Zora to Rito

[Uwu_Oocoo2]

Anybody else not buy the whole "the world turned into an ocean, so Zora turned into Rito" explanation? I feel as though in the case of a sudden flood it'd be more probable for them to evolve to breath salt water than to have beaks and wings. But then I wondered, what if they didn't evolve in a natural sense?
When we see them in WW the Rito are feathery and have beaks, but not wings. They only get wings after Valoo gives them one of his scales. We could assume that showing their courage to reach him helps them grow their wings? But I think that the power is in the scale itself. In a similar way, when Link gets the Silver or Gold Scale in OoT, he is able to breathe underwater (when diving) for a longer period of time. It isn't that the scale is acting as oxygen or anything, but that by simply owning it permanently changes the way Link breaths underwater. Back to the Rito part of this, perhaps they would never have had wings on their own and only through the scale's power do they gain them. When Hyrule suddenly flooded, the Zora may not have had time to "evolve" and went to Valoo for help. He helped by giving them feather scales, or beak scales, until the Zora/Rito began forming them naturally and didn't need the scales anymore. That would explain why the Rito are born with wings by the time it gets to BotW (assuming you think those timelines are connected but that's a whole other story). It makes more sense than "oh hey I'm a bird now", imo.

 

[Mikey the Moblin]

Yeah it's a huge meme
Iirc theres a canon reason the water isnt swimmable

 

[Uwu_Oocoo2]

I fixed it! Actual theory now.

 

[MapelSerup]

From the game and reference books:

"Oceans... Oceans... Oceans... Oceans as far as the eye can see. They are vast seas... None can swim across them... They yield no fish to catch..." — Ganondorf (The Wind Waker)

"The Great Sea in The Wind Waker is an illusory ocean created by a torrential downpour from the heavens. Its ethereal "water" is unlike the water natural to Hyrule, and so only monsters and Fishmen are able to live there." (Encyclopedia (Dark Horse Books) pg. 65)

The Zora, unable to live in the Great Sea's ethereal waters, evolved into the Rito, who are able to fly in the skies." (Encyclopedia (Dark Horse Books) pg. 69)

 

[Mikey the Moblin]

Ah yes the good ol encyclopedia

 

[Moblinking5000]

Damn, Mepel beat me to it;.

This is further evidence that the BotW Rito and TWW Rito are not the same.

 

[Uwu_Oocoo2]

The Zora, unable to live in the Great Sea's ethereal waters, evolved into the Rito, who are able to fly in the skies." (Encyclopedia (Dark Horse Books) pg. 69)

I understand the canon is that they evolved, my proposal is that they did not evolve in a natural sense, or how most people assume from the bits of information we get about it.

 

[Moblinking5000]

That passage from the Encyclopedia said that the Zora are unable to live in the Great Sea. That implies that all of them evolved, and that there are no Zoras left. Not some, not most, just the Zora. Therefore, there shouldn't be any Zora left, especially not by BotW, which most likely isn't on the AT anyway for a bunch of reasons.

 

[Ryuu Kage Desu]

I was originally of the camp that evolution just doesn't work that way. Over the past few years, though, I've changed to the idea that the change was forced on them, by the dragon; much like the original post proposes.

I do have to ask, what about the talking fishmen? I have always, even today, thought that there should be a connection between the two. I find it doubtful that every last zora accepted the scale(s). There had to be at least one who refused, or couldn't make it back from a long journey in time, or any number of reasons. Could the fishmen be the result of the zora alternative?

 

[Uwu_Oocoo2]

I was originally of the camp that evolution just doesn't work that way. Over the past few years, though, I've changed to the idea that the change was forced on them, by the dragon; much like the original post proposes.

I do have to ask, what about the talking fishmen? I have always, even today, thought that there should be a connection between the two. I find it doubtful that every last zora accepted the scale(s). There had to be at least one who refused, or couldn't make it back from a long journey in time, or any number of reasons. Could the fishmen be the result of the zora alternative?

Now that you mention it, the fishmen are basically what I said should have happened to the Zora- they'd be more likely to evolve to breathe salt water. Perhaps the fishmen were the natural evolution, and the toxicity of the water could be why we see so few. Then for those Zora unwilling to risk it, they could have escaped to land and sought out Valoo for assistance.

 

[Ryuu Kage Desu]

That passage from the Encyclopedia said that the Zora are unable to live in the Great Sea. That implies that all of them evolved, and that there are no Zoras left. Not some, not most, just the Zora. Therefore, there shouldn't be any Zora left, especially not by BotW, which most likely isn't on the AT anyway for a bunch of reasons.

After letting this kick around in the back of the mind, today I thought about why we would have Zora after the Wind Waker sea is gone. If they were artificially changed by dragon magic, their DNA may have been untouched. When they no longer needed to fear the water, or after the dragon passed away (though I am not convinced the two would be unrelated), they would simply return to being the Zora. I still think the Rito we see in Breath of the Wild are more closely related to the Oocca, from Twilight Princess.

 

[Moblinking5000]

The sea probably won't ever be gone, as it was created by magic, with the final flood being the result of a Triforce wish. Even if it is, Hyrule would no longer be there as Daphnes wished to ERASE Hyrule according to the JP version.

I personally think that the BotW Rito being related to the Fokkas is a better bet. They both have a history of working for the Royal Family, and they both look very similar.

 

[Fraxinus]

Am I the only one who thought they could have had a potential connection to the Gerudo? Doesn't necessarily mean they can't have a connection to Zoras as well, but in the concept art for OoT, the Gerudo were described to have beak-like noses and were based slightly after birds. The Rito also have a moderately darker complexion and most have either red or gold eyes. The Rito talon design (often seen on the grappling beams in the Dragon Roost Cavern clutching an orb) is also featured on Ganondorf's robe.

 

[Ryuu Kage Desu]

The sea probably won't ever be gone, as it was created by magic, with the final flood being the result of a Triforce wish. Even if it is, Hyrule would no longer be there as Daphnes wished to ERASE Hyrule according to the JP version.

I personally think that the BotW Rito being related to the Fokkas is a better bet. They both have a history of working for the Royal Family, and they both look very similar.

While I do think Breath of the Wild is best fit for the downfall. It is made abundantly clear, through in, and extra, game information, that the game can take place in all three timelines. Some even say that all timelines converge, but that can be an aside. Because of this, the Zora changing into Rito, then back again, is just as important of a timelines as never needing to change. I can see a connection between Fokkas, but they appear in a separate timeline as the Oocca, and could have similar origins. The time difference, which may be tricky to guage across realities, leaves room for the Fokkas to have come from the Oocca.

As far as the original Hyrule coming back after the great flood, and everyone abandoning New Hyrule to go back there. That's why I'm not a fan of that timeline placement. Though, it can be possible with another Triforce wish. Perhaps New Hyrule gets destroyed at some point ‍?

 

[Mikey the Moblin]

. It is made abundantly clear, through in, and extra, game information, that the game can take place in all three timelines

...by providing lore and context that never happened in two of the timelines?