Zora (Enemy)


 * This article is about the hostile Zora race. For the friendly variety, see Zora.

The river Zoras, most commonly simply named Zoras, are a hostile aquatic race introduced in The Legend of Zelda. They were originally the only water-based enemies and although later games have changed that, to this day Zoras remain the most prominent ones, receiving appearances and shout-outs in nearly every entry to the series. The big exception to their popularity are the 3D console games, in which they have yet to appear. This situation is partly to be explained by the introduction of another Zora race in the first 3D game. It is not unlikely that they were originally meant to be a reinterpretation of the classical Zoras, but Oracle of Ages eventually established the two as separate beings, designating the hostile race as river Zoras and the friendly race as sea Zoras. Nonetheless, Ocarina of Time has gone on to be the template of the 3D game structure to which sea Zora are native and the different gameplay influence combined with the limited amount of water don't leave much room for the nature of the river Zoras.

When The Legend of Zelda was released, the game's manual spelled "Zora" as "Zola", taking its cue from the Japanese manual. The Japanese language does not distinguish between the letters "L" and "R" and the Japanese people are somewhat known for confusing one for the other when translating their letters to Latin ones. Every instance that mentioned the Zoras after the The Legend of Zelda manual has spelled the name with an "r", confirming that "Zola" was a mistake. Despite this, the Western fan community has created a tradition to use "Zola" and "Zora" to distinguish between the hostile and the friendly race, a development likely instigated by Zelda.com's encyclopedia.

Traits
River Zoras are primarily hostile creatures who make their home wherever there is a large body of water. All potential intruders of their domain are bound to find themselves on the receiving end of their trademark spit attack, which generally can't be blocked. Typically, a Zora hides just below the surface of the water until it deems the moment right to attack, at which point they stick their head out and launch a ball of unspecified energy or fire towards the intended target. They only stay above surface for a short time, whereupon they repeat their strategy. Any counterattack thus has to be performed with long-range equipment from the shore at the time of their attack, which can prove to be quite tricky.

Alternatively, if the water is not deep enough to accomodate this strategy, Zoras are known to emerge fully and give chase on foot. They are sufficiently agile on land, but the lack of water to hide in makes them an easy target. However, some Zora specialize in this form of attack. Those are called Geozards and rather than barehanded, they approach their target armed with shield and sword. They still utilize their spit attack, but mix it up with considerable skill in sword fighting.

Zora prey on smaller fish for nourishment. The skin of Zoras is scaly and green, rarely red, while their maw has developed sharp fangs and whiskers akin to a catfish. When not in deep water, they stand upright. One variety is known to switch between standing on two legs and on four legs, but this is not common Zora behaviour. Those Zoras also occasionally inhabit desert areas, which again is not common to Zoras. Zoras enjoy their environment damp, sometimes opting to leave the safety of the waters to stroll around on land if it the weather is rainy.

The Legend of Zelda
Zoras occupied all of the three bodies of water around Death Mountain, which consisted of a spring-waterfall-river-lake-river course that splits the region in half, a small lake east of it and a much larger lake/sea covering the eastward region. With a handful of exceptions, there was at least one Zora per area. A Zora's spit attack took away half a heart and could only be blocked by a Magical Shield. Zoras could withstand one blow from a Wooden Sword, and if they could dive before being hit again, they recovered from the attack. Otherwise, another hit would do them in, as did single hits with better weaponry.

The Adventure of Link
The behaviour of Zoras was quite a departure from their other appearances. A few turned up on crossings over rivers, but most inhabited caves, deserts and Maze Island on the Eastern continent, far from their usual watery habitats. Zoras had a quadrupedal structure, though they could and would stand on their hind legs. This they combined with their traditional spit attack, mimicking their below~above water strategy with their quadrupedal~bipedal position. Zoras were particularly tough fighters, dealing damage ranging from three bars of a health meter to three-fourth of it depending on the level of their opponent. In adddition to having access to equally strong long-range and close combat moves, they themselves could only be harmed through the use of the Fire Spell. Upon defeat, they yielded 50 experience points and once in a while a Red Potion or a 200 Treasure Bag.

A Link to the Past
In A Link to the Past, the Zoras have made their homes in the east of Hyrule, divided over Lake Hylia and Zora's Lake. Zora's River connects the two, allowing the water to flow and the Zoras to travel from Zora's Lake to Lake Hylia. Despite this, Zoras are impossible to find within the river unless close to either of the lakes, where they get to the water's surface when they detect an intruder. As usual, their spit attack is their primary offense. It takes away half a heart standard and cannot not be blocked by the Fighter's Shield. If, however, the water is too shallow, the Zoras opt to emerge fully and attack physically, dealing another standard half a heart worth of damage.

Not all Zoras treat outsiders with hostility. A Zora twice the usual size, King Zora, leader of the Zoras, makes a business out of selling non-Zoras Zora's Flippers for 500 Rupees per set.

River Zoras' counterparts in the Dark World are the Cyclops Fishes. King Zora himself may have his counterpart in the Giant Catfish.

