Stealth

Some situations require a hero not boldly crash in through the front gates. Hyrule, Labrynna, Holodrum, and the Great Sea are no exceptions, even for the most courageous young men.

Stealth Missions are any mission, large or small, testing the ability to sneak past guards.

Hyrule Castle
In  Ocarina of Time, Young Link must sneak past the patrolling soldiers in order to meet Princess Zelda in the courtyard. Attacking the soldiers is not recommended. Upon seeing Link, they will quickly apprehend him and toss him in the dirt road to town.

In  The Minish Cap, after the castle is locked down for security, Link's only way back in is through stealth. Ezlo's power to shrink Link to Minish sized is a huge help.

A Link to the Past begins with a telepathic message from Princess Zelda. The message beckons Link and/or his uncle to sneak into Hyrule Castle from the Garden.

"Infiltrating Hyrule Castle" is the name of a Stage in Four Swords Adventures. As the Links traverse the terrain, they must be careful to avoid being caught in the guards spotlights.

Ambi's Palace
In Oracle of Ages, Link gets a window of opportunity to sneak into the palace. Her guards have patterned patrols, which are easily manipulated.

Deku Palace
Deku Link, at the suggestion of a monkey, must sneak through the Gardens of the Deku Palace to find the Magic Bean salesman. Majora's Mask improved on the Stealth Mission format by adding representation of line-of-sight with several dots in front of patrolling Deku; however, this only occurs at night, and so during the daytime the player cannot rely on these visual representations. Another expansion is that Link is required to sneak overhead to progress in addition to the usual run and cover technique.

Pirate's Fortress
Link must infiltrate the Pirate's Fortress in Great Bay to retrieve four Zora Eggs, which the Gerudo Pirates have stolen. First, Zora Link must find a secret underwater passage hidden behind a wooden barricade. After gaining entrance to the Fortress, Link must avoid the patrols circling the cove on motorboats (if Link has already obtained the Stone Mask from Shiro, wearing it will make him invisible to the pirates, making this task much easier), while making his way over to a switch, which he must activate with a Goron Pound while in Goron Link form. The switch opens up an underwater grate, which Link must then navigate through, avoiding traps and solving puzzles. Once Link emerges from the passage, he must again avoid Gerudo Pirate patrols, although this time, he can knock the women unconscious with his weapons (the Stone Mask can once again come in handy while avoiding the guards). After getting past the guards, Link overhears a conversation between Aveil and one of her subordinates, after which, Link shoots an arrow at a bee hive, releasing the angry insects and scaring away Aveil and her guards. Link then retrieves the Hookshot from Aveil's quarters and scoops his first Zora Egg into an empty bottle. Link then uses the Hookshot to explore the rest of the Fortress, while avoiding guards and gathering the rest of the stolen Zora Eggs. If the Gerudo spot Link at any time, he will be forcibly removed from the Pirate's Fortress and will have start over.

Gerudo Fortress
Before obtaining Gerudo membership, Link must jump, run, hide, or knock down Gerudo patrols by any means necessary or land in a jail.

Forsaken Fortress
Without a sword, Link resorts to hiding from Moblins under barrels. Even casting a shadow in a searchlight means 'go directly to jail'.

Windfall Island

 * Spry little Link finds routes and niches to spy on Lenzo and manages to witness Tetra's pirates holding Cannon captive in separate sidequests.


 * To catch a thief, Link must follow and hide carefully. It's a match of wits and she's good.


 * To catch a pig, Link resorts to crawling behind them. With the right timing, hop up and nab one.

Holodrum

 * Rosa complains of a temple falling into Subrosia. Link can follow her, hiding along the way to the secret entrance.


 * Subrosian pickpockets steal the Roc's Feather from Link. Getting it back requires stealthily following the pair of Strange Brothers.

Temple of the Ocean King
The Temple of the Ocean King, located on Mercay Island in Phantom Hourglass, is all about stealth. Link must avoid the Phantoms at all costs. Being spotted and struck by a Phantom costs time for the Phantom Hourglass.

Ghost Ship
Also in Phantom Hourglass, Link must sneak past the Reaplings on the Ghost Ship to reunite the four Cubus Sisters.

Telma's Bar
In Twilight Princess, Link, in wolf form, must sneak across ropes strung across high shelves in Telma's Bar to bring a wounded Midna to Princess Zelda. Discovery, by breaking clay jars or being seen, means being kicked out.