The Curse of Man?

here is an intersting question, how come in fiction humans are the only race that has mutiple nations, including zelda games. You have Hyrule, Labrynna, Holodrum, Koholint, Catalia etc. and for all the other races they are always unified to such an extent that they don't even have a name for their country, it's just "the gorons" or "the zoras" ? Why do humans have to so, well, diverse and differant? We have Ordonians, human humans, Gerudo, Hylians, Wind Tribe etc.

Can't humanity get a grip on itself here?

What's so bad about that. You couldn't call someone that isn't from Hyrule a Hylian because that wouldn't make sense. Now With the Gorons and Zoras, you could just call them the Goron tribe of Hyrule or something because calling them something else would be stupid.

There might be different clans of Zoras or Gorons, just not specifically mentioned. They probably just call the human races all humans.

As Twilight said, the other races most likely call humans humans, just as we call them Zoras or Gorons. Clumping them together is an way to easily reference things, whereas being more specific is often utilized for more precise things. For example, say there are a tribe of Gorons on Death Mountain, and a tribe in a mine, in wich we will call Iron. When talking about each different group, we would refer to them as the Death Mountain Gorons, or the Iron Gorons. However, when refering to the race in general, we just call them Gorons.

I hope that made sense.

I thought Zora's Domain and Death Mountain was IN hyrule.

Zora's Domain and Death Mountain are IN Hyrule.

Why the confusion?

There are River Zoras (Zola) and Sea Zoras. (though they may be a totally different race)

They may have nations, but we don't go far enough into their race to explore that much.

Originally Posted by Warp_Spark

As Twilight said, the other races most likely call humans humans, just as we call them Zoras or Gorons. Clumping them together is an way to easily reference things, whereas being more specific is often utilized for more precise things. For example, say there are a tribe of Gorons on Death Mountain, and a tribe in a mine, in wich we will call Iron. When talking about each different group, we would refer to them as the Death Mountain Gorons, or the Iron Gorons. However, when refering to the race in general, we just call them Gorons.

I hope that made sense.

Exactly. There are probably more sub-races within the Gorons and Zoras. We just don't know it because they just don't share it. Gorons probably don't know about the Ordonians or the Lanaryuians or whatever.

Originally Posted by Light Knight

There are River Zoras (Zola) and Sea Zoras. (though they may be a totally different race)

They may have nations, but we don't go far enough into their race to explore that much.

Yeah, as above.

There could be more human nations because humans may be smarter. I realize that other races are smart too so it might not be that. I think that before the fierce war described in OoT, the races were part of their own city/states. The war is what unified them together. Even though all of the races were now Hyrulean citizens, they were still allowed to govern themselves. That's why a lot of races have their own royalty.

I realize that there are many kingdoms outside of Hyrule that are human ruled, but maybe Link just hasn't visited them. Then again, perhaps places like Dragon Roost Island are their own independent city/states that exist peacefully with everyone else.

LOL ^_^ I never really saw that before, but now that you mention it... O_o We seem to be everywhere and very dominate! lol ^_^

Originally Posted by Sage_of_Stars

There could be more human nations because humans may be smarter. I realize that other races are smart too so it might not be that. I think that before the fierce war described in OoT, the races were part of their own city/states. The war is what unified them together. Even though all of the races were now Hyrulean citizens, they were still allowed to govern themselves. That's why a lot of races have their own royalty.

I realize that there are many kingdoms outside of Hyrule that are human ruled, but maybe Link just hasn't visited them. Then again, perhaps places like Dragon Roost Island are their own independent city/states that exist peacefully with everyone else.

I don't think the Hylians or the Humans are smarter. Zoras are quite sophisticated. Gorons are a little ... thick-headed I spose, but what else do you get for having a head made of rock?

This is likely just that, since we're all humans, its more logical for us to play a game where the most 'human-like' races are the most dominant.

Also, if the other races held more dominance, it might be seen as a bit unusual for a Hylian boy (Link) to be wandering around Hyrule or the various other human dominated regions. Usually, unless they are traveling for business purposes, the different races usually stick to themselves. Even the different areas of humans seem to do this. Though, since humans populate much more of the world, people in other towns are likely not to ask questions about a boy visiting their villages.

The only times I can recall where the races traveled to the home of another race for something other than business was when the Zora in Twilight Princess went to the Goron Hot Springs, and in Majora's mask, where the various races visited Clock Town for the festival.

And before someone asks a question like "Then why were the other races so welcoming?", think of it this way: It would be hard to get anywhere in a game if all the people you could talk to said things like "Ooh, a human boy! What are you doing in a place like this?"

Humans may be able to live in more places than other races. For example: Zora's can probably only live near water, Gerudos probably prefer the desert, Gorons enjoy only special rocks, which is why they live near Dodongo's cavern, Kokiris rarely leave the forest, and Yetis, obviously like cold weather. Humans, however, can live in many places. Maybe that is why they have more territory.

Humans may also multiply faster. I don't know if this is true or not but it would explain why humans have more space. They would need it. Even if a race like the Zora's could multiply faster than humans, they still might have a higher infant mortality rate for some reason.

Originally Posted by TwilitProphet

This is likely just that, since we're all humans, its more logical for us to play a game where the most 'human-like' races are the most dominant.

Also, if the other races held more dominance, it might be seen as a bit unusual for a Hylian boy (Link) to be wandering around Hyrule or the various other human dominated regions. Usually, unless they are traveling for business purposes, the different races usually stick to themselves. Even the different areas of humans seem to do this. Though, since humans populate much more of the world, people in other towns are likely not to ask questions about a boy visiting their villages.

The only times I can recall where the races traveled to the home of another race for something other than business was when the Zora in Twilight Princess went to the Goron Hot Springs, and in Majora's mask, where the various races visited Clock Town for the festival.

And before someone asks a question like "Then why were the other races so welcoming?", think of it this way: It would be hard to get anywhere in a game if all the people you could talk to said things like "Ooh, a human boy! What are you doing in a place like this?"

Well said. No one can really connect on a game about a dinosaur roaming the land searching for the triforce. Unless we have Zelda-loving dinosaurs living amongst us.

It's funny that most people ask themselves aloud in the game about why Link is in a place like this. But, I think if Zelda was like one of those games where answers to questions were multi-choice, I would have a lot of fun picking rude answers about "why I am here".

Originally Posted by Sage_of_Stars

Humans may be able to live in more places than other races. For example: Zora's can probably only live near water, Gerudos probably prefer the desert, Gorons enjoy only special rocks, which is why they live near Dodongo's cavern, Kokiris rarely leave the forest, and Yetis, obviously like cold weather. Humans, however, can live in many places. Maybe that is why they have more territory.

Humans may also multiply faster. I don't know if this is true or not but it would explain why humans have more space. They would need it. Even if a race like the Zora's could multiply faster than humans, they still might have a higher infant mortality rate for some reason.

That's a good point. But we don't exactly know the rate of multiplication of other races. For all we know, there could be a massive underwater city in Hyrule filled with a kabillion Zoras we don't know about.

The desire for power and conquest has made humans the most diverse and adaptable race in all of ______.

Maybe in a past war, the races were fighting against each other, and the hylians would have been somehow better. This would cause a sharp population drop for many other races since most members would have been killed. Although, I don't really see how a Hylian soldier could defeat a Goron.