Original art by @ImberLapis
The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time (Revised & Complete) by DragonRand100-theEagle1989 is a Fan Fic retelling of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. This story faithfully adapts the original source material into a novelization format with some liberties taken. Contains some elements of an alternate universe, some original characters, alterations to canon and exploration of the Zelda Mythos by mixing content from other games into the narrative. At this point the story has been fully revised and completed as the author has since moved on to other projects.
It follows the story of a boy without a fairy named Link who is swept up into a much larger story and conflict than he could have ever imagined. After waking up to a fairy named Navi who tells him that he has to meet the Great Deku Tree, the guardian of the Kokiri forest, Link embarks on a path that will take him far from home, his friends and the only life he has ever known. Determined to reach a young maiden named Princess Zelda and stop the machinations of a Gerudo King from the desert, he will face monsters, navigate dungeons and labyrinths, fight for those he has sworn to protect, face his deepest fears and discover his destiny as the Hero who rode upon the winds of time to become a legend.
Though all the characters featured in Ocarina of Time are present here, how they are presented and their ultimate fates are not restricted to the canon of the games. Complete with violence, grotesque imagery, hints of mature content, epic battles and perilous encounters this story feels like a novel at various points and faithfully captures the experience of the game with respect given to the game's writing, pacing and storytelling.
As of now there are no planned sequels in progress. The story can be viewed at FanFiction.net, archiveofourown.org, and wattpad.com.
An audiobook has been completed and can be seen here.
This novelization contains examples of:
- Adaptational Badass: Many of the characters in this version.
- In the game, Navi does not get involved with combat beyond pointing out targets for Link. In the novelization, Navi frequently darts into the eyes of monsters to temporarily blind or distract them enough for Link to recover at crucial moments.
- The Happy Mask Salesman, a character with a very minimal role in this game as a shopkeeper, is quite knowledgeable and can handle himself in precarious situations with clever wordplay and his wits.
- Kaepora Gaebora: Instead of just being a voice for exposition, this owl can use his talons to attack minions and drop them from great heights.
- You thought Ingo was a useless side character? In this version he kills a Gerudo with a pitch fork. So much for being a dumb farmhand.
- Action Girl:
- Regarding the Sheikah warriors there is Impa, who is a skilled mage and combatant. Later, when Impa ends up blinded, she still manages to retain the title of Shadow Sage and is able to fight Ganondorf along with the other sages. After the seven year time skip, Sheik is revealed to be a strong mage who can hold her own in combat along with her mentor Rin who is revealed to be Impa in disguise. As for Sheik, her role as an Action Girl is played with since as Zelda she doesn't take an active combat role despite doing great feats while disguised as Sheik.
- On the Gerudo side there is Nabooru, Aveil and their immediate family who uphold their status as warriors and thieves.
- Adaptation Expansion: Link's origins and upbringing with the Kokiri are explored far more than in the game. He had family that tied back to the royal circle of Hyrule, making him nobility, and is actually Zelda's secret cousin. His inner thoughts are also given focus as his perspective is that of the protagonist, one who is capable of speaking freely. Link even gets to learn magic on his journey.
- Amazon Brigade: Explored with the Gerudo, who are a predominantly female race that rely on mixing with other societies to find males. True Gerudo males are only born every 100 years; in the distant past a curse was afflicted on them by the Sheikah that prevented the Gerudo from having many male offspring as any males born often die at childbirth. Inevitably, it is explained that this would result in the Gerudo race dying out in the future. Fortunately, after Link triumphs over Ganondorf the curse is finally broken and the Gerudo are able to have male offspring without complication.
- All of the Other Reindeer: Link is referred to as the boy without a fairy and is teased by many of the Kokiri for it, namely Mido and his cronies. They also tease him for his height as that makes him stand out compared to the other Kokiri which turns out to be due to Link being a Hylian. Despite this, after the seven year gap, the Kokiri come to recognize Link and they accept him as a Kokiri in their hearts.
