Where Does Zelda Go After Skyward Sword? The Hero of Men

A while ago, Nathan posted an article that asked the question “Where does Zelda go after Skyward Sword?”, when it comes to plot.That got the wheels turning in my head, and I started thinking about it, and the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I wanted to write about it. I’ve thought a lot about the series, and there are several gaps between games where a great new Zelda story could unfold. One in particular stood out to me, and this article will dive into exactly when a new Zelda could take place, and what its story would include. If I

come up with other ideas, I may write on them too. For now, I propose that when the Zelda team sits down and says “what’s next?” they take a look at the story of the Hero of Men. Read on and see why this is a good move for Zelda.

A long, long time ago… when the world was on the verge of being swallowed by shadow…

The tiny Picori appeared from the sky, bringing the hero of men a sword and a golden light.

With wisdom and courage, the hero drove out the darkness.

When peace had been restored, the people enshrined that blade with care.

And the force of the golden light, embodied in Hyrule’s princess, shone forth upon the lands.

Zelda creator and director Shigeru Miyamoto is pretty vocal about the fact that he doesn’t like trying to wedge games into tight spaces, chronologically speaking. Storyline is one of many elements that goes into the overall gameplay experience, and other elements shouldn’t be sacrificed to prioritize it. This is why Zelda games have a lot of unexplored backstories. When you try to create a game based on the stoy from another game, it can greatly restrict what you’re able to do with the game.

Ocarina of Time is the prime example, as it is the game that most closely follows another games backstory. Based on the “Seal War” story of A Link to the Past, Ocarina of Time detailed the breach of the Sacred Realm, Ganondorf’s transformation into Ganon, the birth of the Dark World, and the Seal of the Seven Sages being cast. However, in order to make Ocarina of Time work as an individual story and game, it had to deviate quite a bit from the Seal War tale. Miyamoto wouldn’t be confined to some of the more specific storyline details to keep the overall storyline in tact, as it would be at the cost of the individual game’s integrity. These discrepencies created a pretty big uproar in the Zelda communities that is still felt to this day. Though Ocarina of Time is supposed to be A Link to the Past’s backstory, it can’t fit anywhere close to it chronologically, creating a jumbled mess for the timeline.

When developing a new game that relates to another game, Nintendo has to be careful not to make the same mistake. The best way to make a game from another game’s backstory is to take vague, but still interesting, concepts and expand on them. By avoiding specific details, more originality is afforded, and there’s less risk of contradicting established storylines. Looking at the Hero of Men tale, it’s the perfect backstory for Zelda to explore.

Unlike the Seal War, which pegged Ganondorf as the antagonist, Minish Cap does not reveal the source of the “shadow” that almost swallowed up Hyrule, nor does it give any specifics about what exactly Hyrule was in danger of. A Zelda game about the Hero of Men would not be confined to any particular source of evil, nor any particular plot, giving it complete freedom to create an all-new tale from the foundation of an old one.

The vagueness of the story alone doesn’t make it worthy of having its own game, as there are plenty of vague tales in Zelda that could be expanded on. What’s special about the Hero of Men story is that, unlike a lot of these other tales, it has a lot of interesting details that are just begging to be explained. The backstory of the Picori, the early history of the Picori Blade, the nature of the Light Force, the existence of the Minish Realm, and the origins of the Bound Chest are all elements of the events prior to Minish Cap that we know just enough about to make us interested, but aren’t so specific that they can’t be expanded on.

Why were the Picori, or Minish, so interested in the affairs of Hyrule? What is the Minish Realm like, and why does a portal between it and Hyrule open only every one hundred years? Was the evil that threatened Hyrule also threatening the Minish? Where did the Minish get the Picori Blade from? How did they acquire the Light Force? The history of the Minish leaves us with so many unanswered questions that a game explaining it just makes sense.

Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks, the last two handheld Zelda games, both revolve heavily around the power of “Force”. In Phantom Hourglass, Force Gems play a key role in the Temple of the Ocean King, the Sands of Hours are made up of Force, and the Ghost Ship and Bellum are draining everyone of their Force. In Spirit Tracks, all of the train tracks in the game are upheld by the power of Force, and Force Gems are used to replenish vanished tracks. Meanwhile, the Four Swords Saga, and especially Four Swords Adventures, also feature Force and Force Gems prominently. In Minish Cap, Vaati’s goal is to drain Zelda of the Light Force that resides inside her; the same “golden light” spoken of in the Minish Cap backstory. With Force becoming such a dominant element in recent Zelda games, a Hero of Men game would be ideal, explaining what exactly the Light Force is and does, and how Force came to be so important in the world of Zelda.

Again, we have a story element that important and interesting, but vague enough that Nintendo can take it in any number of directions. Some theorize that all games involving the Light Force take place at a time after the Triforce vanished in Wind Waker’s ending, and thus the Light Force was sort of a replacement to it. Others believe that the Light Force, in fact, IS the Triforce, and has simply had its true nature and origin lost over time. The story of the Hero of Men could confirm one of these theories, or possibly debunk them both and give us a completely different understanding of Force. Given that the Picori are described as appearing “from the sky”, and given that recent Zelda titles have explored heavenly civilizations (City in the Sky, Palace of Winds, Skyloft), we could see further explanations of these floating lands, and how they may relate to the Light Force.

Then there’s the nature of the Picori Blade. In Minish Cap, we never see the Picori Blade in action as it was originally crafted. The Picori Blade is broken early on in the game, before Link possesses it, and in order to restore it as a sacred blade, it has to be infused with the four Elements. However, this doesn’t restore it to its original form per se. When a Minish blacksmith reforges the blade for you, he calls it a “new blade”, and dubs it the “White Sword”. Then, after its infused with the Four Elements, it becomes the Four Sword. So while it came from the remains of the Picori Blade, it’s not identical in form to it. That means that the Picori Blade may have had a different function than what either the White Sword or Four Sword did. This gives Nintendo freedom to give the Picori Blade whatever sort of powers or functions they want. Just as Skyward Sword is going to explore the early history of the Master Sword, the Picori Blade, too, has an unknown history.

An element of Minish Cap that receives very little attention in the game, yet has the potential to be a very important plot and gameplay device, is the Bound Chest. In the beginning of Minish Cap, we find out that this mysterious chest, much like Pandora’s box, seems to house an almost unlimitless evil, sealed shut by the Picori Blade. When Vaati shatters the blade, he releases the seal, and all manner of monsters escape into the world. So how did all those monsters get sealed inside the box? Does the box lead to some other dimension that serves as a holding cell? Was the Picori Blade involved in the sealing?

We know that the Four Sword has sealing powers, as it has sealed Vaati twice, and Ganon once. There are also instances in Four Swords Adventures where “killing” an enemy with the Four Sword actually transports them to the Dark World, implying it has the ability to connect to other dimensions as well. Did the Hero of Men use the Picori Blade to seal away evil forces in another realm? It’s certainly an interesting gameplay possibility. In the past, “sealing” has only applied to main antagonists like Ganon and Vaati, but the ever-innovative Zelda team could find a way to incorporate this into regular gameplay as well.

All in all, the Hero of Men story is just too good to pass up. With the perfect balance of important story elements and ambiguity, Nintendo has the chance to turn one of the most intriguing tales in Hylian history into one of the most interesting stories. So “where does Zelda go from Skyward Sword?” I say give us the Hero of Men story. What story would you like to see Zelda explore?