Spoiler Demise could be Lorulian?

[Spiritual Mask Salesman]

This theory has bugged me for awhile. For years I've seen it pop up every once inawhile but nobody has ever fleshed it out. So my goal is to revise it for the forum to finally get some full on debate going about this theory. It's a work in progress.

Note: This theorizing will be done from an in-universe point of view, meaning that I'm looking at this theory as if Hyrule and Lorule are real. This is extremely important, as doing it any other way would open up the argument that games that were created before A Link Between Worlds would not be able to reference Lorule because it was not created yet.

Before I begin I'm going to admit that I don't know if I'm personally going to adopt this theory yet. The thing I hate about it is the fact that with all the evidence gathered it all seems to imply that Demise is from Lorule. We just can't take it any futher than that implication which bothers me. To start, I think it's important that we know who Demise is before we even jump into the the theory.

Who is Demise?​

Fi in Skyward Sword says this about Demise:

"This eternal being has conquered time itself. It is the source of all monsters." - Fi

He is basically the embodiment of all evil, supposedly. His main role in the series was to serve as the source for the re-occurences of Ganondorf by setting his hate curse upon Link and Zelda.

“My hate... never perishes. It is born anew in a cycle with no end! I will rise again. Those like you... Those who share the blood of the goddess and the spirit of the hero... They are eternally bound to this curse. An incarnation of my hatred shall ever follow your kind, dooming them to wander a blood-soaked sea of darkness for all time!" - Demise

Demise's sole purpose is to obtain the Triforce and destroy the gods at all costs. That's pretty much it. Because he had such a short appearence and the game didn't go in depth on his backstory (telling us were he came from, why he just hates the gods for no real specified reasons, etc...), it left the door open for theories like this one.

Lorule, a parallel world and it's counterparts​

Lorule is very similar to Hyrule. While Termina is stated to also be a parallel world to Hyrule, Lorule resembles Hyrule more than Termina does (in ways). Notably, Lorule has a Sacred Realm, a Royal Family, and clear counterparts to Link, Zelda, and Ganondorf (Ravio, Hilda, and Yugu). Futhermore it had a Triforce of it's own which is very interesting. Though the game states the Triforce in Lorule was depended on too much. When war broke out over it Hilda's ancestors destroyed it in hopes of returning peace to the land. Instead Lorule fell futher into turmoil and is close to crumbling during the timeframe of A Link Between Worlds.

We have a consistent equivalent to almost everything in Hyrule, what we are missing is a Master Sword.

Demise might orginate from Lorule?​

For the sake of easy transition I'll begin to tie key points together starting with the Lorulian Master Sword. In A Link Between Worlds there is no Lorulian equivalent to Hyrule's Master Sword. The whole reason Ravio seeks Link's help is because he has no Master Sword of his own to use in Lorule. The question that arises is why isn't there a Lorulian equivalent to it? The answer is that there might be a Lorulian Master Sword and Demise weilds it. At the end of Skyward Sword it is revealed that Ghirahim was actually a being that resides in a sword, like Fi. Demise reverts Ghirahim into the sword which he really is. The sword has often been speculated to be the anti-thesis to the Master Sword. Possibly the Lorulian Master Sword, designed for a different purpose than to fight evil obviously? It has the inverted Triforce on it. It's a backless assumption because we just don't know, although it explains why Lorule is missing a Master Sword equivalent — Demise took it to Hyrule and was killed.

Spoiler: Demise's Sword

This next point is also very interesting. Demise and his army came from a fissure.

"One dark, fateful day, the earth cracked wide and malevolent forces rushed forth from the fissure. They mounted a brutal assault upon the surface people, driving the land into deep despair... They burnt forests to ash, choked the land's sweet springs, and murdered without hesitation. They did all this in their lust to take the ultimate power protected by Her Grace, the goddess." - Introduction (Skyward Sword)

In A Link Between Worlds fissures serve as portals linking Hyrule and Lorule. The fissures are created due to Yugu's actions, but what we know is that there was a ancient crack linking Hyrule and Lorule together on a stone slab inside Lorule's Sacred Realm which Yugu discovered.

