Divine Beast

The are four titanic mechanical animals built by the ancient Sheikah in order to aid BotW: and her appointed knight, BotW:, in sealing away BotW: some 10,000 years before the events of.

History
10,000 years ago, the Sheikah built the elephant, Ruta, the salamander, Rudania, the eagle, Medoh and the camel, Naboris, to combat the anticipated revival of Calamity Ganon. Piloted by four Champions chosen from amongst the Zora, the Gorons, the Rito and the Gerudo, they paved the way for victory against Ganon. Shortly after this, the king of Hyrule at that time–gripped with fear due to the awesome firepower that these technologies possessed–had all further research and development abolished. The Divine Beasts were buried beneath the ground, and their existence passed on into legend.

Over 100 years ago, due to rising fears of the return of Calamity Ganon, the Royal Family of Hyrule ordered that the Divine Beasts be unearthed and readied for another battle owing to a fortune teller's prophecy. It took several years, but all four of these machines were found after intensive excavations in various parts of Hyrule. This time, Ruta was piloted by the Zora princess Mipha, Rudania was piloted by the Goron Daruk, Medoh was piloted by the Rito warrior Revali, and Naboris was piloted by the Gerudo chief Urbosa.

Their mission failed, however, when Ganon–wary of the threat that the Divine Beasts posed to him–sent the four Blight Ganons to wrest control of each Beast. The Blights succeeded: the pilots of each Divine Beast were killed, and Ganon took control of the four Beasts. But following Zelda's containment of Ganon at Hyrule Castle, for nearly 100 years thence, the Divine Beasts and all of the Guardians under his control lay dormant. This gave the survivors of the Great Calamity time to try and recover, and for life to begin to flourish once more in the land of Hyrule.

However, shortly before Link's awakening, and due to Zelda's power fading, Ganon began to stir. And with him arose the Divine Beasts and the Guardians, still under his command. Ganon used them to bring further strife to Hyrule: Ruta caused an unending rain on Zora's Domain that threatened to flood all of Hyrule, Rudania caused Death Mountain to erupt endlessly, Medoh prevented the Rito from soaring at their preferred altitude, and Naboris caused an unending sandstorm–complete with risk of deadly lightning–in the Gerudo Desert.

When Link awoke from the Shrine of Resurrection, he set out to free the Divine Beasts from Ganon's control. One by one, he purged them, freeing the spirits of their pilots in the process. At Link's confrontation with Calamity Ganon, the Divine Beasts unleashed their power to weaken Ganon, just as they did 10,100 years prior.

Divine Beast Vah Ruta


The Divine Beast Vah Ruta resembles an elephant, and its element is water. The trunk is opposable and can spew an infinite amount of water. It can even spray water into its interior, which causes a large waterwheel to turn, allowing access to the upper sections of the Divine Beast. Ruta is also capable of using the Rune Cryonis to protect itself. Its Main Control Unit is located at the Divine Beast's rear. Ruta is named after Ruto, the Sage of Water.

Divine Beast Vah Rudania


The Divine Beast Vah Rudania resembles a salamander. Its element is fire. It has four compartments near each of its legs that store Guardian Sentries. Rudania can climb vertically like an actual salamander, and doing this rotates the interior of the Divine Beast by 90 degrees. The Main Control Unit is located on the top deck, in the center of the Beast's back. Its name, Rudania, is an anagram of Darunia, the Sage of Fire.

Divine Beast Vah Medoh


The Divine Beast Vah Medoh resembles an eagle. It represents the element of wind. To protect itself, it uses a force shield maintained by four generators - one on each wing, one near its head, and one near its tail. The middle section, the wings, can tilt side to side. This is normally used to help Medoh turn in the air, but it also re-orients the interior of the Divine Beast. The Main Control Unit is located on the top deck, between the Beasts wings. While the other Divine Beasts are named after Sages, the namesake of Medoh is less clear. With its pilot being a Rito, it may be named after Medli, the Rito Sage of Earth.

Divine Beast Vah Naboris


The Divine Beast Vah Naboris resembles a camel. Its element is thunder. The "humps" are actually powerful lightning generators, which it uses to protect itself. The interior of the Divine Beast is split into three cylinders, each of which can rotate a full 360 degrees. The center cylinder contains the Main Control unit on one side of a platform, and a Sheikah power source on the other side. Urbosa states that Naboris is named after Nabooru, the Sage of Spirit.

Trivia

 * In Twilight Princess, Midna mentions that the Twili have long believed that the Hero would appear as a divine beast. Though a different type of beast appeared eventually, this is the first mention of the divine beasts in the games.