Hidden Caves Theory

[Ivo-goji 0]

In a break from my "Lost Race of Hyrule" articles, I've typed up this little theory that came to me. Recently, I’ve begone to wonder about an interesting oddity in the Zelda games. All of those hidden caves and places where all kinds of Rupees and items are stashed. No one really bothers to question where they came from. But I’ve started to think about it just a little too much.....

Throughout the world of the Zelda series, there are treasures and vast riches hidden in secret caves and caverns. Rupees, Pieces of Heart, and many other things are kept in chests and jars, seemingly to protect what would be considered valuable. The hero Link often stumbles upon such caches by sheer accident, or hears rumors about them before their discovery. Some of these treasure troves are simple holes in the ground. Others are ornate constructions made to look impressive yet not to be seen. What could be the purpose of these hidden hoards?

Let’s review what we know about them.

Most or all of these cave are well hidden, sometimes even covered by a wall of loose rocks or boulders. They can be detected by various means; animal’s heightened sense, magical items designed to reveal their location, and knocking on the walls to produce a certain sound near the entrance. Most often they are found simply because the cave or hole was clearly visible. Some of the more craftily hidden treasures are actually within homes and buildings, presumably put their by the owner. Less sensible is the great deal of caches that are located out in the wilderness, far from civilization and oftentimes guarded by monsters (intensional or unintentionally). Similar treasures can be found in Dungeons and Temples, though they may serve a particular purpose.

Looking at those found indoors and those found in the wilderness, we wonder what reason some one would have for keeping money or valuables far from their home and in such unsafe places. It doesn’t seem very likely that after becoming rich someone would just go out and bury it or hide it in a cave. Even less likely is this happening multiple times over an extended period. Where do these chests of Rupees and other treasures come from? Why are they hidden?

From observations I’ve made, there seems to be three likely candidates. Minish folk, fairies, and most interestingly, Poe ghosts.

Let’s start with the Minish. We’ve been told that they are the ones responsible for hiding the Rupees, kinstones, and other little goodies all over of the country side to surprise humans. This in part may derive from the Minish people’s natural generosity, but also from the fact they seem to draw on the joy and health of humans. However, the hidden caches of Rupees are not only typically difficult to find, and therefore counter-productive to the Minish’s purpose, but are usual un-cheerful and scary looking. That doesn’t much fit the Minish status quo. Also, those treasures that are protected by monsters would hardly be cause for joy among humans. It’s unlikely that the Minish are creating most of these secret troves. A few of the less dangerous ones, those people are told rumors about, may be of their design, but not enough to account for all of them.

Moving on to the Fairies. This one makes a bit more sense. The Fair Folk are known to have made, or at least inhabit, a number of special hidden constructs throughout Hyrule. Fairy Springs for one can at time offer conditions that better fit the treasure caches. As Great Fairies actually seem to make an effort to help Link, and even plan out ways to assist him, it’s possible that the stashes of Rupees, Hearts, and other items were for him to find. Even if not made specifically for him, the Great Fairies could still prepare such rewards for brave people to discover, in a similar vain of the Minish. This would explain why there would be monsters protecting the underground hoards; the Fairies wanted to test the Hero’s mettle, make him earn the treasure. In particular, places like the cave the Ice Rod was hidden in could have been designed by fairies, as they’re known to posses magical artifacts. Still, some of the caves and caverns seem too tainted by evil for the fairies to have made. While many are not that well hidden, there others that definitely weren’t meant to be found. We’ll say then that maybe around half were created by Fairies.

At last we get to the Poes. Why do I think they have anything to do with buried treasure? All my evidence is drawn from Twilight Princess. In this game, the Poe spirits seem to have a lot of money. It appears they can materialize it at whim. Remember Jovani? He was cursed to become as a statue made of gold and jewels, his cat was turned into solid gold, and his house was filled with chests and piles of riches. If the Poes can do this remarkable feat, surly a few small chests of Rupees would be no problem for them? In fact, I believe in Twilight Princess there are more random chests of money sitting around than in any other game. Also, pay close attention to where the Poes are found in that game. They are normally hovering over a hole in the ground that Link can detect with his wolf senses, or next to a hidden treasure chest. Those rings of plants, rocks, and skulls that Wolf Link can dig into are almost always guarded by a Poe, sometimes two. And they all have hansom amounts of Rupees in them, magically disguised so they only appear under a certain condition. The dark, dank, dreary caverns also fit the preferred home of the ghosts. It all seem to pull together rather nicely to me.