Link's Awakening
In Link's Awakening, like in A Link to the Past, one friendly River Zora appears. Since A Link to the Past was merely a dream, the meaning of his/her presence to the whole of the River Zora race is unclear. If Link acquires the Magnifying Lens and talks to the friendly River Zora, the photographer will come to make a photo of the two together.

Oracle of Ages/Oracle of Seasons
While they were no more than regular overworld enemies like they have always been, the River Zoras' appearance in Oracle of Ages is special because it was the first and as of yet, only time both Zora species appeared in the same game. As such, this was the first game in which there was a need to distinguish the two species and give them each their own name. The friendly Zoras were dubbed Sea Zoras and the hostile kind River Zoras. It was also made clear that the two Zora species were not exactly fond of each other.

Four Swords Adventures
In Four Swords Adventures, the friendly River Zora are similar to the Zora in A Link to the Past and the less friendly kind of River Zoras, encountered at Lake Hylia and the The Coast, resemble both their The Legend of Zelda counterpart, more by being blue in color, and Cyclops Fish, by having a single eye.

Link also met a friendly River Zora in the castle of Hyrule in Four Swords Adventures, who begged him to bring her to her counterpart who was locked up in another part of the castle. When Link reunited the two, they fused, revealing to be in fact the Queen of Fairies who had been split and both her parts changed into River Zoras. Another friendly Zora, who is really a River Zora this time, lives in the pond north of Kakariko Village. He requires the four Links help to feed him in an optional mini game.

Phantom Hourglass/Spirit Tracks
River Zoras return as Zora warriors, called Geozards, in Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks. This time around they always come out of the water and are armed with swords and shields. They still have their well-known spitting attack, but attack with a sword as well and block Link's attacks with a shield, similar to the Darknuts in earlier games. Unlike other Zoras, they are not average enemies. In Spirit Tracks, there is also a red variety known as Geozard Chief which breathes fireballs, much like the River Zora's older appearances. In this variation, Link is now required to use the aid of his Phantom partner to distract the Zora while he attacks from behind.

Ancient Stone Tablets
Only a short time had passed since the events of A Link to the Past, hence the Zoras could be found in the same environments as then. They also treated the new hero the same as they did Link: While the regular Zoras attacked on sight, King Zora offered to sell Zora's Flippers for a price of 300 Rupees on the first day.

During the first two days of the quest, rainstorms occurred. The rain on day one arrived at 18:23 and dissipated at 18:30, whereas the rain lasted from 18:12 to 18:17 on day two. During these conditions, land-based life took shelter while the Zoras left the rivers and lakes to walk around on land. partly during the rain of the first day, from 18:25 - 18:35, King Zora lowered the price of the Zora's Flippers to 150 Rupees.

Freshly-Picked Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland
River Zoras did not personally make an appearance, but they evidently were or had been around until recently. A fountain close to the entrance of Port Town was decorated with the shape of four river Zora heads.

Valiant Comics comics
During the events of "Missing in Action", a huge Zora felt obliged to attack Link and Zelda when they tried to cross a body of water by raft.

"A Link to the Past" comic
Zora was a resident of the Dark World, where he lived at a waterfall along with his Fairy buddy Epheremelda.

Trivia

 * The Zoras from The Adventure of Link are also known among fans as Basilisks. Where this designation comes from is unknown, as at least the Japanese guides do refer to them as Zoras.
 * The normal Zoras from A Link to the Past are named Zora's Spawn in the Nintendo Player's Guide for the SNES version, whereas their leader is referred to as if his name is Zora - a name he also goes by in the translation of the comic. While the Zora's Spawn are referred to as just Zoras within the game itself, most of the ingame text that should be about "Zoras" is about "Zora", a singular entity. Chances are this is a misinterpretation of the Japanese text, because in Japanese, there is no singular and plural. For instance, a phrase like can translate to Zora's Flippers, Zoras' Flippers or Zora Flippers depending on the context. For the GBA re-release, most of the singular "Zora" were corrected to be about "Zoras" as a group.
 * Also, one piece of artwork found in the Nintendo Player's Guide depicts King Zora with a caudal fin instead of legs. Other depictions of him as well as the general build of Zoras contradicts this.
 * Zelda.com describes the river Zoras (under the name Zola) as female Zoras who turned against the Hylians and chose a life of violence. Like many entries in the encyclopedia, this assertion finds no support from the games. The only individual Zora who was a confirmed female was actually a cursed Fairy Queen, Zelda.com's usage of the terms Zola and Zora does not coincide with actual game appearances, and the term Zola is, as already explained, a faulty romanization on Japan's behalf that was corrected at the very next opportunity. The idea that river Zora are exclusively female comes from the description in the English manual of The Legend of Zelda, which in fact is a faulty translation of the Japanese text. translates roughly as "half fish with human", not "half-fish, half-woman". Why the localization team chose to specify a gender is unknown, but it could be that they tried to connect the Zora enemy more to the real world mythological merfolk, which is most known for its female half, than it already was ( is Japanese for "merfolk"). Either way, this was a one time localization decision that had no impact on the Japanese developers, and thus has found no corroboration in any game thereafter.