Though the Great Sea of The Wind Waker boasts many unique islands for Link to explore, there were actually even more islands initially planned for the game. The Hyrule Historia reveals some unused island concepts, opening up a world of speculation about what place they might have taken within the world of The Wind Waker. We have already covered one of the unused island concepts, GC Island. Stovepipe Island, the other unused island concept, could be the answer to some questions regarding the two missing dungeons from the latter half of The Wind Waker.
As many fans have observed already, Stovepipe Island bears a striking resemblance to Fire Mountain, which exists in the final version of The Wind Waker and is entered through the peak of its volcano, much like the concept art for Stovepipe specifies. It’s also worth mentioning that Fire Mountain bears the unique trait of containing an item, sharing this trait with Ice Ring Isle. Both Ice Ring Isle and Fire Mountain contain items necessary for progression toward the second half of The Wind Waker, which is known for having cut dungeons due to time constraints. Given all of these observations, it certainly seems like Stovepipe Island is a dead ringer for the home of one of the missing dungeons from the latter half of The Wind Waker, with an item originally planned for one of the cut dungeons instead put into a smaller version of Stovepipe.
Of course, this brings up the inevitable question: What happened to the dungeon, and will we ever see it? The mini-dungeon found within Fire Mountain is hardly worthy of being called its own dungeon, and there’s no sign of all the pipes and steam that are in the concept art. Eiji Aonuma, when questioned about the cut dungeons potentially making an appearance in The Wind Waker HD, states that the Zelda team has “already used those two dungeons for other titles.” While unfortunate for those wishing for a fully realized The Wind Waker, this information means Stovepipe, technically, already exists, though its concepts are fractured among the Zelda series.
Aside from the previously mentioned similarities to Fire Mountain, it’s possible that the hybrid interior/exterior style of Dragon Roost Cavern was actually an adapted concept from Stovepipe, given the specified entrance cave and path to the back of the volcano seen in the concept art. The concept of pipes and steam from Stovepipe might have been repurposed as the overall design found in the Goron Mines of Twilight Princess, which lines up nicely with the creature in the concept art that bears a resemblance to the Gorons.
We’ll likely never know exactly what ideas or concepts came from Stovepipe, but it makes for a very fun speculation journey. Speaking of speculation, it can’t possibly be a coincidence that there are two missing dungeons from The Wind Waker as well as two islands in The Wind Waker containing progression items. If Fire Mountain is the adapted Stovepipe, I certainly wonder what secrets lie in the origins of Ice Ring Isle. Maybe one day we’ll get to see a concept for what Ice Ring Island used to be and speculate about what became of those ideas.
