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Where is King Dorephan in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom?

King Dorephan has seen better days, that's for sure.

King Dorephan in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Image credit: The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom | Nintendo

Who would have thought tracking down a giant shark would be so difficult? But where to find King Dorephan can be one of the toughest tasks in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.

After having ventured to the Zora Domain and reuniting with Prince Sidon, you'll be sent on a bit of a wild goose chase around the region. First, you'll have met Jiahto, then Yona again, and now, a bunch of unwelcoming children.

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Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom King Dorephan location

The first step on your way to finding King Dorephan is to eavsdrop on some young Zora.

Even though our plight is much more important than these children's games, we can't force them to share their secrets with us, so we're going to have to do a little spying. That's right, we're spying on the kids of Zora's Domain - Link, I'm watching you. Without further ado, here's where to find King Dorephan in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.

How to listen to the kids in the Throne Room in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

In the Throne Room, which is atop the Zora Domain, you’ll meet Keye, Laruta, and Tumbo. These guys are playing their own King Dorephan game, in which they’re recreating past events, and they don’t want Link joining in.

Link approaches some children in the Zora Domain in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Approach these children, only to be told to go away. | Image credit: The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom | Nintendo

Head to your right and speak with Ledo, who’ll also tell us just as much. This means, as weird as it may sound, we’re going to have to spy on these meddling kids.

Make your way over to the throne (which is a small pool) and hop inside. You’ll want to very quietly sneak over, or the kids will shoo you off again. Once you’re inside the throne, you’ll be able to listen to what they're talking about.

Link, sat in the Zora Domain throne, eavesdrop on a conversation in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Once in the throne, you can listen to the conversation that the kids are having. | Image credit: The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom | Nintendo

The kids will theorise where King Dorephan’s hiding place is, having heard it was a “pristine sanctummy”, which Keye says must mean “a spot with clear water.” Tumbo will then add that they’ve heard there’s clean water flowing “somewhere between Ploymus Mountain and the domain.”

Last, but not least, one of the kids discloses that there’s supposedly a secret entrance behind the waterfalls here, too.

Where to find King Dorephan in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

King Dorephan is found inside the Pristine Sanctum hidden behind a waterfall to the east of Zora's Domain.

The big waterfall behind Zora Domain that leads to Mikau Like is where we want to go. Equip the Zora Armor we grabbed from Yona earlier if you haven’t already, and make your way up this waterfall.

On the second part of the waterfall, where you’ll see stone beams across the walls behind the water, swim behind the waterfall (instead of up it). Here, you’ll find the entrance to this private sanctummy that the kids were talking about.

Link faces the entrance to the pristine sanctum in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Enter the pristine sanctummy! | Image credit: The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom | Nintendo

Make your way to the waterfall in this room and ride up it. Here, you’ll find King Dorephan and can speak with him, although he isn’t looking too good.

It turns out that ‘mark of the king’ from the slate Jiohto was investigating actually means King Dorephan’s scales; he’ll give us five of these, but says Link can always return for more if needed.

The King's Scales item description in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
So, this is what the 'mark of the king' means. | Image credit: The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom | Nintendo

Now, we must continue our ‘Clues to the Sky’ quest. This means locating the 'land of the sky fish'. To continue our walkthrough of Zora Domain, here's where you'll find the Land of the Sky Fish!


For more on Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, take a look at what to do with Bubbul gems, and which minerals you should be selling. On top of that, don't forget to help find Misko's treasures, and help Addison fix their signs while you're roaming around Hyrule.

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