WMG / The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Pre-release

• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – Pre-E3 2016
• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – Post-E3 2016

Post-release

Concerning the Timeline

The concept of the multiple timelines is known to be real to the Ancient Sheikah, they passed legends down of the hero's adventures and it was accepted as the hero's adventures by the modern Hylians and that explains Zelda's speech.

It could be that they know this because of the Master Sword or something, or because in Age of Calamity, Terrako (the diminutive guardian) exists, so it makes sense that in Hyrule's history, there was another time travelling Guardian that somehow made other timelines clear to the ancient Sheikah, tales of the hero's adventures with the Master Sword were passed down, eventually losing the context of "that was in a different timeline" which explains Zelda's speech.

Link "dying" caused a partial Time Crash.

This time, the Gods realized they couldn't just flood the hell out of Hyrule, so they "patched" it with parts of all other timelines. Thus the contradictory references.

The 10,000 years ago backstory from BotW takes place hundred of thousands of years after Four Swords Adventures in the Child Timeline

One of the recovered memory cutscenes has Zelda making reference to the Era of Twilight, which is a reference to Twilight Princess. However, Four Swords Adventures comes after that game in the timeline, and features a reincarnation of Ganon who had originally been killed at the end of Twilight Princess. Towards the end of BotW however, Zelda says Ganon has given up on reincarnating himself. Also, 10,000 years before BotW, there was a successful sealing attempt of Calamity Ganon using the Sheikah Magitek Guardians and Divine Beasts; and it's already been confirmed that BotW takes place after Ocarina of Time and that Twilight Princess takes place 100 years after OoT. Plus Ganon, Ganondorf's beast form, didn't first show up in the Child Timeline until the end of Twilight Princess. Meaning the 10,000 years ago backstory of BotW had to take place after TP and FSA.

We don't know the time gap between the end of Four Swords Adventures and the 10,000 years prior to BotW, but it would at least have to be hundreds of thousands of years, given the technological advancement needed to make not only the Guardians and Divine Beasts, but also things like the Sheikah Towers and Slate as well. Just a 10,000-year gap, which is when the backstory for BotW takes place, is the gap between the Stone Age and modern era for real-world humans.

• Recently it's been discovered that the other half of Zelda's speech describes the hero "crossing the seas in search of the golden power", so the ceremony refers to two different timelines. Kind of puts a damper on its credibility.
  • It might reference the other timeline, but doesn't necessarily mean the events she describes didn't happen in this one. Four Swords Adventures covers roughly the same events as A Link to the Past but with different locations, characters, and a slightly different explanation for the Big Bad. However, they are considered separate titles and take place in different timelines. The hero crossing the sea bit could be a reference to the Downfall Timeline (Link leaving at the end of Oracles leading up to Link's Awakening) or The Wind Waker (the Triforce Chart fetch quest). There are other hints that it's a Child Timeline game, such as Castle Town Ruins being laid out in the same way as in Twilight Princess, and Kakariko Village specifically being the home of the Sheikah (with the real Kakariko, called the Hidden Village, being deep in a canyon in TP]; the Kakariko in this game is surrounded by elevated ground on all sides). The Great Deku tree also implies itself to be the one from the end of Ocarina of Time but with a game more similar to that game than in The Wind Waker.
  • If the latter portion isn't actually describing past events that we know then why should we think any of it refers to past games?

Alternatively, this game takes place before Four Swords Adventures.

Because the Ganon in that game is a brand-new Ganon. If this Ganon completely and utterly dies at the end of the game, as implied by abandoning the cycle of reincarnation at the end, it makes sense that the new Ganondorf has no memory of the previous Ganon's existence until he takes up his old trident.

• Um, I think this is Jossed already because the Ganon in Breath of the Wild was sealed away and not killed in the end. Zelda specifically says, in the true ending, that Ganon will be back, meaning he's not dead. Abandoning the cycle of reincarnation likely just means he's done with taking a form that can be killed off for real.

This game takes place in a new timeline.

Sorry, but the entire thing with Ganon and 10,000 years and everything just makes me scratch my head. Even by Zelda standards, this game seems oddly fit.

The game reboots the timeline.

All previous games happened in this "new" timeline, but their events are so far into the past (more than 10000 years ago, in a world that spends more time in Medieval Stasis than in a Magitek state) that they're all vague legends rather than historical facts. There is no timeline fusion, just a soft reboot of the entire series up until now.

10,000 years ago takes place before OoT

While the main game takes place after, this would mean that the beasts are present in all three timelines.

• Vah Ruta was the mechanism the gods used to flood Hyrule.
• Jossed, Calamity Ganon, or Ganon in any form, could not have existed prior to Ganondorf himself.
  • That said, numerous characters treat Ganondorf as nothing more than an incarnation of Ganon — the manifestation of Demise's hatred.
    • It is mentioned by Urbosa that Ganon once took the form of a Gerudo King. That means that Ganondorf already existed before BotW.
• The history of the Zora also states Ruto lived before the events of 10,000 years ago.
• Another reason this is jossed is that the Rito are nowhere to be found in any game before or during OoT, and they were one of the four tribes that powered a Divine Beast 10,000 years ago.

The game is in the Downfall Timeline.

The most comprehensive historical account in the game relates to Ruto and the adult portion of OoT. This sets the game on AT or DT.//However, it is unlikely that old Hyrule would be reestablished with its customs intact and new Hyrule abandoned with its advances forgotten.//This leaves the Downfall Timeline, where we know that Ganon is deteriorating mentally and the Triforce has been recovered in The Adventure of Link, allowing for a setup of Ganon as a mindless monster and Hyrule as a prosperous kingdom due to the Triforce.//The main counterpoint against this, the reference to Twilight in Zelda's ceremony, refers not to TP but to the original war against the twilight interlopers.

• There's never any suggestion that the Master Sword was used against the Dark Interlopers that became the Twili (who only gained the association with twilight after they were sealed away). Additionally, the Child Timeline is the only one where Ganon explicitly has reincarnated, whereas in the Downfall Timeline he has only ever been sealed away or Came Back Wrong. The reference to Ruto could be confused historical records of the Hero of Time's adventure. It has been well over 10,000 years, and the information is treated as legend over fact, details are almost certainly somewhat askew.
• Midna mentions that her people believe the hero will take the form of a wild beast in the twilight. Why would they hold such a belief unless they encountered a past hero? Though you are right, history may have been distorted, who is to say the twilight comment was not the incorrect part? Unlike the Zora history its brief and vague, whereas the Zora history is a rather accurate account of events that couldn't occur on the child line while we know the twilight will exist in all timelines. And while we don't see Ganon reincarnate in other lines the point is we know that he can, and will inevitably.

It is a reamalgamation of ALL the timelines

• It would explain the contradictory references, and would make the point of Ganon forsaking reincarnation to become the distilled form of Demise's Curse all the more significant.
  • This has happened before in Zelda. In Majora's Mask, Link goes back in time several times, and in the end, the timeline is as if all the events happened.

The game takes place after Hyrule Warriors rather than any of the previous main series games.

That one quote from Zelda references Skyward Sword, Ocarina of Time, and Twilight Princess — which happen to be the three time periods visited in Hyrule Warriors. Also, consider that through game updates and DLC, elements from all the timelines are present in Hyrule Warriors. Maybe, despite not having story cutscenes, all the characters who appear in Hyrule Warriors were actually brought together, along with parts of their worlds, merging the three timelines.

• Hyrule Warriors is supposed to take place in the Child Timeline, but isn't considered canon to the main series. They explicitly mention the elements from the other timeline branches came from alternate dimensions, meaning the characters are aware of the time shenanigans caused by OoT. That said, it still could be that this takes place after Hyrule Warriors and its previous non-canon status has been changed.

It's set so far into the future that in-universe fantasy-physics are beginning to break down, giving into entropy much faster.

Which would explain the insanely brittle weapons.

The "10,000 years ago" story is Hyrule's version of the Xia Dynasty/Aeneid/Legendary Emperors of Japan period.

That is, there may be a grain of truth or two about it, but it's heavily mixed with myth, told and retold for generations, with new elements and embellishment added to the front end.

Since Hyrule is often attacked and sometimes nearly destroyed by Ganon, a lot of the historical chronicles were probably lost over the repeated attacks. Over time, most knowledge was lost apart from some key elements like "an evil entity known as Ganon comes back" and "we once held control over highly advanced magitek devices" and also "There's a Holy Sword which can recognize the eternally reincarnating protector of the realm: task him with protecting the kingdom's royalty when he shows up carrying it", with mythology filling the blanks and dates being made up.

"It all happened Ten Thousand years ago" sounds a lot better than "the last attack by Ganon happened some time ago but since our historical records stop being reliable when we go farther back than the 5-6 most recent centuries, we don't really know when all that stuff happened."

Breath of the Wild is the “real” Hyrule, with all previous Zelda entries being Theme Park Versions of Hyrule’s actual history.

Buckle up tropers, this one’s a bit of a doozy…
So Breath of the Wild seems to exist in a continuity that’s pretty hard to reconcile with everything we know about the Zelda timeline up until now, unless one were to argue that the timeline was never actually as neat and tidy as the Hyrule Historia seemed to let on.
In much the same way that Christianity and Islam branched off from ancient Judaism, Hyrule has a single history that all is passed down across the generations that covers the events of Skyward Sword, Minish Cap, and most of Ocarina of Time. However, throughout the centuries and possibly civil wars referenced in Hyrule’s history, the single enormous continent began to separate, and in acts of patriotism and religious loyalty, the separate Hyrules took up their own beliefs and practices. Each went on to commemorate their history by using old Hyrule’s naming conventions. Each Hyrule will name their tallest mountain Death Mountain, their largest lake Lake Hylia, etc.

• Perhaps one Hyrule moved to the west, founded themselves upon a Left-Justified Fantasy Map, and primarily worshipped Din, and because Ganondorf was the wielder of Din’s piece of the Triforce, believed he must have slain Link, giving us the downfall timeline.
• Centralmost Hyrule passes down that Link defeated Ganon, as he was assisted by their primary deity, Farore. He then went back in time and thwarted him at stage one, allowing for the child timeline.
• A third Hyrule took closer to the oceans and passed down that Ganondorf did indeed control Hyrule and was not stopped in the past, which may be true or may hint they were losers of a civil war and passed down that it was Ganondorf’s fault. Either way, Zelda made the world right again, through their primary Deity, Nayru. Whether through Ganondorf or natural disasters, the ocean eventually swallowed up much of their Hyrule. Cue adult timeline.
  By the time Breath of the Wild takes place, the multiple Hyrules have reconciled their differences and their multiple mythologies have blended together. Elements of very single Zelda game did happen, but, as the title suggests, reality has become legend. Legends are not bound by fact. Legends change and even erode with time. You don’t have to detail broken weaponry or new suits of armor in legends. But Breath of the Wild is a true Zelda game, set in the single true timeline.

Skyward Sword created yet another timeline split.

At the end of Skyward Sword, you succeed in destroying Demise in the present, but Ghirahim goes back to revive him in the past. It's possible that this event ended up splitting the timeline yet again; in one timeline, Demise is defeated in the present, and in the other, he's defeated in the past.

Maybe Breath of the Wild happens in one timeline, while all the previous games happened in the other. In the BotW timeline, events similar to those in the "prime" timeline happened, but not exactly as we remember them, explaining why elements of all the various timeline branches are present. It'd be a clever way for Nintendo to "reboot" the timeline.

• Corollary: In the Wild timeline, Ganon is the reincarnation of Demise(explaining his Calamity form), and has degenerated into a monstrous form. The old timeline was the one in which Demise was vanquished before he could lay down his curse. Therefore, in that timeline Ganondorf is just a Gerudo warlord, and his powers come from his possession of the Triforce of Power.

The entire series and timelines are comparable to the Wheel of Time timeline.

OK, for those who do not know what I'm talking about, the Wheel of Time timeline is basically compared to a giant wheel with seven spokes, representing seven ages. Each age will come and go, rotating to different ages until it comes back around to the same age, repeating history for eternity. And at the end of each age, the same champion will arise to combat a great evil bent on destroying the world.

Now, given that in many of the games, the three triforce bearers are reborn to fight again, these events represent the changing of the ages. And given that the tech is constantly medieval with little bits of scizo tech sprinkled in, then many of the games are history repeating itself with a few alterations.

That also may mean certain events are happening right now to allow history to come to a complete cycle. Ganon, who was born from Demise's hatred, will allow himself to devolve back into Demise. The Master Sword, which suddenly has a limit to its power before it must recharge, will completely lose its power, forcing the goddess to reforge it back to the Goddess Sword. The races in both the child and adult timeline are present in the same game, which means the timelines are merging again. All of this means that the future will cycle back to Skyward Sword.

This game takes place between Ocarina of Time and A Link to the Past

After the revelation of the third timeline branch in Hyrule Historia, Nintendo decided to revisit the events that bridge the gap between those two games, and this is the result. After the defeat of the Hero of Time, it's said that Zelda and the Sages managed to defeat Ganon and seal him inside the Sacred Realm, but it's never explained how they succeeded where Link failed. That's why the Divine Beasts were originally created, to fight Ganon in an age with no hero. The events of Breath of the Wild then happen 10000 years later, but before the events of the Imprisonment War (where a King of Hyrule instructed Seven Sages to seal the Sacred Realm itself, with Ganon being inside it).

• Jossed. Word of God says that the present-day events are chronologically the last in whatever timeline this is in.

King Rhoam's Journal and Urbosa's Diary contain subtle hints that this is not the Decline timeline.

The first entry of Rhoam's journal detailing the birth of his daughter says "In keeping with the traditions of the royal family, I have decided to name her... Zelda." Now the story of Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, which takes place in the Decline timeline, says that the prince decreed that all girls in the Royal Family would subsequently be named Zelda in honor of his sleeping sister. However, the wording King Rhoam uses is "decided," which implies that he could have come up with another name if he wanted. If some longstanding decree dictated that he had to name her Zelda, he wouldn't have implied otherwise in his journal. This seems to indicate that the game takes place in either the Child or Adult timelines, where no such decree was issued.

Urbosa's diary also makes clear that she and the late queen were already longtime friends when the queen first introduced her newborn daughter to Urbosa. Throughout the diary, Urbosa only ever refers to the queen as "friend" while referring to Zelda with her proper name or "little bird." Surely if Zelda had been named after her close friend, as would be the case in the DT, Urbosa would have explicitly pointed this out in the diary.

• The late queen wouldn't be named Zelda anyway unless she came from the same family line as her husband.

The battle with Zant happened in the Downfall Timeline, and the adult timeline as well.

The reference to Twilight in the game refers to Zant's invasion of Hyrule. Which if this game is in the Downfall Timeline, and the adult timeline could mean the events of Twilight Princess happened in the other timelines.

• But the only reason Zant was able to invade Hyrule was because he was granted power by Ganondorf in the Twilight Realm. And Ganondorf was only in the Twilight Realm because he was banished there following his botched execution when the Hero of Time was sent back to the Child timeline to warn the King about Ganondorf's treason.

