Cracking Open the “Egyptian Zelda” Rumor

A couple days back we stumbled upon some Skyward Sword rumors. Pretty standard, really; rumors about an upcoming Zelda title seem to crop up about this time every year. While I already did a comprehensive breakdown of what I think about the rumors, there are a few of them that I feel could be explored a bit more in-depth.

The one I want to focus on today suggests that Princess Zelda will have brown hair and take on an Egyptian aesthetic. I’ve already mentioned the fact that Zelda Williams (pictured at left) is doing a super-secret photo shoot for Nintendo that could very well be related to the game, and that she’s both a brunette and could easily pull off the Egyptian Princess look, but I’ve done some digging and uncovered some more info (well, not info per se) that could possibly corroborate the rumor even further.

A poster on NeoGAF brought something to my attention that, really, I should have seen sooner. Check out these stills of enemies from the Skyward Sword GDC 2011 trailer and try to guess what they all have in common:

UPDATE: Let’s not forget the Scorpion boss, just for good measure. Thanks Cody!

Each of them is adorned with Egyptian-style garb of some sort – see the collar worn by the Big Blin, the loincloth worn by the Lizalfos, and the Stalfos’ battle armor. It’s somewhat subtle, but it’s there, and that means it’s probably elsewhere in the game. But there’s another clue to go along with this as well, and it involves a well-known item, being introduced for the first time in Skyward Sword.

You guessed it – I’m talking about the Beetle…or should I say the scarab. Scarab beetles are a key symbol in Egyptian mythology and symbology, so the fact that a mechanical one has been included as a major item in Skyward Sword colors me all kinds of curious. Now I think it’s safe to say that it can’t be a coincidence – there’s definitely some kind of Egyptian inspiration behind Skyward Sword‘s world.

Now, I realize that Egyptian-looking enemies and a single item don’t necessarily mean the princess herself will take on the same cultural influence, but could there be something to this rumor? I can’t say one way or the other, but suffice to say I think it’s at least very, very possible – although at the same time the source of the rumor could very well have noticed the same thing, jumped to his or her own hasty conclusion, and posted it as fact.

What do you guys think? Is this enough to convince you that Skyward Sword‘s Zelda may in fact take on an Egyptian appearance? Still too miffed about that Zordiana thing to really care for the workings of the rumor mill? And (admittedly for my own pride’s sake) is there any other rumor from the list you’d like to see me examine a bit closer? Let us know in the comments!

Thanks to Evilink at NeoGAF for the inspiration!