History GoodBadBugs / TheLegendOfZelda

* Normally you can't enter the Spirit Temple without either the Hover Boots or the Longshot. However, by running backward at the edge of the River of Sand and side-hopping just as you cross it to avoid voiding out, you'll run right over it. With this you can beat the Spirit Temple as early as having beaten the Fire Temple[[note]]You'll need to jump onto a rolling boulder and have it bounce you into a silver rupee to complete one puzzle, but other than that all you need to beat this dungeon is the Hookshot and the Megaton Hammer[[/note]].

* The [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaI original game]] has a number of glitches that allow you to cross multiple tiles of water with the ladder, clip onto blocks (and then exit perpendicular to the angle you entered, allowing you to get through diamond staircases without clearing the enemies), scroll across screens, and even go through locked doors without a key. [[https://youtu.be/HFoZOQoErww?t=1h17m33s The last of these wasn't discovered until July of 2016]], ''over 30 years'' after the game first came out in Japan. (Video intentionally set to a few minutes before the discovery.)

* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast'', the "Death Mountain Descent" [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRsoMAn4TUI glitch]] allows Link to access areas in the [[MirrorUniverse Dark World]] that should be inaccessible until after you get the Moon Pearl, which counteracts that realm's ForcedTransformation effect. Further glitches allow Link to actually take human form intermittently and complete certain dungeons (but unfortunately not all of them). You can use this glitch to complete the game without getting the [[SwordOfPlotAdvancement Master Sword]], and/or follow up with other illogical things like refining your regular sword into the [[InfinityPlusOneSword upgraded Master Sword]].

* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaLinksAwakening'', the warp glitch allows many bizarre effects and SequenceBreaking glitches, similar to the Death Mountain glitch in ''[=ALttP=]''. This glitch is so popular that many fans actually consider the colorized DX version to be inferior to the original solely because it fixes the glitch. The glitch can unfortunately cause consequences if the player is not careful, like being stuck permanently with a companion that refuses to let you enter dungeons (the ghost Marin glitch), though it has some humorous effects, such as Moblins being replaced with Grandma Ulrira.

* Early copies of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'' (predominantly those with a gold-colored cartridge) feature the "Swordless Link" glitch, which involves saving and quitting during the final battle right after Ganon knocks the Master Sword out of Link's hand. Doing so puts you back at the beginning of the final dungeon with no sword equipped. While this may sound lame, it's actually pretty cool -- among other things, it lets you use items while on your horse, leading to some interesting and glitchy gameplay scenarios (including being able to use the dungeon-only warp spell Farore's Wind anywhere, and catapulting yourself out of the game world into the nothingness beyond). It's even possible to do this in later editions of the game, but you need to use yet another glitch which allows you to play almost any item as an ocarina to warp out of the boss's lair with your sword unequipped.

* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask'', it's possible to wear the boss-only Fierce Deity's Mask virtually anywhere thanks to the glitch-filled Sakon's Hideout. Simply wear a mask during the second last section as Link, then when you swap to Kafei exchange that mask for the Fierce Deity's. The very first thing Link will do when you regain control of him will be to put on the mask he was "wearing" just moments before, and he will transform. Use that with a bug that lets you enter Sakon's Hideout on [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWnF-n-yZVk Day 1]] and tell the Bomber Kid the password earlier on, and you can mess around anywhere you want for two full days with newfound superpowers. Just be careful not to talk to anyone whose lines varies based on which of the mask forms you're in -- since the Fierce Deity is boss-only, those [=NPC=]s aren't programmed to properly react to it, causing the game to crash. This glitch also leads to some other weird glitches; if you talk to some characters, they will react as though Link were not wearing a mask at all. Some react to him as though he ''were'' transformed, but they don't make a form-specific remark.

* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'', you can use items without depleting them if you pause at the same time you use the item and equip something else in its slot. The most popular use of this is to get endless portions of [[GameBreaker Grandma's soup]]; Link will down half a bottle and get the usual benefits, and if you perform the glitch with a full bottle of soup and equip another empty bottle in its place, you'll get a third portion of soup. This can be done using a few other items, such as getting multiple uses out of one Hyoi Pear. You can also use this to use items you're not supposed to use in certain areas, like bombs inside shops and houses and the like. An interesting thing to note about using bombs inside buildings is that this can be used to blow up the delivery boxes inside Dragon Roost Island. They appear nowhere else in the game and this glitch is the only way to destroy them.

* A glitch in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'' allows the player to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQF0s_el7nY get the Master Sword very early in the game,]] which includes the possibility to change form freely, even in Twilight areas. Unfortunately, the bug also makes it impossible to enter the second dungeon.

* The main glitch used in speedruns of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword'' is nicknamed Back In Time, and it involves dying, selecting Continue and resetting the game immediately afterwards: if done correctly, Link will still be controllable while the game is otherwise in the title screen. Depending on where and how it's performed, you can use it to skip large parts of the game by forcing the game to trigger cutscenes when it shouldn't, instantly warp to another save statue in Skyloft for a major shortcut and end up in partially-loaded dungeon rooms with missing obstacles that you can bypass earlier than you're supposed to.

* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkBetweenWorlds'', it's possible to skip the boss fight of Skull Woods. When it uses the rocket punch, use the Tornado Rod to fly up, clip into its body upon landing, and then quickly walk through the closed door to the outside. Done correctly, you'll end up in the area with the Skull Woods' Sage portrait. You'll still have to fight the boss if you want a Heart Container (it'll still be there when you return), but for speed runs and [[SelfImposedChallenge three-heart runs]], that's little concern.

* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'', the Magnesis rune cannot be used to lift metal objects you are currently standing on. However, this can be circumvented if you put ''another'' metal object on top of that metal object. This works best with metal boxes being placed in mine carts, standing on the box, then lifting the cart into the air however high you want. Branli's gliding minigame on the Ridgeland Tower becomes trivial with this exploit.

* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast'', the "Death Mountain Descent" [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRsoMAn4TUI glitch]] allows Link to access areas in the [[MirrorUniverse Dark World]] that should be inaccessible until after you get the Moon Pearl, which counteracts that realm's BalefulPolymorph effect. Further glitches allow Link to actually take human form intermittently and complete certain dungeons (but unfortunately not all of them). You can use this glitch to complete the game without getting the [[SwordOfPlotAdvancement Master Sword]], and/or follow up with other illogical things like refining your regular sword into the [[InfinityPlusOneSword upgraded Master Sword]].

* Rupee Sliding relies on two of these, the fact that Link ''very '''very''''' slowly slides backward during the "YOU GOT A <whatever>" scene when he picks up a new item due to a bug in his idle animation that skips a single frame, and how, due to a failed check in the game's code, Link will always do the "item found" cinematic whenever you find your first of each color of rupees after loading a save. It basically boils down to killing an enemy so it drops a rupee right in front of a door, gate, or wall, picking it up, and letting the game sit at the "item found" cinematic for (seriously) ''hours''. Link will slowly, every so slowly, creep backward and pass through the wall.

* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast'', the "Death Mountain Descent" [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRsoMAn4TUI glitch]] allowed Link to access areas in the [[MirrorUniverse Dark World]] that should be inaccessible until after you get the Moon Pearl, which counteracts that realm's BalefulPolymorph effect. Further glitches allowed Link to actually take human form intermittently and complete certain dungeons (but unfortunately not all of them). You can use this glitch to complete the game without getting the [[SwordOfPlotAdvancement Master Sword]], and/or follow up with other illogical things like refining your regular sword into the [[InfinityPlusOneSword upgraded Master Sword]].

