The MYSTERY of Wind Waker's Rito Tribe (Zelda Theory)

Today we delve into the mystery of the Rito in the Wind Waker.
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Footage taken from:
ZeldaMaster
chuggaaconroy
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#ZeldaTheory #WindWaker #Rito

[@NintendoBlackCrisis]

ENTER THE LINK'S AWAKENING GIVEAWAY! (Ends Jan 31st) t.co/5xR9lnaa4S?amp=1

[@WaveAqualei]

I already have the game so ha Also lmao “link’s” awakening

[@henrybarnhill2443]

see I already have one but my though(also love your vids and i'm only entering my because of my less fortunate friend

[@mortalknight8425]

How do I enter if I don't have a Twitter account

[@ceilyurie856]

guess I only get one entry since the SJWs at twitter suspended me.

[@mattterrell4304]

@@mortalknight8425 make one?

[@superspider64]

I've always figured that the zora were actually forced into the form of the rito by the goddesses to protect them from Ganondorf, if he had the Zora he could just enslave them and have them search the ocean floor for Hyrule

[@kevynlub2655]

superspider64 damn that’s rly smart

[@hundwyn7530]

Better story this way

[@akumathelion535]

I though the official line was that there were too many dangerous sea monster in the sea. And Zora are a freshwater people not designed for ocean life.

[@obviouslykaleb7998]

Before the timeline nonsense, I’d always just taken the games individually. I like the theorizing potential for the timeline, but it tends to make people overthink things. IMO the intro, and ganondorf’s character was a reference to OOT, nothing special

[@chrislevack405]

damn dude.... that's a pretty rad theory. Also, this whole fresh/salt water bullshit is ridiculous... if the damn Zora can turn into birds, then them breathing salt water isn't too farfetched. C'mon.

[@Plasma-ht9cv]

I think it’s honestly just one of those moments when they wanted to update the designs but didn’t know how to implement the change, story wise. Any which way, I really like the botw style.

[@thisisarandomname4150]

Wait, they don’t have wings until they get an evolution stone? Zelda games = Pokémon confirmed.

[@windhelmguard5295]

one more plausible explanation would be that, when the lands where flooded, the zoras who where in zoras domain got separated from the ones who have been outside of zoras domain at the time and due to the sea being infested with monsters, the zoras who where in zoras domain couldn't leave as they could fight off the small monsters who could fit through the entrance, but not the giant ones outside, while the zoras who where outside the domain could no longer get back to zoras domain and formed a population on dragon roost island where they adapted to living entirely outside the water, where granted flight by valoo, but eventually evolved to fly all by themselves.

[@hoodedanimator7856]

I read this in Revali's voice because of you profile pic

[@rinyaskyline]

Tru

[@copperfish8816]

@@hoodedanimator7856 Oh no now I can't get Mr. MyNameSoundsLikeATypeOfPasta's voice out of my head!

[@thegreatmajora5089]

I love how the world got flooded and the *fish* people were like “shit what do we do” (Guys I know why they did it okay I just find it very funny)

[@jaydenliberty9536]

The Great Majora I’m on their side even to this day I nearly shot myself out on the Great Sea if literally anything happens And I’m over 20

[@jaydenliberty9536]

I do NOT want to have to be UNDER the waves are you crazy? The worst we get from the sky is a bird that didn’t exist for like a hundred years

[@ZeldaLore]

The Great Sea was an illusory ocean, made of ethereal water. The Zora could not survive in it, and so were forced to evolve into the Rito. Stated in Hyrule Encyclopedia.

[@darkscot1338]

Thing is even if the above was not the case if the Zora were fresh water based aquatic creatures the salt water of the sea would be toxic.

[@ZeldaLore]

@@darkscot1338 the zora can exist in salt water too, they are known as Sea Zora. In Majora's Mask and in Oracle of Ages they lived in the ocean

[@BirdieSenpai]

Deku Tree: You Kokiri are gonna be Korok. Jabun: You Zora are gonna be Rito. Valoo: You Goron are gonna be food. Goron: nani Valoo: My dad was Volvagia.

[@WokeDEMOCRATShaveASPD]

Yea wtf. There’s only one Gordon in wind waker....what’s his story?

[@ilikezelda64]

@@WokeDEMOCRATShaveASPD There's three different ones.

[@nathandioza7821]

Gorons, after realizing dat: *DUN DUN DAAAAAAAAAAAAAA*

[@SnakeEyesOfficial42]

When he said “flooded Hyrule”, it started raining... Hylia help me.

[@obviouslykaleb7998]

Joshua West Are you fine bro? It’s been 16 hours

[@SnakeEyesOfficial42]

I’m oka- *blub blu blib*

[@Digitalhdwmn]

Pray to the goddesses heathens!!

[@nathandioza7821]

@@SnakeEyesOfficial42 *DON'T WORRY!* *I'LL SAVE YOU!!!* *Grabs giant straw and begins drinking*

[@prosperstarling3513]

@@nathandioza7821 bro are you still drinking?

