Sharks are usually portrayed as enemies in video games, given their on-screen reputation in the media as killing machines. As a huge shark nerd, I don’t always like that they’re portrayed in such a light. In The Legend of Zelda series as a whole, there have only been very few shark enemies. The Gyorg’s of Wind Waker and Malgyorg’s of Phantom Hourglass strike a close resemblance to them, but if you google “sharks” and “The Legend of Zelda,” you’ll most likely find an abundance of Prince Sidon images.
While Prince Sidon is one of the greatest things to happen to The Legend of Zelda, I’ll leave the topic of him to one of his biggest fans on our site. This Shark Week I’ll be diving down to talk about a secret shark that you may not have known about in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Okay, let’s be real, you probably know about this Easter egg already. It’s been around for a very long time and is pretty well known, but it’s Shark Week and this is still a pretty cool fact.
Upon visiting the Lakeside Laboratory in Ocarina of Time, the scientist who lives there is happy to record the depth of how far you dive into his little indoor pool. If you have the Golden Scale, you should be able to reach the bottom and find yourself a nifty Piece of Heart. However, if you decide to use the Iron Boots and Zora Tunic to hang out down there for a little while longer, you’ll find a shark hidden behind the bars at the very bottom of the enclosure.
In the original game, the shark appears to be just a stock image of some sort. There’s no real rhyme or reason to why it’s there: It’s just a fun thing that probably scared the daylights out of young players who stumbled upon it — though how could it with that big grin?
The shark makes a return in Ocarina of Time‘s 3DS remake, but it’s given depth to make it appear as a more 3D element instead of a flat image. You can still only see the head of the beast, but it is a much cleaner and clearer than its predecessor. However, it still remains motionless and not much else than a fun Easter egg to stumble upon.
While this was always a fun thing for me to find, I had always hoped for a little more with this guy. Perhaps a side quest to set him free from the laboratory; he doesn’t seem very happy in there. I would love some sort of quest in a future Zelda title that included a shark buddy to swim alongside! Yes, yes, I know, Sidon — but you know what I mean. Nintendo, please get on that.
