Zelda franchise strategy guide/Locations/Gerudo Valley

The Gerudo Valley is a fictional geographical feature which first appeared in the Nintendo 64 video game The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Gerudo Valley divides the Western part of Hyrule Field and the Gerudo Fortress, a stronghold of the Gerudo race of amazonian women thieves. The name Gerudo Valley is often erroneously attributed to Gerudo Fortress and surrounding areas, such as Desert Colossus. Confusingly, Gerudo Desert also appears in Twilight Princess, which takes place some time after Ocarina of Time, and neither Gerudo Valley nor Desert Colossus appear to be present.

Appearances and descriptions by game

Ocarina Of Time

Gerudo Valley separates the arid lands of the desert from the rest of Hyrule. It is located to the west of Hyrule Field, and beyond it, separated by a sweltering expanse of desert known as the Haunted Wasteland, the Spirit Temple sits within the Desert Colossus. A single wooden bridge crosses the abysmal ravine, at the base of which Zora's River flows from Hyrule Castle to Lake Hylia in a series of cataracts. (It is debatable whether the river is still called "Zora's" at this location.) As a child, the valley's entrance is blocked by a gate, which can be circumvented with a nearby cucco. As an adult, the bridge has been broken by the Gerudo, and will remain so until Link rescues Mutoh's four carpenters from imprisonment in the fortress. Until then, Link can use his longshot to cross the expanse, or jump across with Epona.

The Gerudo Fortress is the main feature of the region. Within the adobe buildings piled on the face of the cliff is the housing for the tribe, prison cells, and a training center. Atop the hill behind the fortress is a horseback archery training center. At the western end of the fortress is a gate which leads to the desert. Link must infiltrate the fortress and defeat several guards before he is able to access any of these features freely with a Gerudo Membership Card. If caught before this, Link is thrown into a special prison hole beneath an observation balcony in the adjacent cliffside.

Though not near the valley in proximity, the Desert Colossus is often associated with it. It refers to an immense idol statue of a Gerudo woman carved into a butte, or the area around the idol including an oasis and a hidden Great Fairy's Fountain. The idol is perhaps ten or more stories high, featuring the woman in an Indian-style seated position with both palms open and raised upwards, as if offering gifts. A cobra has wrapped itself around her body and cloaked her head with its hood, its own head resting atop hers, perhaps to shade her from the sun. The idol is an example of the hard work, religious adherence and rich heritage of the Gerudo culture, and also suggests that the woman is a heroine of sorts in the history of the Gerudo, or perhaps a leader of their nomadic ancestors in the desert. Within the rock structure is the Spirit Temple, which contains its own replica of the Gerudo heroine in the same pose in the main chamber. The structure of the temple suggests that one progresses through the idol, from her feet to her head, as they traverse it from the entrance. In the game it is necessary to explore roughly one-half of the temple as a child, and the second half as an adult. The two treasures of the temple, the Silver Gauntlets and the Mirror Shield, are each found in an outstreched hand of the larger, rock-hewn idol, and where one must be accessed only as a child, the other can be only as an adult. The temple is home to a pair of evil witches, Koume & Kotake, who also go by the name Twinrova when spoken of together, or when referencing their combined form. It is said that these witches were Ganondorf's surrogate mother(s), and if so, it could help explain his evil origins. As a child the Spirit Temple is used as a base for Ganondorf's evil operations.

Twilight Princess

In Twilight Princess which takes place quite some time after Ocarina Of Time, only the Gerudo Desert remains. It is mainly a barren wasteland with practically nothing in it except for the Cave of Ordeals, a chunk of the Eldin Bridge, a Bullbin encampment and the Arbiter's Grounds dungeon, which could have been the Spirit Temple from the Ocarina of Time but is now a prison built by the goddesses and home to the Sages and the Mirror of Twilight. The Twili were sent here to be transported to the Twilight Realm and the entrance to the desert became impassable. Due to the Gerudos' earlier endangerment (Ganondorf being the only Gerudo left), the passage was never reopened. Ganondorf was once executed in the prison but his Triforce Of Power allowed him to return to life and kill a sage. The other sages quickly overpowered him however and banished him to the Twilight Realm.

Breath of the Wild

The Greudo territory exists on the southwest edge of Hyrule.

Demographics

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Gerudo Warrior

The Gerudo race, who consist almost entirely of women, inhabit Gerudo Valley in Ocarina of Time. A male Gerudo is born only once a century, and their law states that he become King of the Gerudo. In the time frame of Ocarina of Time, Ganondorf is this king, and his second-in-command is Nabooru, who is to become the Sage of the Spirit Temple. All men other than the king are considered inferior to the Gerudo women, who incarcerate Hylian carpenters working in Gerudo Valley. It is apparent that without their king, the Gerudo have no means to propagate their race, and in Twilight Princess it would appear that the Gerudo have become extinct.

All of the Gerudo women are similar in appearance, and they dress according to their position in their community. Gerudo guards all carry weapons resembling naginata and wear a purple outfit and veil. The women in charge of social functions such as training centers wear white lipstick and clothing and carry no weaponry. Prison guards are the most capable fighters, wearing red and having their faces hidden behind veils. Such guards carry twin scimitars which double as a shield. The Gerudo provide the player with some of the most challenging battles in Ocarina of Time.