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What, exactly, is a White Sword?

Spiritual Mask Salesman

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at the moment, we don't know for certain that's him
is it probably him? eh I suppose, but until it's officially said by nintendo or in game, its still speculation
I remembering seeing news that there was a pamplet at some gaming stores in 2019 which confirmed that was indeed Ganondorf's corpse, and that the events of the first trailer were taking place underneath Hyrule Castle.
 
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So, I just realized that this theory is wrong. TMC states that the White Sword has no sacred power in it's current form. Oh well, it was a fun idea to consider, atleast, and there appeared to be a fair amount of shared traits to support it, but that line is the nail in the coffin. If it's okay with you, SMS, I'm going to still respond to a few of your points, as there are some things I want to clear up.

I think Force ≠ Sacred Power.

HH and PH both disagree with you there, I'm afraid. I posted the HH quote above, but here's one from PH:

As you know, every creature in this world possesses a sacred power. This power is called life force.

-Oshus

How much Force someone has to be able to use a certain blade does not mean that the blade necessarily has Sacred Power.

Then why can't Link obtain the White Sword with his baseline Force level? If the WS in Zelda 1 has no sacred power, than any old fool should be able to wield it, no?

In Skyward Sword, the Goddess White Sword is only an upgrade because it enhances how many things Fi can dowse for, and the blade never actually gets the power to repel evil until Zelda blesses it herself.

Yeah, another great point that I have no rebuttal to.



For example, in The Wind Waker, Phantom Ganon can't actually be killed until the Hero of Winds has awakened the Master Sword's power to repel evil.

PG is killed by the Light Arrows in TWW, though.

at the moment, we don't know for certain that's him
is it probably him? eh I suppose, but until it's officially said by nintendo or in game, its still speculation

edit: plus if that is him, that just further helps the idea that the light arrows haven't destroyed in a game yet him

So it's a male Gerudo corpse that appears to be a source of Malice, his theme plays, he has the same roar that he did in BotW, but it's not him? Doubtful, especially when CaC talked about Ganon's backstory.
 

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So it's a male Gerudo corpse that appears to be a source of Malice, his theme plays, he has the same roar that he did in BotW, but it's not him? Doubtful, especially when CaC talked about Ganon's backstory.
when did I say that's not him? I just said unless there's an official word, it's speculation, even if it's all but confirmed, and again, yes, it's probably him

I approach this the same way I do rumors, nothing's factual until there's something official
 

Spiritual Mask Salesman

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Then why can't Link obtain the White Sword with his baseline Force level? If the WS in Zelda 1 has no sacred power, than any old fool should be able to wield it, no?
I think anyone could use the wooden sword in Zelda 1. Getting more hearts is just a game mechanic to make players work towards getting the White Sword, there is no indication at all that it has some portion of Sacred Power.

As for the Oshus quote, I think that refers to sacred power as a generalized term, not the specific Sacred Power that repels evil because as far as we know only relics can hold such power, it doesn't exist as a power within an individual. I suppose the exception is Zelda tapping into her powers originating from Hylia which let her do things like hold Ganon down briefly in OoT so Link could deal the final blow.
 
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I'm confused: is the Noble Sword from the Oracle games the same as the White Sword from Zelda 1?
 

Spiritual Mask Salesman

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I'm confused: is the Noble Sword from the Oracle games the same as the White Sword from Zelda 1?
Not really, it doesn't look similar. It's just the Level 2 sword of the game, just like the White Sword is the L2 sword of Zelda I. Moblinking did point out that in Japanese the Noble Sword is referred to as the White Sword, though.
 
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Ok, I've looked deeper into this...instead of doing Gov hw.

So the main Zelda sword is the Master Sword. No ****. It's in ALTTP, OOT, OOS/OOA (maybe), WW (maybe), TP, SS, ALBW, and BOTW.

The White Sword (or a sword called a White Sword) appears in a couple games:

SS: The Goddess White Sword is what becomes of the Goddess Sword (forged by Hylia) after "absorbing" Farore's Flame and Nayru's Flame. Once Din's Flame is absorbed, it becomes the Master Sword.

MC: The White Sword (Two Elements) is the sword Picori Blade forged together with the Earth and Fire elements. The White Sword (Three Elements) is that sword forged with the Water Element.

Z1: The White Sword is given by the White-Sword Giving Old Man who lives in a cave by the source of the waterfall that feeds Lake Hylia (the "Zora's Domain" of Zelda 1). It requires 5 hearts to obtain.

OOS/OOA: Ok wtf oracle games why are you such a pain for theories? The Noble Sword is called the White Sword in Japanese. And so we're gonna assume that the change to Noble Sword was a mistranslation and call it the White Sword. The White Sword can be gotten a couple of ways. In OOS, the "canon" way is to solve the Lost Woods puzzle and find it resting on its pedestal. In OOA, the "canon" way is to complete the Trading Quest, received the Broken Sword from the Old Zora, and to have Patch repair the sword on top of the Restoration Wall. If you get a version of the White Sword in one game, you can use secrets to transfer the sword to your next game, leading to the Master Sword being found in the Lost Woods or repaired by Patch.

So the Goddess White Sword is a preliminary step to the crafting of the Master Sword, in the same way the White Sword (__ Elements) is a preliminary step to crafting the Four Sword. A White Sword, in this context, is an intermediary blade, half-forged with the fires of the Goddesses or the elements of the Picori.

But the White Sword in Zelda 1 and the Oracle games is a separate blade than the Magical Sword or the Oracle Master Sword (which is probably not the true Master Sword, unless the Lost Woods of Holodrum mythically connect to the Lost Woods of Hyrule, which is actually a possibility considering the Lost Woods's mythical connection to Zora's Domain, Death Mountain, and Termina).

This means there are two separate sacred blades called the White Sword in the Zelda series (I say sacred because the White Sword in Z1 requires hearts to hold like the Master Sword, and the White Sword from the Oracle games can shoot sword beams). Or...they are one in the same.

My theory: First things first, Oracle of Ages takes place before Oracle of Seasons. This is for a couple of reasons:
a satisfying conclusion to Ambi and her husband's story
and because then, canonically, the Master Sword is the one in the pedestal, not the much less exiting White Sword. This means that the White Sword (timeline-wise) was first forged by Patch in Oracle of Ages, in a little cave on top of the Restoration Wall. A wall that would later flood and become a waterfall, shown in the future of Oracle of Ages. Which is where the sword would be kept until Zelda 1 when Patch's ancestor, in the same cave on top of the waterfall, would give Link the sword.
 

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I don't really know the context of them since I've played a limited amount of Zelda games, but there are probably quite a few reasons why these swords might be called "White".

Games, specially RPGs, associate colors to elements, with white usually being related to Light or white magic, both usually associated with cleansing and purifying powers. I guess this is the angle you're shooting at by bringing how sacred or magical they are?

But aesthetically White, when it comes to blades, makes me think of a clean/barely-used blade which still hasn't faced the issues of aging like staining/oxidation yet. It could also be a reference to the kind of material used in them. White metals usually refer to light gray colored metals and alloys like as silver, white gold, platinum, etc; which is fitting for some of those that are translated as Noble Sword in other languages right?

There's a bit of an overlapping there too as silver is usually seen as a purifying metal in folklore, so maybe it could be a bit of both.

In any case I don't think they're all named strictly for the same reason and could be for quite a few reasons, like the ones mentioned above to how it just being a recurring name bringing a sense of familiarity to the players.
 

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