I'd also like to point out that there are certain places in the depths where you can find architecture that looks different from the Zonai architecture (specifically the Sping of Revival underneath the Shrine of resurrection). It doesn't look like the other Zonai architecture (neither the ancient ones found in places like the typhlo ruins or the Faron Ruins, or even the ones introduced in TOTK). They could also be the ones responsible for constructing the Bargainer Statues, as they don't look like anything else in the depths, save for the Statues of the five races! It would make sense if there was an underground race who made the depths their home. Perhaps they all perished due to the gloom that polluted the Depths after Ganondorf was sealed? Or maybe they perished a long time before that....
It's stuff like this that makes me wish we had gotten dlc. There were so many mysteries that have no clear answers or even clues that might give us more insight, and now we'll probably never know the answers unless we get a prequel game set in this hyrule or an artbook that provides a few more crumbs. Stuff like the fate of the Zonai, what happend to the Triforce, who were the kings of the labyrinths, the mysterious race in the depths, where are Twinrova, the origins of the 3 dragon spirits, the identities of the dark skeletons, who were the barbarians of Faron, and those are just the one's I can think of off the top of my head.
@stars_and_lattes3078 Very true! The style of sculpture looks more chiseled out, otherwise known as 'subtractive sculpture'. which this race, or a minor with sharp tools in general, would likely be creating. bargainer statues are almost all coming out of large rock formations, which could be implying they were carved from the very earth underground. In contrast, the zonai architecture has very sharp lines, and multiple shapes connected, implying they are a completely different type of architecture and sculpture. The gloom has probably been increasingly seeping out over time underground, making it inhabitable. so definitely plausible, and a great theory! thanks for sharing it! 😊
This is going to sound a bit insane, but what if there was more than one race inhabiting the depths before Ganondorf's sealing? And his acquiring of the secret stone enabled him to transform the depths peoples into the monsters that have roamed the surface ever since, with the blood moon reviving them whenever they're fallen. After all, there are four major races in Hyrule apart from the Hyrulians themselves - Gerudo, Rito, Zora and Goron. And we also have four main types of monsters - Moblins, Bokoblins, Horrorblins and Lizalfos. Couldn't they have been settlements from the other races underneath that got twisted into monsters against their will when Ganon made the power grab?
@@Hairo-rv9klI kinda prefer it this way, it forces us to make our own interpretations and theories in order to answer these questions, it brings us together in videos and forums and even irl to discuss our ideas. But instead people were whiny they didn’t get every answer spoon fed to them and so call the game bad. Fucking Christ what is with this community, what happened to the constant flow of brilliant ideas and ridiculous headcanons?
I thought so too! I didn’t think of mogmas but I did think of the ancient hero. Maybe they revolted and that’s how the zonai and them died? They had a big fight?
aren't the darknuts in windwaker corrupted knights of highrule? so they wouldn't have been enemies at the time they were carved. they could sensibly be the central mine figures
That’s a good point! I didn’t think of that. But I do think the fact they lead to the mines, and the mask of the minors outfit matching their face so well, makes me think they would have been mogma, with their connection to mining. But it’s still possible the darknuts picked up a pickaxe and got to work! 😂
Honestly the fact you spelled Hyrule "highrule" makes any lore theory you propose automatically invalid, because it's clear you out no thought into your comment. ❤
genius!! tying together the ancient hero and the miner's set... who'd've thought? makes so much sense though! such a well laid out theory, and your concept art fits the game perfectly
I fully expect to see this group in the next game. All the analysis and theory is spot on. Beautiful work and those chaaaaains- they look 10/10 shiny. 😄
@@michaelolympus5994 Supposedly the Fokka bird enemies from Zelda 2 might have served as inspiration to the Rito from The Wind Waker and eventually the Era of the Wild/Wild duology leaving open the possibility for Nintendo to something or the sort in the future with another past race.
can i just say that THE ART IS GORGEOUS?? absolutely looks like the botw/totk artstyle like thats so impressive (and genuis theory, girlie, this mustve been worked so hard on fr)
The mogma were my first thought when I saw the statues, but I think it's a stretch to say they evolved into the race of the acient hero. It just doesn't make any sense, considering just how minor the mogma are in the grand scheme of things. It makes sense for them to be the statues because they're connected to mining, but the ancient hero isn't. To me he does look like some zonai-hylian hybrid, although how there were zonai still around by that time I'm not sure. It is implied that Zelda is the descendent of both Rauru and Sonia, SOMEHOW even though there's nothing to indicate they had any children before dying (this is super annoying to me dont even get me started) so it is possible there were hybrids going around, although it would've made more sense for the ancient princess to have been a hybrid rather than the hero... I love TotK but imo it completely fucked up in terms of lore and instead of answering any questions about the calamity 10k years ago it gave us new ones which we know will never be answered since its been confirmed we'll never see this Hyrule again. Anyway lol, great video, amazing art, I love how seamlessly you're able to mimic the TotK/BotW art style, everything you draw in these videos looks like it'd fit right in
Someone talked about the lomei labyrinths as being a different race, possibly even the ancient hero's one, so this could be the "Lomei" tribe that were once mogmas
I find it interesting that there's a ruin in both games, expanded in the latter to all 3 levels (sky and depths) called the Lomei Ruins. Who were the Lomei? There's surface ruins and depths ones that don't seem to belong to any currently known race. Could the Lomei have been the ones to make all these structures?
This theory was fascinating and genuinely very convincing, I wasn’t expecting the tie-in with the Hero’s Aspect or the Miner’s outfit but both costumes really do have a strong similarity to the status! It even further supports the idea the Hero’s Aspect isn’t a Zonai but something else entirely. The eyes are so distinct so have to be a very deliberate design choice, and they really do match eyes meant for dark environments, the possibility they’re an intentional hint towards the species being from the depths would make a lot sense. Your art is really great too, the finished piece ended up matching the official artwork style for the game so well ☺️
you’re literally so amazing it’s insane. art is insane and so detailed. theories are insane, well thought out, and very compelling. I hope your channel grows so much and you can do this full-time. You deserve so many views. Please keep doing what you do and never stop!!