"Yuga discovered that there was a strange crack in this grim slate... Through it, we could sense that there was another world beyond ours... a place where the Triforce still existed." - Hilda

This could have been were Demise learned of Hyrule as well, assuming he is Lorulian.

His motive for going to Hyrule would be to obtain it's Triforce. Denied the Lorulian Triforce it makes sense for him to take his army to Hyrule using a fissure serving as a portal between the worlds. Maybe it was his army that marched an assault for Lorule's Triforce also? I do think that the difference in what timeframes both worlds are in matches. I'm under the impression that when Demise came to Hyrule Lorule probably would be about mid-way through it's history (having Triforce issues and all that). Hyrule would be at an early point in it's history so it'd make sense for Demise to end up in the timeframe he did. We also see that mid-way into Hyrule's history Lorule is on the verge of the end of it's own. If things would have continued on like they were Lorule would have fell to ruin.

To conclude, we must ask ourselves were these similarities intentional, or coincidental? After writing this I feel like there is so much mystery still shrouding the theory that the evidence gathered can niether prove or disprove it's validity. What we need is a smoking gun proving a connection to Demise and Lorule, unfortunately there isn't one. If we could just get more info about Demise, even the sword itself that could be enough to put this theory to rest.

---

I do know that there are conflicting theories on certain aspects of this theory which is why I encourage people to come forth with those theories. I think this has potential to spark some great discussion which we've avoided in the past (most of the threads like these barely had replies). So feel free to share other theories. Maybe you have a different idea about Demise's orgins? Maybe you have a theory about why Demise's Sword can't be from Lorule (I know such theories exist). I'll be looking foward to seeing were this goes.

 

[Dio]

I don't like the theory. I never have. Lorule was not even thought of when making SS its just a world made for ALBW because they needed an alternate world to hyrule.

ALBW takes place thousands of years after SS and when Demise first appeared it was a long time before SS, hundreds if not a thousand years.

In ALBW their Triforce has not been gone for that long therefore a Demise of that world would not have popped up before the events of SS.

There is also the matter of Yuga. Yuga is clearly the Lorulean counterpart of Ganondorf. Ravio Links counterpart as Hilda is Zeldas and they have opposite traits. Yuga being flamboyant and feminine and Ganondorf being masculine and more reserved.

Ganondorf is the reincarnation of Demise and therefore Yuga should in theory be the reincarnation of Lorules demon king. And if that were Lorulian Demise he wouldn't have left or else he couldn't have been reincarnated as Yuga. This means Demise in SS is from Hyrule.

The upside-down Triforce on his sword being symbolic of his hatred for the Gods rather than of the Lorulean Triforce which he says has boiled in his veins.

 

[Jirohnagi]

I always assumed Demise was the opposite of Hylia, where she is female he is male where she is good he is evil, i do think Demise was from another dimension but there's no link (definite links) to any established realm. Heck for all we know the Demise/Ganondorf cycle might just be a perpetual cycle of life and death.. Woulda sorta provide a counterpoint to Hylia's one anywho. If Demise truly conquered time how was it he didn't know about his defeat at the hands of Link?

 

[Spiritual Mask Salesman]

I don't like the theory. I never have. Lorule was not even thought of when making SS its just a world made for ALBW because they needed an alternate world to hyrule.

New section I added addressing your first point. While I agree with you I still think ALBW could have been made with SS in mind. But it'd be best if we kept an in-universe mindset on the matter.

Note: This theorizing will be done from an in-universe point of view, meaning that I'm looking at this theory as if Hyrule and Lorule are real. This is extremely important, as doing it any other way would open up the argument that games that were created before A Link Between Worlds would not be able to reference Lorule because it was not created yet.

ALBW takes place thousands of years after SS and when Demise first appeared it was a long time before SS, hundreds if not a thousand years.

