Zora (Enemy): Difference between revisions

Not much is known about the origins of the River Zora or why they attack people for seemingly no reason. Zelda.com describes the River Zora (under the name Zola) as female Zora who turned against the [[Hylian]]s and chose a life of violence.<ref>http://www.zelda.com/universe/pedia/z.jsp Zelda.com Encyclopedia Z</ref> This would mean that the River Zoras are merely a mutated group of evil [[Zora|Sea Zoras]] and as such, are not a race on their own. A few issues arise with this description though. First of all, Zelda.com uses the terms Zora and Zola interchangeably, as is evidenced by the lists concerning in which games the two "species" appeared. This makes it unclear what a Zora is and what a Zola is, or what Zelda.com considers them to be. Secondly, at least the statement of them being only female seems incorrect. There was a King Zora (not Queen) in ''A Link to the Past'' who was a River Zora. In their most recent appearance in ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass|Phantom Hourglass]]'', the [[Zora Warrior]]s appear to be males and not females. Most likely, the description is based on the manual of ''[[The Legend of Zelda (Game)|The Legend of Zelda]]''."<ref name=M1>[http://www.zeldalegends.net/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=42&fullsize=1 The Legend of Zelda manual</ref>, which also called the [[Moblin]]s Molblins. Nintendo never touched upon the subject again, so the canonicity of this statement is questionable.  

There is some confusion about what the name of this aquatic race is. When they first appeared in ''[[The Legend of Zelda (Game)|The Legend of Zelda]]'', the manual called them "Zola"<ref name=M1 />.The term "Zora" first appeared in ''[[The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past|A Link to the Past]]'', and the creatures that name belonged to were identical to the Zola from ''The Legend of Zelda''. The name Zora has been used since to describe these creatures and when ''The Legend of Zelda'' was rereleased on the [[Gameboy Advance]], the booklet refered to them as Zora as well.<ref>http://www.zeldalegends.net/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=5720&fullsize=1 The Legend of Zelda (GBA) manual</ref> Considering even the Japanese manual of ''The Legend of Zelda''<ref>http://www.zeldalegends.net/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=137&fullsize=1 Zelda no Densetsu manual</ref> called them Zola at first, it is likely a translation mistake made by the people responsible for the Japanese manual, since the "L" and the "R" are the same letter in Japanese. Regardless, the name Zola has officially been abandoned, but the gamer community still uses the name Zola to refer to the hostile aquatic race as opposed to the [[Zora|peaceful aquatic race]].  

Because both Zora races did not appear in the same games for a very long time, there was no need to distinguish the two races by giving them more specific names until ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages|Oracle of Ages]]''. It was in that game that the two races were dubbed River Zora and Sea Zora respectively.<ref name=Quote1>{{quote|Don't think us noble sea Zoras the same as those savage, vulgar river Zoras!|[[A Sea Zora]]}}</ref>