Unused Content


 * ''This article gives an overview on unused or unreleased game information. See Glitches for information and abilities gained by exploiting programming faults.

Unused content is a sector of gaming that focuses on the unreleased, scrapped, or otherwise removed content of a game only obtainable through hacking, pre-release demos, or through other unlicensed means. It includes, but is not limited to, content from beta releases, a specific prototypical stage of development.

In respect to the Zelda franchise, unused content ranges from enemy prototypes to early landscape blueprints, from entire projects to the original design of certain items. While this content is most often removed from the final publication of games, sometimes its influence can still be seen in the title in final builds. For example, in, the Forest Temple and Medallion were supposed to be the Wind Temple and Medallion. Although the forest design for the temple was chosen, the Medallion and insignias placed in Ganon's Tower and around the Forest Temple are still reminiscent of the windmill-like symbol relative to the pre-release Wind Temple.


 * The Cannon Soldier, an unused enemy Soldier variation that still remains in a working state in the game's code.
 * There is a functioning 1/4 Magic Upgrade coded into the game, but it was never implemented


 * During development of, a pair of cymbals were used before being replaced with the Wind Marimba in the final version of the game.



Because of its popularity, has been hacked many times to create mods or just to look into the game's assets. Along the way, much unused content was found hidden within the cartridge data. Early previews of the game also provide insight into unused content.


 * A Sword Beam can be seen in screenshots and early trailers.


 * The Arwing, the famed Star Fox starfighter, makes an appearance in as a flying enemy. It was used to make Volvagia's flying animations. It could have also been used to test the Z-Targeting system as well as projectile weapon usage.


 * An early model for Fado exists within the cartridge data.


 * In early builds of the game, Medallions worked differently. Several early screenshots depict Link with the Forest Medallion (then known as the Wind Medallion) equipped. In a November 1997 interview by Famimaga 64, Shigeru Miyamoto explained that the Medallions, known as "Magic Medallions", were supposed to have been used in conjunction with Link's Bow and Arrow. There were to be six types of Magic Medallions, including fire, wind, darkness, and light, meaning that they might have been used instead of the Fire, Ice, and Light Arrows that turned out in the final, released version of the game. The Forest Medallion and Water Medallion were originally the "Wind Medallion" and "Ice Medallion", but their names and corresponding dungeons were changed during development. Two icons relating to these original medallions are still present in the game's code.


 * Early screenshots show a Stalfos different from the current Stalfos design.


 * Zora's Fountain originally had an exit to Zora's River in early versions of the game.


 * A different Jump Attack animation can be seen in early previews. This was replaced with the current animation in the final build.
 * Also in early previews, Link can be seen doing front flips - this move does not exist in the final game. The animation still exists and can be hacked in, however.
 * In some early Japanese previews, the B Button was labeled (Jump). In order to streamline the gameplay, this was removed in favor of the Autojump.


 * The game includes Nintendo 64DD-exclusive programming, remnants of an early period of development. was originally going to have an expansion disk released for the 64DD, but after the 64DD failed in Japan, the expansion disk was canceled. However, through the use of a cheating device, one can force the game to mark an existing save file as one intended for use with the (nonexistent) expansion disk. This file, once modified, cannot be loaded.


 * Link's Hylian Shield and Master Sword had different designs in earlier versions of the game.


 * An Ocarina Pedestal, similar to the Medallion pedestals, was modeled but never used in the final game. It can be found in an unused cutscene taking place in Zora's Fountain.


 * During the development of, the Great Fairies were not the same ones that appeared in the final version of the game, for they had more of a crystal appearance with long, white wings. Their crystalline appearance is similar to the appearance of the Great Fairies from . The early Great Fairy, surprisingly, shares the same model file as the in-game Great Fairy.


 * The, an area resembling a Fairy Fountain containing a statue of a Unicorn's head, can be seen in pre-release material. This location does not exist in the completed game.


 * Gold-rimmed Treasure Chest models, similar to those used in, can be seen in some pre-release screenshots.


