Turtle Rock (Link's Awakening)

"...OCARINA... The music of the Ocarina leads..."

- Link's Awakening

Turtle Rock is the eighth and last of the main dungeons in Link's Awakening, and the location of the Thunder Drum. The entrance to the dungeon is located in a cave at the far west of Koholint Island's Tal Tal Mountain Range. The mini-boss of this dungeon is Blaino; in addition to this new mini-boss, numerous mini-bosses from previous dungeons in the game reappear. The main item of the dungeon is the Magic Rod, and the boss is the fiery Hot Head.

Entrance to the Rock
To reach the dungeon, Link has to travel through several caves from the center of Tal Tal Mountain Range. He eventually encounters a cannon spewing out an endless supply of fireballs, preventing Link from going any further. However, by using the Mirror Shield, obtained from the seventh dungeon, Eagle's Tower, Link manages to get past the fireballs unharmed. Upon reaching Turtle Rock's entrance, he finds that its entrance is a cave guarded by two Takkuri and a stone head of a turtle and stone legs sticking out of the mountain walls, akin to the entrance of the same-named dungeon in A Link to the Past. By playing the Frog's Song of Soul, the stone head springs to life and becomes the boss also known as Turtle Rock, who attacks Link. Defeating Turtle Rock opens the entrance to the dungeon itself.

Themes and Navigation
The dungeon appears to be a volcano, as there are many lava pits scattered throughout it. The walls are red and the floors are yellow. There are two rooms which connect to the peak of the western Tal Tal Mountain Range, and exiting and reentering the dungeon is necessary to proceed. A recurring puzzle in this dungeon involves the use of flashing blocks which create land when pushed over holes or lava. In some rooms, it is only necessary to create a path, while in others, covering all of the holes makes a chest appear.

This dungeon is notable for the fact that it features many previously encountered mini-bosses as enemies, many which have to be defeated for a small key or to move on. These include Rolling Bones, Hinox, Dodongo Snakes, and Smasher. These mini-bosses effectively act like normal enemies, as they will reappear at a later time. Cue Ball, another previous mini-boss also appears, sometimes known in this instance as Fire Cephalopod, but does not reappear upon its defeat unlike the others. However, the true mini-boss of this dungeon is Blaino, a creature which uses its boxing gloves to hurt Link and send him to the entrance of the dungeon.

Some passageways defy the predominant fire theme of the dungeon, as they are frozen and have ice blocks. The main tool of this dungeon is the Magic Rod, which is necessary to burn away the ice blocks and to defeat the dungeon's boss, Hot Head, a giant fireball that lives in a pool of lava.

When viewed on a map, the dungeon is in the shape of a turtle, which fits the appearance of the exterior of this dungeon. As with A Link to the Past, this dungeon's name is a reference that the outside mountain walls has two feet and a head, giving it the impression of a turtle.

Trivia

 * This is the only dungeon in the Zelda series that has a boss directly guarding its entrance.