Hylians are human; Midna even calls Link a human in TP.
No they're not. Weren't you paying any attention to what I've just said? Hylians are humanoid. Ordonians are human. Did the pointy ears and ability to cast magic not tip you off or something?
It is also blatantly obvious that Gerudo are human as well.
A race composed entirely of red haired women, with the ability to cast dark magic, who rely on Hylians to reproduce as only once in a hundred years is a male Gerudo ever born is blatantly obvious to me they're humanoid.
Zora, however, are clearly fish people who lay eggs. The only thing they have in common with humans is being bipedal. Zora don't even have a mammalian reproductive system.
I'm arguing that both races, like with the Ritos, have the potential to have offspring together. I'm speculating on the basis that the races can easily fall in love with each other, but you're arguing for a fact they're reproductive systems prevent this altogether. I would be most interested to learn where you acquired this information from.
Calm down. Just take a look at Jabu-Jabu; he's clearly meant to be some sort of fish even if there are minor physical differences, especially if you consider King Zora's "green under the gills" comment to be more than a Zora expression.
Like their constant overuse of the word "Respect!", I don't consider it to be anything more than a Zoran expression.
The Zora apparently put some sort of ceremonial crown on his head, so he may have dorsal fins that are being obscured.
FYI. A dorsal fin is a fin located on the
backs of some big fish, not their
heads.
If he has gills then you could potentially hear the same noise considering his size.
No listen to the sound being made. He's clearly inhaling and exhaling air. Gills are respiration organs that function with the extraction of oxygen from water, you wouldn't hear him breathing air in the same manner if he relied on gills.
Alright, that's one thing.
Why don't the others count?
Are you referring to his head in general or just how it opens?
The appearance of his head, though how it opens is similar to a hippopotamus' jaw as well. Thanks for pointing that out.
And I'm trying to point out that the two have clear physiological differences and don't even reproduce in the same manner. Until we see any real sign that hybrids between species can truly exist in the Zelda series (or at least exist and not be sterile) I find it rather foolish to argue that humans and Zora can reproduce.
The *potential* to have offspring isn't quite the same thing as the two races actually having children. Physiological differences are present, check. Both races are humanoid, check. Both races don't reproduce in exactly the same manner, check. Both races can't reproduce together, err, no. We don't know if either race can accomplish this or not, that's why I'm speculating. You say they can't - I would like to hear why can't they, and not abstract thoughts from your own emotional feelings on said subject - I want solid evidence i.e. game text, confirmation from Nintendo, to say why they can't.
Yet that doesn't mean fans have free reign to make up anything. There's not enough evidence to suggest that humans can breed with Zoras, nor is there enough evidence to believe that, say, Vaati created the Sheikah by raping women or something. Even if there are rare cases of, as you mentioned, trees becoming enamored with Link, that doesn't mean Link can screw a tree and make Ents or something.
In Zelda, magic always fills in the gaps. Indeed life and magic seem to be intertwined in this particular fictional universe. Potions restoring life force energy, people's souls turning into masks, tunics letting you breathe underwater, evil magic reviving the deceased as ReDeads, the list goes on.
Additionally, after Ruto awakens as a Sage, she tells Link that she has to remain a Sage and can't actually give her love to him.
She can, she just isn't able to due to current circumstances, what with Ganondorf the King of Evil wrecking havoc on Hyrule, and she needs to help Link as a Sage. After Ganon's defeat and imprisonment she had fulfilled her duty as a Sage and there was nothing to stop her proposing, except that Link had already travelled back in time to regain his lost childhood under Zelda's instructions. Circumstances prevented the marriage, nothing else.
As a reward...
I grant my eternal love to you.
Well, that's what I want to say,
but I don't think I can offer that
now.
Anyway, whether he's a whale or a fish seems like a highly irrelevant point to me.
You're probably right. What bothers me though is that people still call Jabu-Jabu a big fish instead of a deity regardless, when there's stronger evidence to show he is not just an overgrown fish. Personally if people had simply referred to Jabu as a "Zoran Leviathan" a large sea monster/creature it would've been a more accurate term, and more sufficient than simply "fish".
Although it is notable that we don't really see him do anything particularly deity like, unlike Jabun; it's possible he really is just a big (video game biology) fish/whale without any kind of sentience that the Zora just happen to worship like an idol. (And there's another one in OoA.)
Yet the Zoras are offended should anyone refer to Jabu-Jabu as a plain ordinary fish. Is that possibly because said being in question is not a fish?
Huh? A big fish?
Do you mean...Jabu-Jabu?
But Jabu-Jabu is the guardian of us Zoras!
Calling him a fish is an insult!
Watch your language!
Edited by spunky-monkey, 16 August 2009 - 06:40 AM.
