Secrets and Easter Eggs

The best rewards in the remake sit behind bombable walls, pulled tombstones, songs and bugs, and the game hints at most of them in the open. This page lists 12 hidden rooms and passages, four hint systems such as Fairy’s Thoughts and Gossip Stones, and seven odd characters and signs, from the Running Man to the Sinking Lure. Each entry gives the place, the steps and the reward.

Quick reference

Hidden Rooms and Passages

Hidden Passage to the Kokiri Sword

The training swordsman in Kokiri Forest says a hidden sword lies in a space too tight for him, because small spaces creep him out. Go through the stone arch past the wooden sign, crawl through the small opening and follow the dark mossy passage. A blue rupee lies beside the wall. At the end climb the rope ladder to a ledge, where a large chest holds the Kokiri Sword.

Hidden Grotto in Kakariko Village

Past the red-doored house with the sign “Gone field studying”, a round hole opens in the ground beside the steps. Drop in and you land on a Deku Flower in a small underground clearing. The chest in the shaft of light holds a Blue Rupee. Step back onto the Deku Flower to climb out. The hole is easy to miss in daylight, since it sits right beside the stairs.

Grave of the Hylian Shield

In the Graveyard, talk to the boy who is playing gravekeeper, then stand on the path and play the Sun’s Song. Beams of light sweep the field, and one grave slab shows a Grab prompt. Pull it aside and drop into the hole onto a Deku Flower in a stone chamber. A tall enemy stands on a raised platform. Play the Sun’s Song again to freeze it, strike it and open the chest for the Hylian Shield. It resists fire, but it is too heavy for a child to block with while moving.

Cave under the Blue-Tiled Pillars

On the cliffs of Zora River, a flat shelf lies between two blue-tiled stone pillars. Set a bomb on the ground between them and the blast opens a round hole, with a green rupee next to it. Drop in. The cave beyond has golden flower pedestals that save your progress, and a chest at its end holds a Business Scrub Seed. The shelf is reached by climbing a vine wall while carrying a Cucco; see Zora River and Zora Domain.

Song of Storms Holes

The Song of Storms makes a whirlwind that uncovers holes in the ground. In Gerudo Valley, play it beside the wall of the ruined building near the tent camp. The hole leads to a small cave with pots and a chest holding a Red Rupee, worth 20. Play it by the fence inside the Hyrule Castle garden as a child and a leafy plant and a hole appear. In the cave below, bomb the cracked wall and throw the Boomerang at the web to reach Gold Skulltula #75, then leave by the yellow flower.

Graveyard Crypt

Go to the Graveyard after dark with bombs. Carry one through the passage to a stone doorway filled with cracked rock, set it down and step back. Walk through the opened door, follow the tunnel past a round blue chamber and take the yellow flower platform up. Back among the graves, pull aside the tomb that shows a Grab prompt. The hole takes you to a second flower platform and a short hall. A chest at the end holds Heart Piece #33. Ride the platform to leave.

Moat Grotto Business Scrub

As a child, follow the grass bank beside the moat at the Hyrule Castle drawbridge until you see a round hole near the tower wall. Drop in and step on the yellow flower, which carries you into a small green grotto with a Business Scrub. He says he will only sell you something if you know the password. Say it and he offers a Heart Piece for 100 rupees. “I’ll buy!” gives you Heart Piece #34. The clues come from the Fairy’s Thoughts in Hyrule Field; see Final Collectibles.

Canyon Chest with the Lock Left Undone

When you ride Epona to a red-rock canyon at the edge of Hyrule Field as an adult, Navi stops at a chest under the wall and a thought bubble says the lock was left undone. You cannot open it yet. Come back as a child, walk over open grass that turns to sand and press Open. The chest opens normally and holds Heart Piece #35.

Shortcut behind the Forebrother Statue

In Goron City as an adult, a young Goron tells you there is a shortcut to the Fire Temple behind the forebrother statue. Walk through the carved doorway past the shop at the end of the city into the chamber with the large statue and two lit torches. Face the statue, press Grab and follow the passage that opens behind it. It leads out into Death Mountain Crater.

