Where does the name Yiga come from?

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Where does the name Yiga come from?
Posted On: June 15, 2023

I've been told that the Sheikah race in the Legend of Zelda series were originally named the "Seekers"; when adapted to Japanese phonology that becomes Shiikaa which was transcribed back into English as "Sheikah". (The same happened with some other names in Ocarina of Time: the desert people were named after the "Geld Man" desert enemy in A Link to the Past, and "Geld" became Gerudo and thus "Gerudo".).


Since the Yiga are an offshoot of the Sheikah, I'd expect their name to be related. But it doesn't sound like any English word I know. ("Eager" maybe? But it's a stretch.).


Do we know where the name "Yiga" came from? Is it also adapted from English, or is it originally Japanese, or something else?


Question from user Draconis at stackexchange.


Answer:

It is originally Japanese.


Additionally, their master's name, Kohga, also came from Japanese.


Both names came from the Ninja school/clans Iga and Kōga, the most well-known Ninja school/clans in Japan.


There is no doubt that the Yiga Clan is based on Ninjas, given its characteristics, and that Japanese fan sites also refer to it as such, and of course the names Yiga and Kohga, but it is not 100% certain. I'd say 99% certain, though.


Answer from user Skye-AT at stackexchange.



[BACK]
Where does the name Yiga come from?
Posted On: June 15, 2023

I've been told that the Sheikah race in the Legend of Zelda series were originally named the "Seekers"; when adapted to Japanese phonology that becomes Shiikaa which was transcribed back into English as "Sheikah". (The same happened with some other names in Ocarina of Time: the desert people were named after the "Geld Man" desert enemy in A Link to the Past, and "Geld" became Gerudo and thus "Gerudo".).


Since the Yiga are an offshoot of the Sheikah, I'd expect their name to be related. But it doesn't sound like any English word I know. ("Eager" maybe? But it's a stretch.).


Do we know where the name "Yiga" came from? Is it also adapted from English, or is it originally Japanese, or something else?


Question from user Draconis at stackexchange.


Answer:

It is originally Japanese.


Additionally, their master's name, Kohga, also came from Japanese.


Both names came from the Ninja school/clans Iga and Kōga, the most well-known Ninja school/clans in Japan.


There is no doubt that the Yiga Clan is based on Ninjas, given its characteristics, and that Japanese fan sites also refer to it as such, and of course the names Yiga and Kohga, but it is not 100% certain. I'd say 99% certain, though.


Answer from user Skye-AT at stackexchange.



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