- "Go around! Go around and around and around! What fun! I'm so happy! I'm a music man who loves to go around and around! Go around and around!!! I'm trying to come up with a musical theme inspired by this windmill...going around and around and around!!!"
- — Guru-Guru
The Windmill, also known as ??? and the Windmill Hut, is a location from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Located in Kakariko Village, it is used to draw water up from the bottom of the Well of Three Features.
The Windmill is the largest building in Kakariko Village, and as such is an easily spotted landmark. Strangely, when Link enters the Windmill, the text that appears reads "???" and not "Windmill"; this may be due to the fact that the building is connected to Dampé's Grave, which also reads "???" when Link enters it. This could also be why Link shivers and sneezes in the Windmill if left idle, like he does in Dampé's Grave. Inside the Windmill is a Piece of Heart which may be obtained after first racing Dampé when Link is an adult. After re-entering the Windmill by way of its connecting tunnel, Link can pass over to the ledge where the Piece of Heart is found by riding part of the mill wheel construction. Strangely, this Piece of Heart can also be obtained by using the Boomerang when Link is a child.
The Windmill contains an upper level; while standing on the edge of a roof of a nearby house, Link can use his Longshot to grapple himself to a wooden post located inside a square hole high up on the front of the Windmill. The hole can only be seen briefly between the blades of the Windmill as they spin. Upon reaching the hole, Link faces a staircase leading up, as well as a good view of the entire village in between the windmill blades. Following the staircase leads only to another hole and oddly, in the daytime, a Cucco. This Cucco can be used to reach the roof and the back entrance to Impa's house, allowing Link to get a Gold Skulltula on top of the house and a Piece of Heart inside.
Story[]
Spoiler warning: Plot or ending details follow.
Inside the Windmill, Link meets Guru-Guru, who is trying to come up with a musical theme inspired by the Windmill. In the future, when talked to, Guru-Guru angrily recalls that in the past, a small child played a song for him that "messed up" the Windmill. Guru-Guru teaches Link this song, known as the "Song of Storms". Link travels back to the past and plays it for him, causing the Windmill to speed up, draining the water from the well, and allowing Link access to the catacomb-like complex below. This event is a time paradox of sorts, as Guru-Guru teaches Link the "Song of Storms" in the future, yet Link teaches Guru-Guru the song when he travels back in time. Because of this, the question of who originally composed the song remains a mystery.
Spoiler warning: Spoilers end here.