Our beloved green-tunic-wearing hero is often amongst the most recognized characters in the video game universe. It's a bit understandable since The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time is often considered as the most significant video game of all-time (duh!). At this point, we can all remember exploring the depths of Hyrule Field or completing the Water Temple with much frustration (I'm sure you do). Regardless, Ocarina of Time brought me so much fun that no other games have been able to replicate the time I've massively invested. While we're confident that many nostalgic gamers can recite the full game by heart, we're quite sure that they haven't looked at some of the obscure behind-the-scenes' facts. As such, we' ll look at 25 dark facts that you probably didn't know about The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time. After all, we're talking about ''the game'' that even might've served as your introduction to the series.

As a big series fan, I love to connect with other fans like me. Though you're always welcome to comment on the list, I would also love to read about your favorite (or worst) moment in Ocarina Of Time. Whether It's from the original, 3DS or whatever version, I want to know! Enjoy!

25 No Young Link?

While current gamers (looking at you again, Generation I kids) are now used of controlling a party of characters and exploring endless worlds, Ocarina of Time had me flabbergasted when I first changed from Young Link to Adult Link. I can still remember the many times where I was uselessly switching from one era to another (It was revolutionary at the time, kids). While controlling both Links is crucial for the game, Young Link almost wasn't considered for the final build of the game.

Originally, the lack of memory was the main reason for not including him.

However, OoT producer Shigeru Miyamoto insisted on having him, as he wanted to make the player feel Link's progression, from a kid to an adult. Thus, the development team was forced to save space for Young Link.

24 Good-Bye Hyrule Soldier

Perishing has always been a topic that Nintendo was easily able to curve. For Pokémon, the monsters are merely defeated; in the Super Smash series, they are simply K.O'd; and in Animal Crossing, they seem to be "immortal." In Ocarina Of Time, Link is the cause of demise for many monsters. However, Nintendo seemed to be more explicit than ever, concerning this dark topic.

If Link gets to the Back Alley of Hyrule Market, after Ganondorf's defection cutscene, they'll meet a critically injured soldier. Should Link talk to him, he'll instruct him to go to the Temple of Time before drawing his last breath. If Link retries to speak with him,

Navi will let the player know that the soldier is "not moving anymore."

In other words, he passed away. Still 18 years after the original release, I can't seem to forget this emotional moment in my head.

23 What Promise? I'm Only A Kid, Ma'am.

Speaking of handsome, It would only be right to assume that Link is a ladies man. Athletic, chivalrous, and heroic, Link is the perfect man every woman on Earth would ask. That being said, there have been a few flirty moments that Link has had with ladies. It's most torrid one would've been with Nabooru, Sage of Spirit.When Young Link meets her, she asks him for help in getting the Silver Gauntlets, located in the Spirit Temple.

Should Link succeed, she promises to do "something great" to him.

A bit unusual, considering the fact that she's an adult, herself. She later comes back to the charge, when she's rescued by Adult Link. After giving the Spirit Medaillon, she says that she should've kept her "promise," knowing that he'd have grown to be a handsome man. In other words, she wasn't able to do grown-up stuff with him.

22 The Forgotten Hero.

For those that aren't familiar with the Zelda timeline, the conclusion of Ocarina Of Time brings three possible timelines: the Child Era, the Adult Era, and the Defeated Era. The Child Era follows the canon ending of Ocarina Of Time where Adult Link goes back in the past, as Young Link. Young Link prevents Ganondorf's betrayal, by telling the future events to Zelda. She proceeds to tell her dad, King Hyrule, who arrests and executes Ganondorf. This timeline would later continue with Twilight Princess. In the game, Link gets to meet a skeleton entity named Hero's Shade, on various occasions. While he serves as a mentor to the player,

few players know that he's actually Link from Ocarina of Time.

Due to the Child Era timeline, he passed away by not proving his worth and without having someone to pass on his skills. When Link manages to find all of the Shade's appearance, the Fallen Hero is finally at peace with his successor and disappear.

21 Ingo & Talon or Dark Luigi & Lazy Mario?

If you've played Ocarina of Time, the chances are that Ingo was the first NPC you've met in Lon Lon Farm, after leaving Kokiri Forest. While Ingo's the hard-working employee, his boss, Talon, is the lazy type that gets all the credit for the farm's success. To this day, many gamers still don't know that both farmers were inspired by the famed Mario Bros.

Not only do they share the same appearance, but they also do share the same lifestyles. While Mario is the mascot of the Nintendo franchise, Luigi always lives in his shadow, despite working as hard as him. Though the "Green Mario" stars - and even rescues his brother- as the leading roles in the Luigi's Mansion game series, Ingo also gets to control the farm in OoT, in the Adult Link period.

20 Mido Is More Than What You Think.

Mido is the annoying leader of the Kokiri Forest whose jealousy for Link is without equal. He's guarding the Deku Tree access, and won't let the player access unless he has a sword and shield (fairy included).

While Mido's role is reduced to a vulgar NPC, the manga depicts him more heroic as he attempts to help Link defeat Gohma and Phantom Ganon.

