#the sheikah

[summertimemusician]

*walks on in, downs tea like a shot* So today because I am sleep deprived and have no self control, I'll be dropping some Zonai Headcanons that will be most likely debunked by Tears of the Kingdom when it comes out and make it y'alls problem:

(Long post down below and it has more likely been debunked by TOTK! I haven't combed through all the lore there yet so fair warning, this was written before release)

The Zonai were likely descended from the Interlopers aka the Twili, but not in the traditional way because the history enthusiast in me is screaming there's inconsistencies and I'm going to find a way to patch them so help me. The Interlopers were the Ancient Twili, a race of sorcerer's who mainly were around Hyrule during the in between period of Skyward Sword and Minish Cap according to Hyrule Encyclopedia, they were sealed away in the Twili Realm by presumably the Zelda of the time, the hero and the Light Spirits for attempting to steal the Triforce, but I don't think they came back after Twilight Princess, at least not right away.

Let me explain, if the Interlopers were a race with their own kingdom or region to live on like the Gerudo, and specially if they were sorcerers, would all of them be onboard with stealing the Triforce? No, because that's not how warfare works and not how people work, they are already sorcerers, they can do magic, break reality in ways never seen before, so why would they need the Triforce? Why would any man, woman or warrior with something to lose support a cause like that when there's more risk than gain? Why would any person risk their entire race facing retaliation if they failed and in turn their siblings, lovers, children being killed even if they could gain unlimited power, presuming the gods didn't punish them first for stealing a power not meant for them? No one with common sense would. We see evidence of this in a Link Between Worlds, the main reason Hilda didn't say anything about stealing the Triforce and why Ravio came to Hyrule, because she kept it in house her plan with Yuuga and Ravio only, why? Because of Ravio's reaction, it's anyone's reaction to a plan like this, it's pure insanity, no one with common sense (and no hubris) would support a plan like this, it would split the kingdom in two: the people who supported the plan (aka Hilda and Yuuga) and the people who didn't (aka Ravio had he actually said something before dipping to Hyrule which would have honestly been more effective/less convoluted if you ask me and the rest of the common Lorulian people, because yes it's a dying world but it's theirs and they wouldn't want to make the situation worse or risk war with another world entirely over the Triforce when having a Triforce already screwed them over due to everyone fighting over it, that's why Lorule's Triforce was destroyed, a hasty and bad decision, but the best one anyone had at the time not to mention the fact Hyrule's and Lorule's Triforce's likely have different virtues). I think that's what happened with the Interlopers, the Twili Ruler at the time wouldn't have wanted to risk their people's safety so they shut down that plan as soon as possible, but it already split the people in two, so what do they do when the traitors and greedy Interlopers go behind their back? Devise a plan of their own to counteract it. Preferably with the people targeted so that they could safeguard their people even after it was enacted.

You know how the Picori Blade was given to a hero before Four before the events of Minish Cap, where it was broken and then reforged into the Four Sword? It was made by the Minish and given away precisely so it could deal with the rampant darkness and monsters running round at the time, acting as a seal which is broken in Minish Cap because Vaati is a power hungry idiot who didn't bother to read the full myth before setting out on a quest for the Triforce (if he did he would also see that the monsters/darkness were sealed by the Picori Blade, NOT just the Triforce, I adore his presentation as a villain but good lord man, read the fine print. When you go on a hubris fueled quest ya gotta know all the lore and you clearly didn't given your surprise when you broke the Picori Blade, redeeming points for realizing the Triforce was on Zelda rather than the chest though, and presentation). It was probably a seal given by the Picori to be used by the Hero of Men because Fi as we know wasn't available, she was used to seal Demise and presumably Sky and Sun took the secret of where she was to their graves or ONLY available if an Incarnation of Demise turned up, hence why we only see it in Ocarina of time and beyond. If Fi isn't available then the Picori Blade is meant to be a substitute to do the job.

So what I speculate is that the greedy Interlopers started controlling what remained of Demise's monsters on the surface with their magic to attack Hyrule in an attempt to steal the Triforce by force with likely a few of their own sorcerers throw in the mix, they probably did it behind the previous Twili Ruler's back because their plan was shut down and, if they were anything like Midna, they would NOT have it (because let's be honest Midna was a strong gal and would do anything for her people if necessary, her love for the light people came later), so they approached the Hero of Men and presumably his Zelda once he got the Picori Blade from the Minish with a plan: the Hero would take care of sealing the monsters with the Picori Blade, while they and the Princess would create the Mirror of Twilight and, with the aid of the Light Spirits due to the traitors creating the Fused Shadows behind their back, would seal themselves with as many of their own fighters and supporters as they could gather inside the Sacred Realm with the traitors to finish them off, which would lead to the Twili we have today before Midna broke the Mirror for good. As a gesture of good will they could have lent some sorcerers and warriors to pledge themselves to the Royal family and more specifically the princess, which would lead to the Sheikah, and the Mirror, in case circumstances ever got drastic again and they'd need to use it to make sure those who didn't want to fight (aka civilians) would be safe and make it so that the Mirror could only be broken by someone with the blood of the Original Twilight Ruler and strong magic (hence why Zant couldn't do it, Midna has both the blood and power, while Zant doesn't) it's a master plan in theory.

