#zeldadungeon

[zelda-of-hyrule-tloz]

Some thoughts on Link's mother in Ocarina of Time:

In Ocarina of Time, we're told very little about Link's mother. All we know in-game is that, to escape the civil war, she escaped with an infant Link to the Kokiri Forest, gave her baby to the Deku Tree, and presumably died soon after.

If anyone could ride in and take shelter in the Kokiri Forest, how come she was the only one? How come the woods, specifically all the way to the Deku Tree, was her first thought? I don't believe many NPCs in Ocarina of Time refer to spirits (besides poes) much. Maybe everyone who would've known died, either in the war or during the coup?

Well, I think I have a slight idea.

We know the Kokiri do not leave the forest because, if they do, they "die." This either refers to becoming Stalfos or Skull Kid if one is lost in Lost Woods, or the fact they start to age if they go anywhere else. The Deku Tree's magic is what keeps them children forever, isn't it?

So, what if Link's mother was one of the Kokiri who left? She left the woods, grew up, and married a Hylian knight. Perhaps she even became one herself. When the war was at its peak, the only safe place she knew of left was one where death was null... And she wanted a safe childhood for Link.

(Not to mention, I'm pretty sure Link's mother becomes a tree in one of the Nintendo Power comics...? The German one?)

She definitely wasn't the first Kokiri to leave the woods, but she may just have been the last. Link doesn't seem to have any recent memory of something like that actually happening. Really, I imagine none of the Kokiri really understood what the warning of death meant until Link's mother returned. They finally saw her again after all that time, and she was different. Not only was she different, but her time ran out at the Deku Tree's roots. Though her growing up proved she truly lived, it was still cut short in only a matter of moments. Was it worth it? Did she think it was worth it? Maybe that's why Saria seems to be the most bittersweet about Link leaving. She probably allowed herself to understand what it meant.

All of this considered— Maybe the reason the Deku Sprout says Link isn't a Kokiri, but Hylian, is because he doesn't possess all of the same connection to magic and the forest? Because his mother gave up that life in the woods to become Hylian?

Still, it's quite funny to think of how this affects Link. Hyrule Historia isn't a reliable source for the lore whatsoever, but if OoT Link really is the Hero's Shade (I like to imagine he is), the reason he didn't stop growing until he died could be a Kokiri thing. Perhaps the only part of him that is "Kokiri" by then. Aging Kokiri still once were children of the Deku Tree, so maybe they always grow like one too. (I'm loving the idea that his mom was super tall now).

SORRY FOR THE RAMBLE I JUST COULD NOT GET THIS OUT OF MY HEAD!!! I'm probably missing some details somewhere, I'm sure, but I think this is the headcanon I'll lean towards for now. :)

[daughterofsarenrae]

The zeldadungeon wiki totk pages... i can fix u....

[justasmallbloginabigklainefandom]

oh yeah I started playing Zelda 1 although turns out I have started it before cause I got all the goodies from 'the gathering'

sike

[my-smial]

Hey check out ZeldaDungeon

Random propaganda hours! You know how Fandom Wiki as a company has become for notorious for shoddy standards, poor formatting, out-of-control ads, and forcing control of fan wikis into the hands of the groups most aligned with Fandom Wiki's interests?

If you like the Legend of Zelda series and wikis that are actually good, ZeldaDungeon.net has been my go-to for walkthroughs and guides for over a decade now. Their interactive maps are excellent for Tears of the Kingdom and Breath of the Wild, and in addition to walkthroughs they have an extensive forum documenting fanart, music, and news. It's very fun, go check it out.

[three-bunnies-in-a-trenchcoat]

I'd kill Dodoh if I could

[asofspades]

The weapon and items analysis for the LU boys might have got a bit out if hand but I'm hoping to wrap up on the research soon and get to writing the post, it's likely going to be divided into several parts because I want to add pictures for comparisons

I'm just here with the Hyrule Encyclopedia, the Zeldadungeon web and a lot of notes I've been taking on this

I should be watching a boring film for a group assignment for my masters (I'm not even going to comment on how absurd it is that they have us doing that crap in a research masters much less as a group assignment)

[mememan93]

I hope they fixed the lag! That'd be good!

