Sheikah



The Sheikah were an ancient clan of ninja-like warriors that swore to protect the Hylian Royal Family, most notably even after death; as such they were known as "the Shadows of the Hylians". They were also charged with the protection of the Royal crypts. They were outcasts and feared in Hyrule perhaps for this very reason, and are presumed to have moved away from the Hylians to another region beyond the mountains. The most famous members were Impa, the maid of Princess Zelda, and Sheik, the guised alter ego of Zelda herself. They were skilled in magical and combative arts, and their cultural pendant was an eye with three triangles above it (as if to imitate eyelashes or symbolize the Triforce) and a teardrop to either show mourn for the dead, or to symbolize the betrayal of the Royal Family (the latter is according to the official Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time manga). Young males pierced their ears as a traditional rite of passage. Not much is known about their lifespan or other details about their lives. They were assumed to have become rare after the Imprisoning War, and were presumed extinct after the Great Flood in the pre-Wind Waker era.