[@kirky4063]

Whenever I see people discussing this, no-one brings up the Fokka from Zelda 2. They are shown and described as bird warriors and in both their book art and their 8bit sprites resemble humanoids with bird heads and bird legs but no wings.. Perhaps the Fokka isn't the name of their species, just the name of their military group (being guards of the final temple) Maybe they are the non-Zora-turned Rito that exist, maybe coming from Loftwings. And they eventually grow usable wings. Proving that all 3 timelines have Rito (or at least bird people)

[@Kahtisemo]

That would be a cool happenstance if the Rito ancestors could be found in all three timelines.

[@Mari_Izu]

"Maybe they are the non-Zora-turned Rito that exist" I think the Rito from BotW evolved from Zora too, maybe a group of Zora disbanded the main group and began to live in mountains until they evolved to adapt better in the new environment. If your theory proves to be true, so the Fokka could be descended from the evil Zoras, that's why they're evil too.

[@GrimmShadowsII]

Not sure the Fokka would be descended from the evil Zora as last I heard Zelda 1 and 2 are the same Link maybe a year or so between them. But it could be a split with some of the Zora staying in the water while some left and became the Fokka.

[@tsemiu]

@@Mari_Izu I don't believe they evolved from zora at all. I think the carvings in twilight hd are canon and the rito were around all along. Just unseen.

[@tsemiu]

@@Dark_Interloper yes I already know this. They may not be canon but I still believe they existed back then. There is no reason why they couldn't. Maybe they lived in the sky or another land. Its possible.

[@Mom-cf2je]

Valoo does actually have a connection to ocarina of time-Another red dragon starting with V that lives on death mountain? VOLVAGIA! Valoo clearly became their protector after they moved to the peak of death mountain

[@The_Juice14]

That what I said

[@sammelo2912]

hmm, yummy goron 😋

[@weebleflufflycakes7238]

I think that actually might be canon that Valoo is a descendent of Volvagia.

[@thelittlebosniaexperience8181]

Haven't we always had two tribes of zora? Don't remember where it was stated but you have the River Zora and the Sea(Oceanic) Zora which have served Ganon as antagonists in multiple games. The Ocean Zora are also more monsterous looking and primal, like the Zora Warrior from the guidebook.

[@kjn3350]

Only in the downfall timeline, I believe.

[@jakesauter3708]

@@kjn3350 correct The Hyrule Historia states that the Zora devolved into a more primal state in the Fallen Hero timeline

[@malxire]

they appear in four swords adventures which is before the split, btw the river zora are the more creature from the black lagoon ones not the ocean ones

[@77staers16]

@@malxire FSA isn't pre-split, it's in the CT.

[@promienodrzutowysamuel790]

The enemy zoras are in the downfall timeline, where they had no communication with the hylians so they became bad bois

[@gillybean7557]

I was today years old when I found out that there's a Gillian in the Zelda universe

[@BirdieSenpai]

I was five minutes ago years old when I found out that there's a Gillian in the Zelda universe. I'm glad I'm not the only one who didn't know she existed.

[@UndernetChara]

Same. I too didn't even know of her existence before.

[@hanburgundy4317]

How didn't you? She runs the bar on Windfall Island.

[@BirdieSenpai]

While a huge Zelda fan and a Zelda scholar on the games I've completed, I've unfortunately never been afforded the opportunity to play The Wind Waker, one of my biggest regrets.

[@hanburgundy4317]

@@BirdieSenpai That's a shame; The Wind Waker is a classic - definitely worth a playthrough or twelve lol You can find the original Gamecube (GCN) version pretty easily either online or in your local comic book/video game store (don't try Gamestop, though; go somewhere called "Wizards" or anything with a silly name like that.

[@01loganmc10]

The Zora, a tribe of Fish-People, evolved into the Rito, a race of Bird-People, in order to survive a great flood. This makes _total_ sense. Edit: Relax everyone. This is only a joke.

[@Mari_Izu]

If you play the game, you learn the Great Sea is a lifeless sea, fishes can't live there, only monsters or spiritual beings like the fishmen can. So, Zora evolved because they needed other food sources, because the Great Sea have no fish for them to eat.

[@mattlawrence6077]

Bugmen Fan okay.. 🤔 what did the monsters eat then? Zora to Rito makes ZERO sense. Fresh water to salt water adaptation makes total sense.

[@cosodesign8953]

M3L4 23 it was just written that way. Get over it.

[@mattlawrence6077]

CoSo Design lazy writing.

[@ZombieLeo94]

Isnt that how evolution happened 🤔

[@leophoenixmusic]

Hold on a second, the carvings in twilight princess look nothing like the rito in BOTW, they look like Wind Walker rito, they’ve got beaks for noses and u can clearly see a human mouth underneath!

[@TJ_Reactz]

but there hands and fingers are simultaneously wings

[@leophoenixmusic]

@@TJ_Reactz hmm true, then maybe the rito in these carvings are a semi-evolved version of the windwaker rito, which eventually evolve into BOTW rito?