While he ends up becoming more of a nuisance to Link, we're still seeing him in action, compared to its in-game appearance. Regardless, we'll still award some points to Mido for trying to act like a hero. Dating Saria's now the only thing left on his bucket list. Altough, based on the events of OoT, we'd be wiling to bet that particular item never happens.

19 Link can Talk? It's A Miracle!

We just know how unfit It would be for Link to talk. Yes, It was already tried in a few games, on the defunct Philips console CD-I, and it was a massive failure (seriously kids, ask your parents). Thanks to Ocarina of Time, the game has managed to set the default voice to Link for the future entries (though they're only grunts). However, you'd be surprised to know that our silent protagonist is seen heavily talking in the OoT storyline arc.

From the first chapter of the official OoT manga, Link is seen interacting with the kids from Kokiri Forest.

Furthermore, Link gets to fully speak with many NPCs that are also part of the original game (e.g., Zelda, Impa, Talon). While It is nice to see Link talk, its quiet personality is what charms us the most.

18 Super Mega Phantom Ganon 64

Super Mario 64 was a significant influence on Ocarina Of Time. While the game was created on a heavily modified engine of Super Mario 64, OoT gameplay was also initiated to be similar than the Mario game. Like Peach's castle, the game would've only featured Ganon's castle, where players would ve entered rooms that would feature a particular world. Though the concept was later scrapped, a few ideas from Super Mario 64 remained in the final build of the game.

One of the main ideas was the Phantom Ganon boss battle. The fact that the boss heads towards different paintings are based on the paintings from Super Mario 64. Just like in the game, Mario must head towards the arts to access different worlds. I sure don't know why, but I feel like I want to play Super Mario 64. Just for old time sakes!

17 Majora Mask Might've Never Happened

While Ocarina Of Time is the most popular game of the series, Majora Mask was also looked like a masterpiece of its own. If players recall the outro, Link got his horse Epona robbed by the possessed Skull Kid. Players would then get to chase the Skull Kid across Termina.

Few players know that it's possible to defeat the Skull Kid, in Ocarina Of Time.

Yes, you've heard us. Link would need to head to The Lost Woods as an adult. Once there, the Skull Kid will get hostile and will proceed to attack the player. If the player bests him, the Kid will drop 50 Rupees. While It doesn't create any time paradox, It's still "an excellent way" for players to experience the prologue of Majora's Mask somewhat. I know, I'm just kidding.

16 Why Can't I Defeat Ganon?

If you were playing Ocarina Of Time before, I'm sure you can remember the Biggoron's Sword; this weapon is the strongest of the game. Like many ultimate weapons, it requires to complete some frustrating ("trading") quests, but once completed, the reward is worth it. While the sword is an incredible help for the rest of the game, real OoT fans can remember how the weapon was useless against last boss, Ganon.

If players were to use the sword against the final boss, the game would not concede you victory, no matter how many times you attack Ganon with it. The game will only recognize the win if you use the Master Sword, which is the legal weapon to use in the game's script. Although we've all finished the game a long while, ago, I still care for players who might fall into the same trap that I've been. Trust me; it's not fun.

15 Willst Thou Watch Yer Mouth, Sonny?

Movements like #MeToo and #OscarsoWhite are perfect examples of how people are serving as watchdogs of heartfelt causes. Thanks to the Internet, it is also easier for movements to spread and for people to join them. Unfortunately, we wish these organizations wouldn't have reached Ocarina Of Time's marketing team, at the time. In the official TV ad of the game, Nintendo used some footages of the game and added some medieval old English lines to reflect the tone of the game.

However, some of its lines questioned the good nature of the game.

The lines "Willst thou get the girl?" "Or play like one?" have a very macho feel and were also promoting gender inequity. To avoid any controversy, Nintendo would quickly replace these lines with "Willst thou soar?" "Or willst thou suck?." We have to give credit to Nintendo for quickly handling this gaffe.

14 When Hyrule Is Paying The Price For Your Bad Parenting

Except for the Great Fairy that was particularly M-rated (and is still is), the Twinrova boss from the Spirit Temple was the only lady that was somehow "interesting" to look at. The boss is a fusion of two witch sisters named Koume & Kotake. While these sisters are much responsible for the events leading to the Spirit Medaillon, these sisters also officially acted as the surrogate mothers of Ganondorf.

That'd make sense, knowing that Ganondorf is also well versed in black magic, just like his maternal figures. Furthermore, the sisters are the only Gerudos that can use magic, other than Nabooru. The only mystery that remains is the identity of Ganondorf's parents. Somehow, we doubt that Nintendo would be able to use "the bee and the flower" example for the fans, knowing that a Gerudo male is born every 100 years. To be continued.

13 Ocarina Of Time: First Person View

One thing that caught me off guard in Ocarina of Time was its first-person view. Though It lacked a more significant purpose (except for aiming with certain weapons), It is still a spectacle to watch the game environment unfold through Link's eyes.

Few people know that the game was initially conceived to be entirely made as an FPS.

