• Welcome to ZD Forums! You must create an account and log in to see and participate in the Shoutbox chat on this main index page.

Ocarina of Time The Guards' Uniforms Are Just Awful.

Shadsie

Sage of Tales
:lol:

I started up playing Ocarina of Time again, the other day and into today... a new game, so I've been running around as kid-Link. I've noticed something about Zelda's guards and the guards at Kakariko... It's not like I've not noticed it before, but playing anew inspired me to make a topic about it.

Do the guards' uniforms strike you as funny? I'm thinking, "Are they the summer-unis or something?" The guards seem to be wearing a combination of armor and... shorts.

Shorts. With armor.

Maybe it keeps them cool, or they expect that the shorts will enable them to move swiftly (that's the excuse I use for adult Link opting for tights and tunic - combination "Kokiri-pride" to wear a Kokiri-type tunic and the tights with no armor for swiftness/ease of movement - same excuse I use on Sheik - being a "stealth-fighter" for which protection is sacrificed for ease of movement), but... those guards *do* have armor and chainmail, so why the freakin' shorts?

It just seems so... goofy. All that protection for the upper body and exposed legs.
 
Joined
Oct 21, 2010
yeah, I noticed that while I was playing MM, it is quite silly! I don't even know why they would need to move swiftly, they stay in the same spot all stinken' day! XD
 

linkman8

True and Noble
Joined
Oct 17, 2007
Location
United States of America
Yeah, it is kind of strange. I mean, even if it was chain mail, you don't wear chain mail shorts. They wear (what looks like) a chain mail upper body suit with a metal cuirass over the top, but then they wear some weird kind of shorts? Obviously they never intended on really fighting anything.
 

insanity76

I don't suffer from it ..
Joined
Jun 17, 2010
Location
Texas
I've noticed that too .. they almost look like guards' attire you'd find in Monty Python & the Holy Grail.
 

TheGreen

is climbin' in yo windows
Joined
Jul 12, 2010
Location
San Antonio
Weyull, we have a special breed of soldier.

It's my belief that in the fantasy land of Hyrule (or Termina) one may only strike their foe on the torso and/or face. Also you may strike at one's weak spot (eyes, tails etc.), BUT NEVER MAY YOU STRIKE AT THE LEGS.

They do look pretty goofy :P
 

Anubis

The most inactive active
Joined
Nov 21, 2009
Location
Gothenburg, Sweden
The first time I saw them I lold, but now I've gotten used to it and I think its..uhm okay. :) Maybe Nintendo tried and tried but didnt succéd to make the guards look cool with armored legs, so they just put them that way?

The king's guards look like they have sunglasses btw.
2r6m836.png
 

Shadsie

Sage of Tales
I think you may have inspired a comedy fanfic in me! I so rarely write comedy...

I mean, maybe it is some kind of cultural convention. (I doubt it, I just think that the folks at Nintendo weren't really thinking too much in character-designing the guards, or else they did this goofy shorts thing on purpose as a way to show how incompetent they are). The guards in TP had full armor and mail, which is an improvement.

I remember in history class learning about how soldiers in the American Revolution operated. (I ought to know more about that war, since I am currently living in a town where some of its heroes hung out and some of its battles were fought). I seem to remember from elementary or high school history learning about how the American side scored victories by throwing out the conventional rules of war at the time and using things the Native Americans used: Camoflage and striking from cover. The British troops carried on what was, at the time, the ettiquite of war - wearing colorful uniforms and meeting upon the battlefield all drawn up. There was also a taboo against striking at officers, if I'm not mistaken, which the uncouth Americans gleefully ignored. Nowadays, war is fought more in the "American" style - use of camoflage, practicality... Some of the ettiquite of the Eurpoean ways of 300 years ago seem silly to us now. Who goes out to battle these days wearing a bright red or bright blue coat with shiny buttons? That will guarantee get you killed.

So, "Do not strike at the legs" may actually be some kind of weird Hyrule war ettiquite that we think is silly?

Hmmm. "In the Era of the Hero of Time, it was a great warrior's taboo to strike a man on the legs..."
 
Joined
Oct 26, 2008
Location
Brexit
It is an extremely odd suit of armour to have to were for people that are guards/soldiers. Considering that the legs are one of the major areas that I'd aim for in a battle, because a decently performed blow with cripple their speed at the least, if not their movement completely. It would be like seeing an enemy in battle not wearing armour to protect their arms, because if you hit one arm hard enough, it can also reduce the power of their attacks, the effectiveness of their weapon and several other things.

I would assume that you'd at least make them wear chain mail to protect their legs, at least it gives the guards the change to withstand hits to their lower body and battle with the majority of the effectiveness before the strike. I don't know what the reason behind them just wearing what appears to be shorts, or even a skirt like piece of clothing (I can't completely remember what they looked like). I doubt it's due to heat, because chain mail or plate armour would more than likely keep you rather cool, or at least in a place with the climate that Hyrule is accustomed to. Maybe they decided it would better for manouevability, because they wouldn't have their legs weighed down so much, but I can't see that as a good reason, because unless they were trained to be extremely nimble, then they are more than likely going to take a strike to the leg and end up dead.

Maybe they are all actually fashion models, or just wish to have tanned legs.
 

dumb180

Warrior Postman
Joined
Sep 30, 2009
Location
AL
Maybe it's not their battle garb. According to that one guard inside the Poe Shop, things are supposed to be pretty peaceful in Hyrule. Perhaps the King supports a casual work environment and lets them all run around bottomless while on duty. I envy that.

The etiquette explanation is pretty good though, and likely as close to reasonable as we'll ever get. :D
 
D

Desolation

Guest
Except for the guy in the back alley after you get all of the stones to open up the temple of time in OoT the guard in the back alley is laying on the ground saying he tried to stop Gannon but failed.. Maybe that chain mail and shorts didn't work out to well after all.
 
M

MrZach

Guest
150px-Hyliansoldieroot.png


Mmm. Delicious.

I've never really looked at it until now, but yeah, it is a bit goofy.

I imagine they were just on a budget when they designed them, that's all.
 

Alex Arbiter

That Random Guy
Joined
Aug 4, 2010
Well I guess the shorts maybe for more mobility but, otherwise I think this might just be very questionable.
Also it might have been for this month's issue of Armored Athlet's monthly.
 
Joined
Nov 27, 2010
I've always hated the guards...going back to when I first played the game and they seem to do nothing but keep me out of Hyrule castle. They don't protect Zelda from Gannondorf and that one laughs at you for even wanting to do anything (you run up Death Mountain!!!). My only good thought when thinking about those guys is that they all became ReDeads. So to answer the question of the thread...YES, I hate everything about them including there terrible attire that is designed for them to do nothing but stroll through gardens, take ten rupee bribes, stand in a room and watch you break pottery, and criticize you then expect a mask in return!
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Top Bottom