- All Your Base Are Belong to Us: Ganondorf leads an army to attack Castletown by transporting his forces through a secret portal underneath Hyrule Castle. His army then exterminates most of Hyrule's royalty and many nobles. As Hyrule Castle falls, the armies then attack Castletown and sack it.
- Alternate Timeline: By the end of the story, two timelines are created. The first timeline is the adult timeline where Link defeated Ganon as the world healed; the second timeline is the child timeline where Link was sent back to his childhood where Ganondorf could be stopped before his plan was put in motion.
- And I Must Scream: Link sees horrifying visions during his journey, from the dead remains of his allies and innocent civilians, to the sight of blood on the corpses of fallen victims, to the horrors experienced during visions and the perils found within the temples and dungeons he and Navi must traverse. Not to mention, he loses an eye while conscious.
- Apathetic Citizens: Averted after the seven year time skip. Citizens across Hyrule are afflicted in some form from the constant warfare and the constant horrors experienced in all towns and cities.
- Awful Wedded Life: Nabooru gets unhappy with her marriage to Ganondorf when it becomes clear that the Gerudo king is becoming obsessed with the skull mask and provoking a war with the Hylians. She stops thinking of him as her beloved as her doubts about him escalate.
- Bad Future: After Ganondorf takes over, everything in Hyrule gets a lot worse, whether it be the Kokiri becoming enslaved and abducted from their homes, Zora's domain freezing over, the Gorons being worked to death, Kakariko village getting afflicted by the Necromancer, the Gerudo suffering from the threat of rebellion and Hyrule castle along with Castletown lies in ruins as it is inhabited by monsters and redead.
- Big Bad: Ganondorf is the main villain, responsible for the chain of events that sets the story in motion. Though it could be argued that the true villain is Ganon, the demon that seeks to destroy not just the land of Hyrule but all lands.
- The Bad Guy Wins: As far as Link and many in Hyrule are concerned, Ganondorf won by the time he woke up from his seven years of absence. Many in Hyrule are incredibly demoralized by all that occurred and it takes massive strives to undo all that was committed with heavy costs inflicted including the death of Princess Zelda herself.
- This still applies in the sense that Ganon cannot be fully killed but instead sealed away thanks due a seal created by the seven sages, implying Ganon could return. As a meta point, by the time of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker Ganon does return. Despite this, Link and the heroes are convinced that they will be prepared for such a return and that they can save the world again if necessary.
- Banishing Ritual: Since Ganondorf has become effectively immortal so long as he possesses the Triforce of Power, the Sages devise to defeat him by sealing the demon away inside the Dark Realm after Link has weakened him enough with the Master Sword.
- Broke Your Arm Punching Out Cthulhu: Volvalgia attacks Ganondorf in a fierce rage in order to save Link. Though Link escapes, Volvalgia finds that his attacks are not able to damage him and he finds himself tortured until Ganondorf controls his mind, though not before he buys Link enough time to make it into Castletown. As the battle against Ganondorf ends, he ends up transformed into a vessel for Ganondorf's destruction.
- Creepy Cemetery: Played straight with the graveyard at Kakariko Village. This place reeks of shadow magic and an ominous atmosphere, especially as it is near the Shadow Temple. After the seven year time skip, this graveyard goes from unsettling to terrifying.
- Creepy Good: The Happy Mask Salesman, like in Majora's Mask, is creepy, mysterious and is among the most morally grey characters in the cast of characters. While he desires to see Ganondorf stopped and Majora contained his motivations could be seen as selfish and misguided. That said, he does work with the heroes at various points and does his part to assist with Link's mission to rescue Hyrule.
- Darker and Edgier: Complete with bloodshed, violence, gruesome imagery, some language, hints of mature content and death.
- Darkest Hour: Quite literally the name of the chapter when Castletown burns to the ground, in which Link nearly loses the will to keep going after he stumbles upon the body of a murdered child. He believes that he failed and that there is nothing left to fight for but Navi manages to save him from giving up, just barely.