* By emulating or taking your controller apart, interesting things happen when you walk up stairs facing downwards by pressing up and down at the same time. Interesting in that you go down a level instead of going up a level, letting you use room exits where there should be none, walking under the entire map of the game. If you use enter the Triforce room while doing this, the ending plays. This is how the game is speedrun in 3 minutes.
* There is [[https://www.ign.com/articles/2017/10/17/how-to-beat-zelda-a-link-to-the-past-in-4-minutes-on-the-snes-classic another elaborate glitch]] that allows you to finish the game in just a few minutes: by saving & quitting while midair hopping off a certain ledge in Hyrule castle, reloading and working your way to the same ledge without touching any guards, and then entering the next room to the left and walking up against the wall as another guard chases and hits you, Link will ''disappear into the wall'' and you can then walk him through the walls in a set pattern to bypass Ganon and go straight to the Triforce.
* In dungeons, enemies cannot enter doorways as if there is an invisible barrier where the wall would be if the door didn't exist. This means Link can stand in doorways and be perfectly safe from enemies, but can also swing his sword or throw projectiles at any enemies who happen to come within range or enter his line of sight. This is most useful for avoiding Flying Tiles, as you can [[ProductPlacement grab a Twix]] and cool your heels while they [[NoSell systematically and helplessly destroy themselves]].
* By attempting to use the Cane of Somaria when your magic meter is completely empty and then going into your inventory and switching to the Mushroom while the error sound is playing, you can use the Magic Powder without actually having it. This glitch has absolutely no purpose in the game as it was originally created as the NPC that you trade the Mushroom to for the Powder is accessible ''long'' before you can get the Cane of Somaria, but it can see occasional play in [[GameMod randomizer]].
* Another glitch that serves no real purpose outside of a randomizer (in which the locations of the game's items are shuffled around at random) involves drinking a potion at a certain point in a hallway in the Dark Palace, preventing the screen from properly locking. Because the camera is misaligned, by walking against the right-hand wall of the next room, all of the "Mimic" enemies in the room will walk to the left and wind up offscreen, and since there are no enemies on screen, the door to the next room will open as if the enemies had been defeated. Since Red Mimics are only vulnerable to the bow, this allows you to sequence break this area if you wind up in Dark Palace without a bow (though you'll still need it later in the dungeon).

* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaLinksAwakening'', the warp glitch allowed many bizarre effects and SequenceBreaking glitches, similar to the Death Mountain glitch in ''[=ALttP=]''. This glitch is so popular that many fans actually consider the colorized DX version to be inferior to the original solely because it fixes the glitch. The glitch can unfortunately cause consequences if the player is not careful, like being stuck permanently with a companion that refuses to let you enter dungeons (the ghost Marin glitch), though it has some humorous effects, such as Moblins being replaced with the broom-sweeping old lady.

* In some versions, warping over the edge of the map while holding everything except the level 2 sword caused you to receive a glitched object, which replaced the original sword. You had to save and quit to exit the room with the object, and loading up the game, end up in Marin's house. If you didn’t corrupt the save file, you might end up with a buggy, extremely powerful sword, which could kill anything in one hit.
* The doghouse glitch or doghouse world, which works in both the original and color DX version. It is very easy to enter--just defeat a set amount of enemies (not doing so results in Link warping to the desert or the swamp, depending on the version) walk down the side of [=BowWow=]'s doghouse and push left--and is perhaps one of the strangest glitches in any game. It consists of every dungeon room in the game jumbled up in a seemingly random fashion. The graphics are glitched all to hell, Link's movement physics are completely changed (he can usually walk through almost anything), and treasure chests will contain anything from a random text box from the game to items from high level dungeons, which are completely usable. This glitch is almost endless in its useful capabilities, but has never been fully explored.

