If you happen to hear someone whisper, “Ganon’s power grows… it rises to its peak under the Blood Moon” on March 3rd, get ready! It means a special event is bringing the world of The Legend of Zelda to life, and you’ll need to be prepared to defend against… well, let’s just say Ganon’s forces. Consider it a once-in-a-lifetime experience – grab your sword and shield just in case!
The popular video game The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild came out on March 3rd, 2017 for both Nintendo Switch and Wii U. A key feature of the game is the ‘Blood Moon,’ which causes monsters to become more active and brings Calamity Ganon’s forces back to life across the land of Hyrule. Interestingly, this year, on the 9th anniversary of the game’s release, scientists have confirmed that a real-life lunar eclipse will occur, creating an actual blood moon.
A Real Life Blood Moon is Bringing Ganon’s Power to Life on BOTW’s Anniversary
Okay, so it feels super weird right now. Like, the timing is just off. With Zelda’s anniversary just passing on February 21st, and Nintendo completely ignoring it? It’s like the game gods are seriously upset. I’m not even kidding – it feels like they’ve teamed up with Ganon to bring on this crazy Blood Moon as some kind of punishment for Nintendo just… forgetting the Zelda franchise. It’s a little dramatic, but honestly, as a long-time Zelda fan, it feels… right.
Lunar eclipses are rare, happening only about three times a year. This particular eclipse falling on the anniversary of the video game Breath of the Wild is incredibly lucky – about a 1 in 121 chance! That means we likely won’t see this alignment again for around 121 years, making it a once-in-a-lifetime event. However, for the hero Link in the world of Hyrule, these eclipses seem to happen all the time!
In Breath of the Wild, a Blood Moon happens every 2 hours and 48 minutes. Unlike real-world Blood Moons, these events in the game are caused by Princess Zelda’s struggle to contain Calamity Ganon. Ganon’s dark power, called Malice, turns the moon blood-red – a magical effect that doesn’t happen in reality!
A blood moon happens when the Earth passes directly between the sun and the moon, casting its shadow on the lunar surface. The moon appears red because Earth’s atmosphere filters out most of the sunlight, allowing only red light to reach it.
NASA’s website explains when and where fans of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild can watch the upcoming lunar eclipse, which happens on the game’s anniversary. The eclipse will be visible in the evening over eastern Asia and Australia, throughout the night across the Pacific Ocean, and in the early morning hours in North, Central America, and western South America. Unfortunately, it won’t be visible from Africa or Europe.
Moons Have Become an Iconic Staple of the Zelda Franchise
While Breath of the Wild made the Blood Moon well-known in Zelda games, it wasn’t the first to use the idea. Ocarina of Time actually introduced the concept originally, featuring a day and night cycle that lasted around 3 minutes and 50 seconds. In that game, each hour passed in the game world only took 12 seconds in real time.
Similar to Breath of the Wild, Ocarina of Time featured a nighttime setting, though it was mostly populated by simple enemies called Stalchildren. Majora’s Mask built on this idea of changing times of day, creating the well-known mechanic of a falling moon that gave Link just three days to prevent disaster.
The changing day and night cycle is now a key feature in every Zelda game, but Breath of the Wild first introduced the idea of a moon that causes the Blood Moon to appear. The Blood Moon also returns in Tears of the Kingdom, making it a permanent part of the game’s world. To celebrate Breath of the Wild‘s anniversary this year, players can look up at the in-game sky on March 3rd and say: “By its glow, the aimless spirits of monsters that were slain in the name of the light return to flesh. Link… please be careful.”
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2026-02-27 04:42