Spoiler Goddess of the Sand: Who is She?

[Zelda_1224]

Yes i believe that youre theory is true, and that they worship din because power being such a huge element to gerudos

 

[Draconis]

The Goddess of Sand cannot be one of the Golden Goddesses for the simple reason that the Gerudo show distaste toward Hylian culture and worship. To then worship one of such Goddesses would be contradictory and hypocritical of their own culture.

The Goddess of Sand, to me, seems more like a Devil figure. Whilst Din, Farore and Nayru are bringing order and life to the world she is bringing crime and war, supported by the fact that the race that worships her are called a "race of thieves" and are outcast from the rest of Hyrule (except in FSA). The Goddess, or rather what she seems to represent, is in stark contrast to that of the Golden Goddesses and it is this that leads me to believe she is a separate entity altogether. In a possible nod to Christianity she is often shown surrounded by snakes, making a comparison between her and the account of the Devil and the Serpent in the bible. There are also snakes littered around the Spirit Temple in OoT and TP's Arbiter's grounds has a boss that resembles a dragon, a beast associated with the image of the Devil. "So down the great dragon was hurled, the original serpent, the one called Devil and Satan" Revelation 12:9.

The Goddess of Sand being the Devil of the Zelda world makes much more sense to me than a race so opposed to Hylians deciding to worship one of their gods.

And before people call me out for tetraforce supporting, if the Goddess of Sand were a devil figure, she wouldn't be a goddess at all. Rather simply a being given the title of Goddess by her followers. Just sayin'

What if the Goddess of the Sand is actually Demise? And the desert colossus is the statue of Hylia atop Demise's prison? Okay, it's heavily implied that said location ended up becoming the Temple of Time, as it's where the Master Sword is located and likely the entrance to the Sacred Realm, but the Master Sword could've been moved after Skyward Sword.

Perhaps Demise's evil seeped out from his prison, poisoning the land, killing the plant life and drying the water. His rage and anger, conquering time itself, would make earthquakes and droughts and other disasters. As such, it makes sense that the Hylians would move to greener pastures, taking the Master Sword with them. But perhaps they left the statue of Hylia behind.

Imagine that one day, the people who lived on the edge of the desert and had to steal to survive the harsh environment, people known as the Gerudo, declared war against the Hylians in order to take their beautiful, lush, green territory and blessed land for their own. Imagine they lost the war, and were driven away, forced to flee deep into the desert. One by one they died of thirst or exposure, blasting sandstorms, desert predators, etcetera, until finally only one woman remained. This woman found shelter from a hateful sandstorm in the shadow of a great statue, now eroded and changed by the sands of time. There she prayed for help, asking any who would listen, offering anything in return for her people's survival.

And then a voice answered. An ancient being, who had not forgotten his promise. This creature of evil and destruction offered her people a chance to live, but in turn they must serve this being, who in actuality was Demise, and their leader must bare a male child, who would become their king. This child would hold the seed of Demise's power and thus fulfill his promise of returning from the grave to get revenge on the descendants of the Hero and the Goddess Hylia. Knowing that the king of most cultures was the most noble male, he cursed the Gerudo so that they could only ever bear a single male child in each generation, the child with Demise's seed within him, so he would, by virtue of being the only male, become their king.

Alternatively, perhaps several Gerudo survived to reach what was once the statue of Hylia, and in return for Demise's aid in surviving the desert, the cost was a sacrifice of whatever men were left. Maybe the queen of the Gerudo even proposed such a sacrifice, assassinating her consort (and the last man among them) in his sleep so she could rule. Maybe the men all died in the war with Hylia, leaving their women to flee deeper into the desert. In any of these cases, with no more men among them, Demise's promise to keep her people alive for all time was taken a little too literally - her people were all women, so only Gerudo women would continue on through the ages. I haven't decided which version I like more.

Over generations, this force for destruction, which was centered beneath a statue of a woman in the desert, got confused with the statue itself, and so when the Gerudo would offer prayers and sacrifices to placate this being, asking it to avert its destructive gaze, they did these things in the name of a goddess of the sand. This is supported by the fact that Ganondorf, who bore Demise's seed, and his evil adoptive mothers, the witches Koume and Kotake (who I like to think got their powers from Demise/the Goddess of the Sand) used the Desert Colossus as their base of operations.

If you insist that the Temple of Time and/or Hyrule Castle were built atop Demise's seal and that the Master Sword remained there until Ocarina of Time, it's also possible that Demise somehow spoke to those who visited this statue of Hylia, and thus he and Hylia were confused, and then the Gerudo later fashioned the Desert Colossus in imitation of the statue of Hylia where their god(dess) spoke to them. If anyone's familiar with the Eberron setting, it's sort of like the Church of the Silver Flame, which is a force for good, dedicated mostly to the semi-divine paladin Tira Miron who vanquished and imprisoned an evil demon there, but from time to time the demon's voice whispers from within the holy silver flame, misguiding the faithful who believe it is Tira Miron speaking to them.

