History Videogame / TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOftime

** Zelda [[spoiler: in her Sheik form]], though not for combat. She also has hints of this in the final battle, when [[spoiler:at the end, when the ring of fire is gone, she uses a spell to freeze Ganondorf in place so Link can finish him off, and calls the Sages to seal Ganon away.]]
** Impa, who apparently taught Zelda ([[spoiler:as Sheik]]) all she knows.

* AndIMustScream: [[spoiler: The ultimate fate of Ganondorf in the ending.]]

* BossSubtitles: Every boss is described with one, starting with "'''Parasitic Armored Arachnid: GOHMA'''". It also subverts it to great effect at the end of the game; as the final boss towers over you, it's as though the game itself is incapable of describing the behemoth as anything else than [[spoiler:"'''GANON'''"]].

* HappyEndingOverride: The opening sequence in ''TheWindWaker'' reveals that after the events of this game, [[spoiler: Ganondorf eventually escapes his prison, and conquers Hyrule easily, because Link was not there to stop him.]] The gods then flood the earth and Hyrule is lost forever. Things didn't go well in the [[TwilightPrincess other timeline]] either, but at least Hyrule stayed dry.

Dark Link takes the cake, as he is Link's reflection, literally having been with Link his entire life until the Water Temple brought it to life. When you enter the room [[spoiler:(which has an illusion cast on it to resemble a foggy lake)]], there is a lone island in the centre of the lake. Link's reflection is blatantly visible on the mirror-like surface of the water[[spoiler: - until he steps on the island, after which point his reflection has ''completely vanished''. Dark Link appears by the tree on the island as soon as Link turns his back, attacking only once he's been spotted. And once he's been defeated, the illusion fades, revealing that the very solid island - which you could ''physically stand on'' - was never there to begin with; it was a spell that served to turn Link's reflection against him.]]

*** [[spoiler: Zelda herself is the last of the [[RoyalBlood Royal Hylian Bloodline]].]]
* LateArrivalSpoiler: If you've ever played Super Smash Bros. Melee or Brawl, there's about a 99.9% chance you know that [[spoiler:Sheik is Zelda.]]

** Walking through the cheery castle town and either (a) [[spoiler: finding the poor dying guard left to tell you what was going on]] or (b) [[spoiler:going to the future where it's been razed to the ground by Ganondorf's evil]].
** Learning a rather unpleasant fact about your previously-harmless home village during the Biggoron's Sword quest. [[spoiler:Specifically, that every non-Kokiri who gets lost in the woods becomes a Stalfos. You know, those things you've been killing without a second thought?]] [[spoiler: And, oh, hey, Link isn't a Kokiri either!]] Which does seem to imply that [[spoiler:Fairies are what protect people. So what would happen if a Kokiri and their fairy were separated? It's implied that Skull Kids are.]]

** This game is FULL of MoodWhiplash. How about [[spoiler:when you first go out into the sunny, wide-open, and peaceful-looking Hyrule Field, only to find that when the sun sets, creatures come out of the ground and start attacking you]]?

* {{Novelization}}: The strategy guide was sort of written as one of these. There was also a more straight-up novelization. You're probably better off not reading the latter.
* ObliviousAdoption: [[spoiler: Link]] is a variation of this.

* OhCrap: The moments right before the final boss battle. [[spoiler: You watch Ganondorf die, you escape the tower and watch it collapse on him. As Link and Zelda are celebrating, they hear a noise, and Link goes to check it out. Suddenly, the pile of rubble explodes, and Ganondorf flies out of it. He flashes his Triforce, and then transforms. Then he knocks the Master Sword, the only weapon that can kill him, out of Link's hands and outside a wall of fire.]] Of course, it helps that this is one of the few times over the course of the game that Link's facial expression changes.

* ParentalAbandonment: [[spoiler:Link is an orphan raised as a Kokiri.]]