[@ibeenjammin]

8:40 Hmm, Hyrule Historia mentions on page 127 that Valoo is thought to be descended from Volvagia

[@pokersoldier1]

This is actually one of the more solid theories I've seen involving both the Zora and Rito from Wind Waker. You should get it touch with Game Theory!

[@samerkia]

When will Wind Waker and/or Twilight Princess come to the switch eshop...

[@jefftheindianchief8279]

Askin' the real questions, my dude.

[@t3mpestt]

What about BOTW Zora armor? It gives link the ability to swim up fountains.

[@promienodrzutowysamuel790]

WATERFALLS

[@dialga4688]

I think it'd be pretty cool if the rito i botw were evolved loftwings It would also explain the coexistence of zora and rito

[@dom3306]

...that actually makes sense

[@zetaflames4170]

While I was playing legend of zelda botw I realized that in the faron region you can hear the champions ballad song that kass plays with out purchuseing the dlc and that could mean that the original champion was from the zonai cause the song could be played for that hero of the wild hopefully zelda botw 2 explains more

[@VinSohel]

In Oracle of Ages, there's two variants of Zora, both friendly and hostile. The friendly ones refer to themselves as "sea Zora" and the fireball-spitting enemies as "river Zora". So there's precedent for an evolutionary split. I believe it's said in game that Great Fish Isle was just recently destroyed by Ganondorf. And it's stated in Hyrule Historia that "the guardian spirits of the three pearls of the goddesses (...) are thought to be descended from Volvagia, the Deku Tree, and Jabu-Jabu". That's an idea I'd like to explore.

[@picunya]

one thing that immediately catched my eye when going to the rito village the first time in botw was how much the chief kaneli resembles the owl in oot. maybe it is nothing, but it makes you think that maybe the owl is some form of ancestor to the ritos in botw

[@quintadrago]

I'd love to see more windwaker stuff! I've only recently started playing the zelda games and am currently playing through windwaker after having finished botw, and I love to get to know the worlds better!

[@charlie43229]

I find this the minute after it’s published... WOW

[@DingerCity]

Please do more Windwaker theories

[@allycat7105]

I think this is my favorite explanation for this question. Very thought out and looks at every detail

[@chairmanoxygen6811]

Really love these theory videos. I wish Nintendo did more to organize the Zelda world and give it more consistency. Wind waker is such a small fragment of the world but its such a fun game

[@Digitalhdwmn]

Always gotta leave room for more interesting stories ya know? Each new game brings more mysteries and knowledge... Yet so much more is to come

[@cramerfloro5936]

I feel like the reason the Zora evolved into Rito because of the incredible change in temperature and pressure that the water would undergo with a flood

[@Skylancer727]

Evolution is incredibly slow so it doesn't make much sense. The cross between cats and dogs didn't just give birth to fully formed cats or dogs. It took millions of years.

[@linkLoverAG]

That or the goddesses intervened so that one race did not have an obvious advantage over another. Also the thought that the great sea is probably salt water and the zoras in OOT were freshwater.

[@chrislevack405]

@@linkLoverAG So the evolution into a completely different species is more acceptable to you than a guppy learning to breathe salt water rather than fresh water? ................ come on

[@ArcasDevlin]

I assumed the initial thing about freshwater Zora in saltwater. Even if those in Termina had evolved to deal with saltwater, those in Hyrule still might not have. And I don't think it was natural evolution - definitely some divine intervention. Why divine intervention to make them birds rather than able to adapt to saltwater? Gods are frivolous and random, and they needed to make Medli exist, because we could not live another day without her adorableness.

[@mattlawrence6077]

So you think evolving from fish to birds is more plausible than fish adapting to ocean temperatures, pressures and salt water?

[@Duunkaccino]

Nintendo Black Crisis i love your theories. Please acknowledge my existence.

[@brittanymclaughlin7147]

Birds actually do walk on their tip toes! So does any animal that appears to have that “backward knee” likes dogs, horses, goats, etc. That “knee” is actually made of the same bones that make up our ankles, just squashed and stretched to different proportions. There’s some really interesting art around the internet that illustrates this!

[@MrJmZack]

Great work as always, my friend!

[@ravenebony2267]

My personal thought is that there were earlier Rito (i.e. evolved from Loftwings) and that they were somehow driven to extinction in the adult timeline split. The Zora Rito, regardless of any desire to keep them away from old Hyrule, were created to fill the void left by their loss. Thanks for pulling together all the threads of conversation from the Discord. Great video as aways!

[@shawmeck9323]

Watching this video reminded me how beautiful wind wakes remake is.

[@thelittlebosniaexperience8181]

What about the Fokka and Fokkeru in Zelda II? They are also bird people.

[@alyssabelle817]

I never caught that the Wright Brothers were referenced in Wind Waker. That’s awesome!

[@yourbasicgamer566]

when you can flood the world but not stab an oversized gerudo in the neck

[@Wulfex]

I have a theory: Because the game's water is so opaque, it would have take a long time to develop some sort of underwater transition for Link. Since Link can't dive anyway, and it wouldn't make sense for the Zora to be on land, the devs made them evolve into Rito because they had already planned to use the Zora in the game, so making them "evolve" allows them to use all the Zora symbols, etc.

