity looms ever closer. In a world why Hylia reincarnated with her dearest friend, the Sheikah are sworn to them both.

The time has come for a guard to be assigned to Princess Zelda and her partner in destiny, the Hero. The Elder’s daughter, just barely of age, puts her name forward.

And thus a new Impa is named.

*

Or: Impa is a name and title. A look at her feelings and dreams as she strives for a destiny she wants to grasp with both hands.

[darlingseraa]

GUYS I CAN'T BE THE ONLY ONE TO HAVE NOTICED, RIGHT ???

Ok so, I had this epiphany the other day and wanted to share it, but like, I forgor because if I don't do something I think of immediately in the moment, then I forget to do it. BUT, here we are.

I'm just gonna mark this down as a huge spoiler for The Legend of Zelda : Tears of the Kingdom, so if y'all don't want to be spoiled on some (albeit small) details from the game's canon, please do move on lol.

Okay so, as I was rewatching the cutscenes in Tears of the Kingdom the other day, I noticed that both Rauru and Mineru have this tear-shaped white mark on the bridge of their nose. Quite innocent, right? Maybe just a Zonai trait?

But then– then I realized they also have a third eye. On their foreheads.

Now, what really baffles me is, if you look closely at these screenshots (I believe Rauru's is taken from the official Collector's Edition Artbook, and Mineru's is straight from the game itself), then you'll also realize that both Rauru and Mineru's third eye have exactly three lashes.

Okay, now that that's out of the way, hear me out.

You know what other "race" in Hyrule displays these traits or make use of that sort of symbolism?

Yeah.

The Sheikah.

They're also the only "race" in Hyrule that doesn't appear in the flashbacks where we see all the Sages.

Now, it can and will certainly be argued that the Sheikah are not a seperate race from the Hylians and yeah, I completely agree with that (it's even stated in game in the profiles of the Sheikah characters, like Paya or Impa, that they are "Hylian (Sheikah)"). In a sense, even if they are the same race, they still belong to a different people or culture than the rest of the Hylian characters, and can therefore be considered "seperate". It was the case in Ocarina of Time where the Six Sages included both a Hylian (Zelda herself) and a Sheikah (Impa, as the Sage of Shadows, I believe).

So why not include a Sage who was part of the Sheikah tribe, like Nintendo did in Ocarina of Time?

Sure, I'm going off a super subtle detail here, but I have a theory and I will die on this hill if I must : I think the Zonai were actually the ancestors of the Sheikah tribe (and of the Royal Family of Hyrule, as Sonia mentions a "blood connection" between her and Zelda, as well as the fact that she sensed both her power over Time and Rauru's power over Light within Zelda).

Now, as I said, this theory of mine is based off a few small details, as well as off of the absence of the Sheikah in the distant past of Tears of the Kingdom. However, even if Nintendo haven't done this on purpose and the marks on Rauru and Mineru's noses are only meant to be decorative, I still think there's something there that we're just not seeing.

Either the Zonai are meant to be part of the Sheikah tribe's ancestry (which would, in turn, explain why the tribe has always been close to the Royal Family as they share common ancestors in both Hylians and Zonai), or the Sheikah were just like "Oh hey, that's a really cool idea for a logo. Wanna make that our tribe's symbol??" and their leader at the time was like "Yeah, let's go boooiiiiis" and that's that.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Sorry for the long post! I just absolutely had to share. I can't be the only one to have seen this detail, right???

[ginneke]

In the era of the first Calamity, the King of Hyrule, who feared the technology of the Sheikah Tribe, gave the order for it to be buried.

It is recorded that some Sheikah refused to give up their technology. They rebelled, where their brethren capitulated; they went to ground, and became the Yiga.

But just how accurate are those records? Victors may write history, but their stories aren’t the only ones that can be told…

It is reveal day, at long last! I can finally share the fic I wrote for the @sheikahzine, “Eyes of Hyrule”: --splinter--, a tale of the Sheikah Tribe’s schism and the birth of the Yiga.

(Also featuring a bonus chapter with 2k of meta and marginalia!)

