Kakariko Village, The Bottom of the Well and The Crazy Villagers

[Justac00lguy]

Kakiriko Village in Ocarina of Time has always been a place of peacefulness; it's that little piece of solace in a Hyrule filled with conflict and political struggles between the different races trying to rebuild from the Hyrulean Civil War. Though you look deeper into the village, you see a darker more sinister side.

First off there is the Graveyard, then you have the Shadow Temple, and finally the Bottom of the Well. I want to focus on the Bottom of the Well though. A place filled with mystery and creatures of the very things dwelling deep within your nightmares. We can first off start by talking about what caused this? This quote sticks out to me:

Sheik: "Link.... A terrible thing has happened! The evil shadow spirit has been released! Impa, the leader of Kakariko Village, had sealed the evil shadow spirit in the bottom of the well.... But the force of the evil spirit got so strong, the seal of the well broke, and it escaped into the world!!"

At some point, Impa, had sealed this dark creature [Bongo Bongo] at the depths of the Well, maybe some time ago due to the sheer deterioration of the Well itself - that couldn't have happened over night. My own theory for the Well, it's inhabitants, and Bongo Bongo, is that it was the formation of dwelling undead spirits from the Graveyard. Possibly hundreds of hundreds year old spirits haunting the depths of Kakiriko - some possibly being evil in their time living.

This brings me onto my next point, the crazy villagers. Kakiroko's residents all seem normal at first sight, but let's look deeper. I'll out this on a spoiler to avoid clutter:

Spoiler

Dampe is one of the calmest, and at the same time, creepiest figures in the game. His face looks heavily deformed and he just walks around a Graveyard all day.

Graveyard Boy is a small child (probably around 6-8) who is obsessed with ghosts and he spends his spare time playing around in th Graveyard. Weird right?

Cucco Lady or Anju, isn't exactly creepy or any of the sort, but she's a Cucco raiser/farmer who is actually allergic to Cuccos. That's kind of crazy and deluded.

Granny is the owner of a a creepy potion shop first of all, but just look at her appearance and tell me that isn't in any weird.

Guru-Guro is a one man troupe who basically spends every living moment playing his music in the Windmill hoping something will happen - it's borderline insane. Not to mention he also seems to have an anger problem clearly displayed when Link plays the Song of Storms and in the ending credits

Grog is the final resident on the list and possibly the oddest. Appearance wise he just looks completely messed up. He's incredibly pale and probably anorexic to some degree - he look severely unhealthy. Not to mention he spends his time wallowing in self pity under a tree and constantly calls people "disgusting" - even his own family.

Given the odd physical and mental health of some of Kakiriko's residents, I think this is possibly due to the fact that they are getting their water source from a cursed Well. I mean, after all, the water beneath the well is actually poisonous, so it's highly likely that this water is probably affecting the local inhabitants making them like this.

Just a nice fun theory I was thinking of recently, anyway what are your guy's thoughts on this?

 

[AncientPoe]

It's a pretty cool theory. I like the bit about the poison water, that actually kinda makes sense (though I think you might mean 'anemic' and not 'anorexic').

Though personally, I've always thought that Bongo Bongo was the remnant of some evil spy or operative that got tortured to death in the Well and the spirit of whose hate came back to haunt the family of Hyrule. I think that's why Kakariko Village actually exists in the first place, it was originally so the Sheikah tribe could monitor the Well and its captive.

 

[Link Floyd]

I never really thought about the residents of the village in that way before. It seems to make more sense now as to why they act so strange.

Great thinking.

 

[VitaTempusN92]

The water in the dungeon at the bottom of the well was poisonous, yes, not the water that was filled in the actual well itself outside the dungeon in Young Link's time Pre-Song of Storms. Also, I doubt it was the water that made the people crazy, it was probably their own personal matters. Keep in that Bongo Bongo and other tainted souls and evil were still sealed, bound, and conjured in the dungeon at bottom of the well. After all, the dungeon is called "The Bottom of the Well" not "The Well" or "Inside the Well". This means that even though the dungeon is linked to the well it's actually a separate place from the well itself, it's called "The Bottom of the Well" cause it's a dungeon that's near and connected to the well. Though, it is possible that as Bongo Bongo was gaining his strength back, his evil may have affected the well's water and that may be just part of what caused the people go crazy and start picking up strange symptoms like allergies to a kind of animal that a person like the cucco lady/Anju (Hyrule's Anju) normally works with. Anyways, this is just my view of the theory.

 

[Spiritual Mask Salesman]

I'm pretty sure that drinking from a cursed well isn't exactly the best thing for your health.

I mean, after all, the water beneath the well is actually poisonous

I can't remember anybody saying the well water is poisonous in the game, unless of course you mean since the water is cursed it may as well be poison?

 

[Jirohnagi]

I'm pretty sure that drinking from a cursed well isn't exactly the best thing for your health.



I can't remember anybody saying the well water is poisonous in the game, unless of course you mean since the water is cursed it may as well be poison?

I believe JC is referring to the very bottom of the well where the water is in fact poisonous.

