Spoiler Where Are the Rest of the Sheikah?

[:Zelda:Druggie:]

A thread like this may already exist, so get rid of this if necessary

ANYWAYS, I was wondering what others thought of the fact that there seem to be no other Sheikah in Skyward Sword except for Impa. I was personally looking forward to finally see some sort of Sheikah village, maybe even an old Kakariko.
Where do you think the rest of the Sheikah are at in Skyward Sword? Are they nearby the Sealed Grounds or somewhere else? Why do you think Nintendo is continuing to keep them somewhat hidden - to maintain the mystery? Would you have liked to seen more Sheikah in Skyward Sword?

I really like the mystery surrounding the Sheikah, however I would like some kind of greater explanation for them. I mean, we know the majority are gone by Ocarina of Time, and by Twilight Princess . . . well, we have a short old women in a rotting village. I don't see how the Sheikah could return in a future game so I'm annoyed at their absence in Skyward Sword, seemingly one of the last places to give them any kind of story . . .

What are all your thoughts/theories concerning this? ^.^

 

[Dragoncat]

Hmm...yeah, a sheikah town wouldve been cool. I guess since there was no royal family yet, there was no need for them. I never really saw them as a separate species anyway, more like a different culture of hylians.

 

[A Link In Time]

Based on what we've seen from both Skyward Sword and Ocarina of Time I highly doubt the Sheikah are even a race as many speculated them to be but rather individual royal guardians bearing the name "Impa". The intentions of the Sheikah are never dived into so perhaps Nintendo wishes to keep the secret locked tight but you can never be too sure with the company after the revelation of the Hyrule
Historia. Honestly, I saw no room for the inclusion of more Sheikah in Skyward Sword. I feel as though they would have served no larger purpose. By limiting the quantity to a lone Sheikah Nintendo was able to flesh out her backstory and provide more insight into what the Sheikah truly are although I still yearn to discover what the mysterious eye symbol signifies for it bears some resemblance to the crest of the Twili.

 

[Seth]

I'm sure they are out there somewhere. Personally, my guess as to there being only one was that I thought Nintendo wanted to keep them as the 'mystery race'. They have always been a strange shadowy people we know almost nothing about, and I think Nintendo liked it that way. It creates intrigue and mystery which is great for creating atmosphere.

And yet...

They barely mentioned them in SS. Even without making a village or something they could have addressed them more in some way. I don't know.

I like keeping them as mysterious as possible though because a lot of the atmosphere, especially in OoT with the Shadow temple and well, benefits from that greatly. Instead of just being a creepy haunted house, there's a dark history behind it with an equally dark and mysterious peoples.

It's not that I wanted answers, but it would have been fantastic opportunity in SS to expand a little and deepen the lore and mystery. Maybe Nintendo just uses the Sheikah as a generic guardian race now when it suits the story and have abandoned their previous direction. Who knows.

 

[Go_Dark_Link]

Like others have said before, I also believe they were out there, just didn't need to show themselves. I'm gonna use an example from Buffy the Vampire Slayer to illustrate my point. In that series, there are Slayers and there are Watchers, much like how there are Zeldas and there are Sheikah. Originally there was only one Slayer awakened at a time. The Watchers were always there. No one knows of them or where they are except other watchers. When the Slayer is awakened a single Watcher is sent to watch over her. This is much like Zelda. My point is the Sheikah are always there, but only one of them is sent to protect the Princess. So in Skyward Sword my guess is they were hidden.

 

[Seth]

Based on what we've seen from both Skyward Sword and Ocarina of Time I highly doubt the Sheikah are even a race as many speculated them to be but rather individual royal guardians bearing the name "Impa". The intentions of the Sheikah are never dived into so perhaps Nintendo wishes to keep the secret locked tight but you can never be too sure with the company after the revelation of the Hyrule
Historia. Honestly, I saw no room for the inclusion of more Sheikah in Skyward Sword. I feel as though they would have served no larger purpose. By limiting the quantity to a lone Sheikah Nintendo was able to flesh out her backstory and provide more insight into what the Sheikah truly are although I still yearn to discover what the mysterious eye symbol signifies for it bears some resemblance to the crest of the Twili.

Not to derail, but I disagree. OoT introduced the Sheikah, and it remains the definitive source of information for the Sheikah as no other game has created as much a back story to them as OoT has. I think OoT hints strongly at them being a separate race.