Agreed, but like I stated in the OP, couldn't Hyrule be in a different timeframe than Lorule?

In ALBW their Triforce has not been gone for that long therefore a Demise of that world would not have popped up before the events of SS.

We don't know specifics of how long their Triforce has been gone. We do know it's been a decent amount of time as it's stated Hilda's ancestors destroyed it.

There is also the matter of Yuga. Yuga is clearly the Lorulean counterpart of Ganondorf. Ravio Links counterpart as Hilda is Zeldas and they have opposite traits. Yuga being flamboyant and feminine and Ganondorf being masculine and more reserved.

I agree with this.

Ganondorf is the reincarnation of Demise and therefore Yuga should in theory be the reincarnation of Lorules demon king. And if that were Lorulian Demise he wouldn't have left or else he couldn't have been reincarnated as Yuga. This means Demise in SS is from Hyrule.

This is possible, and an interesting theory. Though I doubt it'd dictate that he can't be reincarnated. That'd be like saying because the heroes' spirit exists in different timestreams it can't be reincarnated on the others. We're talking about parallel worlds here, but I once saw a pretty plausible theory that Lorule could just be a tangent, another split off the timeline were Hyrule becomes Lorule.

 

[Dio]

another split off the timeline were Hyrule becomes Lorule.

Hyrule was named after Hylia so I doubt it would become lorule in any alternate timelines. There is no Lolia mentioned in the series.

 

[Dio]

We don't know specifics of how long their Triforce has been gone. We do know it's been a decent amount of time as it's stated Hilda's ancestors destroyed it.

At the beginning of ALBW we see hyrules history and later Hilda tells Lorules history. We cant know but the point in time of the triforces sealing by the 7 sages in Hyrule would line up with the destruction of the Triforce in Lorule.

The sealing of the Triforce takes place after SS but before OOT as it is seen out in the open at the end of SS.

 

[Spiritual Mask Salesman]

Hyrule was named after Hylia so I doubt it would become lorule in any alternate timelines. There is no Lolia mentioned in the series.

Exactly, so how do we even know there was a Goddess in Lorule?

I always assumed Demise was the opposite of Hylia, where she is female he is male where she is good he is evi

This is actually an interesting thought. If we assume that Demise might be the Lorulian equivalent of Hylia (for monsters). Not saying he had an involvement in the creation of Lorule's Royal Family. I'm just saying maybe he is like the protector of monsters, he made a dark master sword thing, and wanted to destroy the Triforce?

 

[Jirohnagi]

Exactly, so how do we even know there was a Goddess in Lorule?


This is actually an interesting thought. If we assume that Demise might be the Lorulian equivalent of Hylia (for monsters). Not saying he had an involvement in the creation of Lorule's Royal Family. I'm just saying maybe he is like the protector of monsters, he made a dark master sword thing, and wanted to destroy the Triforce?

wanna point out something you might find interesting, have noticed the lack of foes in Lorule? and i mean overworld enemies doesn't seem like there's an awful lot yet we see in thieves town a cult... yes a cult of the monsters, where people believe they become monsters. Now maybe yuga was using Lorulians as a powersource converting them into those soldiers or maybe he was just dragging lorulians creatures into hyrule. But that still doesn't explain how Lorule seems in many ways so devoid of foes, Granted we have Stalblind and the other bosses but none of them really roam around outside their lairs in some cases you get the feeling their are tethered there. So my question is WHY do lorulians think they will survive through becoming monsters. Maybe one of their own did indeed become a fearsome beast? Maybe one of them ascended to godhood spawning the cult? and More specifcally as we see with Hylia she gave up her immortality to become mortal but if Demise is the reverse maybe he was a powerful mortal who become immortal?

 

[MrPsychoSlayer]

The main question is, if everyone has a counterpart that is quite the opposite to them, Ravio:Link, Yuga:Ganondorf etc, then who would Demise's Hyrulian counterpart be?
The only logical solution is Navi.