* Early copies of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'' (predominantly those with a gold-colored cartridge) featured the "Swordless Link" glitch, which involved saving and quitting during the final battle right after Ganon knocks the Master Sword out of Link's hand. Doing so would put you back at the beginning of the final dungeon with no sword equipped. While this may sound lame, it was actually pretty cool -- among other things, it let you use items while on your horse, leading to some interesting and glitchy gameplay scenarios (including being able to use the dungeon-only warp spell anywhere and catapulting yourself out of the game world into the nothingness beyond). It's even possible to do this in later editions of the game, but you need to use yet another glitch which allows you to play almost any item as an ocarina to warp out of the boss's lair with your sword unequipped.
* There's one involving the [[GottaCatchEmAll Gold Skulltulas]]. One particular Skulltula was in a small cavern. It was possible to kill this spider, use the boomerang to collect its token, then backflip onto the panel that warps you out of the cavern before the boomerang returned to you. This caused the token to be collected, but the Skulltula to return to life, allowing for infinite Skulltula tokens if used repeatedly.

* One major glitch is the ability to "Seam Walk" by very carefully walking straight lines up the seams where two pieces of terrain meet at a gradual angle. The easiest place to do this is in the Gerudo horse archery arena but its actual uses include standing next to Biggoron (and passing through him to climb to Death Mountain's peak) and "invading" the oddly water-filled Hyrule Castle. Oddly, this glitch was never fixed: notice that in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask'' the glitch is still possible, as Nintendo simply replaced most angled seams with vertical ones.
* One of many glitches exploited in {{Speedrun}}s is the "Super-slide", where you roll against something that would cause damage and put up the shield at just the right moment, causing Link to slide backward indefinitely and at tremendous speed. Entering [[CutScene Cut Scenes]] this way has interesting effects. For instance, approaching the Forest Temple the first time as an adult, Link spends the whole cut scene hiding behind his shield, even while playing the ocarina, and mostly doesn't even show up onscreen since he's unable to walk where he's scripted to. Entering the FinalBattle this way prevents Link from [[spoiler:losing the Master Sword]], with the side effect that [[spoiler:it temporarily exists in two places simultaneously: stuck in the ground ''and'' in Link's hands]]!

* Dark Link might normally be an infamous example of ThatOneBoss, but he goes down laughably easy if you face him with a Broken Giant's Knife. The reason being is the programmers never expected this and never gave him alternate programming, so he continues to block and defend against it as if it was the full Biggoron's Sword. Stabs and thrusts from the broken blade slip right past his shield and will kill him in ''seconds''.
* A minor one is the Redeads in the ruined Hyrule Castle Town. Normally Redeads are annoying DemonicSpiders that paralyze Link with a screech and lurch over to bite and/or hump the life out of him, but the ones in the town aren't able to paralyze, letting Link run past what are effectively non-threats. It turns out that since their paralyze causes a camera zoom effect, it won't work in pre-rendered areas with a fixed camera position[[note]]Though it's fairly likely this was noticed during development and [[ThrowItIn thrown in]] as [[AscendedGlitch a feature]], to save players having to fight their way through a horde of full-strength Redeads every time they loaded a save file[[/note]].
* The game can only handle one timer at once, so if it would need to count multiple down, it has to pause one. Normally, the developers went out of their way to avoid having multiple timers at the same time. The only time it's possible is entering Death Mountain Crater without a Goron Tunic on during the Biggoron sidequest, in which case the only timer counting down is until heat exhaustion. Because warp songs technically set the quest timer to 1 second left and don't immediately fail you, this means you can technically teleport to Death Mountain Crater without the Goron Tunic on, run to the exit to Biggoron's cliff, and finish with just that 1 second left.

* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask'', it's possible to wear the boss-only Fierce Deity's Mask virtually anywhere thanks to the glitch-filled Sakon's Hideout. Simply wear a mask during the second last section as Link, then when you swap to Kafei exchange that mask for the Fierce Deity's. The very first thing Link will do when you regain control of him will be to put on the mask he was "wearing" just moments before, and he will transform. Use that with a bug that lets you enter Sakon's Hideout on [[strike:Day 2]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWnF-n-yZVk Day 1]] and tell the Bomber Kid the password earlier on, and you can pretty much mess around anywhere you want for two full days with newfound superpowers. Just be careful not to talk to anyone whose lines varies based on which of the mask forms you're in -- since the Fierce Deity is boss-only, those [=NPC=]s aren't programmed to properly react to it, causing the game to crash. This glitch also leads to some other weird glitches; if you talk to some characters, they will react as though Link were not wearing a mask at all. Some react to him as though he ''were'' transformed, but they don't make a form-specific remark.

* The same glitch can be used in fairy fountains to teleport, since all five fountains are actually in one area beside each other left to right in the order of Ikana, Great Bay, Snowhead, Woodfall, and Clock Town. For example, going into the Clock Town fairy fountain and Bomb Hovering over the left wall will land you in the Woodfall fairy fountain. Do it again and you're in the Snowhead fountain, and so forth. In other words, with a full bag of bombs and good timing the fairy fountains basically become a WarpZone that will take you to every major area in the game.
* With the Goron mask, a bomb, and a well-timed ground-pound you can use the explosion to catapult yourself over the fence blocking access to Great Bay and Ikana Valley, allowing you access to extra items or to do the dungeons out of order if you wish. The best use of this is to obtain the Hookshot early, as it is ''vastly'' helpful in beating the Snowhead dungeon.
* In the 3DS version, standing on the edge of a platform and setting up a bomb behind you makes you jump a large distance forwards. This can be used to skip the green valve quest of the Great Bay Temple, and get the Song of Storms after the night of the first day, among other examples. This trick also exists in the N64 version, but isn't as powerful.

* You can get to the City in the Sky early by transforming into a wolf into a crack under Kakariko Village to clip through it and warp the cannon to Lake Hylia. Since the game only checks for the last mirror shard, it allows you to skip a dungeon and a half. Unfortunately, the game will block all access to previous dungeons once you do the skip glitch, as the game discards all the old events because it thinks you already completed them.
* The "Twilight Hack", a result of a particularly "meta" Good Bad Bug. [[http://catb.org/jargon/html/S/smash-the-stack.html Smashing the stack]] (that is, causing a buffer overflow) using a custom save file containing an overlong name for Epona that contained code that would run right after the save is loaded has allowed people to use the game to boot the Wii into a root-level command prompt and install homebrew software on it. It's not really a bug in the ''strictest'' sense, since (especially after the latest firmware updates, due to later hacking developments including -- and focusing on -- piracy) it can't be accessed without hacking, but its bizarrely beneficial repercussions make it worth mentioning here.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UhRVt7pqkw&feature=player_detailpage The infinite-bombs-and-arrows glitch]] can be done by exploiting the connection between Iza's Rapid Ride and Plumm's Fruit Pop Flight Challenge up Zora's River. By playing the latter beforehand, and using the clawshots while swimming to clip through a wall, you can purposely fall out of bounds in Lake Hylia. What makes this glitch possible is the fact that when the game respawns you, it returns you to the place you last entered the area -- in this case, at the end of Plumm's game, which can usually only be played while you're a wolf -- however because you died as human Link, you'll be respawned as human Link, in a situation that shouldn't be possible. After a few more deaths and respawns you can get so Wolf Link is playing Iza's game (another impossibility), but isn't in the boat. This allows you to warp out and when you turn human again, you'll still have the infinite bomb arrows assigned to your B button, as though you were still playing Iza's game. Having unlimited bombs and arrows makes the Cave of Ordeals a whole lot easier, [[ThrowDownTheBomblette among other uses]].
* In the UsefulNotes/NintendoGameCube version of ''Twilight Princess'', pressing the reset button on the console at ''just the right moment'' after Link falls into Lava in the Goron Mines (sometime during the fade to black) causes Link to respawn normally, except in Hyrule Field. He can then run around, and you might notice the title music playing. The Title logo will eventually pop up, and pressing any button besides the control stick will cause the game to go into the file select screen. It's also possible in the Wii version, although the timing must be very precise and it's harder to pull off. Also sometimes Link can spawn on a Bridge of Eldin; in that instance the glitch needs to be used again. If done correctly, the area which supposed to be Hyrule Field rendered ''behind the Title logo screen'' becomes fully ''explorable''. This can lead to going outside the boundaries of the level, including going as far as the end of skybox, or watching the miniaturised textures of places which are in the distance, like Hyrule Castle. Oh, yeah. Epona is a '''MUST''' when going outside the walkable area, so prepare to see some flying horses.
* Rupee Sliding relies on two of these, the fact that Link ''very '''very''''' slowly slides backward during the "YOU GOT A <whatever>" scene when he picks up a new item due to a bug in his idle animation that skips a single frame, and how due to a failed check in the game's code Link will always do the item found cinematic whenever you find your first of each color of rupees after loading a save. It basically boils down to killing an enemy so it drops a rupee right in front of a door, gate, or wall, picking it up, and letting the game sit at the item found cinematic for (seriously) ''hours''. Link will slowly, every so slowly, creep backward and pass through the wall.

