The Zora are the Freakiest race in Zelda - Tears Of The Kingdom Theory

[@Evilta]

I don't see why a hybrid Zora/Rito child can't come from an egg. Nobodyer ever said the Rito lay eggs but... well... they are birds

[@Chris-gx1ei]

Zoras do lay Eggs, so why not Rito?

[@Joker3180Z]

​@@Chris-gx1eiin termina yes, outside of termina we haven't seen that yet

[@EXPeepik]

​@@Joker3180Z have we seen zora give birth outside of termina?

[@blueback999]

@@EXPeepik that’s what he said…

[@ClarkCox]

Didn't the rito have eggs in Windwaker?

[@42ndLife]

What no one seems to consider is even if the Rito were created by Zora turning into bird people after receiving the blessings of a dragon, that doesn't mean ALL Zora became Rito. It's possible for there to be both Rito & Zora even if some Zora became Rito. In that case we would say the Rito are an offshoot of the Zora. By now I'm pretty sure that TotK & BotW are part of a brand new timeline in which the events & lore of all other Zelda games are merely myth & legend.

[@cajunking5987]

I merely think BoTW happens far in the future. As does ToTK, although long before BoTW

[@MC11723]

@@cajunking5987 what?

[@LeHarmacist]

@@cajunking5987 you mean the past version with Rauru and the gang and not the present version of TotK right/? Cuz if you say that TotK overall is set way before BotW then I think you're just speaking out of your ass right now. I think it's heavily implied that it is a *SEQUEL* to BotW

[@cajunking5987]

@@LeHarmacist yes

[@LeHarmacist]

@@cajunking5987 oh ok then, go off king :)

[@guffthebir72]

For birds, rito are pretty bad at flying. Revali and tulin are the only ones who can fly like a normal bird

[@Jenna_Talia]

hard to fly with a humanoid-ish body I suppose.

[@guffthebir72]

@@Jenna_Talia good point but still. After all the centuries between totk and totk, you would think they would evolve to fly better

[@leobankowski7682]

@@guffthebir72wdym centuries between totk and totk?

[@guffthebir72]

@@leobankowski7682 have you got the master sword yet?

[@ansrfururactions]

I do not know where you get that, true, we don't see them fly often, but they very much so have the ability to fly, Revali, Teba, and Tulin just simply have more opportunity to show their air skills, and they're damn good in the air.

[@pyro5159]

Well Mipha was by far the thirstiest female character especially towards Link

[@guffthebir72]

Paya

[@nyanmurai331]

Mipha was at least subtle about it

[@nyanmurai331]

@@guffthebir72I’m pretty sure the thing about Link and Paya doing it was just a theory or a joke and they did nothing since he was just watching her and making sure she was ok

[@fishnewt1331]

Water everywhere. Not a drop to quench her thirst.

[@Brightsonp]

@@guffthebir72 paya is just shy towards naked man

[@Ch4tonBarjot]

For the whole Rito and Korok thing, it's because officially BotW and TotK took place at the end of all timelines, at least 20,000 years after the events of the two original Zelda games (I'm referring to the official timeline diagrams), the ritos did not appear "before" Ocarina of time (yet), and the "founding" of hyrule may very well be how TotK considers the arrival of the Zonai since Hyrule could have been plunged into chaos once again, and without heroes the Zonai tribe could have saved the Kingdom and started a new golden age. I think that's what was implied, and the term "founding" was most likely used so as not to confuse new players who are not familiar with the mess of Zelda timeline lore .

[@R1IY2N]

Honestly it’s probably been hundred of thousands of years since skyward sword

[@JoacoG11]

Like a soft reboot?

[@MikePhantom]

@@JoacoG11 exactly. this is also why the more traditional green tunic for link in these last two games resembles the "legendary hero's" tunic than any of the more modern designs.

[@adamleifester547]

I always thought that the fish Zora splits to and some evolved into the more shark/whale Zora by having to live in deep water while other evolved into the Rito

[@KingsBard]

Don't forget the River Zora

[@mememan5466]

@@KingsBard there are no rivers in the sea

[@mememan5466]

And the founding of hyrule that we see in totk is the new hyrule after the flood

[@Smoky_Crow]

Has anybody noticed that Mipha's teacher is more of a stingray than the normal shark/fish.

[@sethporter9066]

​@@mememan5466 1) My theory is the events with Rauru and the Zonai happened before Skyward Sword, before Demise and all that. 2) Even if we go with the OoT Adult timeline being canon, I thought the new Hyrule was founded by Tetra sometime between Wind Waker/Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks? Unless we say that Sonia is her descendant.

[@Aaron-hv4hr]

I think that the only way for the Gerudo race to not to go extinct is if when they reproduce, female children will be Gerudo. However, there could be a chance that they have male children, they just always result in a different race until that one special case where a male Gerudo is born. This could be disproved if the couple we help in BotW had children, but I haven’t found them yet.

[@shea1462]

have you found them yet?

