In 1998, Nintendo took The Legend of Zelda into the three-dimensional world, and immediately set a new standard for the whole industry: a wide-open Hyrule that could be crossed on horseback, a Z-targeting system that nearly every action-adventure game since has learned from, and a story about time that is still cited as one of the greatest plots in video game history. Ocarina of Time is not just the next release after The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening — it is the turning point that turned Link from a 2D hero into a cultural icon.

The story begins very small, as the best fairy tales do: a boy living in the forest, with no fairy companion like every other Kokiri child, and a recurring nightmare about a man on a black horse chasing a girl on a white horse. From that nightmare, Link is drawn into a plot arranged long before he was born — a plot to seize the Triforce, the holy relic the three goddesses left to the world. And the cruelest part of this story is this: the bravest act of Link and Zelda as children is exactly what opens the way for their enemy.

This article retells the full story of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time in its original 1998 Nintendo 64 version — from Kokiri Forest to Ganon's Castle, from the three Spiritual Stones to the five Sage temples — along with the fates of its characters, common misconceptions, and mysteries fans have debated for nearly thirty years.

📌 Quick summary: Kokiri boy Link takes on a mission from the dying Great Deku Tree: gather the three Spiritual Stones with Princess Zelda to open the Door of Time and claim the Triforce before Ganondorf. When he draws the Master Sword, Link is sealed away for seven years, while Ganondorf slips into the Sacred Realm, seizes the Triforce of Power, and conquers Hyrule. Waking as an adult, Link awakens five Sages — his five childhood friends — unmasks Sheik as Zelda, defeats Ganondorf, seals him away, and is sent back to his childhood by Zelda.

The Boy Without a Fairy and the Dying Great Tree

Link grows up in Kokiri Village, deep in the forest, where every child has a fairy companion — except him. The villagers tease him, especially Mido, who fancies himself their leader, but Saria always defends him. One night, Link dreams of a man in black armor, riding a black horse, chasing a girl on a white horse through a storm. That dream is no accident: the Great Deku Tree, the forest's guardian spirit, has been cursed by the very man in the dream, and is dying.

The Great Deku Tree sends the fairy Navi to wake Link. Navi will become his companion, his reminder voice, and his targeting eye for the whole journey. After small trials in the forest — finding the Kokiri Sword, buying the Deku Shield — Link is allowed inside the Great Deku Tree itself. Inside is the game's first dungeon: damp rooms, cobwebs everywhere, and at the end, Queen Gohma, a giant parasitic spider that planted the curse.

Link defeats Gohma, but too late to save the Great Deku Tree. Before withering away, the old god gives him the first stone: the Kokiri Emerald, one of the three Spiritual Stones, and tells him to take it to Princess Zelda at Hyrule Castle. He also says something Link will only fully understand much later: he is not truly a Kokiri. He is a Hylian boy, brought into the forest as a baby during wartime by his mother, and raised by the Great Deku Tree as his own child. That dying message turns the farewell to Saria — his closest friend, who gives him the Fairy Ocarina by the forest bridge — into one of the saddest scenes in the game: Saria stands on the bridge, waving, and Link knows he may never return to childhood as it was.

The Princess in the Garden and the Three Spiritual Stones

To enter Hyrule Castle, Link must sneak past the guards in the town, through a moat and a secret hole — one of the most memorable stealth passages of the Nintendo 64 era. In the castle garden, he meets Princess Zelda. She has dreamed the same dream he has: a dark cloud over Hyrule, a ray of green light, and a wicked man. Zelda believes that man is Ganondorf, king of the Gerudo, who has just sworn loyalty to her father the King but is really seeking a way into the Sacred Realm to steal the Triforce.

The two children's plan sounds simple: gather all three Spiritual Stones, use them together with the Ocarina of Time — the royal family's treasure, which Zelda holds — to open the Door of Time in the Temple of Time, enter the Sacred Realm, and claim the Triforce one step ahead of Ganondorf. Zelda keeps the Ocarina, and Link sets out to find the other two stones. This journey is also how the game introduces the vastness of Hyrule: Hyrule Field, the wide plain where players first feel what a truly open 3D world means.

The second stone, the Goron's Ruby, lies with the Goron tribe on Death Mountain. Their leader Darunia at first refuses to hand it over: his people are starving because the Dodongo dragon blocks their mine, and the path to the Goron king is barred by a giant boulder. Link helps the Gorons defeat King Dodongo in the cavern, and a delighted Darunia swears brotherhood with him and hands over the Ruby. The third stone, the Zora's Sapphire, is a very different story: Princess Ruto of the Zora has been swallowed by the divine fish Jabu-Jabu, and Link must climb inside the fish's belly to rescue her. Ruto is stubborn and quick to anger, but once rescued, she gives Link the stone — along with a betrothal promise, per Zora custom, that the boy does not understand at all, and which only later becomes a detail at once funny and bittersweet.

