My personal headcanon of events regarding Hyrule’s complicated geopolitics in the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time timeline. A long write-up, but a must read for history nerds and Nintendo 64 fans!

A long time ago in the early 2000s when I was a teenager, I used to write my own cringy fan-fiction inspired by Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask. The plots usually involved conflicts in the respective Hyrulean and Terminian kingdoms. No, I’m obviously not going to share any of these writings here. Aside from being extremely low-brow and predictable self-insert Mary Sue plots ripped off of other media, I do not have digital backups of them. These ideas never came to fruition – such as my initial plans of making graphic novels and animated cartoons – and instead just remained being posted on my old AOL site for a handful of people to see. Just recently I decided to maybe resurrect some elements of these writings for a potential animated series on YouTube.

With that being said, when trying to flesh out basic concepts for my animations involving the original Hyrulean Civil War as mentioned in the plot of OoT, I recently tried doing research from various websites, but ran into conflicting stories, as it’s never truly chronicled as canon from official sources. I’ve even seen conflicting tales on Zelda subreddits, with people debating key details of the war. Wiki sites also give vague explanations on the truth of the matter. After all, the Legend of Zelda games are infamous for retconning events and having complicated, diverging timelines for the series. Some official Zelda publications even contradict their own chronology of events.

For example, Fandom/Wikia just goes along with the basic narrative that the Hyrulean Civil War conflict lasted for several years, occurred right before the events of OoT, and resulted in Link’s mother seeking refuge in the Kokiri Forest for her infant son. An official European Nintendo comic from the 1990s corroborates this, and states that Link’s father was an officer in the Royal Hylian Army who was killed by rebels during an attempted coup against the King of Hyrule.

Some people speculate whether the civil war was some kind of race war between the four main groups – Hylians, Zora, Gorons, and Gerudo – with the Hylians coming out on top and subjugating the losing factions. Others speculate that it was specifically a civil war among Hylians over leadership of the royal dynasty, similar to the English War of Roses in medieval times, whereas the Zora, Gorons, and Gerudo merely aided the Hylians. Think of it like the English House of York vs. the House of Lancaster, the latter of whom was aided by armies from France and Scotland.

I personally believe that the Civil War was a combination of both theories: the conflict started off as the different races attacking each other over land and resource disputes, with the Hylians reluctantly getting involved and eventually leading to their own civil war which was actually a series of rebellions and coups to claim leadership of the crown (again, think of the War of the Roses). I believe the overall conflict lasted for about 20 years or so, and initially began as the Zora attacking the Gorons, which then caused the Gorons being protected by Hylians in an alliance, the Gerudo remaining neutral but employing mercenaries on either side, and then the Royal Family of Hyrule fighting among itself against lords of city-states. Basically, a combination of The English War of the Roses, World War 1, the Russian Revolution.

So here’s my basic timeline of events to outline the politics of Hyrule, which starts off roughly 30 years prior to the plot of Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time:

  • Hyrule is in a fractured and unstable state. Hylians live in a collection of city-states ruled by lords, and controlled by a corrupt and controversial king who’s considered a usurper that seized the throne under questionable circumstances. If you know your English history, think of him like King Richard III.
  • During his reign, the Royal Family is repeatedly attacked by rebelling lords of Hylian city-states in failed coups. This sets the stage of the civil war.
  • Zora’s Domain and Death Mountain go to war with each other over resources and territory. This is seen as an unpopular war with the Zoras perceived as aggressors, under leadership of a bloodthirsty king – who’s the older brother of the Zora King seen in OoT.
  • The Royal Hyrule Army initially remained neutral, due to most of the military preoccupied with small regional conflicts against the rebelling Hylian city-states.
  • Gerudo Valley is like a rogue state, and is a corrupt and shady government who’s technically neutral but provides weapons and mercenaries to either side of the conflict. Despite their negative reputation, the other states in Hyrule do business with the Gerudo anyway. Think of the Gerudo like Communist China in the modern era, in the sense that they’re technically rivals with the west but still have partnerships with them.
  • In the first few years of the war, the Gerudo provide armaments and soldiers to help the Zora, whereas the Hylians send soldiers and weapons to the Gorons in a proxy war. Think of it like the Vietnam or Korean Wars.
  • With the war raging on and proving to become unpopular among the Hylians, a major civil war breaks out between the Royal Hyrule Army versus a unified rebel army of Hylian lords. Think of it like the Russian Revolution in 1917 with the White vs. Red Armies.
  • Eventually the Zora King is killed in battle and succeeded by his younger brother, who immediately ends conflict against the Gorons and forms an alliance with them.
  • The war then consists of the Royal Army engaged with a full-scale civil war against the rebelling Hylian lords. Due to the unpopularity of the King of Hyrule and his previous support of the war against Zora’s Domain, the Rebel Army gains popularity and consists of former Royal soldiers who have defected against the King.
  • Both sides of the civil war employ Gerudo, Gorons, and Zora soldiers as mercenaries, but the Royal Army uses Sheikah as assassins.
  • About 10 years prior to the start of OoT, Link’s parents along with the infant Link attempt to flee the conflict as refugees. Link’s father was a Royal guard of the Hyrule King’s palace. He planned to abandon his post, but was killed by Rebel soldiers during an invasion.
  • Link’s mother and the infant Link flee to the Kokiri Forest.
  • The leader of the Rebel Army is a Hylian lord who’s the father of Princess Zelda. He has blood ties to the Royal Family of Hyrule himself, and believes he’s the rightful heir to the throne. Think of it like Henry Tudor being a distant relative of King Richard III in English history.
  • Meanwhile, as his support and popularity wanes, the current King of Hyrule is killed in battle during a decisive victory at the hands of the Rebel leader, who then ascends the throne as the new King of Hyrule. Think of this like Henry Tudor becoming King Henry VII after the Battle of Bosworth Field.
  • The new King of Hyrule unifies the city-states, and the other groups such as the Zora, Gerudo, and Gorons pledge loyalty. This explains how King Zora, Darunia, and the King of Hyrule are said to have strong ties during OoT. The Gorons always had close ties with the Hylians, but the new King Zora was a benevolent leader who brought peace with the Gorons and formed an alliance with the Hyrule Royal Family as well as the later Royal Family that seized control of the throne following the conclusion of the war.
  • During a period of roughly nine years, Hyrule reconstructs and heals its wounds from the prolonged conflict. The start of OoT coincides with the reconstruction/reunification phase of Hyrule.
  • At this point, OoT begins with Link and Princess Zelda being 10-year old children. The war had ended approximately nine years previously when both Link and Princess Zelda were babies, and where Princess Zelda’s father took the throne upon defeating the previous king, who was his distant cousin.
  • Ganondorf’s initial appearance in OoT at Hyrule Castle is part of his diplomatic meeting with the new King, since the Gerudo were previously seen as an untrustworthy rogue nation during the war.

