Skyloftian
Special | Pointed ears | |
Games | ||
Location | ||
Skyloftian is the nationality found exclusively within Skyward Sword. They reside in the Sky, specifically on a main island known as Skyloft.
Skyloftians are the people who live in the village of Skyloft, located in the Sky above the clouds. These people revere Loftwings which they use as mounts, depicting them as cultural symbols and relying on them for games and travel amongst the islands of The Sky. The Skyloftians regard the land below as a dark place and do not venture there; no Skyloftian has ever seen the Surface.
The bird symbols that decorate Skyloft look like a variation of the Royal Family of Hyrule's crest, minus the Triforce on it. Skyloftians are the predecessors of the Human races of Hyrule and beyond, with Zelda's descendants specifically being the Hylian Royal Family.
The Skyloftians appear to live a peaceful life, but their interactions with other sky beings is unclear, and they do seem to have a Knight Academy. These Knights complete various missions and tasks, so it may be that Skyloft has heavy involvement with the world that surrounds them, and they may be capable of defending themselves.
The religion of most Skyloftians is worship of Hylia. A a giant statue of "the Goddess" dominates one of the landmasses of Skyloft.
Etymology
Almost all Skyloftians are named after birds[1]:
- Mallara is derived from mallard, a wild duck.
- Pipit is derived from the pipit bird.
- Croo is derived from the crow, or 'coo', a sound that some birds make.
- Dovos is named after the dove.
- Goselle is derived from gosling, a baby goose.
- Greba is named after the grebe bird.
- Piper is named after a sandpiper bird.
- Gully is named after the seagull.
- Strich is named after an ostrich.
- Cawlin is derived from 'caw', a sound that crows make.
- Karane is named after a crane.
- Gaepora is named after Kaepora Gaepora, an owl from Ocarina of Time.
- Groose is named after the grouse bird, or goose.
- Eagus is named after an eagle.
- Gondo is actually 'eagle' in Shona, a language of Zimbabwe.
- Rupin is a mix of three words: Robin, (A bird) Rubin, and Rupee.
- Peatrice is a mix of Beatrice and peacock.
- Peater is a mix of Peter and peacock.
- Luv and Bertie are both derived from lovebird.
- Sparrot could be derived from a sparrow and parrot, or tarot cards.
- Orielle is named after an oriole.
- Parrow is derived from sparrow.
- Rusta is derived from rooster.
- Henya is derived from hen.
- Wryna is derived from wren.
- Jakamar is derived from the jacamar bird.
- Kukiel is named after a cockatiel.
- Albat is named after an albatross.
- Hauk is named after a hawk.
- Phoeni, the ghostly hand in the restroom, named after the phoenix. This would link to her being a ghost, as she died but then (after a fashion) rose from death.
Other Names
- Batreaux, who has bat wings and the word 'bat' in his name, is likely derived from a bat.
- Finally, Pumm and Kina, who work at the Lumpy Pumpkin, are actually derived from pumpkin; not a bird.
Trivia
- It was decided early in the development of Skyward Sword to design all of the Skyloftians after birds.
References
- ↑ "At the beginning it was decided that all residents of Skyloft would be modeled after birds." — Designer Hirono, Hyrule Historia, pg. 23