Lost Woods

The Lost Woods (迷いの森, Forest of Bewilderment) is an area of confusing forest located in The Legend of Zelda, A Link to the Past, Ocarina of Time, Oracle of Seasons, Four Swords Adventures, and Twilight Princess.

It's layout is usually designed to make anyone who enters to become irreversibly lost. If anyone gets lost they turn into a Skull Kid. Sometime in Ocarina of Time manga, it's implied that Hylians who step foot into the Kokiri Forest or the Lost Woods would turn into trees.

The Legend of Zelda
Its first appearance, in The Legend of Zelda, was as a simple looking cross-section of dead trees. However, once he entered it, Link found that exiting the forest in any direction would cause him to simply appear back at the same spot. The only way to clear the forest was to follow a specific pattern through it. A section of Death Mountain also served a similar role.

A Link to the Past
In A Link to the Past, the Lost Woods became greener then in The Legend of Zelda, and was more like a maze then a puzzle. Many notable things can be found here. Most importantly, it is the location of the legendary Master Sword. Several fake Master Swords can also be found, resulting in a humorous line if Link picks one up. The Thieves Hideout can be found here, with a Piece of Heart located under a secret entrance under a bush. Other thieves run amok in the forest, bumping into Link and attempting to steal the items he drops. The Magic Mushroom can also be found here, in multiple places. If picked up and given to Syrup the witch, Link would receive the Magic Powder.

The A Link to the Past Lost Woods theme music is the only one completely unique to the series. It was originally planned to be the theme of the Sacred Grove in Twilight Princess, but it was taken out and replaced with Saria's Song later in development.

Ocarina of Time
In Ocarina of Time, the Lost Woods were more like they were in The Legend of Zelda than in A Link to the Past. The noticeable difference is that, instead of having one screen that is repeated until Link successfully exits, it is laid out more like a map, with each screen having something unique about it. Also, the goal in these Lost Woods is to stay inside, rather then to escape; if Link took the wrong doorway, he would be warped back to the Kokiri Forest. By following the sweet music of Saria's Song, Link could navigate through the hollow trees and get to the Sacred Forest Meadow. Alternative methods could also be used to determine if a path led to another part of the lost woods, or back to the Kokiri Forest. The main method was to simply to analyze the hole in the trunks. If there was darkness in the center of the tree trunk, it would lead back to the Kokiri Forest, but if it was slightly lit up, it would continue through the woods. The “Lost Woods” is home to the only Moblins in Ocarina of Time, as well as many Business Scrubs, Mad Scrubs, and the only collection of average Deku Scrubs in the game, the Deku Community.

It is also noted that "Anybody who comes into the forest will be lost. Everybody will become a Stalfos. Everybody, Stalfos." This statement is problematic, however, as it is made by a Kokiri girl just after Mutoh's son, Grog, was seen sitting in the very spot in the Lost Woods where the Kokiri girl made the statement. Later in the game Grog does not become a Stalfos nor does Link, who must enter the Lost Woods several times to complete the game. It is possible, however, that the statement may be referring solely to those who become lost in the Wood indefinitely, as is apparently the case with those Stalfos in the Forest Temple.

As an alternate explanation to the above, it is possible that the word 'Stalfos' may mean 'one who is lost' in the Hylian Language, in which case the statement is a simple tautism.

Oracle of Seasons
In Oracle of Seasons, the Lost Woods was revealed to have a branch in Holodrum, connecting to the Tarm Ruins. Near the Lost Woods you can find a Deku Scrub in a cave. If you have obtained Guru-Guru's Phonograph, the Deku Scrub will say that he likes the song and tell you to go in some specific directions in the lost woods. If you do this you will find the Noble Sword in a pedestal. This is the final part of the Oracle of Seasons trading sequence.

Four Swords Adventures
The Lost Woods in Four Swords Adventure operates similarly to that of A Link to the Past in that it follows a concrete map and does not operate as a navigational puzzle. The Woods is populated primarily by Deku Scrubs although other visitors and enemies have congregated in the wood whether by accident or by Ganon's orders. Two statements by the resident Deku Scrubs establish some interesting aspects of the Lost Woods in this game.

Deku Scrub:"The Lost Woods is our birthplace! If you wander lost here for too long, you too can become a Deku Scrub!" First, it seems all Deku Scrubs are 'born' in the Lost Woods and any person who lingers there too long becomes a Deku Scrub as well. This may lead one to the conclusion that Deku Scrubs are not a race that reproduces naturally but is entirely composed of those enchanted people who have wandered too long in the Lost Woods. Compare this attribute with the statement of the Kokiri girl in the Lost Woods of Ocarina of Time that everyone who stays in the Lost Woods becomes a Stalfos.

Deku Scrub:"Soon, Lord Ganon's power will change all of Hyrule's forests into Lost Woods! Once that happens, we'll be able to travel freely!" This statement may suggest that the 'Lost Woods' is not the name of one location in particular, but any forest which is enchanted in such a way to grant it the qualities of a 'Lost Wood', such as its ability to cause those who enter to become lost as well as causing those people who are lost for long enough to transform; in this case, into a Deku Scrub. Second, it demonstrates the freedom possessed by those who have been transformed to traverse the Lost Woods without becoming lost.

Curiously, it appears that those who enter the Lost Woods are to remain there by order of Ganon: Deku Scrub: Make sure that all who enter the forest remain here! Lord Ganon's orders!

Link’s Awakening
In Link's Awakening, a forest is located just north of Mabe Village. It is called the Mysterious Woods, and is similar to A Link to the Past’s Lost Woods. Not much can be found here, but it serves an important role in the beginning of the game.

Majora's Mask
The story begins in the Lost Woods of Hyrule. The pursuit of Skullkid and Epona leads to Termina.

In Majora's Mask, while the Lost Woods are not featured directly, its Terminan counterpart, the Woods of Mystery, can be found. It can be located off of the Southern Swamp, and acts in an identical way to the Lost Woods of Ocarina of Time. However, it is now home to Monkeys and Giant Turtles, rather then the Deku. A Monkey will guide Link through the woods, showing him the correct path. Koume can be found here, injured from her encounter with The Skull Kid.

The Wind Waker
In The Wind Waker, the Lost Woods do not directly make an appearance. Instead, the Kokiri Forest appears to have been overrun by monsters, and became the Forbidden Woods, a reference to the “Lost Woods“. It serves as the second dungeon of the game, and the home of the Boomerang and Ganondorf's minion, Kalle Demos. After defeating Kalle Demos and rescuing the Korok, Makar, The Great Deku Tree's Ceremony is played out, and Link receives Farore's Pearl.

Twilight Princess
In Twilight Princess, the Sacred Grove appears to have replaced the Lost Woods, featuring Saria's Song as the theme, and a Skull Kid as Link's guide (first as a wolf, to find the Master Sword, and again as a human and a wolf to reach the Temple of Time). The Sacred Grove is the location of the Master Sword, a reference to A Link to the Past, and the Temple of Time, which serves a new role as a dungeon, as opposed to Ocarina of Time, where it was simply the holding place of the Master Sword.