Impa, The Sheikah, and the Shadow Temple

A common discussion that comes up a lot in Zelda canon is what happened to the Sheikah in the events prior to OoT. Some people speculate that they were all wiped out in the war, but I think their story is more straightforward and less macabre than genocide. I believe the Sheikah were always just a small minority group that existed on the fringes of Hyrule in nomadic clans, similar to the Roma of Europe.

  • I believe Kakariko Village was originally a small Sheikah encampment, and during the war, many Hylians sought refuge there. After the conflict ended, most of the Sheikah chose to migrate from Hyrule proper, and thus Impa opened up the village to Hylians.
  • When Kakariko Village was opened up, the Graveyard was built with catacombs installed underneath it. The bodies of previous Hylian rulers were exhumed and placed in the Graveyard. Think of it like the Parisian Catacombs.
  • As stated in many discussions, the Shadow Temple was built by Sheikah in years prior, although it was meant as a sacred temple of worship. Although it was established many years ago, in the conflict the Royal Family seized it and used it extensively as a dungeon to detain prisoners of war in the Hyrulean Civil War.
  • Under the reign of the controversial King of Hyrule during the conflict, the Shadow Temple served the purpose of imprisoning, interrogating, and purging political dissidents. Think of the Shadow Temple like the Gulags in the Soviet Union or concentration camps in the Third Reich. For example, during failed revolts and coups during the conflict, the lords and their officers would be sent there as punishment.
  • Towards the end of the civil war, the truth of the horrors of the Shadow Temple become known to the public, which tarnishes the King’s image and further solidifies him as a tyrant. This also helps give support to the Rebel armies.
  • The Sheikah felt betrayed by the King and thus migrated out of Hyrule. Some Sheikah chose to join the Rebels, including Impa.
  • Impa was originally an assassin under leadership of the King of Hyrule during the war, but was betrayed by him and defected to the Rebel Army, instead serving as a guardian for the Rebel Army Lord.
  • Impa protected the Lord of the Rebel Army and his daughter the infant Zelda during a siege at their castle.
  • At the end of the war, the Shadow Temple was sealed off due to its grim, tainted history and how it was desecrated, but the Graveyard remained open to the public as a curiosity.
  • Due to her heroism in the war, the new King of Hyrule grants Impa a military honor with land and status in Hyrule, and she also remains a close protector and mentor of the young Princess Zelda, whereas her people have migrated away from Hyrule. This explains why she’s seen in OoT, but no other Sheikah can be seen.

With that being said, I don’t believe the Sheikah were all killed during the war. I think they just had a very small population to begin with, and were living sporadically as tribal nomads on the edges of Hyrule. At the late stages of the war, they migrated away and set up new encampments elsewhere. Many of them felt betrayed and exploited by the King of Hyrule during the war – especially with their sacred Shadow Temple being desecrated for macabre reasons – and by the time of the reconstruction, most of their clans had migrated elsewhere.

Again, the Shadow Temple was originally a tame place of worship for the Sheikah people, but during his reign of tyranny, the old King of Hyrule seized it to become a dungeon of torture to “deal with” anyone who opposed him. Since the war lasted for so many years and the Royal Family was subject to numerous coup attempts, the Shadow Temple was rife with imprisonment, torture, and even death. In the late stages of the war when this information was made public, it helped turn the tide in favor of the Rebel army, who was able to acquire dissenting Royal guards and Sheikah who joined their cause.