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ExploreAll too often in Zelda communities I see and hear people come up with the craziest Legend of Zelda fan theories so I decided to gather those that actually make sense in a single post. The following 4 Zelda theories belong to Redditor Supervinyl and were posted in the Fan Theories subReddit so all credit goes to him!
SPOILER ALERT
The following information contains major spoilers involving the Legend of Zelda series. Also included are minor spoilers pertaining to the television show “Fringe,” interpretations in physics, and the mating habits of certain species of fish and salamanders. Reader discretion is advised.
Note: Certain words, phrases, and concepts have been updated to reflect recent ideas.
1. Alternate explanation for the decline timeline
Ok, so I’ve had this theory for a while now, and I’ve felt a strong need to get it out.
This all started years ago, when I first heard about the split timeline theory. Before this point I didn’t really care much about the mythology of the games, and I thought that the different Links were all the same person. Obviously, thanks to Hyrule Historia and games like Twilight Princess, Wind Waker, and Skyward Sword, we now know that there are several different Links, and a history and mythology that spans thousands of years.
When I first heard about the three-way timeline split, I was stunned. The concept of a split between the adult timeline and the child timeline was brilliant, and I don’t know if such a concept exists in any other media. But I was baffled by the third split. What does it mean when it says that “The Hero Is Defeated?” How can there be 3 simultaneous timelines, two of which have link succeeding and one where he fails? How can he succeed and fail at the same time???
Also, if Link’s failing in this game suggests a timeline split, wouldn’t every other game have a similar premise? If the player loses against Vaati in The Minish Cap, would that open up a new timeline? What about in the battle against Demise, or Malladus, or any other battle against other foes?
I firmly believe that if this is the case, than the mythology is far too complicated and uninteresting to even speculate about. So here’s my theory:
First, the timeline split occurred in the game that has time travel its major theme: Ocarina of Time. This makes perfect sense. But there are a couple other games that use this theme frequently as well. The Oracle series games, Skyward Sword, and particularly, Majora’s Mask. To me, Majora’s Mask resolves the third timeline quandary quite beautifully, which is convenient when you consider that the Link from this game is the same Link that created the split in Ocarina of Time. Here’s my theory of what happened.
According to Hyrule Historia, after Link sealed Ganon away in the adult era, Zelda sent him (Link) back in time seven years to the child era, before he was able to claim the master sword. It was there that he met with young Zelda, informing her of Ganondorf’s true evil intentions. She then gave him the Ocarina of Time and sent him away in order to prevent Ganondorf’s entrance into the sacred realm. But as he was leaving, the Triforce of Courage appeared on his hand.
We’re informed that years later, in the child timeline, the ancient sages attempted to execute Ganondorf, but only succeeded in banishing him to the twilight realm. I’ll get back to this in a minute.
Anyone familiar with Majora’s mask knows that Link, while searching for his friend Navi, accidently stumbled into the alternate dimension known as Termina, and then has to relive the same three days over and over using the ocarina of time. My question is this: What happened to every timeline that Link left behind. Supposedly, in each timeline, Link vanishes from existence, Termina is destroyed by the moon, and Link doesn’t return to Hyrule. It’s the same outcome every time Link resets the three days. So, regarding Hyrule, there are two outcomes here. Either Link resets the three days and doesn’t return to Hyrule, or he summons the four giants, who push the moon away, battles Majora’s Mask as the Fierce Deity, and returns to Hyrule. Link’s absence or presence in Hyrule after his trip to Termina is what really causes the third split, and is of utmost importance.
Those familiar with Ocarina of Time know that, before Link ever met Zelda, she had already tried to convince her father that Ganondorf had evil intentions, and that her father dismissed her fears. Obviously, her father needed more persuading than this. If Zelda tried to tell her father that a boy from the future warned her about Ganondorf, her father would probably require Link to return with proof of his identity as the Hero of Time. This would require Link to return several years later at a minimum age of 17 (or possibly 16), which would allow him to pull the Master Sword from its pedestal without initiating the slumber of years (or whatever it’s called). He would then need to immediately return the sword to its pedestal to close the passageway to the Sacred Realm. Then the Seven Sages would be summoned to seal Ganondorf away, leading to the events of the child timeline and Twilight Princess. But in order for this to have happened, Link would need to return from Termina, which explains why in Twilight Princess, the hero’s spirit aka OoT/MM Link has what appears to be Majora’s Mask on his shield.