 * The later discovery of a Master Quest debug ROM (used for testing) reveals even older remnants, including unused rooms not found in the final game. This includes test rooms and an older version of the Hyrule Castle courtyard.


 * Concept art had Link with an attire similar to incarnations prior to.


 * By using cheats, a block of Red Ice can be found inside the Ice Cavern in the White Wolfos chamber. It was probably used to cover the Treasure Chest containing the Iron Boots. It was later used in.


 * The character control was significantly different from the final release.
 * In pre-release footage of the game, a different First-person view camera than the final release, the camera being centered at Link's upper-back up to the back of his head, identical to that of Super Mario 64.
 * The game also featured the use of a manual 180-degree turnaround. This manual turnaround is depicted as being able to be done not only while standing still but while walking and running.


 * The battle system was significantly different as well. Link can be seen slashing and cutting against enemies in a far more fluid motion than any of the 3D Zelda games to date.
 * In the final version, attacking is by inputting the attack button while holding a certain direction and if inputted the same way three times features Link doing a slash/stab, then repeating that move once more then a slightly unique slash, varying from an upwards slash to the left (vertical and thrust), inward slash to the right (horizontal), or diagonally upward slash to the left (diagonal). However in the footage, Link can be seen able to slash about freely as well as able to slash multiple times in any manner the player would choose, without having to limit to only three strike as well as having lock-time between slashes, being able to attack multiple times in one attack as opposed to only three simple limited attacks.
 * In one segment of the footage, Link is shown attacking several blue and green Chu-Chus. The first attack the user does is a running swipe to the left, indicating that Link can swing his sword while running, much like was possible in . However, unlike, Link isn't forced into canceling the chain or forced to do idle standing slashes when the running attack(s) connect, Link is able to freely chain the running slashes and standing slashes together with ease and vice versa.


 * When standing still, Navi would bounce around in a dancing-like fashion, as opposed to her moving around in a wide circular motion above Link like she does in the final version of the game.


 * In the early development stage of the game, Link's character model resembled Link greatly.


 * His shield also had very similar characteristics to A Link to the Past Link's shield, and the Red Shield. The Shield's shape was the same as the finalized model, being a hexagonal-shape. But, the silver border outline of the shield didn't have as much of a unique design, having only a plain basic silver/white outline, and the rest of the shield was blue and had a large Triforce symbol, and beneath the Triforce was a "v"-symbol (this symbol being identical to the same symbol that appears on the Red Shield that was separated centerwise vertically. This symbol and the triforce were colored slightly different from its later design, this early version was colored limeish yellow rather than the standard gold color.
 * The later development stages had the Shield be more close to the final version of the Hylian Shield. It now featured a more wave-style border on the shield and had the two cloud designs at the top-left and top-right (these being also more wave-like in design, as well) of the shield and had a more gold-colored Triforce and under the Triforce was a gold upside-down triangle/Triforce Piece.


 * It was planned for the game to feature permanence in regards to the players actions. If the player were to cut a tree, cut some grass for Rupees, destroy a pot(s), or even leave footprints in the ground/sand, these things would remain there for the remainder of the game. The footprints would remain and not vanish, pots would not respawn, cuts on trees would stay until the end of the game, and grass would not regrow.


 * A staff item was meant to appear as a weapon at some point during development.


 * Link would move slower when damaged.


 * Hyrule Castle Town was seen as a full 3D-render rather than a 2D backdrop.


 * The game was originally titled Zelda: Gaiden, which translates into English as "Zelda: Side Story".


 * A Mask resembling Adult Link from was to make an appearance, with speculated effects that were meant to transform Link into Adult Link. It is speculated that the Mask may have been replaced with the Fierce Deity's Mask, which slightly resembles Adult Link. Concept art of Adult Link in  appears in, further suggesting Link could transform into Adult Link.


