Is there any relationship between Lorule and ALTTP's Dark World?

Question

Lorule, the "Dark World" version of Hyrule in A Link Between Worlds, bears an extreme resemblance to the Dark World from A Link to the Past.

(ALTTP spoilers follow:)

However, in A Link to the Past, the "Dark World" was actually the Sacred Realm, twisted into an evil form by Ganon using the Triforce's power, and is later reverted to the unspoiled Sacred Realm (or "Golden Land") after Link recovers the Triforce, undoing much of Ganon's evil influence over the land. This is canon in A Link Between Worlds' world, as shown by the murals depicting the events of ALTTP in Hyrule Castle.

Lorule seems to have a different backstory as an "alternate version" of Hyrule, and even has its own princess.

(ALBW spoilers follow:)

We know that Lorule has its own history, its own royal family, its own Triforce equivalent and its own Sacred Realm. Hyrule's Sacred Realm has none of these things, so it seems clear that Lorule is something completely different than ALTTP's Dark World.

However, much of the geography of Lorule is near-identical to the geography of ALTTP's Dark World, including landmarks that aren't present in Hyrule at all, such as the Thieves' Village, the Skull Woods, Misery Mire, and so on. In addition, most of the monsters are identical to the ones found in ALTTP's Dark World. This is all despite the fact that from a story perspective, these two Dark Worlds are actually two different places, and seem to have no direct relationship.

Obviously, from a game design perspective, the two realms are designed similarly because A Link Between Worlds is deliberately aping A Link to the Past from top to bottom, including to its geography, dungeon concepts, monster design, items, and music.

However, from a story perspective, is there any official canon explanation for these similarities? Is there any direct connection between ALTTP's Dark World and Lorule, or is it just a "coincidence" that they share so much in common?

Answer 1

The Dark World in the Link to the Past is basically the reflection of Ganon's heart (greed and evil) when he claimed the Triforce way back when.

Since Lorule shared the same past as Hyrule, except that the people became greedier and more evil, and wished upon their own Triforce for their own greedy and evil wants, that Lorule somehow became "like" the Dark World, as it is the reflection of the residents' dark and twisted hearts, paralleled with Ganon's evil and twisted heart.

Answer 2

Yes, Lorule existed first, it's Hyrule plunged into chaos with the lack of a Triforce/ involvement from goddesses. Therefore this explains why when Ganon made his wish, the Sacred Realm was transformed into something which very closely resembled Lorule. Lorule already existed before the events of ALTTP, like an alternate parallel version of Hyrule.

After ALBW Lorule becomes LOZ Hyrule imo.

Answer 3

My thought is that both are the same, Hilda says that the land used to be beautiful until the triforce was destroyed. The priest in Lorule's church seems to remember when it was light, saying it was 3 or more years since the light went out. In conclusion, Lorule is the Golden world. Hundreds of years before (during LttP) it was turned into the dark world by Ganon. Once he was defeated the Lorule triforce was created in order to fulfill the wish of Link. To keep it beautiful/ golden. The people of the land wanted the power and battled over it, so when the triforce in Lorule was destroyed, that protection was gone and the land reverted back to the dark world. My biggest hint to this is when Yuga resurrects Ganon to merge with him and take his piece of the triforce. He doesn't have to go to a seperate "dark world" no, he resurrects him in Lorule castle. Right where the pyramid would have been.

Answer 4

My theory is that maybe all the people, creatures, and locations of the Dark World from ALTTP didn't necessarily disappear when Link defeated Ganon. Perhaps the Golden Goddesses decided to save the inhabitants by granting their Dark World its own existence along with its very own Triforce. The inhabitants of Lorule would be descendants of the original inhabitants of the Dark World. I back this up by looking at the geography of Lorule, the enemies that live there, the names of locations, and the artistic style of objects such as bushes.