Government

[Alita the Pun]

In games like MM. There is a vast and often times dangerous land. These lands are ruled by different races who seem to have their own governments. Now, these governments will obviously have different laws. What happens if for example, a Goron steals something? This may be lawful in the Goron government but not lawful in the Government of Clock Town. So my question is: do these races and peoples have all the same laws but different governments or is there an overarching power that has control over all of the various governments?

 

[Din.Farore.Nayru]

I believe that the different races definitely have their own governments, values, etc but that (at least in some of the games) they have mostly all pledged allegiance to the King of Hyrule. Looking at OoT specifically, there is evidence of these bonds between the races. For example, the Zoras watch over the king's water supply but have their own king and princess. I think that the Gorons, Kokiri, and Zoras all depend on the protection provided by the Kingdom of Hyrule, and that in exchange, they provide services to the Kingdom but are allowed to maintain their own customs and leadership.

To answer your question, I think it would depend on where the crime was committed. If a Hylian committed a crime in Zora's Domain, the Zoras would deal with it accordingly. If a Goron committed a crime in Castle Town, the king's guards would deal with it.

 

[Felixavier]

Interesting question. My personal take is that the royal family has ultimate say over the law of the land. Even though Princess Zelda is a hylian, not a goron or a Zora, I would think that their domains would still fall under her authority, because they lie within the realm of Hyrule. Perhaps each race has their own sub-government, however. The Gorons, Zoras, and Deku scrubs clearly each have their own leaders, but perhaps those leaders all must answer to the royal family. You could think of them like cities or states that have a mayor or governor who must still answer to the president.

 

[Alita the Pun]

This is all well and good! I'm wondering how law is enforced in Termina. There is no great castle. The soldiers you see there are often cowards. Any ideas?

 

[Felixavier]

Good question. I never really thought about the fact that there doesn't seem to be any royal family in Majora's Mask. There's just the town mayor, but it doesn't seem like the town has much of any influence over the other races in the area, despite being a hub of sorts for the local denizens of Termina. We really don't get to see much of the land of Termina, so perhaps there is a royal family elsewhere that has jurisdiction over the Termina we see? Or maybe it's just a relatively ungoverned land with each group (the townspeople, the Gorons, etc.) having their own separate government and rule of law. Maybe there's an extradition agreement between these people, so if a Zora thief is caught in the town, the town would be required to hand over the thief to the Zora's for punishment.

 

[Alita the Pun]

Or if a Citezen was caught commiting a crime it would be a given that that individual would be punished according to the government of that town.

 

[BoxTar]

I'd think of it as a federal/state level of government. The King of Hyrule rules over the entire thing and makes the big decisions for the entire land, while places like Detah Mountain and Zora's Domain are like the states, each allowed their own personal laws in their own personal way, but still having to obey the laws that the King sets. Places like Gerudo Desert and Kakariko Village, places without set rulers, however, I have no idea. Gerudo is a valley of thieves, so I'd say they're disconnected from the government, while Kakariko probably just obeys King's orders.

As for Termina, I'd think its a similar system. The problem being that the government in Termina is kind of a mess, so the outside places have to sort of hold their own until the Terminian government gets it **** together. That's my own interpretation, anyways.

 

[pyjamas5189]

Maybe the different races have a kind of treaty that states what they can or can not do

 

[Mipha]

maybe they just have their own governments and are simply allied with Hyrule, as the games indicate.

 

[MrPsychoSlayer]

I do believe that each land would have their own sort of government, but the Royal Family would have overall say, considering the amount of respect they get from other species, as well as the fact that they have an actual army.