Along the stone quest, Link also meets people who will shape his whole life: Malon at Lon Lon Ranch, the girl who teaches him to sing to the horse Epona; Impa, Zelda's Sheikah protector, who quietly watches over him; and Kaepora Gaebora, the old owl fond of long lectures. But when Link returns to the castle with all three stones, he is too late. Just as in the nightmare: Zelda and Impa are fleeing on a white horse, and Ganondorf is chasing them on a black horse close behind.

The Door of Time Opens — and Its Price

As the white horse flashes past, Zelda manages to throw the Ocarina of Time into the moat for Link, while telepathically teaching him the Song of Time. Ganondorf stops Link, laughs at the boy who dares stand in his way, knocks him to the ground with a ball of energy, and rides on after them. Link picks up the Ocarina, and through Zelda's vision, learns one more painful truth: Ganondorf has attacked the castle, and the King has come to harm. The race to claim the Triforce before Ganondorf has become a race for survival.

Link carries the three stones to the Temple of Time, sets them in the altar, and plays the Song of Time. The Door of Time opens, revealing a radiant chamber with a sword set in a pedestal: the Master Sword, the blade of evil's bane that only a true hero can draw. Link grips the hilt and pulls — and that is the fateful mistake. The Door of Time does not open the Sacred Realm only for the worthy; it opens for anyone who follows behind. Ganondorf, who has been lurking from the start, slips in right behind him and touches the Triforce first.

But the Triforce does not belong to a heart out of balance. When Ganondorf touches it, the Triforce shatters into three pieces: he keeps only the Triforce of Power, the piece of strength; the Triforce of Wisdom flies to Zelda, and the Triforce of Courage seeks out Link. And Link? He is too young to wield the Master Sword. The blade seals his spirit in the Sacred Realm until he is old enough to be a hero — seven long years. In those seven years, no one stands against Ganondorf. He conquers Hyrule, turns the castle into a fortress of darkness, and spreads monsters across the kingdom. This is the central twist of Ocarina of Time: the hero does not fail from weakness, but from being too brave, too hasty — and a whole kingdom pays for those seven years.

Seven Years Later: Waking in a Strange Hyrule

Link wakes in the Chamber of Sages of the Sacred Realm, now a young man. He is greeted by Rauru, the Sage of Light, the only Sage still awake and guarding the Sacred Realm. Rauru explains everything: Ganondorf has conquered Hyrule, and the only way to seal him is to awaken the other five Sages, who have forgotten their identities as ordinary people after Ganondorf turned Hyrule into a land of darkness. Each temple held by monsters keeps its Sage from waking — Link must cleanse each temple in turn.

Back in Hyrule, Link finds a kingdom he no longer recognizes: the castle town lies in ruins, its people have fled to Kakariko Village, the fields are full of monsters, and Ganon's Castle looms black against the sky. At the Temple of Time, he meets Sheik — a mysterious Sheikah warrior, masked, who always appears just in time to teach him new melodies and point him toward each temple, then vanishes before he can ask his name. Sheik is adult Link's most trusted guide, and also the game's greatest mystery — one sharp-eyed players can guess early from the red eyes and small hints, but which the game keeps hidden until the final hour.

A new power also opens to Link: through the Master Sword, he can return to childhood by replacing the blade in its pedestal, and become an adult again by drawing it out. These two eras are not just a gameplay mechanic — they are the emotional heart of the story. Returning to the past, Link sees the town still alive, Saria still in the forest, Malon still singing at the ranch; returning to the future, all of it lies in ruins. Each trip back to childhood makes clearer the price of the seven lost years — and why Zelda ultimately chooses what she chooses.

Five Temples, Five Friends

Adult Link's five temples are not five random dungeons: each is tied to a childhood friend, and each awakening is an emotional reunion. In the Forest Temple, Link faces Phantom Ganon, a phantom horseman who steps out of paintings, and awakens Saria — the girl who gave him the ocarina by the forest bridge — as the Sage of the Forest. Saria does not blame him for vanishing for seven years; she only says she always knew he would return, and that from now on she will stay in the temple to keep watch.

In the Fire Temple on Death Mountain, Darunia — now leader of the Goron tribe threatened by Volvagia, the fire dragon — gives Link the Megaton Hammer, then charges into the dragon's lair alone. When Link defeats Volvagia, Darunia awakens as the Sage of Fire, the sworn brother of old now one of Hyrule's protectors. In the Water Temple, Link dives into the frozen Zora domain, rescues Ruto from Morpha, and she — the Zora princess who once promised herself to the boy — awakens as the Sage of Water, closing a childhood crush with an adult, calm farewell.

