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Could Hyrule Be the Future Instead of the Past?

Joined
Feb 5, 2011
With the introduction of the Ancient Robots in Skyward Sword, it got me thinking. By that I mean Nintendo's top men probably watched Scrapped Princess. Scrapped Princess, for those who don't know, if an anime based on a manga (though from what I've heard, not a very accurate adaptation) about a girl who travels with her adoptive siblings because her destiny is to "destroy the world". It's got a nice cast of characters, all developed, it combines fantasy and science fiction, and is, in my opinion, a very underrated anime. In fact, go watch it after reading this.

Anyway, here's a spoiler for that anime that's revealed mid series. The show has been seen in a very medieval setting only to reveal that it is actually 6000 AD. Years ago, aliens attacked us because we became too advanced for out own good and we had to downgrade, eventually reaching the middle ages once again.

With the robotic technology introduced in Skyward Sword, it got me thinking. Perhaps Hyrule isn't some ancient historical world, but the distant future. Some apocalyptic event could occur, causing the three goddesses to come down and restore the land. There would be some trace of technology left, but either unseen or unused by humans. The tech there would be used by whatever creatures that remain, such as the Bokoblins or Ghirahim's tribe. By Ocarina of Time, most, if not all, technology would go away.

That's just a small theory, what do you think? Not bad or am I just thinking too much?
 

RedDekuScrub

Red as the Crimson Sun
Joined
Jun 27, 2011
Location
McKinney, Texas
That's a pretty could theory. But it was confirmed that Lanayru went into ruin because of the misuse of natural resources, and so far there is only advanced technology in Lanayru. That is a very good idea though...
 
R

Rodmaster 2000

Guest
Your theory makes sense and your details are fundamental, but we don't really know whether is true or not, but you've gotta point there.
 

Ganondork

goo
Joined
Nov 12, 2010
I've always thought that Hyrule was a bit like Europe and Egypt - it once had a lot of technology, but then lost it all and most knowledge. You can easily tell from the lack of serious knowledge in Ocarina of Time, but an advanced mechanism surfacing from a sand-filled dungeon in Twilight Princess. The fact that we see all of this mechanical influence in Skyward Sword, it's safe to assume that it was their big technological age.

I doubt that they took this idea from an anime, I think that they did as they always have - taken from real world cultures. And this is also proven in Ocarina of Time. They seem to rely more on their religion instead of true knowledge. They contain power with relics from their Goddesses (Din's Fire, Farore's Wind and Nayru's Love). Instead of actual knowledge they use their religion to continue on with normal life - making it into their culture.
 
Joined
Aug 17, 2011
Location
Melbourne, Australia
Interesting theory. It is clear that the technology in the whole Zelda universe varies dramatic with time and place. In the first 2 games there was little to no technical knowledge displayed beyond building underground dungeons. Yet in many other games there are completely unexplained and isolated inventions(telephones and pictoboxes?).

So yes i do believe that the world did once have a higher grade technical knowledge.

But their is still open problem to the main question. You cannot compare the history of Zelda to the history of the world.
 
Joined
Nov 26, 2008
Not quite sure to what you're referring to here. Are you suggesting that Skyward Sword is actually a sequel to the series, not a prequel, and that it's a long time after the series that we've already known that the technology is developed? If so, you're wrong; Skyward Sword is confirmed to be the first game on the timeline. There's no room to debate on that.

On the other hand, it seems more like you're suggesting that Hyrule isn't an early civilization, but a late one. The problem is the distinction between the two is nonexistant. It's entirely relative to what came before or what is to follow. Was medieval Europe an early or a late culture? Well, compared to us it was early, but it came after tons of much older civilizations in various parts of the world. It's only a matter of perspective, so there's not really any point in debating on it because no conclusion can ever be reached, unless a Zelda game ever gives us a good idea of when the birth of the world in Zelda actually occurred.
 