* PluckyComicRelief: The Gorons are, on average, probably the most cheerful, friendly race in the game. [[spoiler:Which only makes it even more disturbing to see them begging for mercy in the Fire Temple, where they're about to be fed to a dragon, as a "warning" to those who might oppose Ganondorf.]]

* RoyalBlood: Princess Zelda, [[spoiler:the Seventh Sage.]]

* SealedEvilInACan: [[spoiler:Ganondorf's]] ultimate fate. Also, Bongo Bongo.

* SweetPollyOliver: [[spoiler: Sheik is Zelda.]]

The fifth entry in ''TheLegendOfZelda'' series was released to great fanfare on the {{Nintendo 64}} in November of 1998. It was the first 3D game in the series, and soon became known as the best of the 3D games and one of the greatest video games of all time. It set the standard for all the later games in the series, with its then-unheard of style of cinematic presentation and for introducing many mainstay elements of the franchise, including an extensive use of MagicMusic.

* [=~Chekhov's Gunman~=]: Both the Skull Kid in the Lost Woods whom you teach Saria's Song to and the Happy Mask Shop owner become pivotal characters in [[TheLegendofZeldaMajorasMask Majora's Mask]].

* [=~Does This Remind You Of Anything?~=]: The Great Fairy's poses exist to make you uncomfortable playing the game around friends and family members.

* [=~Dude, Where's My Reward?~=]: For every ten of the first fifty Gold Skulltulas you find, you get a significant reward. For finding the ''other'' fifty, a task that requires you to scour every nook and cranny in the land, you get... money. By that time you'll essentially have done everything in the game that requires money anyway.

* [=~Everything's Better With Cows~=]: The Master Quest version of the Jabu-Jabu dungeon. Apparently Jabu-Jabu has a taste for beef in addition to fish (and also swallows them whole).

* [=~The Hero's Journey~=]: Even more literal than usual. The 'Belly of the Whale' stage of the journey is a dungeon inside a giant fish, and the hero, thanks to the timebending, ''literally'' Comes Of Age when he draws the Master Sword from its pedestal.

* [=~Let's Get Dangerous~=]: Just before the second to final battle between Link and Ganondorf.

** Also the special "Collector's Edition" released in limited quantities for the GameCube, and featuring ''TheLegendOfZelda, [[ZeldaIITheAdventureOfLink Zelda II]], Ocarina, [[{{Ptitle6ibfdbcv}} Majora's Mask]]'', and a trial version of ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker Wind Waker]]''.

* WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids: Mass graves, death, war, hideous monsters, a giant monster collapsing into a heap of pulsating flesh before your very eyes, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking green blood]] (and a little red blood). You know, for kids!

* [=~What Do You Mean, It's Not Awesome?~=]: "Saria's Song" is an upbeat little tune. Darunia, the Goron leader, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVEQ9TtGFlQ reacts to it]] like someone just dropped a rock concert on his head.

* [=~What Do You Mean, It's For Kids?~=]: Mass graves, death, war, hideous monsters, a giant monster collapsing into a heap of pulsating flesh before your very eyes, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking green blood]] (and a little red blood). You know, for kids!

* TimeyWimeyBall: The Master Sword allows you to travel back in time. Sometimes you actually ''can'' change the past from the future (such as Heart Pieces and other collectibles), other times you can't. One plot event in the desert ''depends'' on creating a StableTimeLoop, as when you first enter the dungeon as an adult it's impossible to explore and you are explicitly told to return there in the past. WordOfGod confirms that the time travel at the end of the game created a [[AlternateTimeline split timeline]] explicitly because Link changed things.

** Ganondorf has one of these after the first round of his final battle with Link. After he's defeated and his castle collapses around him while Link, Zelda, and Navi escape, he bursts out of the rubble in a rage. He then uses the Triforce Of Power to change into the feral, dual-axe-welding, boar-like Ganon. His breakdown continues even after he reverts back to his human form as he angrily vows revenge against Link, Zelda, and the sages as they imprison him in the Sacred Realm.

