Zora's Domain

Zora's Domain is a recurring location in the Zelda series. It made its debut appearance in A Link to the Past under the name Zora's Lake. It serves as the home of the aquatic race known as the Zora.

Ocarina of Time
In Ocarina of Time, Zora's Domain is located in the northeast section of Hyrule and is home to King Zora and his daughter, Princess Ruto. It consists of a large cavernous area mostly filled with water, with a large waterfall flowing from the top into the lower area. Its source of water comes from Zora's Fountain, to which its closely linked to. The only ways to access the domain is from Zora's River or from a secret entrance hidden underwater in Lake Hylia; however, only members of the Royal Family of Hyrule are allowed to enter. To enter via Zora's River, Link will need to play "Zelda's Lullaby" in front of the seemingly impassable waterfall at the end of the river to prove his connection to the Royal Family. This will cause the waterfall to momentarily split in two, allowing the young hero to access Zora's Domain.

Link's first visit to the domain is called upon during his search for the third Spiritual Stone, the Zora's Sapphire. He ventures inside Lord Jabu Jabu's belly in Zora's Fountain to rescue Princess Ruto, receiving the Spiritual Stone in return. Seven years later, after Link awakens from having pulled the Master Sword from its pedestal, the young hero returns to Zora's Domain to find it completely frozen over; moreover, the Lake Hylia entrance has been blocked by ice. The only Zoras that inhabit it are the King Zora and the shopkeeper of the Zora Shop, and both of them are frozen over by Red Ice, which only Blue Fire can melt. Sheik explains that the ice is caused by an evil curse, and the source of the curse is Morpha, a monster in the Water Temple. The only way to restore Zora's Domain to its natural state is by destroying Morpha; thus, Link ventures to the Water Temple where, with the aid of Princess Ruto, the source of the curse is shut off. Princess Ruto, awakening as the Sage of Water, thanks Link for his help and reassures him that Zora's Domain and its people will eventually return to their original state.

During the ending credits, Zora's Domain is shown to have been thawed out, although it is still empty since all of the Zoras are in Lon Lon Ranch celebrating the defeat of Ganondorf.

Twilight Princess
Zora's Domain consists of two main areas: The throne room, and what might possibly be Zora's Fountain, which connects to Snowpeak. A Zora at the bottom of the waterfall will offer to swim up it and take you to the Throne Room is you wish. It is necessary to fish here (between the Mother-and-Child Rocks) after getting the Coral Earring so that Link can get the Reekfish Scent. There are 3 ways to enter it:


 * Warping
 * Blowing up a rock in Hyrule Field, which blocks the entrance.
 * Playing Plumm's minigame (this takes Link to upper Zora's River, and from here, he can enter Zora's Domain by swimming.

When Zora's Domain is covered by Twilight, the Zoras are frozen solid. This time, Link must warp to Death Mountain in order to warp the Molten Shard to Zora's Domain and defrost the Zoras.

After Link obtains the Water Bombs and Zora Armor, Link can sink to the bottom of the throne room and blow up the shard, releasing a Goron that was trapped in it. By speaking to him, Link will receive a Bomb Bag.

Zora's Domain is the only place that Link can fish for Reekfish. It is also the only way the young hero can enter Snowpeak without warping. Link will not be able to immediately access this entrance until later in the game, since it is still frozen.

Link's Crossbow Training
Stage 4 of Link's Crossbow Training is specifically seated in the outer waters of Zora's Domain. The stage begins facing a waterfall and has targets falling with the water at various speeds and very few pots to shoot for additional points. In the second area, Link shoots at targets dropping with the waterfall and panning through openings in the mountainside. This stage normally ends in an overhead view of the two waterfalls as the targets again follow the water downwards. The alternative end can be unlocked by getting 1000 points on the scarecrows from the first two views. This stage ending scene will take Link above the waterfalls and offer a larger cluster of targets drifting towards him. Many more gold targets are found in this scene among the regular and false targets, than the top-view of the waterfalls.

Trivia

 * Hyrule Castle can be seen directly south through the "canyon" of Zora's Domain in Twilight Princess (especially when it is encased in the giant twilight pyramid).
 * The process of unfreezing Zora's Domain as part of Link's quest in Twilight Princess may be a nod to Ocarina of Time. During the release of Ocarina of Time, gamers tried endlessly to figure out how to unfreeze Zora's Domain after they had obtained the Water Medallion by either using bombs, fire arrows or Din's Fire.  Some people to this day still believe it can be unfrozen.
 * Part of the cause for the attempt to unfreeze Zora's Domain in Ocarina of Time also stems from an April Fools prank which Nintendo pulled one year. They released several hoaxed images of Ocarina of Time which included a shot of the Triforce on the quest status screen filled in and an adult Link standing in an unfrozen Zora's Domain. These caused people to scramble frantically to find ways to unfreeze Zora's Domain, until Nintendo revealed that it was all a prank.