Ocarina of Time The Bandage on the Master Sword

[Shadsie]

I was playing Ocarina of Time 3D today and I got to the part of the game where Link awakens from his seven-year sleep. I looked him over, including a good view of his back and was reminded of something I've been questioning for fargin' ever...

Why does the Master Sword's scabbard have a bandage wrapped around it? (And I just did a quick look in my copy of Hyrule Historia to see if there was anything about that and... nope...)

In viewing Link... the bandage doesn't seem to hook the sword onto him, it's clipped closer to the hilt. I suppose it could be decorative, but it's a bandage over a beautiful scabbard with many intricate designs. It seems out of place to me. Is it covering a crack or damage? Is it there to make it look like there's some damage to it, because the Master Sword is ancient? The sword itself is pristine, but the scabbard was something I always thought weird because of that wrap.

Maybe it's a Sheikah good luck charm?

Maybe Nintendo at the time had a bandage-fetish?

What purpose does it serve?

 

[Ventus]

I figured it's just there for decoration, like most things in the series. As you said, there was nothing in Hyrule Historia that talked about the bandage, and I never noticed it until now actually. :I

 

[Dragoncat]

I couldnt tell ya...I never noticed it to be honest.

 

[Hylian_Monolith]

...Well, I like it...

There's nothing official, but I like to think that there's a crack or seam in the scabbard. Like it was damaged or something in prior combat.

 

[HylianHero]

I have always noticed it. It annoys the beejezus out of me.

 

[Dragoncat]

Is this in all versions of OoT or just the 3ds one?

 

[Djinn]

Are you talking about that leather strap at the top of the Sheath?

If you are that is the part of the shoulder strap that holds onto the sheath.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-z72kxqUihLE/UIM8eajcFKI/AAAAAAAAASo/lqPD4fHna6w/s1600/DSC05831.JPG
Link always slings it over his shoulder so something has to wrap around the sheath to hold it onto the belt. Normally a small piece of leather wrapping around the sheath holds it onto the belt so the sword can be unsheathed easily. But it makes an odd brown spot on it in lower quality graphics.

 

[Wolf Sage]

Did everyone here serious not know that it was a belt? Wow. lol How else would the sheath latch onto the strap if it weren't for the belt? Did you just assume that it would just stick there?

 

[Xinnamin]

Couldn't find a picture, just took a screenshot of someone's youtube video instead :/

I think she means the white-ish part on the bottom half of the sheath.

Edit: also here:

Doesn't look high enough to attach to his belt.

Edit 2:

Is this in all versions of OoT or just the 3ds one?

Just checked some other videos. It's not there in the N64 version.

 

[Ventus]

Luckily I popped OoT3D into my 3DS last night because I was tired of Resident Evil: Revelations. I do see that white band-aid thing on the bottom of the MS, but I still stand by reasoning that it's nothing more than decoration. Sometimes they add cool, neato things just because, not as an easter egg or of any signifiance.

 

[Wolf Sage]

Couldn't find a picture, just took a screenshot of someone's youtube video instead :/

I think she means the white-ish part on the bottom half of the sheath.

Edit: also here:

Doesn't look high enough to attach to his belt.

Oooooh...

Intriguing. For something so menial, it sure seems to invoke mass curiosity. I am now wondering why it's there. What purpose could it serve? Ugh, video game designers and their taste in weapon design...

 

[Justac00lguy]

Ahhh now I see what you mean...

It certainly does look out of place but I don't think it could he too do with aging or damage. The sheath itself is just there too hold the Master Sword, when we actually draw the Master Sword there is no sheath present, just the Master Sword itself. So this makes me wonder, where exactly does Link get the sheath from? He doesn't have that sheath design when he has the Kokiri Sword.

In fact something I noticed in Skyward Sword is that as Link blessed the Sword the design of the sheeth changed and when it was blessed by Hyliamit automatically transformed to this design. So maybe it has a meaning or just a form of decoration but it definitely seems out of place.

 

[Djinn]

After a few minutes research I've noticed that wrapping random bandages on a blade or sheath seem to be pretty common in Japanese media.

http://s01.mpcdn.net/manga/p/5206/129123/4.jpg
https://content2.animepaper.co/thum..._vindicator_189087_nysha_preview-414161cf.jpg
http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/4706/cloudsbandagedbusterswojz0.jpg
http://i444.photobucket.com/albums/qq166/thunderstarXblacktail/Anime Girl/AnimeSword.jpg
http://i673.photobucket.com/albums/vv92/deadmanm20/Decorated images/sakaki-20/carnagesword.jpg

The only guess I can make is that it is a common aesthetic add in there for looks since multipurpose scabbard wrappings called sageo were very common on Japanese swords, then adding something like it onto any other sword to add a bit of detail on what would normally be a very plain sheath. It appears fairly often although I have never given it much attention in the past. Before I have noticed several other things that are common to katanas that Japanese artists stick on western swords all the time even though they never had those. But artists tend to stick with what they are familiar with.

 

[Imprisoned]

(I love how us Zelda nerds notice every little pixel out of place or odd anythings, really. I love it. LOVE IT!)
I've wondered about this for a while, ever since I've seen it in a picture of Wolf Link and Midna. I have no idea what it could symbolize/cover/mean at all. I will definitely think about this. (Curiouser and curiouser!)

 

[Dragoncat]

Well no wonder I didn't see it. The version of OoT I play is virtual console.