[@Aaron-hv4hr]

@@shea1462 yes I did and unfortunately it doesn’t help disprove my theory

[@SoupRongan]

wouldn't the Gerudo genes simply be the dominant genes resulting in race longevity, and once the male is born every 100 or so years they have a heck ton of children guaranteeing that there will be Gerudo genes will stay dominant for the next 100 years. since they have to cross-breed with Hylians their lifespans could be the similar; around 120 years or so making it very possible to continue indefinitely. there are biological methods to not have males like; heterozygous and homozygous king Henry the VIII. since the Gerudo male will always have a Gerudo child with Gerudo woman resetting the gene pool, meaning they are now restored to the beginning of the 100 years looping Indefinitely until some horrible shit happens; like Gannon being born. Not sure how legible this wall of text is...

[@shea1462]

@@SoupRongan that’s my thought process as well.

[@Sci_X1]

Yes rhondson and hudson had a child who is a gerudo

[@slateoffate9812]

2:00 I was under the interpretation that King Rauru's Hyrule is like New Hyrule, just so far into the future New Hyrule and the original Hyrule's names have been forgotten.

[@crm8769]

That's what I thought too

[@mmyr8ado.360]

The Rauru Settlement though...

[@EXPeepik]

But it wouldve had to take place before oot as a different temple of time stands on the great plateau in the memories

[@slateoffate9812]

@@EXPeepik It has similar architecture, but it's not THE Temple of Time. There are differences, namely the size, and thanks to Tears of the Kingdom we now know there's more than one Temple of Time.

[@slateoffate9812]

@@mmyr8ado.360 The what?

[@CorviKid999]

Theory: Loftwings evolved into Rito and they procreated with the Zora to make Wind Waker Rito, and we didn't see the Rito until BotW because they were living on the sky islands. Same goes for the Kokiri and Deku, as the Great Deku Tree is confirmed in TotK to be a Korok.

[@EnchWraits]

When is the great Deku tree called a korok itself?

[@malfestioscafe404]

@@EnchWraits in the character guide in the purah slate, it states that deku tree is of the korok race.

[@SoupRongan]

I misread Zora as Zelda☠☠

[@thepinkelephant2520]

@@SoupRongan uh uh bro 💀💀💀💀

[@conduit64]

Nope, doesn't work. First the Rito have zero resemblance to the Loftwings. Loftwings were based on the Japanese Shoebill, a wading bird, while botw/totk predominately look like raptors eagles/hawks/etc. Also the founding of Hyrule happened at most a few centuries after the events of Skyward Sword, so there is zero chance that the Loftwings could have evolved into the Rito in that time. Also the Rito could not have been living on the sky islands for reasons I won't spoil here.

[@whatgsaid]

I had always explained the Zora/Rito connection as not the latter being directly descended from the former, but that they share a common ancestor that was fish-like and appeared more like the Zora. The two races still retained similar body proportions, but one remained aquatic while the other took to the skies - but DAMN I loved this video. It makes more sense.

[@EliteTrainerKenway]

Never stop doing Zelda videos! These are phenomenal!

[@AbsurdZeldaTheories]

Aw thank you mate ^_^

[@BlazeMakesGames]

An important thing to recognize is that the Zelda 'canon' and timeline has been rewritten and retconned constantly. And while the text of Wind Waker doesn't say much, the outside material does explicitly state that the Rito descended from the Zora, but that doesn't mean that that can't change. The Zelda Encyclopedia is hardly 100% accurate as various people have already pointed out, and even Eiji Aounuma could have changed his mind over time. I mean after all it's always been ridiculous that the people who can survive underwater ended up having to "evolve" into living in the sky. Yeah you can argue things like saltwater or something but the point will still stand just due to sheer absurdity of the idea. It honestly makes more sense that there's just a race we've never seen before with the Rito than the idea that all of the fish people became birds lol. But yeah I think TotK is just retconning a few things and making the Rito now a more defined and prominent part of Hyrule's history, as well as retconning their design so that they have always looked cool.

[@myleswelnetz6700]

The Legend of Zelda timeline is a mangled mess.

[@borkus7620]

I love how everyone is trying to fit totk into the timeline as if having the imprisoning war directly after skyward sword and having rauru one of the sages from ocarina of time as the founder of Hyrule doesn't already count as enough evidence that this is a different timeline entirely

[@TAGfrost]

Their appearance could also be a factor of hybridization leading them to need to get the boost from the dragon to complete their wing evolution.

[@myleswelnetz6700]

0:33 On that note, I prefer to think that instead of being direct descendants of the Zora, the Rito are another population of the avian Chozo people from the Metroid series.

[@SoupRongan]

Eiji Aonuma: "We created the Rito as the evolved form of the Zora that appeared in "Ocarina of Time" and the Koroks as what the Kokiri became once they left the forest. They appear different, but they have inherited their blood." this quote seems pretty solid. and why can't the dragon do what the deku tree did and alter the zora into rito. and maybe some said no.

[@cavemanbuddyolpal]

Exactly and the zora in botw look a lot different from the ocarina of time zora so it stands to reason they may be descendants of River zora where rito are descended from sea zora or something like that is going on

[@myleswelnetz6700]

How can a fish/mammal evolve directly into a bird?

