Highlights
- The Sheikah were once a thriving civilization but were destroyed during the Hyrulean Civil War, leaving only one lone Sheikah remaining.
- The Ikana Kingdom in Majora's Mask was cursed, causing its inhabitants to forever battle with the rival Garo nation. The cause of the curse and the downfall of the kingdom is still a mystery.
- The Kikwi, Parella, and Mogma are species that have not appeared in any other Zelda game, with their origins and ultimate fates unknown. The Zonai, another extinct civilization, left behind numerous relics and were believed to have descended from the gods.
The Legend of Zelda is home to several recurring, amiable species. Fans are quick to recognize Zelda's water-faring Zora, who have a band in one game and trek through the body of a giant fish in another. The Rito are winged humanoid beings in The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker, but reappear with features more comprehensively avian-like in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
Gorons and Koroks are other popular clans that have developed their own cultures and identities through The Legend of Zelda, but not all species thrive as they do. Throughout the long timeline that makes up The Legend of Zelda, there are many other civilizations lost to war and time.
The Sheikah
New Legend of Zelda fans know and love the Sheikah as a bustling, thriving community in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. The Sheikah are intelligent people dedicated to research, but they were not always so grand in numbers.
There are two separate Zelda games that showcase the Sheikah as a lost civilization, both of which with only one lone Sheikah left. Impa in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is Princess Zelda's capable protector, but she is all that remains of her people. The entirety of the Sheikah was destroyed while defending the Royal Family during the Hyrulean Civil War. The Graveyard behind Kakariko Village, previously founded by the Sheikah, houses their bodies as they eternally watch over the resting spirits.
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, often considered a true sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, does not mention the Sheikah at all by name, but there is one implied member left: an elderly woman by the name of Impaz. Impaz lives in an abandoned town where she is the only resident. Though the town is never referred to as Kakariko Village in the game, the town's inscription in Hylian translates to "Kakariko Village".
Impaz confirms her name derives from the town's founder and is in possession of a statue that belonged to a tribe that guarded the Royal Family of Hyrule long ago. Given all this information, Impaz is the last Sheikah in this Zelda timeline, but at that point, no one remembers the civilization enough to even identify her as the last Sheikah.
The Ikana Kingdom
To this day, Zelda still has several unanswered questions pertaining to the forsaken civilization of the Ikana Kingdom in Majora's Mask. By the time Link reaches the kingdom, it is already devoid of all life. The Ikana Kingdom's history is eerily dark; a curse grips the dead inhabitants of Ikana, forcing them to forever engage in battle with the rival nation, the Garo, who continue to haunt the kingdom even after their death.
What led to the death and further the curse of the Ikana Kingdom is still not entirely clear. The King of Ikana admits war led to its decline, but the curse causing the dead to wander in Ikana is largely faulted to the evils being unleashed from within the Stone Tower and trickery from Skull Kid, or as quoted, the "masked one". There is very little known about the Garo's kingdom, the origins of the Stone Tower, and why or how Skull Kid laid a curse upon the Ikana Kingdom, but, like the Sheikah, all life was lost due to war.
The Kikwi
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is a gentle origin story for the entire franchise. It features species never seen again, but highly theorized to evolve into tribes commonly seen in later games. The shy but helpful Kikwi are small forest creatures that Link encounters when he first leaves Skyloft. After the events of Skyward Sword, the Kikwi fail to appear in any other Zelda game but are thought to eventually develop into the infamous Great Deku Tree.
The Parella
Before the Zora occupied the waters of Hyrule, the Parella resided in Lake Hylia. The Parella resemble a cross between a squid and a jellyfish. They are incredibly flexible and can squeeze into small spaces. The Parella happily serve and are protected by the Water Dragon. Like the Kikwi, there are no further records of their existence in history. Due to the similar aquatic nature, their civilization is thought to grow into the Zora.
The Mogma
The Mogma are a Rupee-loving, subterranean species that occupy the Eldin Volcano. They are not theorized to go on to evolve into Gorons because Gorons already existed in that same time frame.
The Mogma are not seen in any other Zelda game and are assumed to have died out. Strangely enough, there are statues deep in Tears of the Kingdom's Depths that seem to resemble the Mogma. This resemblance is not confirmed at any point in the game but opens up the question if the Mogma truly died out or simply dug deep to find solace far underground.
The Zonai
This "extinct" civilization perhaps has the most relics scattered across Hyrule. It is impossible to traverse Faron without uncovering ancient Zonai structures, consisting of tall stone statues resembling owls, boars, snakes, and dragons. Rumored to have shared the same blood as the gods, the Zonai descended from the heavens and wielded great magic and such advanced technology that Hylians mistook them for actual gods.
For reasons unannounced, the Zonai eventually dwindled near extinction until only two remained: Rauru, who would go on to become the first king of The Legend of Zelda's Hyrule, and his sister, Mineru. Rauru eventually passed while sealing the Demon King Ganondorf away, but his spirit reappeared to guide Link through the Great Sky Island and set him on his path to once again save Hyrule from a brooding darkness that often finds its way into The Legend of Zelda.