However, in any timeline where Link traveled back in time to Termina, that timeline would result in Link not returning to Hyrule. Thus Zelda’s warnings would be dismissed as superstition or madness, and Ganondorf would be free to gain the Triforce some other way, resulting in the Hero of Time’s “defeat” simply by his absence. To me, this explanation makes a lot more sense than the “What if Link Failed in Ocarina of Time?” scenario.
Redditor issues:
Q: Nintendo has already established the cause of the decline timeline.
A: “This chronicle merely collects information that is believed to be true at this time, and there are many obscured and unanswered secrets that still lie within the tale. As the stories and storytellers of Hyrule change, so, too, does its history…” (Hyrule Historia Page 68)
It’s evident from this claim that Zelda canon is fluid rather than fixed. However, here is more evidence to support the idea that Nintendo’s catalyst for the decline timeline is not accurate.
If we look at the backstory to ALttP, it states that Ganondorf entered the Sacred Realm with a band of thieves, slew them all, and claimed the triforce. It wasn’t until sometime later that the Seven Sages were commanded by the King of Hyrule to seal the entrance to the Sacred Realm, imprisoning Ganon inside. It’s also stated that the Seven Sages searched for an individual worthy of wielding the Master Sword, but no hero could be found. This seems to go contrary to the fact that Link was worthy enough to not only wield the Master Sword, but also used it in the Adult timeline. It makes sense that if Link vanished from the Hylian history via Termina, that the Seven Sages wouldn’t be able to find him.
Q: By the time Link goes to Termina, he has already saved Hyrule. It doesn’t matter whether or not he disappears. Also, they make it pretty clear in the ending of MM that he returns to Hyrule at the same time that he entered Termina, and that anytime he “dies” he is sent back to Day 1.
A: “…Upon his return (to his original era 7 years in the past) Link wasted no time in making for Hyrule Castle courtyard. There, he found Princess Zelda watching Ganondorf, just as she had been when they first met…Link warned Princess Zelda of what the future would bring. Hearing his words, the princess entrusted the Ocarina of Time to Link and instructed him to travel far away in order to prevent Ganondorf from entering the Sacred Realm…Link set off on his horse, Epona, who lived at Lon Lon Ranch. Months passed as he wandered in search of his companion, Navi, eventually losing himself in a mysterious forest. It just so happened that this forest led to a parallel world known as Termina.”
This would imply that, although Link saved Hyrule in the adult timeline, Hyrule was still not free from the Tyranny of Ganondorf in the child timeline.
The exact time in which Link leaves Termina isn’t relevant to my theory. I’m perfectly ok with him leaving at the same time he enters. But it’s impossible to win Majora’s Mask without at least one reset to the beginning of the three days (a theoretical minimum of three resets for 100% completion). If we go along with the one-reset minimum, that creates a minimum of two Terminan timelines, one in which the moon crashes into Termina and Link disappears (like he did in the adult timeline of Hyrule) and one where Link succeeds in his exploits and leaves Termina. I believe, for the sake of my theory, that time in Termina is identical to time in Hyrule. And it doesn’t really matter how many times the three days are reset because each reset will have the identical result in the Hylian timeline: Link disappears from history in every one of these. Every timeline is identical and, in essence, the same timeline. The only different timeline would be the one in which he returns. His return is essential to the child timeline, because he is the evidence needed to condemn child timeline Ganondorf to death.
Q: Link’s age shouldn’t matter. Look at WW for example, even as a child Link is still able to wield the Master Sword and prove who he is. Link also is able to pull up the Master Sword as a child in OOT which places him in the “Slumber” for 7 years. If he has to be the chosen one to even remove the Master Sword from its pedestal, that enough should be evident that he is worthy of the title.
A: There are a limited number of games in which link’s age is specified. Those games are: Skyward Sword (17.5), Twilight Princess (16), Ocarina of Time (child: 9/10, adult: 16/17), Wind Waker (12), Original Legend of Zelda (12), and the Adventure of Link (16). Only two of these games provide Link’s underage use of the Master Sword, and in every game that doesn’t provide Link’s age, there’s no reason to assume he isn’t of age to wield it (16). It should be pointed out here that the term “Master Sword” is dubious, considering that in the Oracle series’ games, you can get a “Master Sword” by sharpening the Noble Sword. Obviously these swords aren’t the same Master Sword forged by Hylia in Skyward Sword. They merely share a name, so it’s possible that if a younger version of Link was wielding a “Master Sword” it wasn’t the same sword of legend. This satisfies me for the age discrepancy in the first game, and I suppose I could use the same logic to apply it to the age discrepancy in Wind Waker, but I won’t for two reasons. First, Wind Waker doesn’t take place in the same timeline as the Oracle series, the way that the First game did. Second, when Link pulled the Sword in Wind Waker, it’s later revealed that the sword had lost much of its magic capabilities,possibly including its ability to store the wielder’s spirit till they come to the right age, because Ganon had previously killed two of the sword’s sages.