Famed Nintendo developer and OoT producer, Shigeru Miyamoto initially wanted to make a first-person Zelda; the player would get to control Link, in first-person, but would switch to a third-person side-scrolling camera, should the player engage in battle. However, the idea was later dropped as the team judged that the concept was ultimately uninteresting. Character designer Yoshiaki Koizumi would also joke saying that he wouldn't be able to see handsome Link. We sincerely agree with him.

12 OMG, Our Laughs Are Like, So Alike!

Nintendo 64 was all about recycling memory to the best of the developer's capacity. At the time, Ocarina of Time was the most prominent game created on the 32 MB cartridge. Although many ideas had to be dropped, due to time constraints, It's still interesting to find the innovative ways Nintendo used to save up some space.

One of them was to recycle Ganondorf's voice and use it to create the Poe sisters' voice.

By increasing the pitch of its laugh, you'd notice the resemblance with the sound of the ghosts. While It's not the first time that Nintendo has used this technique (Bowser's voice was used to create Boos laughs), It's always surprising to notice a fact of the sort, 18 years later.

11 Rewritten History

2011 was a good year for Zelda fans. While fans got to wait for the November release of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, they were treated with the mid-year 3DS remake of Ocarina Of Time. Even though the gameplay retains the same elements from the original game, It was a dream coming true for every Zelda fanboy/girl. What kept me stunned were the numerous easter eggs that were found in the updated game.

In many locations, players can find easter eggs of the Skyward Sword game. Even though the game wasn't released at the time OoT did, It's still nice to see the marketing wink left by the developers. Also, Skyward Sword can be interpreted as canon since it is the first game in the official Zelda chronology. Maybe the Hylians foresaw the adventures of Link. Who knows?

10 Navi + Link?

Everybody remembers Navi as the most annoying fairy-character of Ocarina of Time. Her habits of continually harassing Link with her limited vocabulary - which only contains "Hey" "Listen"- is still mentally haunting me. Her attention-seeking personality may be explained by the fact that Navi is potentially attracted to Link.

Initially, developers wanted Navi to harbor feelings for Link.

She was even to be jealous of Princess Zelda. The idea was dropped in the final build of the game. However, Navi proclaims her love at the end of the Ocarina Of Time's manga. Though the manga is not considered canon to the series, many fans are still speculating that Navi wants to be Mrs. Link. On the other hand, we don't think Link would have the tolerance to continuously "listen" to the fairy for a lifetime! Such a funny joke, I know.

9 ...Or Link + Navi?

So Navi might have had feelings for Link, but what about him? Surely a guy dating a fairy is something that's well beyond our imagination, but what if It was the case? For instance, Navi has been riding shotgun with Link ever since his journey began. Furthermore, Navi has provided so much information and has seen so much from him, that she knows Link better than anyone does. Still not convinced? How about the prologue of its follow-up game The Legend of Zelda Majora's Mask?

Before saving Termina from being pancaked by the Moon, Young Link is initially searching for Navi. The question is why? While Navi disappeared, why would Link search for her, even though the world is saved from Ganondorf? While the plot seems to indicate Navi as Link's "friend." we tend to think otherwise.

8 Tough Spot Because Of WHAT?

Nintendo has been cautious in not including any religious content in their games, to avoid any controversy. Since the early 90s, many games had to change their contents during localization, in order to comply with Nintendo policies. As the best video game of all time, It's no surprise that Ocarina Of Time was also subjected to some censorship before It's release.

A few of these changes were actually regarding the Islamic religion.

In the Nintendo 64 version of the game, the Gerudo symbol was represented by a star-shaped and crescent. While this sign is reminiscent of the star and crescent Islamic symbol, It was edited out in later editions of the game. Also, the original Fire Temple theme was edited out of the game as it featured an Islamic chant. No wonder why Nintendo hasn't been the subject of much game controversy these last years!

7 No More To Be Shed.

Speaking of editing, the Islamic references were only part of what Nintendo had to censor. If players remember the game, many parts were "suggesting." One of these moments was when Link has to fight against Ganondorf. After defeating the Gerudo King, he will cough up some yellow blood (yuk). Nasty, isn't it? If that's the case, then you probably had the second version of the N64 game, because Ganondorf was initially supposed to cough real crimson blood.

The original gold-colored N64 version of the game is the only version that contains the unedited version of the blood.

It was later edited to make sure that the game stays with the E rating. Oddly enough, the original version of the game was still rated for Everybody. Someone at ESRB must have been slacking at the job.

6 Maestro, Stop, Please!

One of the critical elements in Ocarina of Time is the inclusion of the ocarina wind instrument. While the game had some of the best music composition (Serenade Of Water is bae song), players would sometimes play the song on the ocarina, just to fully hear it (that was before MP3 players, kid). While Link seems to be naturally well-versed with the wind instrument, it is also possible to make Link sound very execrable, too.

While playing the ocarina in the Nintendo 64 version of the game, tilting the analog stick up or down will affect the tone of the notes, and moving the analog stick left or right will change the notes' vibratos. Furthermore, the L and R buttons also affect the note's volume. While this addition doesn't affect the storyline of the game, we advise you to play Bolero of Fire to your friend while playing with the notes' tone. He's probably going to love it! Ok, maybe not!