Hylia


 * This article is about the Skyward Sword character. For the recurring location in the Legend of Zelda series, see Lake Hylia.

Hylia (ハイリア), also known as Her Grace, is a character from The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. Her name seems to be the derivation for the Hylians.

Biography
As told in legend, the Golden Goddesses left the Triforce in Hylia's care when they departed from the world. However, the demon king Demise and his forces rushed from the earth to take the Triforce, attacking the people of The Surface. Hylia gathered the surviving humans on a piece of land and sent it to the heavens, beyond the clouds.

With the humans gone, she united the Ancient Robots, the Gorons, the Kikwis, the Mogmas and the Parella to battle Demise's forces, sealing away the demon king within the Sealed Grounds. However, knowing that Demise's followers would attempt to free him, Hylia had the Goddess Sword created and discarded her divinity to be reborn upon the residents of Skyloft. In her final moments, Hylia entrusted the Sheikah the task of protecting her future incarnation.

Theory
It is speculated that the Light Force in The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap was actually the dormant power of Hylia present in her reincarnations, the various Zeldas. However, this is contradicted by the statement in The Minish Cap that the Light Force was given to mankind by the Minish. Additionally, the Light Force is said to have been given first to the Hero of Men, who is implied to be an incarnation of Link, not Zelda.

It has been suggested that Hylia is the Goddess of Time mentioned in The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask. Hylia's connection to the flow of time is shown in her creation of the Gates of Time, as well as in Fi's messages from Hylia mentioning the goddess speaking from "the edge of time", though the latter may simply refer to her message being left long ago. The major contradiction to this theory is that the Goddess of Time is mentioned long after Hylia is effectively dead. Her reincarnation is Princess Zelda, the very person who tells Link that the Goddess of Time will aid him, indicating she is referring to someone other than herself. However it is possible that Zelda's descendants lost the memories of being Hylia. Additionally, the Goddess of Time is mentioned by two denizens of Termina, who have no known understanding of Hylian lore, making it unlikely they are aware of a goddess from a foreign land's distant past.