Were the Zonai Evil? Breath of the Wild (+ Tears of the Kingdom) Theory 

Check out Monster Maze's counterpart theory! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-0mDeVIslGfE.html

I'm calling it: the Zonai were a tri-force-worshipping civilisation, composed of three sects, each focusing on a single one of the three virtues. Ganondorf posed as a god of power, leading to a schism when he took control of the barbarian power-worshippers. This ultimately led the other two sect to part also, with the courage-worshippers ascending above the cloud-barrier with the dragons they worshipped; and the wisdom-worshippers eventually becoming the Sheikah.

Just a theory, but due to the Zonai ruins meant to represent Courage, Wisdom and Power, what if the Zonai are a true neutral? Like, they worship Ganon yes, but the Worship the heroes of Courage and Wisdom to the same extent.

With me binging Zelda videos after Tears of the Kingdom it’s funny to see how this aged and how much more we know about the Zonai. I love seeing how accurate or funnily inaccurate old theories are

The barbarian armor really threw off all these theories. As well as the fact that the Zonai came from the sky.

I already know that these theories are going to be amazing. Can't wait to watch them later tonight!

My addition to this theory: Im thinking that the zonai had two factions. One side supported ganon, the other didnt and instead chose to leave to the skies and i think the ancient hero was from the side which didnt support ganon. At least i like to think that the estranged part of the zonai went underground and the other side became enlightened and went to the skies.

I really love the little barbarian helm design on the thumbnail! 😍

This is so interesting to watch after TOTK has dropped

Just a thought, if Ganon was a “prisoner” they would most likely remove any jewelry. Especially in a world where jewelry can enhance or give special abilities.

one thing I love about this community is how we're able to make some of the most amazing theories with *so little* to go on, yet we find absolutely *everything* possible. even if we're dead wrong, it's still my favorite part of gaming. the theories. the hype. it's almost better than the games themselves.

You ever thought that maybe Gannondorf wanted to find a way to rid the evil incarnation? Maybe the Zonni wanted to help him but the malice was too strong to seal away? i want to believe that is the case. Since Gannondorf in the windwaker looked like he wanted peace for his clan but I could be overlooking it. This was still an interresting theory.

The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom: I’m about to end this man’s whole career

you have to admit, the weird hand thing isnt serving ganondorf. idk if its a zonai thing or something, but it is most definitely not *with* ganondorf, as it catches link before he falls in the first trailer, giving up on sealing ganondorf to save link, and merging with him for some reason in the second trailer. personally i think it merges with him to stop the spread of malice, but it could be any reason. but no matter what, the hand does not help ganondorf, and is definitely sealing him in some way. doesnt exactly mean the zonai didnt follow him, but the hand definitely doesnt

You know what'd be funny? Imagine if the sequel just didn't expand on the Zonai at all. I doubt it, but you never know with Nintendo and Zelda.

I can’t say who the Zonai were, or their origins, but I love how the game developers and designers took inspiration from real ancient societies and their architecture. I also love how much research this channel has done into every detail behind a character, village, and all the other lore that goes into the LOZ series.

I still don’t understand the barbarian armor, like the style of it doesn’t resemble the zonai at all.

Continuing this theory: The Zonai were betrayed and trapped in the tomb they’d built for their god. In hatred, they turned on him, sealing him in the tomb. Although Ganondorf’s plan was to be in the tomb, the zonai spirits manifested as a hand, and tied to stop the malice’s from spreading. If it weren’t for the Zonai, Ganondorf’s malice would be stronger, causing a constant endless Calamity, as opposed to every thousand or so years.

There is somewhat of an discrepancy here, depicting the Zonai as a savage tribe of barbarians serving Ganondorf for the promise of strength, and seeing the actual ingame ruins, honoring animals depicting all three aspects of the Triforce, Wisdom, Courage and Power: Owls, Dragons and Boars, and calling them adept magic users who can build flamethrowers. My theory is, that the Zonai fought against Ganons forces, bested them and built a tomb to imprison him after learning, that he can not be killed permanently. They still honored him, he became the very image of power to the zonai: the boar. They designed their warriors armor in the image of him or his forces in an effort to emulate his strength, and they depicted him in murals, not weak and beaten and dishonored, but proud and strong, just to show: "Yes, this man was like a god of war and in glorious battle, we bested him." Maybe they build the others structures in hyrule afterwards, to contain something else. Skeleton Horses are pretty common around the North Lomei Labyrinth, could be the influence of the remains of Ganondorfs Horse.