However, one does beg to question why the Poes would make such treasure chests in the first place. The most likely reason I can think of is that other humans or other beings made the same mistake as Jovani, and suffered for it. The riches were left for wiser adventurers like Link to find. There could be other reasons for the Poe’s strange behavior, but I always thought the ghosts behaved oddly anyway.

Even if my theory is correct, it’s still worth noting that many of the caves stocked with riches, jars, and supplies were most likely created by people trying to stash up stuff for later use. Many of them were probably made by monsters like Moblins and Lizalfos, hope miserable heros like Link wouldn’t stumble upon them. Still, it seem many of the catches, especially those with vast amounts of money, were created for more complex reasons. These are but some speculations on possible answers to the series least questioned mystery.

[Gin 0]

You sir, have been thinking too much

[Ivo-goji 0]

Hay, did you get that from my signiture??!?

[Sahaqiel 1232]

I like to think people just bury treasure a lot.

There probably will never be a retcon to explain hidden treasure.

I can't say I agree with you on any of this, since it's such an insignificant topic.

Sahaqiel

[Ivo-goji 0]

I like to think people just bury treasure a lot.

There probably will never be a retcon to explain hidden treasure.

I can't say I agree with you on any of this, since it's such an insignificant topic.

Sahaqiel

Yes, but where's the fun in that?

[Sahaqiel 1232]

I know trivial things are fun.

I may know how many teeth a Stalfos has in Wind Waker, but I don't go around theorizing about what it might mean.

Sahaqiel

[The Fuzzmaster 0]

The caves are there so that Nintendo fans would have more places to search for money.

End of story.

[The Fuzzmaster 0]

The caves are there so that Nintendo fans would have more places to search for money.

End of story.

[Ivo-goji 0]

I can't agree to such a simple explanation. If Nintendo was willing to come up with an answer the Rupees and Heart and other things hidden in pots and grass, which is far more trivial than the caves of treasure, than why can't I come up with a logical idea for these? I'm just following the offical's example.

[Linkprow 42]

Pirates did it! They were there before anyone and they stored their treasure there so other people couldnt steal it.Then they slowly faded with time and monsters inhabited them like deku babas they are plants and appear to like dirt and water there are no horeses or monsters to step on them so many of the caves are ideal.

[Ivo-goji 0]

How could pirates do it? Hyrule is very far from the ocean (most of the time), and there are hundreds and hundreds of hidden treasures. Pirates hardly ever make so much money, and never hold on to it long enough. They would blow every Rupee on ale and other frivolities. They'd have to be pretty paranoid pirates...

I may know how many teeth a Stalfos has in Wind Waker, but I don't go around theorizing about what it might mean.

Sahaqiel

Actually.... there might indeed be an answer to that. Since piracy seemed to increase after the Great Flood, gold fillings may have become popular, and scurvy from long voyages without lots of vitamin C would have resulted in common tooth-lose. With pirates, sailors, and other folks loosing so many teeth and getting fillings, the age-old practice of ripping out a dead enemies gold fillings for cash or trophies could have become a common habit. If anything, the pirates' Spoils Bag Link recieves proves going through a fallen foe's remains was takeing place in the Great Sea. So that explains the Stalfos' teeth conundrum. Oh, and the appearance of the Wind Waker ReDeads may idicate a change in the peoples' funeralblah blah blah blah....

[Knuckle 484]

Hmm, never thought about this... the Minish theory is very good, though.

Perhaps these caves are the dens of the monsters throughout Hyrule, and the rupees are their money? Others might be traps set to catch adventurers searching for treasure. Overall, I think the caves have a plethora of functions depending on what's inside.

Oh yeah, and what's with the business scrubs that dwell in caves? Not exactly good for business...

[Duke Abercrombie 0]

Maybe the Goddesses created it to give money to help the poor.

[Sahaqiel 1232]

I never said the Stalfos had a lack of teeth.

In fact, I'm fairly sure they had a full set.

Sahaqiel

[Ivo-goji 0]

I didn't say they lacked teeth either. I said they may have gone around ripping out their enemies' teeth while they were alive. That's way they can have full set even though they were probably have teeth knock out in mid battle or from scurvy.

Besides, their teeth are all the same. It's a just what the graphic artist wanted them to look like. Same reason they have little itty bitty feet and short legs. In-game potrayal.

Which is why I don't theorize about trivial things. The hidden treasure caches are an important aspect of the Zelda games. And, some times the little things ARE given important background significants. My theory was based on facts from the games. The writers for the series have addressed even more trivial subjects than this with cannon answers. I'm just speculating on whether or not the Treasure Caves also have one.