Fake Flippers

Summary

Swim without having the flippers.

Works on

Exclusive to version JP 1.0 only.

How to perform it

The glitch is performed by lining up Link exactly one pixel from a screen transition, jumping straight into the water, and then immediately transitioning the frame after you hit the water.

One thing to watch out for when doing this glitch is getting hit in the water will trigger the game to check if you have flippers, then try to place you out of the water exactly where you last jumped in. If you entered from a different screen, this will cause an infinite scroll soft-lock.

Technical explanation

The game allows you to move 1 frame in the water before it checks to see if you have flippers. Transitioning the screen in effect cancels this check.

Applications

The best use for this is to get to the whirlpools that can be used to quickly warp to a different location on the map.

Desert Palace to Death Mountain

The most common application to use fake flippers is in the Any% (NMG, No S+Q) category when traveling from Desert Palace to Death Mountain.

Here is a picture demonstrating how to easily line up the glitch.

Use the wall (green line) to line up Link perfectly with the bush, then once touching the bush, slash against it and hold B to hold your sword out. Use the sword slash to buffer a direction change to Up+Right (blue line). This will line Link up perfectly (one pixel) from the edge of the screen. Quick Hop into the water (orange line) and hold right while in the air to transition the screen.