The Gorons are still vegan
I’m currently playing The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, the latest entry in the famed video-game series. I don’t really have a good sense of how far along I am, since I’m doing my best to avoid spoilers, but the title is characteristically excellent. Most importantly — and, yes, I’m joking here — the Gorons are still vegan.
Ocarina of Time gets a lot of credit as the first three-dimensional Zelda game. But less commented on, in my view, is how the 1998 adventure introduced a number of character classes that have since become integral to the franchise. I’m talking about the Gerudo, the Zora (as we know them now), the Sheikah, and, of course, the Gorons.
The Gorons are generally portrayed as friendly, mountain-dwelling rock monsters. From the beginning, their diet is described as being made up of stones, which would suggest it didn’t include animal products. This is complicated somewhat in later games. My understanding, for instance, is Twilight Princess refers to Gorons drinking milk.
But, for the most part, this seemingly all-male species is shown to be vegan. Again, I’m not sure how much of Tears of the Kingdom I’ve seen, but the Gorons appear to subsist on an animal-free diet. So far, the most I’ve learned about their eating habits comes from visiting the Bedrock Bistro, a Goron restaurant in Eldin Canyon.
An aptly named Goron called Cooke — who is, well, the Bistro’s cook — makes two offerings. The first is rock roast, which is for members of his kind. The second is an animal-based steak, which is for visiting humans. This would seem to suggest the Goron’s rock-eating is a biological preference or imperative, not an ethical one.
So, in case it wasn’t clear, I’m using veganism in this context to refer to a diet and lifestyle that seeks to exclude animal products so much as possible, for whatever reason. I’m well aware that some people consider veganism to be primarily a philosophical opposition to animal exploitation. I understand and respect that definition.
As a Zelda-loving animal activist, I like to imagine the Gorons’ abstention from animal products has an ethical component. Perhaps the Gorons of Tears of the Kingdom serve meat to humans out of a misguided cultural relativism. However, this is just my silly head canon and there’s no textual evidence I’m aware of that points in this direction.
Among the Bistro’s customers is a Goron named Gomo. He’s referred to as a goromand, a play on the word gourmand, which I gather is a food connoisseur. Gomo tasks Link, the playable character, with finding ripened flint. This is presented as a rare delicacy. Gomo is willing to pay a great deal for it.
I haven’t found the ripened flint yet, but Gomo’s request demonstrates that even in the Goron’s rock diet, which doesn’t seem super appetizing to this vegan human, there is a tremendous diversity of things to eat, that appeal to even the most discriminating palates.