[@Jus-X]

My theory, the Rito we see in BOTW are purebloodled Rito, evolved forms of the Loftwings from SS. During the Great Flood of the Adult Timeline, eccosystems changed and the purebloodled Rito were on the brink of extinction. So they bred with the Zora, another race on the brink of extinction, and the result ended up with a crossbred Rito race, which is the Race we see in WW. So yes, I do not believe BOTW falls in the Adult Timeline.

[@TheGayestAspen]

One of these days i wanna see a zelda game completely in the languages of the characters. Like gerudo only speaking their language, zora speaking their language, and other hylians speaking their language. Where you would have to actually learn the languages from certain characters in order for you to unlock new dialogue options and to be able to understand what they say

[@WhoElseButZane]

A bird's knees do not point opposite to ours, the joint youre seeing is their ankle. They stand on their toes essentially but their toes have adapted the be more like a full foot.

[@BWBDCan]

Fish people needing to become birds to survive living in a vastly ocean world. That never made sense to me. Past them being fresh fish, but we've also seen salt and fresh water Zora.

[@Tralfazz74]

Here's a theory I wrote on the topic a while ago- a fair bit of it isn't new, but I think it's worth including. Proposal on Dragon Roost Island being the Zora's Domain: The floodwaters that covered Hyrule had to come from somewhere, so the gods called upon the infinite water source of the Zora's Domain to have it outpour en masse. This happened with such immense force that the Earth's crust below it cracked, letting magma rocket upwards. Lava and water shot up together in a pillar for some time, and once the waters were ceased, a column of stone sat high above the waves. Now why did the Zora become birds when a water world would've suited them perfectly? I believe that the gods, knowing whoever was at ground zero would be totally obliterated, asked Valoo to watch over the Zora. As a god of the sky and believing the sea-people couldn't escape in time, Valoo granted the Zora his scales, allowing them to grow wings and fly from their home before it erupted. They then flew until the land solidified, and returned to what was once their home, finding a hot spring at the place that once gave birth to a great river. They continue to give thanks to the deity who gave them wings, and every newborn Rito must learn to give thanks to him before they are granted the power of flight. Now, perhaps the gods could've given the Zora more notice? This part is just speculation- a couple ideas: Maybe the gods were keeping the plan a secret from Ganon, who definitely would've noticed a mass Exodus, right up until it happened. Maybe the gods were so focused on protecting the Hylians that they didn't think about the other races until the last moment, or more likely, this was truly a last second, last resort decision that left an extremely small warning period. Personally, I like to think that the gods couldn't allow the fish people to stay water bound BECAUSE they would flourish. New generations of Zora who forgot the terrors of Ganon would search for the old kingdom, and since they would number in the thousands, keeping track of everyone was out of the question. Their evolutionary success would immediately threaten the barrier between old and new Hyrule, along with the incredibly fragile peace the gods had just created

[@mikelapine1]

I think what happened is that someone in the different timelines that formed as the result of the OoT used the Triforce in all the different timelines at the same time and this caused the timelines to merge as one. That would explain why Zelda references the events of TP and WW despite the fact that they take place in different timelines, and it would explain why the geography of Hyrule is so different.

[@Bulldosaur]

What if some Zora decided to live in the sky, and some of them decided to hide with Jabu in an underwater city (maybe also some of them could become a fish because of Jabu?) and, when eventually, because of years of evolutions, they gained fish traits which would explain why some Zora in Breath of the Wild are some similarities with different species of fish. They no longer look all the same like in Ocarina of Time ; something changed every single one of them.

[@Cretaceous158]

The Zora royalty seems to have traveled to New Hyrule temporarily at one point in time, and left, besides the few that became Geozards, aka Zora warriors. We do find crowns named after Ruto in Spirit Tracks.

[@iamspringtrap223]

0:39 I think the far left figure on the representation of Demise's forces may be Giharahim. Just a mini theory, but something I noticed

[@Beriorn]

The Zora turned into the Rito because the Goddess wanted them to leave so they decided to BIRD UP.

[@nonoctoro4933]

Thing is... were the Goddesses the ones to cause the flood ? It just says "The Gods" and the Japanese has no context if "Gods" should even be plural....It's 神, 神々 would be used if it was plural.