[@SoupRongan]

@@myleswelnetz6700 🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆

[@SoupRongan]

@@myleswelnetz6700 Go ask the guy who made that decision

[@Twilord_]

My assumption was always that after Hyrule got washed away the Zora who didn't make the cut for mountain life just kinda... swam away from the unfrozen time bubble, probably carrying as many Hylians to the surface as they could.

[@PurplePippiIJFinley]

Yeah, always found the perceived connection between the Rito and Zorra odd - this actually makes so much sense!

[@AbsurdZeldaTheories]

Aw thabks Pippi, ^_^

[@skistorm739]

​​@@AbsurdZeldaTheories the seahorse jelly might be still around

[@Sci_X1]

Link would’ve needed a fourth stamina wheel do deal with Mipha

[@elreinodelassombras693]

He would need five, in case theyre underwater (IS very probable they will be underwater)

[@myleswelnetz6700]

And a third row of hearts.

[@Falarson92]

I actually think WW Rito DID descend from Zora, and the ancient Rito as well. They're different enough from BotW Rito, but share some similarities with Zora as you said. It's like most latin americans have both european and amerindian blood.

[@hollowedmajora475]

Don't forget hytopia within the other areas outside Hyrule

[@golisopaus]

I had no idea you were birdkeepertoby until you mentioned your evolution video!! Haven’t watched your vids in years so it’s amazing to see you again talking about a new series

[@ProgectG]

In my theory, the ToTK timeline is not a retcon of Skyward sword, rather, after the Twilight Princess timeline, Hyrule falls into ruin once again for undisclosed reasons. After an indeterminant period of time, likely thousands of years, the Zonai come to re-found and restore the Kingdom of Hyrule. This theory would allow for the Zora to have evolved into the Rito as the theories claim.

[@ethanhansen1329]

I would like to propose a counter argument. The zora did evolve into the rito during the great flood. Link and Tetra defeat Ganondorf, then leave Hyrule to start New Hyrule and that is were spirit track takes place. The sea eventually subsides, revealing the old hyrule, bow in ruins. New zoras move in to old hyrule from other lands, making it so there are both rito and zora in the land. Then Rauru and Sonia refound Hyrule. Their new Hyrule would then have both zora and rito in the ancient past according to botw and totk Link, but only zora in the ancient past according to Rauru and his sages.

[@Josef_Von_Nazareth]

i like your theory cus it kinda doesnt make sense for tears of the kingdom past to be before any current game because it has to be atleast like 20 000 years between totk and botw because of the great calamity

[@FeignJurai]

Remember that no written history in any part of the Zelda timeline is absolute. The Rito of Wind Waker *believe* that they evolved from the Zora. It's very possible that the one specific Rito culture Link interacts with had a lot of relations with the Zora and they are just a bit confused about their history.

[@ThatAnArchyDude]

Toby, I still don't see how Zelda is a descendant of Sonya & Rauru since Sonya never had a child.

[@BrendanT-n2w]

For the egg thing, in a fantasy setting like The Legend of Zelda or Pokémon, I think it's possible that egg/sperm cells carry differing amounts of genetic information from the ones in real life. It's possible that your Zora-Zora relationships result in egg laying with tadpoles but Zora-Hylian relations result in live birth! At least in fantasy.

[@thesillyone3837]

Hyrule has been reestablished before it could have been again Zora being fresh water explains why they became bird like Both rito and Zora have eggs

[@jonahbutterfield5792]

After playing TOTK I have a theory on its timeline placement which I think is important with the game and looking at how it relates to older games. I'm not entirely sure that TOTK takes place in the same timeline we are use to at this point. I know they said BOTW was the combination of all timelines, but with TOTK I think they may go back on that statement. This game really feels more like Skyward sword happened, some time frame then proceeded Skyward sword, and then the time Zelda in TOTK goes back to happens and then the rest of the timeline is completely separate from other zelda games. And yes I don't think the early time frame we see is the imprisoning war prior to twilight princess. For one, Hyrule is a think in what we see which was not the case with Hylia's imprisoning war against Demise, and two its against ganondorf and they do not send hylians into the sky. I think its more likely the events of Skyward sword were somewhat forgotten (and perhaps even Hylia and her hero along with the Triforce have become far more obscured with the Zoni appearing). Perhaps if it is the same timeline, then after Ganondorf in this version is sealed away, the zoni are forgotten and the war that leads to the twili being sealed away takes place after this event with worship falling back to hylia and the triforce which was seemly missing with the first king of hyrule. That also would mean that Ganondorf in OOT is a different ganondof which makes me wonder his connection to this new ganondorf we see in TOTK. Overall there is a lot of holes and weird things missing like Hylia and the Triforce that makes me think this game is a completely new timeline and has little to no connection to previous games aside from Skyward sword. Also with this would this maybe suggest that the Gerudo name for their 1 male every 100 name is Ganondof as a tradition? Like the name is just what their culture always names their male? just a thought