Looking back at OoT, I agree that simply pulling the sword from the pedestal would be efficient evidence of Link’s virtue. But you need to remember that when you pull the Master Sword as Link, you open the door to the sacred realm, which stays open until Link is at least 16 and then as long as he carries the Master Sword with him. Depending on when Link pulls it, that could be years, giving Ganondorf (and who knows who/what else) ample opportunity to claim the Triforce. Maybe Zelda could persuade her father or someone else to come watch Link pull the sword, and maybe that would be enough to convince the king that Ganondorf is evil, but unless Link is 16, the door to the sacred realm would remain open for a lot longer than would be safe, even with Ganondorf behind bars or executed. I think the promise of a wish granted to whoever holds the Triforce would be enough to tempt just about anybody to try and enter, even those who’s duty it is to prevent people from entering.
But if Link is 16 or older when he pulls the sword, theoretically, he could replace it instantly, closing the entrance to the Sacred Realm almost as soon as he opened it. Therefore, I stand by my claim that Link shouldn’t pull the master sword until he is at least 16.
That being said, my theory doesn’t really depend on whether or not Link pulls the sword and how old he is when he does it. Hyrule Historia makes it very clear that Zelda sends Link away almost immediately after his meeting with her, with the events of Majora’s Mask following. It just seems plausible that Link is sent away until he’s old enough to pull the Master Sword without leaving the entrance to the Sacred Realm left precariously open.
Q: Termina is an alternate universe, so it wouldn’t share a time stream. Also, when Link goes back three days there, he’s literally rewinding time.
A: Nintendo hasn’t confirmed that Termina and Hyrule don’t share a time stream. Also, we don’t have enough information on real alternate universes (if they exist), so the only rules regarding them belong to the realm of fiction. One example is in J.J. Abrams’ Fringe series, where residents of two separate universes pass back and forth between them; time appears to travel at the same or similar speed in both universes.
Zelda used the same Ocarina to “literally rewind time” in OoT that Link used in MM. and it created two different timelines, so there’s no reason to assume it can’t happen again. If the laws are the same between the two games, then every time the Ocarina is used to rewind time, it should create a discrepancy that will result in the formation of a new timeline if the two timelines cannot resolve.
Q: Can’t the split timeline theory be explained by quantum physics concepts such as the “Copenhagen Interpretation” (Schrodinger’s Cat) or the “Many Worlds Interpretation?”
A: The Copenhagen Interpretation of quantum physics states that quantum particles exist in all possible states until observation is made, after which, it only exists in one. “Schrodinger’s Cat” was a hypothetical situation that demonstrated via absurdity how the thought experiment worked. Theoretically, a cat would be placed in a box with a particle that would both decay (killing the cat) and not decay (not killing the cat), causing the cat to exist in two simultaneous states until observation was made. An underlying fallacy of this demonstration is that we can’t prove Schrodinger’s cat could exist in two states without observation, but observation is the exact thing that prevents us from seeing it.
The issue with the Copenhagen Interpretation when applied to the split timelines is that, once observed, there should only be one outcome, but Nintendo insists that there are two that contradict each other. Anyone who plays the game could arguably be considered an observer, thus forcing only one outcome.
The Many-Worlds Interpretation of quantum physics states that for any possible outcome the universe splits to compensate, resulting in a constantly growing quantity of universes. I take issue with this interpretation when applied to the split for the following reasons. Nintendo has established a 3-timeline universe for Zelda, not an infinite-timeline universe. It can be implied from Nintendo’s decline catalyst claim that anytime Link fails in any part of any game, there should be a split in the timeline, resulting in any number of timelines existing side by side. It can be argued that Nintendo meant “3-timelines among an infinite number,” and it’s obvious that some are satisfied with this explanation, but as a fan theorist I am not, because it completely defeats the purpose and takes the fun out of theorizing if everything can be explained away with the claim that “it happened in a different universe.”