Thats fun! Didnt expect the mogma (keep forgetting they exist) and first (and every time) I saw the statues, i thought it was a more reptilian race, perhaps a group of lizard folk or even just straight up tribe of Lizalfos that wer'nt all that blood thirsty. We know that the monsters of hyrule do have varying levels of intelligence (even so much as "helping" as is the case with the "its a secret to everybody" moblin from NES Zelda) so it could have been a group of Lizalfos (or lizard people) that were on good terms with the Zonai showing them around the depths in exchange for rupees and other trade from the surface, then either they were wiped out from some unknown catastrophe or just disappeared deeper within the Depths. Since the Hyrulean Depths share a lot of similarities with the Shinto underworld Yomi-no-Kuni, they could even have been a people associated with the bargainer statues, even the bargainers being connected to some Depth-folk religious cult
I just got the Zelda Encyclopedia and started reading the timeline theories and all that, I love that connections the devs probably never thought of or intended are being postulated by fans, and using art to enhance that is a really cool idea. Also, everything mentioned seems pretty well thought out and plausible to me. All except the Zonai abandoning them for dead, given Rauru's sentiment to protect and defend his kingdom and people. Personally, I always thought they were in some kind of dancing pose, especially on Josha's map where they are positioned facing different directions. The head also reminds me more of a froggy face, seeing those lumps as two protruding eyes instead of ears.
tbh i dont really so those as ears to me it kinda looks like a frog and I cant unsee it. btw zoras did used to be villans and so did the gerudo. So it fully excuse them. but great vid btw.
This is so cool! The vagueness of those statues always bothered me. Whatever they were, it's too bad we don't get to see them in the game. Maybe it was planned at one point but scrapped.
Something that struck me was that the statues of all the Hyrulean races and the Bargainers don't look ANYTHING like the Zonai architecture we see elsewhere in the Depths. For one thing, they're made of brown stone, and they look like they were carved by more unrefined methods compared to the intricate detailing and clean edges present in the Zonai mines, like using a chainsaw instead of a woodcarving knife. Maybe the mogma carved these statues by hand straight out of the rock, and weren't overly concerned with decorative aspects like the Zonai were
Anyone else thing the last bargainer statute in the depths would have made a awe inspiring and/or terrifying boss fight? Some shadow of collosus shenanigans with how huge that thing is.
I'm only like halfway through the video, but my first thought was that the raised arm statute looked like a frog. The Sheikah and by extension the Yiga are heavily associated with frogs due to the little statures, so maybe these are like... old Sheikah or something?
Yeah I 100% thought they were Mogma when I first saw them. Having them in the Depths makes sense since they're a digging species, but it would also make sense that there is another missing species represented by the Ancient Heros Aspect.
Maybe these guys were the ones to live in the major Zonai ruin locations (Faron jungle, ancient labyrinths) along with ancient Hylians after the original inhabitants were long gone? Fascinating.
What of the Kikwis, Ancient Robots, Parellas, Deku, Subrosian, Tokay, Minish, Oocca and Anouki? Too many other races which have disappeared across the timeline aside from the Mogmas.
@@javiervasquez625 whereas the mogmas live mostly underground in a world we never get to see, most of those races live on the surface of the world and I kind of assumed they either evolved into something else (parella) died out after years of the floods and climate changes (minnish, kikwi) didn't have enough members to continue the line/didn't procreate (ancient robots, oocca) or they just live on a different continent so we don't know (tokay, subrosians) I do very much wonder what happened to the anouki and the dekus. Maybe they evolved into hostile enemies of some kind? those two races seem like they are the ones who wouldn't die out under other circumstances so hopefully just went somewhere else.
Your theory is amazingly elevated by your artistic talent. Nobody else can make original concept art to convey their point. I'm so excited for what you make next! If I could make a suggestion, my theory for the original story of the 8 Heroines Statues is this: each of the statues' symbols don't represent a Sage Medallion, they represent the sages themselves-from OoT. Hear me out. Darunia had 2 white dots on each of his cheeks and lived on Death Mountain. The Sage with the two white dots is positioned in the northeast, the same direction of Death Mountain. Going clockwise, this same logic can apply to Saria's green childish body, Impa's uniform, Ruto's Purple Earrings, (blank), Nabooru's red ponytail, Rauru's orange cloak interrupted at the bottom by a sash, and Zelda's glowing light energy.
Unfortunately, it seems they threw away that nod to OoT when they made TotK, instead opting for what may be the most anticlimactic resolution to the story. So my interest is in the original design intent.
The drawings are beautiful!! And they are absolutely the mogma, for sure. I just wonder why the developers decided to include them in as statues but not elaborate into their role in TOTK Hyrule in any way. Oh well, I hope we get some sort of answer in a future game, although knowing Nintendo we probably won't
That's a bit if a wild hypothesis but any excuse to make art is a good one ^_^ Thank you for covering this. I've been looking for more depths lore and theorycrafting but there isn't much out there. Cheers!
I mean. I think the Ancient Hero's Aspect looks like a hybrid between a hylian and a zonai OR a gerudo and a zonai. Grayish green skin without fur, longer but still hylian or gerudo-like ears , zonai garb, striking red hair like a gerudo or even a hylian instead of zonai white, a snouted face that's a bit shorter than a zonai's but still noticeably similar (almost like one parent wasnt a zonai!!!!), hands and feet like a zonai but proportions like a hylian, i could go on for another 20 minutes. I think it's the most reasonable theory on that 🤷🏽♀️
Nice art! Interesting theory you came up with too. I personally like the idea that the miners were ancestors of modern monsters who were transformed by Ganondorf or some older evil, either against their will or in retaliation against Zonai exploitation. The constructs, then, may have been created to fight against and/or replace them after they left the workforce. Thinking about it, it also feels kind of odd how they mine Zonaite in the depths despite it not having a clear use. Perhaps a vestigial trait from that time?
