The Legend of Zelda/WMG/Sheik

Main WMG page: The Legend of Zelda

Any and all theories relating to Sheik and the ancient Sheikah race from Ocarina of Time go here.

Sheik isn't male or female

 * (waits for rabid fans....)

Sheik really is a guy...
...because Zelda's transformation is anatomically correct.
 * Not quite. OOT Zelda is pretty flat even in her character art, so the lack of breasts isn't that odd. What is odd is that the supposedly male sheik is wearing a extremely skin tight body suit, yet lacks any kind of........ visible bulge down below.
 * Yes, and note that the bulge-lack is probably NOT due the game being childfriendly, since even TWW Link has one down there. Yes. It's visible under his tunic when you're making him crawl.
 * Don't forget Tingle... Freaking Tingle.
 * However, it's very clear that Zelda's transformation into Sheik is a magical one, and vice-versa. In Ocarina of Time, the transformation takes less than a second. In Super Smash Brothers Melee, it's kind of a crouching-spinning thing with magical aura. If the transformation itself is magical, why is it so farfetched to think that it's a gender transformation? Also, if Sheik and Zelda are the same person, why can Sheik fight when Zelda can't? (Admit it. Sheik would have been far, far more useful in the fight against Ganondorf than Zelda was.)
 * Because just because you "can", doesn't mean you should. Also, do you realize the Fridge Horror that will result if Zelda changed sex for seven years from early age? And changing back would really mess her up badly. And don't forget the Unfortunate Implications of Zelda being more capable as a transsexual than as herself. As for your other question, if they had thought of a better role for Zelda after the reveal, they wouldn't have wasted a perfectly good plot. Let's just hope they don't screw her up in the 3DS remake. Also, isn't her voice already a giveaway of her true gender?
 * Men naturally have more upper body strength. Not to say women couldn't as well--just look at female body builders--but having more natural strength would be an incentive to magically transform into a man. Why bind, pad, and change your eye colour, when you could just as easily turn into a man AND gain more strength without severe training?
 * Not everyone is horribly traumatised at the idea of genderbending, and not everyone screams "Abomination!" at the idea of transgender themes. Surely the fact that her home was taken over, her father murdered, and she was sent into exile would be more traumatising than changing body parts? And I'd say the Unfortunate Implications come into play when people decide that Zelda is ONLY a strong character if she actively fights. Why can't she just stay as herself - screaming when Link is in danger and all - and still stay strong? She's clever, she's amazingly strong in magic - she doesn't have to be able to fight to be a good, emotionally strong character.
 * The first thing you said is true, but it's Princess Zelda who we're talking about here. I understand the exile thing and all she went through, but wouldn't all that "magical sex change" for seven years add more salt to the wound? As for your last point, sadly this wasn't planned out properly by the creators of the game, because Sheik looked emotionally strong, but not much after she changed back. That, and the Fridge Logic of not using what she learned near the end of the game make things more complicated.
 * Then surely the easiest explanation is... that, however it came to be, Sheik and Zelda have separate minds and personalities, thus explaining their differences in appearances and actions? (And, as a side effect, it means that Zelda is less likely to be 'traumatised' by having a male body for seven years.) It makes more sense that they were intended to be different instead of accusing Nintendo of getting every single little bit wrong.
 * This is why the manga is considered Adaptation Decay, because instead of choosing to survive all those seven years by herself, she chose to skip them instead and let "someone else" do the surviving for her. In other words, instead of fixing the mistake already done in the game, they preferred to make an excuse for it. This is why I'm hoping for Nintendo to NOT mess up on Zelda/Sheik for the remake this time.
 * Wait, what? This is getting very convoluted. There's not really any evidence of separate entities, a magical transformation doesn't automatically equal a gender bending transformation, and, uh...when in the game is Sheik shown to be a fighter?
 * It's a REMAKE. They can change the game superficially, but they can't alter the plot so drastically as to allow Zelda to NOT be captured by Ganondorf. It isn't possible without completely altering the way the endgame plays out.
 * Back on topic: Sheik's gender is pretty ambiguous, but the only time Sheik is identified as male in the game is by Ruto. "His" voice, on the other hand, sounds very much like a woman lowering her voice to sound male. It's not even that questionable, it's pretty obviously a young woman's voice. I think it's not unreasonable to say that Sheik is not magically gender-swapped, just disguised as a boy.
 * Except for the fact that woman voice young males all the time in games and anime. Which only just kind of kills your voice-related point. I prefer to think of it just as a disguise, nothing more. No genderbending(since there's no canon proof of this) required.
 * In the Japanese version of the game, Sheik refers to himself in masculine.
 * If you refer to the Japanese Pronoun boku, think again.
 * I don't remember who exactly, but someone actually did an analysis of the in-game models of Sheik and Zelda. Sheik has much broader shoulders, and the appearance of more muscular arms and chest is...rather difficult to imitate, even with padding and binding one's chest. Even if you could, it would make you look very stiff when you walked, inhibit your mobility, and almost be more of a nuisance than a disguise.

