The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Theory Warning

My theories.

Lake Hylia as a volcano

Lake Hylia may be a volcano — not necessarily an active volcano, but a volcano nonetheless. But unlike the complex volcanism of Death Mountain, Lake Hylia is most likely a maar. Evidence for this includes its maar-like punchbowl shape — vaguely circular shoreline, steep lake walls, and great depth, and the fact that its greatest depth at the center goes down even deeper below the lakebed into the Water Temple, a cross-section of which would probably resemble the remnants of a volcanic pipe.

It is possible that Lake Hylia is still active, but that its largely limited to limnic eruptions. In a limnic eruption, the deepest waters become increasingly saturated with carbon dioxide gas from its volcanic source. When the deep waters become too saturated, the lake overturns and releases all the gas at once. In the real world, such an eruption at Cameroon's Lake Nyos in 1986 destroyed surrounding villages, killing 1700 people and 3500 livestock. After that disaster, volcanologists started installing deep water pipes to continually fountain the gas so it doesn't have a chance to oversaturate the water.

It may be that Lake Hylia's Water Temple and/or Lanayru Spring already serve this function, as the lake's water is already constantly filtered to keep it pure. It remains pure enough to supply Castle Town with drinking water. If Lake Hylia were active and limited to limnic eruptions, this would effectively render the volcano inactive as it would be unable to erupt either way.

Breath of the Wild Addendum

Lake Hylia's nature appears relatively different, is of less circular shape, and has a shallower middle where the Great Hylia Bridge's support columns lie. The lake's basin may have drastically reshaped compared to other versions.

Hyrule as a rift valley basin

If indeed both Death Mountain and Lake Hylia are volcanoes, it may be safe to guess that much of Hyrule's geology is of volcanic origin. Additionally, its appearance and layout in Twilight Princess gives the impression that it is made up of horst and graben terrain. A graben is an area of land subsidence caused when the crust spreads and becomes thinner. In places like the Great Rift Valley and in Iceland, this creates subsiding volcanic lowlands nestled against swollen volcanic highlands.

There is evidence in Twilight Princess that such a process could have progressed somewhat since Ocarina of Time. Indeed, Hyrule's landscape is shorn by gaping chasms, and the floor of both Zora's River and Lake Hylia appear to be sinking to lower elevations relative to the surrounding countryside. This could have influenced the change in the course of Zora's River since Ocarina of Time; rather than the river changing course and eroding a deep gorge in such a relatively short period of time, the gorge may have cracked open first and the river started flowing into it. Lake Hylia may have genuinely formed as a volcano, but is also located in a sinking graben.

If Hyrule is a rift valley basin, it is also possible that most of its land is significantly below sea level, as seen in other rift basins located inland from the sea. When the Great Flood occurs in the Adult Timeline, it may not have been rain alone that inundated the kingdom, but the break of a natural dam that allowed the ocean's waters to fill the basin, leaving only its highest points as islands in the Great Sea. Magic alone kept Hyrule below dry and frozen in time. Magic aside, this is not without precedent, as the entire Mediterranean Sea has dried up and refilled multiple times in ancient prehistory in a similar manner. However, during these dry periods (part of what is called the Messinian salinity crisis), the Mediterranean Basin was mostly a salty desert, not unlike Death Valley (or perhaps the Gerudo Desert or Lanayru Desert).

Breath of the Wild Addendum

This version of Hyrule is obviously not all below sea level, as parts of its coastline hug the ocean. However, other parts of the landscape (particularly the north and western boundaries) dip into seemingly bottomless pits of what seem to be land far below sea level. In addition, Tanagar Canyon does appear to be a graben, as a deep valley with steep sides and no sign of having been carved by water. All this reinforces my original theory that Hyrule is at least highly tectonically active, and may contain multiple rifts, whether or not the entire country sits inside a rift.