[@Edgeperor]

Imagine the WW Rito but with normal noses instead of beaks

[@milestinker2178]

Here's another idea. As you stated, the Rito in Wind Waker look more like humanoids with bird-like qualities while the Rito in Breath of the Wild look more like humanoid birds. And the art from Twilight Princess shows what look like the BotW Rito in the Child Timeline. Well, putting aside the official statements about the Zora from OoT having evolved into the WW Rito for a moment, suppose for a second that the BotW Rito actually are a completely separate race from the Zora (as they are, for intents and purposes, presented to be in that game) and have always existed separately from the Zora. In other words, let's pretend for a moment that the BotW Rito are "true Rito" who look the way that that race is supposed to look/originally looked. If this were the case, then perhaps the WW Rito aren't "true Rito" but are instead something altogether new and different. In this situation, I propose that the WW Rito might instead be a new kind of Rito that are actually a race of Zora/Rito hybrids, having come to have physical traits of both races: Beak-like noses and eventual (albeit, magically-induced) wings from the Rito and smooth skin and humanoid mouths from the Zora. Medli's skin is even the same pale color of that of many past Zora, suggesting her to have even more Zora traits in her genes than the other-colored WW Rito, whose skins colors may hew more toward the various colors of BotW-styled Rito. Now, I'm not going to get into the specifics of how a race of fish people and a race of bird people could even breed with each other, but the point is that if they could, then the WW Rito could be the descended hybrid race of both the Zora and the BotW-styled Rito, allowing Medli to be a descendant of the Zora Laruto without wracking one's brain over how a fish people evolved into a bird people in one game while another game has the fish people and the bird people coexisting separately. All that needs to stated is that the bird people were always their own people, and that the ones from WW are merely a hybrid descended from both. To be clear, I am not suggesting that Breath of the Wild itself should be set before The Wind Waker. No, all I'm suggesting is that the specific kind of Rito seen in that game be in existence during a time set long before The Wind Waker, coexisting with the Zora of Ocarina of Time as a separate race altogether. And that the ones seen in BotW are the descendants of the original non-hybrid race, like how the Zora seen in that game are likewise descended from the original Zora who didn't breed with the Rito.

[@MagillanicaLouM]

I prefer Wind Waker Rito designs personally. But yeah it was always interesting they descend from fish ppl in that game, the divine forced change in the race also is a cool potential explanation

[@Cassarilla]

Really enjoyed this video and how you explored different explanations. Wind Waker is an amazing game and I'd love to see more theories on it!

[@adaraif9972]

Maybe its a stretch, but since dragon roost volcano is heavily implied to be the death mountain of OoT, perhaps Valoo could somehow be related to Volvagia? It wouldn't make a ton of sense but it might be a start!

[@Bumble-BTuna]

Imagine going your fishing business going bankrupt and investing into farming until the noisy-ass neighboring kingdom is making water noises.

[@ShadowSkyX]

The fish men appear to closely resemble the Zora during the Link to the Past era and might be simply a reference as some zora might've "devolved" to a previous form to survive the more dangerous seas. I never see anyone bring it up, but both Zora and rito's main diet consists of fish. Specifically cold water vs warm water diets. Rito are found in colder, dryer or higher elevated areas. In botw, the zora are not. To me this might hint that we might've had dealt with pre-evolved rito when they were still the zora that lived in the colder/higher elevated areas in older games. A colder, harsher, dryer climate would force one to evolve. Feathers would be much better suited to keep you warm rather than scales, a change to the kind of fish and land food you eat can change things internally over time. Learning to cook said food would diffentiate and further brain devopement even more - if I'm remembering correctly, no Zora knows or gives you a recipe, but kass's daughters do. Hmmm.

[@hectorrosalescilips3398]

One word of this mystery it’s just there’s just a roll from this to that and millions of years

[@silverbane8065]

I always thought the fishmen were some of the people that didn't make it to the mountains in time and were drowned. That the gods (wouldn't that be the goddesses?) Took pity on them and turned them into fish people. And that the ones that speak of owing the king of red Lyons were drowned sailors of the more modern era, that he converted as he wandered the sea looking for the chosen hero

[@jessicalawslo1840]

It was confirmed in an interview that the carving from the twilight princess, was just a cool drawing the designer put in and has no baring in the lore. He stated he just drew what he thought was cool. Though the cravings to make a story in his mind.

[@cyclos12]

The Watarara tribe show back up after long migration to see only water

[@TheHaddonfieldRegistry]

Whoa whoa wait, what do you mean "This is the only book that mentions it, meaning not canon"? As in, because of the hierarchy of canon? Because I guess that makes sense, but when looking into issues we know have not been covered in games, why dismiss this? It's not proof, but it's still evidence.

[@gabriellockwood2780]

The Goddesses intervened and altered the Zora Race. So that not one single species would traverse the Flooded World too easily, or have more control over one Element, unbalancing the Races. The Zora ALSO received the Blessing(/s?) of Valoo the Dragon of Din/(Incarnation or Form of Din?) as well.

[@Gilbals]

There are two holes in this, as there are two other humanoid bird peoples not mentioned. The Fokka and Oocca. While the Rito of WW are descended or at least related to the Zora, The modern Rito are possibly closer to the Fokka of Zelda 2.

[@meowserlynel3505]

The loftwings evolved into the wind tribe (The Oocca), then into the zora, afterwards some into the rito then some into the fish people. then nintendo adds hyrule warriors to the timeline (where all the timelines mixed) then the rito become more bird-like and zora from the child timeline get mixed into BOTW.

