Ocarina

The Ocarina of Time
Ocarina
Type	Musical Instrument
Owner	Link
Debut	The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

The Ocarina is a recurring musical instrument seen in the The Legend of Zelda series. Out of several musical instruments appearing throughout the games, the ocarina appears most frequently and prominently. It is a seemingly normal instrument but can be used to play a variety of magical songs.

Information

The ocarina first appeared in The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, although it was called a flute in the English localization, where it was originally owned by a boy in Kakariko Village, who was referred to as simply the "Flute Boy". Link could gain the ocarina by digging it up within the grove of the Dark World for the transformed Flute Boy, and after playing it to put him to rest, the ocarina could then be played near the weathercock in Kakariko Village in order to bring the bird to life. After that, playing the ocarina would automatically summon the bird, which can take Link to any of eight specific locations, regardless of whether or not Link has been to these places. At the end of the game, the Flute Boy was shown to have been restored in the light world and was playing his ocarina. Presumably it had been returned to him by Link. An ocarina also appeared in Link's Awakening, where it was found within the Dream Shrine. This was the first game where Link can play different songs on it, with a total of three songs.

Two different ocarinas appeared in Ocarina of Time, the Fairy Ocarina and the titular Ocarina of Time, and Link learned a variety of songs that can be played on both of them. Link was given the Fairy Ocarina as a present from Saria early in the game, and used it until he received the Ocarina of Time from Zelda at the end of the childhood portion of the game. The Ocarina of Time was used again in Majora's Mask.

An ocarina called the Ocarina of Winds appeared in The Minish Cap. It was found at the end of the Fortress of Winds and was a relic of the Wind Tribe. It was similar to the ocarina from A Link to the Past, as playing it summoned a bird named Zeffa that could take Link to any area with a Wind Crest that Link had discovered.

Ocarina of Time

Within Ocarina of Time, the eponymous object was shown as a heirloom of the Royal Family and was one of the keys needed to open the door to the Sacred Realm. Princess Zelda had the Ocarina until she was forced to flee Hyrule Castle after Link collected all three Spiritual Stones, at which point she tossed the ocarina to Link. It was primarily used for opening the Door of Time and afterwards was used to play songs like a normal ocarina. At the end of the game, Zelda reclaimed the ocarina and played a song on it to return Link to his childhood years.

In Majora's Mask, Princess Zelda gave Link the Ocarina of Time before he left Hyrule on his journey. It was initially stolen by the Skull Kid, but Link could reclaim it by making him drop it during a confrontation aboard the clock tower on the third night. Its importance in this game was that it was needed to save Link from being killed from the falling moon at the end of the third night. This was accomplished by playing the Song of Time, which sent Link back in time to the dawn of the first day. Another important song was the Song of Healing, which was initially used to save Link from being trapped in the form of a Deku Scrub at the beginning of the game. Additionally, it would transform into a different instrument whenever Link assumed a different form: becoming either Deku Pipes, Goron Drums or a Zora Guitar.

Other Appearances

Video Games

• An ocarina appears in Link's ending of Soul Calibur II, where he uses it to return to Hyrule (presumably having used it to travel from Hyrule to the world of Soul Calibur to begin with).
• In Freshly-Picked Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland, a Bone Ocarina could be obtained by Tingle and could be used to summon the pirates of Captain Stalfos to certain docks.
• In Scribblenauts Unlimited, an ocarina was among the items that could be created. If given to Link, he would play Epona's Song and summon Epona.
• In Hyrule Warriors, ocarinas appear in several different contexts. In Legend Mode, the player could obtain a gold ocarina during the scenario "The Sorceress in the Woods", and playing it would teleport the player to any owl statue that had been activated. The ocarina was also a class of weapon used by the Skull Kid, who played it to coordinate attacks and could also transform it into a trumpet to summon Puppets. The different classes of the ocarina weapon were the Fairy Ocarina (the same as the one from Ocarina of Time), Lunar Ocarina (a version with a design based on the appearance of the Moon from Majora's Mask), Majora's Ocarina and Crackling Ocarina (the latter two having a design based on the appearance of Majora's Mask). Link also played Epona's Song on the Ocarina of Time as his victory animation when using the horse weapon class, and the Ocarina of Time was also used by Young Link in one of his Strong Attacks. Additionally, there were Item Cards on the Termina Map of Adventure Mode for two ocarina songs, the Song of Time and Song of Inverted Time, which were represented through the image of the ocarina.

In Other Media

• Both the Fairy Ocarina and the Ocarina of Time appear in the Ocarina of Time manga. It follows the game, but it also provides an explanation for what happened to the Fairy Ocarina; as Ganondorf deduces that Link has the Ocarina of Time and tries forcing him to give it to him, so Link gives Ganondorf the Fairy Ocarina instead. He later crushes it after realizing it is not the Ocarina of Time.
• The Ocarina of Time appears in the Majora's Mask manga, with a similar role as in the game.
• The ocarina appears in the 2005 manga adaptation of A Link to the Past, where the Flute/Ocarina Boy, instead of becoming a tree-like creature, becomes a furry creature with Gollumesque habits. After finding the ocarina, Link plays it to return from the Dark World.

Trivia

• The Ocarina of Time appears as a trophy in Super Smash Bros. Melee and a sticker in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
• While the ocarina has become the most prolific instrument within the series, other instruments used in earlier and later games include the flute, the Harp of Ages and the Spirit Flute, as well as pieces of grass and the horse call which Link can play songs through in Twilight Princess. Though technically not an instrument, the Wind Waker in the game of the same name and howling at Howling Stones in Twilight Princess act as replacements for the ocarina in those particular games.
• Most versions of the ocarina, including the Ocarinas of Time and Wind, are blue. The only versions which are different colors are the one from Link's Awakening (which is red in the original game and tan in the Switch remake) and the Fairy Ocarina from Ocarina of Time (which is tan).
• The Hyrule Historia has implied a connection between the Ocarina of Time and the Timeshift Stones from Skyward Sword, which were a similar color and also connected to time travel.

See Also

• Songs in Legend of Zelda series