Secret of the Temples

[peanutjoepap]

What are the temples in oot really there for? The common theory is that they are ancient places of worship, but if that were true why are they so hidden and dangerous? Extremely deep in a forest, in an active volcano, at the bottom of a lake, under a grave yard, and in the middle of a desert, not any where I would want to go every Sunday for Mass. They are all heavily guarded with all the traps and puzzles, but why, what do they really have to hide. (Remember, all the bosses and sage stuff was all Ganondorf's doing.) The only one that had a purpose was the shadow temple, to seal away bongo bongo (I never understood that, I mean bongo bongo I could give you a better evil monster name than that in five seconds.) Back to the point why would any one in there right minds build buildings that when you go in they kill you? What was so important that people built these things? What dark secrets do they really hide?

 

[Clucluclu]

I think that they only have evils because Ganon/dorf placed a curse on them. Also, about Bongo Bongo, he was sealed in the bottom of the well. He broke out before Sheik taught you the Song to warp you.
As far as purpose, I believe that they are places of worship that house many sacred objects, (Megaton Hammer, Hover Boots, etc.), and are in the middle of nowhere to establish a greater connection between the temple and the element it represents.

 

[Master Kokiri 9]

Perhaps they were only for elite or dedicated worshippers. The ones that would go to a temple for worship every sunday even if they were dying.

And I agree with Clucluclu that they only had monsters and such because of Ganon/dorf.

And peanutjoepap Bongo Bongo wasn't sealed within the Shadow Temple. He was sealed at the bottom of the well where he somehow broke out (still it's insane to put something evil like that in your water supply) and then he wreaked havoc on Kakariko and then went to the shadow temple.

And about the traps maybe there are very sacred places within each of the temples (possibly the boss chamber but thats just me) that people who aren't pure of heart must not get into so they put traps and puzzles in there to keep them out. And like Clucluclu said they probably house sacred objects (the dungeon items) to try to keep people from stealing them with all the traps and puzzles.

Another thought is that maybe the temples are also places for leaders of the tribes that worship in that temple to bee buried like the pyramids of egypt but thats just me.

 

[Steve]

Well, the fact that the Sage Medallions were kept there, it would seem they were merely for holding them. It is possible they may have been used to worship the goddesses, or even maybe just a sanctuary for the respective Sage. The various creatures and traps seem to be nothing more than being placed their by Ganondorf.

 

[DarkMark]

Well, I read some fan sepculation that the forest temple may have been used by the Royal Family during the war. It said during the war the Royal Family retreted there to hide. If I can find it I post a link.

Edit: Wow, that was easier to find then I expected. Here's the link.
Forest Temple
http://www.gamespot.com/wii/action/...how_msgs.php?topic_id=m-1-51229088&pid=960633
Edit agian: I found more. If you keep going though-out the pages you'll see more, such as the Lens of Truth. I think they talk about the Fire Temple too.
http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/genmessage.php?board=197771&topic=40542098

 

[peanutjoepap]

If I remember the medallions were just useless things on your item screen so you know what dungeons you beat, they don't do any thing (except look pretty). And I think the well and the shadow temple are the same place that just have different entrances. Good one master kokiri 9.

 

[MrMosley]

It says somewhere in OoT, that after Ganondorf entered the Sacred Realm and touched the Triforce, the SR became a realm of darkness. I believe this storyline was added to try and make OoT the events of the Seal War. Of course now, it isn't likely that OoT is still the SW, but the events still remain.

The temples themselves are connected to the Sacred Realm. Once Ganondorf turned the SR into a realm of darkness, evil began coming out of that realm into the temples because of this connection. That is why there are so many monsters in there.

As for what they hide and their puzzles and all that, Clucluclu got it right I believe in his post above. They held sacred items. Also, being that they are connected to the SR in such a way, those areas had to be hidden within the temple itself. The Sages wouldn't want just anyone being able to gain access to the SR. Even though the Temple of Time was the only known way to the SR during OoT, the temples themselves also had the ability to warp Link back to the Temple of Light (which is located in the SR), once he completed each temple in Hyrule.