The beast face above the door to the Zonai “dungeon” looks like it has 3 eyes. I think it could be a mahakala. If it is a mahakala, it’s purpose at the entrance would be to keep evil spirits and forces out of the “temple”/“dungeon”. This would suggest this structure was of religious or spiritual importance to the Zonai.

I've been playing around with the idea that Ganondorf was a willing participant in whatever ritual put him in that cave, due to how ritualistic his clothing/etc looks. Some interesting theories here that could back that up.

The Zonai being evil is actually quite possible. Just like the Yiga they reverted their symbol, possibly trying to distance themselves from the rest of the Ganondorf loyalist Zonai. These good Zonai later aided the Sheikah when constructing the labyrinths, maintaining their old culture but adopting the more blocky design we see in the labyrinths and shrines. They also seemingly copied the Japanese building style of the Sheikah, constructing gates and shrines on the sky islands similar to Japanese culture. Even their magic resembles Sheikah tech, the green strains of magic being similar to the teleportation animation of the Sheikah tech. When the Sheikah gave up their lives as researchers the Zonai did so too. However, their history was lost or erased due to their connections to Ganondorf and people forgot about them.

I don’t know man, to me it seems like the flashback with ganondorf and the hand’s silhouette shows that ganon was sealed against his will. Just look at his body language, he’s got clutched arms and hands, his mouth is wide open as though he’s screaming, he’s recoiling away from the hand, which is also seemingly grabbing at him as if he’s struggling to get away. If he willingly submitted himself to the seal, wouldn’t he just stand there and take it? Why put on the dramatic pose? EDIT: also, the boar statues in Zonai Ruins aren’t nearly as well-maintained as the owl and dragon statues. I bet if they worshipped ganon like they worshipped Farosh, his statues would stand just as high and mighty as the dragons and owls. Instead of standing tall and proud, they’re all neglected, uncommon, and half-submerged in the dirt. You’d think if they worshipped him like they worshipped farosh, they would have treated his depictions with much greater respect than, say, the owl, which doesn’t represent the zonai in the slightest but is still treated with respect roughly equivalent to farosh. Yet the boar is still treated poorly compared to the owl.

Imagine being so wrong that you were wrong about being wrong

While every part of the temple leading down to Ganondorf's chamber definitely gives the impression that the Zonai were loyal to Ganondorf, something about the scene in the ritual chamber doesn't quite mesh with that -- the dark King's pose in the chamber, and in the moment frozen in time in the shadows on the wall, seems more consistent with a man whose final living moments were spent in combat against a warrior. I think you've got the right idea overall: the Zonai, a tribe that worshipped powerful beings, recognized the Gerudo King's supernatural might and forged a worshipful alliance -- from the cave paintings, it's safe to assume that Ganondorf fought alongside the Zonai in some capacity, and that his presence in their ranks would've greatly increased their fighting strength, letting them rise to prominence as a conquering force in the region, an outcome that would've justified their worship of him and further endeared the Zonai to Ganondorf... a fact he would exploit when he set his plan into motion. Everything about that plan -- the isolated temple, the ritual setup, the ceremonial procession and attire -- all went as Ganondorf foresaw, right up until he got to the 'slaughter them all, devour their spirit energy' phase. It certainly looks as though someone vehemently disagreed with genocide, and fought back against the mad Gerudo: even setting aside the hand clutching Ganondorf's chest, those circular holes in his hand and sternum might be _arrow wounds,_ frozen in that state of injury by Ganondorf's near-death sealing -- two shots to the left hand, which I believe has historically been Ganondorf's dominant hand, and then one more through the chest just _slightly_ too low to pierce the heart. If my hunch is correct, the last person to see Ganondorf alive was a warrior whose skill may well have rivalled Link's own. _Someone_ fought back, and I think it's a fair bet that we're going to find out who that someone _was._

I've been saying this since the first trailer dropped, but Ganondorf being sealed and undead like he is could be the reason that there hasn't been another male Gerudo born since him- because he never truly died.