And while being as vague as possible, Ehhh? The thing abt the water temple is it wasn't hard as it is tedious. In the original 64 version, the iron boots, what you need for the temple, is on the gear screen, so you have to pause the game, which takes a few seconds, scroll to the gear screen, and equip/unequip the boots, then unpause. This was fixed in the 3ds version by making it an item, so you could set it to X or Y (or I or II on the touch screen) and just change it like that.

The other thing about it is you have to manipulate the water level from 3 specific sites in the temple... but in the original they're not easily marked.

In the 3ds version, the doors that lead to the changes are marked with these glowing... borders? Idk what they are but orange means high, green means mid, and blue means low. That isn't there on the n64 version and can get you lost easily.

So while i love the water temple, i've played only the 3ds version and couldn't tell you abt the original

Hey, its me! I thought you like to know that I bought the Nintendo online expansion. Meaning...I'm finally trying out Ocarina of Time!

Oh fuck yeah!! As a disclaimer i've heard that the NSO version specifically has a bit of a lag, but I hope you have fun!!

[zelbits]

Skyward Sword: A Study

Imagine, just for a second, that you wake up in Skyloft. A village set on a massive isle suspended in the air, where everyone knows everyone and its an incredibly peaceful life.

My younger self severely underestimated this game.

I got it for my birthday in 2011. I went to Best Buy with my dad, and up until that point I had only ever played A Link to the Past. All I saw was the Zelda title to our newest console, a Wii that we'd gotten for Christmas last year. As soon as I got home I popped in Skyward Sword, and I was hooked.

Of course, the title of my favorite game was stolen by Twilight Princess (and it'll probably always be like that, although Tears of the Kingdom is a really hard pass solely because of the storyline with Zelda). But Skyward Sword was my introduction to the lore side of everything.

Shortly after getting Skyward Sword, I was given Hyrule Historia. My days were spent tracing Loftwings through the pages on my light board when I wasn't playing the game.

Slowly, despite my love for the giant birds, Skyward Sword was pushed to the back burner because of Twilight Princess. I actually got stuck in Faron Woods trying to find the Elder Kikwi (I could not find the path up to him for some reason) and became discouraged, quickly forgetting it. When I finally did go back to play it, I ashamedly used the entire ZeldaDungeon walkthrough for it and didn't even try. Today when playing a game, I refuse to look up a walkthrough for anything unless me and my husband both can't figure out how to keep going.

By the end of playing Skyward Sword that way, it had taken me a long four or five years to beat the game, and it always felt inferior to Twilight Princess. Heck, I even gave Link a different name. When I beat Demise, I was 17 and realizing the depth of the story that I'd missed. I erased my save file, and started again. Shortly after, unfortunately, my Wii ended up getting locked in a storage unit.

I'm 23 and I finally have it back. I'm stunned that (so far) everything seems to be working correctly. Picking up on my old profile, I hadn't even gotten past the Flight Ceremony. I've been replaying it when I have free time, which is why I haven't been posting on here. Every puzzle I thought was so hard back then is easy, too easy-- so far.

I'm just taken aback. The setting. The characters. The soundtrack. Everything is beautiful. The colors. The interactions with early Gorons and Kikwis and Parella before they evolved into what they are now. Knowing that Link and Zelda form a new Hyrule, that Groose may be the ancestor of the Gerudo, and that the giant tree in Faron Woods may be the ancestor of the Deku Tree.

Let's start with the day-to-day life of a Skyloftian. Here, everyone knows everyone. Your whole life is in the clouds; the weather isn't really severe at this altitude, but I'm assuming Skyloft still gets rain and snow sometimes. It's probably chilly a lot of days, but judging from the vegetation I would say a mild, spring-like climate is logical. Depending on your preference, you may grow up to work in the bazaar, farm, or, if you're lucky, join the Knight Academy from a young age.

There must be more that the game is implying, surely. Obviously, you may or may not bond with a Loftwing when you come of age, although not doing so is probably immensely rare. I'm sure there are explorers, travelers, other small sky villages; lore-accurate Skyloft must be fairly large. It's small and simple, but it's all everyone knows.

Link had (if you consider the manga by Akira Himekawa canon) clearly joined the Knight Academy young, but was late bonding with a Loftwing. Until of course he bonded with a Crimson Loftwing, previously believed extinct. This is probably the last of its kind, and again, drawing from manga, is unbeknownst to them a holy bird.