- Decomposite Character: Ganon is a seperate character from Ganondorf, rather than his beast form.
- Disapproving Look: Saria gives a good glare to Ruto when she calls the former a child, which the forest child doesn't appreciate at all.
- Divine Intervention: During one of the nights on Lon Lon Ranch, Link awakes after a voice from the Kokiri Emerald urges him to be on his guard as a Gerudo thief tries to steal the Emerald. Implied to be the goddess Farore speaking in his dreams or the spirit within the emerald itself.
- Earth Mother: Farore is referred to by the Kokiri as the Mother Goddess or the Creator, responsible for the creation of life.
- Eloquent in My Native Tongue: Played with. Link starts off speaking Kokiri and not knowing how to speak other languages, but after the time skip, Link becomes more fluent in Hylian than in Kokiri.
- Expecting Someone Taller: Darunia remarks this about Link on their first encounter.
- Fairy Companion: All of the Kokiri have defined fairies, notably Link and Navi, Saria and Fora, Mido and Mori and finally Forenz and Arden.
- Foreshadowing: The giant dodongo received a horrific wound on one of its eyes from its battle with Volvagia. Later at the Shadow Temple, Link loses an eye from a possessed Halvard.
- He Who Fights Monsters: Link struggles with avoiding this at first when he wakes up seven years into Ganondorf's rule. This fear is manifested with Dark Link but also in the vision Link has of a possible future where he becomes a stalfos.
- Hostage for MacGuffin: Played with frequently.
- In the early stages of his quest, the minions Link faces against want the Kokiri Emerald and later the other stones. Should Link or those who possess these stones refuse, they are threatened with either their own mortality or the threat of execution on close allies and family.
- Among the most dramatic of these examples is when a Gerudo assassin threatens to harm Malon if Link refuses to hand over the Emerald.
- Later on, Ganondorf seeks Macguffins in the forms of powers as opposed to objects. He seeks the Triforce of Courage and Triforce of Wisdom from Link and Zelda respectively, threatening to torture and kill them should they refuse.
- Indy Hat Roll: When escaping from a trap set in the Spirit Temple, Link manages to slip under a closing door, barely retrieving his hat before the door collapses.
- Inn Security: Deconstructed. Despite fearing that the characters in these inns might betray them or be overrun by minions, this doesn't occur. Instead, danger arises as soon as Link and Navi leave the inns as the inns themselves are safe havens that are protected by the Sheikah.
- However, if Lon Lon Ranch is considered a type of resting place akin to an inn, this conflict does occur as a Gerudo raids the ranch to steal the Kokiri Emerald in the night, ironically when Link is outside of all places.
- Kid Hero: Both explored and deconstructed. On one hand, Link is able to do incredibly brave feats and is able to accomplish near-Herculean tasks in his efforts to gather the three stones, feats that even capable adults were incapable of accomplishing (Though Link certainly appreciates any help he can get.) On the other hand, Link is traumatized by the horrors he experiences and the constant danger he and his allies are put in. After the time skip, he still acts like a child in an adult's body and is ill prepared for the next stage of his quest to save Hyrule. He even ends up getting post-traumatic stress from this and suffers from nightmares all the way to the rest of his life. While traumatized after being forced to do all of this, he pulls through and earns his status as a heroic figure.
- Kleptomaniac Hero: Played for laughs in Kakariko Village as Navi chastises Link for thinking he can just walk into somebody else's house and expect to not be punished for it.
- Language Barrier: Played with. Link has to be trained by Navi to overcome this as the Kokiri cannot normally speak Hylian and vice versa. The other races have their own languages but knowledge of Hylian is commonplace to allow for communication between them in most cases.
- Loud Sleeper Gag: Talon tends to snore at loud volumes, as he does in the game, and falls asleep quickly on top of that. In fact, Link becomes able to tell if he's awake just from whether or not he can hear him snoring.
- Magic Music: The songs played by the ocarinas are used to the same effect as in the game.
- My Hovercraft Is Full of Eels: Playfully averted as Link gets trained by Navi to speak Hylian before he can accidentally speak gibberish.
