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Should Atheism be implemented into Zelda Games?

Spiritual Mask Salesman

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Since we are the players of zelda games we know the gods are real. We know the Triforce is a real relic that grants people wishes, but regular Hylians don't know that. They've never actually seen the Triforce and the gods would only be known to them by stories. Shouldn't there be Hylians who doubt the exhistence of the gods? I mean never do we find a Hylian who does doubt the gods exhist - all Hylians seem to be religous which I find to be odd.

So in future games should Atheism be implemented? Should there be Hylians who don't believe in any dieties? The game is fictional, sure, we know the gods exhist but the Hylians don't know that for sure. I think adding Atheism into Zelda games could add more diversty to the religion/scientific aspects of the games, it'd be interesting to see men of logic appear in Hyrule. I'm wondering is there maybe a reason that implementing Atheism has been avoided for zelda games? Would adding Atheists ruin the magical element of the game for anyone? Please share your thoughts.
 

Sheik

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It'd be a nice touch. Maybe we could go farther than having only atheists and believers of Hylia/the Golden Goddesses/the Triforce, and have many different religions and beliefs in the series. For an existing example, apparently the Gerudo worship the Goddess of the Sand, though I don't know much about that. There could be a wide variety of beliefs in the series, as well as lack of belief.

Would it be necessary? No, but again, it'd be a nice touch.
 

octorok74

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If you have like one obscure character that is an atheist, sure. But I just get a feeling that implementing atheism into Zelda would start to ruin the lore. Especially since the goddesses are so central to the theme. It would be like taking the souls out of Dark Souls in my mind. I want the lore intact.
 

Emma

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I'm not sure it'd be right. In a universe where it's absolute and undeniable that its gods are real, atheists would come off exactly as they are stereotyped to be by radical religious people in the real world. That would alienate them from the game and it'd be no different to them than, say, a game saying how "foolish" and "silly" gays are (it'd go over very badly). The only major fantasy franchise I can think of where there are atheists is Dragon Age. And in that game, the existence the most prominent god is left intentionally ambiguous. Whereas lesser deities are portrayed simply as powerful entities that are not actually full-on gods. It makes atheist viewpoints in-universe far less degrading. And while they may be disappointed, other characters will not harshly treat your character if you have them say they don't believe.

I don't think this issue can be handled by something with absolute certainty of its gods. It'll only make them look like fools. It wouldn't go over well. Not unless they plot twist it in a way that the goddesses are not actually real. But I don't see that happening.
 

PalaeoJoe

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For reasons explained by Matt above I don't think Atheists should be placed in the games. But I do think that people who either don't believe the goddesses exist or people who recognize their existence but simply don't worship them should be shown in game.
 
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While it would make sense in a contemporary setting, Zelda's mainly medieval, and (European) atheists didn't really exist until the 17th century, and not in large numbers until at least the 19th.

I would like to see a variety of religions, though; or maybe different sects of the Hylian religion would be more realistic.
 

Dio

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Since we are the players of zelda games we know the gods are real. We know the Triforce is a real relic that grants people wishes, but regular Hylians don't know that. They've never actually seen the Triforce and the gods would only be known to them by stories. Shouldn't there be Hylians who doubt the exhistence of the gods? I mean never do we find a Hylian who does doubt the gods exhist - all Hylians seem to be religous which I find to be odd.

So in future games should Atheism be implemented? Should there be Hylians who don't believe in any dieties? The game is fictional, sure, we know the gods exhist but the Hylians don't know that for sure. I think adding Atheism into Zelda games could add more diversty to the religion/scientific aspects of the games, it'd be interesting to see men of logic appear in Hyrule. I'm wondering is there maybe a reason that implementing Atheism has been avoided for zelda games? Would adding Atheists ruin the magical element of the game for anyone? Please share your thoughts.

I dont think it should be implemented. Maybe one crazy guy who denies the Gods exist could be in a game. However evidence for the Gods is widespread, it makes no sense for anyone on a large scale to not believe in them.
 

Salem

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Would you think Nintendo would ever implement something like that? I mean in general.
 