One thing I will say- we don't have any indication that the Zonai were all dead by the time of Rauru and Mineru. The closest we get is Ganondorf saying "It's unfortunate the Zonai no longer grace us with their presence", and nowhere until the present day is it stated that they were dead. The ancient hero's aspect could be a zonai- just perhaps a degraded version.
this is a REALLY cool concept and your making it look so close to the games offical art is awesome. i also thought Mogma to start with but after i got the aspect i wasnt sure lol, awesome combination! AND the Miner outfit tie-in!! it also makes me wonder about if they had connections to the poe collecting statues too 👀 this game had so much DLC potential im so sad about that but at least artists and theorists can explore the space 💙
My theory is that before the Zonai invented the Constructs they used these creatures for their construction work. These creatures would endure alot of painful physical work in the Depths and would often lead to them losing limbs. After millenia of this undadressed issue the Zonai would invent mechanical body parts for these creatures infused with their spirit. The creatures arms where given advanced abilities like Ultrahand and Fuse, and because of this more and more of the creatures would willingly upgrade to the new Zonai technlogy. Unfortunately the Depths experienced a deadly plauge killing most of the Life and exstinguishing the light. Both these creatures and the living form of the Gibdo would get wiped out entirely because of this plauge. Years later the then young Zonai Mineru would experiment with the poes of these creatures and try to infuse their spirit into a mechanical vessel. This experiment although cruel would be revolutionary and would lead to the building of the first and only Construct factory. The Zonai would end up producing multiple types of Constructs such the soldiers and the stewards, all infused with the souls of these enslaved forgotten being… (The reason I came to this conclusion is because of the similar shape of these creatures and the Sprit Temple Mineru constructs in the walls.
wow, when you said you just got monitized, I was surprised and looked down at the subscriber count. I can't believe you have so little subs compared to your effort. you deserve more
Adding on to that, something I noticed fairly early on in my playthrough of TotK was the prominence of brightbloom seeds in Zonai architecture. At first I thought the Zonai lights were lilies or pinecones or something similar, something symbolizing the heavens, but every last one is modeled after a brightbloom seed - this is true in the Depths, the palace in the memories and the imprisoning chamber in the present, and even the Temple of Time. Zelda and Sonia's earrings also match this design. Taking this into account, and also acknowledging that brightbloom seeds only grow in caves, *underground spaces*, it's possible that the entire source of Zonai architecture, the very symbol of their importance, came from this race we see in the Depths. After all, Zonai came from the heavens, but brightbloom seeds didn't, and they wouldn't have explored an underground land out of necessity considering they had everything they needed on the surface... meaning that this lost race is much more important to the history of TotK's Hyrule than we can even imagine. Hopefully this will be explored later on in the series, but for the meantime, love the art and love your theories!
Honestly tho this race theory makes a lot of sense and all I thought it was first time going through was some kinda under ground zora race given the fact it looks like a frog in the statues
Amazing Artwork! You're really able to mimic the TOTK art style! Also, I find it interesting that you believe these to be the mogma! When I first stumbled across these, I thought it a Frog-man! (Even more so now thinking about prevalent frogs/toads are in TOTK like the Bubbulfrogs, normal frogs, and the little and Giant Frox that eat brightbloom seeds.) BTW, the Winged statute is weird to me. It has pointy featherless wings, and digitigrade legs, two traits the Rito don't have. They instead have wide feathered wings, and walk plantigrade like the other main races.
Great video! Things I've noticed regarding these statues, Spoilers! The secret stones transformation depends on the race of the host. The dragons are different than the light dragon, having different snouts and ears. We also see that the normal dragons depicted in architecture look nothing like the ones in the game, but the head shapes and features do fit the mystery statues having the flat top head and short ears. We all know how you get dragons, so then consuming secret stones would have been normal for them and depicted in the statue. I think they were used as a slave race for the zonai, which explain their downfall and why the zonai and their tech is mostly forgotten by Raoru's time. It also explains why the miners set is full of chains for some reason and why the depths is full of poes and we see in game that poes can be other races aside form hylian. We also see that architecture dragons were serpentine without all the limbs and we do have the dark skeletons in the depths. I think there was a war that broke out between zonai overlords that were revered as gods( like stated in the game) and dragons at the time were used as weapons, and there were a lot of victims in the cataclysm explaining the depths, the poes, dead dragon bones everywhere and decline of zonai and zonai technology and why turning into dragons was a "forbidden" ritual. Which falls in line with zelda having ancient past wars be relevant in their stories.
It actually looked more like a frog to me and totk is big on representation of frogs, specifically along with the introduction of subterranean environments like caves and the depths... the toes definitely look ambphibious and what you perceive to be the ears look more like brow ridges and the dots, which look too small to be eyes would be the nostrils... the bubbul frogs and various froxes are not products of ganondorfs dark magic but are more of a monstrosity created by the obsession of gems and ores... the object in their hand has a swirl on it, which swirls are commonly associated with spirit, or in this case, poes...
While the big zelda theorists are making big sweeping theories, your coming up with plausible answers to the smaller things I've always wondered about! ^-^
I was thinking that the ancient hero was actually Zelda's ancestor, the offspring of King Raurru and Queen Sonia. Who knows how Zonai and Hylian crossbreeding would have worked out if the gate and The two would have had to of produce an heir for Zelda to exist.
The the mogma lived in what is now eldin province and these statues are found under central hurule also their are mole like enemies in minish cap that I think may be related to the mogma because timeline placement and minish cap takes place in an are between eldin and central hyrule
I do like the idea of it possibly being descendants of the Mogma, as I prefer when races don't disappear in future games without an explanation. However, part of this theory relies on the idea that the stuff with Rauru happens at the start of the timeline, after Skyward Sword but before everything else, and such a timeline placement more or less contradicts the rest of the timeline. We don't know how long passed between this Imprisoning War and the First Calamity. While Rauru and Mineru were the last two Zonai, we know Zelda is the direct descendant of Sonia and Rauru, meaning they had to have a half-Zonai child before Sonia was killed, and the Ancient Hero's Aspect shares enough similarities to potentially be a half-Zonai, half-Hylian. We also don't know what happened to the Mogma, it's possible they died out or left and then the Zonai replaced them with the constructs, or even working alongside the constructs on different things.
tbh when looking at ripped files all the statues together with the bargainer statue looks like they have same type of armour on. They do hold secret stone as far as I can tell, or at leat something with a zonai swirl on it X"D Tho the resemblance to the miner outfit with the face is there...
