Deku Palace

Deku Palace is a location in, located deep within the Southern Swamp.

Features and Overview
Deku Palace is where the Deku monarchy is situated. The entire complex is heavily patrolled by Deku guards, and as such, Link may only enter select areas, and even then only in his Deku form.

When Link first reaches the Southern Swamp, the only way he can access the Deku Palace is by riding the Boat Cruise offered at the Swamp Tourist Center, which is only available after Koume is rescued from the Woods of Mystery. Once here, Link must manage to reach the imprisoned Monkey who is being accused of having kidnapped the Deku Princess. Speaking to the Monkey will teach Link the "Sonata of Awakening", a melody that reveals the hidden Woodfall Temple in Woodfall.

The Deku Palace consists of five main areas:


 * A fortified outer wall surrounding a section of swamp.
 * The left-hand-side Inner Palace Garden, which leads to a Piece of Heart.
 * The right-hand-side Inner Palace Garden, which leads to a Grotto housing the Bean Seller.
 * The Royal Chamber, which house the Deku King, many other Deku Scrubs, a small prison, and a sacrificial pot of boiling water.
 * A secret labyrinth, otherwise known as the Deku Shrine, in which Link can follow the Deku Butler to acquire the Mask of Scents.

A shortcut to Woodfall is accessible near the Deku Palace entrance; however, only Deku Scrubs can use it since it requires the ability to control a Deku Flower.

Inner Palace Garden
Initially, Link can only access the Royal Chamber of the Deku Palace by transforming into Deku Link, since the guards will not grant access to anyone who is not of the Deku race. The Inner Palace Gardens are guarded by patrolling Deku guards, and Link must avoid them in order to reach the Magic Bean Seller and a Piece of Heart. It is easier to do this at night, since the range of vision of the Deku guards is then represented by a series of dots, and in fact the Piece of Heart can be obtained without hassle after defeating Odolwa in Woodfall Temple.

Royal Chamber
In the Royal Chamber, the Monkey who is about to be punished for supposedly kidnapping the Deku Princess can be found, as well as the outraged Deku King and his Deku Butler who is trying to calm the King down. It is also here that Link learns the "Sonata of Awakening" from said Monkey after the young hero reaches him from the route via the Outer Palace Garden.

Outer Palace Garden
In the Outer Palace Garden, located to the right of the Deku Palace, there is another entrance that leads to the Royal Chamber, albeit a bit complex. Link can only access it by planting a Magic Bean on the patch of soft Soil located to the right of the Deku Palace entrance. Once the plant grows after watering it with Spring Water, Link can go up into the upper part of the Inner Palace Garden, where he must cross the gardens by using Deku Flowers and defeating various Mad Scrubs in the process. It is through this path that Link can reach and talk to the imprisoned Monkey in the Royal Chamber.

Deku Shrine
At first, the entrance to the Deku Shrine is blocked by a Big Octo; because of this, Link must defeat Odolwa in the Woodfall Temple in order to enter the Shrine. Here, Link can race the Deku Butler who will reward Link with the Mask of Scents if he manages to keep up with him.

Version Differences
The Deku Palace was radically different in the Japanese N64 1.0 and 1.1 versions in some areas. For example, where the circle of Rupees is in the localized version, a grotto that contains Black Boes, Skullwalltulas, and Deku Babas can be found instead, which consists of three climbable walls which form a pathway to the other side of the Deku Palace garden. This pathway was removed in the localized versions and the circle of Rupees was moved to the former location of the Grotto. In addition, another Grotto was in the Palace Garden, which had two exits and was part of the path to the Bean Seller, along with two Deku Babas. The other exit led to a raised area in the Palace Garden, which if Link dropped down one level, led to another Grotto, the Japanese location of the Magic Bean Seller. Where the Bean Seller is situated in localized versions of the game, a tree with a circle of Rupees was instead. In addition, a circle of Rupees is located to the left of the entrance to the right side of the Palace Garden in the Japanese versions, but is absent in the localized versions. This circle of Rupees replaced the removed Grotto of enemies. The pathway is the only other location that Skullwalltulas appear, apart from the Grotto near the giant tree with the Skull Kid's drawing in Termina Field.