Queen Sonia is a character in Tears of the Kingdom. She founded the iteration of the kingdom depicted in Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom as its first Queen of Hyrule along with the Zonai King Rauru.[2] She was killed by Ganondorf.
Appearance[]
Sonia has darker skin, similar to the skin colour of the people of Lurelin Village. She has long pale blonde hair, dark green eyes and a slender build. She wears clothing which features Zonai imagery. She has a stylised headdress on her forehead that resembles a third eye, reminiscent of the Crest of the Sheikah or the symbol on an Old Wooden Shield. She wears a laurel wreath (reminiscent of the Diamond Circlet). She wears earrings shaped like closed lotus buds, similar to those seen on Soldier Constructs, Ranger Constructs, or lanterns found on Hyrule's Sky Islands. She always goes around barefoot like her husband and sister-in-law, but wears an anklet on her right leg. Her ears are much longer than those of many Hylians, which is significant, because hylian pointed ears were supposedly used to receive messages from the gods[3][4]. Beneath each eye she has a depiction of four tears, drawn in white paint, (reminiscent of the paint used while wearing the Barbarian Set) which may be a status symbol, as Zelda has a single tear drawn beneath each eye while wearing Zonai attire, while King Rauru has three. The paint on her shoulder depicts another Sheikah Crest, while her forearm features a Royal Crest. She wears a necklace, with the Recall Secret Stone as its pendant.
Biography[]
Tears of the Kingdom[]
Queen Sonia offers her help to Zelda
Sonia was a priestess before she met Rauru, one of the few descendants of the almost extinct Zonai.[5] When she married Rauru, she received a secret stone of the Zonai as a gift from him. After that, both of them founded a kingdom which they named Hyrule and a time of prosperity began. It is possible that Hyrule may have been destroyed once before their mentioned founding.[6] When some years passed, both King Rauru and Queen Sonia found Princess Zelda, who had travelled back in time, unconscious in the forest. When Zelda woke up, she presented herself as the daughter of King Rhoam of Hyrule, which confused both Sonia and Rauru. After some time, when Zelda realized she had travelled to an era so back in time it had become legend, the Queen believed her story right away and said that she sensed both time and light powers within her, which could confirm their blood connection, since Rauru had the power of light and Sonia had power over time. Sonia, seeing how confused and worried Zelda was, offered her help to Zelda and to come with them to the castle.
Queen Sonia realizes how much greater Zelda's power is
One day, Ganondorf attempted to attack the kingdom with a swarm of Molduga's. Sonia, Rauru and Zelda got immediately alerted and went the border of the wall of an ancient version of the Great Plateau. Rauru got into a power-charging position and Sonia and Zelda began to empower him. It was there when Sonia realizes how much greater the power of her descendant was compared to her own. All that power was used by Rauru to launch a blast capable of killing all the Moldugas that were approaching them.
When Zelda had already spent some time with the royal family in the castle, Sonia began to teach her about how to control her time power. While Zelda kept improving, Sonia guessed that Zelda, apart from wanting to go back to her own time, also desperately wanted to help them out in that era. Sonia appreciated her concern and tried to convince her not to worry. Finally, she told her that she had to return as soon as possible so that Link is calm. Rauru then showed interest in knowing who they were talking about. Zelda started then to tell Rauru and Sonia more about Link and his astonishing qualities. Sonia showed interest in getting to know Link someday.
One night after Ganondorf, the Gerudo King, made his suspicious show of loyalty to the royal family of Hyrule and was granted access to the kingdom, Zelda asked to speak to Sonia alone. Sonia accepted and they went to a balcony, away from the castle. Upon being asked what she wanted to talk about with her back turned to Zelda, the Princess produced a Gerudo dagger from behind her, sneering that she was far too trusting, throwing it at her and intending to kill. Unexpectedly, the dagger stopped in midair, which confused Zelda. Sonia slowly turned around, stating that this behavior was very abnormal of the Zelda she knew. However, she showed awareness that this Zelda was a fake puppet of Ganondorf.
