Hylia


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

Hylia (ハイリア), also known as Her Grace or Goddess Hylia, is recurring character in the Legend of Zelda series. Her name seems to be the linguistic origin of the Hylian race's name. Hylia is worshiped in Skyloft.

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
As told in legend, after the Golden Goddesses were finished creating Hyrule, they left the Triforce in Hylia's care when they departed from the world. Eventually, a crack opened up in the earth and the Demon King, Demise, and his demonic hordes came forth from the fissure. Wanting to make the world his own, Demise and his monsters attacked The Surface to steal the Triforce. In order to prevent the great power from falling into the hands of Demise, Hylia gathered the surviving Hylians on a piece of land, entrusted them with the Triforce, and sent them to the heavens. To further ensure their safety, Hylia created a cloud barrier to separate the two places.

With the Hylians in a safe place, she united the Ancient Robots, the Gorons, the Kikwis, the Mogmas, and the Parella to battle Demise's forces, and sealed away the Demon King within the Sealed Grounds. However, knowing that Demise would eventually attempt to break free, Hylia created a contingency plan to permanently defeat him.

Hylia had the Goddess Sword created and stored within the Statue of the Goddess. She then discarded her divine power, her immortality, and the memories of her life as the Goddess to be reborn among the residents of Skyloft. To insure her own safety, Hylia entrusted Impa of the Sheikah Tribe with the task of protecting her future incarnation. She also left several messages for the one who would one day become her chosen hero so as to guide him from the edge of time in his quest. Along with these messages, she also created trials to to test and improve the hero's power, wisdom, and courage. By completing each trial, the hero would receive a gift left by Hylia, which would help the hero find the purifying Sacred Flames. Bathing the sword in all three flames transformed the Goddess Sword into the legendary Blade of Evil's Bane, the Master Sword. However the Master Sword's true power could only be awakened by Hylia's reincarnation.

In order for the hero to reach these trials, Hylia left the Isle of Songs. The isle housed three melodies that would open the way to the trials, with each melody being played by the hero using the Goddess Harp. To ensure the Triforce didn't fall in the wrong hands, Hylia hid the sacred relic on Skyloft, within the Sky Keep, with the location kept a secret by others for many years. Before her passing and reincarnation, Hylia chose to appoint Faron, Eldin, Lanayru, and Levias to protect the woods, the mountains, the desert and the sky, respectively. Each of the guardians were entrusted with a part of the "Song of the Hero", a melody they were instructed to teach to the chosen hero which would then lead to the last trial and the Triforce itself.

In order to aid the Hero on his journey, she is said to have left behind various objects and items such as Goddess Cubes, Goddess Chests, and Goddess Walls. She also left behind the Goddess Crests that Link activates throughout his quest, as well as the Three Sacred Gifts obtained by completing the Trials in the Silent Realm. Also rare Materials called Goddess Plumes are said to have been left behind by Hylia during her lifetime. Goddess Plumes are one of the used to materials required to create the Sacred Bow, Tough Beetle, and Large Quiver. Hylia is also featured on the Goddess Shield, though the shield is created by Gondo when upgrading a Divine Shield and not by Hylia herself.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild


Goddess Hylia is mentioned in Shrines, having blessed the Sheikah Monks that dwell within them with the ability to give Link Spirit Orbs, and to help him fight the Calamity Ganon. Hylia's Goddess Statues can be found throughout Hyrule. Link can pray to them to trade four Spirit Orbs for either a Heart Container or a Stamina Vessel. If he prays to the Goddess Statue inside the Temple of Time before completing any of the Shrines in the Great Plateau, he will receive a message that Hylia is smiling on him through the statue. One of the loading screen tip for Hylia's Goddess Statues reveals that she has been worshiped in Hyrule since time immemorial. This indicates that she is still worshipped as part of the Hyrulean pantheon along with Din, Nayru, and Farore.

However, some races like the Gerudo are implied not to worship her to the same degree that the Sheikah and Hylians do. Muava reveals that most of the Gerudo do not hold faith in Hylia anymore, so they tend to avoid paying their respects towards Goddess Statue, let alone pray to it. The Goddess Statue from Gerudo Town is more neglected than others from Hateno Village, Kakariko Village, Rito Village, Korok Forest, Goron City, and Zora's Domain. These statues are in better condition indicating that they have been well taken care and Hylia is likely still revered in those places.

Through the Goddess Statues in the Spring of Wisdom, Spring of Courage, and Spring of Power, a disembodied voice (implied to be Hylia) guides Link in locating the hidden Shrines nearby. The Goddess Statue in the Spring of Wisdom also guides Link in freeing Naydra from the corruptive influence of Calamity Ganon's Malice. A century before the events of Breath of the Wild, Princess Zelda journeyed to these shrines to purify herself and pray to Hylia to awaken her divine powers. However, Princess Zelda had trouble fully awakening her powers. In Zelda's Diary, Zelda mentions having a dream about a place consumed by darkness where she encounters a lone woman haloed by a blinding light. Though Zelda herself was unsure as to whether the woman was a fairy or goddess, it is implied that she may have suspected that the woman was in fact Hylia, as Zelda had been praying to her and even wondered if she might have heard the woman in her dream had she awakened her powers by that point. However Zelda was unsure if the dream was a vision or simply a manifestation of her fears.