 

[blackice_cc]

Hmm, interesting question. I must admit that it does seem a little strange to have gigantic labyrinthine temples full of traps if they were only there for places to worship the gods/goddesses. Perhaps they were also used as sanctuaries in times of war, as DarkMark said. It could fit for all of them except the Shadow Temple, but it seemed pretty obvious that that was just a big tomb.
Then again, they also could have just been places to protect the treasures hidden there.
It's pretty obvious that the monsters and whatnot were all there because of Ganondorf taking over, but there are still plenty of traps in the temples. I really don't know, but I'd lean towards the first possibility.

@Steve: I don't know if the medallions were actually hidden in the temples. It seems more likely that they were all in the Temple of Light, and that the Sages just gave them to Link to signify that he had rescued and awakened them as Sages.

 

[DarkMark]

blackice, I believe that the Shadow Temple was more then a tomb. I'm not sure, but I read that the Royal Family would use it as a place to torture their opponents. Once agian, the second link has the article about this somewhere in it.

 

[Master Kokiri 9]

Well, I read some fan sepculation that the forest temple may have been used by the Royal Family during the war. It said during the war the Royal Family retreted there to hide. If I can find it I post a link.

Okay so riddle me this: if the forest temple was a sancuary for non kokiri then why wouldn't they turn into stalfos? The forest temple is located deep within the lost woods which if someone without a fairy goes into for too long becomes a stalfos. If it was a sanctuary for non kokiri (cuz they were unaffected by the war so they wouldn't need a sanctuary) then why would they not become a monster? And I predict that someone'll ask me why link didn't become a stalfos and I'll tell you why. It's because he had a Guardian Fairy (Navi) with him to protect him from whatever causes people to become monsters.

 

[MrMosley]

Okay so riddle me this: if the forest temple was a sancuary for non kokiri then why wouldn't they turn into stalfos? The forest temple is located deep within the lost woods which if someone without a fairy goes into for too long becomes a stalfos. If it was a sanctuary for non kokiri (cuz they were unaffected by the war so they wouldn't need a sanctuary) then why would they not become a monster? And I predict that someone'll ask me why link didn't become a stalfos and I'll tell you why. It's because he had a Guardian Fairy (Navi) with him to protect him from whatever causes people to become monsters.

My opinion of people becoming a Stalfos is that they simply die. Think of what a Stalfos is... Its a skeleton that can move around, see, hear, all the normal things, but its still essentially a dead person. I think the Kokiri, being children, have a basic understanding that when a person becomes lost in the Lost Woods, they end up turning into a Stalfos, and that's it. But when you think about it, it makes a bit more sense that the person who becomes lost would die, then come back to life as a Stalfos. They would probably wonder around lost for so long that they would starve to death. But Zelda tends to not make things this complicated or graphic. Still, it is the most logical answer IMO..

For the Royal Family, I'm sure they knew how to navigate the Lost Woods pretty well. So its easy for me to believe that they were able to use the Forest Temple during the war.

 

[ironknuckle1]

ok heres what I think.Maybe the temples were made to guard the medallions which were like the essences of the sages.

 

[Erimgard]

The Temples were just that...Temples.
One was deep in the forest because it was for the Kokiri.
One was at the bottom of the lake because it was for the Zoras.
One was in a volcano because it was for the Gorons.
One was in the dessert because it was for the Gerudo.
One was hidden underground because it was for the Sheikah.
One was in Hyrule Castle Town because it was for the Hylians.

 

[Zemen]

There are temples and dungeons because without them there would be no Zelda series.

 

[Bongo Bongo]

But Zelda tends to not make things this complicated or graphic. Still, it is the most logical answer IMO..

This is what I like about the Zelda series...you can come up with your own ideas and theories about why things are or why they happened, etc etc. With everything explained, I doubt this section of the forum would even exist. It makes the game that much more interesting.