In OoT there are several references to the Sheikah. First and foremost Kakariko Village is formally a Sheikah village opened to the general public. So obviously they cannot be just an individual guardian as there was at least one whole village of them at one time. That doesn't rule out that they were just a group that was sworn to protect the King though.

However, Gossip Stones and dialogue in game refer to them as the 'Legendary Shadow Folk'. Impa is said to be one of the last. When we meet Sheik, s/he claims to be the last of the Sheikah as well. Could they have just disbanded? I suppose, but with the way it's talked about it doesn't sound like that to me. It sounds like a group that died off. Sheik even tells you about the Temples and describes it as a legend passed down among his/her people. Now maybe it is possible they were created by the Goddesses to serve Hylia and later the royal family, but I think they were still a separate race and not just a simple title. The Gossip Stones and other artifacts also hint at a rich and developed culture separate from the Hylians. Just imo.

 

[A Link In Time]

In OoT there are several references to the Sheikah. First and foremost Kakariko Village is formally a Sheikah village opened to the general public. So obviously they cannot be just an individual guardian as there was at least one whole village of them at one time. That doesn't rule out that they were just a group that was sworn to protect the King though.

However, Gossip Stones and dialogue in game refer to them as the 'Legendary Shadow Folk'. Impa is said to be one of the last. When we meet Sheik, s/he claims to be the last of the Sheikah as well. Could they have just disbanded? I suppose, but with the way it's talked about it doesn't sound like that to me. It sounds like a group that died off. Sheik even tells you about the Temples and describes it as a legend passed down among his/her people. Now maybe it is possible they were created by the Goddesses to serve Hylia and later the royal family, but I think they were still a separate race and not just a simple title. The Gossip Stones and other artifacts also hint at a rich and developed culture separate from the Hylians. Just imo.

Alright. Fair enough. The Sheikah are indeed a separate race. The reason we don't see many in Ocarina of Time is due to their perishing in the Hylian Civil War. This leaves the question of where they are in Skyward Sword? As we see from the three landmasses-Faron Woods, Eldin Volcano, and Lanayru Desert they are certainly not present in Hyrule at the time. This leads me to believe that the Sheikah migrated over to Hyrule sometime between the events of Skyward Sword and Ocarina of Time establishing strongholds similar to Kakariko and exterminated shortly thereafter.

I think it's interesting you mention Zelda's dual persona from Ocarina of Time, Sheik. Zelda was of pure Hylian descent as far as I'm aware and used magic to transform her appearance. Impa from Skyward Sword is revealed to be the same old lady we see in the Sealed Temple during the game's conclusion. This makes me wonder if the Sheikah aren't one giant farce of people disguised as members of a nonexistent sect in order to keep their secrets hidden.

 

[Seth]

Alright. Fair enough. The Sheikah are indeed a separate race. The reason we don't see many in Ocarina of Time is due to their perishing in the Hylian Civil War. This leaves the question of where they are in Skyward Sword? As we see from the three landmasses-Faron Woods, Eldin Volcano, and Lanayru Desert they are certainly not present in Hyrule at the time. This leads me to believe that the Sheikah migrated over to Hyrule sometime between the events of Skyward Sword and Ocarina of Time establishing strongholds similar to Kakariko and exterminated shortly thereafter.

I think it's interesting you mention Zelda's dual persona from Ocarina of Time, Sheik. Zelda was of pure Hylian descent as far as I'm aware and used magic to transform her appearance. Impa from Skyward Sword is revealed to be the same old lady we see in the Sealed Temple during the game's conclusion. This makes me wonder if the Sheikah aren't one giant farce of people disguised as members of a nonexistent sect in order to keep their secrets hidden.

Well, obviously Sheik was just a disguise, but I am sure Zelda didn't just ad-lib as she went. Being close to Impa she probably knew a great deal about the Sheikah people and thus what she said while in disguise I think still has validity. She had to make a darn good disguise to fool Gannon obviously, so she had to be a convincing Sheikah.

While it's possible they are all just a farce, it seems unlikely to me. The artifacts scattered across the world (like the Gossip Stones and Lens of Truth), as well as the fact they had a whole village points towards them being a legitimate race. If it is all one big lie Nintendo hasn't dropped any clues. None that I have seen anyways.

 

[:Zelda:Druggie:]

Now maybe it is possible they were created by the Goddesses to serve Hylia and later the royal family, but I think they were still a separate race and not just a simple title. The Gossip Stones and other artifacts also hint at a rich and developed culture separate from the Hylians. Just imo.