[doomed-era]

anyway do you ever think about what a freak dorian could potentially be to the other kakariko villagers depending on how different yiga culture is from the sheikah I mean they've been separated for millenia

[rotinthedark]

Seb in a Twilight Princess verse would be so depressing given how wiped out the race seems to be in that game

[statboosts]

it holds back its story too. the story tortures itself to remind us that this isn't the first time we've met these characters but does basically nothing to advance any relationships. Having an ancient time travel plot where Ganondorf is the primary antagonist in both time periods kind of makes breath of the wild feel oddly pointless; like Calamity Ganon was just a step in the process of killing Ganondorf when Calamity Ganon is presented as the curses final form, the momentum of the curse just dragging his hatred into the future when his mind and will are rotted away

I've basically come to the conclusion that Tears of the Kingdom is a hugely impressive piece of technical work that's held back at every turn by the fact that it's a Breath of the Wild sequel. You can see the clear outlines of the game it's trying to be, but in order to actually engage with that game you constantly have to dig through this heavy cruft of mechanics that worked great in the context of Breath of the Wild, but have mutated into annoying distractions in the context of Tears of the Kingdom. Ironically, for all the complaints about TotK playing fast and loose with BotW's narrative, from a mechanical standpoint its problem is that it's too faithful to its predecessor.

[redundantz]

Ancient Loz AU Story

10,000 years before the events of BOTW the Princess of Hyrule and the Hero who wields the sword that seals the Darkness first fought off the Calamity. With the help of the Sheikah, Guardians, Champions and the Divine Beasts. However, the hero and her best friend; the Prince of the Gerudo, were now missing. The only one to return from the fight was the Princess… Bloodied and bruised. She emerged from the castle alone. No longer the energetic, and free spirited person she used to be. Now, she is filled with a sole dedication to her Kingdom. But cold, and filled with deep sorrow. She orders the Sheikah to create shrines to train the next hero.They prepare the towers, store the Guardians under the castle till they are needed. Research started on the slate where it can be used for building infrastructure and even battle. Anything to help prepare for another Calamity.

The Gerudo Prince wasn't seen again and the heroes identity was forgotten But, the Royal blood of Hylia lives on….

Link is from a traveling caravan. His family has blood from the ancient Zonai tribe. He travels with a decent size troupe along with his sister, father and grandmother.

He meets Zelda during a festival where he was entering an archery contest in castletown. Zelda, who was disguised as Sheik, was also entering. She beat him at the contest(barely), but was extremely bothered by how good he was.

The festival goes on for about 3 days and at the end there is the sword ceremony where all the people coming of age(18) can attempt to pull the sword. She was presiding over it and witnessed him pull the sword and his whole life change. Not long after they meet officially and Link is appointed as her Knight; She introduces him to Ganondorf, her best friend from childhood.

And the chaos and comrade-ere ensues~

Over 3 years they travel, train, fall in love and wait for the day when the evil is supposed to show itself. With no sign of the great evil, they start to relax a bit. But that is when it strikes. Ganon travelling by himself at this time. Explores a cave in the Gerudo desert and encounters something ominous. Whispers in the dark speak to him and his fears and wants and his distaste for the King of Hyrule…. The voice is familiar, much too familiar, and before he can fight back it consumes him. When he awakes he is alone. He isn't instantly ‘evil’ but over time it twists his thoughts and actions. His closest friends and mother grow concerned. He becomes harsher and radical. Cruel. During a secret meeting with the King, Ganon assassinates him. Zelda happens upon Ganon covered in blood. She thinks he's hurt and is concerned by his behavior the past year. He snaps. He tells her every dark thing he has been thinking, and that he killed her father. In shock, and devastated, she can’t move as Ganon is about to strike her. But Link manages to get to her in time because the master sword was glowing, something he has never seen before but an instinct so old took over him. He races to escape with her. Ganon takes over the castle. But only as a steward because the King and the Princess are nowhere to be found. No one is the wiser to his malevolent plots. Yet. He knows she has to act fast since Zelda and Link escaped.

