To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Zelda series, the Creating a Champion book was published with a main focus on the development of Breath of the Wild. Among a wealth of discussion about many of the games development topics, you can find a section dedicated to the Zora people and their very own Prince Sidon. Though, people familiar with Sidon might be surprised upon noticing that the completed final design for Prince Sidon features him with gray scales as opposed to his in-game red scales.
The gray scales make the shark prince’s head seem much more like a traditional hammerhead shark, though it would seem that the change to red had more to do with the color theory of the environment. According to the description present in Creating a Champion, Sidon was changed to be red at the last minute for the primary reason of helping him stand out against the backdrop of the very blue Zora’s Domain. The red also helps represent his connection with his sister, Mipha, although their father King Dorephan noteably does not share his children’s red scales.
Though we can’t be sure of the intricacies of Zora biology, it would seem reasonable to assume the late Queen likely boasted the same red scales as her children. Although it isn’t mentioned in Creating a Champion, it’s possible the original gray scales were meant to represent Sidon taking after his father a bit more. In fact, it’s also worth mentioning Sidon’s gray scaled design includes red accessories alongside jewelery adorned with blue jewels, just like Dorephan.
While the switch to red makes a lot of sense for Sidon considering he spends all of his time in Zora’s Domain, an environment bathed in different hues of blue, it’s a shame his original design didn’t make it into the game. Prince Sidon would go on to become wildly popular among fans of Breath of the Wild, and I can’t help but wonder if he would’ve had as powerful of an impact, or perhaps an even more powerful one, with his original gray design.
