Ice Cavern

Not to be confused with the Ice Cave, a cave in A Link to the Past.

The Ice Cavern is a recurring location and Dungeon in The Legend of Zelda series.^[1]

Overview

Ocarina of Time

Entrance to the Cavern

The Ice Cavern is a frozen cave behind Zora's Fountain. After his seven year sleep, Link finds Zora's Domain frozen and the Zoras encased in ice. King Zora is encased in a mysterious Red Ice, as is the entrance to the Zora's Shop. Lord Jabu-Jabu is missing from the fountain and is replaced with a path of ice floes leading to a previously inaccessible cavern, the Ice Cavern.

Themes and Navigation

With the Gerudo's Training Ground, the Ice Cavern is the smallest dungeon in the entire game: it only has one floor and, unique among all the other dungeons in The Legend of Zelda series, each room (with the exception of the individual mini-boss room) is connected by hallways instead of doors, giving the illusion of one extremely large room divided into rooms and hallways. It is ice-themed, and inside Link finds Blue Fire, an unnaturally occurring fire only found within the cavern and the Water Barrier in Ganon's Castle (although it can also be bought in the Medicine Shop for an exceptionally high price). Blue Fire melts Red Ice, and as such, Link uses Bottles to carry the fire and melt the Red Ice that is found throughout the cavern to unblock certain paths and rooms.

Link receives the Iron Boots in the Cavern after defeating a White Wolfos. Sheik appears to tell the young hero about the Zoras frozen beneath Zora's domain as well as telling Link he saved Princess Ruto, who headed to the Water Temple underneath Lake Hylia. Afterwards, Sheik teaches Link the Serenade of Water, the warping song of the Water Temple, before disappearing again.

In Master Quest, many of the elements of this dungeon have been removed or replaced. The spinning scythe is gone, and there are very few Freezards and Ice Keese. Instead of the ice block puzzle, the Song of Time can be played to make a block appear, which gives access to the Blue Fire. Some Switches need to be activated to make some platforms disappear. However, they are very well hidden. One switch is camouflaged between some diamonds, another is behind a stalactite and the last one's tip is protruding from the floor. Because there is Red Ice blocking several ways, the first time Blue Fire is seen is where the Piece of Heart originally was (it has been moved to the other room with Blue Fire). New features include Boulders rolling in connecting rooms and two White Wolfos throughout the dungeon. The mini-boss is now a Stalfos.

Minor Enemies

Master Quest

Tri Force Heroes

The Ice Cavern is the fourth Area in Tri Force Heroes.

Features and Overview

The Ice Cavern contains four Levels, and can be accessed through the Level Selection screen once all three of the Links step onto the Triforce Gateway in one of the lobbies of Hytopia Castle.^{[note 1]} The Area will be accessible if the prior Woodlands Area has been cleared.^{[note 2]}

The Ice Cavern is an open-air, snowy mountainous region filled with slippery surfaces, thin sheets of ice suspended over large pits, and Enemies that can freeze the Links in their tracks. In several Stages, rolling Boulders and gigantic Snowballs are a constant danger and obstacle.

The Area introduces the Fire Gloves and the Magic Hammer, while reusing some Items from prior Areas. The Ice Cavern's Mini-Boss, fought in the Snowball Ravine Level, is Freezlord. Its Boss, fought in the Ice Temple, is the serpentine Blizzagia.

Levels

Enemies

Parts of this section are derived from the following location(s): Frozen Plateau, Ice Temple, Silver Shrine and Snowball Ravine

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 Drablands Challenges only.

Mini-Boss

Parts of this section are derived from the following location(s): Snowball Ravine

Freezlord

Boss

Parts of this section are derived from the following location(s): Ice Temple

Blizzagia

Trivia

As described in Vol. 6 of the Drablands Diary in Tri Force Heroes, a snow princess is hidden somewhere in each Level of the Ice Cavern.

Nomenclature

Names in Other Regions
Language	Names	Meanings
Japanese	氷の洞窟 (Kōri no Dōkutsu) ^{(OoTOcarina of Time)}^[4]	Same as English.
Italian	Caverna di Ghiaccio ^{(OoTOcarina of Time)}^[2] Caverna di ghiaccio ^{(OoT3DOcarina of Time 3D)}^[3]	Ice Cavern Ice cavern
This table was generated using translation pages. To request an addition, please contact a staff member with a reference.

Gallery

Ice Cavern in-game map from Ocarina of Time
Dungeon Map of Ice Cavern from Ocarina of Time
The entrance to the Ice Cavern from Ocarina of Time
Alternate shot of the Ice Cavern from Ocarina of Time
A White Wolfos in the Ice Cavern from Ocarina of Time 3D
The final room in the Ice Cavern from Ocarina of Time 3D

Notes

↑ Prior to the closure of Nintendo 3DS multiplayer servers, opting to meet with random "unknown heroes" online would require the player to select an Area before they are connected to other players.
↑ Players who have not unlocked the Ice Cavern can still access the Area by selecting "I can't decide!" while another player selects the Ice Cavern, or by having the Ice Cavern win the roulette to decide amongst different Area selections.

References

↑ Encyclopedia, Dark Horse Books, pg. 149 ^{(OoTOcarina of Time)} & 306 ^{(TFHTri Force Heroes)}
↑ Enciclopedia di Hyrule, Magazzini Salani, pg. 149
↑ Caverna di ghiaccio — N/A (Ocarina of Time 3D, Italian version)
↑ Nintendo Official Guidebook—The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Shogakukan, pg. 155