Kingwobbly

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I don't think it'd really add a whole lot to the game for me. In medieval times, most people were religious anyway, so it isn't weird that everyone believes in the goddesses. Also, it's not like there's really a religion, people just know there are goddesses. They don't go to church or anything, so you wouldn't be able to tell if someone was an atheist. There could already be plenty of atheists in Zelda. Like the Carpenter. Or the punk guy who turns into a stalfos. He doesn't pray to be better, he asks you to get medicine. To know for sure, people would have to actually tell you that they're atheists, and since Link doesn't talk, that'd be a super weird conversation starter. Like just going up to someone and being like 'oh, hey, I'm gay.' And they're like 'good for you mate, but I don't really care.'
 
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Zelda is a series that continuously relies upon the presence of deities to back its story. If it were only one being or a small group who were atheists, what point would there be to them even being there? And if atheism was a major part of any new Zelda game's story, then all of the characters who talk about the gods and legends and so forth would cease to exist. Even there was widespread atheism and perhaps the main character (Link) would need to find ancient relics to teach him about the gods so that he may receive their power to vanqish the evil, it still wouldn't be a more interesting story, and would only serve to take away a lot of the lore and legend that many characters in the game have been taught and believe in.
 

snakeoiltanker

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Considering it would not add any real substance too the story, I think religion should stay out of our Zelda games. In Zelda games we already have a belief, which is not really a controversial thing. Outside of creating the world in which Hyrule exists, and lending aid and choosing a hero when a great evil is threatening humanity, the goddesses dont really have much of a role in the day to day lives of Hyrules residence. And even if they did, there is proof of a greater being existing with all the ruins, relics and temples. So there would be no way for people to not believe they exist. Maybe they wouldnt go out of their way too worship these gods, or maybe even go against the gods. Say like Ganon who believes the gods have forsaken him, making him so bitter to the point of hate and destruction. As far as I know, there are no commandments or even guidelines for humanity to go by. I dont ever remember sin being mentioned. Nor have I ever heard of a heaven or hell existing in this world. This means there is no real punishment for evil behavior, as there are no real sins or taboos. As a matter of fact, there is almost a reward for having an evil heart. Like the notion that if someone with an evil heart obtains the triforce, the world will reflect the desires of that person. Just like if someone with a balanced heart can heal the world if the triforce is obtained.

So in the end, I think that if there was too be any signs of Atheism or any other aspect of religion; I feel it would just be pointless filler in the plot that doesn't really have any effect on the world or the plot what so ever. So due too these reasons I feel that religion has no place in Zelda, and really not in any other game for that matter. And if a game does contain aspects of religion I would prefer it not be tied to any real life religion. I will contradict myself here by saying games like Devil May Cry, or Darksiders with a war between heaven and hell (demons and angels) makes for an interesting game. But I would rather religion be handled like it is in Halo where the religion is not a real world belief, and the enemies are aggressive for reasons like the crusades. I mean I guess there are good ways to include religion in video games. But I think that unless the whole game is based around war caused by religion, that it really has no place in video games. I dont want to sound like I am against religion, cuz that is not the case. I just play video games to escape reality so I dont like my games to be all that realistic, like COD and the like. I like my games too be in a fantasy world, such as science fiction, or fantasy setting. Or even a realistic setting, with a completely unrealistic plot. Say like Dishonored, with the strong Victorian/steampunk era with not so real world characters, weapons, and powers. Sorry that was so long, but contradicting myself needed an explanation.
 
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Justac00lguy

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I think it could actually work if the Nintendo team went about it the right way and changed up the core formula somewhat.

Obviously Zelda games are based around thesim, from the constant references to the Gods, to God like relics and symbols such as the Triforce, to the constant references of "chosen one". The game would have to be stripped of all of its lore to the point where it essentially becomes a lost myth. Wind Waker showcased this to an extent, but obviously me us rediscover the lost history. So this hypothetical game would have to take it one step further and completely isolate itself from the other games to allow for the lore and history to be almost lost.

You don't necessarily have to place the game in some sort of advanced technological age, but make it distant enough to allow time for the stories to become distant myths. The game could be centred around people losing faith in these so called "Gods" and lack of proof. So then you could have a civil war based on rebellion, led by a false shepherd of sorts (the false shepherd would probably be Ganondorf or another force of evil spreading lies).

The player would spring up as Link, and people may have hatred towards him for being the "chosen one", which would lead to a darker game where Link isn't reveled in greatness or heroism but is instead detested. Obviously we know in this world that the Gods do exist, so the rebellion would be the "bad guys" in this particular war.

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Interesting to think about that's for sure, might not fit the formula though and I think a lot of sacrifices would have to be made for it to make sense and play a big role.
 

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