- "Whether you're come to Hebra Mountain to shield surf the slopes, hunt treasure, or just to take a walk, you must remember... This. Mountain. Will. Kill. You! The accident rate is too high to measure! And before anything else, you must dress appropriately for the weather here, not like you're heading to Hyrule Field!"
- — Selmie's Notes
The Hebra Mountains is a location from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. It is a region located in the Hebra province of Hyrule. It is very cold and contains many ice-element foes.
Environment[]
Hebra Mountains is one three main regions that make up the Hebra province along with Tabantha Frontier and Tabantha Tundra. The mountains and is very frigid in temperature, as well as the Tabantha Tundra to the right of it and cold portions of Tabantha Frontier southwest of it such as Tabantha Hills. No large settlements can be found here as the Tabantha Village Ruins are actually located in the colder portions of Tabantha Frontier. Ironically the Hebra Tower is located in Tabantha Frontier and not the mountains though this is because it gets its name from the Hebra province which Tabantha Frontier is part of. However there are signs it was once inhabited by people at some point in the past as there are Shrines located within the region and the cave containing the Hebra Great Skeleton has a stone doorway.
However despite its harsh climate and dangers the mountain is popular among Shield Surfers and is home to the legendary surfer Selmie, The Duchess of Downhill who lives in a cabin at Selmie's Spot though she has for the most part since retired though she set up the Hebra Trailhead Lodge at the foot of Hebra South Summit below Rospro Pass and east of the Rito Flight Range for fellow shield surfing enthusiasts and other mountain travelers. The lodge is intended as a safe location for travelers to prepare before heading up the mountain and contains Selmie's Notes which give expert advice how to survive dangers of the mountains though various Shield Surfers to have visited the have left messages within its pages. Selmie's Notes even stress how deadly these mountains can be as Selmie points out the death toll from accidents is too high to measure which is why she set up the lodge and marked the mountain trails with flags to aid travelers especially those who were unexperienced. However she also notes the snowy peaks are really beautiful and the ideal spot for shield surfing and wants as many people as possible to enjoy the sport as safely as they possibly can. The lodge contains a Cooking Pot and a Bed travelers can use as well and is often stocked with provisions. However its popularity has brought unwanted attention from the Yiga Clan as one of their disguised Footsoldiers set up camp nearby showing their reach extends this far. The Rito Flight Range in the area of Dronoc's Pass is also located in Hebra Mountains and according to The Diary of Revali was built by the Rito originally as a private training ground for Revali though he later permitted aspiring Rito warriors to train there as well. Following Revali's demise during the Great Calamity, the Rito continued to utilize it to the point a century after his death use of the Flight Range has become a tradition among Rito warriors. Teba even retreats to it to hone his skills after his first attempt to combat Vah Medoh ended with his comrade Harth injured.
Because of the extreme cold, it is essential travelers dress in cold resistant Armor or carry "Spicy" dishes and Spicy Elixirs preferably. A Cold resistance at level 2 is sufficient to survive the mountain's coldest temperatures. The Brazen Beak Armor Shop sells the Snowquill Armor set in Rito Village is favored by travelers in Hebra province for its cold resistance and when properly upgraded to at least two stars the set grants the Unfreezeable set bonus preventing the wearer from being frozen which is useful protection from the ice monsters that call these mountains home.
The animals here are far more valuable here, dropping more high-quality meat than animals in warmer climates. Hyrule's largest deer subspecies the Tabantha Moose, Grizzlemaw Bears, and Great-Horned Rhinoceroses are the larger animals native in the region, and the Cold-Footed Wolves, Snowcoat Foxes, and White Pigeons yield greater-quality meat as well. Red Sparrow can also be found and yield Chickaloo Tree Nuts. However the cold climate causes raw meats and seafood (fish, snails, and crabs) to freeze if not collected quickly.
The monsters here are also high level, mostly containing Moblins and Ice-Breath Lizalfos of greater strength. White-Maned Lynels also make their home here, patrolling their territory in the snow though as Link defeats more and more enemies they are eventually replaced by the even more dangerous Silver Lynels. White ChuChus and Ice Keese are in great number heres. Native to this region are Frost Pebblits and Frost Taluses, which blend in with the snow and ice. On top of Biron Snowshelf, a lone Guardian Stalker can be seen covered in snow, meaning that Calamity Ganon's influence can stretch that far. Blizzrobes can sometimes be seen prancing in the snow, creating blizzards and summoning ice monsters to attack any travelers they come across.
Three secret Hot Springs can be found hidden throughout the Hebra Mountains including Goflam's Secret Hot Spring, Sherfin's Secret Hot Spring, and Sturnida Secret Hot Spring. Finding them will add their location names to the Sheikah Slate map.
Etymology[]
The name Hebra Mountains is a reference to the japanese localization of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past in which the Light World version of Death Mountain is known as Hebra Mountain as the name Death Mountain only applies to its Dark World equivalent in the japanese localization, while both localizations are known as Death Mountain in the english localization.
Interestingly, though Death Mountain exists in Eldin Breath of the Wild, both the Hebra Mountains in Hebra and Death Mountain in Eldin are on opposite sides of Hyrule and both are polar opposites as Death Mountain is extremely hot and volcanic while Hebra Mountains are snowy and extremely cold presumably referring the Light World Hebra Mountain and Dark World Death Mountain being opposites in the japanese localization of A Link to the Past. However this reference was likely the work of the game's japanese developers who may have intended it for those familiar with the the japanese localization of A Link to the Past, or they may have been unaware that the name Hebra Mountain is not used in the english localization thus these references end up being lost on players only familiar with the english localization of A Link to the Past.
Theory[]
Theory warning: This section contains theoretical information based on the research of one or several other users. It has not been officially verified by Nintendo and its factual accuracy is disputed.
As Hebra Mountain was the name of the Light World version of Death Mountain in the Japanese localization of A Link to the Past, this may also suggest that the events of A Link to the Past actually took place west of Lesser Hyrule from The Legend of Zelda, although most modern sources including Hyrule Historia suggest Lesser Hyrule as being located south of "Death Mountain", and that A Link to the Past took place there but in a better age, when Hyrule had not yet started to decline. However it should be noted Hyrule's geography often varies from game to game and Breath of the Wild is full of references to locations from past games.
Theory warning: Theories end here.