Queen Sonia gets killed by Ganondorf
The real Zelda then emerged from behind a pillar and ridicules the fake Zelda for failing to catch on that she had been found out. Using Recall, Zelda sent the dagger back to its original position, causing the fake Zelda to vanish in a cloud of gloom, laughing ominously. After some seconds of silence, Sonia was punched from behind by Ganondorf, presumably breaking her spine, thus ending the queen's life. It is then that he snatched her secret stone as it was in the air. Zelda, horrified by the sight, tried pointlessly to wake Queen Sonia up as Ganondorf cackled psychotically at her suffering. Using her secret stone, he transformed into the Demon King, causing the Blood Moon to rise into the sky.
King Rauru in front of Queen Sonia's gravestone
Having heard the noise coming from outside, Rauru appeared and rushed to his wife's side upon seeing her laying lifelessly, while Ganondorf taunted him, saying that her death was his fault for having such pride in his strategy. Rauru was enraged and was about to furiously attack the Demon King, but Zelda stopped him and asked him to come to his senses. It was then when Zelda, Rauru and Sonia's lifeless body fled by teleporting with the Purah Pad to a safe place. After some time, Sonia was buried in one of the rooms of the Forgotten Temple with a Sundelion decorating her gravestone.
Personality[]
Sonia appears to be kind, supportive, trusthworthy, and understanding, such as demomstrated when she and Rauru found an unconscious Zelda, and when Zelda explains the reasons of her arrival. She also appears to be extremely polite, shown as by inviting Zelda to Hyrule Castle and offering clothes and tapping Rauru when misconducting. Despite this, Sonia also demonstrates smart and powerful combat tactics, such as preventing a puppet of Ganondorf of killing her.
Abilities[]
As the first queen of Hyrule, Sonia possesses the ability to use divine magic at a fairly high level.
Trivia[]
- Since her first appearance in the final Tears of the Kingdom trailer, Queen Sonia was frequently theorized to be the Goddess Hylia, while Ganondorf's Demon king form was theorized to be Demise. Both theories were proven false upon the release of the game.
- Similar to Hylia's ancestry to the Royal Family of Hyrule seems to be inspired by the Japanese goddess Amaterasu being the ancestor to Japan's imperial family,[verification needed] Sonia may be inspired by Himiko,[verification needed] an ancient priestess and earliest known queen of Japan.
Nomenclature[]
Sonia is a Slavic name which is derived from the Greek name Sophia, which itself means "wisdom".
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Gallery[]
Sonia, activating the secret stone.
Queen Sonia alongside King Rauru when finding Princess Zelda
Sonia holding a Basket with Berries unseen in Tears of the Kingdom
Notes
References
- ↑ Hyrule Historia, Dark Horse Books, pg. 77
- ↑ "What an unexpected answer. We are the king and queen who founded Hyrule, after all. Or at least we were the last time I checked." — King Rauru (Tears of the Kingdom)
- ↑ "There is a story that the shame that the Gerudo felt over giving birth to the source of Calamity Ganon so long ago opened them up to listening for messages from the goddesses. So, they came to have the same long, pointed ears as the Hylians, which some believe allow them to receive special messages from the divine." — Creating a Champion, Nintendo, pg. 401
- ↑ "It was also said that their long, pointed ears enabled them to hear special messages from the gods." (A Link to the Past manual, pg. 4)
- ↑ "It claims that Sonia was a priestess before marrying Rauru. Despite his status as a Zonai, a people popularly thought to be gods, she would counsel him without any trepidation. Moreover, Rauru headed this counsel." — Wortsworth (Tears of the Kingdom)
- ↑ "あくまで可能性として話すとすれば、ハイラル建国の話があってもその前に一度滅んだ歴史がある可能性もあります。[If I'm just talking about this as a possibility, even if there is a story about the founding of Hyrule, there is a possibility that there is a history where Hyrule was destroyed once before that.]" — Hidemaro Fujibayashi, An interview with the developer of "The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom" that can still be talked about. A marvelous sequel completed through "play priority", Famitsu.
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