Spectacle Rock as a volcanic plug

Spectacle Rock superficially appears to be a lava spine, which is lava that solidifies first and gradually extrudes itself from a volcano's vent. Lava spines have been witnessed in association with volcanic eruptions at Mont Pelée and Mount Saint Helens. However, lava spines are inherently unstable and usually imminently collapse after extrusion. Considering Spectacle Rock seems to have a primordial age and even has an ancient Fire Temple located inside it, it seems unlikely that it is a lava spine.

Spectacle Rock may actually be a volcanic plug, which can be shaped similarly to a lava spine, but is actually much, much older, often as old as hundreds of millions of years. Volcanic plugs are actually the remnants of the central magma chambers of volcanoes, and appear on the land only after the rest of the volcano has already crumbled away after millions of years. The magma chamber cools more slowly and under greater pressure, forming an extremely hard rock that is naturally very resistant to erosion. As such, volcanic plugs can stand out above surrounding countryside long after volcanism in a region has ended.

Hyrule was created by the three Golden Goddesses, and the land's actual age is not clear, but it seems unlikely that the Goddesses created it all in just a matter of days. As such, Spectacle Rock could actually be a remnant of a long-extinct prehistoric volcano, and remained in place even as the younger Death Mountain eventually started forming at roughly the same location.

Admittedly, this theory stretches the bounds of realism, as it is difficult to imagine Spectacle Rock surviving repeat violent pyroclastic explosions unscathed. Ultimately, the true nature of Spectacle Rock may be at least partly magical.

Breath of the Wild Addendum

Spectacle Rock is on the other side of the country from Death Mountain, and this version of the Rock does not seem very volcanic in nature. I have another theory on that in a different section.

Lake Hylia as a fish-free anoxic lake

The reason Lake Hylia proper (at least in Twilight Princess) has no fish, may be because of the way the water is purified — they are anoxic waters. Fish can't breathe normal air, but they still need oxygen to survive, and this comes from oxygen dissolved in water. The Lake Hylia filtration process purifies it, but also removes its dissolved oxygen, leaving the lake desolate of aquatic life. The Zoras don't live in the lake, but they can visit there because they have technology to allow them to breathe underwater regardless of dissolved oxygen content, and Link's Zora Armor uses the same technology. Without this technology, a human like Link would also easily die from decompression sickness alone, whether or not there is dissolved oxygen in the water.

Breath of the Wild Addendum

This version of Lake Hylia has plenty of fish, suggesting that the waters are not necessarily anoxic. And if it was ever geologically active, it may not be so anymore.

Hebra as a former Death Mountain

In A Link to the Past's Light World, Mount Hebra (at least in the Japanese language edition of the game) was the name of the mountainous region in the north. If it was ever volcanically active, it isn't anymore. Its Dark World counterpart occupying the same geography is Death Mountain, which is very actively volcanic in nature. In Breath of the Wild, there's a Hebra region (with Hebra Mountains) and a separate Death Mountain area, separated by a non-trivial distance of geography. I don't consider this contradictory at all: I think Hebra is the older region, having been the original Death Mountain until at least Ocarina of Time and some time after. Then, as can also happen in the real world over great periods of time, the old Death Mountain went inactive and the center of active volcanic activity migrated to what is the new Death Mountain. The Goron people, with their affinity for volcanoes, largely moved to the new area. Hebra still has signs of lingering volcanic activity in the form of hot springs, and may indeed only be dormant and resume volcanic activity at a later time, but for now it is a cold, snowy region with no volcanic eruptions. It does have many signs of having been a volcano, though; in addition to the hot springs, there are several crater- or caldera-shaped land features, including Coldsnap Hollow, the Flight Range, Gisa Crater (and its surrounding smaller craters), the Sturnida Basin (with Lake Kilsie), and Lake Totori, to name at least a few. I may even go as far as to suggest that Hebra occupies the same general vicinity as Dragon Roost Island in The Wind Waker, where, as with Hebra's Tabantha Frontier, the Rito people also live, but which is genuinely volcanically active in that setting.

Turtle Rock near North Lomei Labyrinth

There is a strangely turtle-shaped rock formation, resembling Turtle Rock, just southeast of the North Lomei Labyrinth in the northeast Hebra region in Breath of the Wild. If this is really the original Turtle Rock, it has no plot significance in the game.

