Goron

A Goron from Twilight Princess.
Goron
Type	Humanoid
Debut	The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

The Gorons are a race of rocky humanoid creatures that inhabit Death Mountain and mountainous areas from other lands. They have had a recurring presence in the The Legend of Zelda series ever since their first appearance in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

Information

As a race of rocky brown creatures, Gorons are known for their strength and durability. They can punch through most surfaces, walk through lava, and they can also curl their bodies up to roll around at high speeds. Some Gorons possessing magical power can also sprout spikes as they roll. Gorons are also skilled at their own version of sumo wrestling. Their primary weaknesses are their incredible weights, which makes them sinkers in water, and their intolerance for the cold. Despite their abilities, Gorons are usually more of a laidback people and usually use their powers for tunneling and mining. They also pride themselves on senses of brotherhood, although beings of other species usually need to prove themselves before they are accepted as honorary Goron brothers. A Goron's primary diet consists of rocks, and they tend to have a love of hot springs. Their communities are typically built within caves in mountainous areas, and in most games set in Hyrule they specifically reside within Death Mountain.

The Gorons are unusual in that they seem to be all males. Despite that, they have children that seem to grow at a similar rate as humans. Tears of the Kingdom indicated that they were born directly from the earth in some way. Another unusual trait is that some Gorons can grow to giant sizes. Biggoron and Medigoron are examples of these. Biggoron has been depicted with sizes rivaling those of actual mountains. Due to their size, the giant Gorons often make longswords, though they are simple knives from their perspective. One other unexpected skill of the Gorons is their farming skills. Gorons have grown their own special crop, the explosive Bomb Flower, the fruit of which Bombs are made from. Some Gorons are also known for selling their wares as merchants.

History

Pre-Timeline Split

The status of Gorons during the earliest known eras of Hyrule's history are uncertain, as their are no full Goron communities seen in either Skyward Sword or The Minish Cap. In Skyward Sword, only three Gorons appeared, two being wandering archeologists while another maintained the mine cart at the Lanayru Sand Sea's docks. In The Minish Cap, there was a wandering Goron merchant who appeared at Hyrule Village, as one Kinstone fusion sidequest in which multiple Gorons were summoned to help one Goron tunnel through rocks to form a Goron Cave near Lon Lon Ranch. It was said in this game that they once hailed from Mt. Crenel and that their numbers had since diminished. Biggoron also appeared in this game, where he lived by Veil Falls. Death Mountain did not appear in either of those games, so it is possible that Goron communities were living there during those times, but this remains unconfirmed.

During the time of Ocarina of Time, Gorons were primarily living within Goron City, a community built within some of Death Mountain's caves. They searched for sirloin rocks from the nearby Dodongo's Cavern. These Gorons had a proud history, which included a Goron hero who was known for vanquishing the evil dragon Volvagia. Their leader was Darunia, who was descended from the legendary Goron hero. The Gorons had also been entrusted with a Hyrulean treasure, the Goron's Ruby, which was one of the keys to opening the Door of Time to access the Master Sword and the Triforce's resting place in the Sacred Realm.

The events of Ocarina of Time occurred only in the Adult and Downfall Timelines. In both of these timelines, Ganondorf attempted to pressure Darunia into surrendering the Goron's Ruby by filling the Dodongo's Cavern with Dodongos and blocking its entrance with a giant boulder, to keep the Gorons from reaching the rocks that they craved. Link would later undo those actions of Ganondorf's, earning him the Goron's Ruby and their brotherhood. In the seven years that Ganondorf ruled Hyrule, he revived Volvagia, and most of Goron City's population were imprisoned in the Fire Temple to be fed to the dragon. This was to serve as an example for the population of Hyrule. Link liberated the Gorons and defeated Volvagia. As for Darunia, he was awakened as one of the six sages, the Sage of Fire.

Downfall Timeline

Within this timeline, the fate of Hyrule's Gorons are unknown beyond the role that they played in Ocarina of Time. From an out-of-universe perspective, this is partly because most of the games in this timeline are ones that were made prior to the creation of the Gorons, but they were also excluded from the more recent A Link Between Worlds, although they were referenced in the form of Rosso wearing a belt bearing their emblem. The backstory of the Japanese version of A Link to the Past did also mention the graves of a high mountain people, which could be referring to them. It was possible that the Gorons of Hyrule died out and/or migrated to other lands in this timeline.

Within the Oracle games, Gorons communities were shown in other lands. In Seasons, they were shown to live at Goron Mountain in Holodrum, while in Oracles of Ages, Gorons resided at Rolling Ridge in Labrynna. Like the Gorons of Hyrule, the Gorons of Rolling Ridge were famed for producing Bomb Flowers and faced a crisis when the Great Moblin stole theirs, until Link defeated him. Link also traveled back in time and used a Bomb Flower to save a Goron Elder who was pinned under rubble, which retroactively inspired Rolling Ridge's Bomb Flower-growing community. These Gorons were also known for running a variety of minigames, including a dance hall, a shooting gallery and the Big Bang (which consists of dodging falling bombs). Additionally, though they did not appear in Tri Force Heroes, some items related to the Gorons could be obtained, such as the Goron Ore and the Goron Garb, the latter of which was a wearable outfit based on Darunia's appearance.

Adult Timeline

In this timeline, Hyrule was flooded by the goddesses and became the Great Sea. The former inhabitants of Hyrule lived on islands in the sea. No Goron community appeared during The Wind Waker, and only three Goron merchants made appearances. They were found on rafts at several islands and could end up giving Link one of several flowers as part of a trading sidequest. Its follow-up game, Phantom Hourglass, showed a tribe of Gorons living on Goron Island, There they protected the sacred metal crimsonine, which was kept within the Goron Temple. Due to not being part of the tribe, Link was only allowed to go after the crimsonine after answering a series of questions based on trivia around the island and then paying an expensive fee of Rupees (which was equal to the amount of Rupees that Link was given as a reward for solving the quiz). This Goron tribe was lead by a new version of Biggoron, who sent his son Gongoron to escort Link through the temple. Gorons were also seen running a minigame on Dee Es Island within the game.

Over a century later, a tribe of Gorons was also shown to have settled in at the new Hyrule in Spirit Tracks. They lived in a Goron Village within the Fire Realm, in the shadow of a volcanic mountain. They were shown to worship an unspecified goddess of the volcano.

Child Timeline

In the alternate world of Termina that was visited in Majora's Mask, Gorons lived high up in the northern mountain, which was known as Snowhead. They had a popular racetrack there. The Skull Kid tormented them by bringing a deadly winter upon the mountain in the middle of their springtime. Many Gorons froze to death, and even the great Goron hero Darmani was killed. Ultimately, Link managed to undo the winter and saved those Gorons. To do so, he channeled Darmani's spirit in the form of a Goron Mask that allowed him to transform into a Goron.

As for Hyrule's Gorons, they were still living in Death Mountain in Twilight Princess. During this time, they were led by Darbus and a council of four very old Goron Elders. The councilmen were known for being very stubborn and preferred to solve their own problems. However, Link earned their trust by besting several of them in sumo matches and saved Darbus after he was transformed into the shadow monster Fyrus by a Fused Shadow. The Gorons came to respect Link and went out of their way to help him later on. They also enjoyed basking in the nearby hot springs. True to their heritage, several of the Gorons traveled to Hyrule Castle Town to sell their wares.

Gorons also appeared at Death Mountain in Four Swords Adventures, where they suffered from attacks by the Helmaroc King and provided the Links with tips on how to defeat it. Another Goron attempted to travel into the Tower of Flames to fight the Dodongos, only to accidentally drop his bombs into the lava.