It wasn't 10,000 MODERN years ago when Ganon last attacked

Societies switch numeral systems (The Mayan civilization used base 20 instead of decimal). Civilizations accurately measures the span of a year better as it progresses. It could be possible that it was actually 1000 years ago during Ganon's last attack.

Every game in the series is a legend in-universe

Not all of them have happened, but every game has been told in the form of a story. It’s come to the point where no one can tell the difference between history and legend.

The creation of Calamity Ganon resulted in a Time Crash that fused all three timelines.

In a bid to gain ultimate power, three different incarnations of Demise's Hatred fused together, combining into one being and having a similar effect on the timeline of Hyrule itself. The result on the three incarnations (presumably Ganon from the Decline timeline, Malladus from the Adult Timeline, and either the reincarnated Ganon or Vaati from the Child Timeline... or maybe even just the Ganon(dorf)s from all three... or maybe heretofore unseen later reincarnations of Ganon. Possibly this was also done so that their combined form could reincarnate without outside assistance) fusing made them at least become the sum of their three selves in terms of power, but, due to the three conflicting memories and minds, nearly destroyed their consciousnesses in the process. The result on Hyrule itself: a muddled history, full of contradiction and events supposedly happening at around the same time that logically could not have. With the passage of enough time, all of the events were relegated to myth and legend, with the truth lying somewhere in the middle. Zora and Rito exist simultaneously instead of the latter (somehow) evolving from the former, and they and the other non-Hylian races of Hyrule don't seem to have left the kingdom as they did in the Decline timeline, the Master Sword rests in the Lost Woods (and, given that there was already a pedestal for it when Zelda arrived, seems to have done so even before Link found it 100 years ago) and the architecture of many prominent buildings resemble their Twilight Princess-era designs. The truth of Hyrule's history has been lost to time, assuming that the merger itself wasn't simply a physical merging together of the three Hyrules with them still maintaining their divergent histories.

A future game in the series could depict this merger of timelines, with each timeline adopting a different art style (Twilight Princess-ish for Child, The Wind Waker-ish for Adult, and perhaps either Link Between Worlds-ish or even sprite-based for Decline) and the final, merged timeline being depicted in BotW's style.

• Partially confirmed. The game takes place in a fusion of all three timelines, but not because of a Time Crash. Rather it was always the inevitable result of the constant struggle between Ganon and Hyrule.

Following from the previous, the convergent timeline is a side effect of how time and the Goddesses operate in Hyrule

Time in the Legend of Zelda series is malleable allowing for time travel, alterations to history for the purpose of affecting the future, and even the creation of simultaneous divergent timelines. However the majority of changes are small details with larger eventual side effects and almost always instigated by the Heroic side. Whenever a more major change is impending it has a tendency to either fail to produce the desired results or simply self-correct by the introduction of a hero into the mix such as what happened to the land of Labrynna where even with every advantage the forces of evil were not able to effect a permanent change to history.

Given this information and the fact that Hyrule has a variable number of True Deity and demi-god creatures active at any time with the power to warp and twist reality it seems likely that time in Hyrule is self correcting toward a specific goal. The path which is taken to reach that goal can be warped and twisted with every detail altered but the end result is always the same. Now what this means in practice is that while the forces of evil were able to split the timeline along a number of different paths they all started to auto-correct back towards a unified point at which point the various timelines merged to create a single whole timeline with bits and pieces from all the others included. It may not make logical sense from an insiders point of view but taking into account the existence of literal all powerful gods it's still a lot more logical and stable then things would be without the course correction.

It actually has been ten thousand years since the last battle with Ganon.

However, the battle with Ganon was so destructive that Hyrule and the other civilizations were blasted back to the stone age. All knowledge of before the last battle is courtesy of various immortals, who may or may not remember correctly.

There have always been more than three Timelines.

The Three we know of are the largest and most "powerful", but there are an infinite amount of tinier ones that branch from the main three. Breath of the Wild takes place in one of these smaller offshoot timelines. (If you're going to have a multiverse, go all the way and have infinite universes. And hey, this literally solves all timeline problems.)

Breath of the Wild takes place on no timeline, as all three have been destroyed.

All of the past games did happen in their own timelines. However, something managed to destroy all three timelines. Breath of the Wild is a new world entirely, created by the Goddesses in a desperate attempt to salvage things. That's why there are things from all three Timelines: they're all debris from the old universes, washing onto the metaphorical shoreline of this new world. They're all just relics of lost realities, the only evidence that those worlds existed at all. :(

Time in this Hyrule operates in a similar way to Dark Souls.

In Dark Souls, time is convoluted due to the Age of Fire ending, with beings from parallel worlds being summoned in and out of reality. It could be that, due to Calamity Ganon, something similar is happening to Hyrule, with locations and items being pulled from their own timelines into this one. THE TIMELINES ARE NOT MERGING. Rather, this one is simply pulling in aspects from the other two in order to not shatter. Killing Calamity Ganon stabilized it, wile also keeping all three Timelines separate. (Which timeline this is doesn't matter, really. Calamity Ganon was breaking time in a manner that usually precedes a Multiverse-ending Time Crash.)

BotW takes place both at the beginning and end of the timeline, history is cyclical.

The monarchy is reduced to one person, Hyrule is under the rule of nothing. Zelda says Ganon has given up on reincarnation.Here's the theory: with no throne to claim, Zelda returns to Hateno with Link and settles there with him. She and Purah research ancient tech for many years, and this ends up with them creating or discovering an island in the sky. Link and Zelda choose to live there, and their descendants do for many years. The restless spirit of Ganon reverts to the demon Demise. Cue Skyward Sword.

The Divine Beasts were built sometime before Skyward Sword, but only discovered by modern Hyruleans sometime between The Adventure of Link and Breath of the Wild.

King Rhoam said the Beasts were built "10,000 years ago," but that doesn't necessarily mean they were built after the most recent game in the timeline prior to Breath of the Wild. It's entirely possible that the Beasts existed alongside the robots and other ancient high-tech stuff seen in Skyward Sword and were simply lost to time, rediscovered, and dated to 10,000 years prior.

• They were built specifically to combat Ganon, who did not exist before Skyward Sword.

Concerning Link

You aren't playing Link, you're playing his clone.

He died 100 years ago. But the Powers That Be know what happened last time the Hero was removed. The Resurrection process recreated him, cell by cell, using templates from previous Links (the amiibo Rune uses this connection to pull other items from those memories) and it required other shrine facilities to recreate his memories in this time and space. It required 100 years to avoid the usual Clone Degradation. The biggest clue? This Link is right-handed, an Inverse Sinister Clue.

• Like Commander Shepard, it was the same body, the same protein. We have a Theseus' Ship Paradox here. His body was fixed as much as possible, and what couldn't be fixed was replaced. His memories were broken, and what was gone was fixed/replaced. His soul was broken, and fixed/replaced (spirit orbs). As close as possible, using as much of the original parts as possible. Is he the same person? There's no way to say.
• Though he was portrayed as right-handed in the flashbacks as well, so that's not a relevant feature.
  • We're seeing what he sees as he remembers, and memories aren't watertight, believe it or not. He sees himself as right-handed in the flashbacks, even if he wasn't, because that's what he is now and he would otherwise ask further questions if his brain didn't fix that.

This Link is actually Fi

Over the course of the game, you recover 18 memories from 100 years ago. Except Link is not present in all 18 of them, so they can't possibly be his memories. The last memory features only Zelda, the Great Deku Tree, and the dying Master Sword. Out of these three, only the Master Sword itself is present in all previous 17 memories. Somehow, in the 100 years of slumber between the last memories and the start of the game, Link's consciousness passed away, and was replaced by the mind that had up until then been inside the Master Sword: Fi. That's why Zelda ceases to hear the sword by the time the game ends, her powers haven't dwindled, the sword is just lacking a "voice" now. That's also why the Master Sword drains Link's life when he tries to pull it out, it's literally trying to reabsorb Fi's counsciousness out of Link's body (think Raziel and the Soul Reaver in the namesake series). The end of the DLC will have this as a big reveal, and "Link" will finally place the Master Sword to rest, finally dying in the process.

• Also, Zelda didn't have time to set up the Shrine system before laying Link to rest, putting the Master Sword in, and challenging Ganon. This was in place already.
• This seems to be Jossed given how at the end of the "Trial of the Sword" DLC the Master Sword does make Fi's chime when you bring it back to full power, so she's still in there and not Link. The memories could just be a visual variant of the telepathy we see throughout the game between Link and Zelda, just between Link and Fi this time.

The Memories are not Link's

A slight alteration to the above, the memories just, quite simply are Fi's rather than Link's. The time Link spent recuperating did, in fact, simply destroy his memories, and the memories you see are just Fi's point of view of these events.

100 years ago, Link and his family used to live in what is now the ruins in Lanayru Wetlands

Since he grew up around the Zoras and was Childhood Friends with Mipha, logically he had to live in some close proximity to Zora's Domain, especially given the sheer size of Breath of the Wild's Hyrule. Near the base of Zora's River, there's what look to be the ruins of a Hylian settlement that could be a likely candidate of Link's childhood home.

• In "The Champions' Ballad" DLC it's revealed Link and Miphu met as kids because Link's father was a knight who was given some assignment in Zora's Domain. When the assignment ended, Link and his family left, and Miphu didn't see him for years, which would suggest they didn't live anywhere near Zora's Domain.

The abandoned house in Hateno Village that Link can buy was actually his before the Calamity.

Bolson mentions that the previous owner "reported" to Hyrule Castle and was never seen again. Obviously, no one would be "reporting" to the castle in the game's present day, so the only time that would have happened would be before Ganon returned and possessed the castle. Link being the Hylian Champion would also explain why people have left it abandoned for so long and are only now getting around to tearing it down: the villagers left it alone in respectful memory of the fallen Hero, but after a century, they have given up hope of things getting better and decide to remove a painful reminder of what could have been.

• Except if Link's father was a knight, his family would presumably be obligated to live in or very near Hyrule Castle or another military garrison. Hateno Village is pretty far from any such site, which is why it wasn't strategically important enough for Ganon's forces to get around to sacking it. The unnamed person who went to serve at the castle could've been anybody: a regular soldier, a royal servant, a court bureaucrat, a smith hired to forge armaments for King Rhoam's conventional war preparations. Yes, that person never came back to the village, but odds are, that's because they were killed along with thousands of others at the Calamity's ground zero, not because they got stuffed in the fridge for a hundred-year siesta.

Link's mother was a Gerudo

The Gerudo patterned cloth that Link wears with the Champion's Tunic was actually part of his standard attire before receiving it, since there's no real reason a gift from the Hylian Royal Family would include patterns from a foreign kingdom. Ancient Hyrule was a bustling trade center with numerous people from different nations visiting, and Link is stated to have come from a long line of Knights that were not considered a part of the aristocracy and thus wouldn't be as unwilling to enter marriages with foreigners as the rest of the members of court. His parents might have even bonded over the similarities between the Gerudo's strict warrior culture and the similarly disciplined lifestyle of the Hylian Military.

His mother, a badass warrior as Gerudo tend to be, was also partially responsible for Link's status as a Multi-Melee Master. His father educated him in the standard weaponry of the Hylian Military while his mother taught him how to handle more esoteric weapons like single-edged blades and tridents. Sadly, his mother's blood also contributes to the durability problems he suffers from. Link's parentage has given him physical strength comparable to people like the Clegane Family, and that coupled with the incredibly resilient enemies he fights, results in even the finest weapons getting damaged much faster in his hands. That even rusty weapons don't immediately shatter when he uses them are a testament to Link's skill.

• This could explain how he knows about Gerudo males being so rare (since it's an option while talking to Rhondson about her boy troubles), despite the fact that he's forgotten a lot of other details about himself and the world. He still remembers how to fight, talk, and dress himself despite knowing nothing about his past, then suddenly "No Gerudo males..." pops up as a dialogue option. Even if she's the first Gerudo you ever talk to.
• Does the "Gerudo" pattern even show up in actual Gerudo equipment or designs in this game? Sure, the armbands look like pieces of OoT Ganondorf and Nabooru's attire, but it doesn't seem to relate to the Gerudo at all in the "modern" times.

The Worn Armor set that Link gets at the very beginning of the game originally belonged to him when he was younger.

Unlike the other armor sets that are presumably fitted exactly to Link's grown physique, the Old Shirt and Well-Worn Trousers are shown and described to be a bit too short for him. However, the Well-Worn Trousers are also described as "surprisingly comfortable" despite this; the only other outfits specifically described as comfortable are the Hylian Trousers, which are specifically made for Hylians and would likely be comfortable for Link even if they weren't sewn for him in particular (and is also meant to go with the Champion's Tunic), and the Hero of the Wild set, which is apparently supernaturally well-fit for Link's physique due to those clothes being meant for The Chosen One. This seems to hint that the Worn set has some significant connection to Link like those other clothes. It's possible that the Sheikah realized that Link would need some reasonably durable clothes that fit him when he woke up but decided that a very important clothing item like the Champion's Tunic would need to be tended to in a safer place (i.e. Impa's house), so they took some old but intact clothes of his and put them in chests in the Shrine of Resurrection. It's also possible that, knowing he would lose some of his memories during the Slumber of Resurrection, they speculated that coming across old clothes of his would better help him recover his memories.

Link (or at least one of his parents) originally hailed from Lurelin Village

If you look at the people living in the village, most of them have eyes of a different shape and color than other NPCs in the game — and they look almost exactly like Link's.

Link's Champion Ability is his Shield Bash

Okay, this one is pretty simple, but all the champions have their own abilities right? And Link is a champion, but he doesn't have any special ability confirmed. Nintendoblackcrisis thought his champion ability was his super senses, which allow him to activate bullet time and Flurry Rush, but that was more or less deconfirmed with Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity where everyone is able to flurry rush. Something more likely would be that he has the ability to shield bash practically anything. Note how he is able to shield bash a Lynel's charge, an enemy that's 8 times larger than him going that fast, with ease. And yes, Urbosa can shield bash as well, in Age of Calamity, but she's not shown to be able to deflect attacks as powerful as he can (note how he was able to shield-bash falling debris in a late-game scene for the latter game).

• Isn't Link's champion ability the ability to wield the Master Sword? That's literally the thing that got him named as a champion. And in the DLCs, he goes through a trial to enhance the Master Sword's power, just like he does with the other four champion abilities.

Link is Hyrule's incarnation of the Avatar.

Yes, we're going "there". Let's look at the similarities shall we?

• Both he and the Avatar perpetually reincarnate, with BotW specifying that the cycle has persisted for the last 10,000 years — the same as in Korra's time.
• Link is also the Chosen Hero, who has to visit the four nations of Hyrule: Gerudo, Goron, Zora, and Rito (earth, fire, water, and air respectively) to unlock their powers in order to defeat Ganon.
• All that's missing is a spirit guide, though Link has Fi, who resides in the Master Sword.

Link buys his own house in Hateno Village.

Bolson says that the previous owner left to fight Calamity Ganon a long time ago and never returned when you first approach him. What if, 100 years ago, this was Link's house and now he has to buy it back after being gone for so long?