I think the Zonai built the labyrints as a sort of trial for their own people to prove they were strong, and then the Sheika came along and took their armour and labyrints to use for the hero

Who else is here waiting for the new zonai lore video

I think originally, the temple where Ganondorf was sealed (which never made it into the final game) had those designs to warn people that he was there and that he was dangerous.

I hope we get some sort of huge cinematic cutscene seeing how Ganon became the calamity seeing a warrior king throw it all away to embody malice.

“The armor looks more like something a Bokoblin would wear than a Hylian” What if Bokoblins are Zonai mutated by the corruptive influence of Ganon? That would be wild

It’s nice looking back on this video now TOTK is out

Watching this after totk has released is interesting

unreal production value zeltik, showing us why you’re the best in the game. great job on the video

The Zonai have always got me curious. When I first saw the Zonai ruins I was like “wHo DiS tRiBe?”

It would be cool to see you go over these theories that were wrong (or at least, at the current time of writing this, very likely to be wrong) after we get confirmation on true/false for some of these old theories. It would be cool to hear some behind the scenes of how you first thought of this idea, if someone else presented it to you, what you thought as time went on, etc. you could call it “Reacting to My Old TotK Theories” or something!

Love how all the new comments are just parroting "Wrong," as if Zeltik had presented this as a fact video and not a theory, lol. But I will admit, it is really interesting to see how far off or close to the truth the fanbase were to what the Zonai really were like.

I honestly prefer the theory of the Zonai and the Sheika imprisoning Ganondorf and using him and his fragment of the Tri force as a very literal power source, it adds such a nice shade of grey to the universe that smears the black and white, I'm not saying it's a more viable theory, I just think it's a more interesting story beat

Man, this was a well crafted theory and all, but I just can’t get on board with it. The Yiga are the followers of power/Ganon/Ganondorf, the Sheikah are the followers of wisdom/Hylia/the royal family, so it only makes thematic sense that the Zonai would be followers of courage/Link/the Hero! Now Nintendo doesn’t always follow themes that they start, so Zeltic’s theory could end up being true, but with the colors of the different triforce energies, and all the evidence pointing toward their devotion to the hero, I just don’t buy that they’d be yet ANOTHER tribe devoted to power! Again, great theory, but I guess we’ll have to wait and see what happens with the Zonai!

Aaaah, it is nice to look back at the days of before TotK came out and it is kinda suprising to see how much of the things we assumed were wrong, for example in the end the Zonai were no Barbarians and more like a Mix of Anchient Greeks and Native South Americans, and they were not even humans, instead they were Demi-Gods comming directly from the Heavens to (re)found Hyrule

The LoZ lore has always been about repeating patterns. One of them is Ganondorf's use of charm to win over followers of a tribe, then double-cross them later. He did it with the Gerudo, the Hylians, and the Twili. I love this theory because it would actually be a really good way to repeat the pattern again, betrayal followed by retribution on the part of the betrayed. It also shows a disturbing inability to learn on Ganondorf's part. Just treat people right yo.

Actually, the reversed audio makes a LOT of sense with BotW 2’s trailer with stuff going back in time. The metal ball going back up the mountain, the raindrop going back into the sky, the power link has can control time to make it move in reverse. So having reversed audio contain hints is a pretty clever idea

This is an interesting perspective. I disagree though. I think the Zonai were "good". I think the cave paintings are telling the history of Ganondorf not necessarily glorifying him. And the boar similarities just being a sign of who is being housed here. I think the sealing ritual does need souls to keep it in place (luminous stones) that eventually ran out.

I’ve been thinking back on this video since totk came out. Goes to show how big our theories went with what little info we had.

Man, this did not age well, but I still love zeltic's channel, keepngoing mate.

Imagine all the amazing theories that will come out of Botw2, so many amazing things could happen, man just thinking about it is making me even more hyped!

