Swamp Palace (A Link to the Past)

The Swamp Palace, also known as the Water Gate Dungeon in the SNES version, is the second dungeon in the Dark World in A Link to the Past.

Entrance to the Palace
The palace is located in the area south of Link's House, which has become a Bomb Shop in the Dark World. Access to the dungeon is granted by returning to the Light World, going into a building where the Water Gate Dungeon is in the Dark World, pulling a switch to change the water level, and returning to the Dark World.

Themes and Navigation
Most rooms feature water to some extent, and others even have underground waterfalls. This is possibly the first water-themed dungeon in the Zelda series, thus initiating a well-known type of complex dungeons appearing in later games, with succesors like the Water Temple in Ocarina of Time or the Great Bay Temple in Majora's Mask; however, the Swamp Palace itself is not considered to be that difficult, as it merely requires Link to fill dried pools with water. The main treasure is the Hookshot, an item whose chain allows Link to reach previously inaccesible places. The end boss is Arrghus, a giant eyeball protected by other smaller eyeballs. After defeating him, Link receives a Heart Container and the second crystal.

A Link to the Past comic
The Swamp Palace is also featured in the A Link to the Past comic. When Link and Epheremelda head out to the palace,they discover that the area is completely dried up. Link calls to Sahasrahla via the Comm-Fork for help  and asks him to go to the Light World location of the Swamp Palace,   where Sahasrahla and the boy accompanying him find a fountain  surrounded  by statues. The boy, able to see Link in the water of the fountain, warns Link of the monsters behind him, where a Hinox and a Taurus shut the door to trap the young hero inside the palace. As the boy watches the battle between Link and the foes, he  accidentally activates the statues that cause water to pour into the   fountain. This leads to the Swamp Palace in the Dark World to get  flooded, washing away the monsters and Link.

The Hinox and Taurus end up sinking as they struggle with each other, while Link's Master Sword is dragging him below the surface. Epheremelda tells Link to stay afloat, for the water is almost up to an opening that the fairy had found earlier on. The young hero is then rushed into a new chamber, where he finds the  second maiden imprisoned in her crystal. As Link makes his way to the  maiden, a large, tentacled monster attacks him. He thrusts himself with  the Master Sword into the monster and defeats the creature, which  spits  out Link from inside and gives him a chance to destroy the  floating  crystal where the maiden is. The maiden, now freed, thanks Link and  tells him that Zelda is imprisoned in a rock shaped like a turtle found at the end of the world, then vanishes.