How The Zoras Go From Good To Bad

[iDarkLink]

How The Zoras Go From Good To Bad
By: iDarkLink​

According to the Hyrule Historia timline, in Ocarina of Time (maybe Minish Cap, I haven't played Minish Cap yet, so I don't know), we meet the Zora race. These creatures are basically the fish people of the Zelda universe. They can live on land and water. These Zoras help Link on his quest.

In A Link to the Past, Oracle of Seasons, Oracle of Ages, Link's Awakening, Zelda I, and Zelda II, the Zoras are now working for Ganon and are attempting to kill you.

Why is that?

Well, here is my theory of how this occured. This is going for the "Hero is Defeated" branch in the Hyrule Historia timeline.

In Ocarina of Time, while Link is sealed away, Ganondorf freezes the Zoras underwater. If Link is then defeated by Ganon, Ganon then makes King Zora agree to work for him until the end of time. King Zora agrees and then the Zora's now fight for Ganon.

Very short theory, yes, I know. But this sort of explains why the Zoras are enemies in these games.

If I'm right, in one of the Oracle games, there is a Zora who isn't an enemy. He is most likely a rebel.
But I haven't played either of the Oracle games, so I'm not positive.

Thanks for reading this (rather short) theory!

 

[Big Octo]

Well, that is one interesting theory that could prove to be plausible, but it doesn't explain why there are enemy Zoras in Four Swords Adventures.

An alternate and excepted theory is that enemy Zoras are an entirely different race, referred to as River Zoras or Zolas (which is actually a mistranslation). This is supported by their completely different physical appearance from friendly Zoras. And why would a rebel of the River Zoras take on the appearance of the allied ones? Also, there's a friendly River Zora in Link's Awakening that looks exactly the same as its aggressive cousins.

 

[Cfrock]

Oracle of Ages has a whole village of peaceful, friendly Zoras who Link helps out during his adventure. These Zoras resemble the ones from Ocarina of Time.

I'm not sure of the validity of this but a while ago I recall reading that the sleek, intelligent looking Zoras from Ocarina of Time, Twilight Princess etc. are a specific race of Zora called Sea Zoras, while the ugly, nasty ones that attack in A Link To The Past and Link's Awakening etc. are another race called River Zoras. Not sure if that's an official explanation or a fan-made theory though.

I believe there was a friendly Zora in Link's Awakening too but I'm not sure.

 

[JuicieJ]

Lake and River Zoras were shown in the OoX. The Lake Zoras are the friendly ones. The River Zoras are the enemies. This explains the differences.

 

[Ronin]

Well, here is my theory of how this occured. This is going for the "Hero is Defeated" branch in the Hyrule Historia timeline.

In Ocarina of Time, while Link is sealed away, Ganondorf freezes the Zoras underwater. If Link is then defeated by Ganon, Ganon then makes King Zora agree to work for him until the end of time. King Zora agrees and then the Zora's now fight for Ganon.

Well, there are Zoras:

And then there Zolas (River Zoras, as mentioned by Big Octo):

In accordance with your theory, which I find credible, the Zoras might have joined with Ganon directly, or some were captured and forced to join sides with him, patrolling the waters for enemies. Or some of the Zoras were exposed to the dark powers of Ganondorf and they changed into the foreboding Zolas, while other Zoras were unaffected and remained the same.

There are many instances where Zoras could have evolved into something else (as they had changed into Rito when Hyrule was flooded), but I don't want to slap the "they evolved into them" label on them. (Although that is better than suggesting the water that flowed under King Zora altered them somehow...)

Whatever the case, I think the Zolas/River Zoras which appear during certain points after Ocarina of Time are no doubt descendants of OoT's Zora tribe. And in the case that Ganondorf defeated the Hero of Time and took complete control over Hyrule, I think it's safe to deduce that he manipulated the races into serving him. Moreover, to my knowledge, the Zolas come after OoT's era on the timeline, so it's very possible that they were corrupted.

 

[Djinn]

It is best to consider them two entirely different animals that just so happen to live in a very similar landscape. We already have various examples of other nonrelated creatures with the suffix -Blin. Who only have a similar trait of being an enemy of Link. The Bokoblins are demons of, the Bulblins are a raiding horde of conquers from the Light World that wander through the countryside pillaging, and the Moblins are a demonic servants of Ganondorf that seem to come from the dark world in many games. However they share a similar name. It could be possible that this is the same situation for the two species named Zora. They might be totally unrelated but the term Zora might just refer to water dwelling people.

So far the only example given about the two race situation is a brief mention in the Oracle Games,

"Don't think us noble sea Zoras the same as those savage, vulgar river Zoras!"

This is the only time both species are present in the game at the same time, much less make a mention. However I like to think the differences are noticeable enough, the sea Zora are the ones that are more humanoid with the bluish skin and long tail fins on the backs of their heads. While the River Zora are the more black lagoon style fishmen that can often times breathe fire.

However there are enough examples of River Zora who are not evil and will sometimes befriend Link. There is King Zora in ALTTP who sells Link the flippers, the friendly Zora in LA that befriends Link

"Hey, you can see me?! You must have a magnifying glass. I'm not a troublemaker. I just want to live in peace.

The Kakariko Zora in FSA

"Oh, I'm so hungry... I want to chow down on those fish, but I can't catch 'em! If you can get 10 or more of them in my mouth, I'll give you a reward!

From their sometimes being friendly and sometimes being evil it might be that the River Zora are probably a natural species living in Hyrule that is not always on friendly terms with the Hylians, but not always a minion of Ganondorf either. Remember in the backstory of ALTTP it mentions that a lot of people became followers of Ganondorf when he claimed the triforce.

However, in time evil power began to flow from the Golden Land and greedy men were drawn there to become members of Ganon's army.

I imagine that the greedy men who were drawn to the dark world and joined Ganon's army were not all Hylians, there may have been more than a few Zora in that group as well. Then that would account for the evil River Zora and the occasional friendly one as well. They could very well be much like the Bulblins of TP. A third party that is also prone to attacking Hylians but will on occasion join up with a larger villain if it will benefit them.

 

[RedDekuScrub]

I like to think that there are three branches of Zora. Those that are "Good", those that are "Bad" and those that are "Neutral". Just like Humans. We have good, bad, and neutral people. I like to call the "Bad" Zoras, "Zolas". (even though this is a miss-translation, but it helps to differentiate the two).

 

[Shadow Mori]

there are zoras and RIVER zoras. river zoras and zora zoras are a diferant race altogether. thats why one is evil and the other is good.

 

[Beauts]

In OoT the Zora's don't attack or anything but they aren't friendly towards outsiders. They are nice to Link because he rescues Ruto.
Possible conclusion? Maybe Zora's are just like humans. Some are nice, some aren't.

 

[Locke]

In OoT the Zora's don't attack or anything but they aren't friendly towards outsiders. They are nice to Link because he rescues Ruto.
Possible conclusion? Maybe Zora's are just like humans. Some are nice, some aren't.

The OoT Zoras are friendly to the Royal Family. And I'd assume all Hylians, even though they don't let just anyone walk into their domain. It'd be hard to be on friendly terms with the Royal Family if they don't respect the family's subjects.