Zelda is the daughter of the Headmaster, however, and unfortunately without a mother. Gaepora probably thought it best to enroll her in the academy so that he could keep an eye on her, or perhaps just had her stay around the area. Either way, she showed immense promise, becoming a proficient rider, scholar, and swords woman herself (I'm assuming, if she can defend herself on the Surface when she has none of her goddess powers).

Link and Zelda's relationships vary from game to game. However, this one in particular is one where they're more than just friends. They clearly love one another, which is bittersweet considering that they are the first of many incarnations that rarely get together.

Throughout the game, we witness the story of two fated heroes: a goddess reincarnated in human form and her chosen hero, both entirely unaware of the fate that awaits them. They go from happily living life to being thrown into a wild adventure about the fate of the world in an instant-- and they're still just kids. They're only 17 and a half (source: Hyrule Historia). We witness incredible character arcs: Link making the transition from a sleepyheaded goofball to a hardened warrior (although I like to think he retained his silly traits); Zelda from a level-headed student to a woman whose regaining the memories of her Goddess form, struggling to cope with the transformation; Groose, an awful bully whose only goal in the end is to help Link and Zelda; and even Fi, who learns that she needed to understand the human spirit better in order to retain her holy form.

This is a world only a thousand years or so after the war in which Hylia, the Demon King, and the Ancient Hero fought, the very first incarnations in an endless cycle. This was supposed to be the only time this happened. Demise was imprisoned, but only temporarily even his weakened state. Link was reborn with the courageous spirit of his ancestor. Hylia shed her holy form and was reborn as a mortal girl. This was supposed to be the only cycle of reincarnation-- until Demise cursed Link and Zelda to forever fight against his evil spirit whenever they are reborn.

After Demise's defeat, Link and Zelda create the new realm of Hyrule, established on the surface. In a perfect world, they'd live out the rest of their days peacefully. But I'm sure their new kingdom had a lot of issues, and I'm sure that the peoples of the Surface weren't all welcoming to the Hylians. Not to mention, Link probably had a lot of trauma from his search for Zelda, and she is living not only with the memories of herself as a Skyloftian, but her memories from being the Goddess Hylia during the Imprisoning War. While their kingdom was at peace and they knew they were safe, they worried for when Demise would ultimately return and wreak havoc once again.

They built the Temple of Time around the Master Sword's pedestal, sealing it away with the powers of the Sacred Stones from the Gorons, Kikwis, and Parella (which would in turn become Koroks and Zora, respectively). Skyloft was forgotten. There were rumors of a city in the sky, or places such as the Temple of Winds, but Skyloft as it was known was largely forgotten. Most Hylians had followed Link and Zelda to the new kingdom on the Surface, although for many years they lived in both places. Newer generations likely would not have bonded with Loftwings. Perhaps some of the civilians who had remained behind eventually evolved into the Zonai in Tears of the Kingdom.

While Hyrule would see villains later on-- Vaati, for instance, as The Minish Cap and Four Swords both take place after Skyward Sword-- the Master Sword would not be picked up again until Ocarina of Time, several thousand years after Skyward Sword.

In conclusion, I think the most pivotal part of Skyward Sword is the relationship between Link and Zelda. And maybe their descendants-- OoT Link and Zelda, Twilight Princess Link and Zelda-- that never had a relationship felt that some remnant of that longing between the original two. The Spirit Maiden and her Chosen Hero, doomed to an endless cycle. In some instances, they were able to be together, but very rarely. Most of the time, there is little if any record of Zelda's husbands in any iteration, if she ever had any, although there are theories of Link falling in love with Malon, or Midna, or someone else.

Certainly, if you consider Tears of the Kingdom to be in the same timeline as Twilight Princess and Ocarina of Time, to me, it feels like the legend has come full circle. Eight year old me loved Twilight Princess more because of the fact that I could transform into a world-- now that I'm older, I can really appreciate this tragic and beautiful story.

[waroferas]

Cia HyWars is pure evil?

There is so much I could say about Cia . and i will ! you’re stuck with me now idiot !!!!! (speaking into an empty room)

i was going to skip this section bc if anybody reading this somehow didn’t know who Cia is then like . google is right there . but zeldadungeon actually has fuck all to say about cia’s backstory and i would never knowingly subject someone to the fandom wikis.

Cia was originally known as the Guardian of Time, a minor deity tasked with overlooking the checks and balances of the triforce across the past and future. She did this work alone, and her psyche was left vulnerable to a fragment of ganondorf’s soul. Her admiration and jealousy of the holder’s of the triforce was manipulated until she became physically fragmented, her “light half” being cast from her as she was fully corrupted.

