The Midna-Veran Connection (SPOILERS: TP, OOA, & OOS and kind of long)

[Eralk Fang]

Once you beat Twilight Princess, you get to see Midna's true form (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/65/Midna.jpg). She's green-skinned, redheaded, and red-eyed, a description that'll sound familiar if you've played Oracle of Ages recently. The antagonist is Veran (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/0f/Veran.gif), who styles herself the "Sorceress of Shadows". She's also redheaded, green-skinned, and red-eyed. Veran wears a headpiece that covers her right eye. Midna, in the form she assumes throughout most of the game, has one eye covered by her Fused Shadow (if you have the Wii version, it's her right eye, the GameCube version, it's her left eye. Per canon, it's her left eye.).

We are never given any back story on Veran, only that she's working for Ganon. She could very well be a random sorceress from Labrynna. However, there is one detail that sticks out- why would a Labrynnan sorceress be wearing clothing with emblems found in Hyrule? Veran's shoulder pads bear the Gerudo symbol. This could be explained away by her work with Koume, Kotake, and Ganon- she may have adopted it herself or they might have given her clothing with the symbol. Veran wears one more symbol, however. She wears a sort of... the only way I can describe is a loincloth. It bears a sideways eye with a tear drop running up it. The closest thing that comes to is the Sheikah symbol. Now, the Sheikah have probably died out by the time the Oracle series happen. The only people Veran has come into contact with that would have any connection with the Sheikah are Impa (possibly through blood), Koume, and Kotake (through general knowledge of pre-flood Hyrule). Veran had this article of clothing before she possessed Impa, and I don't think Koume and Kotake were just about to sit down and have a chat about the good old days of Hyrule with one of their minions. In any case, they would have remembered the symbol correctly.

The theory is that Veran is Twili, and possibly of the Royal Family of the Twili. After Midna destroys the Mirror of Twilight, and therefore the connection between the Light Realm and the Twilight Realm, she returns home. Fond as she is of the Light Realm, she tells stories about it to her people, and later, her children. She knows the Sheikah and Gerudo symbols from her travels with Link, and may have found something interesting in the "shadow" people, as her world is often compared with shadows (alternatively, the time Midna spent joined at the heart with Zelda left her with a great deal of knowledge about Hyrule). As the stories get passed down from generation to generation, the Sheikah symbol changes, due to bad memory or what-have-you. This doesn't happen with the Gerudo symbol, because it's a simpler pattern and they have a similar symbol in the Twilight Realm (Zant's outfit bears it, even before he meets Ganondorf. This could imply that at least one of the first Twili was initially Gerudo, but that's another theory for another time.).

One day, a female Twili is born- Veran, either of the Royal Family or not. It doesn't matter, although a Royal connection would be very interesting. She becomes skilled with her tribe's sorcery, and hearing tales of Zant, dreams about the kind of power he had, although the legends tell her that Zant and his false god are dead as doornails. Since the Twilight Realm can no longer interact with the Light Realm, they don't know of the events of the games between Twilight Princess and the Oracle series.

Back in the Light Realm, Koume and Kotake are searching for a way to bring back their boy from beyond the grave. Somewhere in their search, they stumble into the Twilight Realm and find Veran. Seeing her skill and thirst for power, they decide to use her, and offer her the chance to bring back the very man who gave her idol his power. Veran immediately agrees, and Koume and Kotake teach her magic very different from her tribal magic. Veran is sent in Labrynna, and Oracle of Ages occurs.

A similar argument could be made for Onox and Zant, but I don't think Onox is Twili- Twili males are green-skinned, and from what you can see of Onox, he's tan. Onox is probably just a lackey of Koume and Kotake, although probably not from Holodrum- his design makes a very Gerudo impression.

Now, I seriously doubt Veran was designed as a Twili during the development of the Oracle series. But I think, in designing Midna, they thought of Veran. She's a villain with unknown origins and a striking design. They then designed Zant along the same lines with Onox to have, if nothing else, just a neat reference to the Oracle series. Now, if they retcon Veran to be a Twili, this could open up the doors to having the Twilight Realm interact with newer games set in New Hyrule, something very interesting indeed!

[Lemmy]

I really like this idea.

[TKNO]

Very interesting. I never thought about it in that way! Of course I never normally think that way... ???

[LadyNintendo]

GREEN!?!?!? OMG, I'm color blind or something! Because to me, the Twili are white and black, not green.  :-[

It's becoming predictable: not every eye seen in the games is the Sheikah symbol or an adjusted version of it! Vaati has nothing to do with the Sheikah. Agahnim has nothing to do with them. And I also doubt Fanadi is a Sheikah. Now, you actually have a good explanation, but I still think the pavlov's dogs' reaction that an eye-symbol in TLOZ means Sheikah is present. Like TDC's TP's oddities page. That symbol doesn't look like an eye, and if it did, still not Vaati's eye form.  

Anyway, I don't think it's the case. Wikipedia also sees a connection between the four mentioned characters, but I disgaree. I don't think Zant and Midna are modelled after them and I don't think Veran ad Onox are Twili. They really don't look the same. I do think the Twilight Realm and Hyrulean Light World's portal/bridge gets repaired or that there are others, but not that this has anything to do with it.

[bgrugby]

Hmmm I totally forgot about Veran from Oracles. I have to go through hte game again to see cause I haven't played that in so long.

[Eralk Fang]

LadyNintendo, it's only a theory. It's totally possible that Veran is a random Labrynnan sorceress and those are symbols found in Labyrnna. And I don't think Onox is Twili- he's not Twili colored there's not any evidence to go on there. Not that I'm going on much for Veran... heh.

And I think Midna's true form has at least tint of green or blue (or maybe that's my TV? Heh.). Normal Twili are black and white, so maybe it's a royal thing.  

[LadyNintendo]

Of course it's a theory (why post it here otherwise? ^^). Notice me using the words "think" and "disagree". You got a pretty sweet theory, but I just don't believe it. That's the whole point of a theory: can't prove it, can't deny it (just like that).

btw, I really, really never saw any Twili (including Midna and Zant) with another skincolour than black and white.  

[Eralk Fang]

LadyNintendo- I'm sorry, I just thought you were coming off a little sarcastic, but you weren't, now that I reread it. Sorry about that!

[Evilslayer]

LadyNintendo, it's only a theory. It's totally possible that Veran is a random Labrynnan sorceress and those are symbols found in Labyrnna. And I don't think Onox is Twili- he's not Twili colored there's not any evidence to go on there. Not that I'm going on much for Veran... heh.

Onox and Veran were summoned from the same Dark Realm, so if Veran is Twili both are.

[Eralk Fang]

Thank you, Evilslayer, I'd forgotten that.

[Mysterious F.]

They are?!?!?!?! I never new that! And I've played the Oracles a 1,000,000 times!

[Eralk Fang]

I'll double-check it with a text dump as soon as I can.

[Harashi]

To me the twili are more of a bluish grey, just saying.

[Potato_King]

I like this theory. While it is entirely possible Veran is just a random sorcesress, Nintendo have never specified that there is or is not a link between the Sheikah, Twili and Veran. So it is essentially up to what you want to believe, and I think its much more interesting for there to be a connection. ^^

Maybe there are other races in the Twlight Realm? I think if magic changed them to the way they are now, it is possible that somehow other variations appeared. If this were true, Onox and Veran could both be from the Twilight Realm but from different parts of it.

[Eralk Fang]

Onox is from the Dark Realm.

Gwah hah hah! I was summoned from the Dark Realm by Twinrova. See my true form! Feel the might of a dark dragon!

-Onox, Oracle of Seasons

However, Veran makes no such statement during Oracle of Ages. I still don't think Onox is Twili, but that the Dark Realm is another realm entirely.

No one's brought this up, but Veran has a true form, which she references in her last few words. She says this (or so I recall) before revealing herself as a green fairy-like creature. The last three forms she assumes before her final defeat are ones she considers "vile", so I take that to mean none of those were her real form.

So, tweaking my theory a little bit, perhaps Veran was the low Twili on the totem pole. The Twili seem to be at least a little biased based on a Twili's form- Midna hides in Link's shadow rather then show her people she is now a mere imp. The common Twili and the royal Twili look different- while Zant (who was a servant of the royal family at one point) and Midna have human-like forms, the common Twili found in the Twilight Realm are small and vaguely resemble people.

Veran has shown herself to be vain in Oracle of Ages, delighting when she possesses the body of Queen Ambi. Now, there are two ways this can go from Veran's humble origins. Jealous of the beauty of the royal Twili, she manages to find a way to transfigure herself into something like them. Or, more extreme (and therefore more interesting), Veran discovers her talent for possession and possesses a royal Twili- a freshly dead queen, perhaps, wanting a more permanent form then possessing a live queen would permit. This is the face Koume and Kotake discover.