r/truezelda • u/LapisLazuliisthebest • 10d ago
Open Discussion [All] Religions of Hyrule Part 2: Zora and Rito
This is part 2. Part on is here: [All] Religions of Hyrule Part 1: Humans : r/truezelda
The Zora
The Sea Zora and Hylians have always been close allies. The River Zora, not so much. For know, lets mainly focus on the Sea Zora.
Of all the races in Hyrule, the Zora seem to be the ones that revere the most gods. Much like many races in Hyrule, the Zora believe in the three Golden Goddesses. The most important for them being Nayru. but they also have Lord Jabu-Jabu and are implied to worship Water Dragons.
Whereas the humans have their unseen deities, the Zora have a physical god, who protects them from the lake. That being Lord Jabu-Jabu.
The origins of Lord Jabu-Jabu are unknown, but he could be a decendents of the Skyloft Guardian Levias. If this is true, it may shed some light on how he became the patron Deity of the Zora.
Years ago, I came up with a theory that the Zora are some kind of Dragonborn equivalent. That being Tadtones, Parella, and the Water Dragon Faron are all the same species, but in different stages or castes. And they eventually evolved into the Zora. Note: whilst it's too late to reply on the linked post, you can still share your thoughts on that theory here.
If the Zora are descended from the Water Dragon, this would explain their worship of Levias' presumed decendents. Levias was leader of the three dragons, after all. On top of that, it would also explain the water dragon imagery within the Water Temple.
Speaking of water dragons, the Light Spirt Lanayru, who resides in Lake Hylia, resembles a dragon. It is also the only Light spirt that has a shrine. further showing how the Zora take deity worship very seriously.
The Zora of Termina are no different. Whilst everyone in Termina presumably worship the four giants, the Zora also have the Giant Turtle. This Turtle in similar to the Giants in which it, like them, watches over it's area in it's sleep, and can be summoned with a song. As far as I can tell, the Giant Turtle is the only god we see that isn't one of the Four Giants.
The Rito
In WW, the Rito are evolved from the Zora. Much like their aquatic ancestors, their culture also revolves around a physical god: the Sky Spirit Valoo. The also have shrines dedicated to the wind gods: Zephos and Cyclos.
These Rito are extremely co-dependent on their god. They must obtain a scale from the dragon, or they wont be able to grow wings.
The Rito also appear in BotW, although they seem to be a separate species to the WW Rito, and are most probebly not descended from Zora. There's not much to say about them, as they don't realy show any significant culture.
Part 3 is here: [ALL] Religions of Hyrule Part 3: The Gorons (Also includes New Hyrule) : r/truezelda
1
u/Britannicus_Sherwood 1d ago
Hello sir. Following on from part one I have more for you here. I apologise for the delay.
First, you've gotten the two variants of Zora back-to-front. The Zoras of the Domain, friends of the Goddess Blood & allied with the men of Hyrule since time-immemorial are freshwater fish-folk. As seen in Ocarina of Time (OoT), Echoes of Wisdom (EoW), Twilight Princess & Breath of the Wild the Zoras inhabit freshwater bodies. The exception to this is the Zoras in Majora's Mask (MM) which inhabit Termina's Great Bay, a saltwater body. This is a glaring exception, but perhaps Zoras have a measure of resistance to salinity over short periods, perhaps this Terminian community have developed a relative immunity thereto, or perhaps the Great Bay is actually brackish. MM's exception is ultimately of little consequence for our purposes however, and as I suggested it can be worked around. Also, The Wind Waker (TWW) is very explicit that the Zoras from OoT went extinct because of their biological intolerance for saltwater.
The malevolent & classically monstrous Zoras, as seen in A Link to the Past, the Oracles of Ages & Seasons, the original Legend of Zelda & Adventure of Link appear more versatile, feature in fresh, brackish & saltwater all. Very strangely, EoW & one of oracle games call the hostile Zoras the "River Zoras", something never repeated anywhere else & which clashes with the more accommodating & less monstrous Zoras who are limited to one water. I'm sure I remember reading somewhere that the Salt Zoras (if you will) were once named, were going to be named or it was suggested that they be named the Zilos. If that is not the case, it is still a good idea because calling one race Zoras & their counterparts something to differentiate them makes a great deal of else; especially since EoW conclusively confirmed that they are different race that cohabit Hyrule.
Second, Leviathans:
Obviously Levias is named for the Biblical Leviathan described in the Book of Job chapter 41*. What makes so little sense about this though is that the Leviathan is unambiguously a river &/or sea dragon, while Levias & his kind just flying whales with a couple of fishy features. Either what the series presently called Leviathans should be called something else or should be more draconic in their aspect. Dragon whales would work just as well & visually would fit right in too.
*https://www.jw.org/en/library/bible/study-bible/books/job/41/
*(this links to the relevant Bible verses that describe the Leviathan)
Third, Zora biology:
I see the vision of the connection between Zoras, Parellas & Tadtones, but not that they are the same species in different stages or the same species divided into physiologically distinct castes like ants or bees, but rather that they are merely related species or races within a species like humans. I can accept the argument that Tadtones are baby Zoras. Perhaps the Tadtones are the first life stage of Parellas, in which case they are related species with near identical young.
Fourth, Rito biology:
I reject the official line that the Zoras of OoT became the Ritos of TWW. There is no precedent for this sort of species-wide transmogrification anywhere else in the canon; not by magic, not but divine intervention or intercedence, and most certainly not by so-called evolution. The Ritos are too fundementally different from Zoras for one, for two it is a much interesting story that the Ritos were a separate & pre-existing species living on islands beyond Hyrule-proper whom moved after the great inundation & for three BotW confirms that Ritos are a long established species that cohabit greater Hyrule alongside the Zoras & Dragons. The Zoras are fish-folk, the Ritos are bird-folk. Even to an evolutionist, bird & fish are completely unrelated. Also, the Rito design in TWW is very lazy on its own & I am certain not meant to be taken literally.