When Link takes the Master Sword from its place in the Temple of Time, he ends up sealed in the Sacred Realm for seven years. Because Ocarina of Time is a story told from Link's perspective, this leaves a gap in his knowledge of current events. The mysteries regarding what happened during his time in the Sacred Realm and how Hyrule has changed while under Ganondorf's control can leave plenty of lingering questions about events that happened during that time skip.
Who's The Graveyard Boy In Kakariko Village?
A Minor NPC With A Mysterious Fate
When Link is a child, he can find a young boy wandering the graveyard in Kakariko Village during the daytime. If the boy is spoken to, he'll complain that he's too young for the graveyard tour of Legend of Zelda's recurring character Dampé at night. He pretends to be Dampé during the day, but he admits that he's not able to provide the same heart-pounding experience as Dampé with his youthful face. Link can also meet the graveyard boy's father, the guard who buys the Keaton Mask for his son as part of the Happy Mask Shop's side quest.
The Graveyard Boy Isn't Present When Adult Link Returns To The Graveyard
He Also Isn't A Victim Of Ganondorf
While Ganondorf is a memorable Zelda villain and caused plenty of chaos in Ocarina of Time's version of Hyrule, he isn't exactly related to the graveyard boy's disappearance. At least, Ganondorf didn't play a direct role in the boy's disappearance. It's possible, however, that the disappearance was collateral damage from Ganondorf's actions in Hyrule, especially when considering how Kakariko as a whole seems less impacted by his reign than other locations, like Castle Town. This is because the graveyard boy vanishing is related to his father, who was a Hylian soldier.
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It turns out that the mystery of the graveyard boy not being seen anywhere when playing as adult Link actually received an explanation in a 1999 interview with OoT developers that was published in The 64Dream, a magazine in Japan. When asked about the boy in the graveyard, the developers answered that he left Kakariko Village five years after Link was sealed in the Sacred Realm to search for his father, who was missing at the time.
Originally published as a magazine focused on the Nintendo 64, The 64Dream later became Nintendo DREAM thanks to the change in console generations.
In fact, Link even sees the boy again, but as a Skull Kid. When he left, the graveyard boy eventually made his way to the Lost Woods, but he ended up being one of the woods' victims, becoming lost and turning into a Skull Kid. Since Link is an adult at that point, the Skull Kid attacks him instead of speaking with him, because Skull Kids don't trust adults and don't speak with them. As a result, the fate of the graveyard boy is no longer one of Zelda's unsolved mysteries.
The Real Mystery Is Hyrule's Missing People
Where Did The Soldier Go?
The graveyard boy's disappearance isn't a mystery, but why his dad vanished and why the boy was looking for him remain unsolved. The most likely explanation would be that the boy's dad ended up being called away due to his occupation as a soldier when Ganondorf took control. Because of that, he probably died trying to protect Hyrule, but nobody informed the boy about this due to the chaos to deal with at that time. Although none of this is confirmed, it seems like the most likely answer given the circumstances.
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Ocarina of Time, like many other Zelda games, is full of mysteries that keep players searching for answers even decades after the game's release. However, that's part of the series' charm, and it makes replaying games and paying attention to every little detail that much more rewarding when finding answers to secrets in the expansive lore of each game. It's never too late to find an answer to an old mystery hidden in the small details of a game like The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
Source: The 64Dream/Internet Archive
Released November 21, 1998
Developer(s) Nintendo
English (US) ·