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So is Skyloft Just One Island? And Some Plot Holes

Joined
Feb 23, 2011
(sarcasm) Yes, Skyloft is only an island of very few people after 1000 years of being in the sky. Come on, there's only that many because of design purposes. If they made the land as huge as it really would have been and put in the amount of people there would really be, the disc wouldn't be able to fit it all. The Wii's memory would crash. It doesn't have to be directly logical. It's one of those things that doesn't matter.
Thanks! Yes those factors must be taken into account when tackling such questions as these. Oftentimes, we complain about such superfluities as the amount of citizens in a town. Meanwhile we often forget to take into consideration the the Wii's capabilities and other variables surrounding that. I think there's a very logical excuse for many of those things. We just need to view things from a game developer's perspective. I'm sure we'd be surprised...



It is always this way when it comes to adventure games. Things we don't see do not exist, right? It seems as though we are wired to think that way. But we must remember: Yes, Skyward Sword is a video game. It is not real. There are aspects of realism that are sacrificed - when developing video games - for the sake of gameplay and other variables such as fun, accessibility, and efficiency. As such, many things are intentionally left up for the player to assume. For instance, you [the OP] asked a question about Skyloft's plumbing system. That was a very minor detail that is best left out, and how it actually works can be summed up with a bit of imagination.

Hmm... Let's see. One can easily envision an intricate plumbing system running underground in Skyloft, so it is not hard to imagine where the waste is dumped. I mean, they live in the sky - in a place where the citizens didn't even know a "world below" existed. ...think about it. (loljk) To the point: As you can see, simple assumptions, like the example I've provided, can (and in some cases should) be drawn to explain the many other diminutive details in SS, such as Skyloft's food source. There is no rule against it, and it is actually encouraged by Nintendo.

To be honest, Skyloft doesn't seem that big a place, a town of about 30, a graveyard for 9 and just 1 boarding school. So does this mean everyone, with obvious exceptions being Beedle, Pumm and Kina, come from here? Just these people?

We can assume there's more. If you take into consideration what I mentioned above about how some aspects of realism are sacrificed for things like fun, accessibility, and efficiency, it is not a crime to assume Skyloft is bigger than it seems (in game) in terms of population and size. You could even assume there are more tiny settlements on islands like Beedle's that we don't see in the game.

This also got me thinking about something Levias says about Link's parents. Namely, where exactly are they?

Likely dead, as in every Zelda to date. A fan who has at least beat 5 games in the series would know that.

Is there another island we don't see in the game where more people live or where Link and Zelda grew up together? Is this really the only place in the sky where our humans come from?

See first question.

If so, are they all related in some way and where do they even get their food?

Yes. If you converse with the citizens, many of them will tell you their relation to another person in Skyloft. As for food sources, we can assume pumpkins are a major delicacy. There are also the Sky Octoroks. It is also not hard to imagine some other kind of fauna on other island from which the Skyloftians hunt for food.

Where does the waste go when Link uses the toilet?

Used in example.

What happens when more than 9 people die, are their bodies dumped over the edge? Do they use the smaller islands for burials?

We can assume they make room elsewhere for more burials. Heck, who's to say there isn't a small island out there somewhere in the sea of clouds for burials?
 
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A

Axion

Guest
One hole can be obviously filled in... the lack of people in Skyloft. Remember, the Zelda franchise is set in medieval times. Reproduction rates weren't always as high as they are now. The only reason the populations increases so rapidly these days was the enormous advance made in medical technology in the past hundred years. Long ago, most women (and oftentimes children as well) would die during childbirth. The population change would be conventionally -1 person, +1 person. Then, you would have to worry about the child dying while growing up. Usually, the population count would be left relatively unchanged.

Of course, this would also imply that the people of Skyloft are incredibly inbred. This I cannot explain.
 
Joined
Nov 19, 2011
i like how your complianing about how much sense a zelda game makes and in SS thousands of years before it there were working robots and electric swords
 

MW7

Joined
Jun 22, 2011
Location
Ohio
i like how your complianing about how much sense a zelda game makes and in SS thousands of years before it there were working robots and electric swords

It's exactly like Star Wars. In Lanayru Province you see the past and it's technologically advanced, and Star Wars was supposed to be "a long time ago." Star Wars has working robots and electric swords (kind of) just like Lanayru Province.
 
Joined
Feb 23, 2011
i like how your complianing about how much sense a zelda game makes and in SS thousands of years before it there were working robots and electric swords

Most of your statement is irrelevant to the topic at hand. But anyway, yes, SS does boast some advanced ancient technology. But please don't attribute that solely to SS - or the Zelda series in general for that matter, as if it is unheard of anywhere else. Trust me, Zelda is not unique in that regard. :yes:
 
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TriforceHunter

Forever I am Abandoned
Joined
Mar 2, 2010
Location
In the middle of Kansas...
I thought you were gonna talk about the layout of the game. I guess this should be under the World of Zelda subforum but I digress.

