#bargainer statues

[karaloza]

Hey so, you know the Poe Collector in Ocarina of Time?

He has one eye (at least, we assume that's an eye) looking out from under a pointed hood, and he wants Link to bring him Poes in exchange for rupees (and if he gets all 10 of the Big Poes in Hyrule Field, a glass bottle).

In Tears of the Kingdom, the Depths are occupied by a handful of these creepy looking but benign Bargainer Statues:

They have four eyes looking out from under a pointed hood, and they want Link to bring them Poes, which are only found in the Depths, in exchange for various items. One (well, three) of the items in question comprise the Depths Armor, which protect Link from the Gloom that lies in sinister puddles all over the Depths. A good thing to have when you're wandering around collecting more Poes to trade to the statues.

Wait...collecting Poes...what does the Depths Armor look like again?

Oh. I see. With one eye looking out from under a pointed hood.

Well played, Nintendo.

[archive-moth]

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (2023)

Bargainer Statues (1/8): Lookout Landing

„You who stand before me… Offer up Poes so that I may return them to the afterlife.“

[tatlstalesofthekingdom]

The Master Sword's connection to the Imprisoning war

If it was Zelda who planted the great deku tree early on in the imprisoning war to connect it to the lightroot network set up by the shrines of light pilgrimage, (to bathe the master sword in sacred energy in the pedestal in the future) Did the valley of the royal family (Tanagar Canyon) come to be named because of its importance in the creation of a new master sword?

The Mother Goddess Statue isn't in the secret stone cutscene. Maybe Sonia knew where it was originally and they moved it there at a later time with ultrahand, but why? Where was it before?

In the present, Link can get a goddess sword anytime once he's helped her upright through pilgrimage to three springs. But we notably don't get the opportunity to turn a goddess sword into a master sword with sacred flames.(From the three dragons)

The last thing Zelda saw before she went back in time was the destruction of the sword. Once she noticed it's complete absence in the past, perhaps she insisted on the creation of the sword to aid the future hero. (Also planting the Great Deku Tree to charge it) A link to the past claimed the Master Sword was created during the imprisoning war by the sages so there is a precedent.

But if the sword is supposed to exist already, proven by Fi's presence, then that shouldn't be possible.

Unless they had to find the lost spirit of the destroyed sword in the depths.

Bargainer Statues seem particularly good at binding legendary spirits to items and weapons.

My only flaw is that the bargainer couldn't be at full power with its eyes sealed in shrines of light on the plateau. But what if this deal with the bargainer somehow went wrong and caused Rauru and Sonia to seal its eyes in the first place?

[justplaindontask]

I love finding the bargainer statues in the depth, because they’re basically like:

I am Charon. Give me those poor wretched souls that cling to you so that I may convey them to the afterlife. In death, they are all equal-

Oh.

You’re doing the scavenger hunt? Give me a moment while I go get your prize!

You got the *Big-ass Knife*

[aikoiya]

LoZ Wild: The Bargainer Statues

Now, to start off, from my understanding of what I've read about it, the actual Shintoist concept, process, & spirit produced as a result of said process, is actually known as Bunrei (分霊) &, theologically speaking, the Kami isn't supposed to be decreased in any way by the act, even functioning the same. It is specifically compared to the act of using a candle to light another candle.

However, I am personally gonna be taking a couple of creative liberties in certain instances & this happens to be one of them. If this were the case in my hc, then I'd have to get a bit more convoluted with things than I'd personally prefer. As such, I'm instead making it more similar to how the Kage Bunshin technique from Naruto works. Which would be more like Hylia is the "source" goddess & the "Hylias" inside the Goddess Statues are lesser copies of her with varying degrees of power & capability depending on their host statue's size.

Also, the in-game Japanese name for the Bargainer's Statues are Majin-zō (魔人像, Magic Person Statue) & the Goddess Statues are Megami-zō (女神像, Goddess Statues), but that won't be the names I use for them.

Remember, this is my hc & I am allowed to take a couple of creative liberties here & there in my hc.

---

I actually see the Bargainer's Statues or Shinigami-bōzō (死神貿像, Death God Trade Statue) as being very early depictions of the Fierce Deity that act as bunshin for him in the same way that the Goddess Statues or Megami-hōzō (女神褒像, Goddess Reward Statues) act as bunshin for Hylia.

These depictions are not exactly accurate in a similar way to how the Goddess Statues are likely not accurate to how Hylia actually looked.

In this way, even though, as per my hc, Hylia & the Fierce Deity themselves have both been reincarnated several times over, their bunshin still exist & are able to watch over Hyrule & the Depths via their statues. Thus, in a way, the statues are like siblings to each other & the source god their parent in an abstract sense.

The reason I say this is because, again in my hc, one of the domains that the Fierce Deity rules over is death & the ferrying of souls to the afterlife.

If so, then this might explain why Link is always able to see the spirits of the departed. Why he can see the Poes. Why he can see the Shadow Soldiers upon the rock stacks in the Depths when no one else can.

However, something else I'd like to bring up is the Horned God Statue or Akuma-zō (悪魔像, Devil Statue). There is some evidence to suggest that the kami housed within it may also have been a Bargainer. However, obviously, something went wrong with this one & the bunshin of Hylia punished it for its life & power trades by putting it into the Horned God Statue or turning the statue of the Bargainer into the form of the Horned God Statue.