• Confirmed. One of the writers for the game said so in an interview the Link's family lived in that house 100 years ago, but after their last living family member either moved out or died it went unused for years before Bolson squatted it.

Link and Sidon might technically be engaged now.

Of course nobody is going to push them to go through with it given Zelda is back, but once Link gets the rest of his memory/education back it's going to be pretty awkward. After all the Zora Armour is a hand made item specifically created as a marriage proposal for the receiver. Sidon gave a set to Link and while clearly for other reasons tradition can be a stubborn thing that makes no distinction. In short, the shippers might actually have a point on this one.

• But it was Dorephan who gave Link the armor.
  • And the proposal is from the Zora princess who crafts the armor, as goes their tradition. Mipha made the armor for Link, so the proposal is from her. Whether Link accepted said proposal (since the armor was given to him largely so he could help calm Ruta) is another story.

There’s an in-universe reason you can’t max out both your meters.

Essentially, the hearts and stamina wheels represent actual physical capabilities that normally are raised by training your body (hence why Skyward Link started with 6 hearts instead of 3; he’s actually a trained knight at the start.) Hero of Wild Link was a dedicated Champion; he trained constantly and actually raised himself into a peak warfighter condition, with three wheels and maximum hearts. It wasn’t enough though, and he was beaten to near-death by a horde of monsters and Guardians. Zelda and the Sheikah got him to the Shrine of Resurrection in time to save his life, but even 100 years wasn’t enough to fully restore his body. This is why he starts at three hearts and one wheel (the equivalent of an ordinary person). The Spirit Orbs allow him to be partially restored, but even then, it’s not enough to remove all the damage. The missing hearts or Stamina are the Gameplay and Story Integration equivalent of Achey Scars.

Concerning Zelda

The reason Zelda struggled to awaken her powers...

Was because she was being forced to be someone she's not. Unlike previous incarnations of Zelda, who more or less act as they see fit and magic just clicks for them, this Zelda is put under a lot of pressure to behave similarly to her ancestors, do as they did, for the good of Hyrule and is discouraged and prevented from doing what she wants to do to help. As a result, no matter how hard she tries, and the mounting pressure of everything going on, she doesn't get anything until she's forced to act on impulse.

• So, basically, the King of Hyrule made things harder than they had to be. Well, clearly, Rhoam-boy is within fine company of all the Kings in Hyrule history that have made things far worse by making stupid decisions, like trusting Kings of thieves and splitting up your powerful artifact.
• Give him some credit, though — a prophecy had stated that Ganon's return was imminent, and Rhoam couldn't have had any clue that Zelda's powers would have to bloom on their own. He may have been far too strict in ensuring his methods were acted out, but he was doing the best he could with the knowledge that he had.
• Alternately, it was because it was a source of friction between Zelda and Rhoam. Consciously, she wanted to awaken her powers to save the kingdom, but subconsciously, she felt like the reason she needed to do it was to please her father, and she wanted to prove him wrong.

Zelda's mother was a Sheikah, or at least part Sheikah.

This would explain how she is able to keep up with the Sheikah scientists in researching the Ancient Technology. It might also explain how she is so pale while her father is Ambiguously Brown, as the Sheikah seem to be paler than Hylians on average.

The original intention for the ending was for Zelda to have aged realistically over the century she was sealing Ganon and for her to have died of old age after Ganon's defeat.

It would have fit with the pattern of Link freeing the other Champions from their imprisonments so they could eventually pass on. Furthermore, Zelda wasn't sealed in some Healing Vat like Link that would have more logically kept her young; the final game seems to imply, without any explicit exposition to say one way or another, that her sealing power also kept her young.

• Though the "bladder pod" Calamity Ganon was generating a new body in does have some resemblance to the Shrine of Resurrection, especially its "roots."

The reason the game didn't end this way is that the development team realized this would result in a Downer Ending they hadn't initially anticipated. Not only would Link and other characters who knew Zelda back in the day, such as Impa and Dorephan, feel personally devastated over her death after all the other loved ones they lost in the Great Calamity, the extinction of the Royal Family would also mean no future princesses to fight back Ganon's inevitable return. Development costs may also have been a reason: Zelda's voice actress would have to go through the trouble of sounding old in all the dubs, and the modelers would have to go through the trouble of rendering an elderly Zelda that would have only appeared in one brief scene.

The otherworldly woman Zelda saw in her dream wasn't Hylia, but Fi.

A significant plot point is that Zelda is unable to awaken her mystical connection to Hylia; she certainly wouldn't have been able to do so before the battle at Ash Swamp, and she's never stated to hear Hylia afterward either. But she does hear Fi speaking to her through the Master Sword after Link collapses, and the Golden Ending sees her specifically stating that she can no longer hear the voice from the Master Sword now that her tasks are complete.

Zelda is pregnant

Her priestess outfit really makes her look like she has a baby bump. And this game has some of the hardest Zelda and Link shipping in the series.

• Except that Mipha's tunic for him fits perfectly, and Link had to have known what that tunic meant. And she had to get the sizing from somewhere...

Concerning Champions and Modern Allies

The Blights are corrupted Champions.

The Champions never actually say they're killed by the Blights — just vague references to them being the end of them. Given their elemental themes, and that their spirits are freed after killing their Blight, it's not out of the question to think that they are the Blights themselves.

• An interesting theory, but the Champions — or at least two of them — do say they were killed: While Daruk and Revali say Fireblight Ganon and Windblight Ganon "got the best of" and "defeated" them (respectively), Urbosa says that Thunderblight Ganon brought her to a "warrior's demise" and Mipha states that that Waterblight Ganon "proved to be [her] demise".
  • Could be a case of Metaphorically True.
  • How is that saying they were killed? Also, "demise" or "Demise?"
    • Because the subtitles show us it's "demise" with a lower case d when Mipha and Urbosa use the term and the only meaning of the word that can apply in this context is "a person's death". The wordplay would be clever but is quite clearly not the case, assuming they even know what "Demise" is beyond the location "The Breach of Demise" anymore given how "Calamity Ganon" is the better known force here. Given how calmly they speak to you before you kill the Blight sealing them it also seems more to indicate they are talking to you as a dead spirit rather than Fighting from the Inside with telepathy the way Zelda is when holding back Ganon as she's a lot more strained sounding. This doesn't rule out the possibility of the Blights using parts of their respective bodies as a vessel though, with the "corruption" simply killing the champion in the process.
  • Well, why can't the Champions be dead? In many cultures, the spirit is considered to be separate from the physical body. Ganon could have corrupted their physical forms, while their spirits watch on, trapped in their respective Divine Beasts because they can't stray too far from their body? This has great potential as a WMG, given the game's theme of restoring/purifying corrupted things (the Divine Beasts, Hyrule Castle, the initial Master Sword powers up in the presence of corruption, etc)

Similar to the above, the Blights possess Power Copying, which were utilized against the Champions

Thus explaining their choice of weapons, since both Daruk and Fireblight wield giant swords, Urbosa and Thunderblight wield a sword and shield, Mipha and Waterblight wield the very similar trident and spear and Revali and Windblight are both more focused on projectiles. It also explains Fireblight’s energy shield, Thunderblight’s lightning strikes, and Windblight’s ability to produce updrafts.

Harth is Revali's descendant.

This would explain why they both have such dark feather colors. If true, it could also be considered Laser-Guided Karma for Revali: he was an arrogant guy who was jealous of Link for overshadowing his glory, whereas his descendant Harth is a timid guy who is perfectly content to recover from his injuries at home and let other people solve Rito Village's problems.

• Potentially jossed as of the Champions' Ballad, where the diaries of the Champions are uncovered and entrusted their descendants/surviving family members for safekeeping — Mipha's is kept by King Dorephan, Daruk's by Yunobo, and Urbosa's by Makeela. The game implies Revali didn't have anyone for his journal to be given to, so the elder just gives it to Teba to safeguard.
  • Also, in the main game, Kaneli and Teba both are incredulous towards the idea that you could actually enter Divine Beast Vah Medoh, as the only ones who supposedly could were the Champions of old and their descendants. That's why the elder thinks Link is their best shot, as he's mistaken for the Hylian Champion's descendant who inherited the Sheikah Slate.

Teba's son Tulin will have a big role either in the DLC or a sequel.

He is both the only boy Rito among the children and also has a fairly unique design compared with the Only Six Faces look of the other Rito. Seems like an awful lot of effort on the part of the dev team for a character who so far is only relevant to an optional minigame.

Paya is Hidden Buxom.

If you zoom in on her top, you can see the leotard undergarment is shaded differently than others found in the village. That coloration difference is not accidental, and a sign she's "stretching" it.

Paya's parents were murdered by the Yiga Clan.

Her parents are suspiciously absent, with her grandmother Impa and her great-aunt Purah being the only family of hers portrayed. Considering that the Yiga are known to have killed people like Dorian's wife to further their plans, it would make sense that they would want to target the family of Kakariko Village's leader. This would also be another logical reason Paya is such a Shrinking Violet; it's possible she Used to Be More Social before she lost her family.

Sidon, Yunobo, Teba, and Riju will have more screen time in the DLC and will even interact with each other as well as Link.

They are obviously meant to fill similar roles to the Champions, but unlike their Champion predecessors, they only ever interacted with Link and people of their own races. Expanded DLC roles would be a good way of fixing that apparent narrative oversight.

• Jossed. They have a bit more dialogue dealing with what they read from the Champions' diaries (or in Sidon's case, his personal memories of Mipha and Link pre-Calamity), and a young Sidon appears in Mipha's flashback, but they never meet each other.

Link was the one who convinced the Zora to help

Many tropers have objected to the near-hatred that Link receives from the Zora over Mipha's death, much more than you would expect given that she was lost in a war. However, this would make sense if Mipha was there because Link asked. As the Hylian Champion who grew up in close contact with Zora royalty, he would have been uniquely suited to talk the Zora into using the Divine Beast, and Mipha went for Link. Thus, they feel not only that he failed her, but that he actively led her to an unnecessary death.

• Jossed. Zelda is the one who recruited Mipha according to the DLC.

Like Kass's teacher, Revali had an Unrequited Love for Princess Zelda.

Firstly, consider that the only time he isn't acting like a smug, self-important jerk is when Zelda comes back from the Spring of Wisdom with nothing to show from it; he seems genuinely sad for her inability to unlock her power, which is unusually sympathetic on his part in light of his general Strength Equals Worthiness mindset. Secondly, he still lets out an annoyed and resentful "Hmph" moments later when Daruk tells Link to head to Hyrule Castle to fight Ganon, so it wasn't just the grim circumstances that were making him more compassionate. Thirdly, Revali is the only major character besides Kass's teacher who initially thinks Link is woefully unworthy of his role as The Chosen One; if Revali also resented Link's relationship with Zelda, it would further serve to make him and Kass's teacher Foils for each other.

The Zora have a Lord Country naming tradition.

Like the Hylian royalty, the Zora royalty may have full names along the lines of "Dorephan/Mipha/Sidon [middle name] Lanayru." We only ever hear their first names rather than their full names because they are Nice to the Waiter and far less pompous than King Rhoam.

• This could extend to other leaders as well. Bludo’s last name would be “Eldin”, and if the warlike tribe the Barbarian clothes belonged to were still around, its leader would have the surname “Faron”.

Mipha was the one who suggested Link as a candidate for Zelda's bodyguard and/or the wielder of the Master Sword.

Because they grew up as friends, Mipha likely would have known how skilled Link was with the sword as well as about aspects of his character that might have marked him as a worthy wielder of the Master Sword. At the same time, being Zora royalty meant that she would have been on familiar terms with the Royal Family of Hyrule and the royal court, so she would have had sufficient standing for her suggestion to hold weight.

• Jossed; as of DLC 2, you can read Mipha's diary, in which she writes about how distressed she was to learn that Link would be spending so much of his time as Zelda's bodyguard.

Mipha knew about Zelda's feelings for Link and decided to let Zelda act on them.

Consider that it is heavily implied that Mipha's intended advice for Zelda, before Calamity Ganon attacked, involved how she activated her own powers by thinking about Link. This would've been a remarkably private thing to reveal in front of the other Champions, especially because it would likely result in a good deal of awkwardness between her and Zelda. She may have decided that it ultimately wouldn't work out between her and Link, partly because of their different lifespans, but mostly because she could see that Link and Zelda were well-suited to each other. She may have crafted the Zora Armor for Link before finally realizing this.

• Or she didn't see a problem. We know nothing of Zora marriage customs.

Sidon used to be an Annoying Younger Sibling.

Considering how much of a boisterous extrovert he is in the present compared to his quiet and demure sister, it's likely that their personalities clashed at times when Sidon was just a small, immature kid. Losing his sister probably made him mellow out considerably.

• Jossed. From what the DLC shows, Sidon was an extraordinarily young child when Mipha was still around, young enough to not have remembered what Link looked like — if he was able to talk at that age, he had to have been quite a demure, quiet person himself, as he never speaks in the memory we see of him.

The feather Sidon wears on his head was Revali's.

It's color seems to match Revali's plumage. It's possible that Mipha originally got it and similar mementos from the other Champions to honor her bond with them, and it got passed on to Sidon after her death. If this is true, Sidon likely wears it to honor Mipha, Revali, and the others, as well as to symbolize his own aspirations to be a great hero like them.

• Jossed. Mipha's flashback in "The Champions Ballad" takes place before Mipha met Revali, and Sidon is wearing the feather there.

Riju's father was a Sheikah.

If you look at the fancy ornament she wears across her forehead, you'll notice that there's a light blue teardrop-shaped gem hanging from the bottom. This gives the ornament a similarity to the Sheikah symbol that is often worn as a Third Eye marking on the forehead by devout Sheikah, with the blue coloring also being emblematic of Sheikah artifacts. She's also very knowledgeable about the Sheikah Slate, its connection to Link, and the Shrine of Resurrection. This is unusual not only for the insular Gerudo, but also for people her age. The only other modern Hyruleans who know this much about the Sheikah Slate are the Sheikah (its original inventors/discoverers and culturally devoted to helping Link on his quest), King Dorephan (who personally recognizes it and Link from a century prior), Kaneli (an elderly Rito whose expertise is to pass down various stories about Hyrule's past), and Kass (who was informed about Link's story and the role of the Sheikah Slate by his Sheikah teacher). It's possible that Riju's Sheikah father told her many stories about the Champions and ancient Sheikah technology such as the Sheikah Slate, and she wears the blue teardrop gem as a subtle way of honoring her heritage.

• Jossed with regard to the crown; the DLC shows Urbosa wearing the same one back when she was still chief, so it can't have any personal connection to Makeela.

Zelda and Urbosa grew up as Childhood Friends.

