Ocarina of Time Miscellaneous Glitches - Ladder Lock

Climbing to the top of the ladder after the Zora's message has appeared.

When the message box is closed, the game will actually move Link back to where he was when the message box appeared. It will then proceed to wait for you to close a message box until it "unlocks" his movement... except that since you already closed a message box, there isn't a message box to close.

OoT[misc]

Compatible Versions ? 1.0 1.1 1.2 GCN MQ 3DS

Details Discovered: Unknown Verified: Yes

Instructions

1. As Child Link, enter Zora's Domain.
2. Go to the top of the waterfall and pay to play the diving game.
3. Once the game begins, dive off the waterfall and swim to the ladder by the area's entrance.
4. Climb onto the ladder and wait for the time to run out.
5. Once the time runs out, the Zora's message will appear on screen, but you'll still be able to climb up or down on the ladder. Climb off the top of the ladder.
6. Get rid of the Zora's message.

Result

Link will be frozen standing on air in front of the ladder. The game is not frozen but "locked" -- no buttons have any effect. You'll now have to reset the game.

Explanation

Please be aware that the following section contains unconfirmed theories and or guesses as to why this glitch happens.

Normally, when a blocking message box (one that locks Link's movement) comes on-screen, the game will lock Link's movement, and then wait for you to close the message box before unlocking his movement. What seems to happen in this glitch is that for some reason, placing Link on the ladder prevents the game from locking his movements until after you close the message box, at which point the game will revert Link to his "proper" position (wherever you were on the ladder when the message box originally showed up) and wait for you to close the message box... Except that you already closed the message box, meaning that there is no longer a message box for you to close -- the game will end up waiting forever, and will never unlock Link's movements.

The existence of the Ladder Lock II glitch allows us to infer that the glitch works with any blocking event (anything that locks Link's movement) -- including message boxes and cinemas.