This is something I sort of assumed as well. I feel they probably served the Goddess/worked for her in a way until Zelda came along. I get the idea of Zelda representing some sort of a "second-coming" for the Sheikah, possibly. If they were indeed created to serve the Goddess originally, Zelda may have fulfilled some sort of prophecy of the Goddess returning (since Zelda is pretty much the reincarnated Hylia).
If that was the case, it would be logical that the Sheikah would now serve Zelda and her family, subsequently guarding the royal families to come. I'm getting sort of out there I know xD

Anyways, if the Sheikah were created to serve the Goddess, that still leaves the question of what exactly they were up to during SS. Top secret Goddess errands?

 

[Seth]

This is something I sort of assumed as well. I feel they probably served the Goddess/worked for her in a way until Zelda came along. I get the idea of Zelda representing some sort of a "second-coming" for the Sheikah, possibly. If they were indeed created to serve the Goddess originally, Zelda may have fulfilled some sort of prophecy of the Goddess returning (since Zelda is pretty much the reincarnated Hylia).
If that was the case, it would be logical that the Sheikah would now serve Zelda and her family, subsequently guarding the royal families to come. I'm getting sort of out there I know xD

Anyways, if the Sheikah were created to serve the Goddess, that still leaves the question of what exactly they were up to during SS. Top secret Goddess errands?

In OoT, the first appearance of the Sheikah, we learned that they swore allegiance to the royal family of Hyrule. At the time we had no idea why. However in SS we see a Sheikah, Impa, assisting Zelda on her quest. Impa, and the Sheikah tribe, were chosen by Hylia to be her guardians:

As a member of the Sheikah, the goddess's chosen guardians, I gladly welcome this duty. Zelda, I shall watch over the Triforce.

I think it's logical to conclude that with Zelda starting the royal bloodline at the conclusion of SS, that the Sheikah continued to protect the royal family because they were protecting her blood.

 

[Lord_Cathaseigh]

You know, I haven't seen any mention of Shikashi (old man in blue robe from OoT; he tells you about the Lens of Truth.) -Shi in the japanese lexicon means master/teacher. Shika+shi= Shikashi. While I doubt he's the head Shiekah, he is friends with the scientist who lives on Lake Hylia, so I guess Shiekah expert wouldn't be a stretch. There's also Impaz and and that fortune-teller in TP.

ALIT does bring up an interesting point, though. What if the whole clan is a farce? Impa is very resourceful, so I wouldn't doubt that she could pull it off. The biggest hole in a farce seems to be that the clan has a history, I mean, secret protectors of Hyrule, that's a cool myth. But now they have this big death temple? Messes with the whole guardian image, you know?

 

[Seth]

I just think there is way to much evidence of a developed history and culture for them to be just one big lie, especially when their presence spans a long, long, long time. Also what reason would the SS Impa have to lie about her people being chosen as guardians?


Also; one point I want to clarify...The Sheikah being 'chosen' could mean two different things: For one, it could mean they were created by Hylia to be her guardians specifically. However, it could also literally mean they were chosen and that they already existed separately at one time. Hylia could have, for one reason or another, selected them to help carry out her destiny.

 

[Dio]

I believe that the sheikah were originally sent directly from the heavens to live on earth(or wherever Hyrule is). The reason Impa was alone is because her tribe still lived with the Gods and were only sent when they were needed. I imagine that later on they took permanent residence on earth (or wherever Hyrule is).

As for this:

I would like some kind of greater explanation for them. I mean, we know the majority are gone by Ocarina of Time, and by Twilight Princess . . . well, we have a short old women in a rotting village. I don't see how the Sheikah could return in a future game so I'm annoyed at their absence in Skyward Sword, seemingly one of the last places to give them any kind of story . . .

The perfect place would be a game in which the Hylian civil war starts, or has already started and ends just before the events of Ocarina of time. It can explain why there was only Impa left in OOT and if she is the last one or if the others are just elsewhere.

 

[WechyPichu]

They were all there. You just couldnt see them.

 

[sir aiath]

My theory is that anybody in Hyrule could be a sheikah you just wouldn't know it. Have you ever seen Batman Begins? The League of Shadows is similar to the Sheikah. They have league of shadow members disguised as SWAT team officers and in the Dark Knight Rises (SPOILER ALERT) they have members disguised as construction workers. I imagine it is something similar with the Sheikah.