Race:Garo

Garo is a playable race on Hyrule Castle. As one of the seven elite races, a player must acquire a Race License specifically for this race to create a Garo character.

Canonically, Garo have appeared only in Majora's Mask.

Character Creation Brief

What is a Garo? ...If you saw one in its true form, it would likely kill you. If you killed it, there wouldn't be a corpse remaining to prove it. Indeed, no man can speak of a Garo and expect anyone to believe him. In truth, they are a secretive tribe of elite warriors--supposedly, they are "pure shadow," but take stout humanoid forms always shrouded in robes or darkness. They are masters of illusion, deception, maneuverability, and the blade. No one seems to know a Garo's true motives, other than a Garo.

A Garo begins with a PWC of 1/1/3, having a 3 in Courage. This starting PWC can be defied by using the Exception racial perk during character creation, but even with it, a Garo can never be created with a Courage below 2.

A Garo character can have up to three racial perks of choice. In addition to the general perks available to every race, a Garo can also choose from:

• Actor's Illusion: a useful spell which enables the Garo to change his or her physical appearance
• Heart of Darkness: a trait which makes it easier for the Garo to gain Shadow-based treasures
• Illusionist: a trait which makes it easier to acquire Illusion-based treasures
• Motionless Invisibility: a defensive technique which enables the Garo to become invisible so long as he remains motionless
• Nightvision: a trait which enables the Garo to see clearly in darkness
• Valiance: a trait which enables the Garo to begin with additional Courage-based treasures
• Wall of Fire: a defensive spell which enables the Garo to manifest a protective barrier of flames

Physiology

While not vital information, the following includes further detail on the race's appearance and biology.

Garo only have one gender, and they generally don't care whether they're called a he, a she, or even an it. It is said that when a creature died with a purpose, a conviction so unimaginably overwhelming that their soul will not die without completing this objective, the soul will eventually rise. It will not become a Poe, nor even a Stalfos, but instead be born again as a living Garo. Much like other races created by magical means, a Garo is created in its adult form. While it has no personal memories, it is capable of speaking the Hyrulean language, and often has particularly broad intelligence, cunning, and knowledge that seems to come out of nowhere. A Garo could have never seen a Goron before, yet know for reasons unknown to it that such beings eat rocks. Indeed, a Garo rarely remembers its former life, so it is difficult to know the origin of this knowledge. Similarly, although Garo are supposedly born from having great conviction, they can never remember what their original purpose was. All Garo share a seemingly superhuman dexterity, swiftness of body, and balance.

When a Garo is created, it is usually in the vicinity of at least one other Garo, but also near the vicinity it died. Instantly, these two Garo are aware of each other, and the "newborn" understands by some unknown force its role as a Garo, and what that means. The "parent" is likely to impart knowledge on the newborn or bring it into a clan of secretive Garo, but may abandon the newly-created Garo to find its own mission.

A Garo is born in a dark robe or similar garment, which covers a stout humanoid body that is completely jet-black, featuring only glowing eyes as a significant bodily feature, with a voice that seems bold yet entirely forgettable. A Garo's true form tends to be between 4 and 5 feet (or 120 and 150 centimers) tall, weighing an average of 90 pounds (or 40 kg). Most Garo go out of their way to conceal this form, with invisibility or magical disguises. A Garo typically has some form of weaponry or spells that manifest with it, for reasons unknown, which the Garo innately knows how to use.

A Garo does not age. Garo never seem to die of natural causes, but rarely does one find a Garo which will admit to being over 100 years old, making it seem that Garo may not have always existed. Despite its unusual nature, a Garo still needs to eat and drink, but can go without doing so for days on end without major discomfort. While a Garo breathes just as much as most Hylians, it does so silently, and even the deepest breaths it makes seem to have no sound unless the Garo wills it so.

When a Garo dies, for any reason, the last thing its body does is explode with an explosion just strong enough to decimate its remains, erasing its corpse from existence.

Culture & History

While not vital information, the following includes further detail on the race's origins, development, and society.

The origins of Garo are even more mysterious than the race itself. There isn't a single Garo which knows definitively what birthed it, let alone what causes their race to seemingly manifest at random, though none seem to have been created more than a century ago.

Garo would seem extremely secretive and paranoid to any other race, but to them, it is natural, and only expected of other Garo. They will go out of their way to conceal their identity or presence, and most go without ever having a true name. Any who discover them and their true nature, but aren't Garo, are generally slain instantly and without question. A Garo that dies will disappear almost immediately after it does so. Their true intentions and emotions are often kept hidden behind false ones. They have the bizarre desire to deceive any beings other than Garo, and usually choose lies over truths so long as it isn't terribly inconvenient to do so.

More subtly, Garo all have a seemingly innate desire to find a purpose beyond themselves; a mission of vital importance to which they can dedicate all of their initiative and time. The main reason Garo join together in clans is either to find such a mission in the clan itself. Some Garo have joined Ganon's forces in an attempt to find this purpose, while others have made themselves prominent if reclusive figures in service to the Hyrule Royal Family of Castle Town. As a whole, the race does not favor either side of the conflict.

To most other races, Garo are either completely unheard of, or perceived as mythic creatures which only exist in rumor and tall tales. Only the most paranoid or the most cunning are liable to believe a secretive society of shadowfolk live among them for no logical reason.