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The Zorca Clans

One of the many cool things I learned about orca are all the eco-types! At first glance I thought they were all the same but turns out there are tons of differences in each pod, making them unique in their own way. And I wanted to incorporate that into my zorca ✊

The Zorca are split into four clans. Originally I was trying to give them names based on musical terms to follow the theme with Sidon and his family. Later it dawned on me to name them after the various whale/fish deities from the games.

Clan Levias (Skyward Sword)

Clan Marin (Link's Awakening. She's not a whale, but she does sing Ballad of the Wind Fish)

Clan Oshus (Phantom Hourglass)

Clan Jabun (Wind Waker)

This is gonna get long so the rest will be under a cut!

*suplexes you with more orca facts* YOU FELL INTO MY TRAP!!!

The Levias Zorca are based on resident killer whales, their diet is primarily fish and they have what's called an open saddle patch! (which gives them a hook like shape) Resident orca tend to stay in defined areas where their fish prey stick to. Levias zorca use echolocation and team coordination when hunting, with everyone taking on specific roles!

Marin Zorca are based on Bigg's killer whales also known as transients! They eat a wider variety of marine life, from seals, to sharks, and other cetaceans👀 Like the Bigg's orca, Marin Zorca migrate as they search for food. While they use echolocation as well, they have a number or hunting techniques ranging from stealth tactics, blunt force trauma, and coordinated chases to wear down their prey!

Clan Oshus are based on B-type orca (which is split into two sub types, B1 and B2) These guys are so fascinating! They live up in the waters of Antarctica and they're often a brown yellowish color, which is caused by cold water algae called diatoms. They have a stripe that connects the saddle patch to the eye patch called a dorsal cape. And every so often they travel to areas to clean off the algae. SPA TRIP! Being close neighbors, they hunt with Jabun zorca from time to time. Seals in particular are a tasty but hard-to-reach treat on the ice, so they developed a unique way to fix that!

Clan Jabun are based on D-type orca! Another artic/sub arctic dwelling eco-type. They have bulbous heads and very small eyepatches, sometimes no eye patch at all. They're also super secluded which makes it difficult for researchers to study them. But they have found these orca are one of the most inbred mammals in the world. Something the Jabun Zorca are doing their best to avoid!

Phantom Zorca! Not an eco-type but they're based on sightings of white orca seen throughout the years. Frosty and Tl'uk inspired Kaska (even though I started leaning towards a cream color than grey now), and there is Iceberg who was first sighted back in 2010 in Russia. And there have been several sightings in Japan! It was said there were reports of melanistic orca in the past but no photos of any so far! Phantom zorcas are not too common, but they're not treated any differently from their black and white cousins meaning theyre not seen as bad omens and such. But if you happen to see one, then for certain one of their parents must be from Clan Oshus!

The relationship with their zora neighbors is tenuous at best. Oshus and Jabun are rarely seen, which means any encounters hylian's have are with Levias and Marin zorca. The Zorca absolutely do NOT see any of the hylian races as food, but their elusiveness, size, and unfortunate encounters have only worsened their reputation for being demons of the sea.

Diplomats, like Kaska, have tried to establish contact with other zora territories to help waylay these fears, but the zorca still struggle since they are so hard to keep in contact with. They have no kingdom of their own, and have been considered vagrants and mindless eaters thanks to baseless rumors.

The ironic thing is zorcas are extremely generous to those who show them kindness. Befriend one individual and you befriend the entire pod (and the same is true if someone is cruel!) All one has to do is be brave give them a chance!

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What up fishes! You gon learn today 🫵

The zorca may not display a variety of colors compared to their zora neighbors, but they are sexually dimorphic! Like actual orca, males have a dorsal fin that "sprouts" during their teenage years in which its curved shape straightens into a tall dorsal that can reach six feet in height!

Lady zorca keep their curved dorsal fins and can grow up to three to four feet. Same goes for their side fins, the males have larger ones than the females, and the flukes on their tales curve inward.

Newborn babies are born black and orange! And like dolphins, they also have whiskers 💖🥹 In a year's time the whiskers fall off, and their orange/peachy skin turns white with the more fat they pack on.