Except there's one problem: the remains would likely suffer stigma from the Hylians, much like how Ganon's actions brought stigma to the Gerudo as being liars and thieves, it would explain why later generations would be suspicious of the Sheikah and cull them later on before Ocarina of Time, that's why the Hylian Civil War happened and why by Breath of the Wild Sheikah magic and tech was regarded with suspicion even if it did help 10.000 years ago, it's because of this one event, so the ruler of the Twili likely would have given two more orders after putting someone new in charge: go to the skies like how the Hylians did if needed be (giving rise to the Sky People we see in Minish Cap and their remains in Twilight Princess, plus the structures in the sky and why Zonai structures rise in to the sky), and if for whatever reason things look extremely dire (like say, a civil war and then the rise of a mother blinking Demon King/Warmongering King of Thieves, and then the Twili Crisis which they would most likely get blamed for, and the War of Ages if we want to make Hyrule Warriors the inflection point of the timeline), go to the sea and leave Hyrule entirely (remember, there's other kingdoms outside of Hyrule guys, we see most of them in the Downfall Timeline, the events of Link's Awakening only happen because Legend either attempts to leave or return to Hyrule via boat), return only if peace does.

Look at the placement of Lurelin Village and of most Zonai structures: by the sea, by the ocean, only later on does it fully expand into Faron, Lurelin is also a hidden village and extremely hard to find, what if Lurelin Village isn't only where the Zonai descendants reside, but also their initial settlement back in Hyrule after they thought all was safe and done 10.000 years ago, or heck maybe longer as we don't actually know the time gap between BOTW, the 10.000 years Calamity (I'll call it the Catalyst) and the rest of the Zelda timeline, where they started to use their original and script and name again: the proud Zonai people. Maybe they were like the Vikings, wayfarer people, sorcerer and warrior people by necessity who started out on the shores of Hyrule with a single settlement in case things got bad (because they'd likely be taught some measure of caution and want to stay hidden, or at least have somewhere they could fall on and leave if necessary), and then later on expanded to the rest of Faron and maybe Hyrule's underground, maybe they reclaimed some of their settlements on the skies that only they could access via the portals (which look an awful lot like access points of fast travel) or made it so that in times of crisis their structures would rise up, but then Catalyst and later on the Hylian Royalty finished the remnants off before they could be fully done, with the Sheikah doing the actual deed and painting them in a 'barbarian' and 'savage' light, leaving only those who could escape to Lurelin left and their magical ways to die out if most of the people sent there or who escaped couldn't do magic or weren't taught yet (or maybe they went specifically after the magic users). You can't tell me Ganon 10.000 years ago would leave such a blatant threat to his plans alone, specially if they wouldn't join him (NO ONE would want to pull a Zant, out of respect for Midna and The Hero if nothing else, as it's seen the Zonai worshiped the Hero and the Triforce of Courage even above the Triforce of Wisdom/Hylia/The Princess and The Triforce of Power/Demise/Ganon, they would support him whatever way they could, a first as usually the hero doesn't have much support, Zelda had the Sheikah and Ganon has the monsters and now the Yigah, but who did Link have? Who did the Hero have? They HAD to repay the favor he did to the descendant of their original leader and by the lord they'd do it specially if the Hero of Catalyst was one of them like how everyone is speculating even f it killed them, it's speculated that the luminous stones are the remains of their magic used to seal Calamity Ganon or that the energy with the glowing arm is that, maybe they all were sacrificed to Calamity Ganon by monsters to empower him one last time or sacrificed themselves to give the Hero one last boost so he could aid Zelda in doing it and we know this is a thing that can happen in game, see how the Sages we're almost sacrificed plus the hero in the Downfall Timeline, and how Dusk/Twilight Princess Zelda gave up her Triforce and Magic so Midna could live so it's very possible, maybe that's what happened and the stones are the remnants), and the Hylian Royalty has show themselves to be paranoid and very much capable of rewriting history. So between Calamity Ganon and likely their efforts, they were all but exterminated.

