Ghirahim and Fi

[Spiritual Mask Salesman]

So last night I had a vision of a really cool scene I could draw for one of the drawing prompts for Linktober. Basically Hylia and Demise in heated battle. I kept thinking about what that might look like, and I figured maybe Hylia was using the Master Sword because we see murals of her holding it. Likewise, Demise would be using his dark equivalent to the Master Sword.

While thinking about the swords, I thought of the spirits within them, Fi and Ghirahim. Fi is consistently robotic and lacks any human emotion. Ghirahim, on the otherhand, has a personality and can show emotion. Why is this the case?

Was Fi created later than Ghirahim? Is Ghirahim even a real sword spirit, or merely a demon that perhaps existed separate from the sword, but was attached to the sword by Demise?

For a game that was supposed be the earliest point in history chronologically, and was meant to tie up loose ends of the lore, it created more questions than answers.

 

[DekuNut]

I always pictured Ghiarahim as a demon, inherently giving him the same capacity as characters like Batreaux. I don't know if he was always connected to a sword or if he just made into one later, but I feel like he is, on some level, different than Fi. He even has an ability to exist completely separate from his sword form, while Fi seems more like an apparition to me.
It could also be an order vs chaos thing. Fi is orderly and goal-focused. Calculting disconnected. A vessel of order for an orderly goddess. Ghiarahim, on the other hand, is the avatar of a chaotic demon. His mind works differently from Fi's. He's rash, intensely emotional, and harder to control. But that could be my inner MegaTen talking.

 

[Vanessa28]

Very good question. Personally I think Hylia kept things less complicated and created a sword mainly to destroy and seal evil away. Demise could've been the opposite and wanted a sword as strong as he was himself. They often say you choose a pet close to your own personality. While these are objects and no pets it could've been the same? Who knows. Or maybe Ghirahim was once human who sacrificed himself? Or maybe Hylia didn't have much time to create a spirit sword with emotions because she knew she didn't have much time.

 

[Mikey the Moblin]

I think fi was meant to become more emotional and human by the end of the game
the pieces are in place for it to happen anyway

 

[Spiritual Mask Salesman]

I think fi was meant to become more emotional and human by the end of the game
the pieces are in place for it to happen anyway

The plot implies that, but it never happens. I do feel like SS had bigger ideas in play that never got finished probably because of deadlines, so they rushed it to be "good enough". The dialogue suggesting Fi would have had a growth arc being the prime example. But there is also evidence that Zelda was going to be written as the one who got the Triforce.

 

[Mikey the Moblin]

The plot implies that, but it never happens. I do feel like SS had bigger ideas in play that never got finished probably because of deadlines, so they rushed it to be "good enough". The dialogue suggesting Fi would have had a growth arc being the prime example. But there is also evidence that Zelda was going to be written as the one who got the Triforce.

yeah, so much of her dialogue is like, her seeming to acknowledge that even as an artificial intelligence she could grow beyond that without ever realizing it. I like to pretend it happens anyway after the fight with scervo

 

[Uwu_Oocoo2]

I like the idea of Ghirahim being a demon servant drafted into becoming Demise's sword, a blade strong enough to counteract the master sword. Throughout the game as we fight Ghirahim, we see him progress both physically and emotionally. The more Link defeats him, the less playfull and more angry/cold he is. Similarly, we see his physical appearance chipping away as he is forged into a darker, tougher version of himself. Perhaps Ghirahim wasn't always Demises sword, but through his determination to serve his master was eventually transformed into exactly what he needed. I would like to look at the dialouge some more, but those are my initial thoughts.

 

[Ryuu Kage Desu]

I always thought that the difference between the two was in their purpose of function. While they were both crafted as weapons/tools for their cause, each cause requires a different type of weapon. Hylia's plan included a hero, who needs sound advice, an actual sword, and a way to lock the dark energies away. Demise, on the other hand, required a weapon that could/would act alone; probably with more problem solving, and capacity for change. While Hylia had a defined plan, and probably multiple contingency plans, I doubt Demise had a real plan (besides punch it till it breaks). Ghirahim only became an actual sword at the end, almost like a secondary function.

Also, I do think the personality of the creators/commissioners does come into play. The race that seemed the most connected to Hylia, in experience and time, were the robots. There is also the part about the Triforce originally being microchips. I wouldn't be surprised if the Hyrule originally destroyed by Demise was so advanced that there was no real difference between magic and science; life and artificial-life. As such, Fi is a machine that shows evidence of being beyond the basic idea of what a machine is.

Demise, and his forces, on the other hand, seem to be more about passion, and raw experience. Basically, he is everything that Hylia is not. As such, Ghirahim is more akin to something altered, as apposed to created as he was. This feeds into a theory that I enjoy, which is that He was not destroyed when Demise lost against Link, but escaped. Which could mean that he could be a quiet mover in the shadows, behind many events throughout the ages of Hyrule.

There is a theory about the two being created by the same person. The Triforce symbol, though being inverted, acting as a maker's mark. This could work with my theory that the Magic Sword is a proto-Mastersword, or even a copy. If the Mastersword is technology based, more could be made. If two were made, but taken by opposite sides of a conflict, they would naturally be in conflict with each other. This also works with the theory that the Mastersword being sent back in time with link at the end of Ocarina of Time left the adult timeline without a Mastersword, until a copy could be made. (It might have been Masked Nintendo Bandit who did a video on this last theory. It's been a while, but it's a solid theory.)