Whenever the sun sets on Hyrule, the vibrant, bustling kingdom morphs into a spooky, shadowy landscape, where skeletons rise up from the ground and bats swoop down on unsuspecting victims. And in the dead of night, dark secrets emerge from the depths of even the most innocent locations. Kakariko Village from Ocarina of Time, despite being a humble little town full of kind, hardworking people, has a number of frightening secrets hidden just out of sight, like the Shadow Temple and the Well that is home to the Dead Hand.
But aside from these chilling horrors, there is another lumbering secret tucked away in Kakariko Graveyard that can only be discovered after dark. And that is the lovable gravekeeper known as Dampé.
Despite what my childhood self might tell you, Dampé is not a monster. He is just the elderly gravekeeper of Kakariko Village, tasked with keeping the gravestones clean and preventing hooligans from vandalizing the place. Fans of the Zelda series may have noticed that Dampé shows up in multiple games, but his iteration in Ocarina of Time holds a special place in my heart.
For starters, even though Dampé may look intimidating, he’s actually quite sweet. His original low-poly model was sort of terrifying to me as a kid, but his gentle personality eventually won me over. He sincerely cares about the work he does, and he clearly loves to have fun, offering to play a game with kids who visit the graveyard at night (for a small fee, of course). The game, known as the Heart-Pounding Gravedigging Tour, is simple but extremely rewarding, allowing you to win Rupees and even a Piece of Heart.
Even children seem to enjoy Dampé’s company, especially one little boy who wanders the graveyard during the day. This kid idolizes Dampé, passing the time by mimicking his walk and pretending to attend to the graves. If Link tries to pull on a gravestone, the young boy takes notice and threatens to tell Dampé that he is messing up all his hard work.
Normally children would be afraid to approach characters like Dampé, but in this game, the kids understand that he’s simply a kind man they can look up to. More importantly, they appreciate the importance of his job of tending to the dead. It cannot be an easy job to do, but Dampé makes sure that Kakariko Graveyard is well-kept, and he does his best to make the place feel as welcoming as possible.
But while Dampé makes for a fun side character during Link’s childhood, he plays a more essential — and more somber — role in the story once our hero becomes an adult. Sometime during Link’s seven-year slumber, Dampé, unfortunately, passes away. We never find out how he died, but regardless, the gravekeeper is absent when Adult Link arrives at Kakariko Graveyard, leaving no one to tend to the lonely graves.
But just because Dampé is dead does not mean he has left the premises — far from it, in fact. If Link inspects the old man’s abandoned hut, he will find a diary that tells of a secret hidden within his grave. When Link enters Dampé’s crypt, the gravekeeper’s spirit appears before him and challenges him to a race through the catacombs. When Link wins the race, Dampé rewards him with a treasured item: the Hookshot, a required item for entering the Forest Temple. After this point, Link can race him again any time he wants for a chance to win a Piece of Heart.
Even in death, Dampé is still devoted to helping people in fun and meaningful ways. He goes from aiding the dead to aiding the living, and his contributions to the cause shouldn’t be taken for granted. After all, without the Hookshot, Link’s quest to defeat Ganondorf would end in failure early on. So even though we may not realize it, Dampé is actually one of the most important characters in the game.
Dampé’s tale may be a sad one, but his wonderful personality and commitment to helping others make him a beloved character in Ocarina of Time, as well as the rest of the games he features in. From now on, whenever the creatures of the night come to haunt you, just remember that kindly Dampé is there for you, ready to light the way.