A notable detail about the mural in the first BotW2 trailer depicting Ganondorf; We see him riding a horse charging towards the left. In old european paintings, engraving and tapestries, this usually refers to enemy forces, while friendly forces usually charge towards the right. As Nintendo is based in Japan where they read right to left this could mean th opposite, but if it follows medieval tradition it could explain why the Zonai depicted him that way, without having to necessarily be on his side.

This is fun coming back after the game has come out.

Very interesting to come back to this one now to see where we were before TOTK.

This theory kind of implies that the sealing hand is evil as well, which I think we can be 99% sure it isn't. Kind of pokes a big hole in this.

I ADORE theories like this. Taking something we've assumed all this time, and COMPLETELY twisting it on it's head.

I have a… somewhat dark theory on the how the Zonai vanished. Astor, a follower of Ganon, didn’t even flinch when he took the souls of the Yiga. So what if the Zonai took it a step further? Instead of killing others, they all took their own lives to keep Ganondorf in the cycle forever? I'm a bit creeped put by this myself...

Seeing this makes me think of what I think happened. I think they might have worshipped him once upon a time, but where betrayed by Ganon, causing them to abandon their boar statues, and the stragglers helped create the Labyrinths and thundra plateau, the Zonai's final act, I think that they're still around though, because the barbarian armor looks a lot more like a Lynel than it does Ganon, I think that those who stuck with Ganon were corrupted into that form, or the majority of them being turned into Lynels might have been the betrayal itself.

I've got two theories, though they aren't exclusive and could both be true. First, I think the Zonai could have descended from the Knights of Hyrule, which is to say they're part of the hero's bloodline. Each generation, one hero rises to defend Hyrule from evil. By the nature of family trees, that means there must be several members of the bloodline that *don't* become the hero. As the generations move on, it's likely a significant portion of the population of Hyrule are part of the hero's bloodline. Over the centuries, a portion of this bloodline became their own tribe, the Zonai. This is why the heart of their civilization was in the Faron region, as it is the region most associated with Farore, the golden goddess of courage. They are described as "savage" and "warlike", which could be explained by a cultural focus on courage. They would have had a social drive to prove their courage. It also fits in with the factional pattern of Breath of the Wild: The Triforce of Power's influence can be seen in the monsters with their association with Ganon and the color red. The Triforce of Wisdom's influence can be seen in the Sheikah with their relationship with the Royal Family of Hyrule, Zelda's affinity for their technology, and their association with the color blue. If these associations were intentional, then it would follow that the Triforce of Courage would have a strong influence over a particular faction. As the Zonai are associated with the color green and their ruins being so prevalent around the Spring of Courage, the Zonai make a compelling candidate as representative of the Triforce of Courage. Second, and perhaps more related to the video's theory, I think the Zonai may have been a cult that revered the cycle of war between Ganon, Zelda, and the hero. Their ruins are littered with statues representing not just aspects of power, but of wisdom and courage as well. As a "warlike" group, they may have idolized not just the waxing of Ganon's power, but the very struggle that played out between good and evil again and again. This could explain why seemed to help the Sheikah with their shrines, but also why have a sort of reverence for Ganon as well. It could even be that they were playing both sides, helping the Sheikah with their preparations for Calamity Ganon while also putting Ganondorf in a stasis between life and death to ensure he would never truly die. Heck, it could even be that they didn't want the cycle to continue, but for the war between Hyrule and the forces of evil to persist indefinitely, without ever waning.

I've got another theory that I haven't really seen explored The preserved Ganon looks to be in a similar state to a mummy so it'd be reasonable that this incarnation's body is thousands of years old and it's said the Zonai disappeared thousands of years ago Given the supposed power of the Zonai, could they have either sacrificed themselves or have been sacrificed by some other higher power within the Zelda series in order to seal away Ganon? Edit: Nevermind they mentioned something similar

In the end they were a bunch of furries which one touched Ganon nipple and lost his arm

4:38 This is a little far-fetched, but based off of the fact that the Zonai are described as a "strong magical tribe that vanished thousands of years ago), and the war paint on the Barbarian Armor, could it be possible that the Zonai have something to do with either Majora or the Fierce Deity? Granted, it's unlikely, given that the Zonai were most likely Hyrulian, and Majora and the Fierce Deity are most likely Termanian, but I just wanted to get this comment there, and see what people said.