[@marsjake8]

I always figured the Rito in BOTW were the evolution of the Loftwings in Skyward

[@Lin2Waterfall]

I think one possible aspect you are not bringing up The Karp That Became A Dragon Ancient legend says that if a salmon/karp/koi manages to climb a waterfall and jump the "dragon gate" it will become a dragon itself. Not to mention Dragons are both masters of Sky and Sea. Dragons, Scales, Swim, Flight. Basically you can apply that old lore here with the Rito.

[@orbit6476]

Wind waker is my fav. I want this on the switch so bad for even better graphics. But mostly because I got rid of my Wii U because I was moving and dropped the box it was in.

[@robertritter9018]

My theory is like fish the zora had a salt water, and fresh water kind. When the world flooded the fresh water zora were turned into the rito and the salt water were left go as zora and lived deep in the ocean letting them adapt and change to how they look in botw.

[@_Fizel_]

Honestly the one in Twilight Princess looks like it could be the 'missing link' of the Rito between Wind Waker and BotW. It looks like the WW Rito but it's legs look bird-like much more like BotW Rito. My theory has always been that after the WInd Waker, the Rito were given a chance to 'devolve' back into Zora. Some did and became BotW Zora and others didn't and became BotW Rito. Well what we eventually see anyways. Also why they evolved (either just into Rito or maybe the Fishmen) is that the Rito can avoid being enslaved to find Hyrule underwater and the Fishmen version freaking fish that don't have arms or legs and would not make good slaves as they can't really do anything except be a fish.

[@RyanHaney55]

I'd definitely watch more Wind Waker videos.

[@verdantmistral442]

My personal theory was that there was a split in the Zora Tribe due to the disappearance of their guardian spirit Jabu-Jabu. In the adult timeline, we have no idea what happened to him. It is possible that half the Zora decided to join up with Valoo since he was a guardian spirit and that the magic of Valoo's scales turned cause a change in form much more quickly. In addition, the two tribes that changed also had a change in guardianship. The Koroks are now protected by Deku Tree Junior and the Rito by Valoo. Finally, scientists have discovered in the real world that feathers and scales are the same thing with a gene telling the how to grow. Experiments have been done to cause chickens to grow feathers where their scales would be and vice versa. So it wouldn't actually take much for the Zora to start growing feathers instead of scales. Additionally we also know the Zora to be the most adaptable race in the series. As we can see that in the Fallen Timeline, the Zora are ultimately corrupted into monsters and in the Child timeline, they start to develop less alien looking forms and taking on more colorful forms, and Breath of the Wild has this extended to its extreme by developing more color divers and even different shapes of fish (which now that I think about it makes it seem like they are taking more after salt water species), the Zora don't seem to exist until after Skyward Sword also. Meanwhile Hylians (children of Hylia) and Gorons have existed since before Skyward Sword and have changed barely at all by the time Breath of the Wild comes along and generally have the same appearance in all timelines when they appear.

[@lkadventures6384]

There probably just Pokémon... Fish Scale + Hylian = Zora. Dragon Scale + Hylian + Rito.

[@jojoreference945]

r o c k + Hylian = Goron

[@weebleflufflycakes7238]

I just kinda assumed that since the water was so high after the flood that the previous ecosystem kinda fell apart and they had to live on land in order to survive.

[@ShelbyAQD]

My head canon in all this is that BotW's Rito are actually Fokka from Zelda 2, and are the original birdfolk of Hyrule. The Wind Waker Rito are descended from Fokka/Zora/Hylian hybrids. I include Hylian here, because the Rito have hair and human-like faces. Plus there's that one who is implied to be descended from the postman in Majora's Mask somehow. By the time of WW, they've lost pretty much all of their Zora physiology, but retain some of its culture. This is likely because the Zora returned to the sea after the flooding ended, thus limiting their impact on the race. Hylian traits may have become dominant over time, but Valoo's power as a "sky spirit", probably draws out their dormant Fokka traits.

[@Mother_of_Pigeons]

Exilent video as always! Just wanted to mention that birds don't actually have backwards knees though. I noticed that you implied that when talking about Medli's legs. The "backwards knee" on birds is actually the tarsus/ankle. Similar to how many mammals, like dogs and cats, technically walk on their toes, birds to a similar thing. Their real knee just tends to be higher up and sort of tucked up against/in the body so it looks like they have backwards knees. Sources: internet and my pet pigeon. ;)

[@bensoncheung2801]

Are penguin knees tucked up against or inside their bodies? Edit: Just looked up “featherless penguin”, they’re inside.

[@Lady0Chi]

I have a different theory. The Zora had an influx of water and territory along with food. This led to an increase in population and I believe a bit of infighting. The infighting caused a portion of the Zora to flee, probably injured, to the shore. Their the Valoo brought him under his wing to care for them. This forced evolution is why they need assistance, just like Link has always needed assistance, to reach new heights. WW takes place after a long gap in time from OoT and yet ST can't take place all that long after WW. The proof of this is that Niko is still alive. It takes generations for an evolution to take place and while you might say the Geozard are not Zora due to a name we don't call the Rito Zora either. Instead I propose that the Geozard are the second set of the Zora who turned away from the royal family. Instead they have a Chief, they have kept to the waters and turned into larger warriors. Jabu-Jabu likely didn't apperciate his people turning into monstrous fighters and adaned them so taht they ended up fleeing Old Hyrule and later found themselves in a land that would one day be founded by Tetra and the Hero of the Winds. As for BoTW I don't agree that it takes place in the adult time line. The presence of the Rito means nothing as this same split could have taken place under slower and less agressive circumstances leading to the Rito looking more birdlike over all.

