The Twili and the Sheikah?

[Shotaku]

The main reason I'm thinking the Twili aren't the Shiekah is this: http://www.zeldawiki.org/Impaz

She said she was the last descendant of that village that looks and is very much placed like Kakiriko. We all know that Kakiriko at one point in time was a village only for the Shiekah until Impaz opened it up.

[WhyYouNoReal]

Give this a read.

^ That. Is one of the most brain-frying, head-scratching Zelda lore article I've ever read. He virtually just took everything from every game and roped them together in a way that appears random but is actually really, really, deep.

[Nevermore]

One of the problems that I find with the 'Twili = Sheikah' position is mostly the word we're given that describes the Twili's ancestors: interloper. Perhaps the Japanese dialog uses a different word, not to mention if it does perhaps the connotation isn't similar to the English game's, but this strongly implies to me that the Twili's ancestors were not from the fledgling Hyrule kingdom. An interloper, to me, implies a trespasser or coming from somewhere else, rather than someone going to a place they're not wanted. Granted, that's personal interpretation, but I think it's a valid concern with that theory.

Of course, you could certainly just fire back that the timeline confirms that before Ocarina of Time, what we think of Hyrule 'at present' (in regards to TP's geography) wasn't in existence yet. 'Interloper' could very well mean someone from outside of the then borders of the kingdom. Skyward Sword informs us that the Sheikah have been serving the goddess Hylia for a very, very long time. That doesn't sound like they invaded from somewhere else. Unless there's a chapter of Hyrule's history we haven't seen yet (always possible), it seems to me they're not really the Sheikah, necessarily. Indeed, in Ocarina of Time, the Shadow Temple seems to horrifically imply some kind of Inquisition-like function (as they were the caretakers of the place) with this mausoleum description:

"Here lies Hyrule's bloody history of greed and hatred."

Indeed, the whole area very much looks like a giant execution ground, like the article points out. Not the sort of duty you'd probably give to rebels. If the Sheikah are indeed connected in some way, and the Japanese text is different, I think it's very possible that our 'interlopers' are instead some sort of band or society of dark sorcerers. The word tribe or race is never specifically used for them in game, which could imply membership from many different peoples (indeed, Lanayru's telling of the interlopers' fall seems to suggest anyone could become enticed by the Triforce to fight with them).

Actually, people have translated it before. It is a direct copy of something they would shout out in their Mosque Towers.

Not to derail this again but the words you're looking for are minaret (the tower that adorns each mosque) and the adhan (call to prayer). As far as I know, the song was changed in post-N64 versions of Ocarina of Time because Muslims felt that it implied the muezzin (an individual who calls the faithful to worship) was in Hell. Nintendo has a history of being pretty sensitive to religious complaints; Devil World on the NES/Famicom was never even released over here in the States simply because it featured a demon in it, for example.

[WhyYouNoReal]

Just for your guys' sake, I'll whip out my japanese TP and see what it says at that cutscene. I might need a couple days to get to that point though, so patience please!

[Xytox]

Actually, I'm pretty sure that Nintendo did not receive any complaints in any shape or form before they released a new version of Ocarina of Time. I think they got more "advised" to take out all the religion related things in the game by what you would call "Nintendo of America" at that time.

The song was also not the only thing that got changed in the game. In 1.1, they basically swapped out all Islam related things in the entire game, which would be the Mirror Shield, the Gerudo's tribe symbol and the blocks that you move in the game. They had an exact copy of Turkey's flag/Islam's symbol on them.

It obviously didn't matter to Nintendo one bit as the changes were implemented without question and they were so small and non-existent that a casual player would never notice them even if he would've played through both games once.

Also, yeah. I realized my mistakes when I read that, Nevermore. I used to know that, but my lack of interest in religion has lead me to forget a bunch of things that I forced myself to learn to get a good grade two or three years ago. Horrible subject.

[Rare Addict]

One thing that's interesting is that the Sealing Spike from Skyward Sword bears similarities to the Fused Shadow. Both are dark relics that transform whoever touches them into more monstrous versions of themselves. Also, remember that animation of the Sealing Spike "reforming" itself?


(Skip to 7:30)

That looks almost identical to this animation:


(Skip to 5:30)

This may or may not be concrete evidence to suggest that there's a connection between the Twili and the Sheikah, however, as it's unclear as to whether the Sealing Spike was created by either Impa or by the Goddess Hylia herself. Just thought that it was worth noting.

[camarosquid]

They both have red eyes, and some of them even wear cloaks, and as for the video you posted Rare id like to mention that this is probably mere coincidence, but who knows there actually could be a connection. Here is a picture of the Sealing Spike that is different from the final games one, I found this picture from zeldawiki.org and I think that this was taken from the games files. Notice how unlike the sealing spike in the game, this one is black instead of white and the symbol under the Triforce on the sealing spike looks like an upside down shadow medallion. Midna's Fused Shadow interestingly has the eye of the Sheikah/Sheikah symboy on the back of it and is very hard to see due to her hair being in the way, you all probably know about this already though but heres the picture of it anyways. Another interesting thing is in A Link to the Past there is a symbol surrounding the portal to the dark world that looks just like the shadow medallion, maybe the broken mirror in the game is like a mini Mirror of Twilight once again here is a picture.

[Xytox]

Have they ever said in any Zelda game that the eye represents the Shiekah? If not, could the symbol be a requirement to use dark magic without the aid of the Triforce pieces? I don't know if anyone has really thought about it, but it seems like every time that the eye is involved in something, it's dark magic. The same goes for the symbol on the Shadow Medallion. They all represent darkness.

[camarosquid]

Have they ever said in any Zelda game that the eye represents the Shiekah? If not, could the symbol be a requirement to use dark magic without the aid of the Triforce pieces? I don't know if anyone has really thought about it, but it seems like every time that the eye is involved in something, it's dark magic. The same goes for the symbol on the Shadow Medallion. They all represent darkness.

No I dont think it has been said that the eye symbol is the symbol of the sheikah, but its on pretty much all the sheikah characters such as Sheik and Impa. As for it being directly related to using dark magic I disagree with you on that, I see it more as a symbol of the Sheikah. Iv'e heard a theory or someone say something like this before, they said that the eye symbol has a tear drop because the sheikah betrayed the royal family, if we look at Midna's fused shadow, we see that the eye on the back of it does not have that teardrop, this could be because they haven't yet attempted to invade the sacred realm yet to get the triforce. This is why the tear drop might be there.

[Xytox]

Was just some theorycrafting.

I have absolutely no strong argument against what you just said, because they're quite frankly very valid reasons. Though, I still find it unlikely that the Shiekah actually betrayed the Royal Family and the Goddesses. I don't see the reason why they would, but I guess that's just me. The Twili were, without a doubt, human before they adapted to the world that lacks all the aspects that Hyrule has, but I don't think they were the Shiekah.

Hmm? I may just look into it a bit more as it made me somewhat doubtful about the way I've seen the Shiekah and the Dark Interlopers now.