The Goddess Hylia

:Hylia redirects here. For other uses, see Hylia (Disambiguation).
 (pronounced ) is a recurring character in the . She is said to be the opposite of the Horned God (later known as the Horned Statue)."As there is the Goddess of light, then it follows that she would have an opposite— the horned god." — Jerrin (Tears of the Kingdom) Beginning as a divine entity, she was later reborn into a mortal form as the first , making her the true ancestor to the .
==Biography ==
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Long ago, was entrusted with the protection of the after the created the world. She held that duty throughout the . Then one day, the Demon King and his suddenly appeared from a fissure beneath the ground, and began attacking the people on the in an attempt to seize the and rule the world. To protect her people as well as the Triforce, Hylia gathered the surviving Hylians on an outcrop of earth and sent them into the sky away from danger along with the , which was secretly hidden in the outcrop's , and created a to separate the from the world below. With the surviving Hylians safe above the clouds, the Goddess rallied the remaining surface tribes which include the Gorons, Kikwi, Parella, Mogma and the Ancient Robots to battle and his forces. Wielding the , she eventually defeated and sealed him away in , which would come to be known as the centuries later, restoring peace to the land.
However, Hylia had suffered grave injuries during the war, and also knew that the seal would not hold the Demon King forever. To combat this, she made several preparations for 's inevitable return. She created , a spirit that would reside in the , and gave her the purpose of assisting the throughout his future journey, and also left several messages for the Chosen Hero to guide him on his quest. Additionally, she created several trials held in the that would test the Chosen Hero's , , and , and left gifts to help her Chosen Hero find their way to the in order to empower the into the . She also created the , which housed three that would open the way to each of these trials. Furthermore, she left behind the , which would be used later by her mortal incarnation and the Chosen Hero. She created the goddess walls to help her chosen hero.
 also appointed three to protect the regions of the : to watch over , to watch over , and to watch over . She also appointed the spirit as warden of the . Each of them were left with a part of the , a melody that would unlock the Chosen Hero's final trial. She entrusted them to teach the Chosen Hero their part of the , since should the Chosen Hero succeed in completing the last trial, the path to the would open to them. Her final action was to willingly shed her divinity and power in order to transfer her soul to the body of a mortal, so that she could use the power of the when the time came, presumably perishing in the process.
Centuries later during the , Hylia is reborn on as a mortal girl named Zelda. She was born with no memory of her previous existence as the Goddess, and as such was not aware of her true nature. One day while flying with , the eventual Chosen Hero, after the Wing Ceremony, she is tossed out of the onto the by a massive tornado summoned by the Demon Lord . She is found and rescued from capture by shortly after, who helps her remember her previous life as the Goddess as well as her original purpose. With the help of , who was sent out to help her at her own request centuries prior, sets out to pray at the located in each across the to purify her body, gradually gaining more memories of her previous existence.
At the , gives the before travelling with through the temple's to escape from a surprise attack by . To prevent the Demon Lord from following them, destroys the . The two arrive a thousand years into the past, and make their way to the Temple of Hylia, where they await 's arrival. When he arrives later, Zelda explains to him her true nature as the mortal reincarnation of , and blesses the with her power.
However, as the living embodiment of , stays in the past to ensure that remains imprisoned. She apologizes to for involving him in the war against , explaining that Hylia needed someone with an "unbreakable spirit" and that she took advantage of 's motivation to save . Despite being unaware of this plan, still feels remorseful and decides that she must atone. She seals herself into an amber crystal and falls into a deep slumber for a thousand years, but not before she gives one final task: to find the and use it to destroy once and for all.
After successfully uses the to destroy , awakens from her millennium-long slumber and the two are finally reunited. The reunion is short-lived however, as attacks and takes Zelda through the , with the goal of using her soul to revive the in the past. As follows him, orders his troops to keep him at bay while he begins the ritual, but manages to reach and defeat him. However, the ritual had continued during the fight, and is freed as before absorbing 's soul and returning to his true form. 
During the final battle between and , 's comatose body is kept safe within the . successfully defeats and seals within the , and 's soul returns to her and she recovers. With peace returned to the land and the war finally over, Zelda and Link return to the present. Later, while enjoying the view from atop the , tells that she had fantasized about the for so long and decides that she wants to live there permanently, and asks if he would like to do the same.
For her selfless acts to protect the who bear her name, is among the most praised and beloved deities in all of Hyrule. The descendants of her mortal incarnation would go on to establish the kingdom of Hyrule upon the in the , their bloodline becoming the long-lasting . There is a tradition for women born into the royal bloodline to be named "Zelda" after her mortal embodiment.
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Although Hylia herself does not make a physical appearance in , there are a multitude of and monuments dedicated to her across , and several locations are named after her such as . The that created the also seem to worship her and claim to have been blessed with her sight. The horned statue claims that the Goddess was displeased with his life-for-money deals and turned him into a statue long long before the Era of the Wilds."A dealer in life and power... That was me, once. Alas, my life-for-money bargains didn't sit well with the Goddess Hylia. She trapped me in this stone statue long, long ago." — Horned Statue (Breath of the Wild)
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Around five or six years after the Great Calamity, The Horned Statue claims that the goddess still has some amount of agency in the world, as she was able to have him sent to a pond and then in a sealed off cave close to the royal family's emergency shelter. Jerrin claims to know a bit about demon statues, stating from an unknown source that the statue was "A dealer in life and power touched by the wrath of the Goddess, fallen to ruin." She goes on to claim that the Horned Statue is the opposite of Hylia"As there is the Goddess of light, then it follows that she would have an opposite— the horned god." — Jerrin (Tears of the Kingdom), a being once known as the Horned God, that both entities cannot exist without the other, and that their power manifests through the other's existence"Like light and dark, one cannot exist without the other—their power manifests through the other's existence." — Jerrin (Tears of the Kingdom). 
==Other Appearances ==
=== (Himekawa)===
In the , the Goddess Hylia makes an appearance as the deuteragonist.
As Hylia's Chosen Hero is readying himself to battle against Demise and his army, the Goddess Hylia suddenly appears in person, riding on an old Loftwing. Link reveals himself as the Knight of Hylia and the hero whom they sought. He claims that, although humans may seem small in the eyes of the gods, there are those among them who possess great courage. Hylia acknowledges her knight's unmatched valiance and honor and proclaims him her chosen hero. She then allows him to wield her legendary weapon brought by the gods, the Master Sword. However, the hero claims that he could not touch a holy sword, thinking that he is impure because he was imprisoned for years. Despite this, Hylia says that the Master Sword will decide whether he is impure or not, and asks him for his choice; to seek revenge on the surface's people who imprisoned him or to save the world from its terrible fate. Hylia's Chosen Hero decides that he will always stand with his friends and accepts the Master Sword from the goddess. After reforging the sword, the hero agrees to lead the Goddess's army against the invading demons, but is mortally wounded in an encounter with Demise. With no other choice, Hylia and the hero use the power of the Master Sword to send the earth surrounding the castle into The Sky. With the humans and the Triforce safe in The Sky, Hylia proceeds to fight Demise and seals him away. After the battle, she sees her Chosen Hero lying dead on the ground, having succumbed to his wounds. Filled with grief, Hylia promises that his spirit will eternally live on and resolves to discard her divinity so that she may be with the Chosen Hero as a mortal.
==Trivia ==
* Characters from previous Zelda titles have mentioned Hylia. In , one of the Maidens refers to the Royal Family as "the royalty of Hylia." Shad from names Hylians "the people of Hylia." In these contexts, however, "Hylia" simply refers to the land of the Hylians.
*Tucked away deep inside a cave, in the Tantari Desert of , is the Trophy. This "trophy" resembles a winged, angelic figure depicted in the same pose as later Goddess Statues.
* Hylia's role as the ancestor of the Royal Family of Hyrule is similar to how Japan's imperial family is traditionally claimed to be descended from the Japanese sun goddess Amaterasu. 
**In addition, her rivalry with Demise might be inspired by Amaterasu's rivalry with her brother, Susanoo.
==Nomenclature==
==Gallery==
File:Hylia Tile.png|Depiction of Hylia in the Statue of the Goddess from 
File:Hylia Sword.png|Depiction of Hylia holding the Goddess Sword from 
File:BotW Mini Statue of Goddess Hylia.png|Mini Statue of the Goddess Hylia from 
File:O82LH.jpg|The Goddess Hylia on the cover of the manga
File:Hylia in manga.png|The Goddess Hylia's appearance in the manga
File:Hyliaface.png|Hylia's close up face from the manga
File:Hyliacarryingherchosenhero.png|Hylia carrying her chosen hero from the manga
de:Hylia
es:Diosa Hylia
fr:Hylia (Déesse)
it:Hylia
ja:女神ハイリア
pt-br:Hylia
zh-tw:海利亞
Category:Female characters