'The Kokiri' as a term refers to the Children of the Forest as they were for a few centuries before and after the Timeline Split. They are long-lived but forever-childlike spirits. To the naked mortal eye, the Kokiri are indistinguishable from human children, but one with the ability to sense spiritual auras would more than likely be able to tell apart a Kokiri and a regular, mortal child. The Kokiri embody youthful innocence and joy. They're carefree and playful, leading simple but happy lives in their protected little forest, their home known as the Kokiri Forest. This small magical forest resides in the center of the Lost Woods, and is protected by the Kokiri's guardian, the Great Deku Tree.
The Great Deku Tree is the Kokiri's father, as in his full title as a Wise Spirit is Grandmaku Tree, Father of the Forest. He is their father as in, he calls the young spirits his children, and he watches over them, guides them, soothes their fears and aches, tells them stories, and loves them all unconditionally. And they all love him, too. The Great Deku Tree's clearing is just a short woodsy path from the little Kokiri village. From dawn when the forest wakes up to dusk when it goes to sleep, his clearing is full of the forest's children, playing games, swinging from his branches, or gathered between his roots listening to one of his stories or lessons.
The Kokiri don't just have the Deku Tree and each other for company, though. Each one also has their own little fairy companion. The Kokiri's fairies are different from typical fairies. The 'Children of the Forest' are themselves of the 'fairy' class of spirits, but unlike the common diminutive fairies that most people associate with the word, which have distinct types based on natural and magical elements, Kokiri types are based on the four seasons. And their fairy is not a separate individual spirit, but actually an extension of theirselves, a manifestation their own inherent magic. A Kokiri and their fairy are never apart, connected in every way, and the fairy often will mirror the Kokiri's emotions and behaviour.
Where did the Kokiri come from?
They began as the Kikwi, an ancient little group of nature spirits that resembled flora and fauna equally, and were playful but extremely timid by nature. The Kikwi were peaceful, but surrounded constantly by dangers in the form of monsters and other natural predators. They protected themselves through camouflage, disguising themselves as different kinds of common plants, for the most part, whatever would get the threat to simply pass them by. There didn't use to be a lot of people around, but at some point following the return of the Skyloftians to the surface, people started to become a more and more common sight. The Kikwi learned new ways to protect themselves. Creatures of camouflage they were, they learned a new form to take, one that would have the people nearby give them the protection they needed, the form of a child.
It worked, and it worked well. It worked so well that eventually, the child became their natural form, and when new Kikwi were born, now Kokiri, it was with a small fairy that embodied the latent magic no longer obvious in their new mortal-like bodies.
Where do new Kokiri come from?
Kokiri don't just appear as they are right away, they are born from the forest as babies. Not quite infants-- a newborn Kokiri is best compared to a human baby of about twelve to fifteen months old. They can be born of almost any natural thing in the forest all year round, and are found by other Kokiri. They might sprout from flowers, or piles of autumn leaves, tangles of roots, patches of mushrooms, tall grasses or leafy bushes, or in blankets of frost, alcoves of icicles, or drifts of fluffy snow. From there, it only takes them a day or two to start walking and babbling. Then, they grow up. A Kokiri's growth is paced about the same as a human's, and most mortals, with similar milestones. The main difference is that every Kokiri also has a point where they stop growing, when they reach the age of youth at which they will remain for a considerable amount of time, before returning to the forest and starting their unique cycle of like anew. Some Kokiri stop growing sooner than others, some as young as only three years old, and some might grow up to the human age of twelve-- but no further. Most are somewhere in the middle.
Life in the Kokiri village
For as much as they play every day, there's never a shortage of chores to be done, so everyone takes turns doing what they can. It might be taking care of the younger ones, or foraging for or cultivating food (The Kokiri don't exactly farm and they don't hunt), or fixing or building or cleaning things. The Kokiri generally live in treehouses, or small huts carved out of large trees. About as many live together, sharing their spaces in small groups or pairs (especially if the particular Kokiri sprouted together), as there are ones who have their own space to themselves. Aside from where they lay their heads down to rest, though, and some favourite toys or precious belongings, pretty much everything else is always shared. There's no need for silly grown-up concepts like money, either.
