Legend of Zelda: How The Zoras Became The Ritos, Explained

Within the vast worlds and lore in The Legend of Zelda series exist two unique species: the Zora and the Rito. These humanoid-looking creatures are rarely seen together and upon first glance, seem to share little resemblance. With the Zora living out their days in the oceans and lakes of Hyrule while the Rito prefer higher elevations, the two races couldn’t be more different. However, a cataclysmic event led the Zora to evolve into the Rito, making the Rito a direct descendant of the Zora race.

[Warning: Wind Waker spoilers ahead]

The Zora, or more specifically the Sea Zora, are an aquatic race characterized by their blue skin and humanoid appearance. Many of these Zora are themed after different types of salt-water dwelling fish, often featuring shark-like fins on their elbows, waist, and head. While they’re adapted for swimming, the sky fairing Rito resemble birds. While primarily humanoid in appearance, the Rito are characterized by their beaks and wings. In fact, their wings protrude from their elbows, similarly to how the Zora have fins in the same area.

The Rito were first introduced in Wind Waker. There, the race resided on a large volcanic island known as Dragon Roost Island. Their island, alongside countless others, are actually the tops of the Hyrule mountains. In Wind Waker, Hyrule was completely submerged under a massive ocean during an event called the Great Flood. The gods, in order to stop Ganondorf and his armies from reaching Hyrule Castle, opted to drown the entire kingdom and imprison Ganon under the ocean. The Zora were wiped out and those few who survived evolved into the Rito. Evidence of this can be seen across Wind Waker, from the placement of the Zora’s Sapphire (royal family symbol) throughout Dragon Roost Island to even the clothes worn by certain Rito. One of the titular characters, Medli, is revealed to share a bloodline with the Zora Earth Sage, confirming the Zora’s evolution into the Rito.

The Rito Are Descendants Of The Zora In The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker

It’s curious how a race that lives in the ocean needed to evolve to live on land during a flood. In Oracle of Ages, the Zora are seen living off the coast of the great island Labrynna. Unlike the open ocean, this area is a controlled environment, allowing the Zora to live without disturbance from other sea dwelling creatures. Majora’s Mask further notes how the Zora struggle to survive in murky water and require their residential waters to be at an optimal temperature. Given the chaos the Great Flood brought upon the oceans, the conditions were likely no longer optimal for the Zora to survive. The Great Sea is devoid of fish and many dangerous monsters now fill its water. In order to stay safe and have a plentiful food source, the Zora would have needed to evolve to survive on land and in turn became the Rito.

In Breath of the Wild, the Zora and Rito are seen coexisting together. Given that Wind Waker establishes that the Rito only came about because of the Zoras’ extinction, this seems to be an improbable event. However, Breath of the Wild has seen a complete overhaul and redesign of the Rito. Rather than staying humanoid, the Rito are now anthropomorphic birds. Depending on the timeline, it’s possible that the Rito have continued to evolve to a point where there is distant commonality between themselves and the Zora. Alternatively, the Rito and Zora may be entirely distinct from each other, sharing no connection between the races.

The lore and history in The Legend of Zeldahas always been very rich and interconnected. While this can cause confusion regarding timeline placement, it does lead to lots of interesting speculation about different characters and races. While the Zora and the Rito are interconnected in one game doesn’t mean that is the case in another title. Until Breath of the Wild provides a bit more information, the Rito will continue to be seen as the descendants of the Zora race.

Source: Zelda Wiki

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