Because the Depths are like a dark reflection of Hyrule, I think the being represented by the Hero’s Aspect is of a race that is a Depths’ reflection of Zonai, but they probably weren’t called Zonai initially… maybe adopted into the Zonai as they expanded into the Depths, but were probably called Lomei or Thyphlo before basically becoming part of the Zonai. Some may reject being called such, so the Ancient Hero might not, taxonomically speaking, be a member of the Zonai species, but raised in Zonai culture?
13:25 Text made me a bit sad. It's crazy there is no DLC planed for Totk, there seems to be so much left to cover in lore. Hopefully next game picks up where we left off, even if we go back to the traditional Zelda formula. Love the artwork though :)
I disagree with the theory, (I don't think the Mogma evolved into the Ancient Hero's race, and I do think the Ancient Hero is a Zonai, since he does somewhat resemble them, and wears the exact same clothes that are the Zonaite armor, sans the headpiece). But this video is very well made and I love the art!
I love this I remember when I first saw these statues is thought the lookes look mole men and was so excited to see an underground civilisation like a mirror to the zonai coming from the sky islands was so sad they never appeared but them being modern mogmar's make all the sense in the world
I believe the hero 10,000 years ago may actually be a hybrid between a hylian[or gerudo?] and a zonai but whos the zonai parent? Probably we will never know what this abomination of a hero once was The ears look hylian or gerudo,both races have similar ears The skin is definitely, zonai green The hair,we only know two zonai individuals that are siblings we could asume each individual could have different hair colors? Or the ancient hero is half gerudo In the end its simply a theory based on the observations and my knowledge of hybrid species both in fantasy and in real life
My kinda dark theory is that the Mogma delved too deeply and too greedily (bonus points if you get that reference) and were corrupted by someone or something, that subsequently turned them into horrorblins because of their striking similarities and the sometimes rather questionable character of the Mogma lol
Amazing video! I'm kind of concerned with the timeline, altho that's Nintendo's doing. I would guess the Shiekah and their tech would be a result of Zelda and her sacrifice, due to their symbol. I would think we'd see evidence of these people theorized of in this video in TotK, altho they aren't super critical to the plot, and Ninty may have future plans. Also, the Hero's Aspect follows their philosophy of gameplay loops/rewards and storytelling, and necessity of development plus future surprises leaves cards to play in their hand for future titles.
Hon you totally missed the obvious. It's the frogs from Ocarina of Time. Obviously a frog face. They just got super tall n jacked n buff over the thousands of years. :P
I haven't beaten TotK yet(playing it now) but couldn't Ganon be of a different race entirely? Making it his people. Could be that when he rose to power, he killed off all the others so none among his own could stand up to him. Just my late night thoughts as I'm trying to go to sleep. To me, the hero aspect armor looks a bit like him. If it gets explained later on in the game and I'm wrong, someone can tell me. I don't mind spoilers.
Yes, the mogma were the first race that came to my mind when I saw those statues. I'm loving the design, would love to get it on a T-shirt
That’s a great idea! I’m planning on adding more stuff to my shop, so stay posted!
THANK you!
If forgot what they were called.
I just called them the Mole Dudes.
Update: i got the t-shirt, the design looks awesome.
@@sipinthatbub yesssss!!! So glad you like it and I appreciate the update!! 😁
I'd also like to point out that there are certain places in the depths where you can find architecture that looks different from the Zonai architecture (specifically the Sping of Revival underneath the Shrine of resurrection). It doesn't look like the other Zonai architecture (neither the ancient ones found in places like the typhlo ruins or the Faron Ruins, or even the ones introduced in TOTK).
They could also be the ones responsible for constructing the Bargainer Statues, as they don't look like anything else in the depths, save for the Statues of the five races! It would make sense if there was an underground race who made the depths their home. Perhaps they all perished due to the gloom that polluted the Depths after Ganondorf was sealed? Or maybe they perished a long time before that....
It's stuff like this that makes me wish we had gotten dlc. There were so many mysteries that have no clear answers or even clues that might give us more insight, and now we'll probably never know the answers unless we get a prequel game set in this hyrule or an artbook that provides a few more crumbs. Stuff like the fate of the Zonai, what happend to the Triforce, who were the kings of the labyrinths, the mysterious race in the depths, where are Twinrova, the origins of the 3 dragon spirits, the identities of the dark skeletons, who were the barbarians of Faron, and those are just the one's I can think of off the top of my head.
@stars_and_lattes3078 Very true! The style of sculpture looks more chiseled out, otherwise known as 'subtractive sculpture'. which this race, or a minor with sharp tools in general, would likely be creating. bargainer statues are almost all coming out of large rock formations, which could be implying they were carved from the very earth underground. In contrast, the zonai architecture has very sharp lines, and multiple shapes connected, implying they are a completely different type of architecture and sculpture.
The gloom has probably been increasingly seeping out over time underground, making it inhabitable. so definitely plausible, and a great theory! thanks for sharing it! 😊
@@Splatakvyou realize it’s spelt miner right? Minors are children/teens (legal non-adults)
This is going to sound a bit insane, but what if there was more than one race inhabiting the depths before Ganondorf's sealing? And his acquiring of the secret stone enabled him to transform the depths peoples into the monsters that have roamed the surface ever since, with the blood moon reviving them whenever they're fallen. After all, there are four major races in Hyrule apart from the Hyrulians themselves - Gerudo, Rito, Zora and Goron. And we also have four main types of monsters - Moblins, Bokoblins, Horrorblins and Lizalfos. Couldn't they have been settlements from the other races underneath that got twisted into monsters against their will when Ganon made the power grab?
@@Hairo-rv9klI kinda prefer it this way, it forces us to make our own interpretations and theories in order to answer these questions, it brings us together in videos and forums and even irl to discuss our ideas.
But instead people were whiny they didn’t get every answer spoon fed to them and so call the game bad.
Fucking Christ what is with this community, what happened to the constant flow of brilliant ideas and ridiculous headcanons?
Okay, seriously!? Nintendo PLEASE hire this ridiculously talented human being!
As much as i'd love them too, I don't think they'd be particularly happy with my theory videos haha!!
the chains on the miner's outfit make me think that the Mogmas did not "work" for the Zonai but rather that they were exploited...
Hits a bit too close to reality, one might say....
I thought so too! I didn’t think of mogmas but I did think of the ancient hero. Maybe they revolted and that’s how the zonai and them died? They had a big fight?
They might have been possibly slaves... holy crap
aren't the darknuts in windwaker corrupted knights of highrule? so they wouldn't have been enemies at the time they were carved. they could sensibly be the central mine figures
That’s a good point! I didn’t think of that. But I do think the fact they lead to the mines, and the mask of the minors outfit matching their face so well, makes me think they would have been mogma, with their connection to mining. But it’s still possible the darknuts picked up a pickaxe and got to work! 😂
Did you seriously just type Highrule 💀
Honestly the fact you spelled Hyrule "highrule" makes any lore theory you propose automatically invalid, because it's clear you out no thought into your comment. ❤
....... So.... Ganondorf turned knights of hyrule into wolf men. WW darknuts have dog ears. WW ganondorf is flipping furry XD
Wow, I randomly got recommended this video and I’m so glad I watched it! Great theory and very impressive art work! Subscribed
Yay! Glad you enjoyed! Thanks for clicking and watching 😁
genius!! tying together the ancient hero and the miner's set... who'd've thought? makes so much sense though! such a well laid out theory, and your concept art fits the game perfectly
I fully expect to see this group in the next game. All the analysis and theory is spot on. Beautiful work and those chaaaaains- they look 10/10 shiny. 😄
Do unknown Zelda characters/races being brought in the next games in the past? Besides the Zonai?
If they aren't completely forgotten alongside the Zonai like past races in the series such as the Deku, Minish, Oocca, Subrosian, Tokay, Anouki, etc.
@@michaelolympus5994 Supposedly the Fokka bird enemies from Zelda 2 might have served as inspiration to the Rito from The Wind Waker and eventually the Era of the Wild/Wild duology leaving open the possibility for Nintendo to something or the sort in the future with another past race.
can i just say that THE ART IS GORGEOUS?? absolutely looks like the botw/totk artstyle like thats so impressive (and genuis theory, girlie, this mustve been worked so hard on fr)
The mogma were my first thought when I saw the statues, but I think it's a stretch to say they evolved into the race of the acient hero. It just doesn't make any sense, considering just how minor the mogma are in the grand scheme of things. It makes sense for them to be the statues because they're connected to mining, but the ancient hero isn't. To me he does look like some zonai-hylian hybrid, although how there were zonai still around by that time I'm not sure. It is implied that Zelda is the descendent of both Rauru and Sonia, SOMEHOW even though there's nothing to indicate they had any children before dying (this is super annoying to me dont even get me started) so it is possible there were hybrids going around, although it would've made more sense for the ancient princess to have been a hybrid rather than the hero... I love TotK but imo it completely fucked up in terms of lore and instead of answering any questions about the calamity 10k years ago it gave us new ones which we know will never be answered since its been confirmed we'll never see this Hyrule again.
Anyway lol, great video, amazing art, I love how seamlessly you're able to mimic the TotK/BotW art style, everything you draw in these videos looks like it'd fit right in
The artwork is so realistic! I saw some people believing it was the official artwork and I knew it was you, so I searched for this vid
Muwhahaha I’ve got them all tricked but you! Lol ty for watching 😊
Someone talked about the lomei labyrinths as being a different race, possibly even the ancient hero's one, so this could be the "Lomei" tribe that were once mogmas
I find it interesting that there's a ruin in both games, expanded in the latter to all 3 levels (sky and depths) called the Lomei Ruins. Who were the Lomei? There's surface ruins and depths ones that don't seem to belong to any currently known race. Could the Lomei have been the ones to make all these structures?
This theory was fascinating and genuinely very convincing, I wasn’t expecting the tie-in with the Hero’s Aspect or the Miner’s outfit but both costumes really do have a strong similarity to the status! It even further supports the idea the Hero’s Aspect isn’t a Zonai but something else entirely. The eyes are so distinct so have to be a very deliberate design choice, and they really do match eyes meant for dark environments, the possibility they’re an intentional hint towards the species being from the depths would make a lot sense.
Your art is really great too, the finished piece ended up matching the official artwork style for the game so well ☺️
you’re literally so amazing it’s insane. art is insane and so detailed. theories are insane, well thought out, and very compelling. I hope your channel grows so much and you can do this full-time. You deserve so many views. Please keep doing what you do and never stop!!
that is too sweet! I love making these for you guys, and full time would be the dream! they take forever to make haha 😅
Thats fun! Didnt expect the mogma (keep forgetting they exist) and first (and every time) I saw the statues, i thought it was a more reptilian race, perhaps a group of lizard folk or even just straight up tribe of Lizalfos that wer'nt all that blood thirsty. We know that the monsters of hyrule do have varying levels of intelligence (even so much as "helping" as is the case with the "its a secret to everybody" moblin from NES Zelda) so it could have been a group of Lizalfos (or lizard people) that were on good terms with the Zonai showing them around the depths in exchange for rupees and other trade from the surface, then either they were wiped out from some unknown catastrophe or just disappeared deeper within the Depths.
Since the Hyrulean Depths share a lot of similarities with the Shinto underworld Yomi-no-Kuni, they could even have been a people associated with the bargainer statues, even the bargainers being connected to some Depth-folk religious cult
it looks like a frog and its a race we have never seen in the zelda series this is very interesting 😁
i love this type of videos and your art is SO beautiful!! i love it!
Thank you!! ❤️🥰
I just got the Zelda Encyclopedia and started reading the timeline theories and all that, I love that connections the devs probably never thought of or intended are being postulated by fans, and using art to enhance that is a really cool idea.
Also, everything mentioned seems pretty well thought out and plausible to me. All except the Zonai abandoning them for dead, given Rauru's sentiment to protect and defend his kingdom and people.
Personally, I always thought they were in some kind of dancing pose, especially on Josha's map where they are positioned facing different directions. The head also reminds me more of a froggy face, seeing those lumps as two protruding eyes instead of ears.
Nothing in the Hyrule encyclopedia is canon. It's amazing it was even published.
@@liammccbyrne4184 Neither is anything in this or any other "Zelda theory" video; not the point.
im glad that now i have an idea what these things could of looked like
Glad to have helped! 😊
tbh i dont really so those as ears to me it kinda looks like a frog and I cant unsee it. btw zoras did used to be villans and so did the gerudo. So it fully excuse them. but great vid btw.
This is so cool! The vagueness of those statues always bothered me. Whatever they were, it's too bad we don't get to see them in the game. Maybe it was planned at one point but scrapped.
Something that struck me was that the statues of all the Hyrulean races and the Bargainers don't look ANYTHING like the Zonai architecture we see elsewhere in the Depths. For one thing, they're made of brown stone, and they look like they were carved by more unrefined methods compared to the intricate detailing and clean edges present in the Zonai mines, like using a chainsaw instead of a woodcarving knife. Maybe the mogma carved these statues by hand straight out of the rock, and weren't overly concerned with decorative aspects like the Zonai were
Anyone else thing the last bargainer statute in the depths would have made a awe inspiring and/or terrifying boss fight? Some shadow of collosus shenanigans with how huge that thing is.
I'm only like halfway through the video, but my first thought was that the raised arm statute looked like a frog. The Sheikah and by extension the Yiga are heavily associated with frogs due to the little statures, so maybe these are like... old Sheikah or something?
Yeah I 100% thought they were Mogma when I first saw them. Having them in the Depths makes sense since they're a digging species, but it would also make sense that there is another missing species represented by the Ancient Heros Aspect.
Oo! Now I hadn't thought of the aspect being an evolved Mogma. Interesting.
Maybe these guys were the ones to live in the major Zonai ruin locations (Faron jungle, ancient labyrinths) along with ancient Hylians after the original inhabitants were long gone?
Fascinating.
This is so cool! Can't wait to see what Nintendo do with this race in the next game.
LOVE this theory! I always wondered what happened to the mogma and so many of the pieces fit into place, thank you!
What of the Kikwis, Ancient Robots, Parellas, Deku, Subrosian, Tokay, Minish, Oocca and Anouki? Too many other races which have disappeared across the timeline aside from the Mogmas.
@@javiervasquez625 whereas the mogmas live mostly underground in a world we never get to see, most of those races live on the surface of the world and I kind of assumed they either evolved into something else (parella) died out after years of the floods and climate changes (minnish, kikwi) didn't have enough members to continue the line/didn't procreate (ancient robots, oocca) or they just live on a different continent so we don't know (tokay, subrosians) I do very much wonder what happened to the anouki and the dekus. Maybe they evolved into hostile enemies of some kind? those two races seem like they are the ones who wouldn't die out under other circumstances so hopefully just went somewhere else.
Looks like genuine concept art from the books.
To me, the statue looks like some sort of buff frog, Battletoad-style.
From that angle of the statue, all I can see is a frog 🤣🤣🤣
Oh my gosh, now that you brought it I think it’s someone wearing the miners gear! That makes so much sense!
I dont really have anything interesting to add but i wanted to say that I love the character designs you do!
Wow, your theory videos about Totk are the best in all UA-cam!
Aw thank you!!! That’s so kind!! 🥰
Your theory is amazingly elevated by your artistic talent. Nobody else can make original concept art to convey their point. I'm so excited for what you make next!
If I could make a suggestion, my theory for the original story of the 8 Heroines Statues is this: each of the statues' symbols don't represent a Sage Medallion, they represent the sages themselves-from OoT.
Hear me out.
Darunia had 2 white dots on each of his cheeks and lived on Death Mountain. The Sage with the two white dots is positioned in the northeast, the same direction of Death Mountain.
Going clockwise, this same logic can apply to Saria's green childish body, Impa's uniform, Ruto's Purple Earrings, (blank), Nabooru's red ponytail, Rauru's orange cloak interrupted at the bottom by a sash, and Zelda's glowing light energy.
Unfortunately, it seems they threw away that nod to OoT when they made TotK, instead opting for what may be the most anticlimactic resolution to the story.
So my interest is in the original design intent.
The drawings are beautiful!! And they are absolutely the mogma, for sure. I just wonder why the developers decided to include them in as statues but not elaborate into their role in TOTK Hyrule in any way. Oh well, I hope we get some sort of answer in a future game, although knowing Nintendo we probably won't
really cool theory!! your concept art/design for the mogma miner race is sick
That's a bit if a wild hypothesis but any excuse to make art is a good one ^_^ Thank you for covering this. I've been looking for more depths lore and theorycrafting but there isn't much out there. Cheers!
The ancient hero with that red hair and that gem on his face looks like Ganondorf but maybe a alternative Zonai Ganondorf
I mean. I think the Ancient Hero's Aspect looks like a hybrid between a hylian and a zonai OR a gerudo and a zonai. Grayish green skin without fur, longer but still hylian or gerudo-like ears , zonai garb, striking red hair like a gerudo or even a hylian instead of zonai white, a snouted face that's a bit shorter than a zonai's but still noticeably similar (almost like one parent wasnt a zonai!!!!), hands and feet like a zonai but proportions like a hylian, i could go on for another 20 minutes. I think it's the most reasonable theory on that 🤷🏽♀️
I found it interesting that the mouth on the miners mask matched that on the gibdos.
Nice art! Interesting theory you came up with too.
I personally like the idea that the miners were ancestors of modern monsters who were transformed by Ganondorf or some older evil, either against their will or in retaliation against Zonai exploitation. The constructs, then, may have been created to fight against and/or replace them after they left the workforce.