The last two temples are darker still. In the Shadow Temple beneath Kakariko's graveyard, Link faces Bongo Bongo, the headless monster that once terrorized the village, and awakens Impa — Zelda's silent protector since the beginning of the story — as the Sage of Shadow. In the Spirit Temple in the Gerudo Desert, Link meets Nabooru again, the Gerudo warrior once captured and brainwashed by Twinrova — the twin sorceresses who are also Ganondorf's surrogate mothers; after defeating Twinrova, Nabooru awakens as the Sage of Spirit. Five friends, five temples, five Sage medallions — and Hyrule finally has the power to face its occupier.

Sheik Unmasked and Ganondorf's Castle

When the five Sages have awakened, Sheik summons Link to the Temple of Time and finally removes the mask: Sheik is Princess Zelda. For seven years, while Link slept, she disguised herself as a Sheikah warrior, hiding under Ganondorf's very nose, waiting for Link's return. Zelda explains the last piece of the Triforce puzzle: because Ganondorf's heart was not balanced among Power, Wisdom, and Courage, the Triforce shattered when he touched it; he holds Power, she holds Wisdom, and Link carries Courage. That is why Ganondorf let Link awaken the Sages — he wanted to lure Zelda out to seize the Triforce of Wisdom.

And he succeeds. The moment Zelda reveals herself, Ganondorf captures her, imprisons her in his castle, and dares Link to come and rescue her. The six other Sages join their power to create the Rainbow Bridge across the chasm to Ganon's Castle — one of the game's most beautiful images, as the light of six people who were once a boy's friends joins into a single bridge. Inside the castle, Link must pass six magical barriers, each bearing a Sage's power, as if his whole journey were summed up in one final dungeon.

The duel with Ganondorf takes place atop the tower, to the sound of the organ he calmly plays before fighting — a detail that has become a symbol of his arrogance. Link must return his energy balls with the Master Sword itself, in the same "dead man's volley" style the game has taught players since its earliest bosses. When Ganondorf falls, he destroys his own castle in fury, forcing Link and Zelda to flee the collapsing tower — a breathless escape sequence anyone who has played it remembers, with stones falling behind them and the countdown ticking in their heads.

The Final Battle and the Farewell

Out of the rubble, Link and Zelda think it is over — then Ganondorf rises once more. Using the Triforce of Power, he transforms into Ganon, a giant boar-like beast with twin swords, amid the castle's ashes. This is the final battle, and also the starkest: no more barriers, no more tricks, only Link, the Master Sword, and a monster kept alive by the holy relic's own power. Ganon knocks the Master Sword from Link's hand, and in that seemingly hopeless moment, Zelda uses her remaining strength to hold the beast back, letting Link recover the blade and land the finishing blow.

When Ganon falls, the seven Sages join forces to seal Ganondorf in the Sacred Realm — now become the Evil Realm — and Zelda, as the seventh Sage, closes the seal. But this victory has another, quieter price: Link has lost seven years of childhood. He is no longer the Kokiri boy, and the adult Hyrule is no longer his home. Zelda, with the Ocarina of Time, offers the final choice: use the ocarina's power and the Triforce to send Link back to his childhood, to the time before he drew the Master Sword — so he can live again the seven years he lost, as an ordinary child.

Link returns to childhood, carrying the Triforce of Courage on his hand, and steps into the castle garden to meet Zelda again while she is still a little girl — the game's final scene, a look that the player understands and the two characters do not yet: a circle has closed, and another story is about to begin from the very moment Link leaves Hyrule to search for Navi, the fairy friend who flew away after the victory. Navi leaves without a word of explanation, and that is one of the saddest, quietest farewells in game history: the companion of the whole journey does not stay to celebrate, but flies toward the window and vanishes into the light.

The Fates of the Characters

Link — the Hero of Time: Returned to childhood with the Triforce of Courage, Link leaves Hyrule to search for Navi. That search leads him to Termina in Majora's Mask. He never truly returns to Kokiri Forest as an ordinary child, because he knows too much.

Zelda / Sheik: After sealing Ganondorf, Zelda remains in Hyrule as princess and seventh Sage. Sending Link back to childhood creates two timelines: one where the adult Link vanishes and Hyrule enters a peacetime without a hero, and one where the child Link warns the royal family about Ganondorf before he can act.

Ganondorf / Ganon: Sealed in the Evil Realm with the Triforce of Power. He does not die — and his curse, and his repeated returns in later games, begin with this very seal.

