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In the following page, we shall discuss a little known subject related to the sacred land of Hyrule. It's about the Decay of Hyrulean Economy. It is known that, since the times of Ocarina of Time, rupees have served as the signature currency in the entire World of The Legend of Zelda. With the sole exception of Hyrule, every single land has been portrayed in only one game each; therefore, it's unknown how they have fared in economy over the course of the years. The games that will be covered in this page are (in this order): Ocarina of Time, The Wind Waker, Spirit Tracks, Twilight Princess, A Link to the Past, The Legend of Zelda and The Adventure of Link.

A way to interpret how well economy goes in a game is checking the maximum amount of Rupees Link can carry in that adventure. Invariably, this maximum capacity reflects how much money he may need in order to either succeed on his quest, or archieve 100% Completion.

The Hyrulean Dream
Ocarina of Time is one of the games in the series in which Hyrule enjoys a relatively healthy economy, and it happens to be one of the first chronological entries in the series. In this game, the young hero is capable of purchasing most of the goods from Kokiri Forest, Hyrule Castle Town and Goron City while having the initial maximum of 99 Rupees. These goods include Deku Nuts, Deku Sticks, shields, hearts, bombs, potions, etc. Understandably, tunics are more expensive, clocking at 200 Rupees as they're for specialized users. However, with a wallet upgrade that allows Link to carry (conveniently) 200 Rupees, these tunics can be purchased as well, though it's only necessary if the original tunics (received for free from key characters) are lost without retrieval.

However, there are a few goods that are sold at inexplicably high prices. Fish, which can be captured in any moat or in Zora's Domain), clocks at a price of 200 Rupees; Blue Fire, found for free in the depths of Ice Cavern, costs 300 Rupees. The only possible (and, as usual, unconfirmed) explanation to this is that fish receive some treatment after capture, probably to make them safer to eat, whereas is Blue Fire is found in places other than Ice Cavern, requiring costs for the exploration. It's somewhat ironic that the Zora Shop, which sells Blue Fire for 300 Rupees, has to be melted from red ice with Blue Fire from Ice Cavern. In fact, why the shopkeeper didn't melt the entrance with the Blue fire he had for sale? Did he prefer to preserve his merchandise before saving his own life?

Economic activity is varied. Lon Lon Ranch is run with the money gained by export of its signature Lon Lon Milk, whose prestige is such that it's delivered to the heart of the kingdom. Several businesses and attractions are run within Hyrule Castle Town and Gerudo Fortress, including special minigames. It's unknown how Kokiri Forest and the aforementioned Zora's Domain are sustained, however. Goron City relies upon inputs and reserves from Dodongo's Cavern, meaning that if something happens to that place, Gorons are inmediately affected.

A Sea of Inflation
Hundreds of years have passed since Hyrule's glory days. The Great Flood not only has endangered the life of Hyruleans, its economy has worsened since then.

In The Wind Waker, the first sign of inflation can be seen with the initial maximum of Rupees link can carry: 200. Initially, though, this doesn't seem to mean too much; Beedle, for instance, sells his goods at prices as low as 10 Rupees, this is in fact the case for the Bait Bag, one of the three major item bags in the game. It's by the moment the young hero travels to Windfall Island when the problems begin. The sail, the first mandatory item to be purchased, costs no less than 80 Rupees (compare this to the mandatory purchase Link does in Ocarina of Time: The Deku Shield only costs 50 Rupees). In addition, the bomb business has reached a level of monopoly, with Bomb-Master Cannon selling 10 of his units of merchandise for 10000 Rupees (though a major plot twist in the game will change his mind and sell his explosive products at cheaper prices, in addition to letting other businessmen to sell bombs as well). The business of deciphering ancient maps is no less abusive either, as a single chart will only be decoded as long as the interested one has 398 Rupees (and a total of 3184 Rupees for translation of all eight Triforce Charts).

In regards of economic activity, the Great Sea is somewhat more dense than Hyrule. There is an ongoing process of overseas product export that requires exceptional amounts of money to work. When Link sells the lone Town Flower from Zunari, he can negotiate with any of the Goron merchants inhabiting Mother & Child Isles, Greatfish Isle and Bomb Island, so that he can trade his item for a newer one, which also means that said new item will be sent to the shop Link is patronizing (which, in this case, is Zunari's Shop at Windfall Island). But the young hero always has to pay the value difference between the current item and the new one. There are 12 items in total to trade, with the final one (Shop Guru Statue) costing 200 Rupees more than the second most valuable item (Postman Statue). While this improves significantly the economy of Windfall Island (notice that the newer items are sold there at prices equal to the value difference Link had to pay at first, meaning that they're now cheaper than they originally were), it needs a lot of effort and trading intelligence to avoid purchasing older items again, thus losing track from the chain of deals).

These may be the reasons why the maximum amount of Rupees Link can carry can be upgraded to up to 5000 Rupees (and it happens that one of the upgrades is actually required to beat the game, while the second one is highly recommended), a full 900% higher than in Ocarina of Time. The lack of a global governance in the Great Sea doesn't help at all, which not only results in the aforementioned bomb business monopoly, but also in some people indiscriminately owning islands for their own personal purposes. Finally, while the most esxotic items were already expensive in Ocarina of Time, The Wind Waker has rare prizes sold by Masked Beedle for 500-950 Rupees (rendering the Blue Fire cheaper with its 300-Rupee retail).

Losing the Financial Track
After The Wind Waker, another century has passed, and it seems like New Hyrule (founded by Link and Tetra) is faring even worse than the Great Sea. Since the start of Spirit Tracks, Link has a maximum of 9999 Rupees to carry, representing a 199,98% of superiority in comparison to The Wind Waker, and a frightening 1999,8% of superiority over the Ocarina of Time cap.

The inflation may or may not have to do with Hyrule still being in a early state of construction (especially after leaving the old flooded Hyrule behind), as well as with the side effects of the Spirit Tracks gradually disappearing (therefore making transport of important inputs and products of first necessity next to impossible). On the other hand, the creatures from the Pirate Hideout may have been a problem for peaceful train drivers and passengers since long ago. Their tanks and warships provide an example of why technology should not be used for evil goals.

A single Heart Container in the Snow Sanctuary, as well as a single Quiver upgrade in Goron Village, both cost 2000 Rupees. Treasures sold in shops cost more than their actual value (for example, a Goron Amber costs 100 Rupees, which is twice as much as its traditional value of 500). Beedle no longer provides cheap merchandise, not only bacause of his overpriced Bomb Bag (500 Rupees) and ludicrous treasures, but also because even his purchase point system inflated since Phantom Hourglass from 1 rupee for a point to 10 rupees for a single point.

Child Timeline
To date, only one game in the Child Timeline has taken place in Hyrule: Twilight Princess. Unlike in the Adult Timeline, there has been no divine intervention affecting drastically the lives of Hyruleans. Instead, the evil forces do so. The initial limit of Rupees Link can carry 300 Rupees, which is 3,03 times as much as the initial limit in Ocarina of Time. The products in Ordon Village, however, aren't too expensive, not to mention that the Ordona Province as a whole has an ongoing business in regards of product export, as seen in Snowpeak Ruins with the availability of Ordon Goat Cheese and Ordon Pumpkin. Therefore, any apparent indication of financial decline in Ordona can be misleading.

It is necessary to analyze the economy of Hyrule Castle Town in order to find out that, indeed, economy in Hyrule had seen better days. Some of the indications, in one or another way caused by the influence of twilight causing despair and chaos among the peaceful Hyruleans, include: