Seven Heroines

The Seven Heroines are a group mentioned in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. They are ancient heroes venerated by the Gerudo as divine protectors of the Gerudo people and giant statues of them can be found in the East Gerudo Ruins in Gerudo Desert.

Background & History
Little is known about the Seven Heroines though what is known comes from the Gerudo archeologist Rotana who reveals they are seven great heroines from Gerudo history who each wielded a different power: skill, spirit, endurance, knowledge, flight, motion, and gentleness. By the time of Breath of the Wild they are venerated by the Gerudo as the divine protectors of the Gerudo people and are apparently still venerated by some Gerudo which only speaks to the reverence the Gerudo considering the Gerudo people's loss of faith in Goddess Hylia. It is also implied that they have some connection to the Scimitar of the Seven wielded by the Gerudo Champion Urbosa who is also respected deeply by the Gerudo. At some point the Gerudo constructed seven giant memorial statues of the Seven in Gerudo Desert. It is implied that secretly the Sheikah Monk Korsh O'hu had a role in the East Gerudo Ruins construction as it secretly acts as a puzzle that once solved reveals the Korsh O'hu Shrine, however most of the Gerudo where either unaware of it or the knowledge was lost. However the Gerudo may have been aware of it as their texts speak of a Blessing which is likely a reference to the Korsh O'hu's Blessing which is received inside the Shrine for solving the puzzle and entering the Shrine. However the Gerudo and other people may have failed to understand what the blessing meant as it is said that in the past many people who venerated the Seven made pilgrimages to the East Gerudo Ruins to receive their blessing. Rotana has been studying the Seven Heroines as part of her studies and hopes to solve the mysteries surrounding the text she managed to partially translate in order to publish her findings, though tends to bore her younger sister.

During "The Seven Heroines" Shrine quest, Link learns able Rotana's research and realizes the "Blessing" she speaks of is likely tied to a hidden Shrine. Link manages to solve the puzzle causing the Korsh O'hu Shrine where Link receives Korsh O'hu's Blessing which he finds a Flamespear in a Treasure Chest and receives Korsh O'hu's Spirit Orb for solving the statues puzzle.

Eight Heroines?
While the Seven are well known among the Gerudo, there is talk of a forgotten Eight Heroine who's history with the Seven is unclear, though it is said by Bozai that there is a sect of Gerudo who still venerate her at the Statue of the Eighth Heroine in Gerudo Highlands indicating that the Eighth Heroine fell out of favor among most of Gerudo and it is implied that there may have been some sort of conflict (either between her and the other heroines or between their followers) that lead to her not being counted among the seven. While Bozai considers the Statue to be a myth and similar uses it as an excuse to get closer to Link whom he believes to be a woman due to his Vai disguise, however Link proves that the Statue does actually exist indicating there maybe some truth to the story of the Eight Heroine, though her exact connection and relationship to the Seven is left unclear.

Related Side Quests

 * "The Seven Heroines"
 * "The Eighth Heroine"

Gerudo
It is strongly implied that the Seven where all Gerudo who may have been divinely chosen to become the protectors of the Gerudo people, possibly in response to Ganondorf's actions which reflected negatively on the Gerudo most of whom (with the exception of the evil Twinrova twins and Nabooru who saw Ganondorf for who he really was) where simply following tradition and failed to realize how evil Ganondorf truly was. It is possible that the gods realized this and appointed the Seven to inspire and lead the Gerudo after Ganondorf's defeat (either in Ocarina of Time or Twilight Princess) leading to them being venerated for guiding the Gerudo during such times. Another possibility is they are somehow related to the original unnamed Gerudo Champion who successfully piloted Vah Naboris in the battle with Calamity Ganon 10,000 years before the events of the Great Calamity.

Seven Goddesses
As the Seven are said to be divine protectors and are worshipped like gods, they may in fact be Goddesses or guardian deities of the Gerudo. One possibility is that they like Hylia may have taken on mortal form at some point, possibly to lead the Gerudo through dark times or against evil or the Gerudo were unaware they where goddesses and believed them to be heroes for a time until they realized the truth. However the Gerudo are known to have worshipped Ganondorf as if he where a god, so they may venerate the seven in the same manner.

Seven Vai
Another possibility is that they where name all Gerudo, but instead where a group of women from various races. It should be noted that one of the Seven had the power of flight which implies they may have been a Rito. It should be noted that the statues may only be symbolic or artistic representations of the original Seven that do not accurately depicted the seven as they actually appeared. Alternatively over time the Gerudo came to believe the Seven to be all Gerudo thus explaining why their monumental statues appear to be Gerudo or the Gerudo mistook their design for how the Seven actually appeared and came to mistakenly believe they where all Gerudo.

Identity
The identity of the Seven is unclear however there are some possible candidates.

Seven Maidens
One possibility is they represent the Seven Maidens or an incarnation of them. Though they are implied to be either Gerudo or Goddesses, it is possible that the Seven Maidens become revered by the Gerudo as heroes due to the Seven Heroines being vai and would be respected by the predominately female Gerudo who have become enemies of Ganon by the time of Breath of the Wild. Another possibility is that they where an incarnation of the Seven Maidens made entirely of Gerudo. One possible explanation for this is that the Ancient Sages during the time they ran the Arbiter's Grounds may have sired children with the Gerudo as the Seven Maidens from Link to the Past where the descendants of the Seven Wise Men, which may also explain the Seven being viewed as the Divine protectors of the Gerudo people and the powers they wielded as the Ancient Sages in Twilight Princess are depicted as ethereal beings. It should be noted that due to the rarity of Gerudo voe, it is likely that any descendants of Sages would be female Gerudo. Presumably the Seven may have lead the Gerudo during or after the events of Twilight Princess as Ganondorf's execution is implied to have happened many years ago. Presumably after Ganondorf was defeated and the Mirror of Twilight was destroyed, the Ancient Sages where no longer required to watch of the Mirror of Twilight and the prison was abandoned, allowing the Gerudo lead by the Seven to resettle in Gerudo Desert or they lived in a part of the Desert that was inaccessible to the Hero of Twilight. Presumably these Seven Maidens were remembered as heroes who lead the Gerudo after the evil Ganondorf was captured and imprisoned in the Mirror of Twilight and the Desert became home to a prison. Presumably after they died they where memorialized by the Gerudo with the aid of the Sheikah Monk who hide his shrine using the Statues as a puzzle either with or without the Gerudo's knowledge. Another possibility is that due to their relationship with Ancient Sages the Seven became ethereal beings like them, becoming the divine protectors of the Gerudo people.

Seven Sages
Another possibility is that they where an incarnation of the Seven Sages, either made up of Gerudo or vai of various races. It should be noted that the Seven Sages in Ocarina of Time where predominately female (with Rauru and Darunia being the only male members as Zelda, Impa, Ruto, Saria, and Nabooru being vai of the Hylian, Sheikah, Zora, Kokiri, and Gerudo respectively) thus it is possible that an all-female incarnation of the Seven Sages (likely made up of different races) could have existed at some point. It should be noted that statues of the Seven may not accurately depict them. Though unlikely it is also possible that the seven actually represent the Seven Sages from Ocarina of Time that were mistakenly depicted by the Gerudo as being an all female group due to most of the sages being female. It is possible that the Gerudo forgot that statues represented the Seven Sages and began worshipping them as divine protectors of the Gerudo.