Hyrule Castle Courtyard

The , also known as the , is a recurring location in .
==Features and overview==
======
The Castle Courtyard is a small, open enclosure inside Hyrule Castle. In order to speak to Princess Zelda, Link must infiltrate Hyrule Castle, make his way through the Courtyard Gardens, and visit her within the Courtyard. There, Princess Zelda explains that she had a prophetic dream warning of a dark force attempting to corrupt Hyrule. She then shows Link a window where he can spot Ganondorf, who intends to steal the Triforce from its resting place in the Sacred Realm, the Temple of Time. In order to counter Ganondorf, Princess Zelda devised a plan to keep the tools necessary to enter the Sacred Realm, the Ocarina of Time and the Spiritual Stones, out of his reach. To this end, she tasks Link with the responsibility of retrieving the remaining two Spiritual Stones. Princess Zelda then gives him a Letter granting him permission to ascend Death Mountain Trail. Afterwards, she orders Impa to teach Link her Lullaby and help escort him out of the Castle.
If Link strikes the western window with a Deku Seed, a Soldier will appear and berate him before throwing a Bomb in his direction. The eastern window contains scenery from New Super Mario Bros. in , but originally showed photographs of Yoshi, Princess Peach, Mario, Bowser, and Luigi in .
The Castle Courtyard is only accessible during the day, since Soldiers that cannot be bypassed will be stationed just in front of the secret entrance at night. After Princess Zelda flees from the Castle, the aforementioned Soldiers will be stationed at the secret entrance at all times, rendering the entire area inaccessible.
======
The Hyrule Castle Courtyard composes the majority of the exterior of Hyrule Castle in . It follows a sprawling and branching road that connects to key locations within the Castle. The primary road leads through three major compounds: the First Gatehouse, the Second Gatehouse, and the Sanctum. It begins at the Hyrule Castle Gate, which winds around to the entrance to the Guards' Chamber before passing through the First Gatehouse. After the First Gatehouse, the road splits twice. The first split of the road leads through a garden beneath the tower containing Princess Zelda's Room, continuing on to the Dining Hall on the southeast side of the Castle before reconnecting with the primary road a short distance after it initially splits. The main road continues through the Second Gatehouse before wrapping around and leading up into the Sanctum. The road between the First and Second Gatehouse is obstructed by a Pool of Malice, which can be partially dispelled by destroying a Glowing Eyeball on the eastern side of the Malice.
Prior to the second Great Calamity, the Hyrule Castle Courtyard was used by Sheikah scientists to research and control the Guardians they excavated from beneath Hyrule Castle, as seen in the Recovered Memory, "Father and Daughter". After Calamity Ganon escaped its seal beneath Hyrule Castle, it spread its Malice to the Guardians populating the Courtyard, seizing control of them and using them to assail Hyrule Castle, initiating the second Great Calamity that spread to the rest of Hyrule Kingdom.
====Enemies====
File:BotW Decayed Guardian Model.png|Decayed Guardian
File:BotW Glowing Eyeball Model.png|Glowing Eyeball
File:BotW Guardian Skywatcher Model.png|Guardian Skywatcher
File:BotW Pool of Malice Model.png|Pool of Malice
==Nomenclature==
==Gallery==
File:Zelda's Courtyard.png|The Castle Courtyard in 
File:Hyrule Castle Courtyard.jpg|The heavily-guarded portion of the Castle Courtyard from 
File:OoT Super Mario Portraits.png|The portraits of Mario characters from 
File:OoT3D Castle Courtyard.png|The Castle Courtyard in 
File:OoT3D Castle Courtyard.jpg|The Castle Courtyard from 
File:Ganondorf notices Link.png|Ganondorf possibly spots Link in the Courtyard.
File:Castle Courtyard OoT.png|Zelda knows that Ganondorf is after the Triforce, and she's unhappy about it.
File:OoT3D Throne Rug.jpg|Link spying on Ganondorf from 
File:OOT3D NSMB Easter Egg.jpg|The New Super Mario Bros. cameo from 
==See also==
* Hyrule Castle