The Hylian Royalty made sure to write the Zonai out of history once Zelda was gone, and also made sure to keep the Hero and his origin as vague as possible but leave it implied that he was Hylian to plant themselves as better, I mean the historians before them also did it, no one ever mentions the Hero of Time being Kokiri, or the Hero of Twilight Ordonian, so why should they mention that the Hero of Catalyst was Zonai? And the Hyrule Royalty besides usually the Zelda's did as much bad stuff as good stuff and clearly disregarded the other races most of the time (y'all may forget how that one Hylian healer refused to treat Prince Ralis all because he was a Zora in Twilight Princess but I SURE DIDN'T. THAT IS A CHILD! THE ZORA PRINCE AT THAT! THEY WERE BASICALLY RISKING WAR WITH THE ZORA BY LETTING HIM DIE IF NOT FOR RENALDO, PEOPLE. I don't have much faith in them for regarding the Zonai with respect as a result, look at their description when we look at the armor related to them: barbarian, savage, those are words usually used when you want to diminish the word of a person, the Celts were called that, the Vikings, indigenous folks too, you get the idea). History is written by the victors and those left to tell the story, and if one side isn't left, what do you get? Details being rewritten or erased (again, looking at real world history: Irish Mythology, Slavic Mythology, the general Celtic cultures around the British Isles, the Aztecs, all of them written out or rewritten in some way that we don't even know what the original myth looks like, we can only speculate, Slavic mythos and culture specially got shafted), so to me that's what happened to the Zonai, the Lurelin people eventually forgot, with no one left to tell the story, only murals that are deep underground and far up in the sky that no one would remember or find until Link (Wild, Slate, Sage, whatever name y'all use or headcanon just BOTW Link in general) and his Zelda (Flora, or whichever name y'all use) eventually find them or if anyone in the Twilight Realm remember and care to tell the history somehow.

Also, since they expanded to Faron, it's very, very possible they met the Ordonian's and they intermarried with them because A: they were the closest people/tribe plus the most similar to them, and B: Geographically it would make sense, explain what happened to the Ordonians, plus also tie in nicely if anyone sees Twilight Princess Link as Breath of the Wild Link's ancestor, which I very much do by the way.

At least that's that from my perspective as someone who reads way too much history, mythology and who has been way too invested in Zelda Lore and the games ever since I was a kid, even if my sleep deprived ramblings likely look like this:

Anyway I'll stop here for today, regular posting content will likely happen later on. I kind of wrote this on mobile motivated only by sleep deprivation and spite and if I don't stop myself now I'll probably write an entire essay on this and I doubt many people would be interested in that.

[azurenightowl]

hmm so what kind of fucks me up about totk is that all of the ancient sheikah technology goes poof! you know, the technology that the sheikah were like. persecuted for.

and purah - our main sheikah quest giver - doesn't... invent. she makes the purah pad at some point but. off screen. we never see her inventing or creating or working with the zonai tech. there's robbie! he gets to upgrade the pad. thats. it. he can't even fix his own balloon though link has to do it for him!! (nor can impa but she's never been presented as an inventor so i'll let that slide.) and josha is merely investigating, not inventing.

you know who do invent though?

the yiga clan.

you know. the guys who got were once sheikah, specifically persecuted by the royals because they refused to leave the tech behind once it was a "threat" to the royal family. you spend a solid portion of the game attacking their depths hideouts for their schematics, you see them creating the designs in the hideout if you infiltrate, the boss battles with kohga centre around him using technology.

idk it seems kind of uncomfortable to rewrite history and actually haha no! what sheikah technology? what persecution? the royal founders of hyrule are perfect divine godlike beings :) all of this technology actually is from the culture of the king of hyrule :) so it's all okay :) don't worry about it :) just beat up the silly banana people :)

[golvio]

This video about the set design for Phantom of the Opera has me thinking about design engineering, and how it contrasts with regular engineering, and how that demonstrates the contrast in design philosophies between the Sheikah/Princess Zelda and Ganondorf himself.

The Sheikah design philosophy revolves around their spiritual idea that destiny governs everything, that everything was created with a purpose. To that end, the things they designed tended to be very pragmatic and illustrative. The Shrines themselves were designed with this ethos, each building being built for a specific purpose first and foremost. The decorations of their buildings were mostly focused on reproducing the world and cosmos in microcosm, not as something that distracts from the building’s intended purpose, but in order to explain to viewers in the know how this particular structure fits into Hylia’s Grand Design. Zelda herself is very pragmatically minded, attempting to reverse-engineer this ancient technology, or at least understand how it works well enough to reproduce it. She can be a very passionate, emotional person, but she’s not so hung up on aesthetics or trying to figure out “what it all means,” just “how does this work?” No frills, no artifice, just straightforward and to the point.