Joined
Sep 27, 2010
Location
Inverness/St Andrews , UK
Not quite sure to what you're referring to here. Are you suggesting that Skyward Sword is actually a sequel to the series, not a prequel, and that it's a long time after the series that we've already known that the technology is developed? If so, you're wrong; Skyward Sword is confirmed to be the first game on the timeline. There's no room to debate on that.

On the other hand, it seems more like you're suggesting that Hyrule isn't an early civilization, but a late one. The problem is the distinction between the two is nonexistant. It's entirely relative to what came before or what is to follow. Was medieval Europe an early or a late culture? Well, compared to us it was early, but it came after tons of much older civilizations in various parts of the world. It's only a matter of perspective, so there's not really any point in debating on it because no conclusion can ever be reached, unless a Zelda game ever gives us a good idea of when the birth of the world in Zelda actually occurred.

I think what he means is that Hyrule as a civilisation exists in a time after ours, rather than before as the medieval technology would suggest.
 

Locke

Hegemon
Site Staff
Joined
Nov 24, 2009
Location
Redmond, Washington
I'm moving this to World of Zelda. Comparing Hyrule to our own universe isn't really a theory topic. It's been stated several times that technology isn't important to the games' internal chronology.

If you want my opinion, I don't think you can even compare Hyrule to our world. As Axle said, what defines late and early? How can Zelda take place in our own future when they can't even be in the same universe? (magic, mythology, etc) It takes place in its own fictional universe, totally unaffected by ours, with its own timeline independent of ours.
 
Joined
Nov 26, 2008
...yeah if we're actually trying to compare this to our world then the concept basically falls through right off the bat. :? My prior criticisms of the idea of a "late" or "early" society would still stand, even if it were the case.
 
Joined
Feb 5, 2011
Okay, the fact that this isn't in theory anymore means I didn't really explain it well. So allow me to explain a bit better. If I fail... well I'll do the best I can.
First, Axle, I never said this was a sequel, I was stating that perhaps the world of Zelda isn't an ancient world of forgotten civilizations, but in the distant future where magic would be more known ala Adventure Time.
Second, Locke, I NEVER said that this was OUR Earth's future. I was never comparing it to our world. I was saying that this could be the Earth's future but by that it doesn't mean our real world. Of course it is its own universe.
I'm sure there were smart people back then, but the reason I made this theory is because of something revealed in Skyward Sword. Robots.
No matter how smart, say, Leonardo Da Vinci was, a sentient robot resembling fodder or a boss in a Sonic the Hedgehog game is far too advanced for him to build. (Yes I know of Leonardo's "Robot" but it was not as advanced as Scrapper, who has arms floating via electricity, nor did he have the means to give it AI, assuming they were built by someone and not naturally sentient like Cybertronians)
Let me just say it again. My theory is that the world of Zelda could take place thousands of years in the future of their Earth because of the presence of technology that seems far too advanced to be built in a world still in the medieval setting unless it was built by another race (which I doubt) or ancient humans built it but have abandoned it in favor of magic and mythology which become more reliable than technology, leaving the Dark Tribe or someone to take control of the remaining technology.
 

Shadsie

Sage of Tales
This is an interesting idea, particularly if one proposes that Hyrule is actually on (our) Earth. It's actually a somewhat common theme in science fiction and some fantasy to have a "days of future past" theme. A couple of my favorite animes and an unrelated RPG videogame I've been playing of late are basically the Wild West in the future. I've also recenly become familiar with "Adventure Time" which is magic and mayhem in the future. Those interested in this theme may do well to check out a very odd animated film from the 1970s, Ralph Bashki's "Wizards" - the premise of that film is that humanity destroyed itself in a massive nuclear war leaving behind mutants and all the elves and fairies that had previously been in hiding take over and try to restore the world with magic. There's also an assassin-robot as one of the main characters.

So, Hyrule? Yeah, I could see it.

