"While my dad was out... Ganondorf's followers came and took them all away! All of them will be eaten by Volvagia! Dad said that Ganondorf has revived Volvagia... As a warning to those who might oppose him, Ganondorf is going to feed them all to Volvagia! Dad went to the Fire Temple all by himself to try to save everyone... Please help, Link!" — Link of the Gorons

The Fire Temple (炎の神殿, Honō no Shinden?) is the fifth dungeon in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, and the second dungeon in the adult portion of the game. It is found inside the Death Mountain Crater, and the dungeon treasure is the Megaton Hammer. It was most likely built by the Gorons as a place of worship to the Fire Spirits. Volvagia is the boss of the Fire Temple, and Darunia is the sage of the temple. The Goron Tunic is essential for surviving in the Fire Temple, as the temperature is at a lethal level.

Contents show]

Story

Spoiler warning : Plot or ending details follow.

When Link returns to Goron City as an adult, he finds it to be deserted, save for a single rolling Goron. This Goron is Darunia's son, who Darunia named after Link for his valiant display in Dodongo's Cavern. After Link calms him down, Darunia's son gives Link the Goron Tunic and opens the doors to the Goron Shop and Darunia's room, allowing Link to enter a new area of Death Mountain Crater via the passage in Darunia's Room. On the bridge leading toward the temple, Sheik appears and teaches Link the Bolero of Fire, allowing him quick access back to Death Mountain Crater.

Once inside the temple, Link quickly finds Darunia, who tells him that Ganondorf has imprisoned the Goron people throughout the temple, and intends to feed them to the mythical dragon, Volvagia, as a warning to other races who try to resist him. He requests that Link free his fellow Gorons while he confronts Volvagia himself. As he prepares to enter, he mentions to Link that it would be easier to defeat Volvagia with "the legendary hammer".

Link then works his way through the temple, releasing the imprisoned Gorons, who each give him a hint and a Small Key as a thank-you for saving them. Link obtains the Legendary Hammer of the Gorons, the Megaton Hammer, and uses it to knock a pillar on the fifth floor of the temple down into the room where he met Darunia, allowing Link to follow the Goron leader into Volvagia's chamber. As Link steps on to the large circular platform, Darunia is nowhere to be seen. The ground begins shaking and Volvagia bursts from the ground. After defeating it, Darunia is awakened as the Sage of Fire, and Link obtains the third medallion, the Fire Medallion.

Spoiler warning: Spoilers end here.

Dungeon

The Fire Temple is a Goron temple where the Gorons pray to the mountain and fire spirits. Being in the crater of Death Mountain, it is filled with lava and rooms with scorching hot temperatures. It is filled with a fire maze and flames which must be put out by hitting switches. It consists of many cells where the Gorons are held captive. A unique feature of this temple are the fake doors which slam down when approached. The dungeon features a towering 5 floors, and two central chambers, one of which spans all 5 floors. The shape and location of the dungeon heavily indicates that these central chambers are the interior of Spectacle Rock.

The dungeons puzzle structure centers around finding caged Gorons to gain keys, and using these keys to get to the chamber above the boss door. The dungeon's special item, the Megaton Hammer, is then used to knock a pillar into the room allowing access to the boss room. The boss of the dungeon is a fire-breathing dragon named Volvagia. The Temple also features prominent illustrations of a face on many blocks and temple elements.

The dungeon's special item, the Megaton Hammer, can be found at the very top of one of the tower's central chambers. According to the Goron legends, it was used by the Hero of the Gorons to seal away the dragon once before.

Items

Enemies

Mini-bosses

Boss

Non-canon warning: This article or section contains non-canonical information that is not considered to be an official part of the Legend of Zelda series and should not be considered part of the overall storyline.

In the Master Quest re-releases, several changes have been made to the dungeon, including puzzles and the order in which rooms are visited. Din's Fire or Fire Arrows are necessary for many of the new puzzles in this dungeon. The Megaton Hammer is also found quite early and is needed to explore most of the dungeon. It also features more powerful enemies such as Lizalfos, Stalfos and even an Iron Knuckle. Interestingly many of the rooms in this dungeon do not need to be visited in order to reach the boss. These rooms instead hold several Gold Skulltula that can only be obtained after solving difficult puzzles.

Non-canon warning: Non-canonical information ends here.

Controversy

Fire Temple chanting

In earlier versions of Ocarina of Time, the musical score for Fire Temple featured what sounded like a Muslim Prayer. Later versions of the game had the chanting removed. Similarly, the original Gerudo Symbol (which also resembled an Islamic icon) found on various blocks, Foot Switches, and the Mirror Shield was also replaced in versions beyond Nintendo 64 with no official explanation given.

These changes were wrongfully believed to be a result of an outcry from Muslim groups, forcing Nintendo to make changes. However, recent findings prove that all builds of the game were completed before its official release date; this means that versions both with and without alterations were made before the official release date, and as such the alterations predates any possible controversy. The real reason behind the alterations was revealed in May 2012, when Nintendo released a statement that the music was initially chosen from a library of commercially available clips. When it was pointed out that this was an Islamic prayer, the song (and other real-life religious symbols, such as the initial Gerudo symbol) were changed for subsequent builds. As it is likely that the initial builds (in versions 1.0 and 1.1) were already completed, it would have been time-consuming and ineffective to change those builds already built.

The Islamic song that was removed from later versions of Ocarina of Time was a sample of the 76th track from a Best Service sample CD named, "Voice Spectral 1". The sample lasts 36 seconds.

Theories

Theory warning: This section contains theoretical information based on the research of one or several other users. It has not been officially verified by Nintendo and its factual accuracy is disputed.

It is possible that the totem pole-like statue found all over the Fire Temple symbolizes the dungeon's patron deity. This statue is never mentioned, but it is seen quite often throughout the temple. Also, all of the other adult dungeons seem to have their own representations.

It is also possible that the Fire Temple is related to Dragon Roost Cavern from The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, as there are paintings in the cavern which resemble Volvagia. It is also possible that the Fire Temple had once been the Fire Sanctuary from The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, as the two share similar locations.