 

[Awesomehylian]

Aaaaaah The sweet sweet nectar of logic. This is a very awesome conclusion, and you could use it to refute the current tetraforce theory making the rounds, as it claims that the statues in the desert depict a fourth goddess indicative of a fourth piece of the triforce. However, it makes waaaaaaaaaaay more sense that the Gerudo, being isolationist, would become more attached to the story of the goddesses in general. In OOT, the only reference we have to the goddesses is the cutscene showing them creating Hyrule. But no characters in the game say anything remotely religious in nature, not even when it comes to the goddesses. I mean, sure, there's the temple of time and the church, but nobody actually comes out and says anything about showing devotion to the goddesses. In fact, the church is always empty.

In all the games which feature the Gerudo, it is made clear, either by some other character or by the Gerudo themselves, that they only respect strength and that they are formidable and lawless. This ties in directly with your theory and I think that it perfectly explains away all possible confusion or misrepresentation of symbolism in the desert, as well as provides that religious cult that really should be in Hyrule somewhere.

 

[Locke]

In all the games which feature the Gerudo, it is made clear, either by some other character or by the Gerudo themselves, that they only respect strength and that they are formidable and lawless.

FSA:

Welcome. It's been a long time since we've seen any travelers here. This village is our home. We are the dwellers in the desert, the Gerudo tribe. The village is in a bit of an uproar contending with a man who broke our laws. We can't do much for you, but make yourself at home.

Curse that Ganondorf! He broke our laws and left for the pyramid... I don't know what he plans, but I am worried...

Yes, this Ganondorf you speak of is a member of the Gerudo. But his intent is unknown to me. He has flouted the law and fled for the pyramid. To reach the pyramid, one must first pass the trial of the Desert Temple. The villain Ganondorf will no doubt draw his last breath failing this trial. We've blocked the road to the desert to keep other fools from coming. But considering the crisis in Hyrule, we've no reason to stop you brave lads. Go to the entrance of the village and speak to the guards at the gate.

OoT:

First of all, let me introduce myself. I'm Nabooru of the Gerudo. I'm a lone wolf thief. But don't get me wrong! Though we're both thieves, I'm completely different from Ganondorf. With his followers, he stole from women and children, and he even killed people! A kid like you may not know this, but the Gerudo race consists only of women. Only one man is born every hundred years... Even though our laws say that lone male Gerudo must become King of the Gerudo, I'll never bow to such an evil man!

When Nabooru was a lone wolf thief, she never stole from the weak, but...
Now, Nabooru's gang of thieves stands for cruelty and brutality. She claims to be a chivalrous robber, but...no way!
Like I suspected, Nabooru was brainwashed by Ganondorf's followers...

Without the old witches, the gang of thieves isn't all that scary!

 

[Awesomehylian]

Locke -

Let me rephrase, the Gerudo are a strong race and though they have their own rules, they are not the rules of the land, which would make them considered lawless in the eyes the entire world in which they live. Even the most extremist groups in our own world have rules, even if those rules are simply to not obey everyone else's rules.

Ganondorf may not have been loved by the Spirit sage in OOT, but that is agiven, considering she is destined to join the forces of light. She is the only Gerudo who takes issue with his actions and is the only one to act against him. By herself she is an exception, and should not be used as a ruling factor to disprove the idea that the Gerudo do not recognize Hyrulian law. Thieves can have a code of honor, but we have no idea how that applies to regular people. Ganandorf's crime against the Gerudo could be abandonment, his intentions, his selfishness or any number of other things. The fact that one Gerudo calls him out on his supposed betrayal of his people is not enough to show the severity of Ganondorf's rule breaking.

As for FSA, the temple and pyramid is strictly off limits. By letting people know his intent to steal a relic entrusted to the Gerudo for presumably generations, he is betraying his people. However this law is intrinsic and is not a law of Hyrule. This fits into my point about being considered lawless by everyone else, as their laws are different.

The quotes you chose to use from FSA prove my point that Gerudo only respect strength. They block the path to an entire area from everyone for no real reason. Just so "fools," which in this case encompasses everyone, do not follow Ganondorf. He has fallen out of favor and is therefore considered weak. He is the first of the Gerudo without the self control to keep away from the treasure. It is assumed that the temple is impassable to those without absolute strength, further emphasizing the respect of strength.

So to sum up, as an isolationist race with a strong sense of community, the Gerudo have different laws than the rest of Hylia. They are considered thieves, though resent when they are stolen from (FSA, MM) and tend to respond with violence to any perceived threat. The kingdom of Hyrule would consider them to be outlaws since they do not recognize the larger laws of the land, and they are considered to be thieves. Strength is representative of both physical and mental fortitude. Ganondorf, having proven he does not have the mental strength to resist the Gerudo's treasure, is now considered weak and is mocked, or he has overstepped his power and is now resented by ONE member of his race (FSA -> OOT). And lets just throw in that in OOT and MM they imprison and beat up any outsider that comes to call.