 * A number of objects and items originally from were once used. Some had their models updated, whereas others were removed or replaced.
 * In the pre-release screenshot showing the Adult Mask, the Fairy Ocarina can be seen as opposed to the Ocarina of Time.
 * Link originally had a Deku Shield, as shown in early screenshots.
 * The Boomerang, as a standalone item, was also intended to be in the game. The Boomerang functionality was replaced with Zora Link's double fins.
 * The Megaton Hammer was another item replaced. Before punching with Goron Link was introduced, Goron Link could be seen with the Megaton Hammer on the B Button in pre-release screenshots.
 * Blue Fire can be obtained through the use of a cheating device. However, it has no description on the item subscreen and acts as a Bug in a Bottle when used.
 * A Hyrule Loach can also be obtained through the use of a cheating device, however it does not have any actions associated with it. Its description was never translated from the original Japanese text.


 * Link's instruments while transformed were separate items which can be found in the Japanese versions of the game. They were intended to replace the Ocarina of Time while transformed, as seen in pre-release footage, but weren't used for some reason. They were later added back in.


 * In very early builds of the game, Link's model was identical to the one used for Young Link in . The model was later modified to reflect Link's physical growth.


 * The Gorman Brothers were originally one Ingo, as seen in early images.


 * Major landscape remodels took place between the earlier versions and final release. Modified land forms include the Stone Tower and Termina Field.


 * Unused models of Sheik, Impa, and Ganondorf can be found in the game's files. Their file names make reference to a fisher man, suggesting that they may have been planned to appear inside the Fishing Holes.

Oracle Series

 * Concept art of a human Ganondorf is included in Hyrule Historia. In the final games, Ganon appears only in his beast form.


 * An older form of Link was sketched, but never modeled. Link was to physically grow during the course of the game (at a more subtle rate than in ), but implementing this idea was too difficult, so it was scrapped.


 * The Skull Hammer was confirmed to have a different name and design during the development phase.


 * Link's clothes were to have the same color scheme as his clothes from the original The Legend of Zelda. This was only changed to the final color scheme late into development.


 * As seen in the SpaceWorld 2001 trailer for the game, Link originally had a sneaking function, possibly created to be used in the stealth sequences of the Forsaken Fortress. This was replaced with hiding in barrels.


 * In the same trailer, Link's voice from was used as a placeholder voice, as the final voices had not yet been recorded.


 * contains concept art of two islands that were never included in the game:
 * Stovepipe Island was planned to be a volcanic "island of steam and smoke" with a hot spring lake and a valley of magma. Link would have potentially entered the volcano's crater, as with Fire Mountain in the finalized game.
 * GC Island was intended to resemble a Nintendo GameCube. This concept was later used in the game's direct sequel——with Dee Ess Island.


 * The E3 2002 trailer showed a different layout for Dragon Roost Cavern.


 * A mysterious item, marked only by Japanese text translating to "Water Boots", can be loaded and used through hacking. However, no model appears, and the animation for putting the boots on and off is the same as that of the Iron Boots. It is therefore possible that the Water Boots were, in fact, Iron Boots with different functions, such as sinking into water (as evidenced by the item name).


 * Until surprisingly late into development, the A Button was mapped to the sword, with B being the roll command.
 * Enemy swords can be picked up and used in the final game. In earlier builds, however, the sword button icon changed to reflect the enemy weapon Link was using.


 * A scrapped water dungeon, where Greatfish Isle stands in the final product, was planned early on in development, akin to Dragon Roost Island and Forest Haven.


 * Two placeholder sail icons were found on the game disk, whose internal names suggest they would have been called the Zora Sail and the Tingle Sail. No information is known as to why these extra sails were not implemented, but Eiji Aonuma has stated that the GameCube hardware limited the boat speed, which resulted in the Swift Sail in.


 * The Fire Rod was slated to be included, but was replaced by the Flame Lantern. However, a reference to the Fire Rod can be seen in the figurine description for Ice Wizzrobes in the European version of the game. Hacking the game reveals that the Fire Rod still exists, but oddly functions as a debug tile editor item. With the editor, one can modify the various landscapes within the game; however, changes cannot be saved.
 * A fully coded but useless butter item exists to be stored in a bottle. Judging by its obtain description, it was apparently made from Lon Lon Milk.
 * There exist unused sprites of the Goddess Pearls as well as stained glass windows meant for Hyrule Castle depicting the Great Deku Tree, Valoo, and Jabun.