Zelda and Link make it all the way to Kakariko Village and Impa and they are all Informed that the Calamity is upon them. No one can believe it is their Ganondorf who is doing this but it is undeniable. They grieve, but they must act fast. With the help of the Sheikah they gather the guardians, monks and send word to the Races and Champions to prepare for battle. Zelda listens as Link hums an old Zonai Lullaby his mother used to sing to him. And it makes her remember something she read about. A story about there being an ancient Zonai device below the castle that would help defeat the Demon King.

Impa knows the tunnels She can help them sneak in. So they prepare to infiltrate the castle.

Under the castle they find the Zonai Artifacts that were left behind for sealing the great evil.

Ganon's followers saw them enter however and informed him. Knowing this is his chance he stops all pretenses and releases his power. Unleashing a mob of monsters and a cloud of malace into the castle and across Hyrule. But the Champions and Shekah are prepared to meet them.

Looking around for any clue. Trying to think of anything they read or that Link heard from his family that could be used to turn on the sealing jewelry. They don’t know how to activate it, but Ganon is going to be upon them soon as they had to fight through hordes of monsters beforehand.

Out of the dark behind them he emerges.

Zelda and Link manage to avoid the surprise attack. They both go on the defensive. They fight and try to reason with him. They can’t believe this is their friend, their lover. The fight is tough, because they all know each other's moves after training together for years along with the emotional turmoil. Zelda tells Link he needs to figure out how to activate the artifact if they are to succeed. She will hold him off. But by this point they are both exhausted.

Ganon manages to cut Link, spraying blood over the floor and the statue. Link falls to the floor and Ganon towers over him ready to strike him down, but Zelda blasts him away. Ganon turns his attention to her. Annoyed with her meddling and manages to land a blow on her also. Cutting the tip of her right ear off.

The statue lights up from the blood. The blood of a zonai. That  was another part of the Lullaby from Links family Zelda realizes. The Jewelry glows and expands before flying off the wrists of the statue to Link. He is surrounded by a green glowing light that blasts Ganon and Zelda back. The bands constrict around his arms and legs disintegrating the clothing underneath. He screams. Zelda watches on in horror as Link transforms before her. His skin is turning black and his bones and skin stretch until he is 6 ft tall. What did she get him into? This was supposed to help them what was happening… She is living in a nightmare. What else will she have to give up. She cries as she looks at him, feeling his pain and fear. His hair band she had given him falls from his hair. Rolling across the floor towards her. “..Zelda….” He says 

She picks up the hair band and goes to him! But he is not really responding. He is restrained and struggling within himself. His head is filled with the spirits of the Zonai he knows what he must do…he knows this is the last time he will see Zelda and Ganon. To seal the Demon King he must sacrifice himself. He says the last part of the Lullaby to Zelda and she knows. This is it. She kisses him. Though a bit strange now that he's so tall and his lips are cold. Ganon is getting up across the cavern from them, laughing. He mocks them and their weak attempts at thwarting him. One last clash. Zelda manages to get his weapon from him and Link plunges his arm into Ganons chest activating the sealing power. Glowing green. They both freeze in place and all is quiet. Entombed under the castle. The malice and monsters disappear. Zelda cautiously goes up to them. She doesn't touch them lest she break the spell somehow. The only thing she does is grab the hair bangle that fell to the floor in the final fight. It was the one from Ganon’s hair. And she left for the surface.

Alone.

Thanks for Reading! <3

[confess-for-botw-totk]

I follow some Zelda content creators on youtube and I'm surprised to learn that the Gerudo from the distant past in Tears of the Kingdom had a pretty advanced kingdom in comparision to Hylians and the other races. Apparently in the artbook of TotK, it is stated that the Gerudo were a prosperous tribe that valued power above everything else, they had resources and its said that they had their own advanced technology, the best from all other tribes... until the Zonai descended from the skies.

Ganondorf was planning to conquer every tribe using his military force and resources, but Rauru advanced on his mission to wipe the land of evil monsters, and so, the Hylians (along the Sheikah), chose both Rauru and Sonia as their rulers. Then the other races: Goron, Zora and Rito followed suit, ruining Ganon's plan to conquer all.