Urbosa's lines concerning her knowledge of Zelda's worries about unlocking her power and her resentment of Link imply that she has served as The Confidant to Zelda for a good while before the events of the main story. Zelda falling asleep on Urbosa's arm is also the kind of thing you'd expect of longtime friends rather than people who only just met during the preparations to fight Calamity Ganon. It's possible that King Rhoam and Urbosa's mother encouraged this friendship from early on to prevent the kind of bitter resentment and Culture Clash that made Ganondorf's original rise possible. It would also make Zelda even more of a Foil to Link; Zelda grew up as Childhood Friends with the desert-based Gerudo, while Link grew up as Childhood Friends with the water-based Zora.

• Not quite. While Zelda has know Urbosa for all her life, Urbosa was already a grown woman and the reigning Gerudo Chief before Zelda was even born. Urbosa was actually an old friend of Zelda's mother.

The Champions were the reason the Divine Beasts didn't go completely off the rails.

• Basically, the four of them had managed to fend off their respective Blights' control, to the point where none of the Divine Beasts could actually do anything besides wallow and move listlessly in circles. The actions of the Divine Beasts even match the traits of the people piloting them:
  • Mipha tells Link that she was "awash in a pool of tears" before he arrived. All Ruta was doing was sitting in one place and spraying water over everything.
  • Revali and Urbosa are both very aloof and standoffish, hence why their Divine Beasts keep their distances from civilization and only attack when you try going near them.
  • Daruk is stern and levelheaded, to a degree, but has a real fighting spirit to him and is quite prone to blowing up sometimes, which is why Rudania keeps his distance but causes intense eruptions every so often.

Harth is not Molli's biological father.

• Unlike with Teba, Saki, and Tulin, not a single word is ever said that implies, much less states outright, that Harth has or ever had a wife, nor does Molli or anyone else ever mention her mother even in passing. It's a distinct possibility that Harth is single and/or gay, and Molli's biological parents for some reason are not both taking care of her (it could be that they decided they couldn't raise a daughter, one or both of them are deadbeats, or one or both of them are just plain dead, which Medoh likely had nothing to do with else someone would've brought it up). Thus with them either unwilling or unable to step up as parents, Harth adopted her. The distinction that she is adopted is simply never brought up because that's frankly none of a random Hylian's business, Champion or not.
  • Or Molli's deceased mother isn't mentioned because that's also none of a random Hylian's business.

Beedle is a Great Fairy in disguise.

Now we kinda know that Beedle has appeared in a few Zelda games as a shopkeeper selling things to Link, but he seems abit focused on ensuring Link knows that he can sell him things. Why? Well, we may have an answer in this game. As it seems, Great Fairies need worship and/or Rupees to keep their power flowing and they generously heal you or give you services in return. It would make sense if Beedle is simply masquerading as a merchant, not being tied down to a fountain because he's powerful enough to wander Hyrule on his own. It also makes sense of how he's always got random things in stock as well. This also makes sense as to why he always appears at Stables before Link does: He could use magic to teleport so he'll always be somewhere Link can reach him.

Another somewhat fitting factor is how some of Beedle's dialogue appears to be hitting on Link. Almost all of the Great Fairies in Breath of the Wild have done this in some shape or form to Link, and the way they upgrade his armor is through various forms of kissing! Having Beedle follow the trend would be fitting.

• Considering how blatant the Great Fairies were about their fondness for Link, I can't really imagine why any one of them would bother assuming a form where they would have to express that in a subtler way. And it seems odd that Beedle would be willing to buy so many things from Link if he's giving away the Rupees he needs to maintain power.
  • Beedle IS a merchant, and thus prolly has more customers than just Link. Not to mention if he's powerful enough to move about without a fountain then he could likely spare the Rupees. If Great Fairies are immortal as well, then Beedle would've had loads of time to build up a veritable treasury in the 10,000 years Ganon was sealed away. As for why he'd have to express his fondness for Link in a subtler way, let's also look at the factor that Calamity Ganon and anything corrupted by him is still around. If he showed off his true form, then it would be like sending a beacon to such creatures and they'd try to corrupt him much like what happened to Naydra. By staying subtle, Beedle can still do business with humans without becoming a horrifying monster.

The Great Fairy Cotera is the mother of Cottla and Koko

Even though Dorian is struggling to keep his children safe from the Yiga, he always tells them stories that draw their attention to the woods above the village, which are said to contain "a sobbing woman," and still allows Cottla to play near Cotera's fountain, where she thinks her mother is hiding. Furthermore, he seems very knowledgeable and protective of the fountain and its occupant, as chronicled in a journal in Impa's house, despite being "too intimidated" to visit Cotera himself. (Cottla and Cotera also share similar names and facial features.)

• Cotera being Dorian's late wife would've made it even more sensible for the Yiga to have attacked her — she is the guardian spirit of the village, after all — and the attack, while not fatal, could explain why so much of her power had been lost by the time Link meets her.
• Koko seems convinced her mother was buried in the makeshift cemetery just outside the village and that Dorian was covering it up to spare their feelings. However, she also says she had to find that out herself rather than hearing it from her dad, so she might have misinterpreted. It would be kind of an ironic twist if Cottla was right about their mom being alive and in the woods all along.
• What's more is that no one in the village ever mentions the killing of one of their own by the Yiga, no matter who Link speaks to. If Dorian is the only one who knows why she was killed, it would've seemed like a random, senseless murder to everyone else — definitely something worth bringing up at some point.
• Just to add more evidence to the pile, one of the only things we know for sure about Dorian's wife was that she had an affinity for cooking, as it was from her that Koko learned so many recipes. And considering Link can have regular fairies help him cook in order to spruce up his meals, it's possible a Great Fairy might have that same knack for it.
• Cottla's behavior always struck this troper as a bit...odd, even when considering the circumstances she was in. If she thinks her mother is really there playing hide-and-seek with her, wouldn't she find it strange that she never comes down into the village or returns home at night? Dorian and Koko think she's just too young to realize the truth, but maybe it's Cottla who has them fooled. Maybe she came across Cotera in the woods at one point, or Cotera came across her, and they formed the routine of playing together every morning, when no one else is around to see.
• Another weird fact: Dorian claims that he worries for the safety of his children, yet he leaves them alone in his unguarded house for several hours each day. This suggests that he still believes the village to be a safe place and implies the "murder" of his wife happened somewhere outside of it... like in the woods above, perhaps?

King Rhoam got the paraglider from Kass.

As Kass's final song about Zelda in Rito Village and his role in "The Champions' Ballad" make clear, he knows quite a lot about the conflict against Calamity Ganon and the significance the Great Plateau and the Shrines have to it. It's possible that, anticipating Link's imminent awakening in the Shrine of Resurrection, he scoped out the Great Plateau and met King Rhoam's ghost; realizing that it would be more convenient for the King to wait there for Link's arrival (what with Kass having a family and needing to scope out other Shrine locations), Kass gave the King the paraglider to eventually pass on to Link.

Theories about the Kokiri Champion and Divine Beast.

Word of God has stated that there was originally a Kokiri Champion in the game, but Revali and Vah Medoh eventually replaced it during production. So what might this particular Champion and Divine Beast have looked like? And where would it be in the game?

• Location: The Kokiri's tribe would have been located in the Faron Region, in the lower-right corner of the map. It strikes me as odd that there are two tribes in the northeast, especially because the image of four energy beams shooting from the four corners of the map makes a far more striking (pun intended) visual. Plus that area is named for Faron, who's always been the Forest/Wind Dragon (Skyword Sword and Twilight Princess suggest this). Further, Death Mountain was originally where Hebra is (they're both mountainous regions), but the change necessitated moving it to the east.
• Divine Beast Shape: Vah Ruta, Vah Rudania, and Vah Naboris are an elephant, a lizard, and a camel, respectively, so we need a creature associated with the Faron region's geography, and that could pose a meaningful threat once corrupted. My guess? A grasshopper. It's an insect which thrives in wooded regions, and, once the Forestblight creature took over, might have started devouring all of the foliage from the trees of the forest. Since the Kokiri rely on trees for shade and protection, the monster's endless eating would have threatened both their land and their lives (too much exposed sunlight and weather could decimate the soil of a wooded region).
• Divine Beast Name: The other three Divine Beasts are named after the earliest known Sages of their tribes (Ruto, Darunia, and Nabooru), so it would likely be something after Saria, the Sage of Forest. Something like Vah Arisa, or Vah Siara?
• Kokiri Champion: In keeping with the tradition of "more female than male sages" (Ocarina had five female Sages, counting Zelda, and two males, while Link Between Worlds had four females and three males), the Kokiri Champion would have been a girl. Unlike the cocky Revali, she would have been an extremely enthusiastic, almost hyper Champion who loved the idea of "fighting bad guys," very similar to Gulley from Link Between Worlds. She may have even had a Precocious Crush on Link to contrast Mipha's more mature love and Urbosa's motherly affection. Despite her immaturity, though, the Kokiri Champion would be a strong fighter who used her small size, athleticism (from climbing trees), and high speed to her advantage.
• Kokiri Power: Something like "_______'s Joy — an energizing power born from the high spirits of the Kokiri Champion ____." The gift would grant Link temporarily boosted stamina and speed, perhaps lasting for a solid minute or two. This would tie into the boosting aspect of Revali's Gale, and also offer extra benefits.

Anyone else have ideas about this Champion that never was?

• My guess is that not that much would've changed. The Divine Beasts are based around the four classical elements, with Medoh and the Rito representing air/wind — an element the Kokiri could've filled the role of pretty easily, without even altering the shape of their Divine Beast. As for the Champion, I'm guessing Revali's pompous character was actually a holdover from when he was still planned to be a Kokiri — the other Champions already take their personalities from some of OoT's important characters, with Mipha representing Saria and Ruto, Daruk representing Darunia, and Urbosa representing Impa and Nabooru. Stemming from this, a Kokiri Champion with Revali's attitude brings Mido to mind. And ending things off with the power you'd receive from him, I think Revali's Gale would still make a bit of sense; you use it in conjunction with the paraglider, which is pretty similar to the Deku Leaf Link was given in The Wind Waker. With that in mind, Revali's Gale could've been something the Kokiri Champion developed for use with a Deku Leaf instead of a pair of wings.

Malanya is Malon from Ocarina of Time.

There are a few references and bits of trivia associated with Malanya that call back to Malon from Ocarina beyond a general association with horses, chiefly his theme (a remixed version of Epona's Song, taught to the player by Malon) and his name (generally similar in English, but identical in Japanese — they're, they're both called Maron). The theory here is that, after Malon eventually died after the events of Ocarina, her spirit remained to watch over her old ranch and her horses. She eventually entered local folklore as a protector spirit of horses, and as years and centuries passed people took to leaving offerings for her and asking for her help with taming, caring for or finding lost equines. Over time, this allowed her to become a full-fledged god of horses, long after the events of Ocarina were otherwise forgotten.

Of course there's the small hitch that Malon is a girl and Malanya is by all appearances male, but a lot can happen over multiple millennia and several transcensions of one's state of existence.

Revali is Medli’s descendant.

The Rito continued to evolve until they resemble birds in the present timeline. Since Medli does return at the end of Wind Waker, she and Komali have a future together. However, Medli’s bloodline split at some point, which is why Revali isn’t the Rito chief. Both Medli and Revali help Link because of their duty to their people and they both struggle with feelings of low self-worth. While Medli was more honest with her feelings, Revali hides his behind a gruff and arrogant attitude.

The Horned Statue is a similar sort of being to Malanya

In the Japanese version of the game the Statue refers to itself as a "god" and states that it needs rupees to work its magic, just like Horse God Malanya.

the SAD signal was sent by the Champions and not the Blights

It makes more sense if you think about it. cause the beast is sending out a Search And Destroy signal after the Save Our Souls signal. So it's likely that the champions knew they were going to die so they make sure whoever finds it next will destroy the beasts and make sure the beasts will not harm society. AND the SAD signal comes in very quickly near the end of Vah Medoh so it is likely that Revali (an angsty teen by his society's age standard) fought until he physically could not anymore.

Concerning the Races of Hyrule

All of the races (apart from Gorons) are genetically compatible.

They alway have been. It's just that after the Inferred Holocaust of much of Hyrule, the citizens just started doing it more. The crush Mipha (and Ruto, for that matter) had on Link have never been treated as odd. Hell, Mipha was going to propose and must have had the King's blessing. It isn't likely that it would have been allowed for a future queen to marry without being able to birth an heir to the kingdom, so Zoras and Hylians are likely compatible. It's implied that Rito and Zoras are very similar, so that could mean they could produce offspring. Since Rito and Zoras are similar, Ritos and Hylians could have children. Even the Gerudo who are clearly not human (given their ~8 foot stature) can reproduce with Hylians and possibly the others. The only exception is Gorons which, as Silicon based lifeforms, can not possibly interbreed with Carbon based life.

• The Gorons might not be such an exception either. There's a Gerudo who considers hooking up with a Goron when she goes looking for a mate, and we've seen what seemed to be a Hylian/Goron hybrid in The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds.
• However, if Zora society is similar to medieval ones (and we have no evidence for or against, but the setting is quite similar) then the prince would be heir to the throne instead of Mipha. Since Link is not royalty, no descendents would be required. Also, Gerudo seem to be simply a different race of humans.

Rito/Zora/Koroks have species transformation built in.

It's not Earth evolution, but they have "modes" that kick in when their environment changes for longer than a generation.

Hylians and Gorons don't change because of their relationship with their respective deity.

Hylia keeps the Hylians stable to keep the Link/Zelda cycle going. Gorons are trickier, they are represented by Din of Power; but unlike Gerudo, they have never fallen to Ganon(dorf). Din's help isn't as versatile because of Ganon's usurpation of the Triforce of Power, but she keeps them going even in a world that's flooded.

The different races have different dialects based on their regions/ways of life.

In the American dub, Zelda has a somewhat English accent, as does Impa. The Zoras, who have always been pretty tight with the Hylians, also have nearly the same accent, except it's just a tiny bit different. The Zoras probably trade and negotiate with the Hylians, or used to before the Calamity, so throughout their time with the Hylians, probably also picked up their dialect a bit. In-game, you can also hear a bit of a dialect with the Gerudos whenever they greet Link (saying "Sav'aaq" or "Sav'saaba"). The Gorons are the most different from the rest, because of how far away they live from the rest of the races. Same goes for the Rito.

The different designs for the Gerudo, Sheikah, Zora, and Rito are the result of generations of them mixing or not mixing with Hylians.

The presence of "strawberry" Gerudo with lighter skin and hair, and of the half-Hylian Granté with his blond hair, are the most obvious examples of what their respective races look like with more Hylian heritage, but there are more subtle clues as well. The Gerudo were originally depicted with round ears, but in this game they all have pointy ears, a trait originally said to be exclusive to Hylians. Meanwhile, the Sheikah were originally depicted as having red eyes, but here they all have more natural eye colors, even Impa. This is likely the result of many generations of mixing with Hylians that diluted some of their more distinguishing features while giving them more Hylian features.

Conversely, the Zora and the Rito likely look less anthropomorphic this time around because they have been mixing with Hylians less over the ages of this timeline. The Zora certainly have the Fantastic Racism that would result in or from that, though the reasons for the same happening to the Rito are more ambiguous. It's possible that the even less anthropomorphic River Zoras from the 2D games are the result of this lack of mixing going on for even longer.