Most zorca stay near the surface of the waters when traveling and hunting, but experienced hunters dive to the darker depths for tastier and elusive prey. The deepest dive by an orca was just over 1000 meters (3000ft deep!) which puts that in the Midnight Zone where sunlight cant reach! But thats what makes echolocation so handy 👍

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The zora, the diplomat, the legend!

These sketches were a gift for @chaotic-zora for being an absolute sweetheart 😭Thanks for reaching out, and letting me talk your ear off about zora shenanigans!

They said Silvyr's ice powers were inspired by Sypha from Castlevania so I used her as reference for their poses!

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This particular idea of introducing a newborn zorca to the pod was inspired by Final Fantasy 16's Leviathan DLC. I haven't completely refined the idea, but the three adults are supposed to mirror the three goddesses bestowing their gifts to Hyrule. The gifts themselves don't necessarily have to represent wisdom, courage and power though.

And here is a look at Kaska's father too! Kamion comes from colder waters and he's a brown orca! @gargoylesister's Castov doted on Kaska often when she was a babe so meeting Kamion was inevitable :>

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Notes and anatomy study for my Zorca! I was studying skull illustrations to find ways to put that into their anatomy. Their rito ancestor is a nod to Wind Waker, and another story I'll get to talking about at some point 👍

*slaps you with orca trivia* 🖐️

Did you know that orca can be found in every ocean in the world? 👀They were given the name "killer whale" because sailors saw them hunting larger whales, and despite the name there are no cases of wild orca hurting humans. They're the largest member of the dolphin family and like their smaller cousins, labeled as a toothed whale! Different populations developed their own eco-types with distinct features, diets, hunting techniques, even dialects!

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Meet my rito OC, Nerisa!

She's based on a Snowy/Wandering Albatross and uses her large wingspan to glide nonstop over the ocean to keep a lookout for lost souls at sea.

Because she spends a lot of time in the air, like her animal counterpart, she has a difficult time landing.

She also has a crush on Penn

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Grandmother Whale Shark

Inspired by werewolfsister who shared their adventures of swimming with whale sharks! I started researching and learned about their significance in various cultures.

For the people of Balikukup, whale sharks are known as Hiu Mbok or Hiu Nenek, meaning grandma’s shark. The name comes from the local belief that a whale shark embodies a kind-hearted grandmother spirit. If local fishers encounter a whale shark on one of their trips, they see it as a sign of good fortune and prosperity.

The image of a grandmother shark wouldn't leave my head so these sketches came out. She doesn't have a name or story yet. The basic idea is she travels the vast oceans, being followed by all sorts of ocean life, sea birds, zora and rito! Whale sharks are the largest fish in the world so I wanted her to be MASSIVE! The largest whale shark on record was 61 feet! There was a whale shark female titled MEGAMAMMA SUPREME because she had 300 babies in her belly!

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New zorca who dis 👀

Meet Fat Fin, the father of Sardon, Cironus and Kaso! Based off a real orca with the same name and known for his wide triangular dorsal fin.

Orca fathers don't have a hand in raising their children since they live in separate pods, so there would be no bitterness between him and Lurona. But he would visit every so often to see how they're doing.

Bonus: My fav comments from friends about him under a cut 😂😏 thank you all for your support and giving me the platform to be feral

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A gift for a secret santa event! My first time drawing Revali, he was fun to draw!

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Shipping dynamic memes with Sardon and Sona 👌

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I love Yona so much and I love drawing her. That's all I have to say ❤️

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Hand studies and other cute moments featuring my polypod (term coined by @chaotic-zora)

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These were "deleted scenes" from Werewolfsister's epilogue project for their comic.

The top scene on the first page was Les and Cironus having another rematch. The rest was a continuation of Sardon's quest for gifts to show his commitment to Sona.

I didn't finish these in time, unfortunately. We talked about the stuff Sardon would bring her, grabbing things from food, flowers, and harder to find items like gems, possibly a star fragment, and monster parts! I had this idea that he would get into a fight with a Lynel because I wanted a daring finale to his journey's end!

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setting up a queue

I don't want this blog to fall to the wayside but I'm still kinda ehh about being super active here. A queue sounded like a good compromise, so please enjoy the art to come! ❤️

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Small Announcement

I don't have many followers here but if there are people who don't follow my main account I wanted to repeat that I'm keeping my art on my patreon now. Most of my work is free to view with a few bonuses exclusive to paying supporters

Here's a little preview! Im still hyper fixating on my zorca