Now I see that you have become a fine hero...
The fanlisting is maintained using Enthusiast and is approved by and listed at The Fanlistings.It was opened on August 13, 2014 and was previously owned by Megan before being adopted out to me on February 15, 2017. It finally, finally moved into its new home on April 23, 2017. Thank you so much, Megan, for allowing me to take care of it and for being so patient with me! (ෆˊ͈ ु꒳ ूˋ͈ෆ) ❤
Images used are from Zelda Wiki and Zelda Wikia. Textures and resources used in the layout are by Design Cuts, Lisa Glanz, Pixel Budhha, planetsbend05 and Sanami276. The tooltip script is by Alessio Atzeni (simple tooltip with jQuery). Fonts used include Courier New, Georgia, Gorgeous, Kristi, Old Standard TT, Playfair Display, Poppins and Quentin.
Name?
The title of the site, Shadow of Hyrule, was originally chosen by Megan! I really liked the name and also enjoyed reading her reasons for choosing it so, with permission, I've kept her old passage.
There are unmarked spoilers here so if you have not played Ocarina of Time or Skyward Sword, I suggest that you proceed through this section very cautiously.
When I first created my fanlisting collective, I had realized that there was no fanlisting for Impa. Since she is my favorite character in the Legend of Zelda series and one of my favorite characters of all time, I decided to apply. Once I got approved, I struggled a lot to come up with a name for the fanlisting. It has gone from The Guardian to Royal Guardian to Shadow of Hyrule which is a name that I am finally happy with. This fanlisting was opened on August 13, 2014. You will find it listed at The Fanlistings Network and my personal fanlisting collective Hylia.
When finalizing the name of this fanlisting, I decided to really encompass the true nature of the Sheikah tribe of which Impa is one of the three known in the series. I was really inspired by this quote by Shikashi:
Have you heard the legend of the "Shadow Folk"? They are the Sheikah...the shadows of the Hylians. They say they swore allegiance to the King of Hyrule and guarded the Royal Family. But with the long peace, no one has seen a Sheikah around here for a long time. However... I heard there is one Sheikah woman living in the castle...The name is directly derived from this specific quote from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time which is referring to Impa and her role as Princess Zelda's personal guardian. Another term for the Sheikah is "Shadow Folk." In addition, these are not the only references to shadows in Sheikah lore.
One of Impa's most prominent roles in the series is in Ocarina of Time. The sole survivor of the Sheikah tribe of Kakariko Village, she is Princess Zelda's bodyguard. When Link returns to Kakariko Village as an adult, he must rescue Impa from the trenches of the Shadow Temple. After Link defeats Bongo Bongo, the boss of the temple, Impa is awakened as the Sage of Shadow, awarding the hero with the Shadow Medallion. All of these references to the shadows really emphasizes the importance to the Sheikah tribe.
Since the aspect of darkness and shadows is referred to multiple times to describe the Sheikah, I decided to refer to this in the title of this fanlisting. While Impa is my favorite character in the series, I also absolutely love everything about the Sheikah tribe. I interpret the shadow symbolism to also refer to the mystery that surrounds them.
I found Shadow of Hyrule to be incredibly fitting as I've always taken comfort in Impa's role as a guardian and companion. Even though she tends to appear and disappear on her own terms, there is never a sense that she is abandoning or betraying the player. Always on the fringes, Impa shadows the movements of Link and Zelda, a steadfast comrade ready to fight or lend aid whenever she is needed. Hyrule—and the games themselves—wouldn't be the same without her!
Elsewhere
I am open to affiliating with sites related to the The Legend of Zelda series or Nintendo! If you wish to affiliate, simply contact me.
