Lake Hylia

Do you like lakes of water? Well, you will love The Legend of Zelda’s Lake Hylia, a special lake where so much adventure happens, all in all. In Lake Hylia, you can either go fishing, fight a villain in a dungeon, meet some new water creatures, practice your swimming, or anything else….depending on which Zelda game you’re in, of course. Lake Hylia is amazing! 

The first time you get to explore Lake Hylia is in “The Legend of Zelda : Ocarina of Time”, a game that has evolved Zelda, as we knew it then, into a whole new world of 3D sights and sounds, plots and characters, and more. And in Ocarina of Time, Lake Hylia is a peaceful, tranquil spot located just West of Hyrule Castle, South of the Gerudo Valley ---- in Lake Hylia, a memorable fisherman resides (of which, interestingly, you get to see a picture of him, hanging on the walls of a character’s home, later on in Twilight Princess….which takes place hundreds of years later, according to the Zelda storyline). This fisherman can get you a bait and reel --- all you need to do is spare some time, and go fishing...if you catch a big enough fish in his shop, at Lake Hylia, you will get a heart piece --- you can get other kinds of little rewards, for catching fish of other sizes, as well.

In Lake Hylia, in Ocarina of Time, you can also run into this crazy, weird old scientist man (whom you also run into later, in Majora’s Mask….well, is it him, or a guy who looks like him? Who knows?) who loves to study water life. Think of him as a marine biologist for the ancient age. And perhaps the title was called something else back then. But also, in this game’s Lake Hylia take, you get to don your Iron Boots and drop to the bottom of the lake --- where the then find that the Water Temple has been hiding, just waiting for you to get in it……

Lake Hylia appears in “The Legend of Zelda : A Link to the Past”, too, but this time, in 2D. This game was the one that came right before Ocarina of Time, its predecessor from a slightly older Nintendo game console, respectively. And in A Link to the Past, you instead see Southeast Hyrule (instead of SouthWest Hyrule) as the place where Lake Hylia is. And here, this time, all sorts of small caves are seen coming right out of it, not like the more open - field space Lake Hylia you may have become accustomed to in OOT, or Ocarina of Time. Zora’s River feeds the lake, in both instances, however. 

And in A Link to the Past, you also get to know Lake Hylia in two ways, at two different times and seasons (just as you do in OOT, as a child and as an adult, or “before and after” Ganondorf took over). In A Link to the Past, you go to Lake Hylia both in the Light World and in the Dark World. So that’s pretty neat. But in both worlds of the game, interestingly enough, the Zora are actually hostile, not like you may know them in other games...they will attack you on sight. So be careful. 

And in this game, the Pond of Happiness happens to sit right at the Lake’s Center, and a fairy lives in this area. There is also a fairy fountain in other versions, too. But in this game, Venus is the Queen of them all, and she will give bomb upgrades, as well as arrow upgrades, to you as the player --- just pay her a few Rupees to get it done. She has to make a living, of course…..

In “The Legend of Zelda : Four Swords Adventures”, another 2D game that came out a little later after Ocarina of Time did, you see Lake Hylia differently, once more. And this time, there is actually a waterfall at the top of it (not like in Ocarina of Time, in which the waterfall was found more towards Zora’s Domain instead). And also, in this game, Lake Hylia is basically where you start out and not a place you later discover and explore, like in other games…...Lake Hylia, here, is basically “Level 1”.

You’ll find Lake Hylia just East of Hyrule in “The Legend of Zelda : The Minish Cap”. Water from the North gets into the lake, this time, and it comes from Veil Falls, through one of its rivers. It’s a nice twist, this time. And you can Kinstone Fuse, in this game, within Lake Hylia. This is also a first. Now let’s talk about the other versions of Lake Hylia, too…..

Within the 2006 Wii title, “The Legend of Zelda : Twilight Princess”, of which they also made a GameCube title at the same time, you see Lake Hylia, at first, fully covered in twilight and not as glorious as before. It looks different either way, of course, and takes place in a much later timeline than the other stories mentioned. Here, Lake Hylia moves back West of Hyrule, and that is where we find it….it sure does get around, eh? It’s found in Lanayru, one of the major provinces in all the land, at large….and the Spirit Spring is found in Lake Hylia, this time, which is an open door for more, later on (but I will not “spoil” it or offer ‘cheats’ on that, at least not in this article, but I might sometime….). 

In “The Legend of Zelda : A Link Between Worlds”, you can come to notice Lake Hylia placed SouthEast of Hyrule Castle. Nice move, once more. And this time, your second dungeon will be right here in Lake Hylia, inside what is known as the House of Gales. Be prepared for another stunning match in this 2D / 3D hybrid - like game. You will love the action you can get out of it!