The Wind Waker Is More Than a Childhood Memory, It’s a Symbol of Growing Up

There are memories that will burn inside my mind forever, and I’m sure that there are some for you too. Some of my memories are large and significant, like riding my first rollercoaster when I was four, turning sixteen and paying for my first car all by myself, graduating college, getting married, and the birth of my first son. Other memories burn bright, but seem small in comparison: that road trip I took with my family to Ohio, where I was standing when I got my first kiss, the way my mom’s living room was set up when my brother and I would play our GameCube all weekend.

I remember two old, brown couches, red, white, and yellow cords that ran to a large, black TV, my sister playing in the background, musty blue pillows, blankets and stuffed animals. Two kids sitting on the floor swapping a purple controller back and forth sailing along a vast Great Sea. Many of my favorite childhood memories were surrounded by gaming, and they influenced how I grew up to be who I am today.

The Wind Waker sits as one of the games that shaped my childhood, and it’s also one of the games that I look back on as an adult with a lot of nostalgia. The story of The Wind Waker is a reminder of youth and a picture of what growing up looks like. It’s a story I did not fully realize until I had my own child. And it’s a story that’s so important for the young and old alike. The Wind Waker is a story of growing up and facing your own adventure. 

Memories of Youth

Looking back, The Wind Waker was one of the games that shaped some of my best childhood memories. A long time ago in a place not so far away, streaming was basically nonexistent. Stores like Blockbuster existed where patrons could rent the latest movies and video games for two to five days. My mom used to take my siblings and me there on Fridays after school so we could each pick something to rent. My sister picked a movie, my brother picked a game, and I flopped back and forth on what to get every other week. I remember browsing every aisle and looking at all the boxes, and sometimes something would catch my eye and I’d show my family.

The GameCube was the big gaming system that my mother had at her house, so we always looked at those games first. The moment we saw that golden box on the wire shelves of our hometown Blockbuster, it was decided. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker was the game we’d take home that weekend and many weekends to follow.  

There’s something peaceful about looking back and remembering what it felt like to stick the tiny disc into a GameCube, listening to the theme music and watching the title come on the screen. The Wind Waker title sequence music has been my ringtone for a handful of years, and it will likely remain that way. It’s a memory of childhood, and a little sign that I haven’t left behind those youthful days.

The Wind Waker became a little symbol of happiness in my mind. As a young child, my brother and I spent a lot of days between my parents’ homes because they were divorced. Looking back, I see how The Wind Waker was a calming outlet for my brother and I during the rougher times navigating a childhood back and forth between houses and getting used to a new normal. Gaming, for us, was and still is an outlet that we bond over. Many afternoons and evenings were spent attempting to share a single-player game fairly. It wasn’t always the easiest thing to be patient while the other played, but it was cool to say that we beat the game together. Looking back, I’m sure my brother did more of the heavy lifting than I did, but I love the memories nonetheless.

The Wind Waker is one of those games I have trouble picking up again because I feel like I’ll tarnish those wonderful memories of my youth. To this day, I still haven’t beaten The Wind Waker alone; I’m not sure if I ever will. As I grow older, I find myself clinging more and more to those happy childhood memories. Nintendo’s GameCube really was the system that shaped my love for gaming as a child, and those memories are ones that I still carry with me to this day. 

As I look back on the memories of my childhood, I like to think about Link and his start on Outset Island. Living on a remote island surrounded by a beautiful sea must have been idyllic and peaceful. I’m sure he never imagined that his peaceful childhood would be flipped on its head one day. There are times in childhood where we suddenly have to grow up very quickly. It could be processing grief when a loved one passes, it could be watching your family dynamic change during a divorce, it could be drifting away from a close friend. Link suddenly had to face the reality of growing up when his sister was captured and taken away. 

We don’t often think about the last time that our friends played together, or the last time we sat with our siblings and argued over whose turn it was to watch the TV. Link’s journey in The Wind Waker faced him with that sudden change, and he was given the choice to grow up and venture off on what many would call a “grown up” adventure or let an adult handle his sister’s kidnapping instead. We all know that he had to go off on his own, or else the story of The Wind Waker would have never happened. Link’s youth was starting to become a memory.

Growing Up and Sailing Away

Personally, I have always felt that The Wind Waker is more than just a Zelda adventure on the high seas. Despite its whimsical and cartoony exterior, the game sees Link facing many challenges, the biggest of which I think is growing up. At the beginning of the game, Link is celebrating his coming-of-age ceremony and is finally allowed to don the green tunic of the hero that had been told in legends. On what would have likely been a normal day for any child of Outset Island, Link is thrown headfirst into adventure when his sister is kidnapped by the Helmaroc King and taken away. Life for Link is suddenly thrown into turmoil as he finds himself negotiating with pirates and leaving his peaceful island life in a pursuit to save his sister. Little does he know a much larger adventure is waiting for him once he leaves the shores of Outset Island. 