Koroks are the true form of Kokiri.

Ocarina of Time was the exception, they had a symbiotic relationship with fairies that gave them humanoid form. (Fado in The Wind Waker was a ghost, he took the form he imagined himself as.)

• Alternatively, they have a symbiotic relationship with Hyrule itself; whenever the kingdom has been claimed by nature, the Kokiri will return to their natural forms. After all, both The Wind Waker and Breath of the Wild take place in eras where the Kingdom of Hyrule is nothing but a distant memory.
• Word of God is that the Koroks are forms taken by the Kokiri after they've left the forest, which they started doing at the end of Ocarina of Time and continued into The Wind Waker and this game.

The Kokiri transformed into Koroks because the forest is walled off.

The Kokiri became the Koroks because they needed to fly around the Great Sea and were in a walled off forest in Forest Haven. The Lost Woods and Korok forest now have high walls around them and are almost completely surrounded by water, thus initiating a change in form.

The Barbarian set was worn by the Kokiri.

The blurbs about the armour say that they were from a tribe that used to live in Faron province, a region of Hyrule strongly associated with woodlands, and the "shirt" and shorts show a lot Link's skin, as if meant for a smaller body. What if, in an edgier setting, the Kokiri traded their cute Peter Pan look for a Wild Child one? Also, Skull Kid, another forest dweller with ties to the Kokiri, wears a skull mask similar to the helm in OoT, and Tribal Face Paint similar to the purple tattoos that come with the chest piece in TP.

• At the very least, the ancient barbarian race (implied in "Creating a Champion" to be the same as the mysterious Zonai people) is also a creation of Farore, like the Kokiri, the Kikwi and other races. A Zonai/Kokiri connection doesn't seem unlikely.

Instead of being descended from the Zoras, the Rito in BotW are descended from the Oocca, who themselves are descended from the Loftwings.

Which is why the Rito in BotW look different than the Rito from The Wind Waker. Not only are they in two different timelines, but they had two different origin points as a species as well.

• Though we don't know that the two games are from different timelines.
• The Oocca look different enough from both Loftwings and BotW Rito that them serving as midpoint between the two seems unlikely, especially since the other two species look like each other a lot more than they look like Oocca. However, Rito being descended from Loftwings seem much more believable.

The Zora are obligate carnivores (i.e. they can only digest meat).

This time around, they've been given a Shark Man redesign, complete with the requisite sharp teeth. Also, if you look at their shop, you'll notice that the only two plant products are a stealth-increasing herb and Hylian rice; the former can be justified as an elixir ingredient, while the latter is likely stocked for Hylians and other non-Zora visitors. Furthermore, the only food that Zora characters are noted to eat are fish. Even the Rito, generally based as they are on birds-of-prey, have one character who explicitly loves salmon meuniere, which is made with vegetable and dairy products. If the Zora were to eat some non-meat food, we'd almost certainly hear about it.

The Fantastic Racism exhibited by the older Zora is actually a Jerkass facade.

They know that having any Interspecies Friendship with the other inhabitants of Hyrule will result in heartbreak when they end up outliving those friends by a considerable number of years. Thus, they use prejudice as an excuse not to get close to non-Zora.

Before the Great Calamity, the Zora army was predominantly female.

You'll notice that the elderly Zora are exclusively male. It's possible that this is because their army was made up mainly of women, and these women were slaughtered by Calamity Ganon when the beast destroyed the Kingdom of Hyrule. This would also further explain why these men are so resentful toward Link; not only do they blame him for Mipha's death and Vah Ruta's corruption, they also blame him for the deaths of almost all their wives/daughters/sisters.

The Zora are Long-Lived in this game because of mixing with Sheikah.

They are the two races who have been portrayed as Long-Lived in this and previous games. Breath of the Wild also characterizes each as a Tribe of Priests in different ways (the Sheikah meditate in Shrines and pray for Link's success, the Zora are requested to officiate marriages). Their home regions/settlements are also closer to each other on this game's map than is the case for any other two non-Hylian races, which would increase the likelihood of intermarriage. Such cultural and genetic closeness may have also been foreshadowed in Twilight Princess, where the graveyard of Kakariko Village, the town most closely associated with the Sheikah, is also where Zora are laid to rest.

Gorons reproduce by budding

At a certain age, a healthy adult Goron may develop one to three growths on the rocky carapace on their back, which eventually drop to the ground in order to become baby Gorons.

The Yiga Clan and Gerudo peoples were once allied or united.

As we know of the Yiga Clan, they have existed ever since the Hylians rejected the Sheikah technology, which may have been before every other game as far as we know. They've also pledged their alliegence to Ganon as well.

As we know of the Gerudo, they have for the most part been barred from entering Hyrule proper, leaving them only able to live within the desert. As Ganondorf mentions in The Wind Waker, it was a hellish life out there. They burned in the day and froze during the night, and his original desire before going power mad was to enter Hyrule so his people could live. We also know that Ganondorf had reincarnated amongst the Gerudo the most.

Given this, the Yiga and Gerudo have some qualities that unite them. They're both ostracized peoples known for their thievery or assassinations and their associations to Ganondorf. What if the Yiga and Gerudo united underneath this at some point? Rather, that the Yiga allied to the Gerudo in order to keep them alive so Ganondorf could reincarnate amongst them? Their base is quite close to Gerudo town, and as shown they do loads of scavenging for food which they could also do for the Gerudo as well as themselves.

However, by the time of Breath of the Wild, the alliance wore off. The Gerudo knew or found out that Calamity Ganon once reincarnated amongst them and as such rejected him and the Yiga's patronage entirely. This is why the Yiga started hitting the Gerudo by the time of the Breath of the Wild, and perhaps simple lingering sentiments to their alliance is also why they simply "captured" the one Gerudo Guard when she tried to get the Thunder Helm back rather than kill her.

• According to the Hyrule Compendium, Master Kohga was actually the founder of the Yiga Clan, and he can't have been that old — rogue Sheikah may have existed before the clan was formed, but they probably weren't a unified force at any earlier point. The clan also seemed to be composed of people who worship Ganon, in a sense, but aren't directly allied with him. (Since Ganon's really too mindless to ally himself with anyone at this point.) And even when the Gerudo were ostracized from the rest of Hyrule, they still never directly supported Ganondorf, and most of them didn't even seem to mind living in the desert.
  • According to Creating a Champion, Master Kohga is a title, not one person. The group was founded by a Master Kohga...just not this one.

The Gerudo language developed out of Language Drift from common Hylian.

In Ocarina of Time and Four Swords Adventures, the Gerudo are portrayed as conversing with Hylians and other races without using any unique words. In this game, however, they constantly use their own Gerudo greetings and other words in conversations with non-Gerudo, with one Gerudo shopkeeper in particular struggling to speak in Hylian. It seems likely that they didn't have their own separate language back in the eras of those previous games, but they developed one by the time of Breath of the Wild as a result of cultural and geographical isolation.

The Minish/Picori are extinct.

Flavor text in The Minish Cap establishes that the Minish/Picori are the ones that hide trinkets and rupees in grass and bushes for Hylians to find. As Rupees and such are not found in bushes and grass anymore, could the Minish have perished in the Calamity?

• Probably not. You can still find Rupees and arrows inside jars and underneath rocks and such. It seems the grass is the only thing that doesn't feature random drops anymore. Maybe the Minish are just too scared to risk going into the tall grass to hide things when it's already teeming with (comparatively) gigantic bugs and lizards who would eat them if they came across them.
• Or maybe they either died out or fled Hyrule entirely, but left loads of already-hidden rupees and so forth behind. The ones that were merely hidden in tall grass were found by various Calamity-survivors or monsters in the century to follow, but the ones tucked away more discreetly under rocks were mostly overlooked. The ones in jars or ruins may have been hidden by non-Minish refugees who couldn't carry much while fleeing and never got the chance to go back for them.
• Maybe all the Minish in Hyrule got transformed into blupees, which would account for why the latter drop rupees.

The Mogmas from Skyward Sword are still around, just evolved.

Specifically, they lost their legs entirely due to disuse, and their fingers have fused into paddles for enhanced scooping of loose material. Without claws to cut through tough soils or rock, they adapted to dig at speed through loose sand rather than solid ground. Their messy mop of hair extended down their forequarters and spines, as their pointed snouts broadened and their eyeteeth greatly enlarged. Their speech became unintelligible to other races, yet they retain their impressive load-hauling abilities; their habit of clothing themselves with harnesses also persists, despite them now having to rely on other races to craft such gear for them. Finally, their greed for treasure became supplanted by a greed for tasty high-calorie fruit, causing their tapering bodies to grow stout and elongated ... so much so that today, everyone calls them "sand seals".

Concerning Ganon

Ganon didn't completely eradicate his sapience.

Instead, it split off from him, becoming an immeasurably less malicious entity of its own, and went into another universe. This universe was the world of Animal Crossing.

This is a new Ganon, originating from a new Ganondorf after the death of the old one.

They make it a point to say that he's in a cycle of reincarnation just like Link and Zelda, and considering what has happened to the Ganons in all three timelines, it's likely that Demise's curse brought about a new Ganondorf from which this Calamity Ganon originates.

• The game does imply it is in the Child Timeline fairly overtly in the first memory, which means this is Confirmed, as the Ganon in Four Swords Adventures, according to Hyrule Historia, is a reincarnation of the original after he was killed in Twilight Princess. That Ganon was sealed in the Four Sword at the end of that game, so an opportunity to escape after that is almost certain. Plus, we don't know how long it's really been between Breath of the Wild and the previous game in the timeline, except that it's been 10,000 years since the Calamity Ganon first appeared. So there's the unknown length of time prior to that where the problem was just Ganon.
• Slight problem. That implies that this game takes place over 10,000 years after that to give the Sheikah time to build mechanical monstrosities, then Hyrule promptly had to lose the tech to time. That's a long time to keep a single Ganon.
  • Accordingly, the loss of the tech was due to it being banished by the ancient King. This is also why the Yiga splintered from the Sheikah.
• Going by the cycle of reincarnation brought up by Zelda and other characters, it'd be more like same Ganon, different Ganondorf.

"Ganon" is Demise's hatred and is independent of Ganondorf

So many theories in the past have speculated on this, but Wild seems to give it some clarity. Ganondorf, the King of Gerudo, may not have actually been born as the avatar of Demise’s hate, but instead Demise’s hatred eventually inhabited his body, possibly making a stop inside Vaati along the way. Since entering Ganondorf’s body, the two have shared a possibly unknown symbiotic relationship. “Ganon” gets a mind and body that allows for complex plans and corporeal interaction, since Zelda reveals in Breath’s climax that Ganon itself is nothing but destruction in its purest form. Ganondorf, for his part, gets to wield Ganon’s incredible power, and the two seek conquest together, with the control of each varying depending on the game. Example: Ganon is the dominant personality in the true ending of the Oracle games, Ganondorf is dominant enough to wield Ganon knowingly in Twilight Princess, and the two are seemingly totally united in A Link to the Past.//Breath of the Wild implies that what was once Demise’s incorporeal hatred has Become The Mask that is Ganon. It accepts Ganondorf as a necessary part of its existence so much so that it is still trying to resurrect him in phase one of the final battle, hence Calamity Ganon’s rotted, Ganondorf-like face. This could alternately suggest Ganondorf and Ganon both returned initially, but Zelda managed to horrifically mutilate the former. Link slays the devastated Ganondorf and Ganon splits from its long-time host to fight Link in a last-ditch effort to preserve the world of destruction it has created. According to Zelda, this means he can’t reincarnate.

Together with the above, Ganondorf and Ganon are united by a Deal with the Devil.

If the two are separate entities, it’s possible Ganondorf’s backstory described in The Wind Waker has a tragic side to it. Ganondorf, seeking the power to save his people from pain and suffering, discovered Demise’s incorporeal hatred and accepted it, thinking he could use it to help the Gerudo. Demise’s hatred, in turn, slowly infected Ganondorf the same way it does everything else until he forgot his goals and sought nothing but destruction, similar to Ganon’s control of the semi-sentient Guardians and Divine Beasts. Notably, "Ganon" is completely absent in The Wind Waker, the one game where Ganondorf is presented somewhat sympathetically and less… malicious, appropriately enough. Perhaps the two separated in the Adult Timeline after they were sealed away. Perhaps Ganondorf wanted out of the endless cycle of rebirth in Breath's history, but Ganon refused to let him go. The possibilities go on.

Calamity Ganon was totally designed by one of the developers Nintendo brought on from Monolith Soft

Because, appropriately enough, the last time this troper saw an abomination that hideous, it was Chimera Lao in ‘‘Xenoblade Chronicles X''.

Calamity Ganon isn't Ganondorf at all, it's Phantom Ganon.

Ganondorf was too successful at channeling the Darkness of Demise's Curse. In The Wind Waker, he treated it like a game, even making it into literal puppets with string during the first part of his boss fight. But he treated his shadow as an independent entity (punishing it in Ocarina of Time, for example), and in Hyrule Warriors it was free-willed as well. Eventually, the Curse found a loophole and possessed the Phantom instead. It wasn't nearly as strong-willed as the original, and the Calamity was born.

There was no "successful" sealing of Ganon using Guardians and the Divine Beasts 10,000 years ago. It was a ruse.

Ganondorf saw what sticklers for tradition Hylians are and decided to try and play a long game. He had his minions create a bunch of murals and songs depicting a battle where he was defeated with the "help" of the machines (something that was never required in previous games) in order to have an army ready that he could take control of.

• This was too successful, and a combination of winning and the ages with the Curse whittling away at his personality caused him to become the Calamity.
  • Evidence towards, winning a Shrine Trial of Combat has the Monk telling you that your strength subverts a prophecy of ruin, not fulfills it. The true prophecy (which we never hear) says the Guardians are bad. (The Trials don't "control" them, they just keep them in a sealed-off place until Link can fight them.)

Ganon is not the Almighty Idiot he initially appears to be.

The compendium and Zelda's commentary during the final fight paint a different picture than what the common assumption seems to be. While he is obsessed with destruction and attacks without purpose, he also seems to have some motivation in his grand scheme. He wants to gain enough power to properly reincarnate as Ganondorf again, similar to what he did in The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures. His intelligence is also demonstrated in the main game: because the Royal Family and the Sheikah assumed he was just a mindless beast, they failed to account for the fact that he possessed the vast majority of the Guardians, now enthralled to him. He had learned from the previous encounter and used the opportunity to inflict some serious irony on Hyrule in the process. He also actively decides to let go of his ability to reincarnate for the sake of revenge on the Champion, most likely knowing he could get it back at some point. All of this points to a cunning monster Obfuscating Stupidity.

• Another feather in the cap is the elemental blights: each uses their respective champion's strengths against them or are clearly purpose built to counter them. Fireblight uses a barrier styled shield as well as create a major explosive attack, matching the Goron Champion's abilities. Windblight uses a laser canon and can create gust, which would be able to outshoot and throw off the abilities of the Rito Champion. Waterblight can teleport easily, control some propteries of water and use it's spear to lance the Zora Champion. Thunderblight is able to move at speeds faster than most can keep up and can summon metal rods that'd attract the lightning of the Gerudo Champion's.