Gerudo Highlands Spectacle Rock is not the original landmark

If the original Spectacle Rock of Death Mountain was a volcanic feature, it may no longer exist by the time of Breath of the Wild, having been destroyed through volcanic activity, erosion or other causes. This explains why Death Mountain has no Spectacle Rock, and why the Hebra region (which I speculate is the original Death Mountain) also has no Spectacle Rock. But the Gerudo people have a history of carving great monuments in the stone of their Gerudo Highlands, including the Seven Heroines at the East Gerudo Ruins. If the original Spectacle Rock was no more, a new landmark may have been created by the (relatively) simple task of choosing an appropriate table mountain and carving a wide gap between its two halves. And since this Spectacle Rock has a Sheikah Tower and also serves as a perfect platform for Vah Naboris, this may have happened as long as 10,000 years ago, as turning the mountain into such an important a landmark would be an ideal reason to also carve into it.

Kakariko Village has moved more than once

In Twilight Princess, the writing in the Hidden Village reveals (or at least strongly suggests) that it is the original Kakariko Village, with the other place of that name being a newer version of the Sheikah settlement. There is actually some very good logic to this, as Kakariko during Ocarina of Time and Twilight Princess is located in the volcanically-active Eldin Province, sometimes even on the flanks of Death Mountain itself. And since both Kakarikos in Twilight Princess are also in desert regions of Eldin, prolonged drought in addition to volcanic activity could be reason enough to move the village. But Breath of the Wild goes a step further, placing its Kakariko Village in West Necluda, a non-trivial distance outside the borders of Eldin. At some point, Kakariko Village had to have moved out of Eldin altogether, and to a region with no active volcanoes like Necluda. This Kakariko also has a cemetery, but it's a much humbler facility with no obvious signs of royal burial. One or more of the previous versions of Kakariko may be buried under subsequent Death Mountain lava flows, or perhaps even those of an older Death Mountain at what is now the Hebra region.

Groose is an ancestor of the Gerudo

Along with Link and Zelda, Groose was one of the people most directly instrumental in facing and defeating Demise in Skyward Sword. And if Link was known most for his courage and Zelda most for her wisdom, Groose used the sheer power of his own creation, the Groosenator, to repeatedly hinder The Imprisoned, helping give Link more opportunities to seal it. But whereas Link is the Hero incarnation, and Zelda is the Goddess incarnation, what is Groose? Demise swore his reincarnation would go after those who defeated him, and has repeatedly fought against both Link and Zelda through the ages. Perhaps Groose's line represented the weakest link to fall to Demise's influence first, making it a fitting act of spite that the next incarnation of the Demon King be one of Groose's own descendants, again with an affinity for power. Groose, though himself a Hylian, already has many of the characteristic attributes of Gerudo, including crimson red hair, amber eyes, a propensity for flamboyant hairstyles, and a affinity for power as the solution to problems, whether as a bully, as an inventor or as one of the protagonists. It is also not far-fetched that Groose as a Hylian be an ancestor of Gerudo, with it implied in Ocarina of Time and then firmly established in Breath of the Wild that most Gerudo women must find husbands from other races (typically Hylian), and only in this way can they have children. Demise may have also cursed the Gerudo people descended from Groose such that they are almost all exclusively women, and that the lone male be his reincarnation. What this theory doesn't try to explain is whether Groose (or his descendants) founded the Gerudo, or whether the Gerudo as a people already existed at the time of Skyward Sword. (There's already a Gerudo Dragonfly, but it is not clear what "Gerudo" refers to in context, as neither the Gerudo people nor the Gerudo Desert make direct appearances in that game.)