Q: What about other theories about the decline timeline
A: I developed my theory to demonstrate the concept of a single time stream that splits twice as a result of time travel. Other explanations are possible and acceptable, but I consider mine to explain the three timelines the in the simplest way without introducing content that is not firmly established in the games.
I’ve found that I’m not alone in being disappointed with Nintendo’s explanation concerning the source of the decline timeline, but I’ve seen very few theories that introduce content that was not originally part of the games. The most popular of these theories includes the concept of sending someone else back in time, such as Navi, Rauru, Zelda, Veran, or Impa, before the events of the game. Though some of these theories are novel and incredibly intriguing, they can’t resolve the timeline issue without additional content. In addition, if time travel was so common that these NPC’s could utilize it, why wouldn’t they just go back in time and end the Ganon crisis before it ever happened (and why doesn’t Dumbledore allow the use of time turners to save anyone but Buckbeak and Sirius? And why didn’t he use it to save Sirius the second time?)?
My explanation includes only the time travel that has already been established by the games, plus it prevents the lack of logic involved in trying to make the claim that Link succeeds and fails simultaneously.
2. Gorons disappear from Hyrule
While perusing Hyrule Historia today, I made a realization: There’s a large expanse of time in the Zelda Universe where Gorons are absent from Hyrule. I will explain when and offer my theory as to why, but first, a little in-game history.
Gorons are observed in the Hyrule area in many games. For example, they can be seen in the earliest games “Skyward Sword” and “the Minish Cap.” They exist in the timeline splitting “Ocarina of Time,” and appear in Child Era games “Twilight Princess” and “Four Swords adventures,” as well as the Adult Era games “the Wind Waker” and “Phantom Hourglass.” They also make cameos in “Majora’s Mask,” “Oracle of Ages/Seasons,” and “Spirit Tracks,” but because these games take place in Termina, Holodrum/Labrynna, and New Hyrule instead of the original Hyrule, they aren’t of interest to my theory.
Notably, Gorons are nowhere to be seen in the Downfall Era games “A Link to the Past,” “A Link Between Worlds,” “The Legend of Zelda,” and “The Adventure of Link.” It made me wonder what their fate was.
This theory is tied to my decline timeline split theory above. Basically, my claim is that Link’s “downfall” could theoretically result from a hypothetical absence that results from him reversing time in Termina, erasing him from Hyrule’s timeline as well. Considering that the backstory to ALttP doesn’t mention Ganondorf fighting and defeating Link or even acknowledging Link’s presence (it only states that Ganondorf broke into the Sacred Realm with a band of his followers, slew those followers, and claimed the Triforce as his own) I believe that my absence claim could fit quite easily into the canon. But I digress.
At the end of OoT, Zelda uses the ocarina to send Link back in time to his childhood era. It’s notable that Link arrives there before Zelda is kidnapped by Ganondorf, possibly even arriving before the point where he collected all three stones needed to open the door to the chamber housing the Master Sword. If this is the case, Dodongo’s cavern is still sealed shut, and the Gorons are still starving.
Depending on the results of MM and my timeline theory, Link will either rewind time using the Ocarina, erasing himself from the timeline in both Termina and Hyrule, or he will defeat Majora’s Mask, saving Termina and allowing him to return to Hyrule. These two outcomes result respectively in the Downfall Era (Link vanishing) and the Child Era (Link returning to Hyrule, reaching adulthood, and later becoming the Hero’s Shade).
It’s also notable that in TP, the Gorons are thriving and expanding their mines. But, like I stated previously, they are completely absent from ALttP. Considering that Link unsealed Dodongo’s Cavern in the Adult Era, allowing for the continued existence of Gorons in WW, even in a flooded Hyrule, with some Gorons old enough to remember him , it’s possible that after he returned from Termina in the Child Era, he unsealed the cavern again, allowing the Gorons to continue existing there as well. But we have no evidence to suggest that anyone but Link was able unseal the cavern.
What consequences could Link’s vanishing from history have on other races? Is it possible that Link’s absence caused Dodongo’s Cavern, the only known source of Goron food in Hyrule, to remain sealed for centuries, making Hyrule completely uninhabitable for Gorons? Is this why we can find Gorons in the downfall era Oracle series’ locations of Labrynna and Holodrum, but nowhere in Hyrule? Did the Hyrulian Gorons go extinct or evacuate their home?
Redditor Issues:
Q: What about Rosso?