Just had this thought near the start of the video. In star wars lore, the Jedi temple was built on an old sith shrine to contain it. Maybe the Shieka were doing something similar.

The way that they are leaning into the Zonai reminds me of deltarune being an expansion on these fringe parts of the game that were delightful theory fodder but felt not like more than that. Makes me absolutely thrilled for both games

The part where you mentioned the Help us whispers reminded me of the Book in Moria at Balin's tomb where the dwarves wrote that they were trapped and couldn't get out. I like the idea of the same thing happening to the Zonai. Being trapped with no way to escape your death just seems so dark to me. If this happens in Botw 2, in my opinion it will be the darkest thing ever in the Zelda Series. Another thing to give you nightmares is that if we hear whispers of help us, that means not even the Zonai's spirits could escape. That just makes it darker.

The idea that this place was built at ganondorf's request was right but not by the zonai. It was his lair which he was sealed in. Incredible how some of this was correct

Interesting theory, it also might have been that the zonai DID seal Ganon, destroying themselves in the process, what if they used the soul power from their people to seal away ganon, using the same kind of magic that Astor used in age of calamity

You ever think about how Breath of the Wild is essentially the entire world versus the physical form of an extremely pissed off guy’s hatred for two people that he knew millennia ago Crazy

The Oocca and Zonai makes me wonder what the hell is causing these advance sky civilizations to die out?

Because of that theory I spent like the whole game expecting to see that the last ancient drawings hidden by rubble under Hyrule castle would reveal that the Zonai were actually traitors lol

It was a pleasure to be part of this as always my friend! Great video!

I'd laugh if the Zonai we literally a monster race.

These videos so funny after playing totk

sooooo close , god i love these zelda theories

I'm bothered by the assumption that "the zonai" are a single people/tribe united under the same deity. If they were a single tribe all worshipping the same deity why are there different temples with clearly different idols.

FYI: Being a Japanese game and all you might want to look in possible Japanese meanings (in the context of what is shown in the game). You could easily make an argument that ZO means "Statue" or "Figure" (= 像). As for the NAI part, there are multiple possibilities. 1) Not existing, not being there, not owned (= 無い) or 2) to twist or to twirl (there's a lot of twirls in the Zonai Artwork) (= 綯い) or 3) dead or deceased (= 亡い). And Gerudo is very likely derived from the Japanese transliteration of the German word fir money: "Geld" (they love to steal it). Or if you want to be creative you could dig up the following Kanji 気, 流 and 道, which could be read as Ge, Ru and Do. With 気 meaning "to have the appearance of" or "to seem", 流 meaning "banishment (as criminal punishment)" and 道 meaning road, path, way or a set of practices or way of life. They are afterall a people that keeps up the appearance of being outlaws, even paraiahs in a way. Of course if you use a different reading, even join the kanjis, then 気流 means air current or airflow. Which could reflect on the ever present winds along the path.

it's funny to see how wrong we were about the Zonai appearance, Technological prowess, weather they were good or evil and how far back in the past they were. As we see the Zonai descended then ascended to the heavens after building a very advanced civlization

I love how he changed the title by adding "tears of the kingdom" in it

I do really enjoy how Nintendo took one of BOTW’s most mysterious, rad, and kinda unknown parts and made it almost a huge section of the sequel. I myself do theories in my head, and BOTW 2 certainly has my gears going wild!

Nintendo: “Oooh, good stuff. Write that down.”

I like going back and watching these after release lol

That moment when this fan-made story is 10 times better than the story we got in the original game...

One thing I’ve thought about the zonai is that as far as I know their name has never officially been stated as being zonai. People just sort of assumed that’s their name because of the location called zonai ruins. However it is very much possible that zonai simply was the name of that location and not the people living there.

I'm still surprised on how the similarities between the Zonai and the Mayans are just been pointed out now. Both were ancient civilizations that disappeared mysteriously and that were highly advanced for their time. Architecture-wise, the Zonai take a lot of inspiration from Mayans primarily and then from the Aztecs. I also find it interesting how the BTW 2 reveal trailer shows a mummified Ganondorf, which was also a common practice on the Mayan culture. Furthermore, the malice that appears to come out of Ganondorf's chest could be a reference to the human sacrifices both Mayans and Aztecs use to make which involved ripping the hearts out of their victims/sacrifices. I would suggest learning more about this parallel culture in the real world to hypothesize about the Zonai.