[@JohnA...]

The only part that might make sense of the rito in WW being descendent from the zora from OoT IS that emblem, the only way they could have been from them would be some crazy biohazard.

[@darlingana9249]

The game itself confirms it, Medli is a descendant of an ancient Zora sage. It's dumb, but it's canon. The Zelda encyclopedia seems to imply it wasn't so much "evolution" as a transformation directly from the gods.

[@DeBoomTori2]

I think BOTW takes place after TP and the evolution happens regardless of the timelines. Some of it would be god(dess) intervention, but the kokiri turn into the koroks upon “leaving the forest”, so any reason for them to leave the forest would result in this evolution (courtesy of the Deku Tree). The Zoras look completely different in every timeline. In the downfall timeline, they look more like angry Lagoon creatures. What’s to say they wouldn’t have evolved into the Rito anyway? BUT Divine Beast Vah Medoh is canonically named after Medli, so do what you will with that.

[@WaveAqualei]

Ik I keep asking, but is there ANY way I can get info about my ban? I’m just curious and trying to find info. If I could be unbanned for a bit to find out what I got banned for, that would help.

[@Skylancer727]

No, you must sit there and feel the pain of burning regret from the negligence of knowing what you did. May it burn into your soul you wicked demon. 😈 Was that dramatic enough? 😆

[@despacitopotato2665]

What happened?

[@WaveAqualei]

Skylancer727 I got enough drama from the server, so no. And Hyliart, that’s what I’m trying to find out.

[@KoRncRaft]

I just see Rito as the Hylian word for bird people. Granted I see nothing in wording of different races to back this up.

[@rexmondo8370]

Hmm, world's flooding? Better turn from fish into birds.

[@thegreatphantus9568]

Pretty sure the stiff necks thing is just a reference to the archery minigame you can play with the fish if you feed them twice.

[@MeatSim9]

I like the theory (can't remember the source of it) that Hyrule Warriors is actually canon. Somehow, Breath of the Wild contains items and references from all three timelines. It has Rock Salt from the Great Sea, and has mentions of The Sage of Water, Ruto. (Which wouldn't have awoken in the timeline where Link never had to finds the Sages) So, in Hyrule Warriors, games and timelines are all brought together, into one. Then, like ten-thousand years later, BotW takes place.

[@HuhJuhWuh]

bringing up the mailman from PH is like using an example from Link's Awakening, both are set in a dream world

[@NintendoBlackCrisis]

The world of the ocean king isn't in a dream world. In fact, the anouki from Spirit Tracks state that they had migrated from their island in PH to the "New Hyrule" of Spirit Tracks.

[@HuhJuhWuh]

@@NintendoBlackCrisis oh no shit, so it was just an illusion not a dream world. Mever played ST so had no idea about the reference

[@martinmolina8377]

what if the rito are a mix of sheikah and zora? it makes sense since they have sheikah traits, such as red eyes and pointy ears, and zora traits, such as the zora emblem. there is also this man who has sheikah-like tattoos at the bottom of dragon roost island, but you can only see him at night. he wants to get up to the rito lair to deliver a letter. i think that theory has something to it idk

[@jonvernon4075]

At 2:06 in the movie, where you say there is no resemblence between the two riot, the wind waker rito has the botw Zora symbol on her robe thing. (Whatever it’s called)

[@jonvernon4075]

Paused video to post this. Then realized later in the video, that NBC mentions it later smh

[@becodeku]

I always assumed that the Ritos and Zoras in BOTW were just sweet and salt water kinds of Zoras that ended up evolving for whatever reason, just in BOTW we can take the temperature, enviroment and even permanent effects of Valoo's scales as some of the reasons the bird-like apparance started to dominate the Rito's look, also we must take art style and design choices into account when we are talking about a design done in the early 2000s and designs done in the 2010s, Nintendo's designer team must have realized how Ritos in WW lack unique bird-like features and just look like humans with big noses and decided it was the best to retcon the design the best as possible

[@snoopdogg2013]

Its official, nintendoblackcrisis is my favourite youtuber

[@happymask8042]

The Rito in WW most likely evolved from Hylia or another diety to protect Hyrule. It most likely was very quick. The Rito in BotW are different. My guess is they came from a different land. Perhaps the royal family knew about them in TP but it was more of a legend at the time.

[@FastFoodVicar]

Oof, Sidon. Now thats a fine specimen right there. Is it getting hot in here or what?