Thinking about it, it also feels kind of odd how they mine Zonaite in the depths despite it not having a clear use. Perhaps a vestigial trait from that time?
One thing I will say- we don't have any indication that the Zonai were all dead by the time of Rauru and Mineru. The closest we get is Ganondorf saying "It's unfortunate the Zonai no longer grace us with their presence", and nowhere until the present day is it stated that they were dead. The ancient hero's aspect could be a zonai- just perhaps a degraded version.
your designs are awesome!!! 😱💕
this is a REALLY cool concept and your making it look so close to the games offical art is awesome. i also thought Mogma to start with but after i got the aspect i wasnt sure lol, awesome combination! AND the Miner outfit tie-in!! it also makes me wonder about if they had connections to the poe collecting statues too 👀
this game had so much DLC potential im so sad about that but at least artists and theorists can explore the space 💙
Great channel, amazing video. *This* is what real theorizing looks like!
My theory is that before the Zonai invented the Constructs they used these creatures for their construction work. These creatures would endure alot of painful physical work in the Depths and would often lead to them losing limbs. After millenia of this undadressed issue the Zonai would invent mechanical body parts for these creatures infused with their spirit. The creatures arms where given advanced abilities like Ultrahand and Fuse, and because of this more and more of the creatures would willingly upgrade to the new Zonai technlogy. Unfortunately the Depths experienced a deadly plauge killing most of the Life and exstinguishing the light. Both these creatures and the living form of the Gibdo would get wiped out entirely because of this plauge. Years later the then young Zonai Mineru would experiment with the poes of these creatures and try to infuse their spirit into a mechanical vessel. This experiment although cruel would be revolutionary and would lead to the building of the first and only Construct factory. The Zonai would end up producing multiple types of Constructs such the soldiers and the stewards, all infused with the souls of these enslaved forgotten being… (The reason I came to this conclusion is because of the similar shape of these creatures and the Sprit Temple Mineru constructs in the walls.
wow, when you said you just got monitized, I was surprised and looked down at the subscriber count. I can't believe you have so little subs compared to your effort. you deserve more
thats very kind of you! but we've grown a lot recently so its cool to see regardless! thanks for watching
My first thought about koroks is that they were kokiri in ocarina of time, so they can shapeshift, idk maybe they looked like that at some point
Adding on to that, something I noticed fairly early on in my playthrough of TotK was the prominence of brightbloom seeds in Zonai architecture. At first I thought the Zonai lights were lilies or pinecones or something similar, something symbolizing the heavens, but every last one is modeled after a brightbloom seed - this is true in the Depths, the palace in the memories and the imprisoning chamber in the present, and even the Temple of Time. Zelda and Sonia's earrings also match this design.
Taking this into account, and also acknowledging that brightbloom seeds only grow in caves, *underground spaces*, it's possible that the entire source of Zonai architecture, the very symbol of their importance, came from this race we see in the Depths. After all, Zonai came from the heavens, but brightbloom seeds didn't, and they wouldn't have explored an underground land out of necessity considering they had everything they needed on the surface... meaning that this lost race is much more important to the history of TotK's Hyrule than we can even imagine. Hopefully this will be explored later on in the series, but for the meantime, love the art and love your theories!
Wow. New headcanon accepted. Amazing work and research.
If you look at the Zonaite armour (except for the helm), it’s the exact same armour that the heroes aspect is wearing.
i interpreted the zonai lights and the lights on the miners outfit as brightbloom seeds !
this actually makes sense, good theory
I always thought that statue looked like a frog 😅
Dogs!? yeah no those statues looks more like frogs
Honestly tho this race theory makes a lot of sense and all I thought it was first time going through was some kinda under ground zora race given the fact it looks like a frog in the statues
Amazing Artwork! You're really able to mimic the TOTK art style! Also, I find it interesting that you believe these to be the mogma! When I first stumbled across these, I thought it a Frog-man! (Even more so now thinking about prevalent frogs/toads are in TOTK like the Bubbulfrogs, normal frogs, and the little and Giant Frox that eat brightbloom seeds.)
BTW, the Winged statute is weird to me. It has pointy featherless wings, and digitigrade legs, two traits the Rito don't have. They instead have wide feathered wings, and walk plantigrade like the other main races.
Great video!
Things I've noticed regarding these statues, Spoilers!
The secret stones transformation depends on the race of the host. The dragons are different than the light dragon, having different snouts and ears.
We also see that the normal dragons depicted in architecture look nothing like the ones in the game, but the head shapes and features do fit the mystery statues having the flat top head and short ears.
We all know how you get dragons, so then consuming secret stones would have been normal for them and depicted in the statue.
I think they were used as a slave race for the zonai, which explain their downfall and why the zonai and their tech is mostly forgotten by Raoru's time.
It also explains why the miners set is full of chains for some reason and why the depths is full of poes and we see in game that poes can be other races aside form hylian.
We also see that architecture dragons were serpentine without all the limbs and we do have the dark skeletons in the depths.
I think there was a war that broke out between zonai overlords that were revered as gods( like stated in the game) and dragons at the time were used as weapons, and there were a lot of victims in the cataclysm explaining the depths, the poes, dead dragon bones everywhere and decline of zonai and zonai technology and why turning into dragons was a "forbidden" ritual.
Which falls in line with zelda having ancient past wars be relevant in their stories.
My joke aside, your work is great and I really enjoyed this video!
It was only while watching this video that i realized the Miner pants have claw/paw shaped boots 👀
Very cool theory. Never even crossed my mind
It actually looked more like a frog to me and totk is big on representation of frogs, specifically along with the introduction of subterranean environments like caves and the depths... the toes definitely look ambphibious and what you perceive to be the ears look more like brow ridges and the dots, which look too small to be eyes would be the nostrils... the bubbul frogs and various froxes are not products of ganondorfs dark magic but are more of a monstrosity created by the obsession of gems and ores... the object in their hand has a swirl on it, which swirls are commonly associated with spirit, or in this case, poes...