Ganon's curse affected the weapons as well as the Guardians.

When Ganon was released, he sent his curse out to weaken every weapon in the kingdom, making them more brittle. He did that as an extra insurance to prevent another would-be hero or an entire army from trying to kill him, knowing that their weapons will not last the entire fight with him in his prime. That is why almost every weapon breaks after only a few battles.

The final battle against Dark Beast Ganon was originally intended to play out more like the sequences to get inside the Divine Beasts.

Consider that the boss is a massive beast-like creature confronted on the overworld rather than in a dungeon. It's possible that you were originally meant to climb onto and maybe even inside Dark Beast Ganon where you could free Zelda and face Ganon in what may have been a sword duel more like the ones at the end of the last few 3D games. Zelda herself may have been planned to help you in a much more direct manner much like Sidon, Yunobo, Teba, and Riju did against the Divine Beasts. If this was planned, it was likely dropped because they couldn't think of a good story reason for how Link could touch and climb upon the Malice without getting hurt.

Both depictions of Dark Beast Ganon are canon.

There is some uncertainty, even on This Very Wiki, about Ganon's fate due to differences between the Japanese and English versions: in Japanese, Ganon has become a Dark Beast because he refuses to give up on reincarnation, while in English, Ganon has forsaken reincarnation in order to become a Dark Beast. However, the two depictions are not necessarily mutually-exclusive. Calamity Ganon transforming into Dark Beast Ganon shows that he refuses to be permanently defeated and will keep coming back (as depicted in the Japanese version). However, rather than waiting to reincarnate again as Calamity Ganon in 10,000 years, Ganon has instead decided to go all-out in one desperate bid to kill Link and conquer Hyrule right now (as depicted in the English version). Basically, Ganon still will reincarnate in the future, but he wanted one last chance to finish off this particular version of Link first.

• Alternately, Ganon giving up reincarnation means that he can no longer (or refuses to) take human form again. So while the incarnation of Demise's curse still exists, Ganondorf specifically is gone forever.

Calamity Ganon is Ganondorf I in the Child Timeline

He was resurrected sometime after his death in Twilight Princess, and he tried to find other ways to gain power after losing the Triforce of Power. This led to him devolving into the mass of energy he is now, and the ending where Zelda defeats him finally destroys his soul. This leads to his reincarnation and the birth of Ganondorf II before Four Swords Adventures.

Ganon, Ganondorf and Demise have always had a Malice eye on their foreheads

In Breath of the Wild's final battle, Ganon reveals a massive Malice eye on the top of its head. One of Ganondorf's most enduring traits since his introduction has been the jewel or at least some kind of covering on his forehead, to the point one was retconned into his Link to the Past-based appearance in Link Between Worlds. Similarly, Demise bears a scar on his forehead that glows as if there is something underneath it and the sealing spike used on The Imprisoned is in the same spot. From the game's final boss, it is possible to chalk all this focus up to conceling that eye.

A more complete reincarnation of Ganondorf was formed, but Zelda mortally wounded him

It’s been observed by plenty before me that King Roam’s assessment of Calamity Ganon as cunning and conniving is at odds with the Almighty Idiot Link and Zelda eventually faced off with and killed at the end of the game. The two depictions actually aren’t so hard to reconcile if one gives some thought to what was happening off-scene during Link’s mortal wounding. We never see what became of Zelda when she travelled to Hyrule Castle to Seal Evil in a Duel and we don’t see Ganon in any form but as a demonic smoke cloud before the final battle. So it is possible Ganondorf was initially much closer to his complete rebirth, with enough rational thought to plan to possess the Guardians and the Divine Beasts. Upon Zelda’s intervention, she and a more complete (but still flawed) reincarnation of Ganondorf faced off and she was strong enough to badly damage his mortal shell, enough to reduce him back to a thoughtless beast. Thus explaining how Calamity Ganon could have the intelligence to out-gambit all of Hyrule but then be reduced to an animalistic abomination.

The Blood Moon is mostly Invisible to Normals.

The vast majority of NPCs do not react to the freaky imagery of a red moon, red clouds, or red ash. The only characters who seem to be aware of a Blood Moon happening are Link (The Chosen One), Zelda (who has a literal inside view of what Ganon is doing), Kass (a minstrel who researches Shrines such as the one that can only be unlocked during a Blood Moon), and the guy at the stable who notifies you what that night's moon will be like. In other words, the Blood Moon is invisible to all but those people who have a vested interest in seeing it.

• Maybe to them it looks like an ordinary lunar eclipse does in our world?

Calamity Ganon was created when Ganondorf attempted to screw destiny

Whether Ganondorf had a genuine change of heart or simply grew tired of this endless battle, finally gave up his hatred of Link and Zelda, but Ganondorf is specifically the reincarnation of Demise's hatred, so even if the man still lived once the hatred died it would reincarnate again, just without a body this time, which is why it mainly manifests by possessing other things and has to reconstruct a body out of sheikah tech, because its original body abandoned it so its trying to find a new one

Concerning the Yiga Clan

The Sheikah and Yiga are Lumen Sages and Umbra Witches, respectively.

Much like the two clans from Bayonetta, the two clans used to work together to preserve both the light and the darkness before they were turned against each other. Like the Witches, the Yiga clan is represented by the color red, is more secretive in their service to the world and have a variety of techniques required to deceive the public. The Shiekah are represented by blue and still serve the light. They have no need to hide since they have good publicity. Both clans have incredibly advanced technology and work in the shadows. The two clans' '"teleportation" power is really just them vanishing into Purgatorio before coming out to attack. Then, when you kill a Yiga, the red flash they make is them being dragged down to Inferno. Likewise, when the Shiekah die, their vanishing is their soul being claimed by Paradiso. It could also be the reason Dorian and his wife were forbidden to be together, as the intersection of light and darkness will bring chaos.

• Likely Jossed. The Yiga are just a splinter of the Sheikah who opposed getting rid of the Sheikah technology in the distant past and allied themselves with Ganon.
• But you also have to take into account that Witches and Sages had a pact and mutual respect for each other before Baldur was driven insane by the evil half of Aesir. Plus, both sides have the exact same powers; their allegiances are just different.

During Master Kohga's "Ultimate Attack", after the camera cuts away to where Link isn't visible, he walks up and pushes the giant spiked ball so it rolls over Kohga.

No real reason other than it would make the scene funnier than if the ball just happened to start rolling towards him.

• If you look at Link's position at the start of the cutscene and at the end of it, he doesn't seem to have moved at all.

Master Kohga's "Ultimate Attack" was just him faking his death.

By the end of the fight it's clear that he wouldn't be able to beat Link, and while running away would make him look like a coward, "dying" would make him a martyr as well as allow him to quietly slip away from all the responsibilities of leading the clan. So once it's obvious he can't win, he makes up some lie about an "Ultimate Attack," makes the ball he summons start rolling towards himself intentionally, fakes freaking out and falling into the pit when he's really hoving safely just out of sight, and makes the chest containing the Thunder Helm appear since he knows that's what Link is after and giving it to him will make Link leave.

During the fight Kohga demonstrates the ability to fly, use Magnesis, teleport, and make his conjured spike balls vanish, all of which would have allowed him to easily survive that ball rolling him into the pit. The ball starts rolling towards him despite being on level ground, and he manages to get out a whole villain speech mid-fall. This theory is pretty much the only non-Rule of Funny way to explain how Kohga's death makes any sense.

The Yiga Footsoldiers are all males

They're just that good at disguising themselves as females, and this could also explain why their Voice Grunting is always masculine when they reveal their true identities.

The Yiga have been corrupted by Malice

The Yiga first formed into a rival clan to the Sheikah some time 10,000 years ago before the Great Calamity. They swore loyalty to Ganon after being exiled and swearing off Sheikah technology (at least openly). Like most enemies, Yiga will respawn in the places where they were last defeated during Blood Moon. So, the theory goes:

The Yiga joined Ganon or Ganondorf's forces just prior to his metamorphosis into Calamity Ganon. In the process, being so close to him, they were infected, perhaps even willingly, by the malice that composes his being. This is why they are able to be brought back to life, why they're able to use what appears to be magic when most other humanoids seemingly can't with only the Champions and their descendants as exceptions. Their loyalty to Calamity Ganon and seeming to attribute more intelligence to it than most assume suggests they may know something others don't, possibly because of their connection to it.

the Yiga are actually doing some kind of transformation sequence

The Yiga possess Shiekah techniques like Shiek, are shown to transform from their disguises into their uniforms, all have the same androgynous build and identical physiques, the blademasters are much stronger and far larger then any Hylian or Sheikah, being the same height as Gerudo but possessing a distinctly male figure. Therefore, it follows that the Yiga possess some form of transformation abilities and this is at least part of how they disguise themselves as travellers.

Concerning Monsters

Lizalfos are the descendants of River Zoras.

River Zoras and Sea Zoras were shown together in the The Legend of Zelda: Oracle Games and described as "cousin" races. They were antagonistic then, and it has turned into race wars now; as seen in the Sea Zora histories.

The Redeads are Shrine Monks who have lost their minds.

Through discipline and meditation, devotion to the goddesses, one can reach enlightenment and surpass their natural lifespan. That rich soul can pray for the hero to give the world eternal peace. The monk that loses their focus and abandons their faith, loses their sanity, and will haunt the world as a zombie. That poor soul can only pray for the hero to come and give them eternal peace.

Literally every monster in Zelda history is the result of Malice

Breath of the Wild quietly but very heavily features the vile, deadly goo known as “Malice” into its plot. Malice manifests around places of extreme evil like the corrupted Hyrule Castle, within the possessed Divine Beasts, and the blights and Ganon’s final form all appear to be made up of it. Individual pools of Malice produce bubble enemies and its continued presence appears to be what allows Ganon to control the Divine Beasts. Back in Skyward Sword, it was said Demise was the source of all monsters, but perhaps more technically, Demise is the source of all Malice. The Malice that is spread then creates new monsters and corrupts other things into monsters. Considering Ganon is said to be Malice (and perhaps Demise’s curse) in its purest form, it’s understandable that Hyrule would see a strong rise in monster population whenever Ganondorf has a new rise to power, and especially so after he’s had a hundred years of wonton destruction.

• More evidence for this on the night of the Blood Moon, when fallen monsters are resurrected. The particle effects on the screen immediately before the hour of the Blood Moon are the same as those that appear inside the Divine Beasts when they're still under Ganon's control.
• The remake of The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask may have some Production Foreshadowing hinting at this. On top of keeping the eponymous Mask's red-and-purple color scheme and extra eye in its Incarnation and Wrath forms, it also introduces an Eyes Do Not Belong There motif with the four other bosses similar to the Incarnation and Wrath forms. The red-and-purple color scheme and eye motif are both emblematic of Ganon and his Malice in Breath of the Wild, and Majora's Mask is perhaps the one Zelda villain most similar to Calamity Ganon in terms of mindless rage and destructiveness.

Taluses and Pebblits are not Ganon's minions.

Much like the dragons, they're monsters that aren't affiliated with Ganon. This idea is supported by the fact that none of their Hyrule Compendium entries make any mention of Ganon. It's the reason why a Guardian, a monster under Ganon's control, can fight a Stone Talus.

The nature of Taluses.

Based largely on this video.

Taluses are already somewhat peculiar monsters because they will fight Guardians if the two meet, which is the only instance where two monsters will fight, implying that they're not wholly under Ganon's control or at least not "naturally" on the same side. Another interesting fact about taluses is the presence of the one in the Gisa Crater, a large impact crater found in the Tabantha area on the edge of the great western canyon, alongside pebblits buried within smaller surrounding depressions.

Taluses are, essentially, living meteorites, and first came into the world in the same manner that star fragments do — by falling from the sky. The first taluses fell ages ago in Hyrule's past, originating in whatever strange regions lie in whatever is above Hyrule's atmosphere and falling down to earth, forming great impact craters on landing. The reason why most of the modern ones aren't found in craters is that most modern taluses didn't fall from heaven themselves — taluses can canonically reproduce (pebblits are referred to as infant taluses, and the two on the Dueling Peaks are termed Stone Talus Senior and Junior), and so the first to fall to earth all those ages ago had offspring that wandered off to seek their own homes, and then had offspring of their own, and so on until most living taluses were generations removed from their ancestors. Occasionally, however, one or two still fall down from the night sky — such as the one in Gisa Crater. Even modern taluses, however, are somewhat "off" and alien, and despite being mostly naturalized don't mesh too well with other Hyrule-born monsters.

Alternatively, taluses originate from the depths of Death Mountain, where they're born as fiery igneo taluses and sent flying out during particularly violent eruptions. Those that land nearby, on Death Mountain's own slops, remain fiery igneo taluses. Most are sent flying further, landing far afield and eventually cooling into stone taluses. A few land in cold areas such as the icy peaks of Hebra, and chill further still into icy frost taluses.

The Ploymus Mountain Lynel is the direct descendant of the Lynel who guards the White Sword in the first game.

The whole area seems to be an obvious callback. Ploymus Mountain sits atop a waterfall in an area inhabited by Zoras, just like the White Sword cave. It's located in a part of the map that roughly corresponds to the location of the White Sword cave in the original map. In both games, the designers clearly intended for you to use stealth to avoid combat with a monster that far exceeded the power they expected you to have when you first encountered these Lynels. Ploymus Mountain therefore is likely to have been inhabited by the same family/tribe of Lynel for thousands of years.

Concerning DLC

The new story that will be released during Wave 2 will be about resurrecting the Champions

.The new dungeon might hold the way for Link to get back the precious friends he lost a century ago.

• Jossed: The "new story" is actually just memories detailing the game's backstory. There's nothing about the Champions returning to life.

Zelda will be a fully realized companion in the DLC.

There's no real reason why she and Link would be separated, as he is her bodyguard. And as she's now able to utilize her magic, she's not as defenseless as she was a century prior.

• Jossed, the DLC is just a set of objective to be fulfilled in the regular game, not a Playable Epilogue. Also, Zelda states in the true ending that she believes her sacred power has left her for good.

Zelda will be playable in the second DLC.

You might be able to play the game as Zelda instead of Link. This could possibly be an alternate universe where Link is the prince and Zelda is the champion and the wielder of the master sword. We could possibly finally get to hear Link speak.

• Jossed.

The Skull Kid and Hero's Shade will return in the DLC.

The Hero's Shade will be a Superboss, like the Old Man in A Link Between Worlds. They will be fully voiced, so we can finally hear a Link speak.

• Jossed.

A special stable will be part of DLC, which can register the mounts that the other ones can't, such as Bears, Deer, Stalhorses, and maybe even the Lord of the Mountain. Possibly a reward for beating the bonus dungeon and/or hard mode.

• Jossed; the DLC does introduce some new horse gear, but there's nothing that lets you register other animals. However, you are given a new rune that summons a motorcycle to your side.

Vaati will return in one part of the DLC content.

