Zelda Wiki:Decay of the Hyrulean Economy

In the following page, we shall discuss a little known subject related to the sacred land of Hyrule. It's about the Decay of the Hyrulean Economy. It is known that, since the times of Ocarina of Time, rupees have served as the signature currency in the entire World of The Legend of Zelda. With the sole exception of Hyrule, every single land has been portrayed in only one game each; therefore, it's unknown how they have fared in economy over the course of the years. The games that will be covered in this page are (in this order): Ocarina of Time, The Wind Waker, Spirit Tracks, Twilight Princess, A Link to the Past, The Legend of Zelda and The Adventure of Link.

A way to interpret how well economy goes in a game is checking the maximum amount of Rupees Link can carry in that adventure. Invariably, this maximum capacity reflects how much money he may need in order to either succeed on his quest, or achieve 100% Completion.

The Hyrulean Dream
Ocarina of Time is one of the games in the series in which Hyrule enjoys a relatively healthy economy, and it happens to be one of the first chronological entries in the series. In this game, the young hero is capable of purchasing most of the goods from Kokiri Forest, Hyrule Castle Town and Goron City while having the initial maximum of 99 Rupees. These goods include Deku Nuts, Deku Sticks, shields, hearts, bombs, potions, etc. Understandably, tunics are more expensive, clocking at 200 Rupees as they're for specialized users. However, with a wallet upgrade that allows Link to carry (conveniently) 200 Rupees, these tunics can be purchased as well, though it's only necessary if the original tunics (received for free from key characters) are lost without retrieval.

However, there are a few goods that are sold at inexplicably high prices. Fish, which can be captured in any moat or in Zora's Domain), clocks at a price of 200 Rupees; Blue Fire, found for free in the depths of Ice Cavern, costs 300 Rupees. The only possible (and, as usual, unconfirmed) explanation to this is that fish receive some treatment after capture, probably to make them safer to eat, whereas Blue Fire is found in places other than Ice Cavern, requiring costs for quest exploration. Both items are sold at the Medicine Shop, whose average product price exceeds that of any other in the game, and it's at first located on Hyrule Castle Town, the kingdom's core (this would only get worse in Twilight Princess), later on Kakariko Village. Ironically, Zora Shop sells fish for 200 Rupees as well, yet fish can be found in a pond just two meters behind as well.

Economic activity is varied. Lon Lon Ranch is run with the money gained by export of its signature Lon Lon Milk, whose prestige is such that it's delivered to the heart of the kingdom. Several businesses and attractions are run within Hyrule Castle Town and Gerudo Fortress, including special minigames. It's unknown how Kokiri Forest and the aforementioned Zora's Domain are sustained, however. Goron City relies upon inputs and reserves from Dodongo's Cavern, meaning that if something happens to that place, Gorons are immediately affected.

A Sea of Inflation
Hundreds of years have passed since Hyrule's glory days. The Great Flood not only has endangered the life of Hyruleans, its economy has worsened since then.

In The Wind Waker, the first sign of inflation can be seen with the initial maximum of Rupees link can carry: 200. Initially, though, this doesn't seem to mean too much; Beedle, for instance, sells his goods at prices as low as 10 Rupees, this is in fact the case for the Bait Bag, one of the three major item bags in the game. It's by the moment the young hero travels to Windfall Island when the problems begin. The sail, the first mandatory item to be purchased, costs no less than 80 Rupees (compare this to the mandatory purchase Link does in Ocarina of Time: The Deku Shield only costs 50 Rupees). In addition, the bomb business has reached a level of monopoly, with Bomb-Master Cannon selling 10 of his units of merchandise for 10000 Rupees (though a major plot twist in the game will change his mind and sell his explosive products at cheaper prices, in addition to letting other businessmen to sell bombs as well). The business of deciphering ancient maps is no less abusive either, as a single chart will only be decoded as long as the interested one has 398 Rupees (and a total of 3184 Rupees for translation of all eight Triforce Charts).

In regards of economic activity, the Great Sea is somewhat denser than Hyrule. There is an ongoing process of overseas product export that requires exceptional amounts of money to work. When Link sells the lone Town Flower from Zunari, he can negotiate with any of the Goron merchants inhabiting Mother & Child Isles, Greatfish Isle and Bomb Island, so that he can trade his item for a newer one, which also means that said new item will be sent to the shop Link is patronizing (which, in this case, is Zunari's Shop at Windfall Island). But the young hero always has to pay the value difference between the current item and the new one. There are 12 items in total to trade, with the final one (Shop Guru Statue) costing 200 Rupees more than the second most valuable item (Postman Statue). While this improves significantly the economy of Windfall Island (notice that the newer items are sold there at prices equal to the value difference Link had to pay at first, meaning that they're now cheaper than they originally were), it needs a lot of effort and trading intelligence to avoid purchasing older items again, thus losing track from the chain of deals.

These may be the reasons why the maximum amount of Rupees Link can carry can be upgraded to up to 5000 Rupees (and it happens that one of the upgrades is actually required to beat the game, while the second one is highly recommended), a full 900% higher than in Ocarina of Time. The lack of global governance in the Great Sea doesn't help at all, which not only results in the aforementioned bomb business monopoly, but also in some people indiscriminately owning islands for their own personal purposes. Finally, while the most exotic items were already expensive in Ocarina of Time, The Wind Waker has rare prizes sold by Masked Beedle for 500-950 Rupees (rendering the Blue Fire cheaper with its 300-Rupee retail).

Losing the Financial Track
After The Wind Waker, another century has passed, and it seems like New Hyrule (founded by Link and Tetra) is faring even worse than the Great Sea. Since the start of Spirit Tracks, Link has a maximum of 9999 Rupees to carry, representing a 99.98% of superiority in comparison to The Wind Waker, and a frightening 999.8% of superiority over the Ocarina of Time cap.

The inflation may or may not have to do with Hyrule still being in a early state of construction (especially after leaving the old flooded Hyrule behind), as well as with the side effects of the Spirit Tracks gradually disappearing (therefore making transport of important inputs and products of first necessity next to impossible). On the other hand, the creatures from the Pirate Hideout may have been a problem for peaceful train drivers and passengers since long ago. Their tanks and warships provide an example of why technology should not be used for evil goals.

A single Heart Container in the Snow Sanctuary, as well as a single Quiver upgrade in Goron Village, both cost 2000 Rupees. Treasures sold in shops cost more than their actual value (for example, a Goron Amber costs 100 Rupees, which is twice as much as its traditional value of 50). Beedle no longer provides cheap merchandise, not only because of his overpriced Bomb Bag (500 Rupees) and ludicrous treasures, but also because even his purchase point system inflated since Phantom Hourglass from 1 rupee for a point to 10 rupees for a single point.

Child Timeline - Darkened budgets
To date, only one game in the Child Timeline has taken place in Hyrule: Twilight Princess. Unlike in the Adult Timeline, there has been no divine intervention affecting drastically the lives of Hyruleans. Instead, the evil forces do so. The initial limit of Rupees Link can carry 300 Rupees, which is 3.03 times as much as the initial limit in Ocarina of Time. The products in Ordon Village, however, aren't too expensive, not to mention that the Ordona Province as a whole has an ongoing business in regards of product export, as seen in Snowpeak Ruins with the availability of Ordon Goat Cheese and Ordon Pumpkin. Therefore, any apparent indication of financial decline in Ordona can be misleading.

It is necessary to analyze the economy of Hyrule Castle Town in order to find out that, indeed, economy in Hyrule had seen better days. Some of the indications, in one or another way caused by the influence of twilight causing despair and chaos among the peaceful Hyruleans, include:


 * 1) For one, the import of Hot Spring Water has become more difficult. The first and most important reason is attributed to the Gorons rebelling against the rest of the Hyruleans due to the conflict originated by Darbus and one of the Fused Shadows; they happen to be the ones who export the Hot Spring Water from Death Mountain. Link manages to solve this problem during his stance at the Goron Mines, but a second problem still remains: The wooden bridge connecting Eldin Province with Hyrule Castle Town (and, by extension, the eastern side of Lanayru Province) was removed for some unknown reason, so Link has to donate a large sum of money (1000 Rupees, no less) in order to allow a Goron to repair it. Once this latter step is followed, the Hot Spring Water export is restored.
 * 2) Trade of first-necessity products have become more difficult for inhabitants of low and medium class, for whom the only alternative to purchase goods more easily is dealing with the ambulant Gorons inside the buildings (and only after the aforementioned crisis at Death Mountain is solved, no less). Only those with a deep wallet will be able to shop at the unprecedentedly expensive emporia whose "offers" have prices oscillating from 3000 to 10,000 Rupees when it comes to the regular items, and 100,000 Rupees for the Magic Armor. In order to revert this situation, Link has to donate 2000 (only 200 if he heals the tired Goron who repairs the previously cited bridge) Rupees, which will be destined to the purchase of the expensive shop. Only then will it become a branch of Malo Mart and offer products at much more reasonable prices. The aforementioned Magic Armor will only cost 598 Rupees, which is 0.598% of the original price.

Twilight Princess is arguably the first game (or at least one of the first) where economy can actually be improved during gameplay, as seen above already. Another example of this is the contribution of materials and inputs for the construction of bombs, which is initially impeded by the Gorons refusing to send the necessary minerals to Barnes in Kakariko Village, as well as by Link being forced to explode the (then) last remaining supplies of explosive material during the invasion of twilight. In Zora's River, Link helps Iza to clean up the pathway of the river from the rocks that fell during an earthquake, which allows the Rapids Ride attraction to be restored. In spite of all this, signs of abuse from the high class continue even after the end of the game. Agitha, for some reason, has a very high source of money, which is only given to whoever gives Golden Bugs to her; meanwhile, a lone man has to rely upon charity to get enough money to subsist.

The ultimate money cap in this game is 1000 Rupees, only 1/5 of the cap seen in The Wind Waker, and just over 1/10 of the cap in Spirit Tracks.

An unknown improvement
Chronologically, A Link to the Past takes place after the aforementioned games, though it's unknown which timeline it takes place in. This alone gives us difficulty to analyze respect to which era the Hyrulean economy has gotten better or worse. Judging by the reasonable prices of the products and the money cap (999 Rupees, almost the same as in Twilight Princess), the economy seems to have improved. The most expensive item in the game is a pair of Flippers: 500 Rupees, which is only as expensive as the All-Night Mask in Majora's Mask, and only marginally more expensive than the more exotic products from Ocarina of Time.

From the point of view of economy, and if we can only consider the possibility of a slow-yet-constant healing of the financial status of Hyrule, A Link to the Past takes place some time after Twilight Princess, which means that it should take place in the Child Timeline. That said, there are almost no indications on the economic activities within the land during the events of this game, which is yet another thing that hardens our review. Compared to the Light World, the Dark World has a more ambiguous portrayal, though the deficient looks of the Village of Outcasts suggests that the economy, if existing and especially if cared about at all, is worse here.

Let's assume now that the game takes place within the Adult Timeline, and thus after the events of Spirit Tracks. It would be too unrealistic to think that, in an excessively short period of time, the economy improved way too significantly (after all, it never did during the OOT-TWW millennium period; and especially not during the TWW-ST century period). All this leaves us with only one possibility: At some point of history, the kingdom may have applied a monetary reform of the Rupee. This is not as unrealistic as it sounds. In real life, several countries in the world had adjusted the values of their respective currencies. Assuming this happened with Hyrule as well, we can speculate that the ALTTP Rupee is worth a certain amount of ST Rupees. Judging from the respective money caps of both games, the ratio may be 1 ALTTP Rupee worth 10 ST Rupees. Of course, this would require the economy to remain stable between the two games, which would only be plausible if both games had a relatively short age difference (perhaps just a decade). Because we know that said case is too unlikely (the Spirit Tracks are nowhere to be seen, after all), we can then assume that the exchange is 100 ST rupees for 1 ALTTP Rupee.

Because the game's placement in the timeline is uncertain, however, none of the aforementioned theories are confirmed, meaning that there may be yet another reason why Hyrule is apparently stronger in this installment than in Twilight Princess and Spirit Tracks.

A dying currency
An unspecified period of time passes between A Link to the Past and the very first installment in the series. In this adventure, Link is capable of carrying only up to 255 Rupees; whether economy improved or saw another reform in this game is a mystery, and it's difficult to tell through the aforementioned cap, whose low value is solely attributed to the limitations of the console it was launched for, the Nintendo Entertainment System (no variable was allowed to support more than 256 numbers. The Rupee cap is 255 because the 256th value is zero, the default number when Link has no money whatsoever).

Regardless, judging from the relatively low number of shops available (and considering that some of them even had their entrances hidden from first sight), it's assumed that the heavy presence of monsters and wild creatures has severely affected the different businesses. And even after Link manages to defeat Ganon, Hyrule still has a long way to go before restoring itself (as revealed by the instruction manual of The Adventure of Link. In this second game, Rupees have disappeared completely; no shops are seen in any of the current eight towns of the land, not even money-based trades are made, and therefore Link doesn't collect the legendary and long-lasting, yet ultimately deceased currency.

From the in-universe perspective, there is only one possible explanation to this: At some point of history, and possibly because of the ongoing decline of economy (mostly due to the numerous times evil forces overran the land and little could be done against it before the different incarnations of Link ventured into their quests to restore peace), the Kingdom of Hyrule implemented a system devoid of monetary basis: The barter. In other words, economy is now based on qualitative concepts where goods and products are interchanged in accordance to their utility, unique traits or another subjective aspect. This also works with actions or services that make it for the qualitative value of the product in question.

If it's true that the kingdom has had to resort to barters, then it is unlikely that any potential game taking place after The Adventure of Link will show Rupees anymore. It doesn't help that, during the events of this game, enemies and monsters roam even more often the once peaceful land of Hyrule, which shows that the desire for reviving Ganon is stronger than desire for peace. Until Nintendo finally releases a chronologically newer entry in the series, however, one can only speculate on the uncertain future.

Conclusion
There are several possible reasons why Hyrule has seen it financial status inflate to the point of, arguably, having to resort to decisions like monetary reforms and applying barter systems. The upcoming entry Skyward Sword has been confirmed to take place before Ocarina of Time, but it's unknown whether or not the economy will be as good as (or better than) that of the 1998 installment. A good word of advice for the players who guide Link through his quest is to invest very carefully their Rupees, and to treasure each of them so that anything urgent can be bought without further delay.