[@cavemanbuddyolpal]

Yeah cus I mean with skyward sword having demise killed in the past and the present it kinda seems like timeline branching is a possibility there with the main timeline on one branch and totk and botw on the other branch

[@lindenbree9188]

I wouldn't worry about anything Hyrule Encyclopaedia says, personally. It's just a weird fanfic that contradicts canon. Like the ocean being illusory, or Termina not being real. Hyrule Historia is compatible with canon lore (minus a single error in naming OoT's medallions), but the Encyclopaedia is just nonsense. I'm glad you pointed out the book's nonsense, but it's sad you have to

[@neonswift]

There's a pretty strong theory now that the Rauru Kingdom is NOT before the older Zelda games at all. It's basically justified by saying that the only person who states his kingdom is the first is Rauru, Zelda wouldn't know as she seemingly has no clue what time she is in. And to Rauru when he came down it's likely he had no knowledge of a kingdom that existed before if it was all flooded away by Wind waker ending, and then the water was dried up by the Korok being successful in spreading the forest. The memories show a kings on covered in trees, botw also has forests in every single province except gerudo, and the depths are all covered in what appear to be gnarled roots covering the depths,further backed up by the fact the Deku Tree is shown to reach all the way into the depths too. So I don't believe the Rito in the ancient kingdom are the same Rito. Similar names for the Rauru sages as those in the past also isn't proof because its shown many people have the same name as people in the past (Impa and Beedle) just to name a few.

[@whitelasagna6786]

One, Zelda clearly uses the tradition of fantasy referring to different species “races”. Two, it’s possible that the Rito in WW did evolve from Zora but into a form that already existed but had gone extinct.

[@foggy3374]

Botw and Totk have many reverences to previous Zelda games in all three timelines who would lead to the assumption that they have to be placed in every timeline and can’t get placed in the other ones. That’s why I think that they united all of the three timelines and that means that all events of all previous Zelda games happened before Botw and Totk. Because the great sea only appears in the adventures of The Wind Waker in only one timeline, the Zora did evolve into the Rito and at the same time they didn’t in the other timelines. When the timelines did unite before the happenings in Botw both races existed. I think that this is a very logical explanation that in Botw and Totk both races exist at the same time.

[@prohungary8614]

In breath of the wild i've find the wierdest side quest where a child looking Zora girl got together with a Hylian guy who's clearly an adult.

[@TQM470]

Tears of the kingdom's past is far in the future of the original timeline, or it is an entirely new universe. Personally i believe in the former, as Nintendo stated that Botw so far in the future that the timelines don't matter.

[@Pegyson]

My theory is that after the second flooding at the end of WW only the Zonai could live in the sky and so after the water finally went away they made a new Hyrule and the Gerudos found rock Ganondorf and released him because he is their king, even if he's not born in present day. It to me at least explains why the Koroks stay looking the same, why there are both Rito and Zora at the same time

[@xluckydog]

Rito exist alongside Zora in the same way that monkeys exist alongside humans. Not every member of a species has to evolve for a subset to form. It's likely that the Rito are a faction of Zora that evolved separately over time :)

[@neocrimsoncloud]

Such a fitting topic for Bird Keeper Toby.

[@DarthTingleBinks]

Someone else stated that that it's possible for some Zora to have evolved into the Rito while Zora still existed elsewhere and didn't evolve. Which is 100% true. When the first Homo Sapien started walking around, it didn't mean the previous species stopped existing. In fact, I believe early Homo Sapiens coexisted with several other early human species such as Homo Habilis. Beyond that, though, it is still implied that the Rito of Wind Waker had some sort of magical help with their evolution into the Rito. And even more beyond that, it has happened multiple times in real life that two unrelated species evolved the same traits and more or less look like they're directly related, but are not. Just look at the many crab-like creatures that are not technically crabs. And then of course the term "species" is pretty poorly defined anyway. There's no clear indication when one species becomes another, but there is a clear indication that humans and chimpanzees are not the same species. Also, Toby's videos about the Zora and Rito confuse me. For the longest time I had thought that the Zora from the Downfall timeline (not including the Oracle Games) were Sea Zora and that that the Zora of OoT, TP, and BotW were River Zora. But I just looked it up to confirm my previous understanding and I'm wrong? I guess? I don't know why I always thought that. I mean I could've sworn I saw it in Hyrule Historia, but I don't have my own copy so I can't check to make sure. It also just makes sense for the Zora to evolve into the Rito if they were fresh water Zora (River Zora). The Downfall timeline Zora do only ever appear in fresh water bodies, but I always just thought they were capable of breathing both kinds of water. My entire worldview is collapsing as we speak. Now I must question everything.

[@whistlingstarlight2942]

Great seeing you branch out into other medias! It's fun seeing your takes on pre-existing theories, they're very unique. Personally I subscribe to the theory that the WW Rito and the BotW Rito aren't the same (namely that the BotW Rito evolved from the Loftwings), and I like your idea of how the Wind Waker incarnation came about. We already know interacial couples are a go in Hyrule (eg Mipha's love for Link, and Gerudo women all having to marry Hylian men). Looking forward to seeing what else you come up with in the future!

