Timeshift Thursday – The Hidden Village

Hello fellow Zelda Dungeoners! Welcome to an all-new weekly feature I will be starting today called Timeshift Thursday in which I’d like to share in detail some of my favorite Legend of Zelda exploration areas from past titles in the series. For my first feature, I would like to take you back to an area from my fave Zelda title, Twilight Princess, where Nintendo, for the first time, greatly emphasized a wild western theme into its number one action-adventure series. Everything from the featured battle with the enemy to the stunning music portrays a western theme. Yes, I’m talking about the Hidden Village which is explored near the end of Twilight Princess.

The Hidden Village has plenty to reference from Zelda titles situated earlier in the timeline, especially concerning a certain NPC who Link meets in the rundown ghost town infested by Bulblins. As we will see, a particular tribe used the Hidden Village for significant importance as this actual village resembles a familiar setting from an earlier game and we will learn more about the mysterious character who manages to resist the enemy residing in the area.

Are you interested in learning about the Hidden Village in greater detail? If so, then join me in striking a timeshift stone and returning to the past as we take a look at this secluded area from Nintendo’s masterpiece in Twilight Princess!

The Hidden Village is unique in that it’s solely based as if Link was entering a ghost town abandoned by cowboy inhabitants due to enemy infestation. The introduction for the area in Twilight Princess is brilliant as it details Link’s goal in needing to reach the door of a certain residence on the other side of the village with twenty Bulblins standing in his way. Nintendo created this scene remarkably well because as you’re fighting the Bulblins it reminisces scenes from particular Western movies. The difference here, though, is that both sides are shooting arrows instead of bullets. You can notice as you enter the village that the whole area has been rummaged and ransacked because of the Bulblins fight against the tribe that happened to live here before. The village seems to have played great importance in the past. We know this, because the sign at the entrance of the Hidden Village reads as “Welcome to Old Kakarico”. Kakariko Village featured in Ocarina of Time as an ancient Sheikah residence so the Hidden Village could be one and the same and, over time, had just been obliterated by evil’s dark power.

After making mince meat out of all the Bulblins, Link meets up with an old woman named Impaz. Her name sounds quite similar to another star of the Zelda series, right? In Ocarina of Time, a member of a special tribe called the Sheikah resided in a town below Death Mountain known as Kakariko Village. Her name was Impa and she was in charge of taking care of the royal family in Hyrule Castle. Are these two women related in some way or could they actually be the same individual? Well, as usual, Nintendo leaves room for speculation as the only code we can decipher comes from Impaz as she states that her name originates from the founder of the village. Most fans agree that this is not the same Impa from Ocarina of Time because Impa from Ocarina of Time did not found Kakariko Village. Another thought is that she could be a close relative such as a daughter or niece. Whether she happens to be the last remaining Sheikah in that particular time of Hyrule’s history is also up for speculation.

As you’re exploring the area you may notice several posters pinned around which show the word “Wanted” in the Hyrulean text and feature an unknown man with a mustache and goatee. Who could this be? He must have been a really important figure as the asking price for him is one quadrillion rupees! Some theories indicate he was a Sheikah who rebelled against his tribe killing many civilians and going into hiding to escape persecution. Others delve deeper into thinking that he was the Sheikah living in the house above the Kakariko well in Ocarina of Time because his dwelling place contained torture devices and dead bodies surrounded by maroon pools of blood.

One last thing to mention about the Hidden Village is its superb accompanying music composition! The stunning acoustic guitar delivers in allowing the whole Western theme to come alive as you hack your way to reaching the house of Impaz. The whistling is even better giving you reason to remember that you are currently exploring a ghost town. This is simply one of the greatest Zelda compositions to have been created by Koji Kondo!

Is exploring the Hidden Village one of your memorable Zelda moments? What are your thoughts on the theories about the Hidden Village, Impaz, and the man on the “Wanted” poster? Do you enjoy the music of the Hidden Village? Please let us know your thoughts in the comments below!