Revival as a deity
It is heavily hinted in Breath of the Wild that Hylia somehow resurrected herself as a goddess sometime after the events of Skyward Sword and is once again guarding Hyrule from malevolent forces. If this is the case, it is questionable why she did not do so in Skyward Sword to stop Demise and his minions, instead of reincarnating herself as a Hylian and indirectly causing grief and suffering towards Link, Zelda and other innocent beings.

Though it is unknown how Hylia regained her divinity, it is possible that she regained it once her mortal incarnation died. This would make sense considering how mortal incarnation would likely be long dead during the events of Breath of the Wild. If this is the case, it is likely that after the death of her mortal incarnation, Hylia left the protection of the Triforce to the royal family, sages, and other deities such as the Light Spirits (who protected the Sacred Realm from the Interlopers during the Hyrulean Civil War) while she herself continued to watch over Hyrule by protecting it from malevolent beings and providing guidance towards those who need her help.

It is alternatively possible that this Hylia from Breath of the Wild is from a different timeline as the one in Skyward Sword, assuming that both games are parallel worlds to one another.

Hylia's Bloodline
It is possible that as a result of Zelda being Hylia's reincarnation, some of Hylia's power were passed onto her descendants. These descendants may be the Royal Family of Hyrule, which could serve as an explanation for their mystical powers and their roles as protectors of the Triforce. It should be noted however, that the powers of the Royal Family are hinted in The Minish Cap to come from the Light Force, a sacred power granted from the Minish Race.

In Breath of the Wild though, it is stated that Princesses of Hyrule must purify and pray to Hylia at the Springs of Power, Wisdom, and Courage to awaken a sacred power passed down through lineage. This power is stated to be divine in origin, hinting that it came from Hylia. This could well be a mere myth though, considering the fact that Zelda did not awaken her powers until Link`s life was in grave danger.

It is alternatively possible that Skyward Sword Zelda's descendants are actually the incarnations of Link from after the events of Skyward Sword, which would fit in together with the words Demise stated to Skyward Sword Link before being vanquished by the hero, alongside the means of pulling the Master Sword out of its pedestal.

In Breath of the Wild, Kass refers to Hyrule's Princess as the "Goddess-blood Princess" strongly implying that Princess Zelda's various incarnations and the Royal Family of Hyrule are descended from Hylia's mortal incarnation. It is also stated in the Hyrule Compendium entry for the White Horse that the Royal Family of Hyrule rule the kingdom by divine right which reinforces this theory.

This would explain the powers depicted by both the various incarnations of Princess Zelda and Kings of Hyrule, as Rhoam Bosphoramus Hyrule is shown to be able to interact with the physical world even after his death in his guise as the Old Man, similar to Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule from The Wind Waker. It should be noted however, that other characters not from the Royal Family have done similar acts throughout the series, proving that even those not afflicted with divinity are able to act on the living world as a deceased. Also, it is implied in the game that Zelda`s grandmother was the one who passed down this mystical power to her daughter.

If the Royal Family are the descendants of Skyward Sword Zelda, the concept for it may be based off the Shinto sun goddess, Amaterasu, who is stated in Japanese legend to be the ancestor of the Japanese Imperial Family.

Goddesses' Reincarnations
Given that Zelda is Hylia's reincarnation in Skyward Sword, it is possible that the other incarnations of Princess Zelda are also her reincarnations as well. It is possible that through these reincarnations, Hylia is able to continue her mission to protect the Triforce and the land of Hyrule from evil.

However in Breath of the Wild, Hylia and its incarnation of Princess Zelda are considered to be separate entities indicating that Hylia has only reincarnated herself once as a mortal in Skyward Sword. If true, it is possible that her conflict with the demon sealed in the Horned Statue happened before the events of ''Skyward Sword. It is also possible that her conflict with the demon was after the events of Skyward Sword'', assuming that she regained her divinity.

Goddess of Time
It is possible that Hylia is the Goddess of Time mentioned by Princess Zelda in Majora's Mask. One indication of this comes from her messages for Link which she states I am the one guiding you from my place at the edge of time., which may be a indication that she is the Goddess of Time. Hylia being the Goddess of Time may indicate that she was aware of future events which allowed her to foresee the events of Skyward Sword. It should be noted that both Zelda and her chosen hero, Link have demonstrated the ability to foresee the future, indicating they may have been either been blessed with this ability by Hylia (or possibly inherited it in either case).

Though it is unlikely, it is possible that Zelda may have been referring to Hylia, possibly unaware (as Hylia's name may have been forgotten over time) that Hylia had given up her divinity to be reborn as a mortal Hylian girl. It should be noted that Princess Zelda's adult self from Ocarina of Time was able to use the Ocarina of Time and Song of Time to send Link back to relive his lost childhood, which may indicate she inherited some of Hylia's power to manipulate time or is the reincarnation of the Zelda from Skyward Sword, which would make her Hylia's reincarnation as well. Link has also been shown capable of time traveling by using the Ocarina of Time, also hinting the same for him in terms of blood relations.

It is possible however, that the Goddess of Time (if she actually does exist) is an entirely different character and Hylia's powers actually have little to do with ether character being able to manipulate time to an extent, and it is just the powers of the Ocarina of Time that grants these abilities.

Hylia pt-br:Hylia