It is also stated, even in one memory in the game, that there was a civil war going on in Gerudo Town, and the factions were Ganon's and the Sage of Lightning's. It's so interesting because to us, the players, Zelda's adventure in the past seems short lived because of the memories... but actually, it was way longer. You can see it not only in memories but the stone tablets of the sky, even the artbook makes allusion that Zelda spent a long time there... That's why we're having Age of Inprisonment. To see all the things said but not shown. I can't wait for it, I'm so excited for this game!!

_*_

[skyloftian-nutcase]

Link found it strange that he was being summoned to the observation room. Usually if the queen needed him, she’d just call him to the throne room at the end of her busy day. If it was less official she would come find him with the children.

When he reached the room in question, he glanced around. Guards flanked the entrance as usual, and the area was devoid of all else save the queen, who stood up on the balcony looking out at the city.

Link had sometimes ventured to this room over the years, far more so recently, but sometimes it left him feeling too exposed. He moved slowly up the small stairway to the upper level, feeling the cool breeze of winter’s periphery slowly fading away.

Zelda was dressed warmly, wearing attire that reminded him of the war. He recalled the last year of the war had been unseasonably cold, making things more miserable, and Zelda had taken to wearing two dresses layered over each other. Although she had favored pinks and reds and golds as a princess, she typically wore shades of blue or green nowadays to honor the goddesses of wisdom and courage. Her dark blue gown that she wore today, embroidered with silver around the trim, was no different. He could see the pale pink underdress at her collar, with the blue one’s collar far lower and wider than the layer underneath. Her hands were clasped in front of her as she watched the sunset.

Entering the balcony, Link questioned, “You needed me?”

The queen turned toward him a little, green eyes sparkling in the golden light. “I got a concerning update from the Gerudo Desert in a meeting today. I thought you might be interested.”

Link felt dread fill his stomach, but he kept his face guarded. “What news?”

“There’s a possibility of fighting on the horizon,” Zelda explained. When Link’s eyes widened in alarm, she clarified, “Not us. It’s within themselves.”

Link didn’t know how to feel, nor why Zelda was relaying this to him. He was certainly relieved there wasn’t another war brewing, but what was wrong? Was Hemisi alright?

What did Zelda want out of this?

“I don’t know the politics of the Gerudo tribe too well, I’m afraid,” the queen continued, looking back at Castle Town. “But it seems there are some who are unhappy with Chief Hemisi’s leadership.”

That was… Link tried to parse this out. He knew next to nothing of what Hemisi had been up to over the years, only that through her efforts the Gerudo had survived. He knew there had been skirmishes between her and the Hyrulian Marshall - it was part of the reason he had been sent to negotiate a trade deal with her years ago. But after he’d returned he’d pointedly avoided any information pertaining to the desert or its people. While he had occasionally kept Hemisi in his prayers, he’d really not considered her much… at least as much as possible. He had to focus on his children, on the Sheikah, on actually being a functional person.

In the end, he’d known she’d take care of herself. If she’d survived that cursed war and, more importantly, managed to pick herself up after what he’d done to her, she could survive anything.

More to the point, though, Zelda wouldn’t be telling him this just for information’s sake.

Before he could inquire, the queen sighed. “It’s sad that there always seems to be an issue there nowadays. I recall when they first came to the castle years ago. Father wouldn’t let me near them, but they seemed a vibrant people. I wish I’d known them for more than just war.”

This conversation was not going the way he thought it would. Link approached her slowly until he stood beside her, following her gaze down to the city below. They were too high up to see much detail, but he could still make out people going about their business in the central square.

“Do you think their capital once looked like ours?” Zelda asked.

The king smiled, eyes growing distant as he remembered his earlier years. But the smile faded quickly. “It… did. A little. Different architecture, more vibrant colors. Far different culture.”

The queen looked at him, surprised. “You saw their capital before it was destroyed? Or were you there when—”

“No,” Link answered strongly. “I was not there when that monster chose to burn it to the ground. I visited it a few times before the war.”

Zelda swallowed, and her gaze dropped to the floor. “I didn’t sanction that order.”

“I know,” Link said far more gently, reassuring her. “You would never give such an order. The general took matters into his own hands. What I don’t like is that he is still viewed as a hero for it.”