** Even if you hit the right notes, the special effects associated with a given ocarina song (like the Song of Light, which changes from day to night) won't activate until you've been officially taught the song by another character. Likewise, although the Scarecrow lets you play him a song as a kid (which becomes the Scarecrow's Song as an adult), it ''has'' to be a custom song -- if you play a song that you're supposed to learn later (such as the Bolero of Fire), he won't remember it, but only tells you he can't say why. (He also says this to any song that's fewer than eight notes long.)

* [=~You Shouldn't Know This Already~=]:
** You can't use an ocarina song until someone teaches you, even if you play the right notes.\\
\\
Interestingly, if you try to use a song that you'll learn later as your (custom) Scarecrow's Song, the scarecrow will refuse, simply saying that he can't memorize that song, but he can't say why.

** After you unseal the Temple of Time, Ganondorf shows up to thank you for doing all the heavy lifting for him. Oops.

* NoFairCheating: Using a teleport song while delivering a time-sensitive item as part of the Biggoron Sword quest will reduce the timer to 1 second upon arriving at your destination. If you use a teleport song during the Running Man contest, the timer will skip ahead to several seconds before time is called.

* TimeyWimeyBall: The Master Sword allows you to travel back in time. However, sometimes you can't change the past, and sometimes you can. One plot event ''depends'' on creating a StableTimeLoop. WordOfGod confirms that the time travel at the end of the game created a [[AlternateTimeline split timeline]] explicitly because Link changed things.

* UnwinnableByDesign: The Marathon Man's footrace.
%%The YouTube videos of "winning" the race are fakes. Please stop adding them.

** Finding the Triforce, defrosting Zora's Domain within the game, beating The Marathon Man. The former is based on pre-release trailers showing Link finding the entire Triforce; the second only happens during the ending, and the latter is impossible; the programmers couldn't figure out a good prize for beating him, so the Marathon Man always beats you by one second.

** The Cuccos, of course. This time around, you can laugh at VideoGameCrueltyPunishment in one location by running over them in Lon Lon Ranch with Epona and letting the invincibility that Epona provides do its job.

** Ganondorf has one of these after the first round of his final battle with Link. After he's defeated and his castle collapses around him while Link, Zelda, and Navi escape, he bursts out of the rubble in a rage. He then uses the Triforce Of Power to change into the feral, axe-welding, boar-like Ganon. His breakdown continues even after he reverts back to his human form as he angrily vows revenge against Link, Zelda, and the sages as they imprison him in the Sacred Realm.
** A really weird example happens to Ingo after beating him in a horse race with Epona. First he becomes desperate because Link gets to keep the mare that was originally meant to be a present for Ganondorf, so he locks him up. What happens after Link escapes, anyway? [[spoiler:He suddenly becomes nice the next time you enter the ranch]]. Yeah, either he was BrainwashedAndCrazy into being evil to start with or the poor guy has finally snapped.

* YouHaveToBurnTheWeb: Thanks to this game, no one knows that spider webs aren't actually flammable, not even other game developers.

** Zelda in her Sheik form, though not for combat. She also has hints of this in the final battle, when [[spoiler:at the end, when the ring of fire is gone, she uses a spell to freeze Ganondorf in place so Link can finish him off, and calls the Sages to seal Ganon away.]]
** Impa, who apparently taught Zelda (as Sheik) all she knows.

* HappyEndingOverride: The opening sequence in ''TheWindWaker'' reveals that after the events of this game, [[spoiler: Ganondorf eventually escapes his prison, and conquers Hyrule easily, because Link was not there to stop him. The gods then flood the earth and Hyrule is lost forever.]]

The fifth entry in ''TheLegendOfZelda'' series was released to great fanfare on the {{Nintendo 64}}, being the first 3D game in the series, and soon became known as the best of the 3D games and one of the greatest video games of all time. It set the standard for all the later games in the series, with its then-unheard of style of cinematic presentation and for introducing many mainstay elements of the franchise, including an extensive use of MagicMusic.

