Zelda Wiki:Decay of the Hyrulean Economy: Difference between revisions

In the following page, we shall discuss a little known subject related to the sacred land of [[Hyrule]]. It's about the '''Decay of Hyrulean Economy'''. It is known that, since the times of ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time|Ocarina of Time]]'', [[rupee]]s 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 Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker|The Wind Waker]]'', ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks|Spirit Tracks]]'', ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess|Twilight Princess]]'', ''[[The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past|A Link to the Past]]'', ''[[The Legend of Zelda (Game)|The Legend of Zelda]]'' and ''[[Zelda II: The Adventure of Link|The Adventure of Link]]''.

[[File:Potionshop2.jpg|220px|right|thumb|[[Medicine Shop|This shop]] is the place where a customer can find something the most expensive product. Which costs only 300 Rupees.]]

''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 Nut]]s, [[Deku Stick]]s, [[shield]]s, hearts, [[bombs]], [[potion]]s, etc. Understandably, [[tunic]]s 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 [[Like Like|lost without retrieval]].

[[File:Business_Deku_Scrub.png|thumb|left|200px|The cheapest [[:Category:Quest Items|Quest Item]] in the series.]]

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 [[Hyrule Castle|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, [[Goron]]s are inmediately affected.

[[File:Masked_Beedle_TWW.png|200px|thumb|right|The Quest Items' prices are significantly more expensive in this game than in ''Ocarina of Time''.]]

In regards of economic activity, the [[Great Sea]] is somewhat denser than [[Hyrule]]. There is an ongoing process of [[Island Trading Sequence|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).

[[File:Anouki_General_Store_ST.png|thumb|right|180px|The most expensive Quest Item in the game, and one of the most expensive in the series as a whole.]]

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 (Rails)|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 [[tank]]s and [[warship]]s 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. [[Treasure]]s 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 500). 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 [[The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass|Phantom Hourglass]] from 1 rupee for a point to 10 rupees for a single point''.

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.

[[File:Wallet tp.png|130px|right|thumb|It's possible to improve the economy, but a big wallet will be required for that.]]

#For one, the import of [[Hot Spring Water]] has become more difficult. The first and most important reason is attributed to the [[Goron]]s acting rebel against the rest of the Hyruleans due to the conflict originated by [[Darbus]] and one of the [[Fused Shadow]]s; 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.

#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 10000 Rupees when it comes to the regular items, and '''''100000''''' 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, representing a 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 Bug]]s to her; meanwhile, a lone man has to rely upon charity to get enough money to subsist.

==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 ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask|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 [[Wikipedia:Monetary reform|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 [[Wikipedia:Cynicism (contemporary)|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==

|image=OrangeRupee.png

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.