Great Deku Tree


 * This article is about the Deku Tree itself. For the eponymous Dungeon in Ocarina of Time, see Inside the Deku Tree.

The Great Deku Tree is the fatherly guardian of the forest who safeguards not only the dense land around him, but the small population of beings that live in his shadow. In, the famed Kokiri praise and worship the massive tree, sharing a home in the Kokiri Forest, while in , these beings are none other than the Koroks, timid wood creatures who live collaboratively with the talking tree in the arboretum that is the Forest Haven.

Ocarina of Time
The Deku Tree made his first appearance in as the guardian of the Kokiri and of their forest. He protects the Kokiri's Emerald, one of the three Spiritual Stones.

At the beginning of the game, the Deku Tree sends Navi the Fairy to summon Link to him, explaining to the young boy that he has been cursed by Ganondorf. Link is asked to journey Inside the Deku Tree, the first dungeon of the game, and destroy the root of the curse, the parasite known as Queen Gohma. Afterwards, the Great Deku Tree goes into detail about Ganondorf's motives, the Golden Goddesses, and the Triforce they created. The Deku Tree withers and dies soon after due to the effects of the curse. Before passing on, he tasks Link with saving all of Hyrule from Ganondorf, directing him to meet Princess Zelda at Hyrule Castle outside the forest, and entrusting him with the Kokiri's Emerald.

When Link returns to Kokiri Forest seven years later as an adult, he finds that it has been overrun by monsters due to the Deku Tree's absence. After clearing the Forest Temple and awakening Saria as a Sage, the Deku Tree Sprout takes root in the ground before his predecessor, and the monsters plaguing the forest subsequently vanish.

Deku Tree Sprout
The Deku Tree Sprout is the successor to the Great Deku Tree as the protector of the Kokiri Forest. He appears in Ocarina of Time after Link has defeated Phantom Ganon and received the Forest Medallion from Saria. He tells Link the story about his past and how his mother came into the forest and delivered Link into the Deku Tree's care, therefore making him Hylian. He then urges him to complete his quest and defeat Ganondorf.

The Wind Waker
The Great Deku Tree acts as the guardian of the Forest Haven, which is home of the Koroks. To them, the Great Deku Tree is considered a father figure to the children of the forest, for it is him that protects them from evil. One thing that set the Deku Tree of the Great Sea apart from his predecessor was that each year, the Great Deku Tree would send off some of the Koroks to plant trees all throughout the islands. This was done in the hope that, as the forests spread and the trees grew, they would consolidate the remaining land above the Great Sea, and allow some of the land lost during the Great Flood to be reclaimed from the depths. It also rejuvenates his power, for if his power were to wane, the life of the Koroks would fade as well.

When Link first meets the Great Deku Tree, hordes of ChuChus are invading his face. After the young hero eliminates all of them, the Great Deku Tree mistakes him for the legendary Hero of Time due to his clothes, and begins to speak the ancient Hylian language. The Great Deku Tree realizes his error, and it is then that he realizes why Link is there: to receive Farore's Pearl from him. Just as the guardian of the forest is about to begin the annual Korok ceremony in order to give the pearl to Link, Linder informs the Great Deku Tree of Makar's accident, and the ceremony is called off. After Link rescues Makar from the depths of the Forbidden Woods with the help of the Deku Leaf given to him by the Great Deku Tree himself, the ceremony begins, and in return, the Great Deku Tree hands over Farore's Pearl, as promised.

explicitly states that this Deku Tree descended from his Ocarina of Time counterpart. This, coupled with him recognizing Link's green clothes, implies that he is the matured Deku Tree Sprout, or else his descendant.

Freshly-Picked Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland
The story of the Great Deku Tree in is somewhat similar to that of the one from Ocarina of Time. Due to pollution, the Deku Tree Sprout is dying; while at the same time, the Great Deku Tree is also nearing his end. When Tingle met them, the Great Deku Tree asked if he would enter him and retrieve forest water, which could cure the Deku Tree Sprout. Tingle accepted and entered the Deku Temple. After defeating Bana Bana, Tingle obtained the water and rushed back to cure the Deku Tree Sprout. After that, the Great Deku Tree died happily, but not before paying Tingle for his service.

Ocarina of Time Manga
In the, the Deku Tree appears alongside his evil counterpart, the Baga Tree, who lives in the Lost Woods. Humorously, there is a Gossip Stone in the manga that says the Deku Tree is troubled because he cannot scratch his own back.

Nintendo Land
The Great Deku Tree appears in Nintendo Land for the Wii U, in The Legend of Zelda: Battle Quest. Its appearance in this game is substantially different, as beyond being artificial like everything else in the game, it has a magenta color scheme. The Great Deku Tree does not speak in this appearance, having no role beyond that of scenery. It is also one of the 200 prizes that can be won using the coins at the game on the top of the central tower located in the middle of the plaza. Upon touching the prize in the plaza using the touch screen or simply jumping into it, Monita will make the following comment:



Hyrule Warriors
In, when using the Spear weapon, Lana is capable of having it transform into various different forest themed weapons, while also granting her the ability to summon the Great Deku Tree and the Deku Tree Sprout to assist her in battle. The Deku sprout appears in many of Lana's strong attacks, either bouncing around, zig-zaging through enemies, or dashing straight through them. Lana is also capable of summoning three at a time with her sixth strong attack in her standard attack string. Her Focus Spirit Special allows her to summon a Deku Sprout and ride it, and as it rushes forward, she thrusts it forward. The Great Deku Tree appears during her standard special attack, as well as her Spear move sets stage completion animation.

The Great Deku Tree also appears in the Faron Woods stage.

Parallels

 * In Holodrum and Labrynna there are talking trees similar to the Deku Tree, known as the Maku Trees; there is both a male tree and a female tree.
 * Other tree Dungeons can be found in (Eagle),  (Gnarled Root Dungeon),  (Forbidden Woods),  (Forest Temple), and  (Forest Temple).