Zelda Actually Had Sentient Birds Before The Rito Even Existed

screenrant.com:

There was actually a race of sentient bird-like people in long before the Rito existed. franchise in its entirety is sprawling, with a multitude of spin-off titles and associated media alongside the main game series. One largely ignored, but interesting aspect of the franchise is an avian race that has had a remarkable effect on the franchise despite its obscurity, and could have an even greater impact in the future.

Likely now best known for producing characters like Revali and Tulin,the Rito possess remarkably complex lore in canon. Originally met in, the then far more human-like Rito were an evolution of the Zora prompted by the Great Flood. Of course, in the specific canon of and , the Zora clearly still exist, so it is unclear if the game’s more varied and visibly bird-like Rito share this origin. Regardless, it is interesting to also note that the Rito are not the first flying people to inhabit Hyrule’s skies.

The Watarara are a nomadic race who appear solely in a bonus story for the manga adaptation of by Akira Himekawa. This story involves Link reuniting Rouru, son of the Watarara leader Elnora, with his mother after the young heir is separated from his flock. The Watarara have a unique culture in , and only visit Hyrule on a yearly basis as part of an annual migration. Notably, this unusual race has wings that grow from their arms as they mature, meaning that children cannot fly by themselves and must be carried by adults.

The Rito now being more distinctly avian is a change that simply moves them closer in aesthetic to their predecessors.

The Watarara growing their wings bears a notable similarity to the Rito of, who only gain their wings by visiting Valoo atop Dragon Roost Island and receiving a scale from the dragon when they come of age. However, this is far from a coincidence; according to an interview between Zelda producer Eiji Aonuma and Himekawa (translated by ),the Rito were directly inspired by the Watarara, with the commonality between the two