7 Ocarina Of Time Mysteries The Remake Needs To Expand On

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is limited by the era in which it was developed. It's still a fantastic game, the best one ever made for my money, but after nearly three decades, it's easy to spot not only the technical limitations, but the constraints of its scope. The upcoming Switch 2 remake can modernize the classic experience, and is an opportunity to elucidate some of the game's lingering mysteries.

Ocarina of Time has a vivid, far-reaching depiction of Hyrule Kingdom, but because of development constraints and an ill-defined Zelda canon at the time, there are a lot of fascinating aspects that are only alluded to. Nintendo's masterpiece sets up numerous important plot points, characters, locations, and events that are never fully followed through.

If I had to guess, the Ocarina of Time remake on Switch 2 is likely to be very faithful, and probably won't change any major narrative beats, but additional flavor text and dialog could help flesh out the thin parts of Hyrule. Below are 10 such bits of Ocarina of Time lore that could benefit from a second pass.

The Hyrulean Civil War That Infant Link Escapes From

The inciting incident that brings Link under the Great Deku Tree's protection is the Hyrulean Civil War. Link's mother flees the conflict, mortally wounded, and finds refuge in Kokiri Forest, where she bequeaths her son, who grows up believing he's one of the Children of the Forest. The Hylian boy only learns of his heritage after spending seven years in the Sacred Realm—where he ages, unlike a Kokiri would—and later being informed of his mother's death by the Deku Tree Sprout.

The Hyrulean Civil War is never really explained fully, even in later series companion books like Hyrule Historia and The Legend of Zelda Encyclopedia. The Gerudo were presumably at odds with the crown, because Ganondorf ends the war by renewing his fealty to the royal family, and there are hints that the kingdom is a bit draconic in the post-war period. Non-Hylian races, for instance, are sequestered and only able to be contacted by direct royal order; Link needs a letter to climb Death Mountain to Goron City, and only those who know "Zelda's Lullaby" can reach Zora's Domain.

Despite this internal strife, Ocarina of Time rarely broaches the subject. Some additional details in the remake could make Hyrule more multi-faceted, and help rationalize how segregated its population is.

The Gerudo & Ganondorf's Rise To Power

Almost an extension of the Hyrulean Civil War's mysteries is the Gerudo's role in it, and Ganondorf's preceding rise to power in the desert-dwelling society. We know the broad strokes: a male is born to the Gerudo only once every century, and that child will ascend the throne. The larger context, which is entirely missing from Ocarina of Time, is that Ganondorf is the manifestation of Demise's malice, destined to come into conflict with the descendants of the Goddess Hylia (Zelda) and those with the spirit of the hero (Link).

I don't necessarily think Ocarina of Time's remake would benefit from including details about Demise, but the Gerudo and Ganondorf suffer from largely being relegated to the very end of the game. They have very little backstory other than being a tribe of thieves that live in the desert. We don't know their grievances or reasons for rebelling against Hyrule Kingdom, nor do we have any insight into Nabooru's efforts to thwart Ganondorf's coup.

History Of The Sheikah Tribe

Another knock-on omission from Ocarina of Time courtesy of Hyrulean Civil War involvement is a backstory for the Sheikah. Their only living member is Impa (and later Sheik, kind of), who is effectively the steward of Kakariko Village, which once solely belonged to the Sheikah. We also know that the Sheikah were instrumental in the royal family keeping power, taking dissidents to the Shadow Temple to be tortured and interrogated.

The Sheikah Tribe's seedy history is one of Ocarina's most infamous storylines, but we don't really know anything else about the tribe or why it died out prior to the game's events. Ocarina of Time's is by far the darkest depiction of the Sheikah in the Zelda series, and some more time with Impa before the time skip could go a long way in both fleshing out her character and the history of her people.

The Bottom Of The Well's Original Purpose

Potentially related to the Sheikah is one of Kakariko Village's greatest mysteries, the Bottom of the Well, the mini-dungeon where Link acquires the Lens of Truth. Since Kakariko was once a Sheikah town, the well and its underground complex were presumably built by Impa's ancestors. For what purpose isn't really clear. Bongo Bongo is sealed in the Bottom of the Well by the time Ocarina of Time takes place, but it doesn't seem expressly built for that purpose.

You can learn that a house used to be in place of the well, where a man who could "see the truth" lived, but this was "a long time ago," according to an old man in Kakariko Village. This is essentially a hint of where to find the Lens of Truth, and doesn't necessarily fill in any details. Was the Bottom of the Well built, in part, just to hide the Lens? It's torture equipment and bloodstains give it some kinship with the Shadow Temple—was it a satellite location? Some more hints the remake would be nice.

What The Graveyard Labyrinth Really Is

Kakariko has a knack for unexplained underground complexes. To get the Hookshot, Link must find Dampé grave and race the gravedigger's ghost through an underground labyrinth. It's ostensibly Kakariko's catacombs, but it appears far too detailed and expansive to be just that. This seems supported by Ocarina of Time itself, which displays the location's name as a simple "?" It's not called Dampé's Grave, Kakariko Catacombs, or anything else.

It's all the more bizarre because the race to get the Hookshot feels almost like a nonsensical sequence. The labyrinth has nothing to do with the Forest Temple, which you need the Hookshot for, and it's seemingly not connected to Kakariko's other oddities, the Shadow Temple and the Bottom of the Well. Any sort of explanation, or even a new quest down there, could provide some welcome clarity in the remake.

Rauru's Temple Of Light

Ocarina's Temple of Light is a strange one. It was seemingly going to be a full dungeon at one point early in development, and while we do see some of it in-game, it's not clear if there's more to it. Canonically, the Temple of Light is Rauru's domain within the Sacred Realm, built to house the Triforce and keep it hidden from those who would use its power for evil. All we see of the Temple of Light in Ocarina of Time, though, is the Chamber of Sages, which doesn't seem to be the Triforce's chamber, despite the large pedestal at its center.

When Link and Ganondorf enter the Sacred Realm, they're shown in blank white spaces, though it's unclear if this is supposed to represent the Temple of Light, the Sacred Realm more broadly, or anything at all. Most of the Temple of Light's lore came later in Hyrule Historia, but it's such an important location, that even a few bits of info in-game could make it a bit less mysterious in the remake.

The Happy Mask Salesman

The Happy Mask Salesman's whole deal isn't really a mystery solely contained within Ocarina of Time. His quest line, which sees Link become a mask peddler throughout Hyrule, is fairly innocuous. Link's ultimate reward is the Mask of Truth, which lets him read Gossip Stones, and get some interesting hints and lore details, but the Happy Mask Salesman becomes a huge figure in Ocarina's sequel, Majora's Mask.

There are rumors that Majora's Mask is also getting the remake or remaster treatment, and the Happy Mask Salesman's involvement comes out of nowhere. If both N64 Zelda games are really coming back, a few lines or hints that the Happy Mask Salesman has something going on could be a great Easter egg for the sequel. Even if Majora's Mask isn't following, it's a great opportunity to add some more intrigue to a rather straightforward quest in Ocarina of Time.