Characters

 * As seen in her concept art, Ilia was designed with pointy ears, like a Hylian.


 * Beth's concept artwork showed her with a toy attached to her back.


 * Louise was initially meant to accompany Darbus. This can be seen in early concept art where she rests on his shoulder.


 * Imp Midna's hair had different shape, length and colors, which were blue, orange and a black stripe.


 * Madame Fanadi could talk to Wolf Link.

Enemies

 * The looks like a traditional Armos, but have no weapons and attack with its hands. Unlike other Armos, it has a gem on its chest and can be successfully hit by shooting three Arrows or one Bomb Arrow at it.


 * An enemy resembling a Twilit Messenger can be seen in the E3 2004 and GDC 2005 trailers.


 * , the massive conglomeration of Gorons, packed together as an alleged enemy.


 * A giant with glasses, most likely a placeholder used for measurements.


 * Moblin, removed from the game, was seen during an early trailer.


 * Gohma, replaced by Armogohma, was to chase Link through a cave. This can be seen in the GDC 2005 trailer.


 * Kargaroks, originally planned to be in the Twilight, but were replaced by Shadow Kargaroks.

Geography and Surroundings

 * Hyrule Field contained many dead trees, which can be seen in the early trailers.


 * , the alleged extra forest region in, contained a giant ancient statue and an area full of cats, both viewable in the GDC 2005 trailer.


 * A canoe can be seen in Ordon Village in the E3 2005 trailer.


 * The twilight was originally black and white, rather than full-color with a muted color scheme. This grayscale Twilight can be seen in early trailers.


 * A wholly unused room with a Moblin in it was shown in the E3 2005 trailer. It doesn't resemble anything from the final game.


 * A single test room still exists in the data; it is an early version of the Darkhammer miniboss room. Apart from early textures, object placement reveals that the area was once a much larger, hexagonal room, instead of the narrow corridor in the final version. Possibly changed to make the fight more difficult.


 * In early trailers of, a fishing hole, not unlike the current Fishing Hole in Hena's pond, was demonstrated. Since Link can be seen wearing his Ordon outfit, it is assumed that this fishing zone was possibly near Ordon Village. Further proof of this is that in the first playable demo of , Link can use the canoe to explore the village.

Miscellaneous

 * A Magic Meter can be seen in some of the early screenshots and even on the back of the Wii version's box art. It was presumably used for the Magic Armor and the removed Fire Arrows. Unused text left in the game reveals that another function would be to transform Link into wolf form and vice versa.


 * Items such as black Chu Jelly, Fire Arrows, and Surf Leaf were slated to be included but never were. Fire Arrows possibly used the Magic Meter. The surf leaf was probably the leaf used for snowboarding from Snowpeak Top. The Japanese internal name for the surfing item was "Shield Surfing", indicating that Link would snowboard on his shield.


 * Green and Black Chu Jelly were originally designed to be normally accessible types of Chu Jelly. However, their programming was left unfinished. The Green Jelly can only be found in the Wii release. Though technically an unused item, it can be found by normal means; the jelly is produced by allowing a Blue and Yellow Chu to merge. The Green Jelly does nothing when consumed (it was probably meant to fill the Magic Meter), and its details are completely missing. The Black Jelly, on the other hand, can be found in both releases, though it can only be accessed by hacking. The Black Jelly has intact details and descriptions; it is essentially complete. When consumed, Link takes one heart of damage similar to Nasty Soup.


 * The game originally had a different transformation cutscene when Link first enters the twilight. This can be seen in the E3 2005 trailer.


 * Link originally could perform a spinning back slash, as seen in the E3 2005 trailer.


 * Link had a placeholder voice from, like how Wind Waker once used voices.


 * Early in the game's development, Midna had the ability to give advice about enemies, a role similar to Navi and Tatl.


 * In earlier builds, the Hyrule Castle spirit soldiers were more abundant in the sewers. The final release has fewer soldiers.


