Daily Debate: Is Hyrule a Kingdom, a Continent, or the Entire World?

Ah, Hyrule. Beautiful, scenic, and trapped in the eternal conflict between good and evil. But what exactly is Hyrule? While it is often described as a kingdom, game maps label the entire explorable area as Hyrule. This suggests that all races and all locations, despite their presumed independence from the Hylian crown, are still considered part of Hyrule. Yet the races Link encounters during his adventures also swear fealty to the Hylian crown, and share the same currency. So is Hyrule a kingdom, an empire, a continent, or the entire world?

According to Hyrule Historia, the land of the surface, which was once governed by the goddess Hylia, is Hyrule. Which means, if it isn’t floating in the sky, it’s Hyrule. Hyrule Kingdom functions like an empire, but it’s also the zone on the map most populated by the Hylian race. This “everything’s Hyrule” explanation works okay in main story games. We’re too busy saving the world to really stop and think about how the world defines itself. Plus, stating that everything is Hyrule is a solid way for game developers to build the map without overly complicating things.

But calling everything Hyrule has also resulted in a huge problem. We have quite a few games that don’t take place in Hyrule, yet none of them can be placed on a Hylian map. For example, Hytopia from Triforce Heroes is a separate kingdom, located north of Hyrule. That description gives us an idea of where it is, but not how it exists in relation to the world. Is Hytopia a separate continent to the north? Is it the Canada of Hyrule? (American writer here!) If everything is Hyrule, why aren’t places like Hytopia and Holodrum stated to be in the world of Hyrule?

These locations exist in a Schrodinger’s Cat kind of void. Hytopia, Holodrum, and Labrynna both are and are not Hyrule. They exist in relation to the main games, but also apart of it. Not quite a separate dimension like Termina, but certainly never developed or cultivated beyond an adventuring location.

How do you define Hyrule? Do you see it as just a kingdom, or define it as the whole world? Would you like to see the developers define what is and isn’t Hyrule a bit more? Let us know in the comments!