The Cyclic Legends
A collection of Legends and Myths surrounding many historical events in Materia. Most tales concern the Kingdom of Hyrule entering a period of strife or conflict from some outside force, either spiritual or physical. The characters always appear to be personifications of the Goddess Hylia and the Demon Shūen, with a reoccurring Champion that performs heroic deeds and eventually seals or defeats the outside force.
Due to the repeating nature of elements across all of these stories, the Cyclic Legends are believed to be one story reapplied to multiple events, with minor changes that help connect the tale to an actual event. It should also be noted that the Cyclic Legends sometimes refer or mention events or stories that are not found within the Legend themselves, but are possibly older stories or historic events that have not been retold or can be found as separate Legends. Other tales appear to reference older retellings, but mention elements not found in the original tale itself, causing some researchers to believe that these tales or elements may have been lost to time.
The People of the Sky
The origin of the Hylians upon Materia, a people born from the sky. The Champion of Hylia drove Shūen from the land and helped found the early Kingdom of Hyrule. Refers to an older war between Shūen and Hylia which claims the Hylian were originally from Materia and sent to the sky to protect them. The fabled Master Sword is describes as being forged during this legend.
The War of the Winds
A shorter tale in which the Champion of Hylia seals away the evil wizard Vaati, who does not appear to be a recreation of Shūen but may have been a historical figure. This legend references an earlier, undiscovered tale of sealing monsters with a blade gifted by the small Picori people.
The Four Heroes
A seeming continuation of the War of the Winds which sees Vaati break free from the earlier tales sealing. In the oral tradition, however, Vaati is now a large, one eyed monster of darkness. The Hero in this telling also does not seem to be a Champion, but still proceeds to perform heroic actions while possessing a sword that splits the wielder into four autonomous copies.
The War for the Sacred Realm
This tale follows a period of conflict resulting in the various people's of Materia coming under the reign of the Kingdom of Hyrule. After pledging the Gerudo people to Hyrule the Gerudo King, Ganondorf, attempted to steal the Triforce. It split into it's individual pieces, with the evil king controlling only the Triforce of Power. The other pieces, the Triforce of Wisdom and Triforce of Courage instead were received by the reincarnations of Hylia and the Champion, respectively. Sometime later, the evil king was sealed away and the Champion disappeared.
Comments