Gerudo Desert
The Gerudo Desert is a desert in Hyrule and was first introduced in Ocarina of Time and reappears in Twilight Princess. It features a large vast desert that is not occupied by any of the races living in Hyrule except for the Gerudo tribe, who have a fortress there (in Ocarina of Time) called the Gerudo Fortress. Although it is not of great importance to the game, it features some parts of the story line. In both games the desert contains each a dungeon. In Ocarina of Time the Spirit Temple and in Twilight Princess, Arbiter's Grounds. It also contains the Mirror Chamber, which holds the Mirror of Twilight; the main way to the Twilight Realm.
Ocarina of Time
In Ocarina of Time the Gerudo Desert is the Haunted Wasteland and the Gerudo Valley It is habited by a female thief-tribe called the Gerudo. It is located in the west part of Hyrule and it is one of the biggest areas of the game. The Gerudo lay in there fortress called the Gerudo Fortress. At the beginning Link gets caught by the Gerudo and manages to escape from prison. After getting the Gerudo Membership Card, the path to the desert will be opened. The desert in Ocarina of Time is called the Haunted Wasteland, and it is not inhabited by any people, only monsters. This desert has a constant sandstorm and will only be passed by an instruction given by the Gerudos to reach the final destination of the desert. This will help Link to reach the Desert Colossus, a massive statue carved into stone to believed to represent the Gerudos' goddess. Inside the Colossus lies the eight dungeon of the game, the Spirit Temple. There Link defeats Twinrova and gets the Spirit Medallion.
Twilight Princess
The Gerudo Desert reappears in Twilight Princess in the Desert Province. It is located in the southeast corner of the Twilight Princess map in the Wii version and in the southwest corner of the GameCube version. This time, Gerudo Desert is uninhabited by people (unlike in Ocarina of Time). It covers a vast territory, but most of its surface is a barren wasteland with no signs of life other than some monsters like Moldorms, Shadow Beasts, Bulblins and Leevers. It also has long endless holes with in its surface which makes it harder to move faster through the desert. The Gerudo desert has only two significant locations: Arbiter's Grounds and Gerudo Mesa. Here lies the fourth dungeon, Arbiter's Grounds, which holds the first shard of the Mirror of Twilight. On the top of Arbiter's Grounds lies the Mirror Chamber which is the only way to the Twilight Realm. The mirror can create a portal inside a gigantic rock to the Twilight Palace. The mirror was shattered into 4 pieces by Zant but later was recovered by Link and Midna. After the defeat of Ganondorf, Midna in her real form departs to the Twilight Palace and destroys the mirror, which is impossible to repair.
Aside from the Arbiter's Grounds, the Gerudo Mesa is the only other important location there. Also located in the area is the Cave of Ordeals, a large optional dungeon where the Fairy Tears can be retrieved. Strangely, the Gerudo Desert is completely cut off from the rest of Hyrule. It can first only be reached by being shot out of Fyer's cannon, and can only be left by warping from Lake Hylia. Even though the game takes place after Ocarina of Time, the Gerudo tribe is nowhere to be seen this desert.
It should be noted, however, that a mesa can be seen far to the south of the "playable" desert area. This mesa resembles the the Spirit Temple as seen from the Gerudos' Fortress in Ocarina of Time. However, there is also a strong possibility that the Arbiter's Grounds and the Spirit Temple are the one and same due to their identical locations, the presence of the Gerudo Goddess of the Sand, and the presence of a large round mirror in Ocarina of Time that greatly resembles the Mirror of Twilight (the main mirror that reflects the light Link needs to shatter the statue's face and enter Twinrova's chamber). The presence of this mirror, along with the Spirit Temple's general theme of mirrors seems to indicate a possible connection since the Arbiter's Grounds was most famous for the Mirror of Twilight
Trivia
- In Four Swords Adventures, the Gerudo tribe re-appears but instead of being in the Gerudo Desert they appear in the Desert of Doubt.