BoTW's Puzzling Hylian Ruins

[tornadowhoodle]

Hello! I've recently found this site, and I will admit, I am very impressed. The passion and detail put into the articles is inspiring, and the writing is beautiful. Props to you!

I figured I'd write a little bit about what interests me regarding the architecture of Hyrule. I'd love to hear what anybody else thinks about this stuff, and I'd love to see an entire article about this stuff.

I have always been fascinated by the different ruins dotted across Hyrule in Breath of The Wild. Of course, there are many kinds of ruins from various periods of Hyrulean history, but perhaps the most interesting to me are the recent ruins- buildings and structures which were still in use prior to the calamity, but have since been destroyed and left to the elements.

I have always wondered what these buildings and structures looked like before they were decimated. Of course, even among the recent Hylian ruins, there are several different kinds. The light-grey colored stone buildings found primarily in the larger towns and garrisons of Central Hyrule are intact enough to imagine what they may have looked like originally. They use the same architectural style as the fortifications of Hyrule Castle, Castle Town, and the Great Plateau, but also Fort Hateno, Akkala Citadel, and even the Royal Ancient Tech Lab and Temple of Time. Clearly, this was the standard style for durable, lasting structures in Hyrule, and it seems to have been effective; the structures were likely strong enough to withstand the guardian assault, since as they are seen in Calamity-cutscenes, they look more-or-less the same (save for some weak wooden roofs).

Scattered throughout Hyrule, you can also stumble upon small wooden ruins; Piles of ash covered boards and planks, such as those in the Tabantha Tundra or Deya Lake. Most of these structures either burned to the ground at the mercy of the guardians, or have collapsed from lack of maintenance after 100 years of abandonment. It's easy to imagine what these buildings looked like, since many of them retain at least part of their basic structure. These were likely constructed by average Hylian settlers, built out of materials easily found in the environment. (Such is the case with an unnamed settlement northwest of the Castle Moat; a partially built home sits surrounded by piles of cut timber and an axe, yet nobody is around- the construction of this settlement was likely cut short by the Great Calamity)

No area of Hyrule faced destruction quite like the city at the center of the Hylian population, Castle Town. The buildings here are somewhat small in area, similarly sized to the wooden ruins found throughout the continent, though based on what can be be seen in cutscenes, they likely had two-stories. Most of these buildings are so thoroughly destroyed that the only evidence they existed is a rectangular mark in the ground where the foundation once stood. However, a handful of buildings were spared total destruction, as is to say their foundation and remnants of walls are still discernible among the blackened rubble. From these scarce ruins, we can see that the buildings of this city were built from beige-colored bricks (though they are most likely this color due to a century of fading and weathering paint, since in cutscenes they appear to be a much more pristine white color). Also barely visible in a few of these ruins is the blue colored roofs. These blue rooftops must have looked striking when the city was still intact, and based on the few glimpses of Castle Town we get from the game's cutscenes, it certainly was a sight to behold.

The final (and most puzzling) of the recent-Hylian ruins are the most boring looking ones at first glance. Short walls and arches, made from a darker, cobble-looking stone, can be found in several locations across Hyrule, particularly in the plains of Necluda. Looking closer, we can see other details of craftsmanship- notably, they have a small insignia carved into the keystone of the arches. The question remains- what were these structures? In the book "Creating a Champion", the only info we get about these structures is that they've been so totally demolished that thei original purpose is undeterminable, but being a bit of a BoTW theorist, that is far too unsatisfactory.It makes sense that these may have been stone foundations and frameworks of reinforced wooden buildings which have since been burned and destroyed. This theory would be supported by the case of the Ranch Ruins, which is identical in layout to Ocarina of Time's Lon Lon Ranch. The farmhouse on the ranch in Ocarina of Time is a classic Hylian-style wooden house, and it would make sense for this to also be the case in BoTW. However, while this may have been the purpose of the walls in this specific case, when we look at the other locations this type of ruins appears in, it becomes clear that this isn't always the case. The walls and arches can be found in more obscure places, such as the Lost Woods, Forest of Spirits, Eventide Island, and near the Lanayru Bay. These are areas the Calamity could not have reached, and regardless, no remnant of a destroyed structure is present. Rather, they appear to be fortifications, built in defensible positions- a more logical (albeit more anticlimactic) purpose. It makes sense- a walled gateway constricting access would stop travelers from wandering to their doom into the Lost Woods or the mysterious Eventide Island. Additionally, such a fortification would also make sense at the narrow spot between the Lanayru Sea and the Rutala River; without it, Any invaders coming by sea would have easy access to Hyrule's Whole River system.

All of this has bounced around my mind since I first started playing Breath of the Wild, so it is very exciting that, with the release of Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity right around the corner, all of these questions will finally be answered. At last, my mind (and surely many other Zelda fan's minds as well) will finally be put to rest when we get to see what Hyrule was like before it faced the destruction of the Great Calamity. That being said, I'd love to see an article on this amazing site about the classic Hylian architecture, once Age of Calamity is finally released and we get a true look at what it was really like. That being said, thanks for reading this very long post about my thought on Breath of the Wild's puzzling yet fascinating Hylian ruins!

[hennethannun]

So, I will say that an article of such description will eventually happen; it's just that, given (as you point out) the sheer breadth of the Hylian settlements, both geographically and temporally, it's a prodigious amount of work. It's a monumental task, so I have been saving it for last. (Plus, the next game would likely upend anything I try to write, so that's another reason to put it off!) I'm not sure how canonical "Calamity" will be, but I'm sure it will give us some nice architecture to look at!

The Hylian constructions that spoke the most to me in BotW were always the wooden structures; I loved finding the small cabins dotting the landscape, and, of course, the stables spoke deeply to me. I love this style of vernacular architecture on the fringes of Hylian society -- settlers and travelers and hermits building small cottages and cabins to ward off the elements (especially in places like far-flung Hebra).

I think you're correct in your assessment that the little-understood, "boring", probably-older Hylian architecture is the more interesting -- especially the insignia carved into stone throughout Hyrule. These were the ruins that always gave me pause as I was wandering around the world.

I'm sure, after this article on the Rito, that I'll give more thought to this, but, for now, it's still a bit daunting! But, slowly I'll get there. Thanks for your thoughts on this. I'm sure other people have other interesting ideas.