Sheik is Zelda's alternate personality and they are aware of each other.
If you think about it wouldn't it make sense? Ganondorf is supposedly a very accomplished sorcerer and wouldn't you think that he could just track Zelda's Spirit Energy/Life Force/Brain Waves/Magic Signature, and what is the best way to avoid this? Become someone else, Sheik is actually a male Sheikah whether he turn into him by magic or modifications (Myself is leaning towards the former) is separate and aware of Zelda. this is why he can follow her plans out while still having the perfect disguise. It is possible the mental trauma of losing her kingdom split them up, her being such an empathetic person and only thinking about her citizens most of the time would likely feel the need to reinvent herself to combat the new threat from a different perspective, and what other perspective could she possibly see through? Impa's, her being a nanny/bodyguard for a long time, and even that makes sense, nannies essentially raise royalties children so Impa must have been like a mother to her. So Zelda's split personality reinvisioned herself into what she would have been like if she was the child of Impa and also something to help her in her quest to reclaim her kingdom.
 * Not a good one if you ask me, as it prevents Zelda from developing character properly, thus remaining always as a distressed damsel. Then there's the male-Sheik fangirls who want Zelda out of the picture, too; so once again, no.
 * Not if you consider that sheik has one game and Zelda has badass roles in some other Zelda titles where she is conscious like wind waker, spirit tracks, and twilight princess If you believe that they are in a cycle of reincarnation. Or if you read the part of the theory that Sheik is Zelda reimagined as a male Sheikah.

Zelda as Sheik is a Gender Bender
Can 5,246,839 yaoi fangirls be wrong? No, don't look to Word of God to dispute this one, the writers are wrong.
 * And people wonder why there are FanHaters.
 * Can 5,246,839 yaoi fangirls be wrong? Yes.
 * Well, that and the fact that Sheik has clearly had a male voice in every game he's appeared in. Not to mention red eyes, where Zelda has blue. Hyrulian contact lenses, maybe?
 * She doesn't. Sure, she imitates it, but it's clearly NOT male.
 * Nintendo Power claims it's colored contact lenses. SSBM says magic (and features Sheik with a very female death cry)
 * Also, Zelda/Sheik has the same voice actress in both "forms" -- she's just really good at impersonating a male voice, and apparently so is Zelda.
 * I believe it's mentioned somewhere above that young men in Japanese features, such as anime, are often voiced by women.
 * Not quite in the case of Sheik. Remember when she got attacked by Bongo Bongo? That's clearly a female voice, because in this state of pain, she could not imitate her boyish voice.
 * The Ocarina of Time manga offers that Impa magically made Zelda into an actual man.
 * The manga sucks for that very reason. That and because it did not give Zelda any justice. It's worse.
 * Nope. Brainwashing her to think she's a dude =/= physically making her into one. No need to bash the manga, either.
 * The manga has Sheik covering "his" chest upon regaining consciousness at one point, and Link noting that Sheik has a much more small and fragile physique than he expected for a warrior. How people figure the manga supports Sheik and Zelda not being the same person is anyone's guess.
 * No, the fangirls are wrong. We're at war here: sane people vs. yaoi fangirls. We can't let those bastards win.
 * We love you!
 * This troper thinks the generalization of all the "male Sheik" supporters as yaoi fangirls is ridiculously biased. Unless you're being facetious...
 * You haven't been to Deviant ART, have you?
 * According to Snake's codec conversations in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Zelda used a very powerful magic to conceal herself as Sheik. Mei Ling notices that "changing her hair and eye color must take some really powerful magic". And, what does Zelda possess? That's right, the Triforce of Wisdom, the possible key to an endless source of knowledge (and thus, magic).
 * Not to mention that, in the same game, Sheik looks a lot more feminine. The breast area, in particular...
 * Another theory is that Impa somehow sealed Zelda's soul into Sheik's deceased and male body. Sheik lives only because he's using Zelda's life force.
 * * Face Palm* Pure fangirl nonsense. There's NO separate Sheik anywhere in the game, and you CANNOT prove the opposite.
 * This editor moved the following from below, because whoever wrote it seemed to have hit the wrong category:
 * Ahem. To compromise: s/he is both, and able to switch forms at will.
 * If that is true, she shouldn't limit herself to only Sheik. Fortunately that's not the case.
 * Then again, Sheik is probably a form she's comfortable with. Maybe that's why she would limit herself to that form.
 * Uh, everyone might want to refresh their memory by re-playing OOT, where Sheik originally appeared. Listen to HER voice when Bongo Bongo flings her away from the well. In this moment when she's genuinely caught off guard, she utters a very female squeal. Sheik is a disguise, nothing more.
 * This is more backed up in Smash Bros., so we have a WINNER!!!
 * Of course, we're forgetting that Ruto explicitly said that Sheik was male. Granted, this could easily be explained due to unfamiliarity between races, but it's still a thought to entertain.
 * Mentioned somewhere above: In the Japanese text of the game Sheik refers to himself in masculine.
 * Responded somewhere above: Bokukko.
 * Unless Zelda took off hir pants in front of Ruto, the statement could have simply been due to it being a good disguise...
 * Or Zelda asked Ruto to play along. Supported by Ruto knowing that Zelda is alive, though her new Sage powers might allow her to sense someone else's life force, and thus could have noticed that the life force labeled "Princess Zelda" read that she was still alive. Oh well, it put the kid's heart at ease, though he still had to find her.
 * It's Ruto we are talking about. Obviously she WANTS Sheik to be a man. No rival or Link yaoi is pretty much a win/win scenario for her.

