Tag: race

With the Valentine’s Day holiday coming up, I’ve been thinking about who Link might spend it with. There’s obviously Zelda, Saria, Malon, or the less remembered Marin– and hey, he could even call-up Peatrice to see if she’s free on Sunday. But then I remembered, Link was once betrothed! The all too amorous and forward Princess Ruto of the Zoras bagged the Hero of Time when he was just a little boy and has been smitten with him ever since….

Hyrule has provided refuge for a plethora of unique and important races throughout its history. We’ve met with Zoras, Gorons, Kokiri, Hylians, Deku, Picori, Koroks, Rito, Kikwi, Gerudo, Twili, and Sheikahs– just to name a few. No matter how long the list of races, each manages to be important to the game or games it appears in and fully developed both visually and culturally. Just when I think the Zelda series can’t possibly create another distinctly memorable race, one appears…

Of all the races encountered in the Zelda series, the Gorons are the most enduring. They’ve held generally the same form since the very beginning of the timeline to the very ends of most, though nearly going extinct in two of the three. With their tribal culture and evolutionary adaptability, the Gorons have a long and very interesting history worth exploring. YouTube’s Dr. Wily recently did a Zelda Theory video on just that, “The Goron HISTORY And EVOLUTION.” He follows…

The folks from Hidden Triforce recently posted a video covering the new Hyrule Circuit track from the first DLC for Mario Kart 8. In the video they go over the new added features through two races. First they show a normal race involving Link in the Hyrule Castle track and next they take a much more in deph look at the background and all the little details that were added in. Jump inside to check it out for yourself.

Zelda has established a huge catalog of races over the years; in fact, ever since Ocarina of Time, it feels like almost every entry in the series has introduced a new intelligent species to play a special role. The Garo of Majora’s Mask; the Anouki of Phantom Hourglass; the Oracle games‘ Subrosians and Tokay; the Zuna Tribe of Four Swords Adventures…and the list goes on. In fact, one of the things in Skyward Sword that really rubbed me the wrong way was that the designers felt the need to create the Kikwi and Parella races when the Deku and Zora could have worked just as well. Especially the Zora…I mean, even if they did as much nothing as the Parella did, it could’ve at least given us a tad more insight into ancient Zora culture!

…*ahem* Sorry, my character-obsessed side was showing (again). The point is, sometimes these new races come at the cost of a chance to see and expand on already established and beloved races. How long has it been since we saw the Kokiri? Who wouldn’t love to see a new generation of Rito? What kind of twist could the return of the Minish provide us?

Which of these races would you be most excited to see return? Join the Daily Debate after the jump!

In this hangout, I sit down with Jonathan Vega to flesh out our articles regarding race in the Legend of Zelda series. We expand on relating human situations of race and culture to video games. We also discuss the necessity of relating more mature themes to games if we want to treat them as art. Sit back, relax, and listen to our sultry voices as we help expand your knowledge about games and culture.