Dodongo's Cavern

Dodongo's Cavern is a dungeon found in Ocarina of Time. It is the second of three dungeons that young Link must visit in order to acquire the three Spiritual Stones. It also has a great amount of rocks in it that the Gorons that live nearby eat, and it is used for mining food for them.

Entrance to the Cavern
The cave is located not too far from the way to Kakariko Village. Prior to the events of the game, Ganondorf came to Death Mountain to get the Goron's Ruby from Darunia, the chief of the Gorons, who refused. Because of that, Ganondorf infested the cavern with Dodongos and sealed the entrance with a boulder.

Link, who comes to Death Mountain to get the Spiritual Stone as well, is, unlike Ganondorf, able to gain the trust and respect of the Gorons. By using a Bomb Flower (usable only after collection of the Goron's Bracelet) to destroy the boulder blocking the entrance, he is able to enter the cavern and navigate his way through it, defeating the creatures all the way through up to King Dodongo, the boss of the dungeon. In return for this, he is able to receive the Spiritual Stone from the Gorons and proceed with his quest.

Themes and Navigation
Ironically, the Cavern is smaller in size than the first dungeon, the inside of the Great Deku Tree, as it only has two floors in comparison to the Deku Tree's five. The inside of Dodongo's Cavern seems mostly uninhabitable, but several rooms show signs of use, including bridges and statues; others are smaller and darker, much like normal caverns. Link regularly has to move blocks to depress switches, use bomb flowers to destroy walls (and even the base of a giant staircase), and occasionally shut off rings of fire by shooting eye switches with the Slingshot. It is home to lizard-like creatures, such as the several varieties of Dodongos for which the Cavern is named and the stronger Lizalfos (which are the first mini-bosses found in the game). Many bomb flowers grow within the Cavern and they are often necessary for solving puzzles before Link obtains the Bomb Bag.

In the main chamber of Dodongo's Cavern lie the remains of the Giant Dead Dodongo, the mouth of which can be opened to progress further into the dungeon.

Master Quest
In the Master Quest version, the dungeon is largely played in a backwards fashion. Instead of going first to the right, Link must go to the left and to the upper floor. The Lizalfos are first fought in the second floor and then in the first. Bombs are obtained much later, where the compass was originally found. There are more Business Scrubs, and Lizalfos appear in several rooms. The rooms where Gold Skulltulas were originally found have now a lot of enemies, like Skulltulas and Mad Scrubs, and give a reward of only five Rupees. Poes now appear in the Dodongo room. Baby Dodongos are plentiful, and the Dodongos are found in a different room. There are almost no Keese and there is a room with several Armos. Most puzzles feature a sequence of Bomb Flowers on the walls.

Trivia

 * The sign which explains the Giant Dead Dodongo is an exact replica of the sign seen in the Star Fountain in Super Mario 64. In the latter game, the sign fueled rumors about features not available in the final game due to enigmatic text on its texture. It was changed in the 3DS remake of Ocarina of Time to a different, more detailed sign that shows visible Hylian at a distance.
 * The map items in the Nintendo 64 Zelda games, when taken from a chest, show a map of Dodongo's Cavern on them.
 * Dodongo's Cavern is mentioned in Majora's Mask by the Goron that gives Link the Don Gero's Mask, but he calls it "Dodongo Cavern" instead of "Dodongo's Cavern." It is not known if that means that the Gorons of Termina have their own version of Dodongo's Cavern or if they are aware of Hyrule's.
 * Dodongo's Cavern is one of three dungeons in the game that can be entered as both Child Link or Adult Link, the other two being the Shadow Temple and the Spirit Temple.
 * In the video game Conker's Bad Fur Day, the room with the huge T-rex skull in the game's Uga Buga Chapter resembles the main room of the Dodongo's Cavern.
 * If Link returns to the boss room anytime after completing the dungeon for the first time, King Dodongo will have sunk into the lava completely.
 * There are several rooms which must be entered by bombing the walls. However, one of these has an alternate method of entry. If Link kills a baby dodongo close enough to the wall, it will be destroyed when the creature explodes, granting access without the need for bombs.
 * This is the only non-living dungeon explored by Link on his quest to find the three Spiritual Stones, although a portion of it is the remains of a giant skeletal Dodongo. The first dungeon is actually the protector of Kokiri Forest until his death, and the third dungeon is the guardian deity of the Zora race.
 * In the first southeastern room (floor one), there is a Gold Skulltula that would normally require the Scarecrow's Song to be reached; however, Link can also bring a statue from the east to the front of the spider's high spot, jump backwards to climb up to said statue, and then jump to the spot.
 * There is a very small hidden room in Dodongo's Cavern which is located behind the lava-waterfall on the ground floor, in the chamber where the first two Lizalfos's are fought. Although the small cave-like room merely contains a single recovery heart, it is regarded by many of one of Ocarina of Time's most hidden locations, mainly due to its positioning behind a barrier which the player would expect link to take damage from if he attempted to pass through; in this case a Lava-waterfall.