All Gerudo males are not Ganondorf

While it is said that a Gerudo male is born once a century and he is traditionally made their chieftain, it does not necessarily follow that every Gerudo male is Ganondorf. It is entirely possible that other Gerudo males are born who have nothing to do with Ganon. This is especially possible after the original Ganondorf's birth, since he ended up living much longer than a century in both the Child and Adult Timelines, until the events of Twilight Princess and The Wind Waker respectively. But is every Gerudo male automatically made chieftain? Not necessarily, especially after Ganondorf's treacherous original reign. Breath of the Wild's Gerudo society is exclusively matriarchal, with voe (men) banned from the walls of Gerudo Town altogether, but there is no mention that Gerudo males have stopped being born altogether. Also interestingly, the Champion's Tunic has characteristically Gerudo patterns on its armbands similar to those once worn by Ganondorf in his mortal life. If no males live in Gerudo Town, but Gerudo males may still exist, they may have been sent to Hyrule Castle, and a prior Champion (perhaps even a prior Hero) may have been one of those rare Gerudo males. (Though every portrayal of Link has been Hylian, practically every Gerudo has a Hylian father, so they are still effectively Hylian by ancestry if not necessarily by "race.")

The Hero can come from anywhere

All versions of Link, the Hero, thus far have been Hylians. But games like The Wind Waker also emphasize that each incarnation of the Hero does not necessarily have any relation whatsoever with a previous incarnation, with the Hero of Winds being completely unrelated to the Hero of Time. And while being Hylian also comes with the vague potential for psychic powers that would be helpful for the role, Princess Zelda is also Hylian, and it may not be necessary that the Hero be Hylian in order to receive her messages. Some versions of Link also grew up in non-Hylian cultures, including Ocarina of Time Link who was raised believing he was Kokiri, and Twilight Princess Link who was the only visible Hylian among Ordona Province's Human population. And even if every version of Link has Hylian ancestors, it still does not mean everyone with Hylian ancestry is Hylian, which is notably true for the Gerudo, most of whom have Hylian fathers in the otherwise almost all-female race. The implication is that, conditions permitting, the Hero could arise from anywhere, and perhaps need not necessarily be Hylian at all, so long as they fulfill a destiny in fidelity with the Goddess Hylia against the Demon King. So could there be a Gerudo Link? A Goron Link (not to be confused with Darunia's son)? A Rito Link? A Sheikah Link? A Subrosian Link? A Tokay Link? A Zora Link? Perhaps even a Link of monster origin? Yes, even a Moblin Link may not be out of the question—a simple Moblin boy (or girl) with an unbreakable spirit and affinity for fighting evil, and maybe IT'S A SECRET TO EVERYBODY.

Link from 10,000 years before Breath of the Wild was a Gerudo

In Breath of the Wild, there is a tapestry repeatedly seen during tellings of the events from 10,000 years ago. The tapestry depicts Ganon being opposed by the Hero and the Princess, surrounded by Guardians and flanked by the four Divine Beasts. The Hero is wearing a blue garment resembling the Champion's Tunic and wielding the Master Sword, but his physical likeness is shown with fiery red hair and a beard, unlike any other version of Link depicted before. It may be that this Link was a rare Gerudo male, but not Ganondorf himself—another Gerudo male born later who became another incarnation of the Hero. Princess Zelda also comments that Ganon has long since given up on reincarnation. From other games, it is known that Ganon reincarnated at least twice as two different Gerudo chieftains named Ganondorf, first just before the events of Ocarina of Time, and then again just before the events of Four Swords Adventures in the Child Timeline, and possibly also other untold times in any of the timelines. A Gerudo version of the Hero may have risen up to finally wrest the Demon King's sabotage of the Gerudo people, which may also be why Ganon finally gave up on reincarnation altogether and returned more simply as the malevolent entity Calamity Ganon. Furthermore, if the Champion's Tunic is inspired by the one a Gerudo Hero wore 10,000 years before, it could also explain why the tunic is traditionally decorated with Gerudo armbands, once characteristic of the Gerudo male chieftains including Ganondorf himself. Though every incarnation of the Hero thus far seen has been a Hylian, it is not far-fetched for the Hero to be a Gerudo because most Gerudo have Hylian fathers by virtue of almost all Gerudo being women, who need husbands of other races to father their children.