I feel like growing up is the same way. Those moments when we transition from child to adult seem to blur, and it’s different for everyone. Is it the moment when we’re finally able to drive and gain a little more freedom? Is it graduating high school and choosing a career? Is it the day we tell our parents that we don’t need them to tuck us in at night anymore? Or is it facing the proverbial monsters in our closet? At some point in our lives, we grew up and boarded a pirate ship that would show us our next adventure. 

As an adult and as a parent, I look back on The Wind Waker’s story and see Link growing from a sleepy islander to a hero foretold in legends. Link went through more than just an adventure to save his sister; he went through trials and adversity, and he was growing up in the process. The dialogue where Link returns to Outset Island and visits his ailing grandmother breaks my heart even more as an adult.

“Link… Aryll… Don’t Go… Don’t leave… Uhhnn… Don’t leave you’re poor old grandma…”

At some point, we all will leave home, but we always leave someone behind that will worry. It’s another hard reality of growing up that parents (or guardians) eventually face. I have a long time until I have to worry about my son “sailing” away for his next great adventure, but I know that when he does, I’ll worry, and I’ll think about him constantly. 

Link also finds himself facing the unknown as he sails along. He had already taken the leap to save his sister, but much like an adult, he didn’t always have it all figured out. One of the hardest parts of adulthood, in my opinion, is having to learn something new or figure out what to do on your own. I think about how Link had to figure out the greater mystery of Hyrule. Speaking hypothetically, he could have gone home once he saved his sister, but something greater was calling him.

I feel like adulthood is the same way. Once we leave home and find ourselves on our own, there’s a sense of freedom in that, and a sense of pride. I’ve been on my own with my own little family for over eight years; I can’t imagine turning around and having to do it all over. There’s something exciting about having to face the unknown because you start to learn all sorts of new things, and make a lot of new friends along the way. Link did make a lot of new friends on his journey, and they all helped him. As an adult, surrounding myself with friends that have become like an extended family has made growing up so much easier and more fulfilling. 

One day, we’ll all board that proverbial pirate ship and sail away. I’ve always thought that growing up is life’s great adventure. There’s no use in fighting it; we’ll all leave our peaceful island someday. There are days where the winds will be favorable and the seas will be smooth. Other days, you might feel like you will capsize and not make it to the next island to rest. While growing up, we might face great adversity and find ourselves in the battle of a lifetime, but eventually the water will calm and you’ll be off to the next adventure. Link went through a myriad of trials, and once they were all over, he could have returned home. And yet, throughout his adventure, he changed. He grew up, and at the end of the story, we see Link leaving once again to find new lands.

Shifting Winds

For anyone reading this thinking that growing up is a trap and that you should stay young forever, I urge you to think again. Look at the adventure that Link had. I have always found growing up to be one of those interesting joys in life. Personally, I chose to never lose my childlike sense of wonder, to be curious, to explore, and to reminisce in those memories of my youth. I might not be a ten-year-old kid lounging in my mom’s living room laughing while my brother and I throw pigs off a cliff, but I’m an adult that can appreciate what those memories mean.

We might not have a magical Wind Waker to steer the winds whenever they blow the wrong way, but we do have the opportunity to change our perspective, and to look at things differently. Looking back, I never thought that a video game would have such a strong impact on my life, and on how I look at my childhood. The Wind Waker for me was just part of growing up, and it later became a symbol of youth. 

Link’s life changed suddenly one day and the winds shifted towards his next adventure. Throughout that adventure, he grew tremendously as a person, as a sibling, as a grandson, and as a friend. If Link had never left the safety of Outset Island, he would have never discovered Hyrule’s secrets and he would have never set off for new lands. Growing up is inevitable, but the next time you fear the unknown of adulthood, look at it with new eyes. Set your sails for adventure, be brave like Link, and get ready for the most unique journey of a lifetime.

The Wind Waker will always a favorite among Zelda games. It was a game that came into my life at a pivotal moment even though I didn’t realize it until adulthood. It was a symbol of peace in a tumultuous time in my childhood, and it would later become a symbol of happy memories in my adult years. The Wind Waker is a game that will forever remain iconic and I will cherish it, and all of my memories with it, always.

Do you have any childhood memories with The Wind Waker? How did the game affect your childhood? Let us know in the comments down below.

Comments
Sorted Under: Editorials, Games, Original Content, Slider, The Legend of Zelda, The Wind Waker
Tagged With: