Fairy Tale Characters: Fanadi and the Sheikah (Spoilers: OoT)

Eralk Fang · February 10, 2007, 01:42:14 PM

In Twilight Princess, Fanadi is a fortune teller who resides in a back alley of Castle Town. With her red eyes and the Sheikah mark on her forehead, she's thrown many fans for a loop. Could this woman possibly be one of the supposedly extinct Sheikah?

Twilight Princess occurs many years, perhaps even centuries, after Ocarina of Time. The Sheikah first appear in Ocarina of Time, which is the only game where we learn about the Sheikah.

QuoteWe Sheikah have served the royalty of Hyrule from generation to generation as attendants.

-Impa, Ocarina of Time

This quote is straight forward enough- the Sheikah have served the Hylian Royal Family for a very long time, probably before Hyrule was united.

QuoteR.I.P. Here lie the souls of those who swore fealty to the Royal Family of Hyrule The Sheikah, guardians of the
Royal Family and founders of Kakariko, watch over these spirits in their eternal slumber.

-Kakariko Graveyard Headstone, Ocarina of Time

This quote is more interesting. This is the same graveyard the Royal Family is buried in. The Sheikah have obviously sworn fealty to the Royal Family, having served them for generations upon generations, and are buried here as well. But the Sheikah must serve the Royal Family even when the Royal Family dies.

QuoteThe one riding on the white horse holding the little girl... Wasn't that a legendary Sheikah?

-Hyrule Castle Town Dweller, Ocarina of Time

This reveals the rarity of Sheikah. Even in Ocarina of Time, they're regarded as legendary. Impa is quite possibly the last of her race.

These quotes establish two things: one, Sheikah have a lifetime of service to the Hylian Royal Family, for unknown reasons that are not important to this theory. This has been going for years, and no one questions it. Two, Sheikah are extremely rare at the time of Ocarina of Time.

Fast forward a couple centuries.

We have Fanadi, selling fortunes at ten rupees a pop in a back alley. If this woman is Sheikah, why not take advantage of the old fealty, the lifetime of service? Sure, you have to protect the princess with your life, but in the peaceful time before the events of Twilight Princess, that didn't seem like a risk. In exchange for remembering legends and protecting the princess, Fanadi gets to live a cushy life in the castle and never worry about money again. So why not?

It's because she's not Sheikah. Since the Sheikah are no more, they have grown into mystical figures that aren't really connected to the real Sheikah at all. In real life, you could compare this to the romanticized gypsy. The stereotypical gypsy (like Esmeralda in Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame) has little to no connection to the real Roma people.

In the same way, the extinct Sheikah now stand for mysticism and strange magic different than Hylian magic, rather than what the Sheikah were when they lived- devoted warriors. Due to their association with the shadows, there is the idea that the Sheikah could be still out there, against all odds, hidden and waiting for the Royal Family to need them again. They've become fairy tale characters within the fairy tale of Zelda.

This is why Fanadi wears the symbol on her forehead. It's easy to fake looking like a Sheikah; Zelda did it in Ocarina of Time. It's more exciting to have your fortune told by a woman who could be one of the supposedly extinct Sheikah than a Hylian woman. It's exotic.

The Sheikah symbol has been divorced from the meaning the Sheikah gave it, and now stands for the mystical stereotype of their fairy tale characterization. It is now used in various shady (oh, the irony) occupations- like Fanadi and her fortune telling.

A poor end to the symbol of a noble people, no?

LadyNintendo · February 11, 2007, 02:44:40 AM

I think you're overdramatizing the Sheikah.

That they may have been rare during the times of OOT doesn't mean they can't recover. At least, if their indeed aren't that many around anymore. We aren't sure of that. The second Kakariko Village does seem like an excellent hiding place. Besides legendary = not rare.

They once served the royal family, why would they have continued to do so? Impaz still does that, but maybe watching over the DR is the last thing the Sheikah have agreed to do. But that only requires one person so other Sheikahs may have decided (long ago or recently) to make something of their lives for themselves. Permission to do that? I certainly don't feel like I need to ask permission from anyone to live my life the way I want to.

As for the symbol and Fanadi: no comment. I noticed the symbol a long time ago and didn't know what to think of it. I still don't. I guess I'd like to believe she's a Sheikah because I don't like that "blind devotion" the Sheikah are said to have.

Still, for all I know, you could be right.

Lokes · February 11, 2007, 04:21:19 AM

The Symbols are all over, and I believe it resembles the eye of truth. And also, of you read the Manga there's a reason why they added the tear which drops down from the eye.

Quote Manga: Sheik tells about the SHEIKAH SYMBOL.

Before it was only the eye. Since ancient times the Sheikah was a tribe that served as shadows that protected the Royal Family. But there was an instance of betrayal in the Royal Family. At that time our tears were added to the symbol as a single line.

/QUOTE END

So what was this, he was speaking about? I mean this IS the official Manga and it's authorized by Nintendo. So I suggest you all read it through carefully adding informations to your theories

Eralk Fang · February 11, 2007, 06:15:14 AM

Ah, but you shouldn't consider the manga as canon, The Metalist. If we did, we'd have female Gorons, yet another race of bird/sky people, and Odolwa officially the deity of the Deku Scrubs. I love the manga, don't get me wrong, but it openly contradicts the games at some points- A Link to the Past Link turning into a wolf rather than a bunny. It is not considered canon. Too much artistic license is taken.

LadyNintendo, I think because Sheikah have been so utterly devoted to protecting the Hylian Royal Family, even in war, that the bond between the Hylians and the Sheikah is extremely deep, possibly involving magic to bind the two together. What did the Hylians do to deserve an entire race of bodyguards, even before they united Hyrule?

Yeah, there are going to be Sheikah who wish to rebel against the expected life of protecting the Royal Family at all times. I propose in my theory that they die out, but they could have simply removed themselves from Hyrulean society, possibly in a mass rebellion against their blind devotion, as you aptly put it, and Impaz is one of the few who don't, if she's full-blooded Sheikah at all. This still allows for the Sheikah to become fairy tale figures, as they, absent as they are, will not contradict their mythical status. It could possibly work even better- they become an icon for rebelling against your so-called destiny and taking action. Their symbol, in either scenario, can be manipulated for the use of various shady occupations that often work better when they are perceived to be exotic.

xarlote · February 15, 2024, 10:39:46 PM

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xarlote · June 02, 2024, 09:24:05 PM

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xarlote · January 24, 2025, 04:30:31 AM

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Fairy Tale Characters: Fanadi and the Sheikah (Spoilers: OoT)

Eralk Fang

LadyNintendo

Lokes

Eralk Fang

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