Dungeons being fully enclosed spaces w/ roofs is mainly for the aesthetic and overall "feel" of the dungeon, I guess. You're right that things such as cyclones are already limiting enough as is.
I can't wait to bomb themThis is the picture I was referring to as a possible source for the ruby Link is shooting. Since it's fire related, I am thinking we will find these around death mountain. I misremembered thinking it was a frog, it reminds me more of the Lizards we found in BotW that offered heat protection.
Yes we have seen bombs already, from that bomb launcher shield attachment.
Even if it isn’t present in the game glad to know they didn’t forget about it.
I'm thinking that the Kingdom in "Tears of the Kingdom" might not be Hyrule or the sky or underground. It's on... the moon!
Tears and the moon are linked across many cultures and mythologies. In Hindu mythology pearls are teardrops from the moon. In Incan culture Mother Moon cries tears of silver. In Japanese folklore Princess Kaguya cries from her palace on the moon longing to return to the Earth.
The Zelda series is no stranger to the concept of moon's tears, of course: Moon Pearls have appeared in a few games and Majora's Mask featured a moon's tear.
One of the many things magatamas, the curved beads that serve as the inspiration for the "tears" in TotK, are believed to represent is the moon.
Ganondorf's mysterious moon powers seem to be of importance in TotK. In the latest trailers the blood moon has been tweaked to show monsters raining down from the moon like Final Fantasy 8's Lunar Cry (another moon tear reference):
Drawing inspiration from manga/anime, One Piece has an ancient civilization that once lived on the moon but moved to the planet the series takes place on in search of resources. They currently reside on islands that float in the sky. Like the Zonai they are based on mesoamerican cultures like the Aztecs:
And like Rauru some of them are goat people:
Rauru could also be meant to resemble a rabbit as well as a goat, which many cultures associate with the moon. Most know the Eastern Asian moon rabbit, but the Aztec moon god/goddess also had a rabbit form:
I like your theory about the legend of Quetzalcoatl and the rabbit.
@RagnarokX
Very Cool theory, I hadn't associated that much symbolism with the moon but it makes a lot of sense.
I was just getting ready to post about this picture again, because it reminded me of an Ancient Aztec Calendar. I had been looking at the gears more closely and noticed they are not only gears but more like dials as well. Each one has a different set of either Zonai writing on them or what looks like to be animal symbols, then I noticed after reading your post that they actually depict the Sun, Moon cycles as well with the third possibly being a combination of both these cycles or representing time in Hyrule. Possibly not a calendar for this type of game but a time mechanism for time travel based on the Moon and Sun cycles
Aztec Calendar
I had to do some quick research on Quetzalcoatl and again we another example of a Deity associated with Death and Resurrection
Quetzalcoatl is a deity in Aztec culture and literature. Among the Aztecs, it was related to wind, Venus, Sun, merchants, arts, crafts, knowledge
Quetzalcoatl was the Aztec feathered-serpent god. He was a creator god who brought wind and rains
He was known as the inventor of books and the calendar, the giver of maize (corn) to mankind, and sometimes as a symbol of death and resurrection. Quetzalcoatl was also the patron of the priests and the title of the twin Aztec high priests.
I also found it interesting he was the inventor of books and the calendar, which reminded me of this picture from the Art book as well.
The existence of Ganon's minions in general might be related to the souls of the dead on the moon. Maybe Ganon is somehow defiling those souls and converting them into monsters who can then be reborn over and over again. So the monsters you're fighting are the souls of your dead friends and families twisted by malice.I've been debating on rather or not I wanted to post this, but I wanted to put together all the information and theories past and present on what still is consider a fringe theory by many, the Moon Theory and why a lot more people seem to be coming around to the idea of how important the role of the Moon will play in this game. For me it really started with a post from @RagnarokX and other posts from @SMALLVILLE BOY @Skittzo and @NewPueblo which I have posted here first and reference some of them later on in this post as this is going to be very long, but hopefully will be a nice read for some looking to pass the time until launch. I am not trying to convince anyone of this theory as it's just speculation but it definitely has a lot more merit to it then a lot of people have contemplated of actually having a chance to occur.
I'm finding I am more interested in speculating about TotK story now as we are so close to launch rather than finding and looking for specific details that will become definite spoilers, although if all of these theories below are true then they could end up being the biggest spoiler of them all. Definitely add to anything I have missed and I know there are multiple scenarios that could play out so again this is more a collection of ideas that add some credence to the Moon theory.
I posted in the other thread another idea I had for the blue wisps, which many have theorized already about being similar to souls from previous Zelda titles, but Wisps haven't really been talked about what their story implications may be so I wanted to add that post here first.
Since this game references many different cultures both past and present when doing my own research on the moon I found that some seks of ancient greeks thought that the souls of the dead resided or went to the moon to await rebirth. And @RagnarokX already posted about (above)several different cultures referring to the Moon or symbolized the moon by a rabbit or feathered serpent.
I also really subscribe to the idea that "Tears of the Kingdom" refers to one of two things, A kingdom, meaning a place, outside of Hyrule or a culture or people.
So we know Rauru is directly responsible for the Tears from the mural and its a safe bet to say that there are 7 of them based on the mural and this picture from the Art book.
Let's just say for a minute that Rauru is literally from the Moon or a Moon God, we will call him Zonai for good measure, an ancient tribe in Hyrule that disappeared long ago. These being Moon Tears make sense but they are clear or white. We already know now that each of the new Champions have one along with Gannondorf. It makes sense who ever wields on of these tears that the color of the tear is infused with the users character or traits.
I also speculated awhile back that the picture on the right symbolizes the lotus flower and when closed the 7 tears become one or are fused together. At that time I didn't know what the purpose was, but I think it could actually form a small sphere representing the Moon.
It just so happens that we see the back of Rauru's hand with a large sphere on the back of his hand which I think could actually represent the moon with possibly the center being the Tears.
So if Rauru is from the moon or represents the moon in some way, then he definitely would have a beef with Gannondorf taking control of the moon and forming a blood moon. Perhaps the result has trapped the souls of the dead from being reborn on the moon, or perhaps this is actually the reason for the Monsters being able to be reborn into Hyrule because he has taken control of the moon.
So Rauru comes down from the Heavens, makes a pact or falls in Love with Basket and gives a Tear to each of the Champions to help defeat a common enemy.
Right now I'm down to only 2 theories left as possible solutions to all the crazy scenes we have seen from the trailers and the Art book, yes I know there are more but these are the two see as most probable, The merging or fusing Time theory of past and present and a mirrored world theory which doesn't involve time at all.
The craziest theory I have is that the Zonai created an identical world or similar world to Hyrule on the Moon, And there is absolutely no evidence for this, so now that we got that out of the way, this is the only other explanation I can come up with that makes sense with all the massive changes we see in Hyrule that isn't the past merging with the present. It's what I think of when exploring an "Unfamiliar Hyrule"
And just for fun the biggest clue of them all is that we all know what the Moon is made out of right?
I like where your head is at, I want this game to be very dark. Love this idea!
I don't think we've seen actual dungeons yet tbh. I think we just saw the lead up too them. That said I also think the dungeons themselves will be more like Hyrule Castle, which kinda sucks, I'd rather have the traditional lock and key, but I think they're be more open ended and split up into chunks. Like maybe part of the Zora dungeon is in the sky, while another part is underground, as we still have this shot:
Based on this image I theorized that dungeons will have two components, one in the sky and one underground. Maybe you're right that one will be the lead up and one will be the actual dungeon.I don't think we've seen actual dungeons yet tbh. I think we just saw the lead up too them. That said I also think the dungeons themselves will be more like Hyrule Castle, which kinda sucks, I'd rather have the traditional lock and key, but I think they're be more open ended and split up into chunks. Like maybe part of the Zora dungeon is in the sky, while another part is underground, as we still have this shot:
The mine cart scene is pretty good evidence combined with the art book footage of all the different mine cart tracks and having to switch the tracks in a specific order that a lot of that section will be more linear by design. If It does take place inside of Death mountain which is highly likely, I see your point by having multiple entrances similar to BotW Hyrule castle, but the game mechanics like Ascend and Fuse will change the way we approach underground areas in general. I foresee a lot of dead ends and or needing to perform one set of functions before being able to proceed deeper underground, so it’s not lock and key but serves the same purpose, at least that’s what I am hoping for.I don't think we've seen actual dungeons yet tbh. I think we just saw the lead up too them. That said I also think the dungeons themselves will be more like Hyrule Castle, which kinda sucks, I'd rather have the traditional lock and key, but I think they're be more open ended and split up into chunks. Like maybe part of the Zora dungeon is in the sky, while another part is underground, as we still have this shot:
Guaranteed, especially with the frog suit.
Was this already posted?
I think the temple in the desert is definitely a dungeon and its probably gonna have some relation to how Ganondorf got his tear...tho now that I think about it the artbook shows a tear at the end of that temple or at least what we can assume is that temple. I wonder if it's Ganondorf's Tear or Riju's.
Yeah I think they're gonna be splintered a bit with each having two chunks. I'm not sure about sky islands being above Death Mountain tho, I think it'll be more about trying to get into the crater, but I could be wrong. Doing the first part opens the next part up and grants you a item or something for the next part, at least that's what I would hope for.
I would honestly hope they rework it to be honest. BOTW is a beautiful game but it has a really bland and at times unappealing sky box, I want more variety, and more dynamic colors. Give me brighter stars and meteor showers, and overcast days, and more types of clouds. Also just like less obvious changes to the weather like really windy days.
I think the minecart segment might be the outside of the Goron dungeon, so it'll probably be more open, I'm hoping for a proper like Fire Dungeon on the inside of that structure tho. It will definitely be a bit more linear due to the changing tracks.
I wouldn't bet on this but it is somewhat plausible. I do think what we've seen are at least part of the dungeons - the Zora one even has an obvious boss lock candidate with the water jars. And even the shot above could be the interior of a sky island and not necessarily underground. That being said, the artbook pics that seem to give Wind Temple vibes do indicate that there's more to the Rito dungeon than just the Cyclone, or at least what we've seen of the Cyclone
I think that’s what @Mango was saying too about the wing suit and traveling down the hole with the lasers and entering the actual dungeon portion for the Rito. That’s going to be hell of cool if that’s the case if just getting to dungeons first involves an epic battle up in the sky or on a sky island just to gain access to them.
I think this might actually be the Yiga Hideout pit.Also Im gonna go out on a limb and say this is our only internal shot of a "dungeon":
This is likely the actual "dungeon" part of the Rito segment, and we possibly get the Wingsuit from doing the part with Tulin.
I think we have to find a position on the ground or on a sky island where we view each glyph from the right angle and direction. Then maybe we can 'scan' it like a QR code to open a door or trigger some sort of map change.
That part is definitely underground though, and it’s not stylized at all. There’s definitely a lot we’re missing because the storm cloud isn’t even there consistently.
Yeah, it’s either that, or a cutscene, or both
I thought so but the type of rock isn’t the same. The Yiga has sandstone on the sides
There’s a big building beneath the ice boss thing. To me it looks like a combination of set piece and dungeon. Maybe there’s more of a dungeon below or something.
I keep going back and forth between the two and its really only because we have never seen a similar tunnel like this before other than the Yiga pit. So you have to wonder what could dig that type of hole and that Ice Spider Goma type creature kind of fits the bill imo.
The set pieces were by far the best part of the Divine Beast quests, so I'm really glad they're keeping them. Hopefully the dungeons themselves are more creative though.
NewPueblo didn't circle it but look here. Underneath the monster circle:
