How Oppression and Mounting Tension Drive Link To Greater Heights of Heroism

Introduction

There are some moments when a game’s plot truly grips me. They are usually a sudden and poignant turn in the story. Such a thing generates a strong desire to delve deeper into the narrative. It might be a wrong that needs to be righted, or a crime to be avenged, or maybe even an epic quest to be completed. Such story moments spawn a change in the game’s atmosphere. Tension increases with a sense of looming dread. Villains have the upper hand. Everything that is good in the world is on the brink of being lost forever. The desire to overcome the source of this growing oppression spurs me to action. These are the moments that create a legend.

Let us take a look at some instances in the Zelda series where Link’s trademark courage is needed the most.

 

A Dark And Stormy Night

In A Link to the Past, Hyrule has already fallen before the player boots up the game for the first time. This is due to the fact that Ganon, the pig-like demon who rules the Dark World, has just completed a scheme to take over the realm of Light. That conniving boar first uses his sorcery to conjure a series of calamities to plague Hyrule. The ruling king grows increasingly desperate and offers massive rewards to anyone who can save the kingdom. Ganon capitalizes on Hyrule’s plight and sends his puppet sorcerer Agahnim to magically solve Hyrule’s problems. This malevolent magician is placed in a position of power by the king. From here, Ganon’s puppet is perfectly poised to bring about a reign of darkness.

From the moment the game begins, the player is greeted by an atmosphere of danger so thick that it is tangible. Link receives a cryptic call for help in his dreams. As he awakens, the boy sees his only living relative take up a blade and flee his home into the night. As the would-be hero follows his uncle’s trail, Link is accompanied by a torrential storm. The soundtrack’s haunting rendition of “Ganon’s Theme” amplifies the tension. In a very short time, A Link to the Past has convinced the player that something is very wrong in the world.

It is only after venturing to Hyrule Castle that, to his horror, Link realizes how dire the stakes have become. The king has been slain, and Agahnim is ruling as dictator in his place. Through Ganon’s power of manipulation, the mighty and well-equipped Hylian army has been brainwashed. The soldiers now enforce Agahnim’s regime and attack anyone who gets out of line. Shortly after this realization, Link’s uncle is slain. If that wasn’t bad enough, Agahnim begins using dark rituals to seemingly destroy the maidens who descended from Ganon’s ancient enemies, the Sages.

Ouch. That is a lot of villainy for one boy to overcome. When I played this portion of the game, it was riveting. A Link to the Past surprised me with how much it managed to show despite the limitations of the Super Nintendo’s hardware. While the rest of the game is not narrative-heavy, this opening created enough of an impact that I was driven to right the wrongs that had reduced Hyrule to a state of villainy.

 

The Twist Of Time

Few Zelda plot twists are as famous as the half-way point of Ocarina of Time. Link and Zelda think they have reached a moment of triumph. The two children have managed, by hook or crook, to acquire the three coveted Spiritual Stones. Link braved the dangers facing the Goron and Zora races, while the princess works to stall Ganondorf in the political arena. After his quests were complete, Link raced to the Temple of Time. The little hero inserted the stones into their pedestal, and their power acted as a key to open the Door of Time. Inside this door lay the entrance to the Triforce’s hidden refuge: The Sacred Realm. This should have been the end of the quest. With the Triforce in hand, the pure-hearted Zelda could wish for all their troubles to be undone. Unfortunately, with this optimistic and somewhat naïve goal, the two children inadvertently cause the kingdom’s destruction.

Ganondorf, the king of a tribe of hostile Gerudo thieves, had been manipulating Zelda and Link to create this moment. With a heart burning with hatred, the man-in-black steals into the Sacred Realm and lays his hands upon the Triforce. His malice and unbalance inadvertently split the relic into three parts, leaving the Gerudo King with only the Triforce of Power. Using this newfound might, Ganondorf uses sorcery to utterly dominate Hyrule. The once-serene Hyrule Castle is destroyed and transformed into a dark fortress suspended over a caldera of lava. What follows is nearly a decade of suffering and death for both the Hylians and every other species in the land.

Once Link emerges from his seven-year long slumber, he leaves the Sacred Realm as a boy in an adult’s body. The first sight to greet his eyes, is the ruined façade of the once-beautiful Temple of Time. The skies are unnaturally dark and a blazing eruption rages on the summit of Death Mountain. This single frame encapsulates how much devastation has befallen Hyrule during his sleep. If you are attached to Hyrule as a place, then it is a painful walk through the ruins of Castle Town. The once-happy and bustling city is now nothing more than a pile of charred ruins. To make matters worse, ravenous zombies now roam the streets. Were these once the people who lived here? That’s chilling.

When I first played Ocarina of Time, I was taken aback by how utter the destruction was. Every part of Hyrule was affected by the evil king’s curse. The peaceful Kokiri Forest, a land so pure that no evil should touch it, is now dark and filled with monsters. Gorons are being wholesale fed to a dragon. Zora’s Domain is currently a block of ice. Even Lon Lon Ranch, the place at which I felt most at home, was under the control of a petty thug. When I saw all this rampant evil, it was frustrating. I like immersing myself in medieval video game worlds. Walking around and enjoying their atmosphere is fun to me. But now, every location I had come to enjoy was torn asunder by Ganondorf and his plot. This couldn’t be allowed to stand. So I got myself through the tricky dungeons and showed up at Ganondorf’s Castle to give him a well-deserved pounding. The defeat of the tyrant didn’t end Hyrule’s troubles, but at least the people got a fresh start.

As a side note, it would be even cooler if it was Ganondorf who somehow manipulated the dreams of both Link and Zelda. He could have tricked them into unlocking the door in the Temple of Time through the use of a false prophecy. After all, one of his future incarnations would use this same trick several millennia later to devastating effect.

 

A Doomed World With Broken Hearts

Few games in the Zelda series embody a sense of impending doom like Majora’s Mask. The threat of an extinction-level event and the ever-present clock really puts the pressure on the player. That being said, after a while I found it easier and easier to develop a routine. Soon, it became second nature to get done as much as I could in a three-day cycle, then reset time to avoid the Moon. One might almost get blasé or complacent in this mindset, except for an important roadblock the game puts in your way. By experiencing so many people’s trials and tribulations, you start to actively care about the residents of Termina. And that feeling is not something that can be reset with a tune on an ocarina.

Even a cursory exploration of the doomed country will reveal that so many people are experiencing deep interior suffering. Sometimes, this takes the form of guilt over past mistakes and poorly lived lives. For others, there is a grief over the loss of a loved one. This grief is presented as so poignant that it cuts like a knife into their hearts. The worldwide existential dread that the Moon represents magnifies these sorrowful feelings by a factor of a hundred. If Link does nothing, that big rock will smash the world to pieces. No other game in the Zelda series has come close to creating this ever-present sense of mortality.

As action-adventure games, the Zelda series sees its hero performing remarkable feats of valor and daring. Plot twists that give the villains the upper hand usually compel me to perform an outburst of heroic deeds. Majora’s Mask is different. In this game, I don’t feel the need to aggrandize myself as a fictitious warrior-hero. Instead, I feel a well of compassion open within my heart for a people who are suffering the deepest possible hurts. This is why I find that game so humbling. In Termina, Link still managed to be a warrior, but more importantly he was a healer. The little hero’s small works of charity towards the individual residents of Termina caused a rippling effect. Each sorrow lifted, or grief accepted, began a chain reaction that helped restore so much life and light to a world on the edge of destruction. This message is made even more potent by the fact that I can take these lessons into my own life. Every small action that lifts another’s spirits can spread beyond my meager efforts and into the lives of those around me. That is humbling and awesome.

 

An Unending Night

At first glance, it is hard to believe that anything can be wrong in The Wind Waker’s Great Sea. Seagulls drift lazily through the air as children play along the shores. The world is as colorful as a Zelda game can get. But despite all that, there is an undercurrent that threatens the peaceful hegemony of the Sea. Like a sickness spreading through a body, a resurgent Ganondorf’s malign influence harms the lives of people from across the ocean-realm.

Like his endeavors in Ocarina of Time, Ganondorf starts small. He establishes a base of operations in the Forsaken Fortress. From here, the Gerudo disrupts the races of the Great Sea with curses and monsters. These titanic creatures serve as a distraction to keep potential opposition distracted while he searches for Zelda’s descendant. With no end to his depravity, Ganondorf sends his minions to abduct innocent children from the inhabited islands. That tyrant doesn’t care who he has to hurt to get the Triforce. Nothing matters to this despairing madman other than his own will. Such a mindset in someone as powerful as Ganondorf is a truly frightening concept.

When Ganondorf finally steps out into the open, he does so in a horrific act of barbarity. The Gerudo King travels to Greatfish Isle to seek Jabun’s Pearl. When he learns that the fish has escaped, Ganondorf magically tears the entire island apart. The very land itself is twisted into an unrecognizable jumble. If anyone lived on that island, they were destroyed in the blink of an eye. From here, the Gerudo causes a curse of endless night to befall the entire Great Sea. The sun will not shine again until he has his clutches on the princess’s descendant and her Triforce.

This is the moment where The Wind Waker got serious. The sight of the demolished Great Fish Island hardens Link’s perspective. I think he finally begins to see that there is more to this quest than rescuing his sister Aryll. For such a colorful game, The Wind Waker does have some dark moments. Triumphing over them makes me feel great. The Endless Night scene is also a clever callback to the opening of A Link To the Past. The player must traverse a violent storm to stop a madman, all the while “Ganon’s Theme” can be heard within the background music.

