I know that some have requested this to be revisited for the next generation of forum dwellers, so here we go. Here is why Eldin Volcano became Death Mountain.
In the earliest point of the timeline, in Skyward Sword, the Eldin region features an active volcano just as it does in every other Zelda game. There are pools of deadly lava and it seems quite inhospitable to most. Yet still those deadly geological features werent considered enough for it to be known as death mountain even by the people that lived there before the creation of Skyloft. Which means there is another reason that it got a new name and it is one which is far more sinister than you might think.
We know the name change took place between Skyward Sword and Ocarina of Time. Why the change in name occured and what event prompted it is quite obvious if you take a look at the facts.
In Skyward Sword you find that Eldin Volcano is inhabited by the Mogmas. An annoying race of digging jewel obsessed creatures. Yet these Mogmas are never to be seen again after Skyward Sword. The Zelda series has over 20 games yet they only appear in one. Not that in every other game it is the Gorons rather than the Mogma that inhabit the Eldin Region.
Whilst often seeming friendly in the games that they appear, the Gorons docile nature is called into question in Twilight Princess and their capacity for brutality is shown. Link is violently thrown from a cliff by a Goron and if he was a normal human and didn't have bones strong like wolverine he would have been killed for sure. This is also the case when Gorons roll at him further up the path. The Gorons have no care for human life when it comes down to it. They are all fat gluttons who care first and foremost about gorging themselves on delicious rocks and second about their own pride. If human lives need to be lost to maintain this pride or if anything gets in the way of their rock eating then they are prepared to kill!
So just imagine when the first Gorons came to Eldin Volcano. It would have been like kids entering Willy Wonka's factory. Big brutish kids made of rock with the ability to crush anything weaker than themselves with ease. Unfortunately when they found this mountain it was already inhabited by other occupants. And I imagine the Gorons didn't like that. Not. One. Bit.
I am guessing the jewel loving mogmas didn't want to give up their territory to these new rock men though there could be another reason for the dispute. This denial would certainly have hurt the pride of these Gorons and as we know a Gorons pride is something they will kill to defend. Consumed by the thought of an entire area filled with delicious rocks, enough to feed their pot bellies for millennia to come, these Gorons would have realised there was only one thing to do. Remove all those who stood in their way.
The Mogma weren't physically strong and would have soon regretted their defiance. The Gorons would have flooded their holes with lava giving those who tried to hide a firey grave. The ones they gold hold of who didn't manage to dig below ground would have fared a gruesome fate also. Pummeling by Goron fists! The mountain would have run red that day not just with the lava but with Mogma blood! With the entire race exterminated, Eldin Volcano would have been known from that day onwards as Death Mountain!
In the earliest point of the timeline, in Skyward Sword, the Eldin region features an active volcano just as it does in every other Zelda game. There are pools of deadly lava and it seems quite inhospitable to most. Yet still those deadly geological features werent considered enough for it to be known as death mountain even by the people that lived there before the creation of Skyloft. Which means there is another reason that it got a new name and it is one which is far more sinister than you might think.
We know the name change took place between Skyward Sword and Ocarina of Time. Why the change in name occured and what event prompted it is quite obvious if you take a look at the facts.
In Skyward Sword you find that Eldin Volcano is inhabited by the Mogmas. An annoying race of digging jewel obsessed creatures. Yet these Mogmas are never to be seen again after Skyward Sword. The Zelda series has over 20 games yet they only appear in one. Not that in every other game it is the Gorons rather than the Mogma that inhabit the Eldin Region.
Whilst often seeming friendly in the games that they appear, the Gorons docile nature is called into question in Twilight Princess and their capacity for brutality is shown. Link is violently thrown from a cliff by a Goron and if he was a normal human and didn't have bones strong like wolverine he would have been killed for sure. This is also the case when Gorons roll at him further up the path. The Gorons have no care for human life when it comes down to it. They are all fat gluttons who care first and foremost about gorging themselves on delicious rocks and second about their own pride. If human lives need to be lost to maintain this pride or if anything gets in the way of their rock eating then they are prepared to kill!
So just imagine when the first Gorons came to Eldin Volcano. It would have been like kids entering Willy Wonka's factory. Big brutish kids made of rock with the ability to crush anything weaker than themselves with ease. Unfortunately when they found this mountain it was already inhabited by other occupants. And I imagine the Gorons didn't like that. Not. One. Bit.
I am guessing the jewel loving mogmas didn't want to give up their territory to these new rock men though there could be another reason for the dispute. This denial would certainly have hurt the pride of these Gorons and as we know a Gorons pride is something they will kill to defend. Consumed by the thought of an entire area filled with delicious rocks, enough to feed their pot bellies for millennia to come, these Gorons would have realised there was only one thing to do. Remove all those who stood in their way.
The Mogma weren't physically strong and would have soon regretted their defiance. The Gorons would have flooded their holes with lava giving those who tried to hide a firey grave. The ones they gold hold of who didn't manage to dig below ground would have fared a gruesome fate also. Pummeling by Goron fists! The mountain would have run red that day not just with the lava but with Mogma blood! With the entire race exterminated, Eldin Volcano would have been known from that day onwards as Death Mountain!