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@backagain88 it would be interesting to see the alternate universe where zelda stuck with the christian iconography throughout the series, and instead of Hylia we got God Almighty.
@beardalaxy @backagain88 It's been theorized that Hyrule became a Christian nation during the downfall timeline because everyone lost faith in the Goddesses after the defeat of the Hero of Time.
But this doesn't explain why Christianity exists in a fantasy world unless Hyrule exist in an alternate universe Earth.
@xianc78 @backagain88 yeah i think that's just trying desperately to try to tie things together haha xD christian iconography was just big in japanese media back then. maybe not even just christian but other religions too a little bit, i mean there are maps shaped like 卐 in zelda 1 too.
even in relatively modern JRPGs, sometimes the churches will just randomly have crosses to signify that it's a church, even if there's no christian religion in the game.
Why though?
A very small number of Japanese people are Christians. https://www.statista.com/statistics/237609/religions-in-japan/
@Hyolobrika @beardalaxy @backagain88 Christianity seems to have a big influence on Japanese culture even though most Japanese aren't Christian. I think they do celebrate Christmas and have Christian style weddings. It seems like most Japanese practice a mixture of religions for whatever reason. I think @ryo could explain it.
Christmas is certainly a thing over here, except it's nothing like how it's done in the west.
Basically just a strawberry short cake and Kentucky chicken, and if you happen to have a GF (or BF), it's closer to western Valentine's Day.
But that's pretty much it.
As for Christian style weddings, they're a thing and popular too, especially among women who gained quite a lot of influence from Hollyweird movies.
But never experienced a wedding myself in any way, so I can't really comment on that one as much.
It's mostly a holiday for couples, so that means "national suicide day", basically. Especially in Japan. Though actually, even in the west, I think Christmas is the day of the year with the most suicides. It's the day to realize that you are completely alone in the world, and that no one has ever loved you or ever will, and that you will die alone full of nothing but regrets and having accomplished nothing. And that, is what Christmas is all about, it's "try not to shoot yourself day". Isn't life wonderful?
@Hyolobrika @beardalaxy @backagain88 @ryo Also, one interesting effect that Christianity had on Japan was that crucifixion became a popular form of capital punishment in the country for a brief time. At least that's what I've heard.