Now I just realize that there is probably another unknown tribe cuz of the Barbarian set

This is amazing. Y’all are so dedicated and saw so much from the trailer that I didn’t even comprehend. Truly amazing.

I'm not the most knowledgeable about the lore but something bothers me about this theory. If it was Ganondorf's plan to seal himself away in secret, why would he order or even let his followers decorate the place in his image. And in your logique, they could not have done it while Ganon was dormant because they would be dead by then. I think the zonai helped seal Ganon. I interpret the decorations as warnings and ways they would pass on the information about what was sealed here and why. I think there were no shackles because the sealing was sudden, an attack almost. Maybe Ganon was lured down there or if he was brought there once sealed. I think the zonai died in the first ever calamity. Ganon avenging himself for being trapped. Raging against the world through malice.

I have an idea that's a bit out there but it does make a bit of sense: The Zonai were followers of Ganon at the beginning they built a shrine for Ganondorf so he could conjure Mass amounts of malice, when Gannon no longer needed them he slaughtered every single one of them their Spirits rebelled trapping him in place for who-knows-how-long, but eventually part of it broke out releasing so much malice he could create the first calamity so while he was being trapped there against his will he still able to create Calamity after Calamity in an attempt to finally rule all of Hyrule and when Link and Zelda travel down to where Ganon is trapped he has regained enough power to escape from his prison

We'll be getting our answers in May via Tears of the Kingdom. One of the new enemies in the game is called a Zonai Construct, found on the Floating Islands.

My husband always asks to put on your videos when he's stressed out. It has even replaced movie night for us. Thanks for the awesome videos! Only wish you could put them out more often.

The Zonai are the dark interlopers from Twilight Princess.

I read this as “FLOWERS of Ganon” and was excited for a flowerblight Ganon take.

By disappearing, they've might've just found a way to send them to the sky based on what we saw in the trailer. And maybe it might connect with the Sky Islands from Skyward Sword as well.

Truly appreciate the well-done captions included here, because when learning about Zelda theories in the dead PNW heat with a loud A/C going, I won't miss a thing while reading. :3

If he’s a lich, Ganondorf could be **every boss** in the new game, simply regenerating between fights.

I always found that the Zonai helmet resembled Stallord from Twilight Princess

I really love the editing (and narration) on your theory videos. Gives me huge documentary vibes!

saying they were inspired by aztec/mayan art and immediately calling them "primitive, impressionable" "no evidence to suggest they were an ADVANCED society" literally the only evidence we have is their architecture which is giant and impressive by any standards holy shit dude

I've watched both of the BotW 2 trailers who knows how many times, and I still missed so many small details. This is an amazingly crafted theory!

This is a really interesting take. I wonder what other theories will come up before we get more concrete info, but it's fun to hear a perspective that flips the main narrative of the fanbase at this point, going on 2 years

This aged well. j/k it was great content. Who knew what would happen?!

Love the new Zonai series! Can’t wait to see what this theory brings to light

Or the use of the word “calamity” is used to also describe the conflicts Hyrule has had with Ganon in general since its so long ago. So the conflict in Twilight Princess would be called a “calamity” for example. Calamity not necessarily meaning The Calamity. This means the first calamity would have been the true first Calamity (where Ganon uses Malice to strike at Hyrule). I don’t think Ganondorf would keep using this strategy more that 2 times. He would have just striked at Hyrule the first time and then learned from his mistakes and attacks a second time almost eliminating Hyrule

_This theory seems a lot stronger after the title reveal trailer. Like perhaps the Zonai had their own deity they worshipped & Ganondorf usurped that position in order to gain the Zonai's ancient magic powers - becoming a lich or gaining the power of malice, killing them all in the process. Now the usurped deity teams up with Zelda & Link to defeat Ganondorf once & for all. So the "tears" in Tears of the Kingdom are of the Zonai crying to their usurped deity for help or of the mysterious deity who cries for their lost people._

We need an updated video soon.