Medallions


 * Not to be confused with Medals. For the Medallions in A Link to the Past, see Magic Medallions.

The six Medallions, also known as the Spiritual Medallions, are items related to the Sages in.

Quest Purpose
The Medallions represent the awakening and power of their respective Sages. Link obtains each of them after awakening a new Sage, whose powers are symbolically added to those of the young hero. The symbols on the Medallions reappear in the Arbiter's Grounds in, and in the ceiling of the vestibule of the Sealed Temple when it is completed following the return of the Statue of the Goddess to the Surface in SS undefined.

List of Medallions
Below is a brief description of the Medallions. They're listed according to the generally accepted order of obtainment.

Light Medallion
The Light Medallion is the first Medallion Link gains on his quest to save Hyrule. It is given to him by the ancient Sage of Light, Rauru, after Link awakens as the Hero of Time.

Forest Medallion
The Forest Medallion is the Medallion Link gains after defeating Phantom Ganon in the Forest Temple. It is given to him by the newly awakened Sage of Forest, Saria.

Fire Medallion
The Fire Medallion is the Medallion Link gains after defeating Volvagia in the Fire Temple and freeing all of the trapped Gorons within. It is given to him by the newly awakened Sage of Fire, Darunia. According to Darunia, it contains the "power of the fire spirits" and also considers it a token of his friendship with Link.

Water Medallion
The Water Medallion is the Medallion Link gains after defeating Morpha in the Water Temple. It is given to him by the newly awakened Sage of Water, Ruto.

Spirit Medallion
The Spirit Medallion is the Medallion Link obtains after defeating Koume and Kotake and their fused form, Twinrova, in the Spirit Temple. It is given to him by the newly awakened Sage of Spirit, Nabooru. Nabooru offers it to Link in lieu of her promise.

Shadow Medallion
The Shadow Medallion is the Medallion Link gains after defeating Bongo Bongo in the Shadow Temple. It is given to him by the newly awakened Sage of Shadow, Impa.

Method of Obtainment
While the listing above is the order seen in the Quest Status Subscreen, the Medallions can be secured in a number of different orders simply by entering a dungeon, obtaining its main item, and then not finishing the dungeon yet. The player can then move on to different dungeons with the new equipment. The Light Medallion must always come first, however, and it is worth noting that the Water Temple can be entered and completed before ever entering the Fire Temple. Also, the Shadow Temple cannot even be entered prior to beating the Water Temple, and the Forest Temple has to be cleared before being able to complete the Spirit Temple due to the requirement to go back in time. There are a total of thirty different ways to beat the temples.

Curiously, the Spirit Medallion and the "Requiem of Spirit" appear before the Shadow Medallion and the "Nocturne of Shadow" in their respective places on the Quest Status Subscreen, indicating the possibility that the Spirit Temple can be completed before the Shadow Temple.

Development History
During the early development stages of Ocarina of Time, Nintendo intended that the Medallions could be used by Link. Several early screenshots depict Link with the Forest Medallion (then known as the Wind Medallion) equipped, as the Medallions were the original method of warping through Hyrule instead of using the Ocarina of Time.

In a November 1997 interview by Famimaga 64, Shigeru Miyamoto explained that the Medallions, known as "Magic Medallions", were supposed to have been used in conjunction with Link's Bow and Arrow. There were to be six types of Magic Medallions, including fire, wind, darkness, and light, meaning that they might have been used instead of the Fire, Ice, and Light Arrows that turned out in the final, released version of the game.

The Forest Medallion and Water Medallion were originally the "Wind Medallion" and "Ice Medallion," but their names and corresponding dungeons were changed during development. Two icons relating to these original medallions are still present in the game's code.

Remnants of these original themes are present in the released version of Ocarina of Time, such as Saria's part in Ganon's Tower being wind-themed, Ruto's part in Ganon's Tower being ice-themed, and the presence of an Ice-themed mini-dungeon. Also, the symbols on the Medallions were never changed; the Forest Medallion has an image similar to a wind-like vortex on it while the Water Medallion bears the image of a snowflake.

Trivia

 * The Symbol on Forest Medallion resembles the one on the Bombos Medallion from . Its appearance was altered in Ocarina of Time 3D to depict only three spirals, rather than four, perhaps to avoid confusion with the Bombos Medallion. The new design also bears a strong resemblance to the Kokiri emblem. Given Nintendo's history of censorship, it is possible the design was changed to make it looks less like a swastika.
 * The symbol on the Light Medallion (and to a lesser extent, the Shadow Medallion) is extremely similar to the pattern of rocks on the ground surrounding the Magical Warp Tile leading to the Dark World on the top of Death Mountain in A Link to the Past.
 * The symbol on the Light Medallion loosely resembles the symbol for radiation.
 * The Fire Medallion and Water Medallion are displayed in the center of the symbols out of which Koume and Kotake rise just prior to engaging Link in battle. However, the fire symbol faces to the left rather than the right and the water symbol has eight points rather than six.
 * Each Medallion has a small Triforce symbol engraved on the reverse side. This is made more apparent in the 3DS version.
 * The Symbol on the Spirit Medallion resembles the astrological sign of Cancer turned 90 degrees.