[[folder:The Legend of Zelda]]

[[folder:A Link to the Past]]

[[folder:Link's Awakening]]

[[folder:Ocarina of Time]]

[[folder:Majora's Mask]]

[[folder:The Wind Waker]]
* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'', there's the unlimited potions/soup glitch. Just press the button the item is assigned to and start at the same time, then switch it out for an empty bottle. Link still drinks the soup or potion, but it not only doesn't use up the stuff in the bottle but can even end up half filling the empty one as well. You can also use this to use items you're not supposed to use in certain areas, like bombs inside shops and houses and such like. An interesting thing to note about using bombs inside buildings is that this can be used to blow up the delivery boxes inside Dragon Roost Island. They appear nowhere else in the game and this glitch is the only way to destroy them.

* By far the most useful glitch is superswimming, which allows you to completely and utterly ''[[SequenceBreaking demolish]]'' the game's attempts at {{Railroading}} you. It takes a bit of an awkward setup using a glitch called "Dry Storage"[[note]]Take out the Wind Waker and cancel it so it's in Link's hand, climb up on something and time pulling out the Wind Waker so it makes you fall to the ground while still conducting, then cancel conducting ''precisely'' 3 frames (1/10th a second) before Link hits the ground. If you did it right the camera will be free but Link will still have the Wind Waker out, and canceling again will activate the Dry Storage glitch[[/note]], but by performing that you can take the Wind Waker out, jump in a body of water, hold the Control Stick up to "charge" your swim, and then release it to send Link hurdling backwards with a distance depending on how long you "charged" it. You can use it to swim from island to island in mere seconds and go wherever you want and whenever you want the second you've acquired the Wind Waker.

[[folder:Twilight Princess]]

[[folder:Skyward Sword]]

[[folder:A Link Between Worlds]]

* There's a trick to get Ravio's shop early. You must lure a crow near the entrance of the Death Mountain then get hit by it as you jump off the nearby ledge, go through the cave and trigger the Death Mountain eruption cutscene on the other side, which in turn triggers the appearance of Ravio in your house. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbSShVKW6pY#t=27 Here's the video.]] Not only is this trick useful in speedrun, but it has funny oddities: if you complete the Sanctuary the cutscene in which Link wakes up is glitched and there will be two Ravios and two Sheerows!

[[folder:Breath of the Wild]]

* In the 3DS version, standing on the edge of a platform and setting up a bomb behind you makes you jump a lot of distance forwards, which can be used to skip the green valve quest of the Great Bay Temple and get the Song of Storms after the night of the first day, among other examples. This trick also exists in the N64 version, but isn't as powerful.