Saria, Darunia, Ruto, Impa, Nabooru, Rauru: The other six Sages remain in the Sacred Realm to maintain the seal. Saria remains forever the forest friend Link will never meet again as before; Darunia becomes a legend of the Goron tribe; Ruto closes a childhood love with maturity; Impa keeps guarding the royal family in shadow; Nabooru becomes the Gerudo tribe's new leader; Rauru remains the guardian of the Door of Time.

Navi: After the victory, Navi flies away with no farewell. The game never explains where she goes, and that very silence becomes the driving force of Link's next journey.

Common Misconceptions

Is Link really a Kokiri?

No. Link is a Hylian boy, brought into Kokiri Forest as a baby during wartime by his mother, and raised by the Great Deku Tree. That is why he has no fairy companion like the other Kokiri children, and why he can leave the forest and become the bearer of the Master Sword.

This detail is revealed by the Great Deku Tree before he dies, and it is the key to why Link does not age like the other Kokiri, and why he can become the one to draw the Master Sword.

Is Sheik a separate character from Zelda?

No, Sheik is Zelda in disguise. For the seven years Link slept, Zelda hid in the identity of a Sheikah warrior to escape Ganondorf's notice, while watching over and guiding adult Link through each temple, teaching him the melodies needed to enter them.

The game plants many hints: Sheik has red eyes like Zelda, knows melodies only royalty would know, and always vanishes just before Zelda could appear. The unmasking at the Temple of Time is one of the most famous twists in the series.

Did Ganondorf obtain the complete Triforce?

No. Because his heart was not balanced among Power, Wisdom, and Courage, the Triforce shattered into three pieces when he touched it. He kept only the Triforce of Power, while Zelda received the Triforce of Wisdom and Link received the Triforce of Courage.

This is why Ganondorf deliberately let Link awaken the Sages: he needed Zelda to reveal herself so he could seize the piece of Wisdom, and needed Link to bring the piece of Courage before him. The plan nearly succeeded, but in the end it was what defeated him.

Is Ocarina of Time the first game in the Zelda timeline?

Not exactly. Ocarina of Time is the game where the official timeline splits into three branches — but it is not itself the earliest game in the Zelda universe's chronology. Before it, in release order, came The Legend of Zelda (1986) and Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (1987), along with other games in the legend's chronology.

What makes Ocarina of Time special is that its ending creates the branching point: the adult Link vanishes from one timeline, the child Link warns the royal family in another, and a third timeline exists where the hero falls. But within this game's own story, what matters most remains Link's journey, not the timeline chart Nintendo published many years later.

Is Navi really just an annoying character who says "Hey! Listen!"?

No. Navi is the hint system, the targeting aid, and Link's only companion for most of the journey. The line "Hey! Listen!" is how the game tells the player there is important information, and in the story, Navi is the fairy the Great Deku Tree sends to guide Link.

Navi's role becomes clearest at the end of the game: when she flies away after the victory, her absence shows how much she mattered — so much so that Link leaves Hyrule to search for her, opening Majora's Mask.

Theories & Mysteries

Where did Navi go after the final battle? The game does not answer. The most popular theory is that she returned to the other fairies after completing the mission the Great Deku Tree gave her, but some believe she dissolved along with the seal. It is precisely this uncertainty that gives Link's search in Majora's Mask the color of a parting with no answer.

Why does child Link carry the Triforce of Courage back to the past? When Zelda sends Link back to childhood, the mark of the Triforce of Courage remains on his hand in the final scene. This suggests that the Triforce of the adult timeline "followed" him into the past, and is one of the pieces that makes the child timeline unfold differently — where the royal family is warned about Ganondorf early.

Who is the man in the opening nightmare? It is Ganondorf, and the dreams of Link and Zelda are not ordinary dreams but omens from the Sages. Many fans believe the dream is how the Triforce of Courage and the Triforce of Wisdom warned their two bearers, even before they knew they bore them.

Did Link actually die in the final battle? A theory that spread for years claims Link really died facing Ganon, and that Majora's Mask is a journey in the afterlife. Nintendo has never confirmed this, and evidence in the game — such as Link returning to meet child Zelda — shows he survives. The theory is interesting because it shows how much fans love this story, even reading death into it, but officially, Link lives and leaves Hyrule to find Navi.

Legacy: Ocarina of Time shaped the 3D action-adventure genre: Z-targeting, an open world with a day-night cycle, horseback riding, and storytelling through music with the Ocarina. Years later, whenever people vote for the greatest game of all time, this title is always near the top — not only because it broke technical ground, but because the story of a boy who lost seven years of childhood to save a kingdom still moves players every time they hear the Ocarina's melody again.