The queen stiffened, arms coming up to hug herself as her brow furrowed. “It was a hard lesson that I learned that day. I… I wanted to punish him. But I was advised against it, and I saw how people cheered and celebrated.”

Link didn’t comment. He knew that who history determined to be a hero was hardly based on who actually deserved it.

Goddesses knew he didn’t deserve the title. At least not anymore.

But this conversation was still strange. Zelda had to be discussing this for a reason. “Do you think we might get pulled into their problems?”

Their problems. As if they were just foreigners, as if the chief wasn’t a beloved friend, a—

Shut up! He snapped at himself, squeezing his eyes shut for a moment. There was a reason he tried not to think about the Gerudo.

“I don’t know,” Zelda answered evenly, relaxing. “Father never paid attention to the Gerudo until they brought themselves to him. Obviously we don’t have that luxury, give the history.”

“Why not?” Link asked. “We shouldn’t meddle.”

“Everything and everyone is interconnected,” the queen replied sagely, facing the city once more. “Father lived in his own world, only wanting validation and safety, and he cared for nothing outside that. Affairs of other lands were not his problem. I know better than that. It’s why I’ve been watching the Zora conflict as well.”

There was a Zora conflict? Was everyone having troubles these days?

“I remember when the Gerudo came, he told me to stay away from them. He said they were dangerous,” Zelda commented softly, seemingly nostalgic. “It makes no sense that…”

She bit her lip. Link supplied carefully, “That he let them take the Triforce?”

She sighed heavily. “He always said Ganondorf was not as great a threat as I claimed, yet he was the one who said it first. But I think he only said it to me because he didn’t want me exposed.”

Link leaned against the stone railing of the balcony, facing her fully, tilting his head to the side. Was this actually about the Gerudo, or simply Zelda needing to vent about her father?

It was certainly a strange way to go about it. But the queen did seem to be in a strange mood.

A small, sardonic smile pulled at Zelda’s lips, and she huffed. “You know, I think my father had grown fond of their prince, Merovar. Took him under his wing in a sense. I… I think he wanted us to marry.”

Link stared. Stared a little longer. Let the words sink in.

And then he laughed.

King Ozen had wanted Zelda to marry Merovar? Had Ganondorf even known, even realized—

Reality swam away and swirled and crumbled and shuddered and buried him, and he laughed all the harder.

He could’ve won. He could’ve won and he didn’t even know it.

Zelda did not seem to know why her husband had started wheezing hysterically, and her own mild bitterness crumbled away into concern.

Link didn’t realize he’d started crying until he saw her watching him worriedly.

“Hylia,” he gasped breathlessly, wiping the tears away hastily. “I’m sorry, I—your father was an idiot.”

And so was mine.

He shook the thought away. Ganondorf had never been his father.

Zelda’s eyebrows rose at his words, at his bluntness, but he didn’t rescind them. Did she not realize? If Ozen had wed Zelda to Merovar, to the Gerudo kingdom’s heir, then it would have been a power play to see whose kingdom would absorb the other… and it was obvious who would have won.

Ganondorf could have gotten the Triforce without lifting a finger. But his hunger for power was insatiable and impatient.

He could have won.

Link wished he’d never learned this, but he still found it hilarious. He hoped, somehow, that the demon king’s torn up, twisted soul could learn it too, that he could have gotten what he’d wanted if he’d just not been a monster and not started a war.

But there was far too much anger and pain and possibility to get lost in with such knowledge, so he simply tried to move the conversation forward. “Is that why you called me, then? To tell me of the Gerudo affairs?”

Zelda swallowed, growing serious once more. “Yes. I apologize for getting side tracked, I’ve just been nostalgic lately, I suppose.”

He should probably ask her about that, but he’d do so later. Maybe. If she stopped by another time instead of summoning him. This was official business.

“I just… am concerned. About the outcome of this.” Zelda continued. “We do not know much of this other faction’s leader. Chief Hemisi does not like Hyrule, but I know she will not attack us outright.”

Link stiffened. “You think this other faction would?”