With Ganon gone, there has to be some future threat/incarnation of Demise's curse to keep Link and Zelda on their toes, so how about one of the very first, chronologically? Bonus points if the Four Sword is available at any point.

• And to counterbalance Ganon's complete degeneration and loss of sentience, Vaati will be as cunning as his first appearance in Minish Cap, and able to assume his Pretty Boy features at times to interact with/taunt Link and his allies.
• Jossed. The new DLC is a set of in-game objectives and sidequests, not a Playable Epilogue.

The DLC will have an ending that introduces the next incarnation of Demise's curse.

Because it doesn't have to be Ganon all the time. Seeing a fresh-faced youth before their Start of Darkness and the cycle beginning anew would bring things full circle.

• Or maybe Zelda will decide 'you know, maybe nurture can counteract nature' and see if that works. Sticking to tradition did wonders for her, after all...
• Jossed

The DLC will pick up right from the end of the main game, with Link and Zelda going to Zora's Domain to talk to Mipha's father

.When they get there, some problem will be happening and some of the Zoras who knew Mipha will still be resenting both Link and Zelda. They both will have to travel into the new dungeon together to fix whatever the issue is, also having to deal with some remaining Yiga Clan members as well. Link and Zelda will be successful, and Mipha's father will finally get full closure with his daughter's fate.

• Jossed. The DLC takes place in the main game, not the epilogue. There is some new dialogue with regard to King Dorephan and the Zoras, but it's just concerning Mipha's backstory, and all of them are still forgiving and accepting of Link.

RWBY DLC will be added.

Obviously, this started as a joke between my friends and I. But the show is popular in Japan and it would just be really cool. Plus the number four is important in this game and that show.

The DLC will introduce a Lorule to this world.

Might help save on assets.

• Jossed.

Or perhaps Termina.

Same principles. Heck, Zelda might see how Termina had a elected official and decide that maybe the monarchy could be left alone. I mean, with the What Could Have Been images of Link with a motorbike and Ganon as a Metallica fan, they might as well modernize her, and what's modern about monarchy?

• Jossed.

The DLC will involve Link dealing with another Nintendo franchise

With Mario Kart having done so well with F-Zero based DLC, perhaps Link can deal with another series. Maybe that's the Metroid bit Reggie was hinting at, and some of the initial ideas did involve Aliens after all. Imagine, Link having to stab Ridley with the Master Sword...

• While that would be awesome, considering that Ridley can speed-blitz Samus, who has superhuman reflexes and wears powered armor vastly superior to anything Link usually possesses, that might be a bad matchup. The Super Mario Bros or Fire Emblem franchises, on the other hand, might work better for crossover material.
• Jossed. The closest material to a crossover is a redesigned version of the Maaster Cycle from the DLC from Mario Kart 8, which serves as the final Divine Beast and a mount that Link can summon at his leisure.

The DLC will reintroduce some of the unused or scrapped content.

Perhaps those Minish villages could return or we could finally see those Beetle/Hookshot runes come into play. It's just like Nintendo to reuse ideas that never came to fruition, so it's very likely that we'll get something that was planned for the based game but never got implemented.

• Introducing aliens to the franchise properly (as was one of the scrapped ideas) could be very interesting.
• They did indeed reintroduce the motorcycle shown off in that display of shelved concepts.

A DLC Dungeon will grant the Master Sword its full power

Which will allow it to use its full strength and durability against non-Ganon monsters. The dungeon itself will involve awakening Earth and Wind Sages to give it more power.

• Confirmed. Completing the Trial of the Sword will make the Master Sword permanently stay in its powered-up state while usable.

The DLC Dungeon will deal with Link reaching Calamity Ganon too late before he can interrupt Ganon's resurrection.

As a result, he ends up having to face Ganon's true form this time instead of the Eldritch Abomination he becomes from Link interrupting his full resurrection. The DLC dungeon will be Link going through Ganon's castle and having to face him at the end.

• Jossed; the DLC is just a series of sidequests that you play through in the normal game in order to unlock more information about the backstory.

The DLC will feature the return of the Twili.

• Jossed.

The DLC will feature a male Gerudo who may or may not be linked to Ganon(dorf).

Said male Gerudo will have been kicked out of Gerudo Town because of their memory of the original Ganondorf (remember how ashamed Urbosa was that the King of Evil came from her tribe). This character may hold a particular grudge against Riju, as she holds the position of authority that he as the once-a-century male Gerudo had rights to. A secondary villain (maybe Kohga, Twinrova, or someone else) will try to turn the guy into a vessel for Ganon's Malice because that was how they did it the first time around, but he will reject this role. This pseudo-Ganondorf will have a character arc closely mirroring those of Link and Zelda; just like Link felt so much pressure to live up to his knightly role and Zelda was pressured to undergo rote ritual instead of "playing the scholar", the pseudo-Ganondorf will reject the pressure to become the bad guy.

• Jossed.

The Cave of Trials will be inside of Spectacle Rock.

When screenshots of Spectacle Rock were first shown, there was some speculation about there being a bombable wall in the same spot as in the original Zelda. In the base game, there isn't, but it's still a possibility with DLC. Spectacle Rock was home to the final dungeon in Zelda 1, so it's fitting that it would be home to a similarly difficult dungeon in Breath of the Wild. Doubles as a Twilight Princess reference, since the Cave of Ordeals was also in the Gerudo Desert.

• Jossed. You get to the Trial of the Sword by placing the Master Sword back in its pedestal.

The Cave of Trials will be behind the Goddess Statue in the Forgotten Temple

Alternatively, the Cave of Trials will be part of the Forgotten Temple. The area behind the Goddess Statue has some very conspicuous rocks blocking what seems like a corridor further into the temple, and it would make a lot of sense for the goddess to leave even more trials for the hero to face.

• This is supported by the details of the Expansion Pass, which says the Trial of the Sword is in "a certain sacred location."
• Jossed. You get to the Trial of the Sword by placing the Master Sword back in its pedestal.

The new dungeon in wave 2 will be a fifth Divine Beast.

Maybe Ganon returns, or some other great evil comes along and destroys the other Divine Beasts rather than corrupt them. Link and Zelda will find some ancient legend that references a fifth Divine Beast that can be piloted in the event that the other four become unusable. After completing the dungeon, Zelda will be chosen as its pilot.

• Somewhat Jossed and somewhat Confirmed. There IS a fifth divine beast but it is only for Link. It is the Master Cycle 0.

One DLC pack will feature a new Superboss: A Blight designed around Link

The four Ganon Blights already serve as Evil Counterparts to the champions each of them killed. It seems reasonable that there could still be a fifth Blight, probably the most terrifying version of Dark Link ever, who could serve as an additional challenge. This Blight could be complimented by Link's Multi Melee Mastery, unpredictability, magical abilities and general sense to adapt, making it by far the most diverse and difficult opponent in the game.

• Pretty close. There is a Superboss, but it's a Sheikah Monk named Maz Koshia who provides Link one final test before relinquishing the Master Cycle Zero. The part about the boss complimenting Link's Multi Melee Mastery, unpredictability, magical abilities and general sense to adapt, making it by far the most diverse and difficult opponent in the game, is still a pretty accurate description of the Maz Koshia fight.

Link and Zelda will have to recruit new pilots for the Divine Beasts

And given that they helped Link enter one Divine Beast each, not to mention that they are the few citizens with a voice over, the pilots will be Teba, Prince Sidon, Chief Riju, and Yunobo.

• Jossed. Besides showing and telling more about how the original Champions were recruited, the game doesn't provide any extra follow up about the Divine Beasts. We're still left hanging about what if any role the Divine Beasts will have in the future.

The DLC will reveal who the first Champions from 10,000 years ago were.

Perhaps their ghosts will still be around like Daruk, Mipha, Revali, and Urbosa, or maybe they were preserved physically the same way Link and the Shrine Monks were.

• Jossed.

The story for the DLC will end in the Shrine of Resurrection.

Link will make a new ally, or perhaps work closely with an already-established character, who will perform a Heroic Sacrifice to save the day. Link will have this character put in the Shrine of Resurrection to save them, perhaps providing us with a Sequel Hook.

• Half confirmed, half jossed. The DLC doesn't introduce any new characters besides more Shrine Monks, and the healing chamber in the Shrine of Resurrection has no further role in the plot, but the Shrine itself does act as an elevator down to the final dungeon.

Master Mode will end in a new final boss

And that final boss will be Ganondorf himself. In Master Mode, Link will arrive too late to interrupt Ganon's reincarnation, leading to him forming a cyborg but fully humanoid body with his mind intact. And because he is at his full power, the Divine Beasts will be ineffective against him. This leads to an epic sword duel in which Ganondorf has all of his health.

• Jossed. Master Mode ends in the normal spider-Ganon, the only difference being that he regenerates health if Link doesn't attack him for a period of time.

The Korok Mask will be found on Mekar Island.

Mekar Island stands out from the rest of the Great Hyrule Forest for being an isolated island that isn't shrouded in fog and is therefore accessible from the outside. However, the only treasure there as of now is an Amber underneath a rock. Not to mention that when you get there, you're surrounded by half a dozen enemies. During the day, it's just Chuchus, but at night, it's a swarm of Stal enemies, and one of them even uses Bomb Arrows. Having these enemies guard an island of nothing is awfully suspect. It seems like the perfect place to put a Korok-related treasure.

• Jossed, its in the path in the Lost Woods.

Similarly, Midna's Helmet will be found in Arbiter's Grounds.

Arbiter's Grounds had a strong connection to the Twili, so it makes sense that something belonging to a Twili would be there.

• Jossed

"The Champion's Ballad" will introduce new recoverable memories showing how Zelda first met the Champions.

The E3 2017 artwork introducing the DLC pack shows Zelda in her formal dress standing in front of the Champions, which seems to indicate the DLC will have more to do with her relationships with them than Link's relationships with them. The development footage also portrays Zelda in that same dress riding to the Flight Range alongside two royal guards and bowing before the Gerudo throne; not only is that formal dress likely gone by the present (Zelda was wearing the white ritual dress when Ganon swallowed her, and her field outfit was presumably being tended to by Impa like Link's Champion's Tunic, but the formal dress was almost certainly kept back at Hyrule Castle when Ganon attacked), but the Shrine outside the Flight Range is still orange, indicating that the footage isn't portraying any epilogue scene. Furthermore, the fact that Link received a memory in the base game of Zelda doing something that he was clearly not present to witness (namely, Zelda placing the damaged Master Sword back in its pedestal before she heads off to fight Calamity Ganon) shows that it is possible within the rules of this game's plot for Link to see her memories if the need arises. Based on the trailer, Kass's role might be to use the Champion's Ballad to help Link find the locations where these memories can be recovered, possibly to reveal clues to solve some new crisis in the modern day.

• Confirmed.

"The Champion's Ballad" will add to the Golden Ending for when you defeat the Final Boss of the main story.

On top of introducing a new plotline with its own climax, the DLC will also add a new cutscene that ties together the story of the base game with that of the DLC while also resolving any narrative loose ends in either. If, as speculated above, the DLC involves Sidon, Yunobo, Teba, and Riju being given expanded roles and maybe even becoming the new generation of Champions, the new ending may have the newly freed Zelda being introduced to them by Link and collectively reminiscing about all that has happened; she may bring up Sidon's and Yunobo's family resemblances to Mipha and Daruk respectively.

• Jossed. The final boss and ending are still the same. The only difference is that you can use the new DLC abilities (the upgraded Champions abilities, the Master Cycle Zero in the Dark Beast Ganon phase) against the final boss.

"The Champion's Ballad" will add twelve more shrines to the game.

In the base game, we're three upgrades short of having max health and max stamina at the same time. The DLC would be the perfect opportunity to fix that.

• Specifically each of the four Champions could have three shrines associated with them in some way, or with their Divine Beasts as a post-dungeon function, to give a reason for why they are inaccessible normally. Technically "Trial of the Sword" functions as three distinct segments, so Link's would already be accounted for.
  • Confirmed! Somewhat. There are 16 new trials and they decrease the amount of time it takes to recharge the Champion's gifts.

The Champion's Ballad will have a seperate save file and will show Hyrule on a very slow road to recovery

Similar to how Master Mode takes up its own save slot, the additional story content of Champion's Ballad will retain the data from a cleared file, but will take up a slot of its own. Hylians will be found in some of the game's old ruins and begin the long, slow process of rebuilding them. Hyrule Castle itself is probably (further) fried on the inside thanks to the fight with Ganon.

• Jossed. The new content takes place in the base game before Ganon's defeat.

During the portion in Zora's Domain

Zelda will find out that Mipha was in love with Link, if she didn't know already.

• Perhaps this would lead to a conversation between Zelda and Link.
• Jossed. As far as the DLC makes clear, Zelda still doesn't know about Mipha's feelings for Link.

Kass will receive voice acting in the new story

And with it, the Champion's Ballad will actually be sung.

• Jossed. Kass has new dialogue, but only in text boxes. It's Purah, of all people, who gets Suddenly Voiced in the final cutscene.

The Champion's Ballad will have a sidequest involving the retrieval of four diaries belonging to the Champions.

The diaries will have been stolen or otherwise misplaced following the Great Calamity, and the leaders of the four settlements will task Link with finding them and leaving them in some easy-to-reach place where Link and others can read them. The diaries will provide further explanations of the lives and motivations of the Champions.

• There are diaries belonging to the Champions, but it's the NPCs who retrieved them.

The DLC will provide some backstory on the Paraglider.

It will reveal who made it and how King Rhoam came to have it.

• Jossed.

The dev team planned for more extensive DLC and/or a third DLC pack.

However, the game being on the Wii U held them back, both because of technical limitations compared with the Nintendo Switch and because they wanted to put the older console behind them as quickly as possible.

• Then why not just have it on the Switch?

Concerning Other Things

The Hyrule royal family is matrilineal.

Zelda's mother and grandmother are known to be able to use their darkness sealing powers. It's stated in game that the only one who can use that power is a member of the royal family with the blood of the goddess. Therefore, wouldn't the Hyrulean Royal family move from mother to daughter since the only ones who can use the power are royalty which are descended from the goddess or the ancient princess since "the blood of the goddess" probably reffers to being somehow related to her.

The one-in-a-century male Gerudo is actually present in the game!

He's none other than the guy who would give you Gerudo clothing. He has red hair and dark skin, just like all the other Gerudo.

• Makes you almost feel bad for the Gerudo: evil as he was, Ganondorf was an undeniable badass. Now the best King they can produce is a cross-dresser who gives out Gerudo clothing to random strangers. No wonder Riju is in charge at such a young age.
• Jossed: several NPCs state that Vilia, the person who gives you the Gerudo clothing, is a Hylian. He even seems to be sporting Brown Face.
  • But if Link claims to be Gerudo to an NPC guard, she'll cite his short height, blond hair, and invisible abs as evidence that he's clearly not. Vilia isn't particularly tall either, and he lacks the washboard abs and Hartman Hips. It may be easier for him to pass as a Hylian, woman or man. And with a precedent like Ganondorf, coming out as a Gerudo voe likely comes with baggage.
  • ...Or Vilia could lack all of those features because he's not a Gerudo.