They eat together, and bathe communally in the wider stream just next to the village. They use crude wooden tools, some minimal stone, and don't really have metal things, after all, there's no mines, and their little paradise is isolated from the outside world of adults, so there's no trading going on. Their harvesting of materials is based purely on necessity, so they don't cut down trees for things like paper. Instead they like to scribble and scratch on the smooth insides of strips of bark. The Kokiri don't have a written language, they don't read or write, instead using rudimentary little drawings to communicate and express themselves, not unlike heiroglyphs, if a bit less uniform or standardized.
While being very like humans, the whole fairy thing aside-- not actually living among humans gives the Kokiri a very different perspective on the world, and their customs are very different from mortals in the rest of Hyrule. For example, the public bathing. In Hyrule, public baths would not be considered proper. Hyruleans, especially Hylian Hyruleans, treat the body as something equally sacred and disgusting, and it would be seen as strange to share a bath with anyone who was not one's spouse or immediate family. More than strange, disgraceful even, if that person was 'of the opposite sex'. But that's not something the Kokiri really care about-- why would they? They're all just kids and that's all there is to it. It doesn't matter if some kids are shaped different, or look different, or move different, compared to others. Boy or girl-- or whatever-- matters about as much as someone's eye colour. It's not like there are rules to it. After all, they are the Children of the Forest, and children aren't exactly known for their love of rules.
Kokiri and the Four Seasons
Kokiri that are born in each season are known to more likely have certain qualities or characteristics attributed to that season. It's not a predeterminer for one's personality, necessarily, but there's a case there for correlation and causation. Mostly it's just that they're more naturally acclimated to their season-- Winter Kokiri overheat easily in the summer but Summer Kokiri are weaker to the cold. Fall Kokiri get more tired when the days are getting longer, and vice versa for Spring Kokiri. Some Kokiri may even go into a torpor-like state during one of their 'off' seasons, but it's quite rare.
The Kokiri don't celebrate individual birthdays. Instead, they put on four festivals each year that celebrate the seasons, and the Kokiri of that season. During the days of festivities, the celebrated Kokiri get special little hats or crowns to wear, and they get first pick in all the games and activities. One of the most eagerly anticipated traditions of these festivals is the building of a large sculpture, a monument to Farore and nature, in the center of the Kokiri village, using materials and items unique to the particular season. It's the monument of Winter that most Kokiri look forward to the most, regardless of their own season of origin... because in the winter they get to use snow, which is a much easier material to build with than, say, pinecones, or maybe... grass.
The Origin of the Great Deku Tree
For as well as the Kikwi's transformation into more literal children worked, it still wasn't a perfect solution to the overarching problem: the Children of the Forest were not truly safe. While the groups of mortals that lived in the area surrounding the forest, especially the peace-valuing tribe known as the Twili, did their best to help the Kokiri, the spirits were still just that-- spirits. No matter how much they ached for warmth and safety and comfort, they could not be separated from their forest home, and just as severely, they could not have outsiders come live there.
During the Age of Chaos, in the battles waged by mortals of all kingdoms seeking the Triforce, the Golden Land became an even more dangerous place. The Kokiri, small and defenceless, were in danger of being wiped out. The Twili, whose king had joined the struggle, had their craftsmen make for the Kokiri a special sword and shield. But it wasn't enough. So when their king, the Mad King Lomei, was the first mortal in the conflict to touch the Triforce, the first wish he made was for the Kokiri to be truly safe at last. The Gods answered that call with a messenger, or, maybe more accurately, an eldritch delivery boy.
The Imp of Tricks and Secrets came down from his heavenly playground with a large seed in his arms, a maku tree seed. He planted it in the very center of the enchanted forest, and from it sprouted the Great Deku Tree, giant and grown in mere seconds. His bark face already weathered like a wise old man, he opened his eyes, shook out his branches, and began to speak in an ancient tongue. There was the guardian the Children of the Forest had needed all this time. His work done, the imp spent not a moment longer than necessary in the magical grove, but he still chose to stick around on the Golden Land, to see what fun he might have there. It is said he's still around, and those who want to play with him can, if they know how to find him... and if they can keep up with him. It is also said that the imp and the Great Deku Tree don't get along very well-- something about the ancient trickster being a bad influence on the Deku Tree's children.
Extradiagetic/Doylist Notes
On the Kokiri's redesigns
There's a lot in Ocarina of Time that's been put through the redesign and rewrite wringer, but in terms of the Kokiri and the Kokiri forest, they mostly just got a lot of extra stuff added onto their fairly lore-lacking whole deal, rather than having very much changed. However, I did still want to make some cosmetic changes to the Kokiri, considering they were literally all white, blue-eyed and blond, except for Saria who is white and blue-eyed but has green hair instead of blonde... which kind of gives me the creeps. Since they're not beholden to genetics, I like to imagine the Kokiri as being extremely diverse, though not all that hypothetical diversity is shown in this picture of just four of them. My thought process on Link's redesign I will go into detail about once I finally get around to finishing his own character article, but here are the notes I wanted to share on the others here.
Mido was the easiest to draw because he's pretty much exactly like his canon design, I only made some small tweaks. I don't know if this was intended by the developers originally designing him or not, but I think it's very possible that Mido is meant to invoke Peter Pan, given the amount of similiarities. Like the upwards pointy hat, green clothes, and ginger hair--his bangs are even the same shape. Mido already looking very peter pan-y works for me because I think Mido really well showcases some of the negative aspects of peter pan as a character (the story itself is a whole other industrial sized oil barrel of worms) i.e his immaturity and selfishness, so I enjoyed leaning into that reference a little. I added the little feather on his hat, and changed the shape of the bottom of his pants to emulate the same hem-shape on Peter Pan's own tunic. I actually made him less ginger than Peter Pan, though, opting to go for a lighter shade of strawberry-blonde. Anyways, he's the pure embodiment of 'little shithead' and I enjoy him very much actually. Fado was also pretty easy to put together, I sort of melded some elements from Wind Waker Fado because (tosses Fado at you) woe transgender kokiri be upon ye. That's mostly present in the sleeves and collar I added, and the little orange kerchief. This version of Fado has yet to gender-trans tho, that's kind of something that's just brewing for now. I'm having a lot of fun writing them as a very deadpan, monotone and blunt kind of character, which isn't really based on anything in-game but we kind of just wanted to. The thing that I ended up messing with the most was actually their hair colour. Fado is the only one in this lineup who still has blue eyes, but I made them very icy and piercing in a sort of "imm shaking im so scared please put some brown contacts on her" sort of way (slash ref). I also gave her a longer skirt for more comfortable running around, and made her noticably taller. Saria's a sweet little muffin cutie patootie precious cabbage roll sweet potato pie. I made her the shortest of this lineup, but her and Link are actually very close in height. Overall her design is also pretty much the same, but I changed up the colours all a bit bc a) Kokiri diversity reasons and b) oh god so much green help help me she was so so green oh my god it's so saturated and intense aaahhhhh. So as a whole I made her whole colour palette darker and slightly less saturated, and her hair is still green but a much darker forest-y green. Plus I made her shorts longer and clothes altogether looser, because she's a kid who plays in the woods all day she should have more suitable outdoor shorts. And. They all have pockets now. If there's one thing I know for sure about Kids Who Play Outside is they're always putting shit in their pockets. Pebbles and sticks and leaves and worms and stuff. Biohazard pockets as far as the eye can see. Gotta have the pockets.
Some notable Kokiri pictured above: Link the brave, Saria the curious, Fado the resolute, and Mido the headstrong. In the year 1146, at the very end of the Age of Tremors, which followed the Age of Prosperity, and right before the timeline split, these four were the oldest of the Kokiri. As the four oldest, it was upon their shoulders a heavy task fell. The Great Deku Tree, weak from being gravely ill for months on end, had been infected by a monstrous parasite that corrupted his roots and threatened to destroy all of the Kokiri Forest. It was up to Link, Saria, Fado, and Mido to venture down into the Deku Tree's core and slay the beast, the arachnidemon matriarch Queen Gohma. With the well-travelled water fairy Navi's guidance, the four Kokiri were successful in defeating Gohma, but the Deku Tree was already on death's door before the parasitic demon had attacked. By the time the victorious Kokiri returned aboveground, he had already passed away, his last words gone unsaid.
Kokiri Magic
Kokiri are of the fairy class of spirits. The possess latent magic, though individual Kokiri need to learn how if they want to harness and use this magic, and as a skill like any other, it takes practise to get really good at it. And as a talent like any other, some are more naturally inclined to magic than others, in the same way that some Kokiri are more drawn to sports, or crafting, or building than some others might be. They can cast simple charms standard for all fairy spirits, used most often to keep warm in the winter, or on the soil of their gardens to promise healthy growth, and their favoured streams and springs to promise pure, healthy water. There are also a few select magic runes some Kokiri know, that they use to start the small, measured campfires they sometimes cook with, and to create bowls of ice they use to keep things cold in the warmer seasons. The charms take the most practise to learn and use successfully. The runes do as well, but are a little easier to pick up.
There is a third style of magic specific to the Kokiri that they all can do, to at least some small degree: Wishing Magic. Kokiri are the embodiment of childhood itself, and all the innocence, hope and wonder that comes with it. There is a pure magical essence to childhood, which can be expressed through a Kokiri's wishes. Mind, it's not so much about making wishes come true as it is about harnessing the power of the wish itself. Wishing magic is most commonly used for healing, which a Kokiri can do for themself or another.
"Make a wish on it," Link suggested, and Sheik gave him a dubious look. "What?" "You make a true and pure wish that lights up your heart, and then when you give that wish to the place that hurts, the light from your heart pours into it, and heals your pain!" Link said with unshakeable conviction. Sheik stared at him in disbelief, hand still pressed against the deep laceration on his own arm. "Link," the Sheikah monk said slowly, his incredulity enough to distract him from the pain, "humans can't do that." Link's mouth dropped open as his expression instantly went from total sincerity to stunned outrage, and Sheik snapped, irritated, "Don't look so shocked!"
Unique Aspects of the Kokiri Diet
Something else that sets the Kokiri apart from other spirits is food. It may be common for spirits to seek sustenance, but it's to sustain their magic moreso than their bodies, and isn't really the same as eating. But the Kokiri are, first and foremost, children, and children eat a lot. The bulk of their diets is made up of fruits and veggies. Berries and pepos, and tree-borne fruits like apples, plums and pears. Tubers, roots and shoots both grown and foraged wild. A lot of their protein comes from beans and nuts. Due to circumstance of environment, the Kokiri are mostly vegetarian, but physiologically speaking, they are omnivores, and do eat meat. The Kokiri don't hunt, one might ask, so what kind of meat?
Well, bugs, obviously. All over the world are many kinds of bugs that are safe and suitable to eat, whether they are eaten or not depends on the region and culture. In the Kokiri forest, it's not unusual for roasted crickets to be found within a shared batch of trail mix amongst the nuts, seeds and dried berries. On their own, roasted crickets are also a popular snack in the wintertime, when many of them can be dug up from hibernation. On rarer occaisions, typically saved for feasts during the seasonal and solstice festivals, the Kokiri enjoy the meat of giant grasshoppers. Giant grasshoppers are only found in the Kokiri Forest-- it being a place of magical natural abundance is what causes them to grow so large, around the size of a very well-fed rabbit. It is still true that the Kokiri don't hunt, they catch giant grasshoppers with traps. The head, entrails and wings are removed-- the wings are preserved and used as suncatchers and window decorations-- and the meat of the grasshopper is roasted over a campfire.
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