Gorko

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Gorko is a character in Skyward Sword.[2] He is a traveling archaeologist Goron, who traverses the surface studying the history of the land and various devices, attempting to discern the history behind the ancient civilization. He is especially interested in the myth of the "Isle of the Goddess", which is actually supposed to be Skyloft, and of related artifacts. Link encounters him several times during his quest.

Biography

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Fi says:

His name is Gorko, an archaeologist of the Gorons. He travels the land researching its history.

He is first encountered in the Sealed Grounds, where he is being pestered by a small group of Bokoblins.[3] After Link saves him, Gorko notes that a number of weird events have been occurring recently, stating that it is uncommon to encounter groups of Bokoblins within the forest and that before he ran into the young hero, he bumped into another being who looked similar to Link.[4] As a reward for rescuing him,[5] he explains to Link about an advanced civilization living on an island in the sky called the Isle of the Goddess, which he learned about from reading ancient writings.[6][7] The Goron tells the young hero that the Bird Statues are used as landmarks for those traveling between the sky and the surface,[8] and were placed to give travelers a route back to the island.[9] Gorko says that the statue near the Sealed Temple is special, because it holds the ability to activate all of the others statues on the surface.[10] He is surprised when Link activates the statue when he walks up to it.[11]

Link later meets Gorko again within the Deep Woods, where he tells the young hero that he is researching Goddess Cubes,[12] and then proceeds to recite ancient text containing directions on how to activate the Cubes for Link.[13] Upon noticing that Link holds a Sword, the Goron asks the young hero to help him solve the mystery of the Cube.[14] After Link causes the Goddess Cube to turn into light and shoot up into the sky, Gorko is once again surprised and wonders where the object shot off to, requesting that he come see him if he discovers more about the Goddess Cubes while on his quest.[15]

Gorko can later be found outside the blocked entrance to the Temple of Time of Lanayru Desert, hoping to find a way inside to inspect the sacred Temple. He informs the young hero that he saw a human who lived on the Isle of Goddess, which he supports by noting it wore clothing similar to those spoken about in ancient texts, enter the temple with another person.[16] Gorko tells Link that he wanted to follow them, but an explosion destroyed the Temple's entrance and prevented him from pursuing the two.[17] After Impa destroys the Gate of Time, Gorko can be found standing outside the Temple, expressing disbelief that Link was able to access the Temple's interior through a secret passage.[18] The archaeologist states that he initially gave up and left, but an explosion caused him to return to the Temple of Time's entrance, which was now cleared.[19] He proceeds to explore the Temple of Time's interior, but shortly returns to the Sealed Grounds.

Following his first encounter with The Imprisoned, Link finds Gorko within the small glade between the Sealed Grounds and Faron Woods, where the Goron is found observing a swarm of Blessed Butterflies, expressing disappointment that he cannot create a tune.[20] After Link plays the Goddess's Harp, a Gossip Stone, which Gorko recognizes as being mentioned in the ancient manuscripts, appears. The archaeologist proceeds to give Link an explanation on Blessed Butterflies,[21] Gossip Stones and Goddess Walls.[22][23]

He is again encountered much later near the entrance of the Fire Sanctuary of the Eldin Volcano Summit, suspecting the area to have a lot of Goddess Cubes nearby.[24] He is however unable to continue as the path is being blocked by pillars of fire.[25] Fortunately, Link is able to extinguish these pillars of fire by pouring water, which he obtained from a small spring within the summit, onto the tongues of the frog statues above the flames.[26][27] Upon reaching the Sanctuary, the two discover its entrance to be protected by another pillar of flames along with a third frog statue. However, the third frog statue is larger than the two before it, and requires a larger quantity of water than an Empty Bottle can hold.[28][29] After Link uses the Water Basin to douse the flames, thus clearing the entrance to the Fire Sanctuary, Gorko courteously lets Link enter the dungeon first and waits outside.[30]

Nomenclature

Gorko's name is a portmanteau of Goron and Marco, as a reference to Marco Polo, a famous explorer.

ZW Nomenclature Asset.png Names in Other Regions ZW Nomenclature Asset 2.png
LanguageNamesMeanings
The People's Republic of China
ChineseSI
马尔鼓 (Mǎ'ěr gǔ) (SSHD)[32] 
The French Republic
FrenchEU
Marcogoro (SS)[31]From Marco Polo.
This table was generated using translation pages.
To request an addition, please contact a staff member with a reference.