[Edit] Anyone ever wonder why Dampe who is afraid of ghosts is a gravekeeper?

 

[Spiritual Mask Salesman]

I believe JC is referring to the very bottom of the well where the water is in fact poisonous.

Oh... guess it was poisonous I can't remember its been atleast a year since I last played OoT.

 

[Jirohnagi]

I feel i gotta point out we enter the Bottom of the Well dungeon as Young Link and apart from the various and sundry undead and floaty skulls we do not in fact see any evidence of Bongo Bongo being there, but 7 years later he is seen escaping. My thought is Impa Sealed Bongo Bongo in those intervening years, which would lead me to think that Bongo Bongo is a Legion of melevolent spirits from the graveyard and Hyrule (for we so no more stalchildren haunting the Fields) or that Bongo Bongo was during the Child age a sleeping behemoth awaiting his chance to awake, which he gets thanks to G-dorfs evilness spreading out. Truthfully both seem somewhat valid but remember that Shiek states that evil started to radiate from each of the temples which we know stems from each of the bosses set in place. So in all likelyhood Bongo Bongo was resting in the Shadow temple when awoken and Impa proceeded to seal it into the well and sealing the bottom of the well off which in all likelyhood poisoned the water from his sheer evil.

 

[DekuNut]

I wouldn't think they were drinking the poison water, because they're dead. However, think about what's at the Bottom of the Well... blood, dead bodies, that #^%& Dead Hand... it's more likely some disease that comes on from the (accidental) consumption of human remains.
As for BB, I agree with Shiro in that he was probably put down there sometime during the Sleep. However, I think differently from most of you on what he is. I think it was a thief. A common ancient punishment for robbery was cutting off a hand. Both of Bongo's are cut off. Also, Bongo seems to work for Ganondorf, the "Gerudo King of Thieves". Maybe a Gerudo thief who was caught, unhanded, then decaptiated (due to the lack of the head), probably in the well itself, since it looks like a place out of Saw. The spirit would stay, and possibly get corrupted.
That's my thoughts on those two things. Great theory though.

 

[Jirohnagi]

Heh i have many theories on Bongo Bongo none of them are likely to be the right one but it helps fill in little details for me Now it's Morpha that's a conundrum.

 

[Dio]

People in Hyrule are pretty crazy anyway so blaming the water in the well is only one possibility.
Since it takes 7 years for the seal to be broken on the well I have my doubts that the water in the main well would be contaminated.
I would suggest that the people of Kakariko are milkies, actually most Hylians are on the Lon Lon. We know that milk in Zelda is an intoxicant. It is evident from the drunk in the milk bar from MM.
Lon Lon ranch is the biggest milk supplier to all of Hyrule and there is a reason it is in demand. Any self respecting Hylian would only drink milk or water sourced from a well. The only other alternative being water from the river which nobody drinks because it has passed through the ass crack and balls of King Zora.

 

[DekuNut]

The only other alternative being water from the river which nobody drinks because it has passed through the ass crack and balls of King Zora.

I couldn't have said it better myself.

 

[Aku]

I would suggest that the people of Kakariko are milkies, actually most Hylians are on the Lon Lon. We know that milk in Zelda is an intoxicant. It is evident from the drunk in the milk bar from MM.
Lon Lon ranch is the biggest milk supplier to all of Hyrule and there is a reason it is in demand. Any self respecting Hylian would only drink milk or water sourced from a well.

Maybe the milk has been fermented into an alcoholic beverage? Some cultures in Mongolia like to ferment mares' milk to make it alcoholic, and this might be one of the things Hylians do to help preserve some of it, because it doesn't look like they really make butter or cheese with it.

Maybe instead of some outside source making the Kakariko crazy, maybe they are all inbred. There doesn't seem to be other people around for many miles (or at least that we can see) so it could be cozying up with the first hot cousin they see.

 

[Mr. Ister]

Maybe instead of some outside source making the Kakariko crazy, maybe they are all inbred. There doesn't seem to be other people around for many miles (or at least that we can see) so it could be cozying up with the first hot cousin they see.

True, but I mean what options do they have - the crazy potion hag? Anju probably gets creeped on 24/7. If people leave they can go try to get with Malon - a worthy effort but I doubt she's very receptive.

 

[Retro Ganon]

Interesting thread, I'll interject this.

When OoT first came out, their were three versions of it - 1.0 (commonly known as the gold cartridge), 1.1, and 1.2 (gray cartridges). You can see differences and anomalies removed from the original here and here. The presence of blood depiction was 'reduced' in later versions.

The bloodstained chained crossbeams beneath the well (which are also present in the Shadow Temple) suggest that this was an area for torture. There are plenty of undead entities and symbolism of death to suggest this, but the final nail put into this theory is the presence of... well, coffins! (sorry for the bad pun)

It should also be noted that the Royal Family's crest controls the waterways of these corridors by way of Zelda's Lullaby - a theme shown within Zora territory, confirming the strong allegiance with their Hylian neighbors. I believe the 'Bottom of the Well' was more than just a tomb for Bongo Bongo, but once catacombs accessed by way of the Sheikah and Royal Family officials involved with its purpose.