Zelda Races: Sheikah Tribe New and Improved Theory

[Calebmoore]

Alright so this morning I posted my theory on the history of the famous Sheikah Tribe. After getting new information from View Profile: Beauts - Dungeon Gaming Network , (some credit to you for helping me out) I think I've come up with a new theory on the Sheikah Tribe.

Now Starting off with the Impa from Skyward Sword, we know that they are the protecters of the Goddess Hylia and the royal family. Thinking it over alittle more, It seems unlikely that the tribe was originally meant to protect the royal family considering the fact that in Skywar Sword there is no royal family. I would say that they were originally meant to protect the goddess, which Impa does, however after Skyward Sword, the people of Skyloft come to Earth and build the kingdom. Impa already has the bond with Zelda, Link, and Groose so my guess is she would want to protect them. This starts up the trend of protecting the royal family.

Again I don't know if Impa or any Sheikah appear in the Minish Cap or Four Swords, but if the tribe was still around they would protect Zelda from Vaati. Seeing as how they didn't, my guess is, they weren't around or only one Sheikah was there and she couldn't stop him. Now the games always mention Impa being the last Sheikah left. This raises the question, how is Impa always able to reappear. As we know from Skyward Sword she does live for a very long time. However instead of living forever I think it would make more sense to say she just ages slowly. We've seen that she does age because many times she's shown as an old woman. So it can't be the same Impa each time. Instead I would say she most likely died or lived to see the Minish cap and Four Swords considering the fact that they come right after the Era of Prosperity in which she saw the kingdom grow. Point is she died sometime before Ocarina of Time, most likely of natural causes.

So how does Impa appear in Ocarina of Time?

In Skyward Sword there are two Impas. This is key. The young Impa stays in the past as Link, Zelda, and Groose are sent to the present. But. What happens to Impa? She simpley lives her life among the other Sheikah. As the Tribe grows they stay by Hylia in the Sacred Realm. Gaurding her until Hyrule is built. Hylia learns of Ganondorf's intentions most likely the same way as The Great Deku Tree, Link, or Zelda. Or maybe simpley because she's God.

She send a group of Sheikah to again start protecting the royal family just as Impa once did. The lived in the Kakariko Village until the Hylian War started. The Sheikah "died out", knowing that Ganondorf would try to take Hyrule with them around. Impa, a new Impa, was the only one left "alive" so that she could personally watch over Zelda. However she is seen fleeing the castle as Link heads to the Temple of Time.

After Link takes the Master Sword from the pedestal, it's thought that Impa dies trying to go through the Shadow Temple. I can see this happening. I think she took Zelda to the Remaining Sheikah Tribe knowing that they were the masters of hiding and she'd be safe there. Zelda was then raised as a Sheikah. She develops her counterpart, Sheik, at this point hoping to hide from Ganondorf. Zelda tells the Sheikah about Link, and tells them to not get involved. She then takes a replica of the Goddess harp, (maybe because she knows about the heroic 1st Impa from Skyward Sword, and she wants to bring that memory back, I don't know) and sets off to find Link. She finds him in the Temple of Time and that is where the game picks up the story.

Thank you guys for reading this, I really enjoy making theories and I love to hear your guys' opinions. Also thanks to Beauts for the information. I'd really like to make a theory for this that fits perfectly so if I missed anything that might change this please tell me. Again Thanks for reading.

 

[Beauts]

Thanks man I'm glad I could help.

I like this theory a lot, especially the part about where Zelda was during the seven years when Impa and her escape in OoT. I think this is a great way of explaining why and how she took up a disguise as a Sheikah, but it also makes me think that maybe the Sheikah aren't strictly a race- that you can become one, or can be taught to be one. That might explain why only Impa is around (and Zelda if she counts) in OoT- maybe the Hylian War drove the Sheikah away or killed them, like you said, and so all the kids they had who would have been brought up as Sheikah were obviously not around. Maybe, then, they're Hylians who've just learned Sheikah skills. The SS Impa might possibly have been the first of them, having been taught her skills by Hylia, which she ten passes onto somebody when they move to the surface- maybe Groose or even SS Zelda, or whoever chose to guard Zelda and Link when they started the Kingdom of Hyrule. Maybe Karkariko was kind of like a camp, originally, bringing people up to be Sheikah, and they began to be viewed over the generations as outsiders by other Hylians because they were the elite. The mountain would be a perfect setting for learning those skills, after all, with the terrain of fire and stone and various monsters living on it.

 

[Calebmoore]

Honestly, I love this theory. It makes alot of sense. I love the thought of Impa teaching groose to be a Sheikah considering how strong of a bond he had with her. If I was to change the theory again I'd say you're right on that. It makes sense that Kakariko was a training camp. Expecially with the Shadow temple being kind of like a final test instead of a toture place. The Great Deku Tree knew Link was the hero of time so it might even be possible he told Links parents and they planned to raise him as a Sheikah. However the war kicked in and his mother took him to the Deku Tree. I mean after all the manga does state that Link was born in Kakariko.