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| |name = Twilight Realm | | |name = Twilight Realm |
| |image = [[file:Twilight.jpg]] | | |image = [[file:Twilight.jpg]] |
| |race = [[Twili]] | | |race = [[Twil]] |
| |game = [[The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess|''Twilight Princess'']] | | |game = [[The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess|Twilight Princess]] |
| |dungeon = [[Palace of Twilight]] | | |dungeon = [[Palace of Twilight]] |
| |geo = | | |geo = |
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| The Twilight Realm is the name of an parallel dimension to [[Hyrule]], a world of shadows and perpetual twilight whose light only comes from the [[Sol]] orbs that are kept in a sacred shrine in the [[Palace of Twilight]]. This place is the homeworld of the [[Twili]], a race of shadow-beings who are descended from the [[Interlopers]] who were banished to this world for attempting to seize the [[Sacred Realm]] for the almighty [[Triforce]]. In the aftermath of this banishment, they evolved into the Twili race. The only link between the Twilight Realm and Hyrule is a relic known as the [[Mirror of Twilight]], which acts as the gateway between the two dimensions. While Hyrule resides in the Light World and is lit by the sun, the Twilight realm exists in perpetual Twilight and is lit only by the Sol orbs which are the equivalent of the sun. | | The Twilight Realm is the name of an parallel dimension to [[Hyrule]], a world of shadows and perpetual twilight whose light only comes from the [[Sol]] orbs that are kept in a sacred shrine in the [[Palace of Twilight]]. This place is the homeworld of the [[Twili]], a race of shadow-beings who are descended from the [[Interlopers]] who were banished to this world for attempting to seize the [[Sacred Realm]] for the almighty [[Triforce]]. In the aftermath of this banishment, they evolved into the Twili race. The only link between the Twilight Realm and Hyrule is a relic known as the [[Mirror of Twilight]], which acts as the gateway between the two dimensions. While Hyrule resides in the Light World and is lit by the sun, the Twilight realm exists in perpetual Twilight and is lit only by the Sol orbs which are the equivalent of the sun. |
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| ==Etymology==
| | = Etymology = |
| The Twilight Realm's name refers it to be a gloomy hazy, but serene world. It is often called the world of shadows, although that name makes it sound quite unpleasant. There is a strange beauty to this realm, which Hylians often see at the setting of the sun. | | The Twilight Realm's name refers it to be a gloomy hazy, but serene world. It is often called the world of shadows, although that name makes it sound quite unpleasant. There is a strange beauty to this realm, which [[Hylians]] often see at the setting of the sun. |
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| ==History and Mythology==
| | = History and Mythology = |
| ===Theology===
| | == Theology == |
| The Twilight Realm seems to be a Polytheistic society, as [[Midna]] mentions that their Gods were on Link's side as symbolized by the Sol's fusing with the [[Master Sword]]. None of the gods of the Twilight Realm are mentioned during Twilight Princess, and it remains unclear if they pay homage to the goddess's of Hyrule, since they were banished by them. But what IS clear, is that they do worship more than one god. The full history of the Twilight Realm is incomplete, leaving only a brief bit of its origins and its recent history as the only information available. For much of its early history, it was a peaceful place, until the king of evil [[Ganondorf]] was banished to the place by the Ancient Sages where his evil influence would cause a coup of the government and cast the realm into darkness by overthrowing the true Twilight Princess and installing a puppet ruler named [[Zant]] into the position of ruler of the Twilight Realm. Zant goes on to seal the Sols, thrusting the Twilight Realm into darkness, and invade Hyrule under Ganondorf's orders in order to merge the two worlds together to make a single empire. After the Dark Lord's defeat however, peace was restored and the Twilight Realm was free from his grip. This was made possible by [[Link]] and [[Princess Zelda]] before the Mirror of Twilight was shattered by Midna, the Twilight Realm's rightful ruler that was restored to power. This action severed the only known road between the two worlds, destroying the only known means of travel between them to prevent similar events from happening again. | | The Twilight Realm seems to be a Polytheistic society, as [[Midna]] mentions that their Gods were on Lin's side as symbolized by the Sol's fusing with the [[Master Sword]]. None of the gods of the Twilight Realm are mentioned during Twilight Princess, and it remains unclear if they pay homage to the goddess's of Hyrule, since they were banished by them. But what IS clear, is that they do worship more than one god. |
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| ===Origins===
| | (more work coming later, im working on it real hard.) |
| [[File:Interlopers.jpg|200px|thumb|left|Dark Interlopers as depicted in Twilight Princess ]]
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| At a certain point in the shadowy early history of Hyrule, a group of magicians called the [[Interlopers]] found out that the Triforce was hidden in the [[Sacred Realm]] and tried to invade the Realm to take control of the Triforce's legendary powers. To this end, they created a dark power, known as the [[Fused Shadows]] inside which they had vested an enormous amount of dark magic.
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| When they seemed on the verge of victory, the Goddess's decided that the [[Light Spirits]] of Hyrule should intervene and seal away the magic to stop the war. The light spirits shattered the Fused Shadow into 4 different segments hiding 3 of them in various places across the land, and leaving one to the interlopers. They then drove the Interlopers across the land into the Twilight. They were imprisoned in the Twilight Realm, which was used as a prison for those who displeased the Goddesses, and lost their ruler as punishment for the war.
