The Nature Of The Lost Woods

[PalaeoJoe]

The Lost Woods of Hyrule is shown in several Zelda games including the Original Legend Of Zelda, A Link To The Past, Ocarina Of Time and Twilight Princes (I'm including Twilight Princes because the Sacred Grove seems to me to be either the same place with a different name or just being a similar idea). It is also a dangerous and mysterious place where imps dwell and logic is diffed, but is the lost woulds itself evil or dose it just hide dangerous things, I'm not sure myself so I ask every one else: is the Lost woulds evil or not?

Also, please tell me if the Lost Woods in any other Zelda games that I did not list.

 

[Seth]

I don't think it is evil per se.

In OoT we see the Deku Tree, a powerful and benevolent guardian who inhabits the forest. He uses his powers to protect the Kokiri and in his own words his domain over Kokiri Forest serves as a "barrier, deterring outsiders and maintaining the order of the world...". The question is how far does the Deku Tree's domain go? Is it just the Kokiri Forest or all of the Lost Woods? And of course what of games in which he does not appear in?

Perhaps the Forest serves as a protective barrier for Hyrule, perhaps it is in fact a force of good that hides it's powerful secrets from those who might misuse them. Or maybe it's neither good nor evil, but simply an ancient and powerful magic that permeates the land in which travelers unwittingly fall victim to.

 

[SNOlink]

I don't really think the Lost Woods is evil itself. I think it's more mysterious. Evil implies that it has some intent that is meant to induce harm on others. The Lost Woods just seems like a dark and strange place where good and evil things roam.

 

[Twilight Gale]

Well, it's not really evil...
Just devious. Home to Skull Kids and Imps... well, it always makes it a place of trickery.

 

[Castle]

Good question. The Lost Woods is certainly a dangerous place, then again there aren't many places in Hyrule that are not without some degree of danger. If the forest is evil, then why? In Ocarina of Time, any malicious nature of the Lost Woods might be attributed to the Forest Temple, a mysterious and surreal local that seems to exude history but of what virtually nothing is know about. I always find it odd that a place as seemingly hostile as the forest would serve as home to a race of innocent and defenseless eternal youths, but of course there are many dangers to entering the forest that are not unknown to them and indeed the Kokiri seem to understand the dangers more than anyone else.

The Deku Tree's wisdom is beyond comprehension. Perhaps the Lost Woods is dangerous for a reason? It does hide many secrets, such as the confounding Forest Temple and even the gateway into a whole other world, Termina. The woods confusing nature and dark warping paths might be the result of magic meant to lead unwary travelers away from whatever secrets the woods might be guarding. The Lost Woods also stands on the furthest eastern border of Hyrule beyond which may lie other lands, so perhaps the woods serves as Hyrule's protective border, keeping the people of Hyrule in and invaders out. This might even be the work of the Deku Tree. As "Guardian of the Forest" and "Genesis of Life" in Hyrule, perhaps his woods act as a barrier to protect Hyrule.

So, despite all the inherent dangers of the Lost Woods, perhaps its nature is not malicious. Maybe it is? Suppose whatever nature behind the lost woods might be benevolent, like the Deku Tree? It is all speculation...

 

[felipe970421]

I keep saying, the lost woods is a dimension-shifting place, Time, distance, location, everything is skewed there, in OoT a human taking a wrong door will get lost and die, according to Canon, faeries can bypass this, according to the game they guide you back to Kokiri forest (you can't even go before getting Navi, as Fado says), in TP the woods and their mysterious magic expand and cover the old castle town and hide the Master Sword, only the skull kid seems to be able to orient himself in it

The faeries are given to the Kokiri by the Deku Tree, so one could say that he has a certain degree of control over the forest, the forest certainly has one over him, he can't reincarnate into the Deku Sprout until the forest temple is cleansed

One more proof that this place is Dimension-shifting is Termina, there is a hole that takes to a parallel universe! One might say the fall was diagonal, You fell both downwards and through another dimension towards Termina

The mysterious magic of the woods is very powerful, as it can turn humans into monsters!

That is what I have of those woods