[@Lithobraker]

Wait a minute- here's a thought. What if the Zora are actually still there? What if they still live beneath the Great Sea- maybe even in Zora's Domain- but they make no contact with the outside world, as to keep the secret of Hyrule's fate? Maybe when the flood was happening, the Zora originally wanted to stay behind, but a great many of them wanted to go with the other races to the surface. The gods, however, were insistent that the ultimate fate of Hyrule remain a secret, to prepare the world for Ganondorf's eventual defeat, so there was a split among the Zora. Some wanted to remain, and were content with being isolated forever, meanwhile others wished to follow the others to the surface, and retain their connection to the Hylians. As a means of keeping this secret, the Zora who surfaced were changed into Rito, to mask their own history from future generations. Of course, there's no evidence for this. But it'd make a pretty neat story, if Link and Tetra discovered them while on their search for New Hyrule. This might also explain where the Zora jewelry comes from, as people might find it from treasure hunting across the oceans- left there by Zora. There could even be legends of mermaids, originating from occasional sightings of curious, unruly Zora.

[@monroerobbins7551]

Is anyone gonna talk about how the fish men have ears? 11:40 he has pointed ears, kinda like a Hylian, and he also has a nose. What if these Hylian/Zora decided to hide out in the ocean, and found Jaboon, since their home was destroyed? That would explain why they’re found everywhere, just randomly, instead of hints to a fish village or something. Their home was destroyed, and so these more Hylian Zora fled. Some found the dragon, who gave them their wings, and over time, they became more bird-like, getting their smooth Hylian skin back, to be more suited for the air, as opposed to the moisture sensitive Zora skin, which may’ve not been able to handle thrashing winds or being easily dry. Meanwhile, the others fled into the ocean and found Jaboon, who may’ve given them the attributes they needed to survive in the giant ocean: darker skin, bigger more advanced eyes to adjust to light and darkness easier, thicker hides to adjust to the colder temperatures. These more fish men Zora probably had to dive deeper, be more used to dark spaces, and blend in better: the OG Zora may’ve had the big ol eyes that could see in the darkness, but they didn’t look like the other fish. They had big black eyes, super pale skin, lots of fringe that could easily be fucked with by strong waves, they stuck out. So Jaboon gave them the attributes to blend in better.

[@Amayawolf_01]

Watching this a week later but I just noticed it was posted on my birthday lol

[@miyukithefoxfurry]

I think since BOTW is the end of the timeline combining all timelines. I mean the map of wind waker probably isn’t all that’s out there as Link and Tetra go off to find their Hyrule. It’s possible some Zora didn’t want to go to Dragoon roost island (which used to be death mountain where the Gorons lived) so the Zora may have traversed the dangerous sea to find land. They could’ve possibly found an alcove or inlet to lead to fresh water leading to the Zoras domain in BOTW. And just evolved that way. It’s odd however that the Zora from BOTW have more salt water features despite living in fresh water. Maybe they were sea dwelling Zora was in wind waker just not close to the old Hyrule has some type of command from the gods? I think the wind waker Tito just continued to evolve to look more bird like for BOTW. Probably moved from dragon roost to hebra mountains when the new hyrle was founded and needed the extra feathers for the cold. So cold and tropical Rito and salt and fresh water Zora.

[@fatalwaffle1715]

Cool theory!

[@jserrano51]

In Zelda II there's a bird like specie called the Fokka. Enemies. In Spanish the Rito are called Orni, a prefix for Bird. Maybe the word 'Rito' means Bird in Hylian. So any specie that looks like a bird is recognized as Rito. This disconnect the Rito from the Zora. Maybe the Ritos in BotW are civilized Fokkas from Zelda II.

[@afish2281]

Maybe the Twilight Princess rito are from another kingdom. We always focus on Hyrule and Termina, even talking about them like they're the same occasionally, but theres always the possibility of another kingdom where an exotic race exists.

[@Cretaceous158]

They could be Fokka from Zelda 2.

[@haldouglas4773]

blackcrisis: gill-ian me, looking at my sister gillian (jill-ian):..

[@S_Phoenix-059]

*Hyrule floods Zoras: *screw it, let’s grow some wings!* Also zoras: *have the ability to swim

[@JQuelin7]

0:29 i just noticed that in the 3ds remake of OoT they changed the blood color to green. Thats... Interesting...

[@stoopidlyrich_5182]

They need to make a remake to majoras mask and add zito

[@Gamer1288]

1:20 As soon as you said that my mind went to Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door.

[@xXdarkdekuXx]

The reason we have rito and Zora in botw is because there was either a split in evolution or timelines got mashed together

[@stevead2560]

I wonder why there aren't any Zora in Wind Waker- Have you seen the ocean?? They're somewhere in there. They just don't talk to u

[@bee9632]

maybe the zora had to evolve to fit into the future timelines, as it was a rito, zora, gerudo and goron that were the champions who had to help the heroes defeat ganon, so it all happened to fit fate as well as evolution. it is a prophecy that the heroes will defeat ganon but botw is to be the last timeline to end it all so it would make sense for the champions to be those of different groups and to have them control the divine beasts the zora had to evolve to fill out the prophecy. but it could have just been natural selection or whatever idk