Three Dragons
The three dragons are two different groups of dragons appearing in the The Legend of Zelda series. There is one group that is featured prominently in Skyward Sword and another group of similarly-named dragons that appear in Breath of the Wild. All of them have names similar to the names of the Golden Goddesses and are associated with specific regions of Hyrule.
Skyward Sword[edit]
These three dragons were a group of legendary deities that controlled Hyrule's three provinces. They were appointed by the goddess Hylia in ancient times. Each dragon had power over a different element, and each one was also taught a part of the Song of the Hero to pass on to her chosen hero when the time came, with the fourth part being known by the sky spirit Levias. These mystical dragons mostly resembled Eastern dragons, but they also had arms and in some cases facial hair.
Faron[edit]
Faron was the Water Dragon, and as the name suggested she had powers over water. The Water Dragon had a fierce attitude to match her immense strength and demanded formality at all times. She was kind to those who treated her properly, and she was said to consume all those who displayed impoliteness. Faron resided at the Faron Province's Lake Floria, where she controlled the Parella tribe. Her existence was also known to the Kikwi tribe, and her location was known to the hermit Yerpa. Yerpa feared that Faron would eat him when he told Link of her location, but Faron seemed to bear an actual respect for him, while still at least jesting the idea of using him as a snack. She was entrusted not only with a part of the Song of the Hero, but with a sacred flame (Farore's Flame) as well. She hid the flame in the Ancient Cistern at some point.
Within the game, Faron had tried to fight off Ghirahim's forces when he invaded the forest. She was successful in repelling them, but she was badly wounded. Faron had to confine herself to a water basin filled with sacred water in order to recover. Her water's healing properties had diminished, which delayed her recovery. She was humiliated by this and how it impaired her ability to intimidate others. When Link came in search of the sacred flame, Faron realized that he was supposed to be the hero only when he saw that he had her sacred treasure, the Water Dragon's Scale. Faron thought he was too shrimpy to be a hero and decided to test him by having him recover a fresh dose of sacred water. Link succeeded in this task, and the sacred water was able to almost instantly restore her full power. She seemed sure of Link's confidence and told him to next temper his body and mind so that he could carry out his divine task. Faron showed Link to the Ancient Cistern and used her powers to stop the waterfall that blocked the entrance, seeing it as no problem for Link to take care of the monsters within.
Link soon returned to borrow the Water Dragon's basin for a task at Eldin. Faron later became fed up with the monsters that were roaming her province and decided to solve the problem in her own way. She took shelter in the Great Tree and from there flooded the entire Faron Woods. Link met with Faron within the tree, and she acknowledged her growth since their last meeting. She saw that he had come for her part of the song and decided to subject Link to a final test. Faron split the song into multiple creatures called Tadtones that were hidden throughout the flooded forest, and she tasked Link with retrieving them all to put the song together. Once Link was successful, Faron saw him as a worthy hero and taught her part of the song to him. She then decided to pull back her flood so that Link would not be impaired during his travels through the forest and retired to her hall.
Lanaryu[edit]
The Lanayru Province was ruled over by the Thunder Dragon Lanayru, who had power over electricity in order to protect the desert. He was shown as the oldest of the dragons and had a love of testing others, but he did so with twists. Lanayru was responsible for most of the technical achievements performed in the Lanaryu Province, with the most obvious being the creation of the LD-301 Robots. Lanayru was only shown existing in the past, when the Lanayru region was a green paradise instead of a desert, and he was found at Lanayru Gorge. Lanayru had failed to watch over his health, which originally caused him to grow ill and die. His robots attempted to plant a Tree of Life, as the fruit could save him, but the fruit could not grow in time to save him. When Link first came to Lanayru in the present, all that was left of the Thunder Dragon was his fossil, although the skull still did seem to bear level of consciousness (similar to the broken-down robots).
Link was able to use a timeshift stone to reach the time when Lanayru was still alive, but he was still too weak from his illness to teach Link his part of the song. The Thunder Dragon was ashamed that he failed to live up to the goddess's order. Link eventually returned with the fruit of the Tree of Life, which brought Lanayru back to full strength. He then gladly serenaded Link with his part of the song. Afterwards, Lanayru offered to play a game with him known as the Lightning Round in which Link had to relive either his experiences in the Silent Realm or his battles against the various bosses through Lanayru's powers. He gave rewards for the Silent Realm trials based on how quickly he could beat them. For the battle mode, Link could choose the first boss, and from then on Lanayru would decide the order. After every round, Link would be given a Rupee reward if he bested his previous time record and would have to choose between leaving with a prize or moving on to a new round for a new prize. Most of the prizes were Rupees or treasures, but there was also a Piece of Heart (for four battles) and the game's only, unbreakable Hylian Shield (after eight battles).
Although Link had saved Lanayru in the past, there was no sign of him in the present day aside from the appearance of the dragons during Link's performance of the Song of the Hero.
Eldin[edit]
Eldin was the powerful Fire Dragon who resided at Eldin Volcano. He had power over fire which seemed to be linked to the volcanoes themselves. He was known for being unusually chatty and seemed to be willing to converse with anyone. Eldin's sociability was undermined by his location, as his hall was located within the hottest area of Eldin Volcano's crater and near the top of the mountain. The other inhabitants only knew him through rumors of a "big, dragon-god" living in the mountain.
When Link returned to the Eldin Province to meet with the Fire Dragon for his part of the song, he arrived when Eldin had a presumably involuntary spasm of power. The ensuing eruption caused trouble for Link as it tossed him off course and allowed him to be captured by the Bokoblins. Link still was able to break free and made his way to Eldin's shrine. Once Link found Eldin, the Fire Dragon apologized for the eruption and taught Link his part of the song.
Breath of the Wild[edit]
In Breath of the Wild, there are three similar dragons who are instead named Farrosh, Naydra and Dinraal. They are said to be spirits of lightning, ice and fire, respectively, who have taken on the forms of dragons. These dragons do not speak and instead silently roam Hyrule. They are also each associated with a different spring associated with the virtue of their matching goddess (the Spring of Courage for Farrosh, the Spring of Wisdom for Naydra and the Spring of Fire for Dinraal), and they are said to have protected these springs since ancient times. These dragons roam silently around parts of Hyrule and expel elemental attacks that can hurt anyone that gets too close to them. Hitting one of the dragons with an arrow will not harm them, but it can cause them to drop a small part of themselves such as a scale, claw or shard of their horn or fang. Presenting a dragon's scale to their corresponding spring will cause a shrine to appear.
Within the game, there was a sidequest involving Naydra. Specifically, Naydra had been infected by Malice. Link had to pursue Naydra down Mt. Lanayru and destroy all of the Malice growths along its body to free it. Afterwards, Naydra released a scale for Link and proceeded to roam Hyrule as it used to.
Trivia[edit]
- The dragons of Skyward Sword share names (and provinces) with three of the four light spirits from Twilight Princess. The connection between them is uncertain, as possibilities include the dragons eventually developing into the light spirits, the light spirits replacing the dragons for unknown reasons or the two groups somehow coexisting. The connection between the Skyward Sword dragons and the Breath of the Wild ones are also unknown.
- Like the provinces (and the light spirits), the dragons' names are plays on the names of the Golden Goddesses. Faron/Farrosh corresponds to Farore, Lanayru/Naydra to Nayru and Eldin/Dinraal to Din.
- Skyward Sword seems to imply that the provinces were named after the dragons.
- Once Link learns the final part of the Song of the Hero from Levias, the three dragons make a brief appearance to comically snatch Link's harp, and they then fly around while Link plays the entire song.