 * An icon and design of an unused Ordon Shield can be found within the game files. Colin and Talo can be seen with this model of the shield.


 * The title screen had a different font compared to the final.


 * The cutscene in which Link is given his engineer certificate was different. Additionally, the castle throne room had a different design.


 * Link's voice clips were reused from as a placeholder for his newer voice clips.
 * A trailer in 2009 shows a demo in an early version of the Tower of Spirits, which went through some drastic redesign


 * It seems that Zelda was never planned to join Link on his quest.
 * Link was shown the ability to command a Phantom (a feature kept in the final build). Some differences apply; they made no voice when attacking, and had more of a green, masculine theme than the pink, feminine theme (used to match Zelda's overall theme when she possessed the Phantom). Rather than a pink helmet, the Phantom icon was a rather gray helmet, and to call it a whistle icon was put rather than a swirl.
 * More evidence pertaining to this is in Anjean's statement about the Phantoms, "Though they look quite sinister, they won't harm anyone with a good heart." Judging by this, Link would have gained the ability to possess a Phantom himself without using any magic. In the final build, they serve as enemies (as in ) and can only be possessed when using Zelda's soul.


 * The train tracks seen on the fields of New Hyrule had different routes. Also, Link always used the Wooden Train as his default train.


 * The forests had a darker design, and as the player traveled the background straight ahead appeared inward


 * Trees seen in the Snow Realm were originally seen in the Forest Realm.


 * Some unused music exists, notably the boss theme from "Phantom Hourglass." It appears it was meant to be used somehow, as evident in that the Ghost Ship battle theme is used when fighting Dark Link at the end of Take 'Em All On!


 * The Whip had a different design, looking like a regular bullwhip, which was later changed to a snake-like design.

[[SS -]]

 * The Hylian Shield, as seen in the E3 2010 trailer, had the design of the Hylian Shield from.


 * Moldarach originally had a smoother design, as seen in E3 2010 and pictures. Its boss arena was also in an area that looked like the Great Tree which was most likely a placeholder.


 * The Whip was originally designed with a skull and was dubbed the "Skull Whip". Other characteristics include a different icon and tip.


 * The Loftwings had a more cartoonish design, as seen with Eagus's unfinished Loftwing.


 * The Black Stone, an unused asset, was potentially a counterpart of the White Stone or Sealing Spike.


 * As seen in Hyrule Historia, various different designs of locations and characters - such as Zelda, Impa, Fi, and Ghirahim - were considered and ultimately rejected.


 * The Energy Gauge was originally green instead of purple.


 * The Shield was originally blue instead of orange.


 * The action icon on the bottom-right corner of the top screen was translucid gray instead of having a wood finish.


 * Link would originally go to the Tower of Hera after obtaining the Master Sword instead of prior.


 * In the game's reveal trailer, Link had his voice.


 * The artwork for the Links playing while in a Totem was altered prior to release, with Red Link's expression being changed from being stressed to asking for Green Link's attention.


 * An early version of the game used the Sailcloth instead of the Paraglider and featured a Magic Meter.
 * In Early demos for the game, voice clips from SS - are reused for Link. In the final game, he is voiced by Kengo Takanashi.
 * The icon for Materials section of the Inventory was altered sometime between the E3 2016 build and the build shown at 2016.


 * A number of terms have been changed:
 * There are also several alterations to in-game text:
 * In the E3 2016 build, the Rusty Broadsword's attack strength was 5. This was increased to 6 in the January 2017 build used to showcase the Nintendo Switch version of the game.


 * Lana and King Dodongo in his design originally appeared during "The Armies of Ruin".


 * Lizalfos originally used their SS - design.


 * The HUD in the top-left corner of the screen was originally modeled differently.


 * In an early English version of the game, Proxi was simply referred to as, "Fairy."
 * However, she is called "Fairy" before she introduces herself in the final version.


 * There is an unused voice clip of Zelda singing her theme. This can be heard by using the Summoning Gate as Zelda via the Skin Swap Glitch.

Gallery

 * For concept art and unused designs appearing in Hyrule Historia, see Gallery:Hyrule Historia.