Hylians are creatures that worship the goddess Hylia, from which their name derives, the Hylians are the original race of Hyrule. It is said that they were created by the Goddesses Or Oocca race. Hylians' ears are said to enable them to hear special messages from the goddessess. It is shown that Hylians have an extended life-span, to the point of living for centuries. Their heritage also gives them unique psychic and magical abilities. The Hylians have therefore given birth to many heroes through the ages, most notably Link.

It seems that aside from their magical abilities, the Hylians also possess a degree of superhuman strength as Link in The Adventure of Link, Ocarina of Time, Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword have shown. This seems to however, be limited to physically fit Hylians who have matured to some degree.

In the early part of Hyrule's history, Hylians were the dominant and most populous of the general humanoid races, as shown in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. In the Adult timeline, the bloodline began to thin, and Hylians were replaced by humans as the most widespread humanoid species, becoming increasingly rarer by the time of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker; however, the majority of the Great Sea's inhabitants are still of Hylian descent. In the Child Timeline and Fallen Hero Timeline, it seems that the Hylians and Humans are about the same amount.