At the same time, I doubt it. I'm pretty well certain that Hyrule (and surrounding countries) was (were) meant to be in another world/another universe. In other words, Hyrule is what is called in fantasy fiction terms a "constructed world" - that is, a world with no relation to Earth. I think that Hyrule was always meant to be one of these.
 

Faedeur

The Juror of Courage
Joined
Oct 25, 2009
Location
Wherever the winds take me.
I don't personally think Hyrule is a future of our own world, though I do think there has been interaction between our world and Hyrule. Certain things (like the ones from ALTTP I am about to mention) sound as though they would be in our world, yet why would Hyrule have them? The Tower of Hera, Ganon saying En Garde. Sounds like Greek and French to me. It is possible, however unlikely, that there has been some slight interactions over the millenia between earth and Hyrule, though very limited.
 
Joined
Nov 26, 2008
I'm sure there were smart people back then, but the reason I made this theory is because of something revealed in Skyward Sword. Robots.
No matter how smart, say, Leonardo Da Vinci was, a sentient robot resembling fodder or a boss in a Sonic the Hedgehog game is far too advanced for him to build. (Yes I know of Leonardo's "Robot" but it was not as advanced as Scrapper, who has arms floating via electricity, nor did he have the means to give it AI, assuming they were built by someone and not naturally sentient like Cybertronians)
Let me just say it again. My theory is that the world of Zelda could take place thousands of years in the future of their Earth because of the presence of technology that seems far too advanced to be built in a world still in the medieval setting unless it was built by another race (which I doubt) or ancient humans built it but have abandoned it in favor of magic and mythology which become more reliable than technology, leaving the Dark Tribe or someone to take control of the remaining technology.
You're still missing the point though. In reference to the bolded part, the future of what? "Future" simply means "later than now". "Future" isn't a chronological measurement, but that's basically how you're using it. Something can only be the "future" compared to something else. As I said, the only way you can classify something as "early" or "late" from a completely concrete, non-relative standpoint, is if you literally know when the world began and when it will end, because then you can actually identify beginning and ending points, and thus calculate early and late points. But we don't have that, not in Hyrule and not in our world.

Now if you're talking simply the theme of a primitive society following an advanced one, then yeah, Skyward Sword clearly uses that theme, but that's not something that described the rest of the Zelda series, really just Skyward Sword. It's the only game that really has that theme outside if maybe Twilight Princess.

But if you're talking the actual concept of Zelda taking place "later" in the timespan of the Zelda world, then that's not even an actual concept. It's beyond abstract; it doesn't even exist.
 
Joined
Sep 12, 2011
Location
Halifax
I gathered immediately that Duelmark is pondering the possiblity that the Hyrule we're all familiar with is, perhaps, a land that was born after the fall of some technologically advanced society in a manner similar to (for lack of an easier immediate comparison to my addled mind) "Planet of the Apes". The advanced technology sporadically seen throughout the games is his inspiration for this theory. It's an idea that's flitted through my mind a couple times as well.

It's simply fan theory, and as relavent as most of the other nebulous fan-theory that goes on in our minds (Tingle is totally the Hero's Shade by the way). Duelmark was simply asking if anyone else has had the same ponderings, presumably in an attempt to create a dialogue. A lecture in the relativity of history isn't what he's asking for, as it's a simple concept, and one I'm sure he understands quite freely despite his ambiguous terminology. I detected a little authoritarian hostility in some of the replies to him, and I don't think it's warrented.
 
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Joined
Sep 25, 2011
I think this kind of technology/race idea best falls under the category of "Meh, it's a game, go with it." I mean one can speculate all one wants but in reality it might not even matter. A technology aspect in this game can work for what they need it to but it wouldn't in other games. Kind of like how the Rito had more use in WW then the Zoras, which is why they had the change over. Also... one can never forget the most important part of the fantasy/fictional world, especially Zelda, and that is this: it's magic... anything is possible if they want it to be.
 

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