Contrast that with Ganon. After hearing a bunch of theorists describe Calamity Ganon as something akin to Puppet Ganon from Wind Waker, it clicked into place for me. Ganon is a set design engineer, rather than just a guy working in a workshop to build machines like the Royal Research Lab. His creations weren’t just built to fulfill a purpose, but to communicate something. The purpose his creations serve, while important, is secondary to that desire to communicate a concept, to produce a specific effect in his audience, even if the only thing he wanted to communicate was his contempt for Hyrule and its people.

“The Calamity” is a coup de theatre: this great big spectacle designed to produce a specific impression in the people of Hyrule. In this case, the desired impression was mass panic. Ganon purposefully obfuscated his methods in order to give the impression that “Calamity Ganon” was this vast, incomprehensible force of nature that could not be predicted or countered. Once you start seeing what he’s working with, as you start making connections between the Malice and whatever that ectoplasmic substance the Ultrahand is working with actually is, the actual mechanisms he used turn out to be relatively simple. He just relies on optical illusions and hiding his tricks in order to make things seem more vast and terrifying than they actually are, like how Bjornson used foreshortening to make the chandelier look like this perfect reproduction of the Garnier opera house’s chandelier when it was actually just a flat oval that could fit in the tiny theater and wasn’t as much of a pain for the stagehands to transport, raise, and lower as a perfect 1:1 scale reproduction would’ve been.

And then with Ganon’s takeover of the Guardian tech, he injects this design philosophy into the stuff he’s working with. A lot of what makes the Possessed Guardians so scary is the musical/sound cues associated with them, as well as their body language that suggests a cold, driven, purposeful hostility. Without that, they’re just big goofy buckets with legs. Just compare the Guardian you see in the castle flashback that’s unaccompanied by the iconic, anxiety inducing heartbeat of the “Guardian” music, being gently prodded along in a certain direction by soldiers with the Guardians you’d see patrolling Central Hyrule 100 years later. Ganon doesn’t just want an ambulatory robot that shoots lasers. He wants his war machines to intimidate, to terrify, to make their targets so scared that they freeze in fear (and coincidentally become much easier to hit). The Blights, too, were designed with this aesthetic of fear in mind. They’re also designed to suggest Ganon’s present, even if the artist himself is technically absent.

The desired effect is to establish the omnipresence and frightfulness of Ganon himself, to terrorize his targets, and to communicate his general contempt. He is concerned with the aesthetics of power, as opposed to just having impressive weapon specs. The Guardians by themselves are already potentially dangerous and destructive, as all weapons of war are, but Ganon needs to take it further, injecting his personality into each one he touches to turn them into a tool of communicating his will in addition to just weapons he tries to use to destroy Link/Zelda.

In summary, their general philosophies are like this:

The Sheikah: This is the world, this is how it works. Everything was made to serve a purpose, and this building, too, has a purpose. It was built to fit into this grand cosmic design we depict on its walls.

Ganondorf: I Want These Cretins To Pee Themselves In Terror When They Gaze Upon My Works. Let Them Hate Me, So Long As They Fear Me.

[salamispots]

do you think Link's used the master sword to chop up veggies

[lonlonmilkfan]

[somnimagus]

My page for @sheikahzine; about Impaz's duty to her village, empty of people and full of memories.

[id in alt text]

[mochiwei]

“The Sculptor,” a short comic for @sheikahzine!

Kimi travels the land, sculpting goddess statues across Hyrule ✨

[coffebits]

ALTTS Impa ✨

[sheikfangirl]

Post-BotW - When Paya met Zelda 😅🤷‍♀️

She's hot for them BOTH! Paya is the ultimate Zelink shipper representation lol.

Cheers!

[emberglowfox]

he did get those braids after all

[jooliart]

Sheik in twilight princess if it was up to me!!!

[retrogamingblog2]

Constellations by  lulu__tsuyu

[golvio]

There’s just something really funny about the absence of the moon from Sheikah celestial iconography because it implies one of the following things:

The Ancient Sheikah looked down on the moon because they couldn’t use it to divine the future, upon which Ganon was like “Yoink!” and turned it into the locus of his power.

Ganon fucked up the moon so badly that the Ancient Sheikah collectively disowned it, scrubbing all traces of it from existing murals and agreeing amongst themselves to never speak of that doublecrossing hell orb ever again.

[ezlo-x]

Decided to make a textured brush of the Ancient Sheikah swirl patterns! This is for Clip Studio Only btw! It's a free download on my Ko-fi y'all don't gotta tip

[ovegakart]

if the blood moon had happened in post ocarina of time

[parksrway]

sight