Few races in the Legend of Zelda series have carried the same level of renown as the Zoras. Though their relation to a group of enemies that bear the same name is unknown, the peaceful Zoras now have a twenty-year-old reputation as being one of the most majestic races in Hyrule.
The Zoras first appeared in 1998 in Ocarina of Time. Far different from the Zoras introduced in previous games, who (save for a few that appeared in A Link Between Worlds) were aggressive beasts that attacked anyone who encroached on their territory, the Zoras of Ocarina of Time were eloquent beings who lived peacefully with all other races. Their home was in the Zora’s Domain, a sacred area and location of the Zora’s Fountain. The fountain generated all the water in the kingdom, and the waterway that flowed from it, Zora’s River, supplied the Hylians and Lake Hylia with the life-giving resource. This blessing came by way of Lord Jabu-Jabu, the Zora’s local deity.
Link encountered the Zoras twice in his adventure. The first time he met them was as a child while searching for one of the three Spiritual Stones. He eventually found the Spiritual Stone, known as the Zora’s Sapphire, after saving the princess of the Zoras, Princess Ruto, from a gruesome fate after she had been swallowed by Lord Jabu-Jabu.
The second encounter with the Zoras happened after Link aged seven years. When he returned to Zora’s Domain as an adult, Link discovered that the land been cursed and frozen underneath an unbreakable seal of ice. To save the Zoras from their fate and find one of the sages, Link ventured to Lake Hylia to search the Water Temple and destroy the source of the curse on Zora’s Domain. In his quest to do so, he reunited with a now-mature Princess Ruto, who he learned was the sage he was looking for.
As with a number of tribes from Ocarina of Time, the Zoras returned in the game’s direct sequel, Majora’s Mask. The Zoras lived off the coast of the Great Bay, residing securely in the Zora Hall. These Zoras were renowned for their musical team, the Indigo-Gos, who were scheduled to play in Clock Town for the Festival of Time.
Their plan to perform, however, was ruined by a series of disasters. First, Lulu, the lead singer for the band, lost her voice after laying her eggs and when the waters of the Great Bay became mysteriously polluted. These eggs were subsequently stolen by pirates, who also badly injured Lulu’s husband, Mikau, when he tried to retrieve them.
When Link reached the Great Bay, he found the badly wounded Mikau on the beach. Before Mikau died, Link played the “Song of Healing” to help ease the Zora’s sorrows, causing his soul to transform into the Zora’s Mask. Link then used this mask to recover the stolen eggs. The eggs then hatched, and the Zora newborns taught Link the “New Wave Bossa Nova.” Link returned the children to Lulu and performed the song for her. Both actions helped restore Lulu’s voice, and they also inadvertently helped Link gain entrance to the Great Bay Temple, the location of one of four Giants.
For their first and currently only appearance in a game exclusive to a handheld system, the Zoras served a significant role in Oracles of Ages. In the game’s present time, Link ventured to the Zora City to ask permission from the king of the Zoras to enter Lord Jabu-Jabu’s belly. Unfortunately, the king had died due to an illness long before Link’s arrival. Link’s only solution was to travel back in time to when the king was still alive and cure him so that he would survive into the present. With the king still alive in the present time, Link is able to receive permission to see Lord Jabu-Jabu.
Though they did not make an appearance in the traditional sense, the Zoras did technically return in The Wind Waker. Only one Zora appeared though, that being the Sage Laruto. This Zora was also only spirit form, with her body having been destroyed by one of Ganondorf’s servants. She taught Link the “Earth God’s Lyric” and instructed him to find her descendant and successor as the Sage of Earth. Once Link brought the new sage, his friend Medli, to the inner-most chamber of the Earth Temple, he, she, and Laruto played the “Earth God’s Lyric” to restore part of the Master Sword’s power.
Aside from the brief appearance in The Wind Waker’s cartoon aesthetics, the Zoras’ first redesign was seen in their next appearance in Twilight Princess. These Zoras also lived in Zora’s Domain and guarded Hyrule’s water source.
Before Link’s quest began, the Zoras were attacked by Zant and his forces. As a display of their might, the invaders executed the Zora’s queen, Queen Rutela, in front of the Zora people and then froze the domain in ice to close Hyrule’s water supply. When Link finally reached the domain, he discovered that most of the Zoras were trapped beneath ice and that he needed to rescue them. Once he freed them, Queen Rutela’s spirit visited Link and told him that he would need a gift from the Zora’s royal family to reach and explore the temple that rested at the bottom of Lake Hyrule. To acquire this gift, he needed to find and rescue Ralis, the Zora prince who had gone missing during the invasion.
Link found and helped save the prince, who had been injured and needed treatment from Renado in Kakariko Village. Having saved the prince, Link is visited by Rutela again. She thanked him for saving her son and led him to the location of the gift, which was the Zora Tunic. Link then used this tunic to enter the Lakebed Temple and retrieved the third and final piece of the Fused Shadow that was housed within it.
Eleven years after Twilight Princess’s launch, the Zoras returned in Breath of the Wild. They lived in the Lanayru Providence, which lay in the eastern part of Hyrule. Their home was the Zora Domain, and as with the Zoras of previous games, their duty was to protect the waters that flowed throughout Hyrule.
Link first met the Zoras while they were searching for a Hylian to assist their prince, Prince Sidon, in a quest to quell the rampage of the Divine Beast Vah Ruta. The Divine Beast was creating havoc in the providence by causing excessive downpours that threatened to flood much of Hyrule. The Zoras needed the help of a Hylian to board Vah Ruta and stabilize it.
Link accepted their request for help, but his aid was met with opposition from certain Zora elders. They had known Link in the past and believed he was responsible for the death of their beloved champion, Princess Mipha. But by retrieving the Zora Armor she had crafted for him, a gift Mipha intended to give to her future husband, Link was able to convince the Zoras of the truth that he would have never harmed her, and they allowed him to travel with Sidon to the Divine Beast. Link restored the machine, which was being controlled by Ganon, and was visited by Mipha’s Spirit, who lent him her power in the form of Mipha’s Grace.
Zoras were designed to be Hyrule’s most majestic inhabitants, and that role has not changed. Their duty to the kingdom has remained vital, and the aid they have offered the heroes throughout the ages has been invaluable in their quests for peace.
(For more information on the Zoras and the other fascinating races of Hyrule, visit Zelda Wiki.)