 

The Shroud Of Darkness

The beginning of Twilight Princess finds Link in his most sedentary state. This young man was born into life as a simple farmhand, and he is content with that life. There is little in Link’s existence that would qualify as excitement. Even the idea of a trip to Hyrule’s capital would be seen as an extraordinary undertaking. It is only when tragedy strikes that Link realizes that his horizons can be broadened beyond the comfy confines of Ordon Province.

After children of Ordon are kidnapped by Bublins, Link attempts to mount a solo rescue. Almost immediately, he fails and is turned into a wolf by the Twilight Realm’s power. To add insult to injury, Link gets saddled with an initially overbearing companion, Midna. While she eventually grows to value and befriend Link, the imp initially treats him with a cruel sense of contempt and forces the wolf to become her servant. Being forced to work for someone that treats you poorly creates a sense of oppression. At first, Link bears this burden for the sake of himself. This sense expands after the wolf-hero meets Zelda and discovers that Hyrule has been conquered. The whole land is being oppressed.

The many journeys into the Twilight-covered Hyrule paint a grim picture of the land. If Link takes the time to listen to what the ghost-denizens of the provinces have to say, he will uncover a network of tragedies. So many people are cursed with fear thanks to the Twilight’s presence. Zant’s war with Hyrule must have been swift and decisive. All across the land there is evidence of one-sided battles. Both of the kingdom’s great bridges have been blasted into ruins. Its army is dead or broken into submissive cowards. Kakariko’s population was overcome by Shadow Beasts. The northern Zora’s domain was encased in ice after their queen was executed as a punishment for defiance. Everywhere you look things are going horribly wrong.

The bug hunting missions in the Twilight-covered Hyrule revealed a subconscious change in my attitude. Originally, I only went where the game told me to go because I had no choice. Minda had a hand on the reigns and was calling the shots with each biting comment. But as I began to see the aftermath of Zant’s brutality, the onus shifted on to me. At this point, the game didn’t need to hold my hand. I was invested in Hyrule’s plight and committed to seeing Zant’s tyranny ended. It’s a pity he wasn’t the final boss though, as Ganondorf’s inclusion didn’t merit the same buildup.

 

A Duel For The Fate Of The World

Spoiler Warning: For those of you who haven’t played the ending of the recently re-released Skyward Sword HD, feel free to skip this section.

As Skyward Sword’s narrative unfolds, Link uncovers that he is at the center of two competing strategies. Centuries earlier, Hylia and Demise employed long-term plans that, if successful, will result in each other’s destruction. On one hand, Hylia put pieces into motion with the goal of her hero gaining mastery of the Triforce. Using that power, he could wish for Demise’s well… demise. On the other hand, Ghirahim worked behind the scenes to lay a groundwork for his master’s escape from the sealing stone. Link was a useful tool caught in the middle of both schemes.

There is not much oppression throughout Skyward Sword as the land is in a pure and unsettled state. This all changes the moment that Zelda emerges from her amber cocoon. Ghirahim, who by this point has mastered the art of camping, strikes at the perfect moment to capture Zelda and incapacitate all her defenders in one swift motion. The self-proclaimed demon lord takes the girl into the distant past. He will sacrifice her essence to resurrect Demise and bring about the world’s end. In the blink of an eye, the stakes have risen to imminent catastrophe.

With the world itself at stake, Link has his cathartic moment to shine. Prior to this point, Impa, the residents of Skyloft, and even Zelda herself thought of Link as little more than a lazy dreamer. But that was in another lifetime. A campaign’s worth of experience has hardened the soul of this boy and turned him into a man of steel. Link is now a warrior who is worthy to bear the title of hero. Even Ghirahim takes Link seriously at this point. Instead of his usual mocking and posturing, the demon summons an entire horde to challenge his rival. Link swats his way though hundreds of Bokoblins to reach Zelda and stop Ghirahim’s ritual. This scene is intense, as the hero’s childhood friend is being hurt, the skies are darkened with Demise’s approaching doom. Above it all, you know that this is the point where you will finally face down Ghirahim in one final showdown.

Despite all of Link’s efforts, the Demon King rises from his seal. That should be the end of it; the world is over. Nonetheless, Link stands stalwart before the mortal foe of all of Hyrule (without flinching I might add). Demise takes notice of this and is confused as to why a simple human would stand before a being of his power. Impressed with Link’s courage, the demon agrees to a one-on-one duel with Hylia’s champion, which turns out to be a mistake. Demise is defeated and his physical form passes away. Sadly, he does manage to leave behind a lingering curse that would haunt Hyrule in the forms of Ganon and Ganondorf for thousands of years.