Rosso’s heritage is kind of a conundrum. In some ways, he resembles a Goron, but he definitely has several very un-Goron-like features, such as pointy ears, the presence of a nose, and a more fleshy looking exterior. Some speculate that he is a Goron-Hylian hybrid. This explanation is satisfactory for me, (sans reproductive mechanism). If Rosso is part Goron, then he’s the only established Goron in the Hyrule region throughout the decline timeline games of LttP, LbW, LoZ and AoL.
Considering that the Gorons are indisputably present, at least in small quantities, in every game of both the Adult and Child timelines, this minor appearance in the Decline timeline is curious. However, I’m convinced that Rosso is a Goron-Hylian hybrid, and it’s his Hylian genetics that allow him to survive in Hyrule. I think he has an expanded diet, allowing him to eat things that Gorons don’t usually eat. This would also explain how he is able to be descended from Darunia, even though he doesn’t look like a typical Goron.
Q: Couldn’t Rosso have adapted/evolved in the same way as the Zoras?
A: It’s definitely a possibility. However, I don’t think it’s very likely, because throughout the game history, the “Zoras” tend to change drastically in appearance. A popular theory is that they started as the Parella of SS, which, if true, would be the most drastic transition. It’s confirmed that the Zoras of OoT did eventually become the Rito of WW, another drastic transition. Even between the original Legend of Zelda and its sequel, the Adventure of Link, the Zoras changed notably in appearance. Meanwhile, the Gorons of SS look remarkably similar to their descendants in both FSA and WW. In fact, if Rosso is purely Goron, he’s arguably the oddest looking Goron in the whole series.
3. How Majora’s Mask summoned the Moon
We never actually see Skull Kid summoning the moon. However, in OoT, we see something very similar.
The Composer Brothers of Hyrule, Sharp and Flat, were known to have composed many musical masterpieces in their lifetimes, but their greatest achievement was the study of a particularly magical nature. Each brother dedicated his life to summoning one of two astral bodies: Sharp studied the sun, while Flat studied the moon. Their combined research resulted in the discovery and/or formulation of the “Sun’s Song,” which, depending on the time it was played, either brought about day or night. The brothers’ refusal to share their discovery cost them their lives at the hand of Ganondorf, and whether the song was ever played before Link learned it is a mystery.
Termina has its own version of the Composer Brothers, and they, too, are notorious magical music composers. Sharp composed the Melody of Darkness, which drains life energy from those who hear it, but also curses the user. Flat has composed the Popular Song of Storms, which heals his brother’s curse.
Notably, unlike other songs, the Sun’s Song is absent from Termina, aside from a snippet played at the beginning of the Termina Field song. Is it possible that Termina’s Composer Brothers were also researching or possibly knew about the Sun’s Song? Anyone who’s played OoT and MM knows that the songs learned in the former don’t technically have the same effect in the latter. A fine example of this is the aforementioned Song of Storms, which summons rain in OoT, but removes a curse in MM. Another is the Song of Time, which opens the Door of Time in OoT, but restarts the 3-day cycle in MM. Perhaps the Sun’s Song, instead of summoning either day or night, pulls the moon towards wherever the song is played (an ironic point, I know, considering that it’s called the SUN’s Song and not the Moon’s. But maybe it has a different title in Termina, which is possible considering that the song itself is never mentioned by name).
The fact that the Sun’s song does nothing when played by Link in Termina might suggest that it simply has no effect. However, perhaps it only appears to have no effect because the moon is already being drawn to Termina, which would be the effect anyways. This assumes two things. First, it assumes that Skull Kid played the Sun’s Song in Termina before Link ever arrived there, which would explain why he stole the Ocarina in the first place and would require the Skull Kid to know the Sun’s Song beforehand. Second, it assumes that the moon doesn’t change its destination from the first location of the first playing of the Sun’s Song, regardless of how many times Link attempts to play the Sun’s Song in different locations, which otherwise would pull the moon to those locations instead.
But how might Skull Kid/Majora have learned the Sun’s Song? We could look to Ikana, where the King mentions that the kingdom was placed under a curse by the “Masked One.” How long ago this event took place is never made clear, but the impression is given that the residents of Ikana have been cursed for a very long time, which seems inconsistent with the idea that the Skull Kid stole Majora’s Mask only recently. Maybe it was someone else possessed by Majora’s Mask that placed the curse. Or maybe Skull Kid somehow learned to use the Ocarina to travel through time and place the curse in the past. Regardless, I assume that this “Masked One” is in fact Majora’s Mask.
