The Koroks – 900 More Mysteries To Solve

It’s no secret there are 900 Koroks hiding around the map of Breath of the Wild, gifting a Korok Seed on the chance you find one. Whilst a very noble deed, poor Hestu had the seeds stolen from his maracas as part of a prank, it remains a fortunate accident to find these tricky forest dwellers.  Unfortunately for Hestu, the recovery of his seeds is the least of our concerns. Whilst his reward can be handy, it isn’t necessary for the completion of the game, nor are 900 seeds likely to be found without a little Goron determination. What’s more curious than the covert 900 Koroks is the inclusion of Koroks in Breath of Wild in the first place.

While the appearance of the Rito provided some bewilderment, the Koroks remain more surprising. They first appeared in The Wind Waker, supposedly evolving from the Kokiri after the Great Flood had devastated Hyrule. Here, they lived peacefully on an island called Forest Haven, under the protection of the Great Deku Tree. If we’re to believe the lore from The Wind Waker, then the Koroks have only existed after the Great Flood. Breath of the Wild seems to be throwing much of what we previously knew about the history of The Legend of Zelda into the pit of Death Mountain.

Due to the map, it seems unlikely Breath of the Wild is in the Adult timeline. Compare the maps of Ocarina of Time and Breath of the Wild, and the layout is roughly the same. Death Mountain appears to the north of Hyrule castle, whilst the Gerudo’s are to the west, slightly further south in Breath of the Wild, but not enough to tear up the map. Zora’s Domain becomes even more conspicuous. You might recall Zora’s Domain having two separate locations in Ocarina of Time, one in the present and one in the future. Zora’s Domain in Breath of the Wild matches up with the Zora’s Domain in the present, to the east of Hyrule Castle. If hypothetically, Breath of the Wild was in the Adult Timeline before the Great Flood, then Zora’s Domain would be in the southwest.

If The Wind Waker is to be believed then the Koroks shouldn’t exist in Breath of the Wild. But suppose they could have evolved from the Kokiri in any of the timelines then the maps should match up. In Ocarina of Time, the Lost Woods appeared in the southeast, right next to the aptly named Kokiri Forest. In Breath of the Wild? Well, the Lost Woods is north of Hyrule Castle, somehow shifting the Great Deku Tree to a completely new area. Or did it?

In Ocarina of Time, The Great Deku Tree dies and a new Deku Tree sprouts. From The Wind Waker, we know it’s possible for many sprouts to grow at one time, with Koroks planting the seeds on different islands. It’s, therefore, possible that the Great Deku Tree in Breath of the Wild isn’t the same Great Deku Tree from Ocarina of Time; a new forest was born.

Kokiri Forest seems to be long gone on the Breath of the Wild map, just like the inhabitants themselves. Kakariki Village appears where Kokiri Forest should be, and that appears unchanged from Twilight Princess. An elderly Impa lives there, suggesting this isn’t too many generations after Ocarina of Time. Weirdly, the forest in Twilight Princess appears in the south, where Hylians have started a settlement called Ordon Village. It is thought the arrival of humans in the Faron Woods pushed the Kokiri deeper into the forest. Faron still exists in Breath of the Wild, but it isn’t a forest like it was in Twilight Princess. This pressure could have resulted in the Kokiri evolving into the Koroks in the Child Timeline.

The Kokiri were hesitant creatures and their Korok cousins aren’t much different. The Koroks have shown themselves to be expertly furtive, so concealing themselves from humans whilst beginning a new forest wouldn’t be that shocking. The surprise is the depth of the Lost Woods in Breath of the Wild, it appears many centuries old. Given the suspected timeframe, it would seem impossible.

The mystery of what the Kokiri became has since reopened. What we once knew, we might not know anymore. The Koroks in Breath of the Wild appears to be a timeline apart from the Koroks that appear in The Wind Waker. We started Breath of the Wild with 900 Koroks to find, now we’re left with 900 Korok mysteries to solve.