Myths of The Legend of Zelda Series

This page details various popular and long-running fan-generated myths within The Legend of Zelda series. These are out-of-universe concepts that deal with various elements of gameplay. For myths within the story of the games themselves, see: Mythology in The Legend of Zelda Series.

Magnifying Lens is Required
It is commonly believed that the Magnifying Lens is required to get through the Wind Fish's Egg. While it does make it significantly easier, one still could simply use trial and error to determine the path as well. Thus making the Lens an optional item.

Obtaining the Ballad of the Wind Fish
Some people believed that Link needed to have Marin following him in order to get the Ballad of the Wind Fish. On the contrary, it can be obtained as soon as obtaining the Ocarina by merely attempting to use it in front of Marin.

Defeating the Running Man
There have been many proposed tricks and actions purported to be able to beat the Running Man in the race to the bridge in the Lost Woods. Including: warping, leaving the game on for a certain amount of time, lifting up the cartridge a small amount, etc. All have been false. It has been confirmed through the use of cheat device that no matter what Link does, the Running Man will always beat him by one second no matter what.

The most famous "Defeat the Running Man" video was put up on YouTube in January 2009 by the user "RustySporks." The video has gotten almost 66,000 views as of June 2010 and to this day still causes great debate over if you really can beat the running man or not, both on YouTube and GameFAQS, where the user goes by the name of Faramir77.

This has since been proven false as evidence from this video uploaded October 2009 by another user "spinout182". According to the text dump, there was no evidence of the Running Man ever having mentioned anything related to the player beating him. It is furthur proof that the Running Man is simply impossible to beat.

Hole in Zora's Domain
There is a hole that can be found under the frozen ice in Zora's Domain which many believe was originally a passage to the Unicorn Fountain. It could have been, but if it was the coding to transport Link to it has been removed, as seen in this video.

No Discount for the Shield
It has been widely believed that a programming error prevented people from getting the discount for a Hylian Shield that the guard in Kakariko Village promises Link. This belief comes from a misunderstanding about how the discount is applied. People believed that the discount would be shown immediately in the displayed price of the shield. However the discount is not applied until after Link attempts to buy the shield, which is what led to the confusion.

Hylian Loach
In the early days of Ocarina of Time, when word of the Hylian Loach first started to spread, many people believed it to be purely a fabricated myth. Eventually though as more people came across it, it became clear that it was a real feature of the game. It wasn't believed to be real due to the how infrequently it appears, that it largely stayed in the middle of the pond far under the water, and that it looked similar to background fish that can't be caught.

Finding the Sky Temple
It was believed by some players that it was possible to get to the Sky Temple by placing a bomb exactly in the middle of the lava pit under Ganon's Castle.

Missing the Ice Arrows
Many gamers think that the Ice Arrows in Ocarina of Time are missable because of the well-hidden key in the Gerudo's Training Ground. For this reason, many think that they have lost the Ice Arrows for good if they take the wrong path.

Doggy Racetrack
It is very commonly believed that in order to win the Piece of Heart at the Doggy Racetrack, Link had to win 150 Rupees in one bet. This is just a misunderstanding as Mamamu Yan isn't clear that she means a collective win of 150 Rupees. Link only has to win 150 Rupees in all of his bets in one session. So three bets winning 60 Rupees, first place three times with a 20 Rupee bet each, will win him the Piece of Heart.

Maple's Items
A commonly held belief is that hitting Maple a certain way will affect what items she drops. It actually does not affect what she drops at all. She'll drop the same things no matter how Link hits her. What is does affect however is where the items go on the screen. With places that have areas on the screen Link can't get to, that could mean missed items. The source of the myth is likely that fact, and the fact that what she releases is random.

Bosses Don't Have Names
This is a widely common myth because the names of the bosses do not show up in the battles. Instead they are discovered by taking a Pictograph of the bosses and then getting them made into figurines at the Nintendo Gallery. This is due to the fact that many players choose not to undertake the Nintendo Gallery sidequest. So they then never hear the names of the bosses.

Nintendo Gallery complete only in the Second Quest
There is a common belief stating that the Nintendo Gallery can only be completed in the Second Quest. The source of the belief is the following: Some of the figurines are obtained from characters and enemies that make a limited number of appearances and, supposedly, Link inevitably misses some of them by the moment the Deluxe Picto Box is available. In addition, several strategy guides for The Wind Waker, such as the Nintendo Power's Official Players Guide and the BradyGames strategy guide, erroneously state that the Legendary Pictographs are only obtainable in the Second Quest. Then, when the Second Quest begins, the vital item is already on Link's hands and he can take a picture from anyone he missed previously. However, the Nintendo Gallery can actually be completed in the First Quest if Link stays vigilant on the following aspects:


 * The figurines of Tetra and Helmaroc King must be obtained before the reveals about the Great Flood.
 * The figurine of the first boss (Gohma) can be obtained later in Ganon's Tower.
 * The figurine of Puppet Ganon requires a detour from the game's final. A pictograph must be taken during battle, and then the game must be saved and the system restarted so that Link can go to the Gallery to show the pictograph to Carlov.
 * The figurines of Jabun, Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule, Great Fairy, Queen of Fairies, Laruto, Fado, and Ganondorf may all be collected, contrary to what the strategy guides claim, by purchasing the respective Legendary Pictograph from Lenzo after meeting each character for the first time in a cutscene — the first brief glimpse of Ganondorf does not count for this and neither does speaking to the Queen of Fairies without having the Bow.

Biggoron's Sword
A wildly popular myth that has been circulating ever since Twilight Princess's release is that a sword hanging in a side hallway on the second floor of Hyrule Castle is the Biggoron's Sword. This is false. The guards on this sword are longer and wider than the guards on the Biggoron's Sword. The sword's hilt is much thicker and a different color than the Biggoron's Sword's hilt. The pommel on the sword is far blunter than the pommel on the Biggoron's Sword. The design in the center is totally different. The only thing that is really at all similar is that they appear to have the same ratio of blade length to the width of the guard and and length of the hilt. That does not, however, make them the same sword. More likely is that it's just a generic European longsword, which would explain the coincidence in size ratios, as the Biggoron's Sword itself is based on a generic European longsword.

Entering Fado's House
In Ordon Village, there is a house near the mayor Bo's, which belongs to Fado. There was a rumor regarding the possibility of entering said house, but it was proven untrue, and the only way to enter there is through either glitches or highly skilled techniques (as in the video shown here). One possible explanation for the house being inaccessible is that, during day, there's no one inside and thus it's locked for safety reasons; and during night, it's locked because Fado is sleeping and doesn't want visitors. A similar case happens with one of the houses found in Kakariko Village, in Ocarina of Time.