Sheikah

Sheikah
Type	Human (Hylian)
Debut	The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

The Sheikah (alternately spelled Shiekah) is a mysterious race of shadow folk from the The Legend of Zelda series that was introduced in Ocarina of Time. They are known to have played strong roles in the history of Hyrule, and it was not until Breath of the Wild that a Sheikah community was shown. Until then, the only Sheikah to have appeared were incarnations of Impa.

Information

The Sheikah are a race of Hylians who similarly have pointed ears and strong affinities for magic. They have also been shown to commonly have white hair and red eyes. They have strong senses of honor and are known to work in the shadows. Their methods are similar to that of a ninja. The Sheikah are also very intelligent, and they were shown to be capable of forming great technological advancements in Breath of the Wild. That game also introduced a written language for the Sheikah.

History

The Sheikah have been known as mysterious shadow folk and were closely connected to Hyrule's history. In Skyward Sword, it was shown that they were originally loyal servants of the goddess Hylia, who was later reincarnated as Zelda. The Impa of that time was shown to play a vital role in protecting the original Zelda as well as maintaining the seal on Demise and watching over both the Master Sword and the Triforce. It would seem that the Sheikah's service of the goddess Hylia transferred to the bloodline of Zelda. In later years, they were referred to as "the shadows of the Hylians" because of the way that they swore allegiance to the King of Hyrule and have served the royal family as attendants for generations. They passed down valuable lore regarding the sages and the Triforce. The Sheikah were also known as the founders of Kakariko Village, which initially was only a Sheikah village. They seemed to be connected to the Shadow Temple and Kakariko's other supernatural events. The Sheikah also developed the Mask of Truth, which seemed to be capable of peering into people's minds, as well as the Gossip Stones, which collected and revealed various types of information. They also seem to have been involved in the creation of the Lens of Truth.

It was implied that Sheikah people were more active when Hyrule was at war, particularly during the "fierce war" which raged in the decades prior to Ocarina of Time. Ever since Hyrule entered a period of peace, the Sheikah were seen less and were believed to have died out. At least one survived, known as Impa. She acted as a caretaker of the Hyrule Royal Family and Princess Zelda, sealed the shadow beast Bongo-Bongo beneath Kakariko's Well, and she also opened Kakariko Village to the public. Impa acted as a strong ally of Zelda's during her attempts to prevent Ganondorf from entering the Sacred Realm and later helped Zelda to escape Hyrule when Ganondorf staged his coup. When Princess Zelda emerged from hiding, she disguised herself off as a man named Sheik and claimed to be the "survivor of the Sheikah". She even played a traditional Sheikah lyre. As for Impa, she was awakened as the Shadow Sage, serving as the Sheikah representative among the sages.

The Sheikah were later indirectly referred to in Twilight Princess in which they were said to have "dwindled in the prolonged wars" and lived in the Hidden Village, which was referred to as their secret home and "a lonely, forgotten place", during the time when they served the Royal Family in secret. In the time of Twilight Princess, the Hidden Village's only inhabitant was Impaz, who did not seem to be of actual Sheikah descent but was named after the village's founder (in reference to Impa). It was shown that they even passed down legends from the Ooccaa relating to the "messenger from the skies" and passed on the Ancient Sky Book that had been passed down from her ancestors for the wielder of the Dominion Rod.

Breath of the Wild/Tears of the Kingdom

In Breath of the Wild, it was shown that in the distant past, the Sheikah were involved in incredible technological advances in service of Hyrule. They created a device called the Sheikah Slate and a number of machines that could help protect Hyrule from future attacks by Ganon. These machines included the Four Divine Beasts and an army of mechanical Guardians. They also created numerous shrines scattered across Hyrule that could only be used by the hero. Each shrine contained the remains of a Sheikah monk, whose spirit could grant the hero a Spirit Orb to strengthen said hero for their quest. When the Great Calamity occurred, the Guardians and the Divine Beasts played a vital role in weakening Calamity Ganon so that he could be defeated by the hero and sealed away by the princess. An era of nearly ten thousand years of peace followed.

Although the Sheikah's technology was initially praised and considered to be the power of the gods, over time Hyrule came to distrust the Sheikah for their advanced technology and feared that it could be misused to betray Hyrule. And so, most of their technology was buried, and the Sheikah secluded themselves in a mountainous area within Kakariko Village. There, they took up a rural lifestyle. However, some Sheikah opposed this decision. They chose to split off from the Sheikah clan and became known as the Yiga Clan. The Yiga chose to be loyal to Ganon instead and sought to kill all of his enemies, which brought them into conflict with the Sheikah several times.