Unknown Timeline

Gorons lived in another version of Goron City located at Death Mountain in Breath of the Wild. Their local Boss was an elderly Goron named Bludo, who was known for having a notoriously bad back. At the city, several of the Gorons sold the usual wares, and there was also a local smithy. Some of Gorons instead worked as miners, operating out of a northern and southern mine. The mining Gorons worked all day and rested at night. Near Death Mountain, there was also a group of Gorons called the Goron Blood Brothers who ran a mountain-climbing competition called the Gut Check Challenge. There were also several Gorons who traveled to other parts of Hyrule, including one Goron who was admitted into Gerudo Town due to being mistaken for a woman.

The Gorons were associated with one of the Four Divine Beasts, the lizard-like Vah Rudania. A hundred years before the game's events, Daruk was chosen as the Goron Champion to pilot the Divine Beast. However, Calamity Ganon ultimately took control of Vah Rudania and killed Daruk. During the present day, the possessed Vah Rudania caused trouble for the Gorons from the summit of Death Mountain, preventing Gorons from working at the more profitable northern mine. During the game's events, Link was able to enter Vah Rudania with some help from Yunobo, Daruk's descendant, and he managed to reclaim Vah Rudania for Daruk's spirit. In Tears of the Kingdom, Yunobo had founded his own mining company called YunoboCo, but the Gorons were plagued by the spread of a marbled rock roast that had effects on the Gorons' minds, although the children and elderly were immune. It made their eyes glow red and made them rude and lazy, such that the only things they wanted to do were to eat more marbled rock roast and con travelers out of money. Yunobo had been tricked into wearing a mask that put him under the influence of a fake Zelda who had him focus only on finding more marbled rock roast. Link ultimately saved Yunobo and destroyed the source of the marbled rock roast, which freed the Gorons from its influence. This also involved the discovery of Gorondia, an ancient Goron city found in the Depths of Hyrule. Yunobo was awakened as a Sage of Fire in the process.

In Other Zelda Games

The Gorons from Twilight Princess appeared in Link's Crossbow Training, where they held up targets in a target practice level. In Hyrule Warriors, Gorons appeared among the types of soldiers who could be used in battle, and Darunia appeared as a playable character. The types of Goron units consisted of normal Gorons, Goron Bombardiers (who used bombs and rocks as weapons) and armored Goron Captains, some of whom could act as Bombchu Operators. Additionally, Darunia had alternate skins that referenced other Goron characters. In Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, Gorons appeared as ally characters during battle, with Daruk and Yunobo being playable.

Other Appearances

Video Games

• The Gorons have their own trophy in Super Smash Bros. Melee, Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, as well as a sticker in Brawl and a Spirit in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. The Goron's Spirit is a Novice-rank Support Spirit that increases the player fighter's resistance to fire and explosion attacks. When fought against in a Spirit battle, the Goron's Spirit will possess a larger version of Donkey Kong with a focus on dash attacks.
• It is possible to create Gorons in Scribblenauts Unlimited.
• In Sonic Lost World, Gorons appeared as enemies in a Zelda-based DLC level called The Legend of Zelda Zone.
• In Cadence of Hyrule, a single Goron appeared in a cave within the forest area, where he sold bomb-related items. He also had a "bomb cone", which seems to be an equivalent of an ice cream cone that has bombs instead of ice cream.

Trivia

• "Goron" is derived from "gorogoro", a Japanese onomatopoeia that is used for the sound of something heavy rolling.
• A Goron Mask is available in Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask. The one in Ocarina is a normal mask, but is capable of fooling Gorons. The one in Majora's Mask contains Darmani's soul and transforms Link into a Goron.
• Gorons have been playable twice in the main series: in Majora's Mask when Link transforms using a Goron Mask and in Phantom Hourglass when the player can control Gongoron during the Goron Temple. Outside of the main/canon games, Darunia has also been playable in Hyrule Warriors, along with Daruk and Yunobo in Age of Calamity.
• The existence of the Gorons is vaguely hinted at in the The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past's instruction manual, which mentions an ancient race of mountain people.