Editing The Legend of Zelda (section)

==Major Races==
'''Humans/Hylians:''' Humans are, of course, everywhere in the games. Certain humans are depicted with [[elf]]-like pointy ears; known as ''Hylians'', in-universe this is supposed to represent a divinely blessed subrace who have a strong innate connection to the divine, which usually manifests as a greater affinity for magic. Indeed, ''Skyward Sword'' addresses how the Hylians got their name, basically it meaning "the people of (the Goddess) Hylia." The most famous Hylians are the titular Princess Zelda and Link.

'''Sheikah:''' A subrace of Hylians that usually have white hair and red eyes. Originally introduced in ''Ocarina of Time'' in the form of Zelda's bestie and bodyguard Impa, but never really expanded until ''Breath of the Wild'', which introduced them as a full-on nation. While in modern times they have oriental vibes and prefer to live in Kakariko, they once had an advanced civilization that created all sorts of energy weapons and horrifically deadly war machines. They also have mummified monks that can will themselves back to life like [[Lord Kroak]] and an intense love for bananas.

'''Zoras:''' The first non-human race to debut in the series, showing up in the very first game, Zora were originally a race of vaguely [[kappa]]-like fireball-spitting fish people. ''Ocarina of Time'' would reinvent the race with a sleek, gracefully inhuman look and a culture more akin to [[Aquatic Elf|Aquatic Elves]] than anything, making them non-hostile NPCs who the Link of that game actually needs to save from the evils of Ganondorf. This redesign proved really popular, and with the exception of ''A Link Between Worlds'', this has been the portrayal of them used going forward, even if the design has been tweaked and retweaked between editions. Both ''Ocarina of Time'' and ''Breath of the Wild'' introduced Zora waifus for Link, although the latter's Mipha is the only one fans have ever taken seriously.

'''Gorons:''' The [[Dwarf|dwarves]] of Hyrule, Gorons are a race of stone-eating rock-creatures, originally depicted with rounded, boulder-like bodies and spindly limbs, but became somewhat more proportional starting with ''Twilight Princess''. While most of them were shorter than your average human in their debut (barring a couple of huge ones), starting in ''Twilight Princess'' your average Goron is much larger than a human. The Gorons tend to be expert craftsmen in stone and metal, as well as skilled in the use of bombs, and although they are friendly by nature, they're also immensely strong and tough, so they make formidable warriors. Like... well, pretty much every important nonhuman race, they debuted in ''Ocarina of Time''.

'''Gerudo:''' Hyrule's [[Amazon]]s; dark-skinned, red-haired female warriors and thieves who are usually depicted living in the desert (save for those in Termina from ''Majora's Mask'', who are [[pirate]]s instead). Introduced in ''Ocarina of Time'', where they are technically a former enemy nation, but in the present is largely being forced to work against Hyrule by their king, Ganondorf, an evil [[wizard]]-[[thief]] who seeks to conquer the land. After ''Majora's Mask'', where they were straight-up villains, they basically vanished. After a long absence, they returned in ''Breath of the Wild'' as a friendly nation of tall, dusky [[musclegirl]]s who make money as honest merchants. While they had rounded ears like humans in their first two appearances, in ''Breath of the Wild'' they sport pointed ears like the Hylians. As an (almost) all-female race they're highly dependent on Hylian males for reproduction; it's implied in Ocarina of Time that these are purely temporary trysts with (hopefully) willing partners but in Breath of the Wild its more of a Rite of Passage that a Gerudo woman prepares for to go out into the world and find a suitable husband; with Gerudo now openly accepted in Hylian society, its more common to see Gerudo women settle down with families, though most tend to stay within the Gerudo valley rather than take up permanent residence elsewhere. Children are usually born female but once every 100 years or so, a male Gerudo is born, who becomes their king by law. Unfortunately for the Gerudos, it keeps being Ganondorf.  

'''Kokiri:''' Only appearing in ''Ocarina of Time'', the Kokiri are essentially the [[gnome]]s of Hyrule; forest spirits who look like unaging Hylian [[Loli|children]]. They are a MAJOR component to the story of ''Ocarina of Time'' with one Kokiri named Saria, in particular, being one of the [[Sage|Sages]] needed to help stop Ganondorf. They may or may not be evolved from the Kikwi beings seen in ''Skyward Sword''.

'''Koroks:''' Debuting in ''The Wind Waker'', these small humanoid plants are implied to be the Kokiri, or at least their descendants, who forsook their more humanoid appearance. They've only appeared in ''The Wind Waker'' and ''Breath of the Wild''. They play a major role in ''The Wind Waker'' but the vast majority of their being in both ''Breath of the Wild'' and ''Tears of the Kingdom'' is little more than filler content that, once completed entirely, rewards the player with [[What|a stylized golden pile of shit]]. Gotta love that Japanese toilet humour...

'''Rito:''' Another race that debuted in ''The Wind Waker'' before making a surprise return in ''Breath of the Wild'', the Rito are almost different races in each appearance. In ''Wind Waker'', they appear as humans with retractile wings on their arms and beak-like noses and are implied to be the descendants of the Zora after the fish-people were changed to not be allowed to linger in Hyrule after it was flooded. In ''Breath of the Wild'', they are straight up [[aarakocra|humanoid birds]] and are simply the inhabitants of the cold northern mountain regions, with no connections to the Zora as far as we know.

'''Picori:''' A diminutively-sized (and somewhat rodent-looking but with pointy ears rather than rounded ones) race more commonly known as "the Minish" to Hylians, they were introduced properly in ''The Minish Cap'' though one of their kind (Vaati) was actually introduced in ''Four Swords''. They are a kind and highly magical race who helped the Hylians by crafting magical artifacts in the past. They canonically are the reason Link finds rupees and items when he smashes bottles and cuts grass. The lack of such things in ''Breath of the Wild'' implies Ganon killed them all.

'''Zonai:''' An extinct race of [[Beastfolk]] aliens introduced in ''Breath of the Wild'' and expanded upon in ''Tears of the Kingdom''. They founded Hyrule alongside the Hylians and had technology that outstripped that of the Sheikah at their prime. Unfortunately, they had the horrible luck of running into one of Ganondorf's most deranged incarnations, who destroyed their home and wiped them out. All that remains of them by the time of ''TotK'' is ruins, robots, the ghosts of the last two Zonai, Rauru (founder and First King of Hyrule) and Mineru. Rauru also saves Link from Ganondorf by replacing his mutilated arm with his own arm.