Nintendo's Breath of the Wild has a diverse ecosystem that helps its rendition of Hyrule come alive. There are all manner of animals including Gerudo's ridable Sand Seals, small critters like squirrels, apex predators such as bears, and of course dogs — enough of them to spawn an entire speedrunning category. There are also creatures of evil that Link has to hunt, from tiny Keese to lumbering Hinox, but much of a player's time is spent interacting with the sentient denizens of the realm. Given the plot of the first game, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 will no doubt keep them at the forefront.
The story of the first game (optional as it may be) involves Link traveling the land to save the different races of Hyrule from the tyranny of the Divine Beasts under Calamity Ganon's control. Each of those technological marvels was once led by a Champion who represents their people: The Gerudo, Goron, Rito, and Zora. Breath of the Wild is about saving the members of these disparate races as much as it is rescuing Princess Zelda.
Even if the presence of all these races helps flesh out Breath of the Wild as a "best-of" compilation for the Zelda franchise, minus a few tribes from past games, there's a glaring problem with the choice to have Zora and Rito on the same map. The Zora have a rich history to draw from as far as lore goes, but the Rito only appeared in one prior Legend of Zelda game, The Wind Waker. Based on that game, the two should not be able to exist together, and this would be an elephant in the room it would be interesting to see Breath of the Wild 2 address.
History of the Zora
Zora have existed since The Legend of Zelda on the NES as enemies for Link to do battle with. Unlike the humanoid variants, these first-generation Zora looked like the Creature from the Black Lagoon with large fins on the sides of their head. The monsters would appear in bodies of water, breech to fire projectiles, and then dive back into safety. A Link to the Past offered them more character through a Zora who sold Link his Flippers, but otherwisem this primarily villainous species carries on to recent titles like A Link Between Worlds and Cadence of Hyrule.
The second-generation form of Zora first appeared in Ocarina of Time as a race of beings secluded in the Zora's Domain. They protect the Water Temple, where it is revealed that Princess Ruto — a young girl who previously betroths herself to Link by giving him the Zora's Sapphire — is the Sage of Water whose power helps defeat Ganondorf. The Zora also protect the Water Temple in Twilight Princess, and in Majora's Mask, they exhibit more recreational pastimes via the band The Indigo-Go's.
In Breath of the Wild, the Zora's Domain is subject to constant torrential downpour when Link awakens from his 100-year slumber, as Divine Beast Vah Ruta creates rain under the control of Waterblight Ganon. The people blame Link for leaving their Champion Princess Mipha to die, but thanks to her brother Sidon and the revelation of her romantic affection for Link, he regains their trust and stops the endless rain.
History of the Rito
In the Rito's first appearance, they were vastly different than the anthropomorphic bird people found in Breath of the Wild. The Wind Waker features a primarily humanoid race with occasional avian features such as beaks, talons, and wings. They live on Dragon Roost Island tending to the dragon Valoo, paralleling the Zora's watch over Lord Jabu-Jabu in Ocarina of Time. The Rito Prince Komali passes Din's Pearl to Link as a means of story progression, much like Ruto does the Zora's Sapphire.
It is later revealed that Komali's friend Medli has inherited the Rito Harp from an old Sage of Earth — a Zora named Laruto. The Rito are direct descendants of Zora in The Wind Waker, in spite of the fact that fish people were apparently not properly adapted to a version of Hyrule flooded with water. That's what makes it bizarre to see the Rito live alongside the Zora in Breath of the Wild, where Link must help free the airspace around Rito Village from Divine Beast Vah Medoh under the control of Windblight Ganon. So why would Nintendo double back on its own established lore?
A New Zelda Timeline
The existence of friendly Zora as Legend of Zelda fans know them now is technically a retcon of the series' original lore, so the idea of a race of creatures changing between games is not unprecedented. But it would feel odd for Nintendo to radically change its treatment of the Rito given how little screen time they have received compared to the Zora. However, trying to dig into Breath of the Wild's place on the Zelda timeline is kind of a mess to begin with.
Breath of the Wild is at the very end of every branching path on the Zelda timeline, according to series producer Eiji Aonuma. That's why locations like Outset Island from The Wind Waker and Linebeck Island named from its sequel Phantom Hourglass can be found alongside locales named after people and places from Link's Awakening and Twilight Princess. But that just begs the question of how the Rito have canonically evolved in a history that also sees Zora with a rich legacy.
Going through Ocarina of Time and The Wind Waker in particular highlight how intentionally similar the usage of the Zora and Rito are to emphasize their shared past. What if in Breath of the Wild's far-flung timeline the two races are similarly harmonious? Like real-world evolution can be seen with homologous features on species with a shared ancestry, perhaps the evolution of the Zora and Rito happened in tandem rather than one replacing the other, and digging into those roots would show a lot in common.
While it would be fascinating to see Breath of the Wild 2 explore this dynamic, it's not likely. Link could spend time with Prince Sidon and Champion Revali's replacement Teba as the two dive deep into a shared love of anthropology, but Nintendo doesn't tend to go into this level of nitpicking lore for any series besides Metroid. Still fans can dream, and maybe the upcoming Switch title will at least jokingly reference this evolutionary debate so the world knows whether or not it's thinking too hard about nothing.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 is in development.