[@pizzapie5356]

Another possibility with wind waker, is with such a massive ocean covering the land possibly the zora continued living in their existing civilization, now deep undersea. They can exist underwater afterall.

[@AbsurdZeldaTheories]

In the Depthd even, possibly

[@ithuhalinqua1026]

I don't understand why everyone assumes there could only ever be one founding of Hyrule. In real life, kingdoms come and go and reappear constantly. And that's looking at the history of approximately 2500 years. If there are 10-20 thousand years or more between the events of BotW and whatever game is canonically closest in the series, why wouldn't Hyrule be "refounded" once or twice along the way?

[@lucascalise2213]

I just thought of Mipha and Link chaseing around a bunch of tadpoles that may or may not be blond.

[@ryanhernandez5632]

My assumption was the breath of the wild time line was after windwaker. Possibly the flood oceans eventually receded. For example the leviathan skeletons are spread in 3 different location across the map. All the salt deposits indicate massive oceans at one point. Also while i realize this is a less popular theory but hear me out. Botw hyrule castle shares very similar typography to windwakers hryule castle. Mainly the lake surrounding it, as well as the ruins behind it which may have been the remains of windmakes gannon castle

[@MoramothHauntz]

Glad you mentioned this video in your q&a. Fun stuff Toby

[@novantha1]

I'm not actually convinced that "Zora being there at the founding of Hyrule" as described in TotK is valid evidence that the common interpretation of Windwaker's Rito is wrong, as such. One major note is that a lot of people are putting forth that the "founding of Hyrule" described in ToTK isn't between Skyward Sword and the other games; it's a re-founding of Hyrule after a great downfall that occurs in all of the timelines, and they took the old name (and many of the old customs) as a nod to the storied history of the land. Taken this way, there's no reason that "re-founding" of Hyrule couldn't be after the Wind Waker, hence no reason for the Zora not to evolve into the Rito.

[@Mech3001]

Personality, I believe that the “ancient past” that Zelda travels to is actually somewhere right before BotW in the timeline, as from what we know pretty much everything looks the same and additionally the stories of the time persisted, even including the names of some of the characters, implying that it’s not too terribly far back in time.

[@sidiwvwhi]

but it’s hyrules founding era no? how could it be right before botw?

[@itskdog]

My guess is that the "people" as TOTK call them that a child belongs to must be 50/50 on the parents, except maybe the Gerudo for some reason. Or maybe it's just the race of the mother that's relevant for which people they are born to, similar to Pokémon.

[@theguntersadopt3268]

I wonder how the offspring would look with the elves and other races

[@PhillyCh3zSt3ak]

The timeline just keeps getting screwier and screwier at this point. Mostly the Rauru/Sonia monarchy while also being near the time of Skyward Sword's alleged events according to one interpretation. It's all getting confusing again.

[@cardboardking577]

As well as the fact that the Zora look exactly the same in botw/totk time as they do Zonai time Makes where botw is placed on the timeline even more confusing

[@cavemanbuddyolpal]

@@cardboardking577 yeah I don’t really buy the flashbacks in totk being anywhere before skyward sword because the fact that the sword that seals the darkness is known to rauru and ganondorf

[@omagoddd8246]

I was always confused about why fish people evolved into bird people when the world flooded. My friend thought it was because the Ocean was salty and the Zora were freshwater fish but they would have just adapted to salt water like theyve done before and also the fact that they Evolved like this in under 500 years (Probably 500 Idk) But this clears it up.

[@mattiaboscherini4001]

It probably was so they would not find the flooded hyrule kingdom

[@TheNightAngels95]

This is all based on the theory that the events of the ancient past of TotK are placed around the time of skyward sword, there is too much evidence and pre established lore to suggest that this is not possible. The alternatives are that TotK and BotW take place in a separate timeline or alternatively take place so far into the future of the timeline that there is a second founding of the kingdom of hyrule. Either way. It is strongly implied that the rito are "evolved" from the zora most likely with the assistance of magic or divine intervention. Though as stated, not all the zora would have evolved this way, leaving some zora to continue existing as zora. As to the zora laying eggs, though majoras mask shows zora eggs, no other entry in the series makes refference to it. That being the case, with termina being an alternate dimension, it is possible that their biology is different to the hyrulian zora. It is also entirely possible that the zora have evolved and changed over time one way or the other for live birth or egg laying. For mipha and link, it is entirely possible that at that point in time, they are capable of live birth. As for the gorons, we never see any female gorons, in BotW, the appearance of gorons in gerudo town suggest that they are asexual, reproducing through some unknown means, thus leaving the possibility of a goron hylian hybrid to be fairly unlikely. The character brought up as a possible example is most likely a hylian that has been raised by or at the very least lived with gorons for an extended period of time and has styled himself after them and built his physique to match them to keep up with their lifestyle.

[@Luxembourgish]

You can avoid all these EXTREME retcons by recognizing "We are the king and queen who founded Hyrule" as founding a later Hyrule. There's more than one version of Hyrule.

[@AdderMoray]

"No matter how you slice up the tineline" Raoru's Hyrule isn't the first Hyrule. It's the third (adult timeline) or second (child and failed hero timelines) taking place long after the last game in whichever timeline. Evidence: Ganondorf doesn't refer to Sofia as a Hylian woman. He says that Raoru married a Hyrulean woman.

[@AbsurdZeldaTheories]

How does this piece of evidence affect things. What’s the difference here between Hylian and Hyrulian that means Rararus Hyrule can’t be the first

[@keeganguyer5237]

Zonai: Allow us to introduce ourselves.

[@FeedMeSalt]

I love telling my friends and family about the fact that the people are all Races. Not species. Meaning they can and do all interbreed where physically possible.

[@takarahayashi4124]

/tipsglasses - actually rapidly changing physical appearance in a short period of time is metamorphosis , aka the caterpillar > butterfly

[@davidprogamer2703]

Theory: The TotK past (Zonai Past) happens after Hyrule Warriors. Hyrule Warriors (with Cia) happens, fuses the 3 timelines, and ends. So, realistically, when Rauru says that he is "Hyrule First King", it means "Post-Hyrule Warriors". Nintendo says that HW was not canon, I call bullshit. Their "Zelda Encyclopedia" is a load of idiocy, so the "not-canon" comment is too. TLDR: Hyrule Warriors happened, Skyward sword was (probably) set even further back in the past (maybe even hundreds of thousand / millions of years), and Rauru doesn't know about the Lost Past.

[@calamitousenigma9052]

Everyone is misinterpreting the TOTK memories as the founding of THE Hyrule from every other game. It *very clearly* isn't, unless TOTK is a reboot of the timeline. The BOTW artbook states that no male Gerudo have been born since the "king who became the Calamity," a title which most certainly belongs to TOTK's Ganondorf. This means that if TOTK Ganondorf was sealed pre-OOT, the Ganondorf debuting in OOT (i.e. every other Ganon in the series outside of FSA) would not be born. And BOTW/TOTK absolutely take place after OOT, given that Nabooru and Ruto are both mentioned in BOTW. In other words, if TOTK's Ganondorf is sealed at Hyrule's foundation, then the *only* way that can work without being a continuity reboot is if the Hyrule seen in BOTW and TOTK is a new Hyrule that was presumably established after the collapse of the old one (the one from every pre-BOTW game) with the help of the Zonai.

[@QuantaSolace]

I honestly think Nintendo retconned the Rito for Breath and Tears. My head canon is they evolved from the Loftwings.

[@Skyknightewe78]

Well I kinda believe that the Zora were the original but split into two evolution routes. One becoming the Zora and another becoming the rito. This reminds me of the belief that us humans had a common ancestor with primates such as chimpanzees but split apart in different evolutionary directs.

[@jacobyullman5005]

While I agree that the interbreeding between Zelda races is not only possible but has happened and does happen, i don't think the timeline quite fits for the explanation. As far as I understood, Breath of the Wild takes place so far away from the rest of the Zelda timeline that even BoTW's ancient history is likely THOUSANDS of years after the next closest game in the series. I think that what Tears of the Kingdom refers to as "the founding of Hyrule" is not actually the beginning of the timeline, but the founding of Hyrule as the current era understands it. We know that, after the events of Windwaker, Hyrule was re-founded in another land where Phantom Hourglass takes place, so my theory would be this. Long after the events of Phantom Hourglass, when the great sea finally drained to reveal the original lands of Hyrule, the races returned and re-founded Hyrule once more with the aid of Rauru and the Zonai.

[@Joker3180Z]

5:48 The Era of the wild takes palfe on all three timelines

[@phantomkiller2847]

Since Valoo was the who granted the WW Rito wings, they used the grappling hook to get around before he was around. By extension, AFTER Valoo inevitably dies, there's no way for the Rito to gain wings, leaving them stranded. I suppose this is where the Stormwind Ark came in and carried the Rito to their new home, where they eventually evolved wings themselves.

[@moonmelons]

It's interesting that Wind Waker is so common to bring up, as Wind Waker goes a long way to explain what is happening here. It's a common misbelief that because Rauru says he is the first king of Hyrule, that this must take place at the start of the timeline at Hyrule's founding after Skyward Sword. But they forget the very essence of what Wind Waker was about. That game was about Hyrule's death. Leaving that cursed Kingdom buried under the waves. Trying to escape from the fate that Hyrule is cursed to go through, to break off from that cycle of rebuilding and destruction that their best efforts cannot stop from happening. Sure, they have the Hero but what happens when the Hero fails? There's already a fallen timeline where the Hero had failed, and pre-Wind Waker the Hero couldn't be reborn but Ganon will always come back, always. However. Just as a hero named Link keeps being reborn, just as the Royal Family will just happen to keep naming the reincarnations of Hylia as Zelda, Hyrule itself will reappear too. Even the destruction of Hyrule is not enough to break this curse and free its people from the cycle; it will come back. That is the reality of the situation. You're not looking at the birth of Hyrule in the past Zelda went to, you are looking at it's rebirth.

[@partyrock4144]

You know that not even the zora were around at the founding of hyrule right? They evolved from those umbrella fish some time later

[@SilentVinyl]

Everybody is ready to mingle in Hyrule

[@cavemanbuddyolpal]

The windwaker ocean is illusory because it doesn’t go down to the sea floor until the end of the game and fish in the sea are pretty limited (or atleast it looked that way to me) and with ganondorf being under the water it’s prolly not the best idea to live in the water

[@hyronvalkinson1749]

Hey guys, did you know that in terms of male human and female nonhuman mating, Zoras are the most compatible Pokémon for Hylians? Not only are they in the field egg group, which is mostly comprised of mammals, Zora are an average of 3”03’ tall and 63.9 pounds, this means they’re large enough to be able handle human dicks, and with their impressive Base Stats for HP and access to Acid Armor, you can be rough with one. Due to their mostly water based biology, there’s no doubt in my mind that an aroused Zora would be incredibly wet, so wet that you could easily have sex with one for hours without getting sore. They can also learn the moves Attract, Baby-Doll Eyes, Captivate, Charm, and Tail Whip, along with not having fur to hide nipples, so it’d be incredibly easy for one to get you in the mood. With their abilities Water Absorb and Hydration, they can easily recover from fatigue with enough water. No other Hyrulian race comes close to this level of compatibility. Also, fun fact, if you pull out enough, you can make any Zora turn white. The Zora are literally built for human dick. Ungodly defense stat+high HP pool+Acid Armor means it can take cock all day, all shapes and sizes and still come for more.

[@elfi643]

I don’t think I’ve seen anyone consider this but, what if the past section of tears of the kingdom took place after every other game, so long after hyrule fell that all memory of it disappeared, what if botw is just that far in the future.

[@demonichero13]

I assume having a kid in “Zelda” is similar to “Pokémon” male hyalin marriage a female Zora and so it’s always Zora children.

[@Shadow01974]

While i do think this is an... Interesting... Theory. I have to disagree with the timeline placement and the implication the because we see a Rito and a Zora in the battle against the Demon King in TOTK, that it means that the Rito and Zora arent evolved from each other. I place BOTW and TOTK so far after any other game in the timeline that all of the other games events have occurred in one timeline. History has repeated itself. This explains the Armor sets refrencing previous games, the Rock salt, and the reference to "The glowing embers of Twilight" Zelda makes in BOTW. It all exists in one timeline. And in all of that, the Kingdom of Hyrule has fallen, and restarted, and fallen and restarted many times. The time the Zelda goes back to in TOTK is just the most recent founding of the "Kingdom of Hyrule" not the original founding after Skyward Sword.

[@StevenElseyArt]

I wonder if Medli's dialogue about the grappling hook is mistranslation and was meant to mean each individual Rito uses one until they reach the age to get a scale from Valoo and receive their own wings. I haven't seen what the line is in Japanese, so no idea.

[@kikosawa]

What makes you so sure that TotK takes place before any other game in the series? As far as I'm concerned, it very well can be just a distant future and second founding of Hyrule, long after Rito came to be.

[@furrystarcat]

Crackpot theory: Rito evolved from flying fish Zora

[@purpledevilr7463]

The Zora are the product of the Vaporeon copypasta.

[@hcheaz]

new channel with 10k subs, good on u

[@bastionsea2829]

It's perfectly reasonable to take the hookshot quote as before they were able to fly. We have birds currently that can't fly yet as their wings haven't developed Maybe Rito young can't fly until later in life, so they need other methods to move around

[@AbsurdZeldaTheories]

Yep yep true ^_^

[@faisalahmed6344]

rito young can fly. the one shrine quest from botw, where you have to have 5 rito young in to complete the quest where in the end of cut scene or something that sho 5 of them are racing to go home faster while flying.

[@HarambaeXelonmuskfans]

@@faisalahmed6344 They all had rocket propelled jetpacks your evidence is meaninglesd

[@skistorm739]

​@@AbsurdZeldaTheories maybe in the time of sea these rito never need to evo wings into given them by a feather dragon?

[@specttGD]

ah yes, mona lisa was made to save the people during a great flood

[@Victor-dm4qv]

You will have to do a lot more to convince me that Skyward Sword did not come long before the founding of Hyrule.

[@dionysuswinecult1495]

it always did make me confused as to why the FISH people evolved to be bird people when the world was FLOODED

[@nullvoid7188]

The Zora that we see are fresh water Zora, the great sea would of been purely salt water so they would have a hard time surviving which is why in windwaker it's hinted they tried moved to land until I guess ganondorf or something demolished the island leaving only jabu to hide.