Batrick is an Expy for the late Satoru Iwata.

As brought up here, this minor NPC bears a striking resemblance to the late President of Nintendo, who passed away of bile duct cancer before seeing the game completed. He meant a lot to everyone at Nintendo, as well to a lot of fans, and it's not unlike Nintendo to include some kind of tribute to him in the game.

• Another possibility is that the Lord of the Mountain, also known as Satori (Satoru Iwata) was the tribute to him.
• Probably worth mentioning that Batrick is one of the NPCs who will tell you about the Lord of the Mountain, practically confirming both of these theories.

The reason every amiibo works in this game...

Is because amiibos quite literally break the fourth wall in every universe and continuity. The fourth wall is broken in Breath of the Wild, which gives a connection between our world, this Hyrule, and whichever universe or time the amiibo is from. Wolf Link is confirmed by loading screen tips to have been summoned from another plane of existence, so logically every amiibo and what it summons is likely from an infinite number of other universes, times, and continuities.

The Triforce is no longer corporeal.

Technically, it shouldn't have existed in the first place, being the last vestige of the Goddess Trio as they left this plane of existence. The Legend of Zelda constantly happening kept it in physical form for thousands of years. But eventually, Creation settles down. Power, Courage, and Wisdom are still Spiritual Powers; Link, Zelda, and even Ganon still have access to them, but it's no longer the MacGuffin it used to be. No more Make a Wish powers. It takes effort and time to develop.

• This is also one of the reasons Ganon became the Calamity. Without the Divine aspect of Power, Demise's Curse has become dominant.
  • Gold Monsters are monsters that managed to grasp the spiritual aspect of Power, the pure aspect of which is lost to even Ganon.

Warping isn't fast-traveling.

There's a reason everyone can appear at the locations before Link. Because the "fast travel" function of the slate isn't "fast" at all. It takes the same amount of time as walking to the location, which is why everyone reaches places before you and why everyone in Tarrey Town remarks on how long it's been since they've seen you. It takes a lot of time to re-materialize to make sure nothing goes wrong. The "teleport" function isn't meant to be fast; it's supposed to ensure the hero can make it across the land without dying.

• Jossed, because it's always the same time when you set down as when you lift off. That's according to the in-game clock.

The chamber beneath Hyrule Castle's sanctum was originally a Sheikah laboratory

When Calamity Ganon busts out of his cocoon and smashes into the sanctum, he and Link fall into a large chamber with no discernable purpose and a gigantic Sheikah eye in the center. If it were a Sheikah laboratory, Ganon would have plenty of technology to utilize in crafting his disturbing, Frankenstein-cyborg body in the penultimate showdown. Not that there’s a lack of Sheikah technology he could have used otherwise, but it’s close at hand and, again, the chamber is completely empty.

Taken even further, remember that after the first calamity, many Hylians began to fear and lash out against the Sheikah, enough so that extremists left and formed the Yiga Clan. Considering the chamber has no clear entrance and it is literally located beneath the Sanctum, it’s also possible it was utilized as a sanctuary for Sheikah loyal to the Royal Family to continue developing new technology without fear of Hyrule's bigger fanatics.

• More likely, that chamber is the storage space for the Guardian reserves who were mentioned as being stored beneath the castle.
• Examination and translation of the Hylian text surrounding the eye reads, "Laboratory", so that detail at least has been confirmed.

There was going to be a more extensive use of allied companions in combat, but they largely dropped it in the final game.

The Wolf Link amiibo shows that the mechanics for companion health and auto-attacking enemies are already in place in the game's engine. The design of the Vah Rudania "battle", with Link whistling to make Yunobo stop and go, may also indicate that the modern "Champions" were intended to have a similar role in the fights against the Divine Beasts. However, having anything more extensive than the Escort Mission and summoning Wolf Link likely proved too elaborate to implement into an already expansive game, so they instead had the comparatively on-rails interactions of Sidon, Teba, and Riju. A sequel might bring the idea back fully formed.

All items and equipment are digitally stored, and then recreated, by the Shiekah Slate.

The Sheikah slate can manifest objects like bombs, exert magnetic energy, and freeze objects. Why couldn't it have some level of storage capacity? This not only neatly explains the series' Hyperspace Arsenal, but it also also explains why broken weapons explode into the same pixels bombs do, or disappear with the same color pallet as Link does when he warps. The degradation could be some low-level data corruption that is endemic to most weapons (the slate might not have been meant to store items that can be damaged and then replaced again and again, or was only ever meant to store the Master Sword and consumables in-universe)- and this kind of data corruption is seen in the main questline.

The Champion amiibo uses

I see three options.

• Will work like most other amiibo and create a treasure chest and items, and the rarest item would be their weapon.
  • Mipha would give you fish and spears.
  • Daruk would give ore, rock salt, luminous stones, and two-handed weapons.
  • Urbosa would give flowers or fruits and scimitars.
  • Revali would give poultry and bows.
  • Alternatively, each of them will give you the weapons and items of their specific races. Daruk, for example, would give the Cobble Crusher, Stone Smasher, Boulder Breaker, Drillshaft, and Goron Spice.
• Will work like the Wolf Link amiibo and summon a clone of them to help you in battle.
• Will replenish that Champion's skill once per day, without having to wait.
  • Confirmed for giving weapons and items associated with each race, though not the exact items described. They can also give helmets designed after each Champion’s respective Divine Beast.

The Shrine elevators actually lower into their own Pocket Dimensions rather than someplace Beneath the Earth.

Some of the Shrines are placed in locations where it would be very difficult for such elevators to go straight down, for example the one in Rito Village.

The hero depicted sealing Calamity Ganon 10,000 years ago wasn't a previous Link

It was a reincarnation of Ganondorf who had "the soul of a hero" and was able to wield the Master Sword for whatever reason. Unlike the old image of Zelda, who is seen in a white dress with peach skin and yellow hair, the hero wielding the sword is nearly entirely blue/green with what seems to be red hair. Link has almost always looked a lot like Zelda does, so being depicted as drastically different than she is really sticks out, but Ganondorf has been shown in the past with more of a green skin tone than brown and his red hair fits. The gold hand the hero seems to have could be a reference to either Triforce bearer since that's where the sigil always appears, as there's nothing really distinguishing it as Link's Courage rather than Ganondorf's Power. What this could mean in terms of the story isn't exactly clear though, but a version of Ganondorf free of Demise's hatred and acting against it is interesting food for thought. For example this could be the Ganondorf Calamity Ganon is trying to invoke with his reincarnation as a form of revenge, spitting on his memory since there's already barely anything left of it, rather than the one from Ocarina of Time since so much time has passed since the latter could have been alive.

• Link has had red hair before. He had it in the first two games, and it was sort of a strawberry blond in A Link to the Past, its sequels, and in A Link Between Worlds.
  • In fact, all of the Links depicted in the "Defeat" timeline have a ruddier shade of hair than the blond Links depicted in the other timelines (with the sole exception of Tri Force Heroes, where their hair actually matches their tunic colour).

The hero depicted sealing Calamity Ganon was an incarnation of Link... and a male Gerudo.

As said above, that hero had red hair, which Link has had, but he also had a full flowing beard, which Link hasn't had. But Ganon has. The rules of how and where the hero are born have never really been explained, but if he only has to be of Hylian descent, well, a lot of Gerudo have Hylian ancestry.

Vilia is not just a Sheikah, but is actually a member of the Yiga Clan.

You'll notice that he has red eyes, a feature that has previously been most closely associated with the Sheikah. Now, the modern Sheikah in this game are shown to have lost their red eyes, speculated elsewhere to be a result of mixing more with Hylians. However, the Yiga Clan, with their secretive ways and hatred for Hylians, would be less likely to mix with Hylians and could have retained the red eyes as a result. Furthermore, Vilia would be unusually tall for a Hylian or a Sheikah, yet the Yiga Clan are portrayed as twice as tall as Link on average. If true, it's possible that Vilia is the one who stole the Thunder Helm.

• If that's the case, then it seems odd that he gave Link the vai's clothing, since most Yiga know what Link looks like, and the clothing ultimately helps him sneak into Gerudo Town and calm Naboris, which was the entire point of the Yiga stealing the helm.
  • But maybe Vilia defected like Dorian, knew that Link would need to go to Gerudo Town to calm Naboris and that's why she sold Link the vai clothing. Since it was pretty easy to find Vilia in the game, it doesn't make sense that no other man was able to and thus tell Link exactly where she is. She only wanted to sell to Link so what she was doing would't get back to the Yiga.

The Master Cycle was originally designed to be piloted by a Korok Champion.

It was originally designed to be more deer-like and didn’t have wheels, but instead four moving legs. It’s name was Vah Mekar, named after Makar from The Wind Waker. The size it’s shown to have before being distilled into a rune was its original size. The Korok Trial Shrines were originally made for the Divine Beast Tamer’s Trial. What became The Lost Pilgrimage was the “go through rings” mission. The Trial of Second Sight originally involved a fight against an enhanced Stalnox. The Test of Wood was more or less the same, as defeating opponents with limited weapons and resources is a recurring thing in the Champions’ Ballad. But, whether it be because no Korok could pass the trials or because the Korok Champion died, Vah Mekar was repurposed into a horse-shaped motorcycle for the appointed knight, and its associated Shrines were changed into simple Blessing Shrines. In honor of the Divine Beast that never came to be, an island outside of the forest and the surrounding lake were named Mekar. By the time of the game’s present, none of the Koroks remember what the Shrines were originally for, but have found a different purpose for them.

The forces of Hyrule had to free their machines from Ganon's corruption the first time they were used.

What, you think Ganon didn't try to snake that army the first time? Even assuming that Ganon didn't involve himself in the creation of a world-conquering army in some mortal guise, he'd still be all over that. While the Champions of old apparently survived the battle with Ganon, he would have attacked the Divine Beasts simply because of the threat that they presented. It's even possible that the Blights sent out were designed to fight the original Champions.

The Ancient Hylians did leave detailed instructions for their technology.

That included both how to use, how to protect it, and possible weaknesses along with suggested tactics. Unfortunately, the instructions were written in Ancient Hylian, which no one living remembers how to read.

• Especially since some idiot checked out the only copy of the Book of Mudora from the library and never returned it.

The One-hit Obliterator will appear in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

It will be able to one-hit KO opponents much like the Home Run Bat, except that this can be done with regular attacks rather than just smash attacks as needed for the latter item. The catch is that the player holding the One-hit Obliterator can also be one-hit KO'd by opponents.

• Jossed.

Mina is a Sheikah.

Despite looking rather young, Mina has white hair like the Sheikah. The fact that she and Mils are constantly found exploring various ruins could also be tied to her Sheikah heritage, as they have a cultural predilection for archaeology. The reason she has a more Hylian-looking brother could be because he was adopted by Sheikah, she was adopted by Hylians, or they come from a blended family.

• Mils actually has a similar hair color to Jerrin and Grante, who are both canonically Sheikah.
• Other travelling NPCs that could potentially be Sheikah, based on their apparent youth and white hair: Baumar (usually found near Snowfield Stable, loves shield surfing), Joute (likes horses, travels between Kakariko Bridge and Hateno Village), Juney (the hapless newlywed in Rito Village who loves baked apples), Letty (a traveler in Faron who mostly just talks about food), Ronn (travels between Serenne and Snowfield stables in the hopes of seeing a dragon), and Teli (travels between Dueling Peaks Stable and Hateno Village and sells Ancient parts).
• Problem: Most of those names don't fit the pattern of Sheikah being named after fruits.

The Royal Guard weapons, excluding the shield, are made of obsidian.

Obsidian is one of the closest equivalents to Sharpened to a Single Atom that we can currently achieve, with a blade able to be shredded down to 3 nanometers wide. The Sheikah would likely have the technology able to sharpen obsidian from Death Mountain down to this level, which explains why the description says they involved ancient technology. The reason they're as durable as the Spiked Boko weapons is because while possessing immense cutting power, obsidian is effectively natural glass, which doesn't last too long after a few cuts. The reason Magnesis can pick them up is because the hilts are made from metal. Likewise, the Royal Guard's Shield is made mainly from diamond with an obsidian shell. This would explain while it's so fragile, as diamond, while being immensely hard, is very brittle. Without something like the flint in the Champions' weapons to back it up structurally, it would be able to stop heavy blows, but not be able to withstand continuous attacks.

Guardians and Ancient technology are made of plastic/ceramic composite.

Obviously they're not made of wood, and they're not made of metal either as they don't conduct electricity and Magnesis has no effect on them. Most interestingly, ancient springs float on water. Since the Rubber Set is described as a product of the ancients, they might have been capable of making other modern materials, too. My guess is that the moving parts like springs are made of a lightweight, durable plastic, while the more static components are made of stone-like ceramic plate. This is reinforced by the Guardians' design being derived from real-world Jōmon pottery.

The beautiful Sheikah woman in the picture in the Classified Envelope isn't Purah. It's Impa.

While at first glance it would make sense for it be Purah, as the person who gives it to you is Symin, Purah's assistant, Symin isn't entirely sure who the woman in the picture is, and only gives a vague "The woman in that picture... You don't suppose it's...". If it was Purah, Symin would know, as he was with her throughout her deaging process. Symin also says that he found the photo sandwiched in a a book, a likely place for Purah to keep a picture of her younger sister.

Shrines aren't real

The Shrines aren't actually real. They're meant to help the hero, Link, train so he can defeat Ganon, the whole point of them is to train him so he can survive, so why would there be actual guardian scouts trying to kill him, why would the major test of strength be a thing. If Link dies, Hyrule is destroyed, the Sheikah monks simpily made it so it appeared real, in the spirit relm or just in Link's head, so that he'd try his hardest to sucseed but they wouldn't put him unnesisaraly in harms way, or just let him be killed, which leads one to belive that the shrines are designed in a way so that they won't harm Link in canon.

The Hylia we hear in the statues is a copy

Since it's confirmed in several translations and is heavily implied in other games that Zelda reincarnates, it's possible that either the Goddess Statues work like Gossip Stones, or the Hyruleans' faith in Hylia created a tulpa-like entity that took her place after she sacrificed her godhood to reincarnate as a mortal. Perhaps the discovery of the Goddess statues in the springs and Forgotten Temple lead to the revival of the Hylian Religion.

• Or it's just one of the several other supernatural beings that have been stated to exist, like the three golden goddesses or one of their servants.

The Rubber Armor was developed by or for the Zoras

While the gold, black, and brown color palette is entirely uncharacteristic of Zora craft, the fishlike helmet is virtually identical to the sculpture crowning Zora's Domain, and Zoras would have a vested interest in immunizing themselves from electricity since they're ultra-vulnerable to it. Maybe the armor was developed by the Sheikah (the colors line up with their craft) to help out Zora warriors, with the helmet as a tribute to their domain, but it didn't catch on or get wide enough production to be adopted by them.

• If that were the case, wouldn't it need slits or coverings for a Zora wearer's fins and head-tail?

Tears of the Kingdom WMG

• The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

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