While the big zelda theorists are making big sweeping theories, your coming up with plausible answers to the smaller things I've always wondered about! ^-^
maybe a weighted bioluminescent lantern attached to a chain and the other end of that chain is a sharp bladed pick ax
I was thinking that the ancient hero was actually Zelda's ancestor, the offspring of King Raurru and Queen Sonia. Who knows how Zonai and Hylian crossbreeding would have worked out if the gate and The two would have had to of produce an heir for Zelda to exist.
This is a fun type of theory love this
the champion from the calamity is a zonai descendant, he's a half zonai half hylian
Huh, and here I just assumed they were Hylians wearing the Miner’s gear.
The the mogma lived in what is now eldin province and these statues are found under central hurule also their are mole like enemies in minish cap that I think may be related to the mogma because timeline placement and minish cap takes place in an are between eldin and central hyrule
I do like the idea of it possibly being descendants of the Mogma, as I prefer when races don't disappear in future games without an explanation. However, part of this theory relies on the idea that the stuff with Rauru happens at the start of the timeline, after Skyward Sword but before everything else, and such a timeline placement more or less contradicts the rest of the timeline. We don't know how long passed between this Imprisoning War and the First Calamity. While Rauru and Mineru were the last two Zonai, we know Zelda is the direct descendant of Sonia and Rauru, meaning they had to have a half-Zonai child before Sonia was killed, and the Ancient Hero's Aspect shares enough similarities to potentially be a half-Zonai, half-Hylian. We also don't know what happened to the Mogma, it's possible they died out or left and then the Zonai replaced them with the constructs, or even working alongside the constructs on different things.
tbh when looking at ripped files all the statues together with the bargainer statue looks like they have same type of armour on. They do hold secret stone as far as I can tell, or at leat something with a zonai swirl on it X"D
Tho the resemblance to the miner outfit with the face is there...
Fun fact at 7:29 that is the exact outfit I used to beat Gannon
The zonai look like lizards but that artwork is very mouse like but mogma like in the statue itself
Because the Depths are like a dark reflection of Hyrule, I think the being represented by the Hero’s Aspect is of a race that is a Depths’ reflection of Zonai, but they probably weren’t called Zonai initially… maybe adopted into the Zonai as they expanded into the Depths, but were probably called Lomei or Thyphlo before basically becoming part of the Zonai. Some may reject being called such, so the Ancient Hero might not, taxonomically speaking, be a member of the Zonai species, but raised in Zonai culture?
I love your videos so much! The fifth statue type always intrigued me.
Aw thank you!! And they are definitely a odd and standout mystery from the game! Thanks so much for watching!
Your videos are just so cool, and it's a good fan-art also!
Thank you so much!!
Nice… I love the design.
Incredible work
13:25 Text made me a bit sad. It's crazy there is no DLC planed for Totk, there seems to be so much left to cover in lore. Hopefully next game picks up where we left off, even if we go back to the traditional Zelda formula.
Love the artwork though :)
you should make a concept art of the yiga without there jump suit. (they all have black hair)
Amazing artwork
to me the statue kinda looks like a frogman.
The miner armor set is meant to be a bug. Look closely at the helm.
I disagree with the theory, (I don't think the Mogma evolved into the Ancient Hero's race, and I do think the Ancient Hero is a Zonai, since he does somewhat resemble them, and wears the exact same clothes that are the Zonaite armor, sans the headpiece).
But this video is very well made and I love the art!
I mean they could've also evolved into the horriblins at some point too
I love this I remember when I first saw these statues is thought the lookes look mole men and was so excited to see an underground civilisation like a mirror to the zonai coming from the sky islands was so sad they never appeared but them being modern mogmar's make all the sense in the world
The only problem I see with this theory is that it's too good, and Nintendo apparently hates good and interesting lore.
haha please let my channel serve as he dlc we never got 😪
I believe the hero 10,000 years ago may actually be a hybrid between a hylian[or gerudo?] and a zonai but whos the zonai parent? Probably we will never know what this abomination of a hero once was
The ears look hylian or gerudo,both races have similar ears
The skin is definitely, zonai green
The hair,we only know two zonai individuals that are siblings we could asume each individual could have different hair colors? Or the ancient hero is half gerudo
In the end its simply a theory based on the observations and my knowledge of hybrid species both in fantasy and in real life
Always thought they were big frog/lizard people
My kinda dark theory is that the Mogma delved too deeply and too greedily (bonus points if you get that reference) and were corrupted by someone or something, that subsequently turned them into horrorblins because of their striking similarities and the sometimes rather questionable character of the Mogma lol
That’s pretty sick! Makes me sad though, I love the mogma 😭(and I love greedy dwarves too 😉)
I love watching your videos! You remind me a lot of Jess Jackdaw, who does art and lore usually based in DnD! Keep up the great videos!
Ohhhh i love learning of other art channels, i'll have to check them out! thanks so much for watching!!
Amazing video! I'm kind of concerned with the timeline, altho that's Nintendo's doing. I would guess the Shiekah and their tech would be a result of Zelda and her sacrifice, due to their symbol. I would think we'd see evidence of these people theorized of in this video in TotK, altho they aren't super critical to the plot, and Ninty may have future plans. Also, the Hero's Aspect follows their philosophy of gameplay loops/rewards and storytelling, and necessity of development plus future surprises leaves cards to play in their hand for future titles.
King Krool lookin statue
Hon you totally missed the obvious. It's the frogs from Ocarina of Time. Obviously a frog face. They just got super tall n jacked n buff over the thousands of years. :P
I haven't beaten TotK yet(playing it now) but couldn't Ganon be of a different race entirely? Making it his people. Could be that when he rose to power, he killed off all the others so none among his own could stand up to him. Just my late night thoughts as I'm trying to go to sleep. To me, the hero aspect armor looks a bit like him. If it gets explained later on in the game and I'm wrong, someone can tell me. I don't mind spoilers.
Works for me.
great theory
It’s the mole people from skyward sword done!
0:38 where did they come from.... where did they go. Did they come from... Cotton eye joe :D