Gerudo
| |
| Nabooru, a member of the Gerudo Tribe. | |
| Gerudo | |
| Type | Human variation |
| Debut | The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time |
The Gerudo are a race of humans consisting only of women that appear in several installments of the Zelda series. The Gerudo are known to give birth to only one male every century, with the only known example of this being the series' main villain, Ganondorf.
Information
The Gerudo race consists purely of women, all of whom have red hair and tan skin. They are also usually very tall and physically capable. It is said that one Gerudo male is born every hundred years. He is appointed king and revered by other Gerudo. Even though they worship their king, the Gerudo seem to look down upon other men and reject most outsiders. Regardless, they have been known to travel into town to seek out men to procreate with, and some of them are less harsh than others.
Most Gerudo are experienced warriors who train to skillfully wield scimitars and other bladed weapons in battle. The Gerudo have been known to work primarily as thieves. This may be due to the harsh life that they seem to live in the desert. Some Gerudo also have exhibited powerful magical talent: in particular Ganondorf and the two elderly witches who raised him, Twinrova.
In Breath of the Wild, they were shown to revere and raise creatures known as sand seals. These sand seals were used for racing and for fortune telling, with sand seal races being considered to be a proud Gerudo tradition. It was also mentioned that some Gerudo were open to the idea of repealing the law banning men, but younger Gerudos preferred the law, because it gave them a reason to leave town and explore the outside world.
Language
The Gerudo have been shown to have a written language since Ocarina of Time, but words from their spoken language was introduced in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Several words, terms and phrases were shown within the game.
Appearances
Ocarina of Time
In Ocarina of Time, they lived in a part of the desert called the Gerudo Valley. There they had their own fortress, training ground and horseback archery range, as the Gerudo people respected those who were skilled at horseback riding and archery. They offered Ice Arrows to those who could pass the trials of the Gerudo Training Grounds. The Gerudos also worshiped at the Spirit Temple located in the Desert Colossus. Their king was Ganondorf, who had been raised by Twinrova and who led the Gerudos to perform more cruel acts. While Gerudos usually stole primarily from men, Ganondorf targeted women and children as well. Nabooru refused to bow to him and attempted a rebellion, but Twinrova captured her and brainwashed her to serve as an Iron Knuckle enforcer. It was implied through their models (as zooming into Iron Knuckles' masks from the right angle revealed unique Gerudo faces underneath) that the same fate befell other Gerudos.
Ganondorf conquered Hyrule and ruled it for seven years, and the brainwashed Nabooru was his puppet of a second-in-command. During this time, the Gerudos destroyed the bridge back to Hyrule. Four of Mutoh's carpenters came to their fortress and wanted to join the thieves, but the Gerudo did not want to even humor them and locked them away. Link managed to sneak in and save them all, fighting several Gerudos in the process. The Gerudo in charge there was impressed enough with his skills that she gave him a membership card, emphasizing that she never had expected to be impressed with any man who was not Ganondorf. Link was also able to rescue Nabooru at the Spirit Temple, at which point she was awakened as the Spirit Sage and became the Gerudo representative among the sages. Following Ganondorf's downfall, several Gerudo were seen attending the festivities at Lon Lon Ranch, despite their prior support of Ganondorf.
Majora's Mask
In Termina, the Gerudos instead lived as pirates operating out of a fortress located at the Great Bay. Little is known about their culture and how it compared with Hyrule's Gerudos, but they did seem to be more straightforwardly ruthless. Within the game, the Skull Kid manipulated the Gerudos into stealing the Zora eggs from Lulu and promised that they could find great treasure. After stealing the eggs, three of them wind up being dropped at Pinnacle Rock. Their leader, Aveil, sent out some pirates to retrieve them. Link once more was able to sneak around the Gerudos and battled some of them to retrieve the Zora eggs. A group of Gerudos tried sailing to the Great Bay Temple, but they were swept away by a small storm. The ending showed them to be alive (although it could have been a different boat of Gerudo), and the Gerudo pirates seemed to be continuing their operations.
Four Swords Adventures
The Gerudo tribe lived in a village within the Desert of Doubt and were very unlike the earlier portrayal. They were described as trustworthy and pure of heart, and they did not seem to work as thieves. These Gerudos considered the Pyramid to be sacred and protected it. It was implied that they also built the Desert Temple to keep people from reaching the Pyramid. Ganondorf was born to these Gerudos. Even though their laws said that the one male born to them would become "the mighty guardian of the Gerudo and the desert", the Gerudos seemed to be aware from the beginning that this Ganondorf was no good. He betrayed their law by leaving to visit the pyramid, so the Gerudos considered him to be a criminal and spoke bitterly about him. The Gerudo village had a female elder who told the Links about Ganondorf and allowed them to pass onward.
Breath of the Wild
The Gerudo lived in the Gerudo Desert, within a settlement known as Gerudo Town. Within the game's backstory, the Gerudo were among the races who provided Champions to pilot one of the four Divine Beasts. The Divine Beast assigned to the Gerudo was the elephant-like Vah Naboris, and a Gerudo chief named Urbosa was appointed as the Champion to pilot it. However, the Divine Beasts were taken by Ganon, which led to the deaths of Urbosa and the other champions.
In the present time, the Gerudo chief was a young woman named Riju, who ascended to the position early following the death of her mother. The town had laws prohibited men from enter, and even the selling of men's clothing was forbidden. Link could only enter the town by disguising himself as a Gerudo. The only other male to make it into the town was a Goron, who himself was confused about how he made it in. The town contained a lively marketplace containing a variety of outdoor shops (and a hidden indoors shop which secretly sold male clothing), a bar and sand seal rentals. There was also a classroom where Gerudo women could receive education about men and how to connect with them, and there were also Gerudo warriors who trained at the barracks and served Riju. Just outside of town, Gerudos also hand sand seal races.
Within the game, the Gerudo clan faced trouble from both the activity of the corrupted Vah Naboris and a conflict with the Yiga Clan, who managed to steal a valuable heirloom called the Thunder Helm from the Gerudo.
There were also several individual Gerudos who appeared in other areas of Hyrule, and some sidequests involved helping Gerudos to find men.
Other Games
The Gerudo are oddly absent from other games, aside from appearances by Ganondorf and Twinrova, vague references to Ganondorf's people and some other possible inferences. In Twilight Princess, the desert was called the Gerudo Desert, despite the distinct lack of a Gerudo presence. Telma's physical appearance was similar to that of a Gerudo, but it was never confirmed if she was actually of Gerudo heritage. The Gerudo symbol is also worn by Ganondorf in most of his later appearances, and some enemies such as General Onox and Zant have versions of the symbol on their costumes, either due to their allegiance with Ganon or possible ties with the Gerudos.
Trivia
- The phrasing "gerudo" had been used in the name of other creatures prior to Ocarina of Time, particularly in the Japanese names for the Geldman and Geldarm. This seems to indicate that within the context of this series, "gerudo" means some connection to the desert, as it is the one thing they all have in common.
- In Ocarina of Time, a Gerudo Mask is among the masks that Link can borrow from the Happy Mask shop. It fools a variety of weak-minded people who are either horrified or excited to meet a Gerudo, but the actual Gerudo are too sharp to fall for it.
- The Gerudo's symbol originally had a type of star and sickle design. However, Islamic groups complained due to its resemblance to a real life symbol, so it was changed to a new design in Majora's Mask and all future versions of Ocarina of Time.
- Ganondorf and Twinrova notably have long lifespans that have lasted centuries. It is uncertain how normal this is for the Gerudo people, as as those particular people were enhanced by the Triforce of Power and magical powers respectively.
- In Hyrule Warriors, no Gerudo appear aside from Ganondorf, although he does refer to himself as a Gerudo warrior at one point, and the desert stage is called the Gerudo Desert.