This whole scenario is the culmination of the most narrative-driven Zelda game. Since the final battle takes place in the distant past, the stakes are more dire. If Demise rose from the dead in the present, then Skyloft would probably be safe up in the clouds. But by altering the past, the demons could destroy the Hylians in the infancy of their race. It felt empowering to slash through hundreds of Bokoblins to reach Ghirahim. (It’s quite possible that the horde battle was a sort of test run for Hyrule Warriors.) And while I wasn’t totally sold on his design, I’ll take a fight with Demise over the Imprisoned any day.

 

Utter Desolation

The apex of Ganon’s destructive power was felt in Breath of the Wild. This is one of the few times in the series when the villains truly win. Hyrule was a land abounding in wealth and affluence. The kingdom was at its largest known size and possessed a teeming population. This bountiful era is most likely due to a lack of Ganon attacks, as the Ancient Malice was sealed away for ten thousand years. In the years that followed, Hyrule forgot its history of struggle and slowly let its defenses slide. This would lead to a catastrophe.

Ganon, whose consciousness had never left the world, embarked on his most diabolical plan yet. Through the poisoned words of Astor, a mortal obsessed with dark powers, and Malice, the seeds were planted in King Rhoam’s head that Ganon would return. By this time in history, Ganon had been gone for so long that he is seen as a sort of boogieman. The title Calamity Ganon makes him sound more like a force of nature instead of an entity with personality and intelligence. And it was this oversight that brought Hyrule to its end.

The moment he reappeared, Ganon corrupted the army of mechanical creatures that were supposed to defend Hyrule. The Guardians became a tide of doom, wiping out everything in their path. In a pointed act of spite, the Calamity sent its very presence into each Divine Beast. Through his Blights, Ganon killed the Beasts’ pilots and intended to use their massive laser canons to reduce Hyrule to ash. It was only though Zelda’s last-second sealing of Ganon’s powers that the destruction of the kingdom was incomplete. Still, over ninety percent of Hyrule was gone, and countless thousands were dead. This was the worst blow the forces of good had suffered in the Zelda series since the flooding of Hyrule in The Wind Waker.

By the time Link arises from his century of recuperation, Ganon’s presence is once again awakening within Hyrule Castle. Blood Moons are becoming more frequent. Dangerous Guardians that had laid dormant since the Calamity are reactivated. Monsters assault travelers on the open roads. And Yiga assassins are striking in greater numbers. This aspect of Breath of the Wild creates an interesting contrast. On one hand, you have the most serene and modern depiction of Hyrule. The land is so natural and free that it feels like it was taken out of a Ghibili film. On the other hand, monsters run rampant, Divine Beasts terrorize the survivors of the Calamity, and assassins perpetually seek to end your life. It is this mix of world exploration and survival that has endeared many players to Breath of the Wild, even if its story wasn’t what I would have hoped.

Everywhere you go in Hyrule, Ganon’s presence can be felt. His swirling smoke surrounding the Castle is a constant reminder that he is waiting for you. Additionally, there is a sense of desolation and oppression every time I lay eyes on the ruins of once-bustling communities. I feel this loss most keenly in Castle Town and the settlements on the Great Plateau. It would have been epic to see a fully intact Hyrule on such a large scale as Breath of the Wild presents. And it is truly sad to see such a cool country reduced into a wasteland. I will give credit where it is due, Ganon had a clever scheme up his sleeve this time.

 

Conclusion

While I love the sense of exploration and freedom in the Zelda series, I find that these feelings are best heightened when the villains are at their apex. But why is that? To coin a phrase, the more powerful and unstoppable the villains of a story, the more daring and epic the heroes must be. This sense of greatness directly translates through the medium of game into the player. I feel awesome when defeating challenging enemies or solving tricky puzzles. Exploring and uncovering the answers to ancient mysteries are a thrill. These moments are especially great if they are wrapped up in an engaging story.

It is my hope that the next game in the Zelda series will present us with a cunning enemy who can truly push me to my limits. It is assumed that Ganondorf will be the identity of the mysterious animated corpse that is featured in Breath of the Wild 2’s trailers. I hope that is true, as he was one of the series’ more clever antagonists. Even if that is not the case, it will be interesting to see what Nintendo presents us in Breath of the Wild 2’s story.

To those that have made it this far, I thank you for the read! What are your thoughts on the antagonists of the Zelda series? Do you find their villainy as compelling to overcome as I do? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

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Fan artwork of Link vs. Ganondorf by SirFizzWhizz.

Joseph Berlinger is a member of the Zelda Dungeon Writing Team. He plays the mountain dulcimer, works as a videographer and enjoys history.