->'''Zelda:''' "Gannondorf, pitiful man. Without a strong, righteous mind, he could not control the power of the gods."

* AfterActionVillainAnalysis:\\->'''Zelda:''' "Gannondorf, pitiful man. Without a strong, righteous mind, he could not control the power of the gods."

* AfterActionVillainAnalysis:
->'''Zelda:''' "Gannondorf, pitiful man. Without a strong, righteous mind, he could not control the power of the gods."

>'''Zelda:''' "Gannondorf, pitiful man. Without a strong, righteous mind, he could not control the power of the gods."

* AfterActionVillainAnalysis: Subverted towards the end of the game.

* AfterActionVillainAnalysis: Subverted towards the end of the game. After Link defeats [[spoiler:Ganondorf's first form, Zelda's CrystalPrison slowly moves towards the roof and dissipates]]. Zelda looks at [[spoiler:Ganondorf's body]] and says ''"[[spoiler:Ganondorf]], pitiful man. Without a strong, righteous mind, he could not [[spoiler:control the power of the gods]]."'' Then they realize the place is collapsing and [[spoiler:Ganondorf is using his "last breath" to [[LoadBearingBoss bury Link and Zelda in the remains of the castle...]] Of course, after they escape it turns out Link has to fight another of Ganondorf's forms, meaning that Zelda's earlier line isn't really an AFTER action villain analysis.]]

The story follows a young boy named Link, the only member of his forest village without a fairy. Following some [[DreamingOfThingsToCome prophetic dreams]], he is gifted a fairy named Navi by the Great Deku Tree -- the guardian of the forest -- and asked for his help to remove an evil curse. This is merely the start of an epic journey that takes Link from the sanctuary of his HiddenElfVillage to the magnificent Hyrule Castle and then to all points of Hyrule in a quest to stop the [[DevilInPlainSight evil thief-king Ganondorf]] from seizing the power of the omnipotent Triforce.

Unfortunately, things don't go according to plan. Link falls into a deep coma, and [[TimeSkip when he wakes up seven years later]], [[BadFuture Hyrule has become a dark and twisted version of its former self]]. All is not lost though: there exists one final hope in Link, [[PlotRelevantAgeUp who is now old enough]] to [[ShonenUpgrade wield the Master Sword]] and accept [[TheChosenOne his true destiny]] as the Hero Of Time. Using his new powers, Link must travel across the broken Hyrule, and across time, to re-assemble the shattered forces of Good for an epic final showdown with the King of Evil.

The fifth entry in ''TheLegendOfZelda'' series was released to great fanfare on the {{Nintendo 64}}, being the first 3D game in the series, and soon became known as the best of the 3D games and one of the greatest video games of all time. It set the standard for all the later games in the series, with its then-unheard of cinematic presentation, flawless transition of the series into the third dimension, and introducing many mainstay elements of the franchise, including an extensive use of MagicMusic.

''Ocarina of Time'' was delayed for over a year so that it could be fine-tuned, and was finally released to almost universal praise, acclaim and thumbs-ups. It even came in a ''gold'' cartridge. It is arguably the best game in history: 13 years after its release, it is ''still'' the highest-rated game on both [=GameRankings=] and Metacritic. (In fact, it's something of an event if any game — specifically ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy2'' and ''GrandTheftAutoIV'' — manages to dethrone it, even if only temporarily.)

** Nabooru promising you as a kid to "give you something special". It seems innocent enough until you're an adult and she says this little tidbit: "If I'd known you would have grown up to look this good, I would have kept my [[IfYouKnowWhatIMean promise]]." Yes, Nintendo got a sex and ''{{Shotacon}}'' reference past the radar.

* {{Shotacon}}: If you knew about Nabooru's [[IfYouKnowWhatIMean "promise"]].