Anyhow, I really dont think about most of these things. Everyone comes from Skyloft but not necessarily stay in the man Island. When did you last hear of Link's family? Wind Waker? They have magic, that's how they can get rid of bodies and waste matter. They seem to grow their food, look at the Pumpkin Place. Sounds reasonable?

In other words: Dont try to make sense outta this game bro, you live in the clouds and ride on Ho-Oh, that should be a sing.
 
Z

Zora_Waterfall

Guest
Speaking of plot holes, did anyone else notice Fledge's use of the expression "two birds, one stone"? Groose was surprised at the size of the surface birds, so unless Skyloftians make a habit of killing Loftwings with stones, I would call this a mistake.
 

bunny

birb overlord
Joined
Sep 16, 2011
Location
Indiana
Gender
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
The one thing I don't understand about Skyloft is... What happens?! They don't explain anything at the end of the game, I mean, I know some of it is meant to be left a mystery, but...all of it?! Like... are there still people living up there? Oh well.
 

Ballad of Gales

The wind is mine!
Joined
Jul 24, 2011
Location
Mexico
Never noticed that, good find.
However, if you're going to call them out on that, you'll also have to call them out on things like having a toilet that flushes...
Let's not get so nitpicky with this.

Why is a flushing toilet so impossible? They are descendants of people who built working robots with detached limbs and floating mine carts!
 
Joined
Feb 23, 2011
However, if you're going to call them out on that, you'll also have to call them out on things like having a toilet that flushes...
Let's not get so nitpicky with this.

Well, if anything, the flushes were probably just a little "toilet humor" thrown into the game. It was probably never meant to be taken seriously, but lo and behold here we are on this thread. Perhaps Nintendo should start placing huge, obnoxious labels on everything in Zelda games so that people can tell the difference.

[lol "toilet humor"... See what I did there?]
 
Joined
Sep 25, 2011
Agreed.... I saw very few plot holes. Remember... this is a game and often times real world physics don't apply... for instance, Link's Loftwing has a long furry tail instead of tail feathers. You know how badly that would impede a bird's flying? It would remove a great deal of the bird's capabilities, if not all.

The toilet? simple humor. For people to sit on, stand up, have it flush and for the player to go heeheehee. Food? They live on floating islands and we've seen that there are at least pumpkins and other kinds of birds in the sky aside from the loftwings, also take into consideration the octoroks on the islands.

As for the little things? like the small population, well if you take a population and isolate it on an island, then the population will only grow to the size that the island will allow it to. Also, another idea, why add more then is necessary? I talked to every one on Skyloft because I either needed to for story, or gratitude crystals. Now... in TP, I talked to Telma, the Dr., Agitha, and the group in Telma's bar which equals out to what? about 7 people in the entirety of Castletown? compared to the 30 for Skyloft? If I was doing a 100% on TP raise that number to 10... All the rest were just there and took up space.

The point of the matter is is that this can boil down to the explanation of that it's a game, go with it.
 
Joined
Dec 4, 2011
Here are my thoughts:
Link has no father, and his mother fell to her doom saving Link from falling because he's too adventurous.
Draw two Triforces so that they are touching side by side, then draw an upside-down Triforce in between them. Repeat that vertically a few times and you know what you have? The entire Skyloft family tree.
When they poo, it drops into the volcanic area to be pushed by an Eldin Roller.
They have a never ending supply of pumpkins and water. Sounds boring, but you gotta' do what you gotta' do.
When more people die, they get dumped over and turn into monsters down below.
 
Joined
Feb 23, 2011
That was the point I was making :P
The toilet was just a funny inclusions put there by the devs and so shouldn't be taken seriously. But, if people are going to get nitpicky about things like sayings, then why not about toilets? I wasn't saying the toilet was a plot-hole, I was just using it as an example for why we shouldn't look too deeply into 'inaccuracies'.

lol I know; I was agreeing with you. I was simply modifying what you were saying. Sorry it seemed as though I was contradicting you or something. lol :yes:
 
F

FaroresFolower

Guest
When you think about it, Skyloft is actually an outcropping of the land below the clouds. In the opening cinematic, Fi tells us that the Goddess gathered some of the humans onto an outcropping of the earth and sent it Skyward. If you think about it a little harder, you'll find out that Skyloft is actually part of the surface that just rose above the clouds. My theory is that the other islands floating along with Skyloft are little platforms of the earth's crust that flew out with the outcropping of Skyloft. This is probably because the sending the island Skyward wasn't very peaceful(obviously) and so it caused many other pieces of the surface to fly up with it. So basically yes, Skyloft is a big place. :)
 

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