Inside Jabu-Jabu's Belly

This article refers to the Ocarina of Time dungeon. For the Oracle of Ages dungeon, see Jabu-Jabu's Belly.

Inside Jabu-Jabu's Belly,^[1] also known as Lord Jabu-Jabu's Belly,^[2] is the third Dungeon in Ocarina of Time. It is also the final dungeon for Link as a child.

Entrance to the Belly[]

The dungeon is set inside the body of Lord Jabu-Jabu, who spends every day on Zora's Fountain. To enter, Link must drop a Fish from his Bottle in front of Jabu-Jabu, causing him to widely open his mouth and suck both the fish and Link inside. His mission here, while he is looking for the third Spiritual Stone, the Zora's Sapphire, is to rescue Princess Ruto, as requested by her father King Zora.^[3]

Themes and Navigation[]

OoT Link carrying Princess Ruto — Gameplay screenshot of Link carrying Princess Ruto in one of the dungeon's upper rooms

While inside, Link must initially avoid the vast variety of parasitic enemies, including an especially large but colorful tentacle-like organism with electrified appendages in the shape of unstable pillars and jellyfish-like creatures called Bari and Biri,^[4] since they are hazardous to kill without the Boomerang, the key weapon found inside the dungeon. Shortly thereafter, Link locates Princess Ruto inside what appears to be the stomach, who initially refuses to accept any help from the young Hero of Time,^[5] and accidentally falls into a hole.^[6] Once found again by Link, she commands him to help her recover the Spiritual Stone. The young hero must carry Ruto throughout many rooms to help her find it.^[7] These rooms include areas where Link must fight the numerous tentacles with the help of the Boomerang, so that new certain areas can be explored. He eventually enters a large room that has a central platform with the Zora's Sapphire on it. When thrown to the platform, the young Zora princess obtains it for herself.^[8]

After taking the Zora's Sapphire, the platform abruptly rises with Ruto still on it, and Link is ambushed by a Big Octo that must be defeated in order to continue.^[9] After destroying the aquatic monster, the princess is nowhere to be found, and Link continues until he locates the creature causing Jabu-Jabu's discomfort: an electrical parasite called Barinade, the dungeon's Boss. Link eventually defeats Barinade, rescues Princess Ruto (who is visibly shaken and scolds him), and receives the Zora's Sapphire as a reward, not before almost kissing him and declares the Hero of Time her future husband.^[10]

This dungeon has many strange changes in the Master Quest version of the game. Instead of uvula-like switches on the ceilings of Jabu Jabu's intestinal tract, there are now Cow head switches attached to walls that operate the opening of doors. As for enemies, Lizalfos and Like Likes were added to several rooms, the Parasitic Tentacles were dispersed evenly and in larger quantities throughout Jabu-Jabu's insides, and invisible Keese were supplied to one room that includes an extra Gold Skulltula. Only three Tailpasarans appear in an optional room with a Gold Skulltula, and Business Scrubs were deleted from the Master Quest version. In terms of items, the Dungeon Map, Compass, and Boomerang can be obtained much earlier; the room that contained the Boomerang in the original version now contains the Compass, and vice versa. Other changes include the placement of a Cow in a room, the addition of a water pillar in the suckhole room, and the presence of Bombchus, which are used to complete various new puzzles throughout the dungeon. Princess Ruto is utilized much less as a gameplay mechanic, as she is only required to hit one switch.

Minor Enemies and Traps[]

Ocarina of TimeOcarina of Time 3D

Master Quest[]

Ocarina of TimeOcarina of Time 3D

Trivia[]

In the Japanese release, the dungeon is called Inside Lord Jabu-Jabu.
Like the Water Temple, this dungeon is infamous among fans who played Ocarina of Time and its remake due its rather confusing layout, puzzles, and the requirement of Link carrying Princess Ruto.
If Link attempts to slash the organic walls with his Sword, blue blood can be seen being splattered as with some enemies and certain rooms temporally pulse faster. This also applies to a few items like the Fairy Slingshot.
The three Parasitic Tentacles that Link must defeat in order to progress to certain doors of Inside Jabu-Jabu's Belly (which Navi calls them "[color] slimy thing") come in the colors red, blue, and green, respectively. Coincidentally, their colors match Link's respective Tunics he wears throughout the game.
A remixed version of the dungeon's theme was used in The Wind Waker as Jabun's theme.
It is possible to permanently lose out the Dungeon Map if the player doesn't collect it after defeating the red Parasitic Tentacle and continues through the dungeon until the Octorok, when Ruto is no longer available to use to hold the switch down, making it impossible to re-enter the room.

Nomenclature[]

Names in other regions
Language		Name	Meaning
	Japanese	ジャブジャブ様のお腹 (Jabujabu-sama no Onaka) ^(OoT)^[11]	Inside Lord Jabu-Jabu
This table was generated using translation pages.

Gallery[]

Entering Lord Jabu-Jabu's mouth
The interior of Inside Jabu-Jabu's Belly from Ocarina of Time
Princess Ruto upon being discovered in the dungeon
Ruto obtaining the Zora's Sapphire
Princess Ruto about to be pulled from the platform
Link fighting Big Octo
Barinade, the boss of the dungeon
An angry Princess Ruto scolding Link after defeating Barinade
Dungeon Map of Jabu-Jabu's Belly
Inside Jabu-Jabu's Belly development plan

References

↑ Encyclopedia, Dark Horse Books, pg. 148
↑ Encyclopedia, Dark Horse Books, pg. 208
↑ "The evidence seems clear. Of course, you'll go find Ruto. You can pass through here to the altar of Lord Jabu-Jabu." — King Zora (Ocarina of Time)
↑ "Lord Jabu-Jabu is very strange today... There are electrified jellyfish and strange holes around..." — Princess Ruto (Ocarina of Time)
↑ "You! Who are you?! I am Ruto, Princess of the Zoras. What?! Are you saying my father asked you to come here to save me? I'd never ask anyone to do such a thing! "Letter in a Bottle?" I have no idea what you're talking about! My father is worried about me? I don't care! Anyway, I can't go home right now. And you... Get out of here! understand?!" — Princess Ruto (Ocarina of Time)
↑ "Ooooh Noooooo!" — Princess Ruto (Ocarina of Time)
↑ "You're that worried about me? Then I will give you the honor of carrying me! However...I won't leave until I find the thing I'm looking for. You'd better believe me!" — Princess Ruto (Ocarina of Time)
↑ "That's it! That's what I've been looking for!Throw me up there! Onto the platform!" — Princess Ruto (Ocarina of Time)
↑ "Oh my goodness! I finally found... My mother's stone... [...] Keeeyaaaah! What is this?! An octopus?!" — Princess Ruto (Ocarina of Time)
↑ "Well, anyway, you saved me, so I guess I'll reward you. What do you wish? Just tell me... [...] My mother gave it to me and said I should give it only to the man who will be my husband. You might call it the Zora's Engagement Ring! All right! I'll give you my most precious possession: Zora's Sapphire!" — Princess Ruto (Ocarina of Time)
↑ Nintendo Official Guidebook—The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (Shogakukan) pg. 155

Dungeons in The Legend of Zelda series

The Legend of Zelda

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