Breath of the Wild

Around ten thousand years after the Great Calamity, it was believed that Calamity Ganon was going to return. Hyrule's king decided to unearth the Divine Beasts and the Guardians to help in the conflict. The Sheikah worked with Hyrule's royal family on the excavation effort and in helping to understand the long-forgotten technology. The primary Sheikah known to be helping were Impa, Purah and Robbie. However, when the time came for the battle with Calamity Ganon, everything went wrong, as Ganon was able to seize control of all of the Guardians and Divine Beasts. Link was critically wounded and had to be placed in the Shrine of Resurrection to save his life, while Princess Zelda spent a century in Hyrule Castle holding Ganon back with her magic.

Over the next hundred years, the three Sheikah went their separate ways to prevent the possibility of all of them being killed at the same time, so that they could help Link when he awakened. Impa remained at Kakariko Village and became its governing elder, while Purah and Robbie went on to start research labs in different parts of Hyrule, where they conducted various studies that could be helpful for the battle against Calamity Ganon. Upon awakening in the game's present time without his memories, Link had to go to Impa to learn more about his quest and what had happened during the previous battle. He could also seek out the help of both Purah and Robbie.

Tears of the Kingdom

During the several years that passed between Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, Impa retired from her position and appointed Paya as the new chief. Purah and Robbie now actively helped the people of Hyrule with their research, with Purah developing the Purah Pad and Skyview Towers as the successors to some of the ancient Sheikah's technology. Purah was helped by a fellow Sheikah assistant named Josha, and they provided technological aid to the Hyruleans exploring the Depths of Hyrule.

Sheikah Symbol

The Sheikahs are associated with a symbol that resembles an eye with what appears to be a teardrop drooping down with it. This symbol has notably appeared in various games even when there is no Sheikah presence.

• A Link to the Past - Aganhim's robes bear an eye symbol that looks fairly similar to the Sheikah symbol but without the teadrop.
• Ocarina of Time - The eye symbol appears on the clothes of Impa and Sheik, and it is inscribed in various areas of Kakariko Village as well as on the Lens of Truth, the Mask of Truth and the Gossip Stones.
• Majora's Mask - The eye symbol once more appears on the Lens of Truth, the Mask of Truth and the Gossip Stone, and the Sheikah are even mentioned in the Mask of Truth's item description. As these items are found in Termina, this raises the questions of whether or not Sheikah exist in Termina (or could have crossed over from Hyrule). In the 3D remake, the symbol was also seen on Captain Keeta's grave.
• Oracle of Ages - Veran's robes bear a symbol which resembles the Sheikah eye symbol, and she also has Gerudo symbols on her shoulder pads.
• The Wind Waker - A scroll with the eye symbol appears at the Forsaken Fortress, which used to be inhabited by rival pirates of Tetra's crew. It is uncertain whether or not this is supposed to imply that those pirates were connected with the Sheikah. Baito also has a tattoo on his back which resembles the symbol.
• Twilight Princess - Zelda's cloak has a Sheikah eye symbol on them, and Madame Fanadi actually has the eye symbol imprinted on her forehead. The eye symbols are also found on the game's Howling Stones, and Luda's clothes have designs resembling the eye symbol.
• Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks - The eye symbols appear on Gossip Stones within the game.
• Tri Force Heroes - The symbol can be seen on the faces of Totem Armos and the backs of Wall Masters, as well as similar symbols being seen at the Desert Zone's Triforce Gateway in the Den of Trials.
• Breath of the Wild - As the Sheikah are active in this game and play a strong role in the story, the symbol makes several appearances throughout the game. It is featured on the Sheikah Slate and on various terminals created by the Sheikah. Each ancient shrine also has a Sheikah monk bearing the eye symbol, and Paya also has facial markings of the symbol. The enemies of the Sheikah, the Yiga Clan, are shown to use an inverted version of the eye symbol to represent themselves.

In Other Zelda Games

Impa was featured as a playable character in Hyrule Warriors, marking the first time that both Impa and a Sheikah in general have been playable. Sheik also appeared as a playable character. In Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, Impa (a younger version of the Breath of the Wild incarnation) was playable, and Sheikah appeared as NPCs.

Other Appearances

Other Media

• In the Ocarina of Time manga adaptation, Impa appears, and the manga explores the Sheikah's history a bit further. It is said that the Sheikah symbol originally was just an eye, until an incident in which a betrayal resulted in the Sheikah being exiled from Hyrule for a time. This caused them to add the tear to their symbol in order to symbolize the sorrow they felt. Some of the Sheikah's other customs were revealed, such as that young males had their ears pierced.

Trivia

• The name seems to be derived from "sheikh", which is an honorific term in Arabic that is usually used to refer to elders, although it may also originate from a play on the word "seeker".
• The Sheikah are referred to as a Hylian race within the character profiles of Tears of the Kingdom.
• It is uncertain if all incarnations of Impa are of Sheikah descent. Only the versions seen in Ocarina of Time, Skyward Sword and Breath of the Wild are explicitly known to be Sheikah. However, the Impa from A Link Between Worlds mentions being descended from the seven sages, which seems to be referring to the Impa from Ocarina of Time, which would mean that she is at least partially Sheikah.

See Also

• Yiga Clan