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| In addition, the Twilight Realm's effect of causing those that dwelled within it for an extended period of time to only be able to exist as shadows outside of it took its toll on the Interlopers, dooming them to this fate as well. Over time, the Interlopers would evolve into the Twili and reestablish their monarchy that would come to rule over the Twilight Realm. The goddesses did not completely sever the Twilight Realm's connection to Hyrule however, for they left a lone link between the two worlds in the hands of the Ancient Sages, the Mirror of Twilight, which could only be shattered by the true ruler of the Twili.
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| ===Zant's Rising===
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| [[File:zant.jpg|200px|thumb|left|The ruler of the Twilight, Zant]]
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| Many of years after the banishment of the Interlopers, The King of Evil, [[Ganondorf]], attempted to launch an invasion of Hyrule but was thwarted by the Royal Family of Hyrule who was forwarned by [[Link]], the Hero of time. As a result Ganondorf was sentenced to execution at Arbiters Grounds, the home of the Mirror of Twilight. He was held in this place for a time until it was the day of his execution, his was to be executed at the top of the prison. But when the Sages impaled him with the Sword of Sages, the [[Triforce of Power]] suddenly activated within him and prevented him from dying. The evil Gerudo soon broke free of his chains, obliterated the Sage of Water, and turned the blade on its owners. As a last resort, the remaining Sages activated the Mirror of Twilight to open the portal to the Twilight Realm and sent Ganondorf through it before the portal closed. Around a century later,the Twilight Realm entered a period of political instability when the throne was suddenly left vacant. One of the hawkish advisers of the Royal Family of the Twilight Realm, Zant, stood as a prime candidate to ascend to the throne. However, Princess Midna was selected as the true Twilight Princess, and Zant became enraged that he was not selected instead. He became severely depressed, and in this state was approached by Ganondorf, who masqueraded as a god. Ganondorf offered him the power to take the throne by force in exchange for his freedom from the Twilight Realm. Zant used his newfound magical abilities to curse Midna and usurped the throne of the Twilight Realm, transforming the Twili into Shadow Beasts and sealing away the Sols within the Palace of Twilight, leaving the Twilight Realm in darkness and bringing misery to the Twili. Meanwhile, Midna escaped to Hyrule with the lone piece of the Fused Shadow left in the hands of the Twili and decided to seek out the other fragments to use against Zant.
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| Once secured in the throne of the Twilight Realm, Zant now had the authority to open the portal generated by the Mirror of Twilight as the self-proclaimed King of Twilight. Exercising his new authority to do so, he was persuaded to attempt conquest of Hyrule by Ganondorf, whom he now released back into the World of Light in fulfillment of their bargain.
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| After this event, the story continues into [[The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess|Twilight Princess]], If you want to see the rest of the story, refer to that page.
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| ==Governance==
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| ===Monarchy===
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| The Twilight Realm seems to be ruled by a monarchy the like of which governs [[Hyrule]]. The monarchy rules from the Palace of Twilight which is situated in the middle of the vast realm. Usually the descendant of the last King/Queen is chosen, but in the event of an absence of selection, the people have the power to choose the next ruler. This was the case when the sitting monarch made no selection for a successor and set the stage for a succession debacle shortly before the events of Twilight Princess that resulted in [[Zant]]'s candidacy for the throne and [[Midna]] being allowed to take the throne with the support of her people.
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| ===Military===
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| The military of the Twilight Realm is not fully explained in [[The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess|Twilight Princess]], but it does appear a military is present because Zant used a military to invade Hyrule. Although they were in Shadow Beast form at the time, it appears when i their true form they would not be equipped well to serve in military, as they are quite slow. With these details aside, however, it does seem they have a standing military for defense.
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| ==Economy==
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| [[File:GiantsWalletG Large.png|90px|thumb|left|]]
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| Little is known about the economy of the Twilight Realm, or whether an economy actually exists. However [[Link]] does find [[Rupee]]s hidden in several places in the Palace of Twilight. This would seem to imply that, like Hyrule, the Twilight Realm also has a similar economy that uses Rupees as currency.
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| ==Technology in the Twilight Realm==
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| [[File:TP_tech.jpg|220px|thumb|right|Example of the technology used in the [[Palace of Twilight]]]]
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| The Twilight Realm is shown to be filled with examples of technology far more advanced than anything found in Hyrule or most other locations depicted in the Zelda series to date. When Link visits the Twilight Realm, he finds that most buildings are suspended in the never-ending Twilight by unseen forces, implying that the Twili have developed some means of making their structures float in the void of the Twilight Realm. As exemplified within the Palace of Twilight, there are multiple other examples of advanced technology that were made by the residents of the Twilight Realm, such as the Twilight platforms that seem to be made of pure energy, the crystal switches used to activate these platforms, the Sols, the Sol-activated staircases that appear throughout the palace, and many others. Since the Twili's ancestors were noted to be especially gifted with magic, it makes sense that the Twili themselves would continue this tradition and put that talent to use in the creation of technology that surpasses even that seen in Hyrule.
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| {{Cat|Twilight Princess Locations}}
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