That half goes on to become Lana, and what remains of Cia wants two things: Collect Link like barbie doll, and help Ganondorf restore his soul and gather the triforce so she can Collect Link like barbie doll. She’s the main antagonist of the game now.

why would she do this? is she stupid?

being lonely makes you crazy and i mean this very genuinely.

Hyrule Warriors is constantly hammering in that you need to rely on other people through gameplay And story beats. i would even say that friendship and teamwork is one of the strongest and most recognizable themes. In the very first stage there is an honestly comical back and forth that goes as follows: link runs in to fight volga. impa runs in to save link. link hops up last second and saves impa instead . and then they round out the stage with impa saving link and delivering the hero’s tunic to him. this has to be a joke? but it isn’t . they LOVE TEAMWORK !! not to mention the gameplay that forces you to run around and help your allies, or the massive story beat that revolves around Link running ahead to fight on his own, which i could dissect in its own post.

unrelated but related, in the first edition of this game Cia dies. she asks lana to make her pain make sense, reveals that she knew on some level she was doomed to fail, and admits that lana really is better than her. it’s a bitter ending with very little fanfare, as ganondorf swoops in quickly to kickstart the beginning of the end.

But in later versions, there’s additional content. Cia is found to be alive, struggling against Phantom Ganon’s forces with the last of her power. She becomes an ally and she gets to live at the end, finding a happy ending in resuming her duties now as one of two Guardians of Time with Lana.

Would it be such a stretch to assume that the root of her pain was her solitude? Her admiration of Link as the revered hero, her jealousy of Zelda as the damsel who is destined to always fight by his side, and her happy ending. she easily walks away from Link, Zelda, and the allure of the triforce because now she finally has company, and knows she is leaving them all as friends. Wouldn’t it make sense thematically that in the game about friendship, the main antagonist would be driven in part by a lack of it?

this doesn’t justify starting a war

yeag . the devs for the Dynasty Warriors hack and slash series should have made it Not a war (JOKE. PARODY. but see the first sentence or the previous section)

but what about the part where she is an irredeemable creep?

look me in the eyes . i cannot describe how much this train of thought kills me. i am trying not to point at anybody specific here but it actually scares me a little bit how common and Assumed To Be True this is considering the preexisting racism and misogyny surrounding Cia’s design and role within the game

Cia is creepy towards Link. it’s not normal to disregard a person’s autonomy because you want to “make him yours”, and it’s not normal to have just So Many pictures and statues of a guy. but i have to draw the line there because Genuinely that is where it ends.

Pet names? if you play her side campaign you find that she calls Literally everyone things like “lovelies” and “darling.” Her speech mannerisms are classically cartoonish villain and i am absolutely biased because i love this

Age difference? an important thing to note is that cia’s design is one of the things the most afflicted by the aforementioned racism and misogyny. considering she has no canonical age afaik it freaks me out that people treat her like a Textual Predator with the Everything in mind.

if she’s redeemable then they did a shit job at it.

no argument there . i think everyone forever should make something new up to make up for the fact that they did a Poor Redemption . at least have her say sorry or something idunno .

in my opinion they had a lot going on when cia joined the allies, so i like to imagine she ended up getting a proper redemption arc After phantom ganon is put to bed. it lives in my head and it’s just as convoluted and weird as the rest of the game 👍

Hyrule Warriors is just an extremely elaborate excuse to play dolls

and i LOVE my tuoys. come play with meeeee come have fun with me and ciaaaaaa

[etlu-yume]

Zelda Lore help, anyone?

Okay so in a nutshell; I'm looking into how the Fireproof Elixirs work for fanfic purposes.

Link appears to *drink* the elixir in-game. According to the zeldadungeon wiki, even Kass and Ramella use the elixirs too.

But the description??? Of the smotherwing butterfly?? (one of the potential components for the elixirs):

"This rare butterfly lives in volcanic regions. Its body contains a heat-resistant liquid, which can be turned into a topical elixir that offers resistance to flames."

Topical. Elixir.

So is it like a magical potion, or is it like heavy duty sunscreen for your casual day out at the magma lake???

