Hyrule Castle (Twilight Princess)

Hyrule Castle

Hyrule Castle's main courtyard

Location(s)

Hyrule Castle Town

Game(s)

Twilight Princess

Mini-boss(es)

King Bulblin

Boss(es)

Ganon's Puppet: Zelda
Dark Beast: Ganon
Dark Lord: Ganondorf

Theme Music

Hyrule Castle is the final dungeon in Twilight Princess.

Entrance to the Castle

In order to enter the castle, Link and Midna need the power of the three Fused Shadows. After recovering them from Zant, Midna uses them to destroy the crystal surrounding the castle, granting them access to the castle's courtyard.

Themes and Navigation

In the west area of the courtyard, Link fights one last time with King Bulblin who, after his defeat, gives Link the Key that opens the main door to the interior of the castle. The east area houses various enemies and puzzles, leading to another Key. This area also leads to the castle's graveyard, which houses an extra Key. This Key can be used to access a room filled with Treasure Chests containing every consumable item in the game, as well as every type of Rupee.

The main hall of the castle consists of a large room with various chandeliers that Link must Clawshot to in order to access the rest of the castle's chambers. Once he enters one of the rooms of the main hall, Link will encounter a Darknut. After its defeat, Link will have the option of either taking the left or right path of the castle. Both paths lead back out to the balcony of Hyrule Castle, wherein the east side Link battles an Aeralfos to retrieve a Key. Just as Link walks over to the west side of the castle, a group of enemies springs an ambush against him. However, the members of The Resistance come in and save the young hero, defeating the enemies and making the Boss Key accessible to him.

In the middle of the balcony is another door that leads to the final area of the dungeon, making way to the third and fourth floors. As Link progresses through these last two floors, he must use his abilities as Wolf Link to make it safely across various traps; moreover, since the stairs leading to the upper floors have been destroyed, Link must use the Double Clawshots and the Spinner to successfully reach the fourth floor. The door on the fourth floor, which leads to the outside of Hyrule Castle and eventually to the throne room, is blocked off by another Darknut.

At the throne room, Link and Midna come face-to-face with Ganondorf, who uses Princess Zelda as his puppet in an attempt to defeat Link. After defeating Zelda, Midna uses her powers to extract Ganondorf's evil influence from her. It is here that Ganondorf transforms into Ganon. After defeating Ganondorf's beast form, Midna attempts to finish him off, warping Link and Zelda to Hyrule Field. The resulting battle destroys the castle, and Ganondorf emerges victorious. After Zelda summons the Light Spirits to aid them with Light Arrows, she and Link fight Ganondorf while riding Epona before Link battles him in a Sword fight to finish him off once and for all.

Minor Enemies and Traps

Trivia

If Link shoots the triangle at the top of the statue in the castle's courtyard with a Bomb Arrow, a bell noise will sound and 40 Rupees will fall to the ground.^{[verification needed]}