Bottom of the Well


 * For the mini-dungeon in Majora's Mask, see Beneath the Well.

In Ocarina of Time, Kakariko Village is home to a well known as the Kakariko Well. The Well of Three Features is the name given to the well on a sign at its entrance, while the dungeon inside the well, known as the Bottom of the Well, contains an underground chamber that guards the sacred Lens of Truth. On the whole, this dungeon is completely optional, having no effect on the main quest if not attempted. However, without the Lens of Truth, not only will the last two temples and Ganon's Castle be of immense difficulty, Link may miss out on many hidden Heart Pieces and treasures only the Lens of Truth can uncover throughout Hyrule itself.

Entrance to the Well
When Link is an adult, the well is sealed, and when Link is a child, it first appears filled with water. In order to enter the dungeon, young Link has to play the Song of Storms to Guru-Guru to super-charge the Kakariko Windmill and drain the well dry.

Themes and Navigation
The well contains many illusory walls and floors which can only be identified as fake using the Lens of Truth, as well as invisible sections of floor that can be made visible with the Lens of Truth. Deep within the Bottom of the Well, Link fights the Dead Hand, which yields the Lens of Truth upon death. It is possible to skip the majority of the well and acquire the Lens of Truth in less than 10 minutes, making much of the dungeon redundant for any purpose other than the collection of Gold Skulltula Tokens.

Kakariko Well, as a dungeon, is unique in many ways. It has three floors, all treated as a basement, but only the first and largest must be explored in order to find the Lens of Truth. This first floor consists of a maze of tunnels with numerous side passages, as well as depressions in the floor that are filled with water. This water can be drained by playing Zelda's Lullaby on a Triforce emblem in one part of the central chamber, giving Link access to the rest of the first floor. Link only reaches the lowest floor, a kind of penalty room with many ReDeads and pools of poisonous water, after falling into any invisible hole. Notably, this floor is hand-shaped, and when Link falls into one of the holes, he lands upon what is apparently the extreme of one of the fingers of this hand. The only way to climb up to the first floor again is by collecting Silver Rupees (for the first time only; after that, Link simply has to climb up to the highest-placed door). The second floor is the smallest, as it consists entirely of cross-sections of vertical shafts connecting the first and third floors.

Master Quest
In the Master Quest version of Ocarina of Time, the Lens of Truth is no longer useful in this dungeon, because all fake floors and walls are now visible to the naked eye. The reward for fighting Dead Hand is the Compass, though a Small Key is found in its room. The Lens of Truth is now found on the bottom floor, which is now full of boulders, a Wallmaster, and five ReDeads all together. The Green Bubble is now missing, as well as the Like Like and the Beamos. The room with coffins and Gibdos is optional, too, containing only a Gold Skulltula. There are some hidden switches in the walls that unlock doors or drain the well; playing Zelda's Lullaby in front of the statue unlocks some gates now. The new enemy here is a Floormaster, which just so happens to be in the same small room as a Wallmaster]].

Trivia

 * According to the Old Man in Kakariko Village, the house of a man who could see the truth once stood on the location of the well.
 * The Dead Hand mini-boss that guards the Lens of Truth is possibly the same mini-boss fought in the Shadow Temple for the Hover Boots, although in his second appearance, or the new Dead Hand's first appearance, the Dead Hand possesses more hands in the ground than in the previous encounter with a Dead Hand in the well.
 * It is strongly believed by Team Beta Triforce as well as the Zelda hacking community in general that the Bottom of the Well was at one point the Hyrule Sewers which Link needed to go through to get in and out of Hyrule Castle in the beta.
 * The Clock Tower interior in Majora's Mask is similar in atmosphere and context to the main area of the Well.
 * Several piles of corpses seem to be scattered about the well.