However, that doesn't necessarily debunk my theory. If you recall, Ravio was also quite the businessman who made a practice of selling things at quite high prices & he is Link's Lorule counterpart. In my mind, those who live in Lorule possess the same core souls as those in Hyrule. It is simply that their darker tendencies are brought forward a bit more. As such, it's possible that this is a part of the Hero's Spirit that we simply don't see often...

Except that we do see it quite regularly, don't we?

After all, heroes are quite prone to collecting things. Especially rupees.

And to be fair, the newly dug up Bargainer Statue in Lookout Landing also mentioned that since it'd been brought to the Surface, it'd been unable to return souls to the afterlife.

So, if the same thing happened to this perspective punished Bargainer, then it's very possible that after what may well have been 10,000 years, it might've tried to find a new purpose. One featuring a new bargain.

In my mind, the Sheikah were the ones who were supposed to bring the Poe Souls to the Bargainers, but that is obviously not taking place anymore.

And, perhaps, this punished Bargainer had originally been brought to the Surface to act as a point for Sheikah to return the souls that had returned to the Surface to take on the forms of enemy Poes & especially Imp Poes.

---

Though, what I find interesting is that this would mean that the Fierce Deity likely had 4 eyes in a similar way to how Rainbow Quartz from Steven Universe had 4 eyes. Which I'm very cool with!

I'd actually like to see some fanart of that personally.

I get the idea that, physical attribute-wise, he likely had a similar appearance to Sesshoumaru from Inuyasha, but with different markings, 4 eyes, & tan skin. Not to mention different clothes.

LoZ Cultural Masterlist

[aikoiya]

LoZ: The Sheikah's Ancient Task

I've talked quite a bit about who I think the Fierce Deity is as well as what I think his role was when he was at his peak.

In a lot of ways, I see him as the Soul of the Hero. The central identity at the core of every Link.

As well as the figure that the Bargainer Statues were based on. (Meaning he has 4 eyes.) Him having been the Hyrule Death God among other things. And creator of the Sheikah.

Now, I want to talk about the Sheikah & what their task was after the Fierce Deity became mortal.

I think that the Sheikah were tasked with more than just serving the Royal Family. Rather, to protect Hyruleans in-general. The Hylians especially as they were the Sheikah's sister people. They were also tasked with not only bringing spirits (non-combative poes) to the Bargainer Statues, but also with fighting the Poe enemies on the Surface.

My theory is that the symbols on the Depths Set & the Dark Clumps are ancient Sheikah script, which the Fierce Deity taught them & the strips of paper wrapped around the Dark Clumps are talismans meant to keep malicious intent or On'nenryoku (怨念魔力, magic fueled by malicious intent) simply from leaking out or reforming. Created using Sheishin Fūinjutsu, which is a type of forgotten, sacred runic magic that the Sheikah practiced long ago.

In a lot of ways, I believe that the Dark Clumps are parts from an enemy Poe, which are in many ways like Japanese Yūrei (幽霊, Ghost, Phantom, Specter, or Apparition; from the Kanji Kasoke for Ghost & Rei for Spirit, Soul, Ghost, or Departed Soul). Poe Souls become enemy Poes when their negative emotions build up too much, at which point, they rise to the Surface & create pseudo-flesh bodies to inhabit. The Dark Clumps being pieces of that pseudo-flesh created via hatred, resentment, vengeance, jealousy, & pure will.

One of the Sheikah's roles was to go out & either soothe those Poes (whether via music or reasoning) or, failing that, "kill" them, as well as other undead monsters, & return the spirit to the Bargainers, who would then send the spirits on to the afterlife. In this way, they were quite similar to Miko & Kanuushi in Japanese Shintoism.

They are able to "kill" these entities by using either Light, Twilight, or Spirit Magic & fighting them with weapons forged using ancient weaponsmithing techniques taught by Sheikaku (the Fierce Deity). Part of that process involved engraving Sheishin Fūinjutsu into the metal. Once that's done, the Sheikah is to preform a sacred ritual on the night of either the New Moon, the Full Moon, or the Waning Crescent Moon or Waxing Gibbous Moon, that should bestow Sheikaku's blessing upon it. Sheishin Fūinjutsu, the sacred forging techniques, & even the ritual have all been forgotten to time.

These weapons were also fairly strong against Akuma. Or evil beings possessed by On'nen.

This is why the Sheikah were always so heavily associated with death, spirits, & graveyards.

The Sheikah are simply naturally intune with the world of the spirits, but in order to fully unlock it, they are traditionally taught to open their Mind's Eye (originally passed down to them by the Fierce Deity & the mastery of which turns one's eyes ruby red), which allows them to actually see spirits.

The reason that some Yiga can hear the voice of the Bargainers is because those specific Yiga are of Sheikah descent. They are likely being called to complete the task that their ancestors were assigned.

The Sheikah who were tasked with gathering non-combative spirits wore robes very similar to the Depths Set & carried shepherd crooks made of dark wood. From a hook on those crooks hung black steel lanterns with green flame candles & from the bottom of those lanterns hung a flower-shaped silver bell. These lanterns were known as Lanterns of the Lost & the sound of the bell would draw spirits to it. The spirits would then gather inside the flame.

Sheikah who were tasked with the Surface also carried these Lanterns, but instead of crooks, they were simply carried in their hand. Ringing the bell would still draw out Poes, only then the Sheikah expected to either negotiate with the Poe & find a way to sooth them enough that their darkened flesh dissipated or sever the spirit's connection to the darkened flesh via their own hand using specialized weapons made to banish cursed flesh or the use of light, twilight, or spirit magic.

LoZ Cultural Masterlist 2