Anyways, the Composer Brothers were royal composers for the Ikana royalty. If we look at their backstory, it’s revealed that Sharp was tricked into selling his soul to the “Devil,” which is a strange choice of words, considering that, to my knowledge, this is the only game in which the “Devil” is even mentioned. Other theories may stem from this (ie, Fierce Deity is Termina’s “Devil God”, and the “Masked One” is actually someone wearing the Fierce Deity Mask rather than Majora’s.) but my theory depends on the idea that the “Masked one” and the “Devil” are both references to Majora’s Mask. If the Terminan Composer Brothers’ life work is the discovery of the Sun’s Song as it is in Hyrule, then maybe the “soul” that Sharp sold was in fact, the Sun’s Song. In MM, Sharp states that he dreamt of the revival of the (Ikana) royal family, and that he now regrets his actions. Is it possible that, after the curse had been placed on the residents of Ikana, Sharp made a deal with Majora’s Mask, in which the Sun’s Song was traded for the Melody of Darkness, under the false assumption that the latter would revive the Ikana royal family? This would explain why Flat says Sharp was “tricked.”
Now that Majora’s Mask knew the Sun’s Song, all he had to do was wait for someone to appear that had a musical instrument with the magical ability to use the song. How long he waited, we don’t know, but we do know that one of the very first things Skull Kid did after seeing Link was to steal the Ocarina.
Redditor Issues
Q: The guards in the Mayor’s office make it sound like the moon has been falling for a while, discouraging people from coming to the festival.
A: It’s true, they do. For them to state that the townspeople already took cover, and that the town isn’t overrun by tourists like it usually is, the song would have had to have been played several days to a week ahead at least (probably more), which doesn’t add up to the mere minutes in which it took Link to travel from Hyrule to Termina.
The only apologetic response I can give is that time possibly moves at a different rate or in different ways between the two worlds than it does within them. This is evident when Link walks inside the clock tower and time completely stops moving. Maybe the period between when Link was transformed into a Deku shrub and when he reached the clock tower, though appearing to be mere minutes, actually lasted longer in Termina.
Q: When the Skull Kid picked up the Ocarina, he didn’t seem to have any idea what it was.
A: Skull Kid doesn’t say anything upon finding the ocarina. The only dialogue was actually between Tatl and Tael; Skull Kid knew enough about the ocarina to at least start playing, blowing in to it and giggling until Link woke up.
Artist – Jennyeight
4. Possible Gerudo reproductive mechanism
The Gerudo are an (almost) all-female society found in several games. Introduced in Ocarina of Time, it’s explained that Gerudo women take boyfriends from other races, such as the Hylians. It’s also established that nearly all Gerudo children are female, with a single male born every 100 years who would go on to become king of the Gerudo. The only male Gerudo ever firmly depicted was Ganondorf.
There are some interesting aspects of the Gerudo that I’ve noticed. For example, even though it’s common for Gerudo women to take boyfriends from other races, Gerudo offspring only seem to express Gerudo traits, instead of mixed traits influenced by, for example, Hylian skin tone and pointy ears. Also, assuming that Hylians and Gerudos have the same XY sex distribution that modern humans have, it should actually be the male that determines the gender of the offspring because males carry both X and Y gene sperm.
There is actually a real-world mechanism that would very easily explain the Gerudo race’s unique circumstances, although this mechanism is limited only to a few species of salamander and fish. It’s called gynogenesis, and it works like this: individuals from an all-female species mate with closely related males from a different species. The male’s sperm is necessary for the females eggs to develop into offspring. The female’s eggs are already diploid and only need to be stimulated by the presence of sperm in order to develop, meaning that the males contribute no genetic material to the offspring. This results in the sperm being discarded and massive cloning of the mother.
However, very rarely, the sperm can fertilize the egg, resulting in either discarding one of the mother’s contributions, or polyploid offspring. This can contribute genetic material from outside sources into the population.
Applied to the Gerudo, this method of reproduction fits almost perfectly. Gerudo women do look very similar to each other, contrasting with Hylians, who tend to have very unique looks, thus supporting the idea that they are all clones. Also, it explains the Gerudo’s necessity for males from other species even though the contribution from those males isn’t obvious, particularly when it comes to genes. And the fact that only one male is born to the Gerudo tribe every 100 years fits nicely with the rare fertilization of gynogenetic species. Ganondorf even bears a slight resemblance to the Hylians (unusually pointy ears, though not on the level of a Hylian).
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