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Draconification is the transformation that occurs when a person consumes a Secret Stone, turning them into an Immortal Dragon.

Tears of the Kingdom

After civilians near the castle start to grow sick from a mysterious illness, Princess Zelda and Link enter the caves below Hyrule Castle, they discover Imprisoning Chamber where the mummified corpse of The Demon King is sealed by a disembodied hand. After the Demon King's awakening, Zelda falls into the caverns below where she is only saved from death by her Time Power which sends her back in time to the era of the Founding of Hyrule. There she meets her ancestors, King Rauru and his wife, Queen Sonia. she begins to experience life during that time period, bonding greatly with Rauru, Sonia, and Mineru. She, Rauru, and Mineru speak of ways to speed up her training and chances of success when Draconification is mentioned in passing, to which Zelda takes interest. She unknowingly encounters Ganondorf in the past, though she suspects his true identity due to how close his name is to a certain calamity that befell the kingdom thousands of years in the future.

She continues to study her Time Powers under the King and Queen, eventually taking up the title of Sage of Time after Sonia is assassinated by Ganondorf, who steals her Secret Stone and makes it his own, corrupting it and gaining incredible power from it. Zelda only survives due to the intervention of Rauru. After this, King Rauru recruits four others of the various races across the Kingdom to join himself, Mineru, and Zelda as the Seven Sages. Together, the Sages engage the forces of the Demon King in a conflict that would later come be known as the Imprisoning War. In a final battle, the Sages engaged Ganondorf, but were out matched. It was then that Rauru sacrifices himself to put the Demon King into a long slumber to which Rauru hopes will last until Link can claim the Sword that Seals the Darkness and finally end him for good.

With the battle won, Zelda begins to travel from one end of Hyrule to the next, forming pacts of loyalty with each of the remaining Sages in hopes that when the time comes, they will aid Link in his battle against the Demon King, to which each heartily agrees. Finally, she meets with Mineru and explains what she plans to do, which Mineru begs her to reconsider, due to the permanent nature of the transformation. However, Zelda refuses, believing it to be her duty. Zelda would go to the Temple of Time where she gives her Purah Pad to a Construct. There, she takes the Master Sword, knowing that the only way to repair it and fill it with enough light to conquer the darkness is by bathing it in her divine light for millennia. She then takes the final step, swallowing the Secret Stone, transforming into an Immortal Dragon where her tears fall to the ground.

Zelda transforms into the Light Dragon in an effort to  heal and strengthen the Master Sword  with sacred power, a process that lasts for millennia

Zelda transforms into the Light Dragon in an effort to heal and strengthen the Master Sword with sacred power, a process that lasts for millennia

In the present, the Light Dragon can still be seen by Link who doesn't yet know of Zelda's fate until he collects all tears and witnesses all memories from the past. After collecting the Master Sword that had been in Zelda's possession for so long, he makes his way to the Demon King's Lair where he engages in battle against the Demon King Ganondorf's minions. The current Sages appear to aid their champion and give Link the time he needs to face Ganondorf. After a prolonged battle, Link defeats Ganondorf who, unwilling to give in, decides to swallow his own Secret Stone, becoming an Immortal Dragon himself, fully acknowledging beforehand that this will result in the sacrifice of everything, including his mind and body.

Ganondorf sacrifices his mind and body for one last chance to kill his enemies

Ganondorf sacrifices his mind and body for one last chance to kill his enemies

Ganondorf flies up into the air with Link, but before he can kill him, Link is saved by the Light Dragon, and the two engage the Demon Dragon in a final battle. After striking the various weak points on the Demon Dragon's back, Link targets the Secret Stone that appears atop its forehead. After destroying it, the Demon Dragon erupts in a conjunction of power, darkness, and divine light. After this, Link sees a vision of Rauru and Sonia who channel their light and time powers through Link's borrowed right arm and transforms Zelda back into her human form, to which Link catches in free fall, rescuing her from death.

Abilities

Strengths

Each dragon gains immortality, becoming unable to die of old age or illness, though they can still be infected by Malice. Just as each Secret Stone offers its user a boost of power in their primary ability, draconification takes it a step further, granting the user god-like power that few can dare to counter.

They appear to be able to control the elements as well as teleport into the clouds, as was shown by Naydra, Dinraal, and Farosh in Breath of the Wild. Their scales, teeth, and claws also appear to contain certain power within them, as when brought to the fountains, shrines can appear. Furthermore, when such resources are cooked into a meal or potion, or are grafted to a weapon, many benefits are bestowed upon the consumable or weapon, insinuating that even a small, discarded piece of a dragon contains immeasurable power.

Weaknesses

Draconification, for its many strengths, has even greater weaknesses, which led to it becoming a taboo among the Zonai people. Draconification is irreversible in most cases, and leads to a total loss of humanity, causing the being to lose their sentience. Despite this, it seems that if one's feelings are intense enough, the Dragon will carry over the will and attempt to carry it out, such as Zelda's desire to protect the Master Sword from all threats, or Ganondorf's desire to destroy everything that existed in the world. Despite being immortal, this does not mean that a dragon cannot be killed. When the Demon Dragon faced off against Link and the Light Dragon, striking the eye clusters across its back seemed to cause it injury. Further more, when it had been weakened enough, the Secret Stone appeared upon its forehead. When destroyed, the Demon Dragon's power reached a critical state, causing the Dragon to erupt in a violent explosion, killing it. Whether this weakness is present for all Dragons created via draconification, or if it's simply a special case for the Demon Dragon is unknown.

Breath of the Wild

While draconification is not witnessed, discussed, or mentioned by name in Breath of the Wild, three dragons can be seen circling the skies of Hyrule in various locations. Despite the fact that Dinraal, Naydra, and Farosh appear to be the same type of dragon as the Light Dragon, the Goddess Statues in Tears of the Kingdom do not directly state whether or not they were once mortal women that underwent the process of draconification. Instead, it refers to them as spirits that have become dragons.[1]

Trivia



See Also

Nomenclature

TMC Forest Minish Artwork Names in other regions TMC Jabber Nut Sprite
LanguageName
This table was generated using translation pages.
  1. "A spirit who takes the form of a great red dragon, long in shape." — Goddess Statue (Tears of the Kingdom)