[thelittlelegends]

Spirit Tracks is a beloved twist on the overworld movement in so many Zelda games: travel between locations is restricted to movement on a train, with combat and mini-games baked in! It is a two-character experience, with many sections requiring you to move Link and Zelda sequentially to cover two positions at once or traverse terrain one or the other cannot cross. It's one of the most intensive playable-Zelda options in the main series at the present time and many fans adore it for that (and for Zelda's strong personality.)

At present, it is only available on 3DS and buying the game quite expensive. A text walkthrough is here from ZeldaDungeon.net, and my favourite video walkthrough (with commentary) is also ZeldaDungeon's. Other Let's Plays without commentary, and without being guides are easily searched online.

Reblog and add what you love about the game, things you would like to see, or other resources for those who would like to learn more about it! Here are some suggestions to get you started:

Links to existing fanworks

Most underrated characters

Your favorite gameplay mechanics, story moments, etc

Analysis of story themes, character arcs, and so on

Favorite game items

Best music moments

That art idea you don’t think you’ll ever get around to drawing

Story tropes that are perfect but no one seems to include

(Don’t know what’s going on? Check out this post!)

[themask-maker]

Ikanan Symbology - The Blasphemer // Demon Tribes AU Supplemental Lore

The Blasphemer is an important symbol to the founding of The Kingdom of Ikana.

It is a design created after a tournament of legend, in which the Five Demon Tribes competed to determine which of them would be worthy of receiving a Blessing From The Golden Goddesses. The winner of that tournament was a fiery Gerra with glistening obsidian scales who adopted the name "Demise".

When Demise ascended the newly-built Stone Tower to meet with the Goddesses and receive his reward, he was appalled to find that Hylia's tribes of humans, the Hylians and Sheikah, had already been chosen. Her lowly humans graciously accepted the Golden Blessing in reverence.

The Blasphemer was created to symbolize the act of taking such a deep insult and throwing it right back. It marks the first time in history which the Five Tribes were united under one shared cause: indignant fury. They collectively turned their backs on The Golden Goddesses and did not look back. The Five Tribes then crowned Demise as their First King and joined together as a country under his rule.

To this day, The Blasphemer can be found in all matter of texts and gestures. For example, a formal Ikanan greeting is to hold one index finger skyward and bare one's fangs or tongue in a taunting snarl, which may be accompanied by a deep bow depending on situation. The general meaning translates to "the heavens reject us, yet we stand defiant". It is a gesture of solidarity and often used to indicate respect.

[Note: The Blasphemer comes from environmental icons found within Majora's Mask, as seen below. These statues do not have a canon name or meaning. Screenshots courtesy of ZeldaDungeon]

[ofcowardiceandkings]

oh fuck i just had a thought though

i started those maps using a specific zoom of zeldadungeon's map as a sizing template .... on my OLD LAPTOP

which displays differently for some reason ...

ooh

[greypentachoron]

And for everyone trying to 100% this game, I recommend sectioning off pieces of the map so you don't get overwhelmed.

If you don't want to pay ign for the fancy subscription thing to tick more than 100 things on the map use Zeldadungeon.

Start with the sky, there's less things overall. Then move to surface islands, they're an easy sectionable area. Gerudo (and it's highlands) are another easy section, just make sure to get a few fans and sleds to travel across loose sand, and Hebra too if you cut the section by the canyon.

When doing bosses I'd recommend filling your inventory with weapons killing hinoxes, kill a lot of taluses and fuse their hearts to your weapons and when you have all weapons fused you can go underground and use your talus heart hammer to make easy work on froxes. When you have 2-3 empty slots from broken weapons go back and kill another hinox, rinse and repeat. This way you don't have to keep searching for weapons that much during frox fights, and you won't have a huge surplus of weapons you can't carry anymore when killing hinoxes.

More important, though, if you get tired of hunting bosses go do some Korok hunting, if Korok hunting is getting tiring go find some bubbulfrogs, have a healthy variation of activities so you don't get burned out by repetitive tasks.

I'd recommend using fierce deity armor for your boss hunting btw, 20 defense and bonus attack makes battles quicker to finish and you don't lose many hearts.

[mzhydes-funtimes]

The zelda wiki has two different indie wikis now if i remember correctly.

You have zeldawiki.wiki (which look similar to that og zeldawiki minis the gamepedia logo) and you have a wiki specifically for like walkthroughs and stuff called zeldadungeon

[goosekid]

WHY IS ZELDADUNGEON CONSTANTLY DOWN