User:Dermotmacflann/Theories: Difference between revisions
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{{Theory|start}} | {{Theory|start}} | ||
[[User:Dermot Mac | [[User:Dermot Mac Flannchaidh14670|My]] theories. | ||
===Lake Hylia as a volcano=== | ===Lake Hylia as a volcano=== | ||
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It may be that Lake Hylia's Water Temple and/or [[Lanayru Spring]] already serve this function, as the lake's water is already constantly filtered to keep it pure. It remains pure enough to supply [[Castle Town]] with drinking water. If Lake Hylia were active and limited to limnic eruptions, this would effectively render the volcano inactive as it would be unable to erupt either way. | It may be that Lake Hylia's Water Temple and/or [[Lanayru Spring]] already serve this function, as the lake's water is already constantly filtered to keep it pure. It remains pure enough to supply [[Castle Town]] with drinking water. If Lake Hylia were active and limited to limnic eruptions, this would effectively render the volcano inactive as it would be unable to erupt either way. | ||
===={{BotW}} Addendum==== | |||
Lake Hylia's nature appears relatively different, is of less circular shape, and has a shallower middle where the [[Great Hylia Bridge]]'s support columns lie. The lake's basin may have drastically reshaped compared to other versions. | |||
===Hyrule as a rift valley basin=== | ===Hyrule as a rift valley basin=== | ||
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''If'' Hyrule is a rift valley basin, it is also possible that most of its land is significantly below sea level, as seen in other rift basins located inland from the sea. When the [[Great Flood]] occurs in the [[Adult Timeline]], it may not have been rain alone that inundated the kingdom, but the break of a natural dam that allowed the ocean's waters to fill the basin, leaving only its highest points as islands in the [[Great Sea]]. Magic alone kept Hyrule below dry and frozen in time. Magic aside, this is not without precedent, as the entire {{Wp|Mediterranean Sea}} has dried up and refilled multiple times in ancient prehistory in a similar manner. However, during these dry periods (part of what is called the {{Wp|Messinian salinity crisis}}), the Mediterranean Basin was mostly a salty desert, not unlike {{Wp|Death Valley}} (or perhaps the [[Gerudo Desert]] or [[Lanayru Desert]]). | ''If'' Hyrule is a rift valley basin, it is also possible that most of its land is significantly below sea level, as seen in other rift basins located inland from the sea. When the [[Great Flood]] occurs in the [[Adult Timeline]], it may not have been rain alone that inundated the kingdom, but the break of a natural dam that allowed the ocean's waters to fill the basin, leaving only its highest points as islands in the [[Great Sea]]. Magic alone kept Hyrule below dry and frozen in time. Magic aside, this is not without precedent, as the entire {{Wp|Mediterranean Sea}} has dried up and refilled multiple times in ancient prehistory in a similar manner. However, during these dry periods (part of what is called the {{Wp|Messinian salinity crisis}}), the Mediterranean Basin was mostly a salty desert, not unlike {{Wp|Death Valley}} (or perhaps the [[Gerudo Desert]] or [[Lanayru Desert]]). | ||
===={{BotW}} Addendum==== | |||
This version of Hyrule is obviously ''not'' all below sea level, as parts of its coastline hug the ocean. However, other parts of the landscape (particularly the north and western boundaries) dip into seemingly bottomless pits of what seem to be land far below sea level. In addition, [[Tanagar Canyon]] ''does'' appear to be a graben, as a deep valley with steep sides and no sign of having been carved by water. All this reinforces my original theory that Hyrule is at least highly tectonically active, and may contain multiple rifts, whether or not the entire country sits inside a rift. | |||
===Spectacle Rock as a volcanic plug=== | ===Spectacle Rock as a volcanic plug=== | ||
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Admittedly, this theory stretches the bounds of realism, as it is difficult to imagine Spectacle Rock surviving repeat violent {{Wp|pyroclastic explosions}} unscathed. Ultimately, the true nature of Spectacle Rock may be at least partly magical. | Admittedly, this theory stretches the bounds of realism, as it is difficult to imagine Spectacle Rock surviving repeat violent {{Wp|pyroclastic explosions}} unscathed. Ultimately, the true nature of Spectacle Rock may be at least partly magical. | ||
===={{BotW}} Addendum==== | |||
Spectacle Rock is on the other side of the country from Death Mountain, and this version of the Rock does not seem very volcanic in nature. I have another theory on that in a different section. | |||
===Lake Hylia as a fish-free anoxic lake=== | ===Lake Hylia as a fish-free anoxic lake=== | ||
