In celebration of the recent 10th anniversary of The Wind Waker, and as we anticipate the approaching HD remake for the Wii U, we have a treat for you. The following is a collection of three articles on the driving messages of The Wind Waker. Live for the Future, Face Your Regrets, and It’s Always About What You Haven’t Got each cover an inspiring theme from the classic GameCube game and together we hope they motivate you, even if only a bit. Enjoy.

Live for the Future

“I want you to live for the future.

There may be nothing left for you…

But despite that, you must look forward and walk a path of hope, trusting that it will sustain you when darkness comes.” – King Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule (The Wind Waker)

We’ve all heard the saying before. Almost every one of us knows that person who lives for the moment. One person that “lives every day as if it was their last”. That one person who thinks only for the present, caring not for the past or the future. That is one of the extremes. There are also those who live grounded in their past. Those who cannot let go and dwell in times gone by. There is, however, also a third extreme. People who can’t handle looking into what the past has brought them and who have nothing to hold on to for the present. These are the people that must place their hope in the future.

Life is an experience of ups and downs. There are good times, there are bad times. Perhaps it is that we take the good times for granted, because when the bad times hit, they do so with such force. They may come from the death of a friend or family member. It may be because of changes taking place in your life. It could be because of regret and the chances that you missed. Perhaps failure. Maybe it is simply because you are not content with yourself, or your appearance. Outwardly people might not notice, but inwardly you are distraught. The past haunts you with your bad memories which linger into the present. If there is hope, it lies in the future. Just like in Geroge Orwell’s literary classic, “Nineteen Eighty-Four,” hope may seem faint, but it lies far off in the distance – in the future.

Sadly, many people cannot look to the future. Suicide rates in western cultures are currently at approximately 11 people per 100,000 each year, with males significantly more affected than females. Staggeringly, depression rates of western cultures are also up to 10%. People may feel as if there is nothing to live for at the moment. Everything that they had may even be gone. People of religious faith place all of their hope into the distant future. Even people without religious faiths can learn to do similar. Your hope may not be placed in something as complex as heaven, for example, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t look to a closer future. One year. Five years. Ten. It doesn’t mean that you can’t hope.

Tetra and Link in the concluding moments of The Wind Waker are faced with similar circumstances. The past, the kingdom of Hyrule, is washing away and they must either move on, or be consumed by it. The children do not dwell in the past; they choose to return to the world above, as the past drowns. However, they don’t live for the moment either and stay dwelling in the present. Instead, they look to the future. With the help of the pirates, immediately they set out to look for the land that may be the new Hyrule. Those who have played Spirit Tracks know that eventually the children did find and establish a new land. A new Hyrule.

The words of King Daphnes are not only relevant to the young protagonists, but also to the current predicament many people in our society find themselves in. Even if the children can’t find a new land. Even if you can’t find something to give your life meaning and purpose for the moment, you must look to the future. You must walk a path of hope that will sustain you through the hard times that ensue. Place one foot before the other and keep moving forward. Despite what your circumstances are, others want you to live for the future.

It comes down to a matter of perspective. Daphnes tells the children that he has “scattered the seeds of the future”. The interpretation of this is your choice: pessimistic or optimistic. You can look at it as the seeds have been scattered and are beyond retrieval. That there is no hope. Alternately, you can be optimistic. Know that the chances for a brighter future are out there. The seeds are planted. All they need is time to grow. We must approach the future with Tetra’s optimism. That “we can find it! We WILL find it! The land that will be the next Hyrule!” To you Hyrule could be anything. A partner. A purpose. Somewhere to belong. Anything.

For the present, if you can hold on to nothing else, hold on to life. Look to the future. Let the Hyrules of the past wash away, but don’t be washed away with them. Look to the new land, to the new Hyrule. It won’t be easy, but it will be worth it. Each day on the journey to the new Hyrule can be gloomy and marred with more woes, just like Link and Tetra found themselves in throughout Phantom Hourglass. But they persevered, and in the end they got there. Cast aside your past and present grievances: live for the future!

Face Your Regrets

“My children… Listen to me.

I have lived regretting the past. And I have faced those regrets.

If only I could do things over again… Not a day of my life has gone by without my thoughts turning to my kingdom of old.” – King Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule (The Wind Waker)

As the old saying goes, “there is nothing worse than regret”, and whether or not it’s entirely true, regret is without doubt an emotion that we’d all rather avoid. The reasons for it are so varied and ultimately infinite, but the biggest cause is inaction. Sure, on occasions there is something we’ve all done that we wish we hadn’t, but that is nowhere near as hard to get over as inaction – what we didn’t do. There is little worse than the thought of “what could have been”. Whether it be not putting as much effort into a relationship, or our study, or never talking to that one person you saw every day. The sad thing is that the most common way to deal with regret is lying to ourselves. “It’s not over yet” or “I’ll get another chance”. Perhaps it’s just excessive optimism, but ultimately, it doesn’t help you get anywhere with your regret. Once again, The Legend of Zelda provides, as The Wind Waker inspires us with guidance on how to overcome our regrets.

In many instances, regret is caused by circumstances outside of our control, although it’s important to remember this isn’t always the case. King Daphnes had to watch as his kingdom of Hyrule was overthrown by Ganon, flooded by the gods, and inevitably forgotten. His regrets are based around his inaction, or inability, to save his kingdom as he believes a King should have. Daphnes’ feelings are understandable, but honestly, there was little that he could have done against the power of Ganon and the will of the gods. By the time the story of The Wind Waker unfolds, there is no way that Daphnes can literally do as he desires and restore his land of Hyrule to the way it was. And within that is the key point of dealing with regret. Overcoming regret is about facing them. That isn’t necessarily changing what has already occurred, that’s impossible, but understanding why things went the way that they did. Once you understand why, you can deal with the causes of the actions that lead to your regret, and then, move on.

As can be observed in King Daphnes, regret causes us to linger. To hope in vain that some miracle will happen to fix things. Like Daphnes, we live in the past and don’t look to the future. The King was so bound to Hyrule that he lingered beyond his earthly years and wondered in a spiritual state. It is so true that we cling to what little hope there may be of things working out. We can’t move on and move away. We must learn that to overcome our regrets we can’t dwell clinging to a dim hope that we can change what has happened, because we can’t. It’s not about correcting the past, but rather, understanding the past and making changes for the future. It is about understanding why we made the choices that we did. As the Oracle from ‘The Matrix’ says, “you didn’t come here to make the choice. You’ve already made it. You’re here to try to understand why you made it.”

Daphnes initially aims to restore his kingdom to how it was. To save his kingdom as he should have. In a way, Daphnes uses Link for selfish purposes under the guise of The King of Red Lions. He uses Link’s attachment to his sister and Link’s desire to rescue her, as a way to defeat Ganon – exactly what he was unable to do. While Link is set on saving his sister and the world above, Daphnes is set on restoring the land below. Not until the end do we understand Daphnes’ motives, and not until the end does he understand how wrong his aims have been.

Daphnes had been clinging to the lie. He kept telling himself that “Hyrule wasn’t buried yet”. But that is exactly what Daphnes realizes was his problem. He didn’t need to make up for his past mistakes, but rather, look to the future. Through the children, Link and Tetra, Daphnes saw that his time was over. Hyrule was over. He had failed as a King but so long as the children knew of his mistakes they would not make the same ones in the future. Daphnes faces his regrets by permanently washing away Hyrule, Ganon and even himself. He decides not to dwell in the past, but to make the future a better place through understanding his own regrets.

Like the heroic captain of a ship, Daphnes goes to rest with Hyrule as it becomes a land only of legend. Part of overcoming his regret is to let go of himself and look at the bigger picture. Perhaps if he hadn’t been so occupied with himself and being perceived as a “good” king, he could have better averted the crisis that ensued. As Daphnes counsels the children to listen to him, The Wind Waker tells us to take the advice of those who have gone through similar situations. Listen to their counsel and don’t make the same mistakes. The only way to overcome those regrets is to face them. Stop thinking about the past and wishing for one more chance. Heal your regrets through what you do in the years to come, not through clinging to the past. Learn from your mistakes and make changes for the better.

Regret was the destruction of Daphnes, and unless we learn to face it sooner than he did, we could all suffer similar fates. Take the advice of The Wind Waker and face your regrets by looking to the future. Understand why the past went the way that it did and act to fix those reasons for a better future. If it was a lack of confidence in yourself that caused the inaction, focus on overcoming your lack of self esteem. If it was a young naivety in relationships, focus on not repeating those same shortcomings. In the end some of us will be lucky enough to make up for the past directly. Others will come to understand that things had to be the way they were, and others yet will not make those same mistakes again, which is the most important point. However you tackle them, you must face your regrets and understand why. You must overcome them, because regret is a word with no positive connotations. Stop telling yourself that “it’s not over”. Stop lying to yourself. You deserve better than that. Like the Hyrule of old was gone for Daphnes, we must acknowledge that the past is over. Come to face your regrets, like Daphnes did, and live for the future – just don’t make it too late.

It’s Always About What You Haven’t Got

“My country lay within a vast desert.

When the sun rose into the sky, a burning wind punished my lands, searing the world. And when the moon climbed into the dark of night, a frigid gale pierced our homes.

No matter when it came, the wind carried the same thing… Death.

But the winds that blew across the green fields of Hyrule brought something other than suffering and ruin. I coveted that wind, I suppose.” – Ganondorf (The Wind Waker)

Humans are known as avid consumers. Unlike majority of other species on earth that evolve and adapt to live in harmony with the environment, humans do not. Instead we consume what we have and move on. We want more. We need more. Our focus is too often centered on expanding to what we haven’t got, instead of being content with what we do have. This theme is one that permeates The Legend of Zelda franchise. Not only does Zelda show that such characteristics are inherent in all humans, from the villains like Ganondorf, right through to the protagonist, Link, but also that this natural greedy drive of humans can lead to both advantageous and negative outcomes.

We’ve all had that feeling of really wanting something to at least some degree; whether it’s just a little nagging, an annoying dedication to obtaining what we want, like in children, or the feeling that you will go to any length to obtain what you don’t have. There’s nothing wrong with the feeling, because we all get that, but The Legend of Zelda deals with the various ways that people respond to such emotions. Some are led to their destruction, while others find what they are after, or come to understand what they truly need.

Ganondorf is the prime example of how not to go about dealing with things. Until 2003 and the release of The Wind Waker, Ganondorf was simply seen as a power-hungry villain. Evil for the sake of evil. All he wanted was the Triforce, but such was not the case. Ganondorf was born King of the Gerudos, a race of thieves, and all he saw was his people suffering. When he looked to Hyrule, he saw what he didn’t have. He saw what his people needed for peace. Due to his upbringing, thievery and force was the only way he could imagine obtaining what he wanted. Ganondorf invaded the Sacred Realm for the Triforce, yes, but in a roundabout way, for the peace of himself and his people.

Instead of focusing on how to deal with his current desert predicament, Ganondorf throws himself into a blind attempt to conquer the lands that he lusted after. Such acts were ultimately his downfall. What Ganondorf’s story represents is that despite how much you want something; despite how much you feel like you deserve it or need it, don’t try to take something that isn’t yours by force. Material possessions are one factor that drives us to action in instances. So is peace, which applies directly to our Hero, Link.

Link, along with Zelda and other characters, is as guilty as Ganondorf in his desire for peace. Peace is what he doesn’t have and is what he wants. It just so happens that Link and Ganondorf’s ideals of peace are conflicting. The Legend of Zelda coaches us that there are cases where it is for the better to dedicate yourself to obtaining what you don’t have. Those circumstances are when you can make changes for the better. Changes in yourself, changes in others and in your community. Ganondorf conveys how you shouldn’t deal with your desires, but Link shows how you can deal with them. He guides us to be careful about how we go after what we desire. He warns about unwarranted actions like Ganondorf’s and encourages simple people like me and you not to be scared of chasing our dreams in productive and courageous ways. Through King Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule, The Wind Waker provides a prime example of how desire and regret can be counterproductive. The game focuses on inspiring us to make changes for the better in our lives, like Link, but not getting carried away like Ganondorf.

Possessions are largely coveted, but perhaps not more so than other people – than companions, partners and friends. Majora’s Mask is a story based around that exact premise. After having been separated with his dear companion, Navi, Link goes on “a journey in search of a beloved and invaluable friend”. Link completely dedicates himself to this one cause; to what he no longer has. Throughout his journeys in Termina Link comes to understand: it was not about Navi whom he didn’t have, but about who he did have. Who he had left behind in Hyrule: namely Zelda. Link realizes that he should return to those that miss him. This is what the Happy Mask Salesman is referring to when he says “both of us have gotten what we were after”. He had obtained Majora’s Mask, and Link, he had learned that it was about what he had left behind, not what he didn’t have.

So, what is my point in all of this? More importantly, what is The Legend of Zelda saying to us? It is a simple message, like all of the messages in Zelda, but one that applies directly to all of us. A desire for more, for better, for what we don’t have – that makes us human. What defines you as an individual, as a person, is how you respond. Start by appreciating what you do have, as Link learns to in Majora’s Mask. When you expand to new horizons, keep what you have in mind and go forward courageously like Link has on his many journeys. Just remember, don’t go too far like Ganondorf. It is not about being content and accepting life the way that it is, but appreciating what you have and what you are. Don’t be afraid of seeking what you don’t have – just don’t let it consume you like Daphnes. Approach it the right way.