Fire Temple (Ocarina of Time)


 * For the dungeon in Spirit Tracks, see Fire Temple (Spirit Tracks).

The Fire Temple is the second dungeon as Adult Link in Ocarina of Time. The dungeon’s main item is the Megaton Hammer and its boss is Volvagia.

Entrance to the Temple
The Fire Temple is located deep within the Death Mountain Crater and is only accessible to Link by use of the Goron Tunic. Being in an active volcano, the temple is filled with many lava pits including the boss room. In the boss room is a giant rock platform where the battle takes place.

Themes and Navigation
The Fire Temple is relatively linear; Link's progress in it is based on opening jails so that the imprisoned Gorons can be freed. When a Goron is released, he gives Link a clue or tip regarding the use of the so-called special crop, although some talk about other facts; Link also receives keys to open locked doors. As for puzzles, he has to cross bridges and platforms over fire, as well as complex mazes (one of them is even made of fire walls). Once the Megaton Hammer is found, after defeating the mini-boss Flare Dancer, Link uses it to break obstacles or create new paths.

The dungeon as a whole is notable for having a nearly-symmetrical architecture: From floor three upwards, the interior of the temple is divided into two, although Link only needs to visit the western territory to succeed on his quest (in fact, the other portion can only be accessed from the third floor by using the Scarecrow's Song). It's believed that the upper rooms represent the interior of the twin volcanoes from Death Mountain Crater.

The temple is home to an ancient dragon, Volvagia, who is known to destroy entire villages and even eat creatures and humans. Defeated by an ancient hero with the Megaton Hammer, he was resurrected by the evil Ganon. The only real defense against the dragon is the aforementioned Hammer, which Link can put in practice as soon as the dragon is hesitating in one of the fire holes placed in the battle arena's floor.

Master Quest
Compared to earlier dungeons, the Fire Temple is very tricky in the Master Quest version of Ocarina of Time. Honoring the name of the dungeon, the first rooms require Din's Fire to light several torches. The element of difficulty in this dungeon comes not from dangerous enemies (which are mostly absent), but from the wide range of tricky puzzles. Additionally, most make use of the Hookshot. Some invisible walls and time blocks are found in the dungeon. Also, some switches need the Spin Attack to be activated, including one that is hidden inside a crate and can't be seen. There's only a few Gorons now. Most doors are blocked with iron bars, and the Big Key and Megaton Hammer come very early. New enemies include several Stalfos, Lizalfos (found in the boulder room) and even an Iron Knuckle.

Trivia

 * In the original version of Ocarina of Time, the Fire Temple's music sampled a group of men chanting Islamic prayer. This, like the original Gerudo symbol, was removed from later versions of the game by Nintendo because of the religious association. The name of 'Allah' can clearly be heard at one point. Another piece of Arabic that was deciphered was "I bear witness that there is no god but Allah." It was replaced by a MIDI Synthesizer in later releases, ports, and remakes.
 * The first room of the Fire Temple resembles the first room of the Spirit Temple.
 * This is the dungeon with the highest number of floors in the game: Five in total. The first dungeon technically has five too, but two are underground.
 * Despite the appearance of a lone Eyeball Switch that unbars a door when shot, there is nothing in Ocarina of Time's Fire Temple that Arrows are required to access. All this door leads to is an area that can otherwise be reached by a more roundabout route.  Because of this, there is no inherent reason other than difficulty and Navi's advice to complete the Forest Temple before the Fire Temple.
 * In the same way, there are no mandatory objects requiring the use of the Megaton Hammer in any of the other temples (some Rusted Switches and the like do exist, but are not required). This means that, with the exception of the Shadow Temple, every temple can be completed before even entering the Fire Temple. This temple must still be cleared eventually to complete the story, however.
 * It is unknown how Darunia could enter the boss's lair without having the proper key to open the door. It's possible that, being leader of the Gorons, whose temple it apparently is, he had a copy of the Boss Key. At the end of the cutscene, the locks and chains can be heard retracting before the door opens, but are present again when the focus shifts back to Link. He may have deliberately locked it behind him to prevent Link from courageously (but foolishly) attempting to follow while possessing neither the Megaton Hammer nor Goron endurance, and force the young hero to turn to his assigned task of freeing the others. In any case, the Zelda developers, Shigeru Miyamoto in particular, have made no secret of the fact that gameplay comes before story.
 * Death Mountain Crater and the Fire Temple might be the Goron Mines in Twilight Princess.
 * In the original Ocarina of Time, the first room of the temple can be seen from the other side of the entrance tunnel. In Ocarina of Time 3D, the tunnel fades into darkness like most of the other dungeon entrances.
 * Despite it being strongly advised that Link purchase the Goron Tunic before entering the Fire Temple, the majority of rooms in it are not dangerously hot. In general, the only rooms where the heat will prove lethal to Link if he stays there long enough are the minority of rooms that contain large pools of lava. This does include the boss room, so it is necessary to kill Volvagia very quickly if Link does not have the Goron Tunic equipped.