Zora's River
From Zelda Wiki, the Zelda encyclopedia
| Zora's River | |
|---|---|
 Upper Zora's River from Twilight Princess | |
| Game(s) | Ocarina of Time Twilight Princess Link's Crossbow Training |
| Inhabitant(s) | Bean Seller, Fabulous Five Froggish Tenors Hena, Iza
|
| Item(s) | Magic Beans, Piece of Heart ×4, Gold Skulltula ×4 Piece of Heart, bottle, a Bomb Bag and its upgrade, Poe Soul, Female Dragonfly
|
| Related place(s) | Zora's Waterfall Zora's Domain Lake Hylia |
Zora's River is a recurring location in the Zelda series. It is one of the main bodies of water in Hyrule, with its water source being either Zora's Domain or Zora's Fountain.
Contents |
Appearances
Ocarina of Time
In Ocarina of Time, water from Zora's River flows from Zora's Fountain, which serves as the water source of all Hyrule. While the region known as Zora's River consists of a region of the river to the east, the river itself continues throughout Hyrule Field. Eventually, the water of Zora's River reaches Lake Hylia, passing through Gerudo Valley in the process.[1] At the northern section of the river is the Sleepless Waterfall, a seemingly impassable waterfall that protects the entrance to Zora's Domain. Zora's River is accessible either by Hyrule Field or through an underwater portal located in the Lost Woods.
A few bridges are built over the river for easy crossing. Its waters, however, are infested with monsters such as Octoroks and Blue Tektites. On the way to the Sleepless Waterfall is a group of frogs collectively known as the Fabulous Five Froggish Tenors, although they disappear when Link returns to the river seven years later.
Twilight Princess
Twilight Princess shows Zora's River in what might be its biggest incarnation yet. The water from Zora's River comes from the throne room in Zora's Domain. It flows down to a section known as the Upper Zora's River, and from there the water branches off into three parts: one part goes on to north Hyrule Field, and the other two sections flow down through an area known as the Rapids Ride. The latter sections serve as the water source for Lake Hylia, which is where all the water from the river eventually ends up. However, these parts of the river are not accessible by foot and can only be reached by a canoe or by riding a Kargarok. Due to its immense length, the river serves as the location of two mini-games: Iza's Rapid Ride and the Fruit Pop Flight Challenge. Going against the rapids involves the Fruit Pop Flight Challenge, using a Kargarok for flight. Going downstream involves traversing the Rapid Ride in a kayak (similar to the one used in lure fishing), while avoiding impact with walls.
When Link as a wolf first visits the Lanayru Province while it is covered in Twilight, he finds out that the Zora's River has dried up since Zora's Domain has completely frozen over. As such, Lake Hylia has dried up as well, threatening the lifestyle of the Zora people and impeding them from returning upstream.[2] To get to Zora's Domain, Link has to ride a Shadow Kargarok through the dried-up river, defeating Shadow Insects along the way and obtaining their Tears of Light. Upon reaching Upper Zora's River, Link will discover that the entire domain has frozen over, and it isn't until he warps a giant, hot rock from Death Mountain to crash into the Zora's throne room that the water will begin to flow again.
Upper Zora's River
- See also: Iza's Rapid Ride and Hena's Fishing Hole
Upper Zora's River is the location of Link's first fight with Shadow Beasts while in Hylian form, and it is also the location of a Howling Stone. When the young hero defeats the shadow messengers, Iza, the owner of the boat rental shop, will be impressed by Link's bravery and let him into her hut. She will request that Link help her out by clearing the path downstream since a rockfall dammed up the river.[3] If he agrees to clear the debris that has clogged the flow of the river, Iza will lend Link a Bomb Bag and fill up his quiver with arrows.[4] By shooting the rocks that are visible from the hut's interior, the young hero will be able to row down the rapids and clear the rest of the rocks that are blocking the waterflow. Once Link reaches Lake Hylia, Iza's assistant, a Zora who guided the young hero through the rapids, will allow the young hero to keep the Bomb Bag that Iza lent him.[5]After clearing the way and returning, Link can play the Rapid Ride mini game, where he will again use Bomb Arrows to hit targets, but instead of rocks, Iza has placed large pots for him to destroy, allowing Link to win a prize if he scores enough points.
Iza's sister, Hena, also resides in Upper Zora's River. Hena runs a Fishing Hole where Link can go fishing. Link can bobber fish without charge in the fishing hole,[6] or he can rent a canoe from Hena for a small charge and go lure fishing instead.[7] Hena also gives Link a chance to test his skills in the game of Rollgoal, which she invented herself.[8]
Link's Crossbow Training
| Ambiguously Canon Content | hide |
Zora's River appears in two stages of Link's Crossbow Training. The first appearance in Stage 2 places Link inside of a canoe and travels downstream of the river of Iza's Rapid Ride. The second appearance of the river in Stage 4 is specifically seated in the outer waters of Zora's Domain.
Trivia
- In Twilight Princess, the Rapids Ride part of Zora's River passes through the Eldin Province and under the Bridge of Eldin. Despite this, the map labels it as part of the Lanayru Province.
Gallery
The Sleepless Waterfall in Zora's River from Ocarina of Time
An aerial view of Upper Zora's River
An early screenshot from Twilight Princess showing a river that may of been Zora's River
References
- ↑ "All of the water in Hyrule flows from Zora's Fountain. That water flows through Zora's River, which eventually reaches Lake Hylia to the south." — Zora (Ocarina of Time)
- ↑ "At this rate, the lake will most definitely vanish if we don't somehow get water from Zora's Domain upstream..." — Zora (Twilight Princess)
- ↑ "Well, I USED to rent boats here, but then we had a rockfall and it dammed the river up. Yeah... I could sure use a helpful guy around at times like this... Yup, a handy guy would sure be a big help around here." — Iza (Twilight Princess)
- ↑ "I'll give you some bombs and arrows, so you just put 'em together and shoot bomb arrows at that thing." — Iza (Twilight Princess)
- ↑ "It's all right. I'll let her know you kept it when I get back." — Iza's part-time worker (Twilight Princess)
- ↑ "Fishing Hole / Bobber fishing open to public." — Sign (Twilight Princess)
- ↑ "It's 20 Rupees to try some lure fishing. There's no time limit, and the canoe rental's included!" — Hena (Twilight Princess)
- ↑ "Ooh, that caught your eye, did it? I made that game, y'know! I gave it a really fun name, too...ROLLGOAL!" — Hena (Twilight Princess)
 Names in Other Regions 
| |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Language | Name | Meaning | |
| Japanese | 
|
ゾーラ川 (Zōra Gawa) | Zora River |
| Spanish | 
|
Río Zora | Zora River |
| French | 
|
Fleuve Zora/Rivière Zora | |
| German | 
|
Zora-Fluß | |
| Regions in Ocarina of Time | |
|---|---|
 Click on a location | |
| Hyrule in Twilight Princess | |
|---|---|
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| Click on a location | |