Hidden Rooms of the Bottom of the Well

Once the Song of Storms has drained the well in Kakariko Village, the tunnel at the bottom leads to rooms that show nothing until you wear the Lenses of Truth. They reveal walls to pass through, a grate over a glowing pit, a Compass chest in a hidden room, a small key chest in a candlelit niche and a second small key behind a slab in a coffin hall. The Lenses drain your magic, so switch them off in plain corridors. See Bottom of the Well.

Hidden Path of the Wind

On the way through the Shadow Temple, a stone tablet in a graveyard room reads “Lighten your steps and seek the hidden path of the wind.” Equip the Hover Boots, keep the Lenses of Truth up and float out across the gap to a chest on the far side. It holds a Business Scrub Seed. Shadow Temple has the full route.

Triplet Order Hint

In the Great Deku Tree, a Deku Scrub hides in a leafy plant ahead of the triplets. Talk to it and it lets you in on a secret: tag the triplets in the order two, three, one. A green rupee sits in the leaves where the Scrub stood. See Great Deku Tree.

Hints the Game Gives

Fairy’s Thoughts

When Navi glows over a spot, stand beside it and choose “Yeah, let’s see!” to read what the fairy was thinking. Two sit on the road to Kakariko Village, a mossy ruined wall and an overturned cart. Another is on Death Mountain Trail at night and says leaves drift calmly on quiet days and spin when a storm kicks up. Three in Hyrule Field near the wall hint at the Business Scrub and the canyon chest. Fairy’s Thoughts lists every spot.

Gossip Stones

Blue Gossip Stones whisper rumors. The stone in the ruins outside the Temple of Time says lenses should be banned in the Treasure-Chest Shop, and that certain note combinations played to Gossip Stones can produce marvelous results. On Death Mountain, one says there is a sword stronger than Medigoron’s giant’s knives, and another warns you to keep flames away from stones like it. In the Sacred Grove, one tells you to hold a Deku Stick near a butterfly, and a second says Saria is often lonely. See Gossip Stones.

Cursed Rich Man’s Hints

The Cursed Rich Man hangs in the middle of the House of Skulltula, and he answers three questions about Gold Skulltulas. They keep to dark, dreary places, and outdoors they appear only at night, sometimes under fresh soil. Ask him again for the hints that they knock leaves loose from trees and that releasing a bug from a bottle can lure one out. Both hints are right. Magic Bean Locations lists every soft soil spot.

Echo Gem

The Cursed Rich Man gives you the Echo Gem after you have gathered 20 tokens. It is a strange stone that reacts when you bring it near a Gold Skulltula, and more strongly the closer you get. Equip it from the Equipment screen to see and hear nearby tokens. Secret Grottos and the Echo Gem has more.

Odd Characters and Signs

Sinking Lure

A sign at the Fishing Pond says the sinking lure is forbidden. As an adult you find one on the bank anyway, a glittering item that fish cannot resist. It lands a 90 cm fish and the pond man calls it a rare catch, then refuses the prize and tells you to try again with a normal lure. A second rod costs another 30 rupees. Fishing Pond has the rules.

Hall of Fallen Foes

As an adult, find the ruined house by the lab at Lake Hylia with a green glow in the doorway. Choose “Go to sleep” and you wake in a round hall lined with statues of the monsters you have beaten. Kaepora Gaebora explains that you can read about each monster, that statues of your strongest foes start a rematch, and that injuries here are temporary. Select “I’m ready to leave” to wake up in the house. The Hall of Fallen Foes page has every statue.

Mansion of the Great Mido

The big tree house in Kokiri Forest carries a sign reading “Mansion of the Great Mido, Boss of the Kokiri”. Go inside and open the chests: three blue rupees and a green rupee, worth 16 rupees in all. The game saves while you are in the house.

House of the Know-It-All Brothers

A sign outside the House of the Know-It-All Brothers says that a true adventurer keeps a good record of their experiences. Check it to save your game, or open the pause menu to read the Basic Controls.

Townspeople and the Mask of Truth

Once the Happy Mask Shopkeeper lends you the Mask of Truth, wear it in the market of Hyrule Castle Town and talk to everyone. One passer-by daydreams about borrowing a funny mask from the shop and fears it would bomb. An old man mutters that he is looking for a damsel who brews the ultimate potion. Neither pays anything.