Royal Family of Hyrule

:"Royal Family" redirects here. For the royal families of , see and .
The , also known as the , is a long-running bloodline in . The Royal Family of Hyrule was established following the Era of Chaos, many years after the events of . Descended from the Goddess Hylia, who was reborn as the first incarnation of Zelda, the Royal Family consists of numerous kings and queens, a Prince of Hyrule and many princesses who share the title of Princess Zelda (some of which have also become queen). Keeping a close contact with the other leaders and races within the Kingdom of Hyrule, they rule over the land with the most prominent authority.
Throughout their long history, the Royal Family of Hyrule passed down many powers and sacred objects, including the magical abilities that they inherited from their ancestor Hylia, the Light Force, the Goddess's Harp, the Triforce of Wisdom and the . Others things passed down within the family include the legend of the Sacred Realm and the Picori. They maintain contact with the sky beings known as the Oocca, who are said to have helped in the early development of Hyrule, assisting in the construction of the to protect the entrance to the Sacred Realm, the family watching over the temple until it falls into ruin. They also held Picori Blade in their possession between the and the events of , sponsoring a yearly sword-fighting tournament in which the winner was granted permission to touch the sword in a ceremony outside of Hyrule Castle.
Members of the Royal Family live within the various incarnations of Hyrule Castle and are known to be buried within Hyrule Castle Graveyard and a Royal Tomb located in a graveyard behind Kakariko Village. For many generations, they have been protected by their ancestor's chosen guardians: the mysterious Sheikah tribe. Their crest is a newer variation of the Goddess Crest used to represent the goddess Hylia. The crest depicts a Loftwing, alone the symbol of Skyloft, and the sacred relic of the Golden Goddesses: the Triforce.
Gustaf, King Daltus and King Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule are often noted as important rulers.
With the history of Hyrule splitting and taking three different paths after the events of , the historical appearances of the Royal Family of Hyrule also splits, giving them three different destinies over the course of the three histories.
==Unified Timeline==
Prior to the events of , there was only one timeline containing the events of , and .
======
Although the Royal Family of Hyrule is not yet established during the events of , their ancestor Hylia, reborn as the first Zelda, and her father Gaepora are present. Her descendants inherited her magical abilities that she had as the Goddess Hylia.
======
During the events of , the Hylian Royal Family only has two known living members: King Daltus and the Princess Zelda of the time. The Royal Valley is said to be the place where the deceased members are buried. Gustaf is found here, along with unnamed members. The Princess and Link are childhood friends, while King Daltus is old friends with Link's relative, Smith. The Royal Family are the only ones who know the truth about the Picori.
======
In , very little is known about the Royal Family other than all princess bearing the title of Zelda now watch over Four Sword Sanctuary, where the Four Sword now rests. 
======
 is set approximately 10 years after an unknown King of Hyrule unified the country during the Hyrulean Civil War. The Sheikah, the Zora, and the Goron races have sworn fealty to the Royal Family. The Zora have formed an alliance with the Royal family, even allowing the flow of the river to stop for the King's messenger, and Darunia considers the King to be his "sworn brother." Still ruling the kingdom but never seen, he dismisses the predictions of his daughter about Hyrule being taken over by the Gerudo thief Ganondorf to be untrue. 
When the Hero of Time awakens from his seven-year sleep in the Sacred Realm, Hyrule Castle is long since destroyed, replaced by Ganon's Castle, and Hyrule has been taken over by Ganondorf. With the exception of Princess Zelda, whether or not the king, or any other unseen members of the Royal Family at the time, were killed or went into hiding remains unknown.
Sometime prior to the events of the game, the Composer Brothers of Kakariko Graveyard composed songs for the Royal Family of Hyrule. Also during their lifetime, their sercret mission was to investigate the mysterious powers that the family had inherited. 
==Downfall Timeline==
The Downfall Timeline is the timeline in which Link, the Hero of Time, despite his best efforts, was defeated by Ganondorf in the final battle. This turn of events created the timeline containing , and , , , , The Legend of Zelda, and . Having defeated the Hero of Time, Ganondorf now possessed the full Triforce. He was subsequently sealed within the Dark World by Zelda and the other awakened sages, taking the Triforce with him. During a short period of peace, various people began to enter the corrupted Sacred Realm, not to return. Evil began to flow forth from the seal, and so the King of Hyrule ordered Seven Sages to close the entrance to the realm once more. This event came to be known as the Imprisoning War.
======
After a period of misfortune for the kingdom of Hyrule, the King of Hyrule offered a reward to the one who could end these troubles. A mysterious wizard known as Agahnim soon arrived and ended those troubles with his sorcery, being declared a hero by the King and given the position to be his chief advisor. Agahnim used this position as a means to brainwash the soldiers of Hyrule and take over Hyrule Castle. He sent the descendants of the Seven Sages from the Imprisoning War into the Dark Wold, the last being the current Princess Zelda. During this time, he killed the King of Hyrule, reducing him to a skeleton. He is later revealed to be a pawn of Ganon, who once again plans to take over the kingdom. When the current Link defeats him in the Dark World, he makes a wish upon the Triforce for it to restore Hyrule to its former condition, bringing the King of Hyrule back to life and spawning Hyrule's Golden Era.
=== and ===
Taking place shortly after the events of but within the lands of Holodrum and Labrynna, the Hylian Royal family has only a minimal role in the storyline. The same Princess Zelda from does appear in the password-linked quest, however. The inhabitants of the two lands seem to have no royal government in the present day, although Queen Ambi of Labrynna's past presides over the land. The royalty of Labrynna appear to have no direct connection to that of Hyrule, however.
======
Princess Zelda once again makes a appearance as the main figure of the royal family in this game. A past princess, the one from link to the past, is depicted on a painting portraying the history of Hyrule, along with Ganons rise and fall.
===The Golden Era===
In the backstory for , set during the Golden Era when the Kingdom of Hyrule was still unified, a wise king ruled over the land using the Triforce. Unfortunately, this wise king passed away, and his son and heir could only inherit the Triforce in part, because the king did not believe he possessed the necessary qualities. So the king hid the Triforce of Courage away in the Great Palace until someone with special inborn qualities could find it. The young prince was swayed by the counsel of a corrupt wizard, who told him that his sister, Princess Zelda, was hiding the missing pieces. The prince interrogated the princess, but she would reveal nothing. In retaliation, the wizard cast a spell over Zelda, causing her to fall into an eternal sleep. The prince, stricken with guilt, issued a decree that all females born into the royal household were to be named Zelda by law and not tradition in honor of his sister.
This marked the end of the Golden Era and began the Era of Decline, where Hyrule as a kingdom began to diminish in size and power over time.
======
In , set during the Era of Decline that followed Hyrule's Golden Era, the Hylian Royal Family is responsible for guarding the Triforce of Wisdom. When a revived Ganon attacked, the young princess Zelda of this era broke it into eight pieces and hid them, an act for which she was imprisoned by Ganon. Her loyal servant, an elderly Sheikah named , manages to escape imprisonment and request help from .
======
Despite many generations having passed since the tragedy of the Sleeping Zelda that marked the end of Hyrule's Golden Era and the law that made is so that every princess thereafter must be called Zelda. The only known person known to carry on knowledge of that legend is the elderly Impa from the previous game, who tells Link the legend and helps him awaken the ancient sleeping princess. The young hero goes on to successfully find the hidden Triforce of Courage and awaken the princess. 
==Child Timeline==
After having been sent back to his childhood by the adult Princess Zelda of , the Hero of Time began a new history in which Ganondorf never destroyed Hyrule Castle and failed to take over the kingdom for seven years. He warned the current King of Hyrule and the child Zelda of the tragic future that awaited the kingdom if nothing was to be done. He gains the Royal Family's trust and subsequently spends an undisclosed period of time with Zelda, after which she then gives him the Ocarina of Time as a farewell gift on his journey to look for his friend Navi. With knowledge of Ganondorf's actions, he was to be executed by the six sages atop Arbiter's Grounds, a prison for Hyrule's most notorious criminals. Through unknown means, the Triforce of Power appeared on his hand, allowing him to avoid the execution and kill one of the sages. He was then banished to the Twilight Realm as a last resort.
This timeline contains the events of , and .
======
Despite not physically appearing, Princess Zelda is shown in a flashback handing Link the Ocarina of Time.
======
In , the Princess Zelda of the time appears to be the only living member of the Royal Family of Hyrule, as seen in her flashback scene at the throne during Zant's attack. During the events of the game, Zant, the so-called "King of Twilight" working for Ganondorf, overpowers the knights of Hyrule Castle and gives Zelda a choice for the life or death of her kingdom. She chose the former, resulting in the kingdom being covered in twilight. The castle was later destroyed after the battle with Beast Ganon, and Zelda helps Link combat Ganondorf on horseback. During the ending sequence, the throne room of Hyrule Castle is shown again in its full glory.
======
In , the current Princess Zelda is the only member seen, and precides over the seal of the Four Sword with the six Shrine Maidens.
==Adult Timeline==
In this timeline, Ganon is defeated by the Hero of Time and is subsequently sealed within the Dark World by the Seven Sages. This timeline contains the events of , and .
======
Sometime after the sealing of Ganondorf in the Adult Timeline, he eventually broke of his seal and once again terrorized Hyrule. With the Hero of Time nowhere to be found, and the end of all hope for the land in sight, the three goddesses who created the world ordered that the inhabitants of Hyrule move to the mountaintops. They sealed the land away and buried it beneath an ocean that came to be known as the Great Sea. Hundreds of years passed, but the blood of the Royal Family continued to live on, carrying the Triforce of Wisdom down its line. After her mother passed away prior to the events of , the last remaining descendant of the Royal Family, Tetra, was completely unaware of her heritage. The last King of Hyrule, Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule, reveals her true identity as a member of the family to her by uniting the two pieces of the Triforce of Wisdom that they both held. The king tells her that she is the last link in the dying bloodline and that Ganondorf must be defeated if the sealed Hyrule is to be saved.
Defeated once more, with the Master Sword plunged into his forehead, Ganondorf fails to take over Hyrule. Unfortunately, Daphnes had already made a wish on the completed Triforce to break to seal on Hyrule and wash it away beneath the ocean. He had also wished for Link, the Hero of Winds and successor of the Hero of Time, and Tetra, to have a hopeful future and find a new kingdom to call their own. With this, Hyrule was flooded and Daphnes perished after bidding them farewell. The Royal Family's bloodline would continue on.
======
Set shortly after the events of . Tetra, her pirate crew, and the Hero of Winds are still voyaging to find a new land that will succeed the kingdom of old.
======
When Tetra and her pirate crew discover a new land, they meet the Lokomo known as Anjean. She entrusts Tetra with the Spirit Flute in return for her and her descendants vowing to protect the land, which came to be known as Hyrule, or "New Hyrule" in . One hundred years later, the Princess Zelda of the time, said to be the granddaughter of Tetra, is the only known living descendant of the Royal Family. 
The new Royal Family take on a similar role to their ancestors, guarding a land called Hyrule and living in a Hyrule Castle with knights. Chancellor Cole serves as the royal adviser of the princess.
==Great Calamity Timeline==
======
In this Era of Hyrule, the Royal Family would be reduced to a single member, Princess Zelda after the destruction the Great Calamity brought to the Kingdom and Royal family. The calamity killed King Rhoam. Zelda's mother, an unnamed character, would die to an illness when Zelda was very young. This faltered Zelda's ability to unlock and use her power of Light and Time. King Rhoam decided that it would be best to have protection while she studied on how to unlock her power for when the Great Calamity was prophesized to return. She visited all three springs of Power, Courage, and Wisdom but still couldn't unlock her power when the Calamity suddenly awoke and caught Hyrule off guard. She returned to Hyrule Castle likely finding her father already dead. She then learned about the deaths of the four champions she had chosen to pilot the divine beasts. She felt responsible but still couldn't unlock her power until Link was too weak to continue fighting. Her power unlocked and she was able to deactivate a guardian before it could kill them. Link then collapsed and Zelda rushes to his side unsure of what to do until the Master Sword speaks to her and gives her instructions, she then commanded two Shiekah members to take Link to the Shrine of Resurrection on the Great Plateau to rest and recover while she held the Calamity at bay. After this time for 100 years, many assumed the princess was killed and the royal family was no more. It wasn't until the Calamity was defeated that Zelda was proven the be alive. She then became the sole leader of Hyrule. 
=== Tears of the Kingdom ===
A woman from the family named Sonia would wed a Zonai, Rauru, and together they would found the Kingdom of Hyrule as the first Queen and King. Therefore in addition to being descended from Hylia, the Royal Family also has Zonai blood. Upon traveling to the ancient past of Hyrule's founding, Zelda became a honorary member of the Royal Family after she was able to prove that she was indeed not only from the future but a descendant of King Rauru and Queen Sonia which made her royalty. Her actions in the past may very well be the reason why it was a tradition in the Royal Family to name your first born daughter "Zelda" as King Rhoam stated in his diary. 
==Known Members==
===Ancestors===
*Hylia
*Gaepora
*The first Zelda
===Princes and Kings of Hyrule===
*King Rauru
*Gustaf 
*King Daltus 
*Unnamed king in "Ocarina of Time"
*King Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule
*Unnamed king in 
*Unnamed king in 's backstory
*Unnamed prince in 's backstory
*Unnamed king in 
*King Rhoam Bosphoramus Hyrule
===Princesses and Queens of Hyrule===
*Queen Sonia
*Princess Zelda
*Various incarnations of Princess Zelda in the old Hyrule
**Sleeping Zelda
**Unnamed princess during the 
**Unnamed princess prior to the Great Flood
*Various incarnations of Princess Zelda in the new Hyrule
**Tetra/Princess Zelda I
**Princess Zelda V
*Princess Zelda from 10,000 years prior to 
*Queen of Hyrule
===Other===
* Tetra's Mother
==Nomenclature==
==See Also==
* Knights of Hyrule