[@gabrieloviedocasanas4977]

*Me playing TOTK, instinctively every time I came across a Zora: * Why the fuck are you naked? *The Zora in question: * What the fuck are you wearing??? *Me, looking down at myself, noticing that I'm just wearing a pair of shorts and Cede's hat:* ...Is called fashion and you are avoiding the question

[@TheBaranauticle]

Theory: So i agree with the fact that the rito were in hyrule since the age of the zonai, but where were they? If i have the events in the right order then that means that the imprisoning war happend before skyward sword. which explains why the skyislands exist in totk and SS, but i also think it explains what happend with the species/races of hyrule as well. they all got left when the gods rose up the lands. so they were all forced to adapt to survive. The rito probably used the ark to rise into the sky as well. The thing is they didn't come back down until Wind Waker. They probably stored tons of food on the ark. enough to last eons and just lived on that food until they ran out which is when they came back down in WW. Since they had all that food they probably didn't fly much because they had no need to, which explains the wings. So in WW, the ritos return to the land after staying in the sky for eons, Since gorons sink, the gorons are alive under death mountain which is flooded, The zoras are stuck underwater, and the gerudo are pirates. Now that the rito were back on land they needed wings, so over time they evolved back into the rito of the past. I feel like this is the most likely answer and it makes a lot of sense, to me at least.

[@that1cat999]

Don’t you mean how freaky we got for the Zora?

[@EpicRandomness555]

3:05 Dang, ice cold lol.

[@thehynusoftime7344]

I don't think we really even need to disregard the Zelda Encyclopedia for this to work, especially because Hyrule Historia also says the Zora changed into Rito, and is pretty universally considered canon even if the Encyclopedia isn't. That doesn't mean the Rito have to ORIGINATE from the Zora. If we assume that the Rito have just always been around, and that the Zora are changed into Rito by the gods (presumably to keep them from rediscovering Hyrule) I think that works quite well.

[@krzystajer5485]

why does everyone think that its weird love is love aslong as its not forced it actually a good thing that you have someone who you can say anything that bothers you to mipha loves and link and theres evidence that link loves her back (via his journal in japanese and some suggestions throught age of calamity)

[@Shiny_guy]

This showed up in my recommend many times for some reason

[@dakotaedmonds6612]

Zelda canonically has a little goat in her

[@ippokratismargiouklas2791]

Clicked on the video and thought is this bird keeper toby? I'm glad to see i was right . A surprise to be sure but a welcome one

[@tfraenckel]

I mean, I think I disagree, simply because I personally don't believe that TotK/BotW exists in the same timeline as the previous games. Nintendo has been very careful not to fully confirm where, if at all, these games even really belong in the timeline

[@forever_mattdog9778]

I don't care how long it takes, I WILL steal Sidon's wife, and if I get him too, that's just a bonus

[@damionwilson5391]

I don't often subscribe to things, but this is good content and I would like to see this account grow and get a good audience

[@AbsurdZeldaTheories]

Aw thank you so much ^_^

[@Joker3180Z]

4:08 Gerudo actually count as Hylian, alongside Sheikah and Yiga Zora isn't a species it's another race but all races in Zelda are humanoid as such yep, this theory is accurate

[@LizardMane]

Why are the gerudos built with so much damn cake? This is my first zelda game

[@Damonnanashi]

Nah, no cake. That's pure muscle. The only one I can think of off the top of ny head is the sand seal rental lady who has chubby thighs. They're all built like brick shithouses. They're like 8ft tall. Would not say no. And not out of fear either. Granted, it would be pretty sad for them to come along and nab your daughter at like 3 years old and you won't get the chance to see them again for a long ass time.

[@Skystarry75]

I mean, when Wind Waker came out, pretty sure they meant for it to be that the Zora evolved over generations into the Rito... It's just been retconned is all. And it's not like there wasn't precedent with other races taking interest in Hylians.

[@Jaricko]

Botw either has to be some convergant timeline or AFTER wind waker honestly. I like the theory that botw is after hyrule warriors... even though that shouldn't be canon.. it makes the most sense. Alternatively after wind waker as the rito, koroks and large amounts of salt exist. But also so far, the triforce seems to be missing, there is little history of hylia the goddess it seems. And we know from skyward hyrule could not have been founded by Rarue how totk implies it was, unless he founded hyrule... after the flood receeded. Hyrule 2 Not sure where Ganondorf fits into all this, but could just have been reincarnated like link or zelda.

[@kalzaar6300]

it cant work with Skyward sword. the zonai hyrule is the founding of the first kingsom of "new" hyrule. zonai founded the new landmass spread from the korok seeds. that's why they're spread out. the ancient hero would be a new mantaling of the hero's spirit after the hero of winds left. theres a lot of tree roots holding the new land mass like was said in WW.

[@RatRhapsody]

You’re forgetting that hyrule warriors merged the 3 timelines to make the AoC/botw/totk timeline. That’s why there are Goron, gerudo, Zora and rito

[@KhemBMD]

wait.... wait a second.... i just realized something. Raru and Sonia die! where is their kid? you never meet them! you never even see them! they're never even mentioned! lol out of the many supposed loopholes this one in my opinion is a big one lol . the devs took the care to even slyly include gannondorfs sister moms in a cutscene and the inscriptions on his sword yet missed that completely....