The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap/Deepwood Shrine

Summary:
 * Item Gust Jar
 * Earth Element
 * 3 Heart container pieces (1 outside, 2 inside)
 * Boss Giant Green ChuChu

Deepwood Shrine is located in Minish Woods, the farthest southeast section of your map (will be check-marked by the king). During the natural progression of your journey there, you will meet Ezlo (the Cap) and have a tutorial in using tree stumps to shrink to Minish size. You will need to enter the Minish Village and introduce yourself to Festari the Abbey, who will send you on a short mini-quest to locate a Jabber Nut (which helps to translate Minish to your tongue) and then a quick chat with the village Elder before revealing the entrance to the Deepwood Shrine.

There is a Heart Container piece just outside the shrine, you will not be able to pick it up whilst Minish sized. You can reverse your steps, grow back to normal size and retrieve it now, or continue on your way and come back for it.

You will enter a chamber with three doorways; the left and right doors are currently blocked with cobwebs. Move a statue to the left to unblock and enter the middle door.

You have entered a dark room with several slugs; they are easy to kill with two sword hits and move very slowly. Step on the floor buttons to light the floor lamps, which will reveal the treasure chest containing a key you need to enter the next door.

Falling slugs await you in the next room, again quickly dispatched. Avoid the water floor, you cannot swim, and proceed to the northeast corner of the room. Stand in front of the pull switch, press R and simultaneously push Down, a bridge will appear to the mushroom. The mushroom works similar to the pull switch; grab it with R and use the directional pad to drag it in the opposite direction (in the case, move Right). When poor Link is red and sweating and the mushroom stretches no more, let off the directional pad, keeping hold of the mushroom with R, and you will find yourself being launched over the water. Another falling slug, then proceed to the north door.

Now you are in a larger room, featuring a wooden barrel on it's side in the center. Proceed to the right, there is an enemy that cannot be killed yet with any tools you possess (but it can be bounced away from you with the sword); notice the dusty floor that causes Link to slow down. Go up the stairs and step on the switch to light the lamp, which in turn burns the vines holding that side of the barrel down. Now you can step down the other set of stairs and enter the barrel itself.

Take the only other doorway available in the barrel, on the top left. Now you are on the opposite side and back end of the barrel. More un-killable enemies and dust, proceed south and up the set of stairs to another lamp with two floor buttons. Conveniently someone left a stature here, move the statue on top of one button, then stand on the other, causing the same vine burning as seen on the other side. Now the barrel is free to rock and roll! Retrace your steps back in to the barrel.

By walking forward or backward, you are making the barrel roll, aligning the doorway openings to other rooms. One doorway is block by a cobweb, we'll get to that later. Go up one cycle of barrel movement (it will click into place), and enter the doorway which is now on the bottom left. You end up in the same room, but now can access a doorway to the left that was blocked off from the other angles.

Oh goody, more dust! Kill the lady bug, and proceed to the left to the mushroom. You will have to clear some more water, same as before. If you start with a little jump*, proceed into the left door.


 * A large jump with give you access to a large treasure chest containing Dungeon Map atop a set of stairs. Then you can drop back down on the floor in the same room, head to the left and proceed with the short jump directions above.

Falling slugs and an evil fly await you, easily defeated. Do not be so hasty to pick up and smash the room's only pot on a hunt for rupees, you will need to push it onto the floor switch to keep it weighted down (it is not a crisis if you do, just exit and re-enter the room and the pot will be reset). The switch reveals a bridge, which you take and leads you through the south door.

Here we see two statues and two floor switches, and Ezlo gives a quick tutorial on pushing and pulling. You will need to be inside that square of blocks when the switches are activated, so you will push one statue atop a switch. The other statue you will have to pull aside one space to give you room to enter the square (pull with R to grab and whatever direction on the control pad you are pulling), and pull the statue back on to the switch from the inside. This reveals a chest containing a key. Push a statue out of the way, and exit the way you entered.

Back through the room with the bridge to the right. If you have not gotten the treasure chest yet, proceed through the right passageway and down, pushing the block out of the way, and moving to the left to the mushroom, this time stretching it further for a large jump clearing both puddles. Up the stairs, open to the map, and jump back down. Noticed the piece of heart container to the right in another room? We'll get to that. Back through the door to the right.

Back into the barrel. Walk forward until the cobwebbed doorway is in the center of the bottom of your screen, and enter the top right doorway. Proceed right through the locked doorway with your newly acquired key.

We now have more water, mushrooms, partial bridge and a switch... As well as a stairway going up, which will will avoid for now. Use the mushroom to make a small jump over the water (too much stretching and you will just end up in more water on the other side, remember you can't swim?), crossing the bridge and step on the switch. This elongates the bridge, and you need the space to stretch the next mushroom. Take this mushroom for a long jump, then enter the door to the right.

You find two floor slugs, and lots of falling ones. We have another statue and floor button puzzle. Pull the right statue a few paces back over the button, then go around and push the other statue on top of the button. The door will stay open, go right on through.

