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The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is a landmark game not just for the Zelda series, but for videogames in general. It changed what people thought could be done with single-player games and introduced many players to the idea of exploring a sprawling, interconnected world with a variety of unique and interesting locales.
In addition to everything Ocarina of Time changed within the videogame industry, it changed a lot for the Zelda franchise as well. Beyond the jump from 2D to 3D it also introduced and changed a lot of the franchise’s established lore, with many of those changes being seen across Zelda games to this day.
10 Fairies Became More Than Just One-Ups
Fairies in The Legend of Zelda have always served as just another way to heal Link. By catching a fairy in a bottle, the player can release them to regain all their hearts, or keep it in the bottle until Link dies, at which time the fairy will bring him back to life. Ocarina of Time gave more lore to the fairies by introducing them as guides to the Kokiri, with each member of the forest-dwelling race being granted a fairy.
It was a small change but adding to the lore of the fairies helped to characterize them as more than glorified potions, they’re guides and guardians, which may help explain why they don’t try to escape the bottles Link is constantly shoving them into.
9 The Triforce Found A New Home Within Link, Zelda, And Ganon
The way the Triforce worked before Ocarina of Time is very different from how it worked after. Before OoT, the Triforce existed outside the characters, or it existed within Zelda as her birthright and within Ganon after seizing it for himself. The Triforce of courage as well, needed to be sought out and claimed by the chosen hero when it was first introduced. The Triforce starts out working like this in Ocarina of Time, but when Link is sent back in time at the end of the game, he still has the Triforce of Courage within himself, something that would carry over into future games like Twilight Princess.
Ocarina of Time took the original functionality of the Triforce and made a slight change that can still be seen in many of the games to this day.
8 Impa’s Story Took On New Meaning
Before Ocarina of Time Impa wasn’t a Sheikah, she was just an old Hylian woman who filled a sort of motherly role for Zelda. In Ocarina of Time many new races were introduced to the land of Hyrule, and among them were the Sheikah. The Sheikah were a race of people who watched over and guarded the Hylian royal family to the point of their near extinction. The graveyard of Kakariko village is actually the final resting place of many Sheikah who gave their lives in service to the royal family of Hyrule.
This added information transforms Impa’s dedication to Zelda into much more than a motherly figure, but into a generations-old mission that Impa is the last one to uphold. With this in mind, it adds a whole new level of gravitas to Impa’s duties.
7 It’s Revealed That The Master Sword Is Not Rated E For Everyone
The Master Sword is an iconic weapon in the Zelda series. In the past, the Sword that Seals the Darkness merely required proof that whoever attempted to claim it was worthy, usually by presenting three medallions or similar items. In Ocarina of Time, the Master Sword still requires three medallions to wield it, but it tacked on another requirement: the wielder must be of a certain age to wield the blade’s power. This is why when Link, a young child at the time, first picks up the sword it puts him to sleep for seven years, he wasn’t old enough to use the sword in battle.
It’s a factor of the sword that most people don’t really think too hard about when first playing Ocarina of Time, but when looking back at previous games, and even looking forward to future ones, it’s interesting to see how often an older Link is the one wielding the Master Sword over a child Link.
6 Stalfos Gained A Chilling Origin
Stalfos are the skeletal undead of the Zelda series, appearing in nearly every game since the first. Their design hasn’t changed too drastically over the years and overall, they’ve always been portrayed as just another enemy. That changed with Ocarina of Time, where talking to a Kokiri outside the Lost Woods reveals that anyone who gets lost in the forest will inevitably turn into a Stalfos. It’s a chilling revelation, even more so when paired with the knowledge that the skeletons that spawn repeatedly in Hyrule Field at night are called Stalchildren, not Stalfos, implying these are kids who became lost in the forest.
Zelda has never shied away from a dark story, many of the games in the series are extremely dark just off the idea that they take place in a period where Ganon won. Stalfos take this to a new level, though, with this creepy understanding of their origins.
5 Epona Made Her Debut, Becoming The Legendary Steed Of Links For Generations To Come
One of the many new features of Ocarina of Time was that Link could ride a horse. After reaching the adult phase of the game, players could go to Lon Lon Ranch and rescue Epona from Ingo, the bitter farmhand turned abusive ranch owner. After freeing Epona, the player could then call her at any time with the Ocarina of Time and ride at breakneck pace across Hyrule Field.
After being introduced in Ocarina of Time, Epona would make many more appearances as Link’s loyal steed as she became a familiar and welcome sight for players.
4 Ganondorf Went From Pig Monster/Bandit To Desert King
In every game before Ocarina of Time Ganon appeared as a demonic pig monster who ruled over the world with an iron fist and hunger for power that could not be satiated. In Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past it was revealed that Ganon was originally named Ganondorf and that he was a bandit leader who managed to claim the Triforce, which then transformed him into a monster. Ocarina of Time made one more significant change to Ganon, giving him an upgrade from a simple bandit to the king of a race of desert people called the Gerudo.
It’s a much more grandiose origin for Ganon and makes his lust for power all the more terrifying. He was already a king before seeking the Triforce, so who’s to say even ruling all of Hyrule would have been enough for him?
3 The Zora Became Much More Friendly
Prior to their appearance in Ocarina of Time, the Zora were an aggressive race of aquatic humanoids that would burst out of the water to attack Link. The Zora had more fish-like features and were more muscular-looking. That all changed with Ocarina of Time where they became more graceful, more humanoid, and more friendly. They went from aggressive and hostile towards Link to honorable and dependable allies.
Friendly Zoras would continue to make appearances throughout the series parallel to appearances from the older, hostile Zoras, showing just how big a change this was to the lore of the Zora people.
2 Hyrule Became Much More Diverse
One of Hyrule’s defining characteristics is the colorful cast of characters that populate it. From the Hylians to the Gerudo there are plenty of interesting faces to see in any Zelda game. However, before Ocarina of Time, there was really only Hylians populating the land of Hyrule. With the release of OoT came the Kokiri, the Sheikah, the Gorons, the Zora, and the Gerudo. These interesting and varied peoples helped give Hyrule the identity it has now and they continue to appear in Zelda games today.
These four races would pave the way for other unique additions to Hyrule like the Minish, the Ruto, the Koroks, and many more. All of these varied and diverse races started with the five debuting in Ocarina of Time.
1 Ocarina Of Time Changed The Course Of Hyrule’s History
The defining feature of Ocarina of Time was the ability to time travel. By either placing the Master Sword in its stone or by pulling it out, Link can enter the child era or the adult era, with the state of Hyrule changing depending on the time period he’s in. With all this meddling with time, it’s no surprise then that OoT changed the course of the Zelda series by organizing the games into three separate timelines. The creation of the adult, child, and failure timelines would change the course of how the games were organized, explaining why Zoras are hostile in some games and friends in others, or why other races do or do not appear at all.
Time travel in Ocarina of Time became the single most influential feature of any game in the entire series, with such far-reaching effects on the series that each time a new game is introduced the first thing people do is ask where it fits into the timeline.
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