Rito

The Rito (Hylian: ) or "Bird People" are a race of bird-like humanoids in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. Their main habitat is on Dragon Roost Island, an island on the Great Sea. They have a tribal elder, with numerous followers and elaborately dressed guards. No Rito is born with wings, and must visit the tribes' guardian, the great dragon Valoo, to receive one of his scales which enables them to grow wings. It is a coming of age ceremony of the Rito, to journey to the great Valoo to receive their scale. Children without wings are called Fledglings.

Rito are viewed upon by outsiders somewhat dubiously. Some have an inexplicable bigotry directed towards them, perhaps out of jealousy. Still, Rito are widely accepted as mail carriers, as only they can traverse the seas without cumbersome ships. Rito are capable of flying quickly, and full-grown members can carry humans for a short time.

The Rito may be inspired by the Watarara race in the The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time manga, generally considered not to be canon. These people were more like giant birds than humans, but had a similar gaining of wings past a certain age and the same chieftain leadership structure. Rito resemble condors, and seem to have some relation with the Andean culture: males have dark skin and the main theme of the Dragon Roost Island contains some Andean instruments such as zampoña (or pan pipes) and charango.

Biology
Rito are humanoid, bird-like creatures. They have a mix of human and animal biological characteristics, with very distinctive traits. The Rito appear to be covered by dark shaded skin or feathers. Most Rito have red colored eyes, although the Rito Chieftain has yellow eyes. They, like many other races in the series, have pointed ears. The Rito have bird-like feet as well, though oddly without talons. Rito also have some sort of beak where a human's nose would be found, though the shape and size of this beak varies through different Rito. Unlike normal birds this beak appears to be only used for smelling, and cannot be used as a mouth, the Rito have a more human-like mouth below this beak.

Throughout a young Rito's childhood he or she is called a Fledgling and is flightless without any wings. After a child reaches a certain age they can only receive their wings after they retrieve a scale from the dragon Valoo. The wings of a Rito are mostly white with black colored plumage located along the ends. Their wings are unique in that they protrude from their forearms, similar to where a Zora's fins would be. These have an appearance similar to the sleeves of a cloak when the Rito is not in flight. Most Rito are able to fly over a great distance, but some like Medli have trouble flying for long periods of time. This is likely due to inexperience at flying, however. Like humans, Rito's heads are covered by hair that are of different colors and lengths for each person. Most males, however, seem to have white colored hair, even at a young age.

Evolution
According to Zelda director Eiji Aonuma the Rito are the evolved form of the Zora that appeared in Ocarina of Time. This half-fish, half-human race make multiple references to the Rito which further confirms this evolution. The most convincing is the fact that Medli shares the bloodline of the Zora Earth Sage Laruto, similar to how Makar, who was a Korok, a descendant of the Kokiri like Fado. Also, we see the symbol of the Zora's Sapphire, which is used as the Zora's royal family symbol, in multiple places on the Ritos' home of Dragon Roost Isle. It is even on the clothes worn by some Ritos. Also, in their general physiology Zoras and Ritos have many similarities, like the fact that the Rito have wings that hang down at their elbows, and the Zoras have fins at the same place.

It is unknown why this change would have occurred since the Zoras in Oracle of Ages have been shown to be able to live in the sea off the coast of the island of Labrynna. However, unlike the Great Sea, the Zoras seemed to be living in a controlled environment without interruption from other sea dwellers. As seen in Majora's Mask the Zora have trouble living in murky water or in water that is not at optimal temperature, thus suggesting that the change in water conditions might have forced them to evolve. Also as the Great Sea is quoted as being mainly devoid of fish to catch, it is possible that the Zoras main food source dried up forcing them to become land creatures. As the Great Sea is filled with numerous monsters and other dangerous sea life, the Zora might have had to evolve to avoid being eaten or at least constantly attacked. This would explain why they now had to fly over the water rather than swim through it. A small rumor states that the goddesses did not want anyone to find Hyrule hidden beneath the Great Sea, and as Zoras would have found the land quite quickly, the goddesses evolved the Zora on their own. Though because of the appearance of Fishmen, who are also sentient beings that live in water this appears to be untrue.

Culture
All known Rito reside on Dragon Roost Island, a large and mountainous island in the northeast portion of the Great Sea. Here, the Rito's main settlement is built within a large cavernous area overlooking a small spring in the center of the island. Perched on the peak of the island is the great sky spirit Valoo. Valoo is a spirit in the shape of a large dragon and serves as the guardian deity of the Rito. He is held to the highest of respect by the Rito who have a long line of attendants and caretakers to look after him.

The average Rito wears a dark red tunic with a belt around the waist. The tunic is usually rather plain in color, but often has a more colorful lining around the sleeves and collar. Also it is common to see Rito wearing delivery bags as they cannot carry things while using their wings. Some Rito wear more elaborate clothing, such as the Police Force who customarily wear white tunics with a blue stripe around the waist. Still others, like Medli and the Rito Chieftain, can be seen in unique clothing, likely due to the special jobs that they have on the island.

The Rito were stated to be the tribe that invented Grappling Hooks which were used before they had evolved wings. Grappling Hooks are still used by fledglings until they grow wings of their own. Although it is unknown if these items was created by the Rito or not, Postman Statues clearly depicts their tribe. According to Zunari, the purpose of these statues are to bring Ritos to Windfall Island.

Government and economy
The Rito appear to be ruled some kind of monarchy style chiefdom. The ruler of the Rito is always a chieftain who oversees everything happening on the island. His son holds the title of prince, and will eventually become the chieftain of the tribe (although since Komali is the current Rito Chieftain's only child it remains to be seen if there could be a female chieftain, or who the chieftain would be if there were multiple children). His rule is also assisted by several guards and other assistants who live on the island to help him and his people.

Given their ability to quickly and safely travel between islands the Rito have become the foremost postmen throughout the Great Sea. Most Rito appear to be employed as mail carriers or other jobs related to the postal service. Even though most of them appear to be employed this way, there still appears to be a shortage of staff in the service, which sometimes requires temporary help from a non-Rito, such as Link or Baito. Sometimes certain Rito will take a break from their work and fly to the nearby Flight Control Platform for the annual Bird-Man Contest every year to test which Rito can fly the farthest. Humans may participate as well, as long as they have something to fly with.

Etymology
In the Japanese language, the race is known as the "Ri-To", and the Japanese word "tori" means bird. 'Rito' could also be a play on the name of Ruto, the Princess of the Zoras, the race from which the Rito evolved.