“I don’t know enough,” she repeated uncertainly.

Ah. Zelda hated not being control. He did know that.

“I can ready the troops,” he said to assure her, praying it wouldn’t be necessary. He knew it wouldn’t be - Hemisi wouldn’t let this usurper win.

“Perhaps just… ensure the Sheikah have arsenal available,” Zelda answered carefully. “There has been no fighting yet.”

Link nodded. And he noticed—in this light, the queen looked rather… exhausted. He wondered how much this was truly bothering her.

“Hyrule will be safe,” he assured her. “I promise.”

With that, the king departed, and both monarchs were left with hearts full of worry.

[ophanim-vesper]

FINALLY I'm posting my totk oc! (probably long overdue lmao)

Meet Sere!

An oc that's been a long time in the making. He's a member of an 'original race' I came up for in TOTK, called the 'Forest Dwellers'. They're similar to the Sheikah, in that they're a tribe of Hylians, and are built off the idea of the Forest Dweller gear. I kinda wanted to answer 'who' those weapons would've been made for. The Forest Dwellers are currently extinct in present Hyrule, but were very prevalent during the Imprisoning War era. I can't explain it all here, but feel free to ask questions about them! I might make a post in the future. Okay, to make things clear, I 100% made Sere to ship him with Link. He's very much an oc x canon character. However, he does have a lot of his own lore and backstory. In the canon timeline of TOTK, Sere does not meet Link until the events of the Upheaval. Before that, he's been hiding in the forests of Hyrule. After helping Link to defeat Ganondorf, he agrees to let Link reside in his home for now (let's say that he doesn't co-live with Zelda and never buys the house from Hudson Construction). Overtime, their relationship blossoms.

I won't explain everything here. If you have any questions about him, fire away! For now, lemme drop my concept art and some SerLink art. Thanks for reading :3 Concept art

misc/memes

art by friends/commissioned art :3

in order: commissioned (forgot artist :[), a friend idk their tumblr, @luneiiz

[mooutchi]

I see a lot of my friends and fav artists do this. And i though it was my time. Let me introduce you....

[In between echoes of wisdom and Tloz 1 , this "game" is either in the line , or another timeline. It could be the timeline of the broken kingdom.]

Peace had lasted in Hyrule for a long time.

Until one day , one decision led to another and chaos followed , spreading like wildfires through already scarred lands. This , is a story where the royal family didn’t survive...

But the people did.

They rose , citizens taking weapons against the throne. What followed was civil war. Bloody. Unforgiving. Gruesome. A kingdom turned against it's royals , with Castle Town at it's heart.

Now , the people hold the power. The new king ? A simple knight who rules alongside his son , forging a new symbol for New Hyrule :

A phoenix , shining with strength and rebirth. Leaving the royal blue for a personal colorn. The prince’s favorite shades of greens. Colors that spoke not of legacy , but of survival and love. Together , they began to rebuild as best as they were capable of. Brick by brick. Choice by choice. A new kind of kingdom , shaped by the people and not by different blood.

But not everyone welcomed this new order and laws. The Sheikahs were furious. A proud but already wounded tribe , now fractured from the inside. Caught between loyalty and rage. Some stayed loyal to their traditions and their ties to the royal family. Others broke away , forming a more dangerous , vivious side : the Yigas.

And in the shadow of a phoenix’s rise , still young and fragile , old wounds began to burn again. Making the echoes of civil war sound almost pathetic beside the disaster to come.

Something greater than men... greater even than goddesses.

HONESTLY IDK IF THE INTRO SLAPS LOL. Its the first time i tried to make a real introduction ((i didnt even maee one for linked constellation....sigh...)) so i hope its fine for yall

Worst of all...i didnt even put the whole intro...but i guess i will post the prelude fully one day -hopefuly soon , once im out of finals-

Hope you enjoy them because i sure doooo !!! ANYWAYS CLOSE UP !! :3

[palmolli]

THE TWILI ARE SHEIKAHS!!!! (AT LEAST THEY USED TO BE)

Hey wall, I'm back. Did ya miss me? I feel like this has already been said, but i'm gonna go ahead and do this anyway because of free will and stuff. If this is common knowledge already, I might just tweak out.