* It only works in the second dungeon, and even then only in the places with magnet force pillars, but putting on the boots with the D-pad and then replacing them with any other item ''before'' you hit the magnetized surface allows you to move at normal speed on the ceiling. You can't use items or roll, and your hat becomes immune to gravity, but it makes some parts much faster.

* There's a trick to get Ravio's shop early. You must lure a crow near the entrance of the Death Mountain then getting hit by it as you jumps off the ledge. The Death Mountain eruption cutscene triggers the appearance of Ravio in your house. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbSShVKW6pY#t=27 Here's the video.]] Not only is this trick useful in speedrun, but it has funny oddities: if you complete the Sanctuary the cutscene in which Link wakes up is glitched and there will be two Ravios and two Sheerows!

* By going into a shrine right when a Blood Moon is about to occur and waiting until it's past 12 AM in-universe, you prevent the Blood Moon from taking effect and delay it until the following night. And you can keep delaying it for as long as you want, which allows monsters you've killed to stay dead while you can take your time exploring the world without having to worry about them coming back until you're ready to let it happen.

* Rupee Sliding relies on two of these, the fact that Link ''very '''very''''' slowly backward during the "YOU GOT A <whatever>" scene when he picks up a new item due to a bug in his idle animation that skips a single frame, and how due to a failed check in the game's code Link will always do the item found cinematic whenever you find your first of each color of rupees after loading a save. It basically boils down to killing an enemy so it drops a rupee right in front of a door, gate, or wall, picking it up, and letting the game sit at the item found cinematic for (seriously) ''hours''. Link will slowly, every so slowly, creep backward and pass through the wall.

* There is [https://www.ign.com/articles/2017/10/17/how-to-beat-zelda-a-link-to-the-past-in-4-minutes-on-the-snes-classic another elaborate glitch] that allows you to finish the game in just a few minutes: by saving & quitting while midair hopping off a certain ledge in Hyrule castle, reloading and working your way to the same ledge without touching any guards, and then entering the next room to the left and walking up against the wall as another guard chases and hits you, Link will ''disappear into the wall'' and you can then walk him through the walls in a set pattern to bypass Ganon and go straight to the Triforce.

* In Ocarina of Time: Master Quest there's an easy-to-do glitch that allows you to get through the [[DownTheDrain Water Temple]] in under 5 minutes, without needing a single key or encountering a single enemy.

* A ''very'' easy to perform glitch allows you to warp to any Owl Statue before you've actually visited them[[note]]It involves learning the Song of Soaring and hitting the "hidden" Owl Statue visible from West Clock Town which has no warp index and no others. Depending on where your menu cursor was before playing the song, the cursor will be placed on one of the destinations to warp to[[/note]]. With this you're able to [[OpeningTheSandbox smash the sandbox wide open]] and gain access to a ton of items, heart pieces, and all the transformation masks without ever setting foot in a single dungeon.

* Dark Link might normally be an infamous example of ThatOneBoss, but he goes down laughably easy if you face him with a Broken Giant's Knife. Reason being is the programmers never expected this and never gave him alternate programming, so he continues to block and defend against it as if it was the full Biggoron's Sword. Stabs and thrusts from the broken blade slip right past his shield and will kill him in ''seconds''.

* The game can only handle one timer at once, so if it would need to count multiple down, it has to pause one. Normally, the developers went out of their way to avoid having multiple timers at the same time. The only time it's possible is entering Death Mountain Crater without a goron tunic on during the Biggoron sidequest, in which case the only timer counting down is until heat exhaustion. Because warp songs technically set the quest timer to 1 second left and don't immediately fail you, this means you can technically teleport to Death Mountain Crater without the goron tunic on, run to the exit to Biggoron's cliff, and finish with just that 1 second left.

* The ''entire [[NewGamePlus second quest]]'' of the [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZelda original game]] exists due to a programming error. The map data for the dungeons used only half of the intended memory on the ROM, but Shigeru Miyamoto decided that [[ThrowItIn it played just fine and decided to use the extra space for an alternate layout]].