Woodfall Temple

Woodfall Temple is the name of the first temple in Majora's Mask.

Entrance to the Temple
The temple is found deep in the Southern Swamp in the Woodfall region, through a secret passageway within the Deku Palace. The physical face of the dungeon is hidden from view and must be revealed by playing the Sonata of Awakening.

Themes and Navigation
Woodfall Temple, in size, is significantly smaller in comparison to the other temples of Majora's Mask, however, the intricacy of its puzzles and layout make up for its size discrepancy. The temple, as with all others in Majora's Mask, suffers from a demonic curse placed upon it, in this case by a spirit, Odolwa. The temple's water, along with a grand portion of the Southern Swamp's volume is poisonous; if Link manages to fall into it, hearts shall be lost.

This temple, with it's forest-like theme, takes full advantage of Link's Deku form. Several platforms exist that can only be crossed as Deku Link (the platforms are alive and will try to eat human Link); Deku Flowers are abundant and aid in giving Link that initial propulsion into the air from which the drifting mechanisms of his Deku form can be utilized. While Deku Link sees much action in this temple, the abundance of water below many of the platforms is enough to stop Deku Link mid-flight.

Enemies are rather few and far in-between relative to other dungeons. While Black Boes, Skulltulas, Dragonflies, and Deku Babas exist, their presence is rare. Guarding the Dungeon Map are three Snappers, and the Compass is in a room with two Dragonflies. The dungeon's special item, the Hero's Bow, is guarded by the dungeon's lone Dinolfos.

Given that the Hero's Bow is the item of this dungeon, there are many puzzles that require its use. Torches and switches must be fired at with the bow, and several Stray Fairies are hidden inside of beehives that must be shot down to reveal their contents. Oddly enough, the dungeon's boss can be defeated entirely without using the bow at all, despite the tradition of most The Legend of Zelda bosses requiring the use of the dungeon's item during battle. The Deku Mask need not be used, either; this is especially odd, given that the two following temples are both very Goron Mask- and Zora Mask-centric, and the two temples' bosses require the respective masks.

Trivia

 * The Woodfall Temple appears to be a site of worship for the Deku. There are many decorative markings inside the temple and a single large, empty room that may have been the main room in which they worshiped.