Death Mountain

Daruk, the Goron Hero is a battle in both Hyrule Warriors and Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity. The first game draws Death Mountain from Ocarina of Time, with the Gorons attacking the Hyrulean Army. An attack carried out only because Darunia had been possessed by two Big Poes. In Age of Calamity, the battle begins during Princess Zelda's recruitment of Daruk to pilot Divine Beast Vah Rudania. An army of Calamity arrives suddenly, and is defeated by the Goron forces and the mighty Divine Beast under Daruk's control.

Role in Games
Hyrule Warriors begins the battle at Death Mountain, called Land of Myth right after Cia opened massive portals and brought portions of different Legend of Zelda timelines. Impa and Sheik lead a third of their forces into this portal, which is the Death Mountain found in Ocarina of Time. Their mission to find the Gate of Souls to close this connection is interrupted by a fairy named Navi rushes to them, begging for help rescuing Ruto from the Gorons.

When the Hyrulean forces approach, however, the Gorons attack. They launch a bolder attack from up on the mountain that will eventually destroy the main base. As Impa's make their way up to stop the attack, Darunia grows enraged and attacks towards the main camp. Even when stopped, the Goron chief merely retreats to his headquarters at the top of the mountain and restores his strength and resumes his assault with his stockpile of rock sirloins.

Sheik proposes using the boulder-launching forts against the Gorons, with Impa joining in the defense of the base to break through the enemy defenses and smash Darunia's supplies. When his stockpile falls, the main keep can finally be reached, and the culprits behind the Gorons' aggressive behavior is exposed: two big poes are possessing Darunia and making him attack all who approach his mountain. When defeated, Darunia is easily brought back to his senses.

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity begins Daruk, the Goron Hero with Daruk agreeing to be Vah Rudania's pilot. However, the forces of Calamity have grown more active in recent times and need defeating in order to reach the divine beast at the top of the mountain. Link and Zelda accompany Daruk in this mission. The first challenge the hero faces is reducing several Goron captains beset by bokoblin and lizalfos led by moblins at the mines near the Goron city.

Once these Goron captains are rescued, Daruk chooses three strategic outposts that need to be recaptured to strengthen the Goron's foothold on the mountain. Each outpost is guarded by a fire moblin. An Igneo Talus appears once these outposts are taken in the northern mine by Darunia lake. After its defeat, Daruk proposes the group split up, with some moving up the mountain, the rest remaining behind to defend their outposts with the Goron captains. A final Igneo Talus guards access to Vah Rudania.

With the divine beast secured, Zelda and company see a massive wave of Calamity forces moving towards the Goron forces, led by several dozen Igneo Talus. Daruk pilots the divine beast around the peak of death mountain, wiping out the forces of Calamity. Once the mountain was retaken, the battle ends and Daruk joins Zelda's growing group of champions.

Korok Seeds
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity has hidden Koroks to be found across the battlefield. They hide in different, simple interactive points, paying homage to Breath of the Wild's own small challenges to collect the seeds. Death Mountain has eight seeds to be found.


 * Just north of the starting location's base. This Korok appears after interacting with his pinwheel.
 * Inside the hut of the west outpost of the two outposts that require rescue at the beginning of the battle. This Korok appears after interacting with his pinwheel.
 * Just west of the western outpost of the two outposts rescued at the beginning of the battle. Look for a stump with a leaf emblem stamped on it.
 * Between the two outposts that need rescue, on the east side of the lava river, on the south side. Look for a stump with a leaf emblem stamped on it.
 * Search south of the Goron city to the northwest. A glowing, sparkling spot marks where this Korok can be found.
 * Cross over the large bridge to the northwest by going south across it. Just after crossing, look to the right (the west). This Korok appears after interacting with his pinwheel.
 * At the hot springs in the center-north, look for the red arrow sign. The Korok is found hiding in a flower.
 * In the northeast, on the northern side of the Eldin bridge, on the east side of the path. A glowing, sparkling spot marks where this Korok can be found.

Origins
Hyrule Warriors draws its inspiration for Death Mountain from Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. The map is one large circle, scaling upwards from the south to the north, where Goron Village is located. The two outposts that can launch boulders is a reference to the constant stream of boulders rolling down Death Mountain during the adult timeline.

Age of Calamity draws its inspiration for this battle directly from Breath of the Wild. The southwest side of Death Mountain is the focal point of Daruk, the Goron Hero. The battle begins in the southern mines that serve as the largest place where the Gorons are mining their ores and food. The winding route to the west eventually leads to the Goron town and their northern mines on the shoreline of the lava Lake Darunia.

Further south of the southern mines, the battlefield stretches to the edge of Medingo Pool. Running in a northern parallel of the canyon, Gorku Tunnel runs northwest to reconnect with the main path up the mountain at the Goron Hot Springs. Back in the Northwest, the large Stolock bridge crosses over the Goron village and also connects to the hot springs. As Yunobo did in BotW, Daruk has to open the Bridge of Eldin to enable access to the peak of Death Mountain.