"Hello. My name is Link and I am a pumpkin."
- Never Learned to Read: Most of the Kokiri are unable to read as they have no reason to. Link remains illiterate throughout his journey, relying on others to translate for him.
- Not Quite the Almighty: The three Goddesses had to sacrifice a considerable amount of their power when they created the Triforce to save the world of Hyrule from destruction and ruin. As such, they do not possess the means to directly intervene in mortal affairs and cannot defeat Ganon on their own.
- Obviously Not Fine: Played straight at numerous points, especially with Link, as he frequently hides his emotions and memories from others, only for supporting characters to show concern or apprehension. Whenever Link opens up to somebody it's a sign of trust and point for him to show his vulnerability.
- Oh, My Gods!: Characters frequently refer to the three goddesses or to the names of demons as they serve the equivalent purpose.
Navi: "Link. For Din's sake, do as you're told!"
- Rousing Speech: Seen several times.
- Evoked by Volvalgia of all characters as he speaks to both Link and Ganondorf, threatening the Gerudo King with death for daring to desecrate the land of Hyrule with treachery and treason.
- Later, a war cry is given before the Hylians just as they make their charge to retake Castletown.
- Running Gag: Just like in the game, pots are victim to being abused in some form and crashing over. It keeps happening to Link, but unlike the game, mostly occurs due to carelessness and being foolish as opposed to direct intent.
- Savage Wolves: The Wolfos are fierce wolves that will attack anything they come across, from wild animals to the Kokiri to Hylians. Unlike the wolves in the forest that see the Kokiri as part of their pack, the Wolfos will not hesitate and attack Link when he tries to make his way to Lon Lon Ranch.
- It's implied that the friendly wolves in Kokiri Forest would attack intruders should they attempt to make their way into the woods as they serve as forest wards. Later, when the wolves that Saria commands attack a pair of Bulbins, this proves to be the case.
- Shout-Out: Several throughout, but among the most famous is the one Link gives to The Legend of Zelda (1989).
Link: "Lord...who? Is he your father?"
Ruto: "What? Of course he isn't, stupid!"
Link: "Well excuse me, Princess!"
- Signature Headgear: Link is very attached to his signature hat and gets distressed when it is lost or about to be lost, much to the ire of others.
- Stress Vomit: A recurring struggle that Link experiences whenever he becomes gripped by fear or extreme anxiety. He gradually learns to cope with it towards the end of his journey as he becomes conditioned to terrible sights and it decreases in frequency.
- These Hands Have Killed: Early on, Link feels guilty whenever he has to kill animals as he believes that killing is a serious action. When he eventually ends up killing a Gerudo in combat he is horrified as it is the first person he's killed that had a family.
- The War Has Just Begun: Ganondorf gives a speech similar to this just before he orders his forces to lay siege to Castletown.
- Too Hungry to Be Polite: Played for laughs. Link is used to having very lax table manners since he grew up as a Kokiri, and it is only when he eats in front of others does he realize how messy his manners are to the point that Navi chastises him by saying that he'll never reach Princess Zelda with such poor etiquette.
- Trauma Inn: Played with as inns are mostly, but not always, havens for Link and Navi to recover their strength and energy as they try to complete their journey. Furthermore, after the seven year time skip, the only inn Link returns to is a makeshift hospital that is a place for others to heal including himself.
- Waif Prophet: Zelda has prophetic dreams and premonitions of events to come, as does Link who interprets these dreams as horrific nightmares. Saria even has dreams of events to come.
- Watch Where You're Going!: Happens twice with Nabooru as people collide into her by accident, much to her annoyance.
- Water Wake Up: Averted. Malon threatens to wake up her sleeping father by pouring cold water on his head before he wakes up at the last possible second which saves him from getting a cold awakening.
- You Fight Like a Cow: During a training sequence, Forenz jabs at Link and pushes for him to fight better while also giving advice on ignoring bullies who throw slurs at him.