Vaati and the Sheikah are somehow interrelated.
Vaati's symbol is the sheikah eye sans tear. * shrugs* It just seems a bit far fetched to me that they would have the exact same symbiology without some sort of relation.
 * Close as I would guess is he had an interest in them, and adopted a form of their eye symbol. The idea that he was directly related to them was Jossed by TMC's revelation that Vaati was a Picori/Minish.

The Lokomo are descendants of the Sheikah.
When ancient Hyrule was flooded, everybody fleed to the newly created mountain tops, except for Impa and her remaining Sheikah (who were probably not that much anyway), who were instead led to the land that would become new Hyrule by the goddesses. The goddesses ordered them to protect this new land, until the hero and Princess Zelda can arrive and told them to serve this new lands guardian spirits. Just as the people of Hyrule forgot about their heritage over time, the Sheikah left behind their past as servants of the Hylians as well after some time and took on the new identity as Lokomo. What brings me to this theory are three things: First, their incredible knowledge of history and legends and good connections to the royal family (traits that used to be attributed to the Sheikah), second the fact that all of their songs and instruments just remind me on Sheik's harp and, third... Bryne. It was never outright stated, but given that he was Anjean's pupil, I guess that he's Lokomo as well. A young one, OK, but still a Lokomo. And what does he look like? Face half-covered: Like Sheik. Oddly colored eyes. (Maybe the red eyes of the Sheikah faded out to yellow over the generations.) Last, his fighting style: Nobody can tell me, that this is not Sheikah fighting style. And he was taught by Anjean, which means that all Lokomo fight like this when they are not sitting in their wheel chairs. Lastly, he uses a hookshoot. Where did Link in Ocarina of Time find his Hookshot again? In Kakariko, village of the Sheikah.
 * It's pretty heavily implied by Anjean at the end of the game that Byrne is a Lokomo as well, so that holds true. And there's definitely a connection to music - the Lokomo have their songs and instruments, and several in-game songs in Ocarina of Time are implied to be Sheikah in origin - the Nocturne of Shadow takes you to the Shadow Temple, the Song of Storms is learnt in Kakariko, the Sun Song is by Flat and Sharp, who are also alleged to be Sheikah, and if the Sheikah are the traditional guardians (and nursemaids) of young princesses, perhaps even Zelda's Lullaby is, as well. And to add to it, nearly all the races in Ocarina of Time have representation in this timeline. The Hylians and Gorons stay as-is, the Gerudo possibly begin to intermix with Hylians and Humans (you can't tell me Jolene doesn't have Gerudo ancestry!), the Zoras become the Rito, and the Kokiri become the Koroks. What of the Sheikah? Nothing - unless they became the Lokomo.
 * But aren't the Sheikah all dead? Impa is referred to as the "last of the Sheikah", and there's mention by the talking walls in the Shadow Temple about how the Sheikah were killed during the Great War.
 * Then again, the Lokomo could have been descended from a different tribe of Sheikah that was never affiliated with the original royal family and therefore never got themselves wiped out in the Great War.