The Yiga are said to be Sheikahs that broke away because the king back then feared their technological advances. Could the Twili be an earlier form of the Yiga?

Maybe a decent half of the Sheikah tribe wasn't a huge fan of the Skyloftians return onto the surface, and broke away into their own tribe to do dark magic and such, causing the interloper war in a fight for independence, or to take down Hylia's empire.

Like:

"Hey guys, we just got back from the sky, and we're gonna start a kingdom here. Hope you don't mind."

"We do mind."

Or

"Hey can you guys stop with the dark magic?"

"How about you guys stop breathing?"

Or

"Hey maybe don't take the Triforce?"

"What? Could you repeat that? Couldn't hear you inside this sick dark magic helmet I'm gonna use to steal the Triforce."

The Sheikah tribe is also referred to as "shadow folk" or somethin... and Impa in oot ends up as the sage of shadow, and in Hyrule Warriors, Midna takes the title of sage of shadow.

I have... physical evidence, though... it is INCREDIBLY WEAK. Sheikah and Twili both share the trait of red eyes, which, to my knowledge, isn't shared in any other race. Then again, the Twili appear to have severe jaundice. The orange hair is explainable since the Yiga have black hair. And oh my gods, I just realized that the Twili's color pallete is the same as actual twilight. Anyways.

This was just I thought I had. And have had. For a while. Thought I'd share... thanks for coming to my Ted talk and have nice day.

[askganon]

I actually have several questions:

How come you skin is green while Gerudo's skin in general are just tanned? Is this some kind of side effect from the Triforce? But then, why are the other wielders of it not impacted by this change in skin colour? Or maybe it is some kind of specificity in your family?

Just how long is a Gerudo's lifetime expectancy? Is it the same as Hylians'? And compared to Humans, what difference is there?

Were Gerudos once Hylians, a long, long, long time ago? If so, were the Sheikahs also Hylians, at that period?

I am sorry if my questions bother you, your Highness, I am merely curious and want to understand the world you live in better.

I shall answer what I can.

First, the shades of color for Gerudo range from pale white to nigh pitch black. My olive tone is rare, but does exist among my people. However, I am sure my magics have some form of effect upon my physical form.

Most Gerudo live nigh a century, like most other races. Myself and my surrogates, on the other hand, are obvious outliers.

To my understanding, all non-elementals were once one tribe, who split for one reason or another. I would assumer we Gerudo were no different, save for our reluctance to bow to our lesser.

You questions were welcomed, scholar, for they had more substance to them than the common rabble I hear echoing, and replying, through my halls.

[rawliverandgoronspice]

If you were to design a villain for a Legend of Zelda game, with the caveat that should said Villain grab the triforce, they would recieve Courage (instead of the always villainous power), what would they be like?

That is such a fun ask, thank you so much for the prompt!!

I think it would depend on the target audience of that game (basically are we 2D Zelda-ing it or 3D Zelda-ing it), but I see a couple different options right off the bat:

Treasure-hunter who wants to steal various trinkets from different tribes, mostly for the thrill of the achievement, regardless of whether or not there's any justification (or consent) to this hoarding (and perhaps even putting the tribes at risk since their magical protections are gone?). This villain would do every dungeon before you (and perhaps leave an even bigger mess behind that you'd have to navigate) and gather every artifact before you can get your hands on them (maybe leaving only some kind of ghostly trail of their presence behind, so you can still use these objects but in a limited way, or on limited time, or by paying with a certain resource...) until finally setting their fancy on the Biggest Possible Artifact there is... and being granted Courage as a consequence/reward for their reckless yet selfish adventurous spirit. And then you fight this villain, and they have the exact same equipment as you. I think this villain could make for a neat little 2D Zelda guy! Challenging but not lore-breaking or anything too serious.