The reason [[Lake Hylia]] proper (at least in {{TP}}) has no fish, may be because of the way the water is purified — they are {{Wp|anoxic waters}}. Fish can't breathe normal air, but they still need oxygen to survive, and this comes from oxygen dissolved in water. The Lake Hylia filtration process purifies it, but also removes its dissolved oxygen, leaving the lake desolate of aquatic life. The [[Zora]]s don't live in the lake, but they can visit there because they have technology to allow them to breathe underwater regardless of dissolved oxygen content, and [[Link]]'s [[Zora Armor]] uses the same technology. Without this technology, a human like Link would also easily die from {{Wp|decompression sickness}} alone, whether or not there is dissolved oxygen in the water. | The reason [[Lake Hylia]] proper (at least in {{TP}}) has no fish, may be because of the way the water is purified — they are {{Wp|anoxic waters}}. Fish can't breathe normal air, but they still need oxygen to survive, and this comes from oxygen dissolved in water. The Lake Hylia filtration process purifies it, but also removes its dissolved oxygen, leaving the lake desolate of aquatic life. The [[Zora]]s don't live in the lake, but they can visit there because they have technology to allow them to breathe underwater regardless of dissolved oxygen content, and [[Link]]'s [[Zora Armor]] uses the same technology. Without this technology, a human like Link would also easily die from {{Wp|decompression sickness}} alone, whether or not there is dissolved oxygen in the water. | ||
===={{BotW}} Addendum==== | |||
This version of Lake Hylia has plenty of fish, suggesting that the waters are not necessarily anoxic. And if it was ever geologically active, it may not be so anymore. | |||
===Hebra as a former Death Mountain=== | |||
In {{ALttP}}'s [[Light World]], [[Mount Hebra]] (at least in the Japanese language edition of the game) was the name of the mountainous region in the north. If it was ever volcanically active, it isn't anymore. Its [[Dark World]] counterpart occupying the same geography is [[Death Mountain]], which is very actively volcanic in nature. In {{BotW}}, there's a [[Hebra]] region (with [[Hebra Mountains]]) and a separate [[Death Mountain]] area, separated by a non-trivial distance of geography. I don't consider this contradictory at all: I think Hebra is the older region, having been the original Death Mountain until at least {{OoT}} and some time after. Then, as can also happen in the real world over great periods of time, the old Death Mountain went inactive and the center of active volcanic activity migrated to what is the new Death Mountain. The [[Goron]] people, with their affinity for volcanoes, largely moved to the new area. Hebra still has signs of lingering volcanic activity in the form of hot springs, and may indeed only be dormant and resume volcanic activity at a later time, but for now it is a cold, snowy region with no volcanic eruptions. It does have many ''signs'' of having been a volcano, though; in addition to the hot springs, there are several crater- or caldera-shaped land features, including [[Coldsnap Hollow]], the [[Flight Range]], [[Gisa Crater]] (and its surrounding smaller craters), the [[Sturnida Basin]] (with [[Lake Kilsie]]), and [[Lake Totori]], to name at least a few. I may even go as far as to suggest that Hebra occupies the same general vicinity as [[Dragon Roost Island]] in {{TWW}}, where, as with Hebra's [[Tabantha Frontier]], the [[Rito]] people also live, but which is genuinely volcanically active in that setting. | |||
===Turtle Rock near North Lomei Labyrinth=== | |||
There is a strangely turtle-shaped rock formation, resembling [[Turtle Rock]], just southeast of the [[North Lomei Labyrinth]] in the northeast Hebra region in {{BotW}}. If this is really the original Turtle Rock, it has no plot significance in the game. | |||
===Gerudo Highlands Spectacle Rock is not the original landmark=== | |||
If the original [[Spectacle Rock]] of [[Death Mountain]] was a volcanic feature, it may no longer exist by the time of {{BotW}}, having been destroyed through volcanic activity, erosion or other causes. This explains why Death Mountain has no Spectacle Rock, and why the [[Hebra]] region (which I speculate is the original Death Mountain) also has no Spectacle Rock. But the [[Gerudo]] people have a history of carving great monuments in the stone of their [[Gerudo Highlands]], including the Seven Heroines at the [[East Gerudo Ruins]]. If the original Spectacle Rock was no more, a new landmark may have been created by the (relatively) simple task of choosing an appropriate table mountain and carving a wide gap between its two halves. And since this Spectacle Rock has a [[Sheikah Tower]] and also serves as a perfect platform for [[Vah Naboris]], this may have happened as long as 10000 years ago, as turning the mountain into such an important a landmark would be an ideal reason to also carve into it. | |||
===Kakariko Village has moved more than once=== | |||
In {{TP}}, the writing in the [[Hidden Village]] reveals (or at least strongly suggests) that it is the original [[Kakariko Village]], with the other place of that name being a newer version of the [[Sheikah settlement]]. There is actually some very good logic to this, as Kakariko during {{OoT}} and ''Twilight Princess'' is located in the volcanically-active [[Eldin Province]], sometimes even on the flanks of [[Death Mountain]] itself. And since both Kakarikos in ''Twilight Princess'' are also in ''desert'' regions of Eldin, prolonged drought ''in addition'' to volcanic activity could be reason enough to move the village. But {{BotW}} goes a step further, placing its Kakariko Village in West [[Necluda]], a non-trivial distance ''outside'' the borders of Eldin. At some point, Kakariko Village had to have moved out of Eldin altogether, and to a region with no active volcanoes like Necluda. This Kakariko also has a cemetery, but it's a much humbler facility with no obvious signs of royal burial. One or more of the previous versions of Kakariko may be buried under subsequent Death Mountain lava flows, or perhaps even those of an older Death Mountain at what is now the [[Hebra]] region. | |||
{{Theory|end}} | {{Theory|end}} | ||