Now we are trapped in a room and the scary music starts, not to worry. Defeat the three evil ladybug creatures, 3 hits apiece should do the trick and do not forget to protect yourself with your shield should one charge. Success reveals a key and opens the doorway to the left.

Now we are back in a familiar room. Proceed north up the stairs we ignored earlier. In the next screen we have no other option but to jump down. Take that passageway. Another dusty room, and two evil ladybugs. Go through the left door.

Alas, here we see another piece of heart container we will have to ignore for now. Out of the dust in this room jumps more of those un-killable monsters, avoid them and head to the center of the bottom and step on the floor button to open the doorway to the south (this will lead back to he barrel room, ignore for now.) Proceed through the locked door on the left using your key (ignore the bottom left door, it is cobwebbed on the other side).

We are now locked in with an evil blue caterpillar. Another easy defeat, simply hit it once on the head, it will turn gray with a red tipped end. Hit this end repeatedly with your sword, he will turn bright red and angry for a moment and you have to stay out of the way until it turns blue again. Repeat for a total of three times, it blows up and leaves behind a chest containing the Gust Jar.

The Gust Jar is basically a vacuum that sucks and gusts out once you let go of the button. Now we can clean up some of that dust around here...

Take the south door that opened, it leads to that first heart container piece we had to ignore. Back into the room of the former caterpillar.

Go ahead and suck up the cobweb on the lower right door (that we ignore from the other side before) and pass through. Those un-killable creatures can now have their heads sucked a bit until flaps go over their eyes, now making them an easy kill. Clean up the dust in the room, revealing 3 more floor switches; two bring about small chests, and the third reveals a blue transport spot above by the heart container piece we are still ignoring. We can now take the south door and re-enter the barrel room.

Enter the barrel, and suck the cobweb out of the door in there. Take that doorway, which will drop you down.

You are standing in a puddle, and deeper waters further on. There is a lily pad, use the Gust Jar to suck it to you and step on. You will need to steer yourself on the floating lily pad with the Gust Jar, using gusts of wind to propel yourself in a direction. Basically, just face the opposite way you want to head and press the button (A or B) you have assigned to it repeatedly. Aim your lily pad down the little waterfall, and take the path of the water to the right (take care with the flying enemies, they can push you into the deep water). You will also encounter some falling slugs.

On the next screen, aim your lily pad for the stairs. Up top, there is another button switch that will require the weight of a pot to stay down. You will have to clear some pots behind another, so you can get behind one and push it onto the button. Should you mess up, just exit and re-enter the screen to reset the pots. Once the button is pushed, your water path will clear and you can board the lily pad again and continue on your path upwards to the next screen.

Park your ride, and push a pot onto yet another floor button, you'll have to use your lily pad to cross the water to access this chest from the other side, this has a key. There is a large treasure chest to the right, you have to push blocks out of the way to access this, which is the Compass. (Optional: You can proceed through the north doorway. This room has two evil ladybugs, kill them and vacuum up some dust to reveal a floor button, which has a chest.  This is a room you have been in before, but from another angle and is not necessary to complete.  Retrace your steps back to the lily pad from here.)

Back on to the lily pad, we'll retraces our steps (or floats), taking the upper water path to the locked door. Unlock and proceed through the door.

More mushroom jumping. Jump over the first section. You will need to vacuum the dust around the second mushroom to the right, and then use the Gust Jar to bring the mushroom head to you, allowing you to clear the second section. Repeat with the mushroom on the immediate right, then down down a few paces and do it again to go left to the large treasure chest. The chest contains the Big Key. Move to the right, and step on the floor switch, revealing a red transport square. Step on the square.

This brings us back to the first room of the temple. Notice there is the blue transport square here as well? Take it, it will bring you to the heart container piece we had to ignore before, and then transport on back to the main room. This is a good opportunity to smash the nearby pots for hearts of you need some life replenishing, and to save your game.

We can now vacuum the cobwebs off the right and left doorways; they lead to the same room but take the left door first, and move a block out of the way to access the chest. Back through the door, and now take the right one. You will need to use the Gust Jar again to get the mushroom to jump the pool and go left, then go to the bottom of the pool and use the same mushroom to jump north. Unlock the door, and we have our first boss, Giant Green ChuChu.

Giant Green ChuChu is simple. It will waddle around, you must use the Gust Jar to suck his bottom portion away, it will get smaller and flashing red. The boss will then slowly chase you up and down waiting for an opportunity to fall on you, avoid it if you can (the pots will usually contain hearts), Hit it with the sword when it is down. When up, it will try to jump on you, but the beauty of shadows is that you know where it will land and can avoid becoming a pancake. It can be a little hard to aim the Gust Jar while avoiding it, I find it is easier to start vacuuming while it is in a corner. Repeat for a total of three times. You have got the Earth Element, and a completed Heart Container! Take the green portal square to return to the outside of the Deepwood Shrine!

You must return to Minish Village and speak to the elder, who will reveal another passageway out of the village to explore and advise you on where to go next. Good luck!