My mid-crazy level for a 3D Zelda villain would be: perhaps some kind of Zant-like figure, a sorcerer that had to face a terrifying entity and survived, but went insane and is now persuaded the world is too soft and wouldn't stand against the attack of the looming darkness trapped underneath the realm and planning to return, and so is devoted to plunging the kingdom into its personal hell as a preparation to face the Big Bad of the game, whoever that is, over-valuing Courage to the point of becoming cruel to softness and weakness and those who need protection (so basically making them through a living hell as a form of tough love). This villain would seek the Triforce as a means of defense against the perceived threat, not realizing perhaps the threat either: has been living inside of them all along and corrupting them from within, or that said threat was waiting in the shadows to seize the Triforce immediately after grooming that villain to do the work for them (wonder who that threat could be... nobody ever behaved that way in TLoZ canon before 😇). Perhaps that villain could be Sheikah, because that sort-of fits with their OoT characterization and that's cool and we could have dark!Sheikahs again and I'd be down for that a whole lot.

Okay final pitch, this one being the wildest by far: the spectre of an Ancient Hero, who would start the game with the Triforce of Courage already. Maybe this hero either fully vainquished Ganon or got trapped sealing that angry guy, and has been haunting Hyrule without clear purpose for eons. Maybe there's a new gerudo king, or maybe hylians start trying to become friends with a monster race that we used to oppose (maybe both!)... and a deep dark force begins opposing the effort, attacking everything deemed dangerous and impure. While this isn't nice and making things complicated, dangerous, and maybe needlessly traumatic, we would slowly cleanse different dungeons from fragments of that hero, hear of all the brutal things that hero went through and all the ways they shaped him, leaving him entirely lost and disconnected until he stopped being able to see nuance or think outside of the divine. Basically, the Hero's Shade becomes your antagonist, and you, as the new iteration of the hero, have to gently but firmly tell the Ancient Hero that his battles belong in the past, and it's now time to let go and stop clinging to his duty, and that you are more than capable of looking over the kingdom yourself. A kind of brutal passing of the torch between generations, with a brighter and more diverse and complicated future ahead (and perhaps we even squeeze in how the Ancient Hero refused to see Ganondorf's humanity in the last hour when he dealt the killing blow, and him haunting Hyrule is a result of Ganon's curse? just to squeeze in a complicated Ganon because of course <3)

Here are my pitches!! Thank you so much for the ask once again this was really fun and helped my brain filled with goo and tiny screeches <3

[thetwilightwriter]

A long, heavy silence fell. Then Impa cracked a small, sorrowful smile. “You have a good heart, Your Highness. And that will serve you well in many ways as queen. But you mustn’t let goodness blind you to reality.”

“I am not blind, I am simply… confused.” 

“The Sheikah are not employed by the Crown,” Impa said gently. “We are servants, bound to the royal family by law. Should we refuse service, we would be considered traitors and face execution.” 

“What?” Zelda’s voice cracked as the room began to spin. “What are you talking about?” 

“This is a story you were bound to learn soon enough.” Impa reached to steady the cup from Zelda’s shaking hands. “The Sheikah were once a proud and powerful tribe. For generations, we allied with Hyrule, secure in a bond of kinship with the royal family. But then, five hundred years ago…”

Her gaze dropped to the carpet, brow furrowing. “When the war with the Demon King began, fear took root in Hyrule’s heart. The kingdom grew suspicious of the shadows it had long trusted, certain a traitor walked among us. That fear led to the fracturing of our tribe. After years of abuse, my people divided into two. Those still loyal to the Princess, and those who felt that another offered a better life.” 

A chill crept across the room. Surely she didn’t mean… 

“A party of Sheikah made their way to the desert, convinced by one of the more powerful of our people that the Demon King would provide what Hyrule could not. She gave him our secrets, our technology. And she gave him a child.” 

Zelda almost gasped. Nezra. The shadow witch – and the daughter of a Sheikah? It made sense, she supposed, but she’d never in her wildest dreams have imagined such a thing was possible. 

It made her sick to think that Hyrule had betrayed its most loyal allies to the point that they’d willingly turned to the enemy. And in doing so, Hyrule had given the Demon King the very weapon he needed to be victorious – a girl with the power to curse the Master Sword.

~~~

Chapter 51, in which Zelda learns the dark truth of the Sheikah's history. Hyrule kept its enemies close, but it should have kept its allies closer.