Daily Debate: Why Does Death Mountain Look Strange in Twilight Princess?

Have you ever compared the maps of Hyrule from most Zelda games? If you have, you’ll probably agree that geography is not consistent within the franchise. However, despite the exact location of recurring locations moving between games, they typically look relatively the same– the exception being Death Mountain from Twilight Princess. It’s appearance is very strange, and how it came to look as it does has always perplexed me.

In Ocarina of Time, Death Mountain is a fully intact volcano. Twilight Princess proceeds that game, but in it Death Mountain is in complete shambles! What happened to it? Volcanoes are definitely volatile, but I can’t recall any volcanoes looking like that in reality. Even volcanoes that have had one side blown away don’t appear to be in as bad shape as Death Mountain. I’ve seen it referred to as a sky cabbage, it’s peak is oddly jagged, and from Kakariko Village the volcano looks almost spherical. It’s certainly become a very unnatural formation!

There was likely a long time gap between Ocarina of Time and Twilight Princess. What could have happened to cause Death Mountain to be in such bad shape? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Charles Xavier

Charles is a Senior Editor at Zelda Dungeon. He is a Visual Development artist focused on enviroments and pitch paintings. Check out his Instagram and Twitter to see his latest artworks, a lot of which is Zelda fan art! His favorite candy is Skittles – he feels the world should know this.