Spoiler Theory On Master Kohga Backstory

[Azure Sage]

If I had to guess, I'd say the clan was only formed around 20-30 years before BotW.

That's impossible because Zelda is attacked by Yiga footsoldiers in one of Link's memories.

Honestly the game is kind of inconsistent on when the Yiga was formed; Cado says they formed when the Sheikah were shunned 100 years ago after the Divine Beasts and Guardians were turned against the people, but then there's the memory I just mentioned. Makes it hard to pinpoint when they were formed.

 

[DragonEleven]

That's impossible because Zelda is attacked by Yiga footsoldiers in one of Link's memories.

Honestly the game is kind of inconsistent on when the Yiga was formed; Cado says they formed when the Sheikah were shunned 100 years ago after the Divine Beasts and Guardians were turned against the people, but then there's the memory I just mentioned. Makes it hard to pinpoint when they were formed.

If I remember correctly, the attackers in that memory are never named as members of the Yiga Clan... they could easily be Sheikah defectors from before the Yiga Clan was formed.

 

[Fraxinus]

If I remember correctly, the attackers in that memory are never named as members of the Yiga Clan... they could easily be Sheikah defectors from before the Yiga Clan was formed.

The name of the memory was called "Blades of the Yiga."

 

[DragonEleven]

The name of the memory was called "Blades of the Yiga."

That memory would only have been named in the present of BotW, at which point the defectors were known as the Yiga, so it's irrelevant to what they were know as at the time.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retroactive_nomenclature

 

[Azure Sage]

That memory would only have been named in the present of BotW, at which point the defectors were known as the Yiga, so it's irrelevant to what they were know as at the time.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retroactive_nomenclature

If you read Zelda's 100 year old diary in the castle, she refers to them as members of the Yiga clan. "Yiga assassins" I believe is the exact wording she used.

 

[DragonEleven]

If you read Zelda's 100 year old diary in the castle, she refers to them as members of the Yiga clan. "Yiga assassins" I believe is the exact wording she used.

"blades of the Yiga Clan"... fair enough... although it might be an error by the translators.

Something else that has occurred to me... do we know that the Master Kohga in BotW is the same one who founded the Yiga Clan? It could be a family name that's passed on to the next leader similar to Zelda and Impa... this would explain his position despite his lazy/clumsy personality if he'd inherited the position, rather than earned it.
He does mention that his 'secret technique' was passed down from his father's mother's father, and that only the leader of the Yiga can use it... this implies that he is not the first, and that previous Yiga leaders were his ancestors (at least his great-grandfather).
Also, it's possible that if each generation of his family was born around 30-35 years apart, this would place his father's mother's father as being born around 100 years before him, which could potentially make both of them male Gerudo.

 

[Dio]

I don't know where the 100 years thing came from, but it never actually says when the Yiga Clan was formed... it implies that Sheikah started to defect following the Great Calamity 10,000 years before BotW, but the clan itself obviously wasn't formed until more recently.
Kohga has neither the physique nor the personality of an elderly Sheikah... the napping, like his belly, seems to just be lazyness... he seems more middle-aged at the most.
The only indication we get of how long the Yiga Clan has been about is Dorian... seeing as he has started a family since leaving the clan, we can assume it was formed more than 10 years before BotW.
If I had to guess, I'd say the clan was only formed around 20-30 years before BotW.

I think it has already been pointed out but they are in one of the memories which took place 100 years prior.

You don't think he has a Sheikah physique, yet you suggested he could be gerudo?

This is what a Gerudo male physique looks like. And Kohga does not resemble this at all.

 

[DragonEleven]

You don't think he has a Sheikah physique, yet you suggested he could be gerudo?

This is what a Gerudo male physique looks like. And Kohga does not resemble this at all.

He's closer to that than he is to the physique of a 100+ year old Sheikah like Impa and Robbie.
And even Ganondorf hasn't always looked that buff...

Kohga could quite easily have the physique of a lazy Gerudo, who spends all his time napping and eating bananas.

 

[Fraxinus]

the physique of a lazy Gerudo, who spends all his time napping and eating bananas.

Idk that one girl in Gerudo Town who spends all of her time eating hydromelons doesn't seem to have lost her muscle tone.

 

[Alita the Pun]

He's closer to that than he is to the physique of a 100+ year old Sheikah like Impa and Robbie.
And even Ganondorf hasn't always looked that buff...

Kohga could quite easily have the physique of a lazy Gerudo, who spends all his time napping and eating bananas.

Yeah but keep in mind that Master Kogha is shortish and the Gerudo people are exponentially taller than Hylians or Sheikah.

 

[Dio]

He's closer to that than he is to the physique of a 100+ year old Sheikah like Impa and Robbie.
And even Ganondorf hasn't always looked that buff...

Kohga could quite easily have the physique of a lazy Gerudo, who spends all his time napping and eating bananas.

Those robes are just unflattering. As you can see from his phantom he has a V tapered torso and just has a prominent chest which would give that rounded look to the front of his robes.

 

[DragonEleven]

Idk that one girl in Gerudo Town who spends all of her time eating hydromelons doesn't seem to have lost her muscle tone.

Watermelon is a very healthy fruit... it contains very few calories, so she could easily eat her fill without gaining any weight.
The same volume of bananas contain around three times the calories, making it far easier to gain weight.

Yeah but keep in mind that Master Kogha is shortish and the Gerudo people are exponentially taller than Hylians or Sheikah.

He isn't short... his legs are relatively short compared to his body (not unlike Ganondorf in WW), but he's actually about 1.5x Link's height overall, which is around the same as the other Gerudo in BotW.

Those robes are just unflattering. As you can see from his phantom he has a V tapered torso and just has a prominent chest which would give that rounded look to the front of his robes.

I never said he was fat in WW... just not as buff as he was in OoT... his physique varied while still being relatively fit, so an out of shape Gerudo could easily have a physique like Kohga.

 

[Amy Lu Minati]

Disguised Yiga are not their true faces, they disguise themselves using the appearance of legitimate travelers you meet throughout the world.

Lol bro, who really knows what their true faces are if they are masked the whole time! Zelda could give herself a man's body, but wasn't she still a girl? That is just a power that Sheikah warriors have (apparently). There definitely could be female Yiga clan members, but they just form their bodies into male-like bodies for agility and strength or something. :/ can't rule out that possibility.

 

[Azure Sage]

Lol bro, who really knows what their true faces are if they are masked the whole time! Zelda could give herself a man's body, but wasn't she still a girl? That is just a power that Sheikah warriors have (apparently). There definitely could be female Yiga clan members, but they just form their bodies into male-like bodies for agility and strength or something. :/ can't rule out that possibility.

I never said they couldn't be female lol, I just said that their disguised faces aren't their real ones.

 

[Amy Lu Minati]

I never said they couldn't be female lol, I just said that their disguised faces aren't their real ones.

But how can you be so sure which is which? :/ I don't remember the game telling me their "disguise" wasn't actually them.