References

  1. "His name is Gorko, an archaeologist of the Gorons. He travels the land researching its history." — Fi (Skyward Sword HD)
  2. Art & Artifacts, Dark Horse Books, pg. 341 (SS)
  3. "Out of the way! Scram!" — Gorko (Skyward Sword HD)
  4. "Just who were those red pests? I did not expect to run into a pack of them in this peaceful forest. Same goes for you. This is the second time I've bumped into one of your kind today. I tell you, all sorts of weird things are going on lately." — Gorko (Skyward Sword HD)
  5. "I owe you big for taking care of those guys, so let me tell you something fascinating." — Gorko (Skyward Sword HD)
  6. "According to some of the ancient texts I have read, there is a place way up in the sky called the Isle of the Goddess." — Gorko (Skyward Sword HD)
  7. "So get this: people actually live on this sky island, and they get around by flying on the backs of huge birds that are way bigger than birds down here! Up there everyone reveres the goddess, and the residents of all the little islands in the sky live in a perfect society, totally free of conflict or unhappiness! Not only that, but from what I can tell, their civilization is way, way more advanced than ours down here. But it does not even stop there, bud! This Isle of the Goddess has even more stuff to marvel at! The place was crafted by the goddess herself, so it figures that it is filled with wonders we do not have here. The buildings are all made of gold! An endless spring of mystical water feeds a river through the place. One sip of that stuff, and you live forever! The trees are heavy with plump fruit that cures all disease! The fields are crowded with pumpkins that never rot! Magic wildflowers bloom everywhere! And the weather. Oh, the weather, bud! Not too hot, not too cold. No chance of sweaty weather in this garden paradise! That is the Isle of the Goddess... Amazing, right? WRONG! IT IS BEYOND AMAZING!" — Gorko (Skyward Sword HD)
  8. "Apparently, these old statues serve as landmarks to those traveling up to the sky or down from this Isle of the Goddess place." — Gorko (Skyward Sword HD)
  9. "Old statues like the one behind me were placed here to provide travelers with a way back up to the island." — Gorko (Skyward Sword)
  10. "Supposedly this statue is special, as it is said to have the ability to activate all the other statues." — Gorko (Skyward Sword)
  11. "GORO! What was THAT?! The statue just reacted to you! What did you do? Come on, do not make a big guy beg! I have got to know!" — Gorko (Skyward Sword)
  12. "I tell you, your timing could not have been better. Look here. I stumbled onto one of these things just now, and it looks just like something I have seen in those ancient texts! If I remember right... Yup, this is one of the things the goddess was said to have left behind for the hero of legend. Pretty amazing, right? I even thought up a name for these things. I have been calling them Goddess Cubes! Makes sense, right?" — Gorko (Skyward Sword)
  13. "Those ancient texts say some real interesting stuff about these things. How did it go again? Let me see, uh... "Summon forth the light from a heavenly blade, and may that sword's master receive aid." So there you have it." — Gorko (Skyward Sword)
  14. "I see you got yourself a sword there. What do you say we try and crack the mystery of this cube together?" — Gorko (Skyward Sword)
  15. "WHOOOA! Did you see that?! The cube just shot up into the sky! I think it reacted to that whirly-beam thing that shot out of your sword. And where do you think the cube shot off to, anyhow? This mystery just got a whole lot more, uh, mysterious! The texts say there are cubes like that one all over this land. Tell you what. You blast as many of those cubes as you can find. If you find out more about them along the way, you come see me." — Gorko (Skyward Sword)
  16. "I could not believe my eyes when I saw a human who lives on the legendary Isle of the Goddess! It wore clothes just like the ones written about in the ancient manuscripts! And it looked just like you, bud! It came with another person...and they entered the temple!" — Gorko (Skyward Sword)
  17. "I wanted to chase after them... But then there was an explosion all of a sudden! And the entrance... Well, you can see for yourself, bud. I do not think we are getting past this mess. I just wish we could find out what is happening on the other side!" — Gorko (Skyward Sword)
  18. "What? You made it inside? You mean to say there is a secret passage I did not know about? Why did you not tell me, bud?!" — Gorko (Skyward Sword)
  19. "I was just about to give up and go home when I heard this huge crash. I rushed back to find that the way had been cleared." — Gorko (Skyward Sword)
  20. "GREAT GORON?! I have found some! Look! Those butterflies that respond to beautiful tones are swarming all over this place! This has to be the right spot... ...Hrm. Oh... This could be a problem. I cannot carry a tune. I could not create beautiful tones if wild animals threatened to roll me down a hill! What can we do?" — Gorko (Skyward Sword)
  21. "Right, so a Blessed Butterfly is this kind of pretty, blue butterfly! You may not believe it, but they are super hardy. They live in all kinds of places you would never expect. Even in a land like this, you will see plenty of them! All right, bud, then let me jump straight to the point. Ancient tomes mention these butterflies flapping around in packs by certain walls and statues! Seems like these butterflies have some kind of sixth sense. They are detecting, uh...something!" — Gorko (Skyward Sword)
  22. "The writings claim that the statues appear out of nowhere with a “boing-oing" sound and speak a strange language! Can you believe it, buddy? Talking statues!" — Gorko (Skyward Sword)
  23. "From what I have learned, it sounds like these walls were left behind by the goddess for the hero mentioned in legends! The things the hero desires are said to spring forth from behind the walls. That is why they call them goddess walls, I suppose." — Gorko (Skyward Sword)
  24. "I rumbled over here 'cause I heard someone had spotted some Goddess Cubes in the area." — Gorko (Skyward Sword)
  25. "I have got a hunch they may be down in that direction, but...this flaming wall of fire is blocking the way!" — Gorko (Skyward Sword)
  26. "“Quench my thirst"? Hmm... That reminds me. If you head back out of here and turn right, you will end up outside. I found a spring there. Let me tell you, bud, that water was dee-licious! No idea how you would bring it in here, though. I doubt those weird-looking frog beasts would carry it for you." — Gorko (Skyward Sword)
  27. "Hey, the flames are out! Now we can get through here." — Gorko (Skyward Sword)
  28. "All I can say is that is a big frog with a big thirst. I do not think the amount of water one of your little bottles can hold is going to cut it this time." — Gorko (Skyward Sword)
  29. "Hmmm... You will have to have a big container to hold the water needed for this job. Got anything like that? And speaking of which, where are you going to get all the water? I gotta say, I am pretty much stumped." — Gorko (Skyward Sword)
  30. "You are something else, bud! There is nothing you cannot do! You go ahead on in! You have earned the right to blaze this trail." — Gorko (Skyward Sword)
  31. Hyrule Historia, Les Éditions Soleil, pg. 46
  32. "我是在这片森林里研究上古历史的鼓隆族,名叫马尔鼓鼓隆。" — Gorko (Skyward Sword HD, Simplified Chinese localization)