The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

Story

The Wind Waker begins by telling the tale of Ocarina of Time. After defeating Ganondorf, the Hero of Time left the land to find his companion in the distant land of Termina. When Ganondorf later escaped from his prison, the people of Hyrule expected the Hero to return, but he never came back. The citizens prayed to the Gods for salvation from this terrible evil.

Hundreds of years pass and the story continues on the small of Outset Island, located on the Great Sea. On this particular island there is a tradition that when young boys reach the age of the Hero of Time, they wear the same green clothing as the Hero did. This tradition holds true for a young boy named Link on his birthday, when his Grandmother presents him with the garb to wear for the remainder of the day.

After donning the famous clothes, a gigantic bird flies across the island, dropping a girl into the forest high on top of the island. After finding a sword, Link manages to find and save the girl, known as Tetra. Link's sister Aryll meets him high on the island, and as she is walking across a bridge the bird reappears, snatching her and flying off to the Forsaken Fortress.

Dedicated to finding his sister, Link joins Tetra and her Pirate Crew, who sail to the Forsaken Fortress. After making his way through the Fortress and unsuccessfully saving his sister, Link is thrown off the Fortress back into the Ocean.

A talking boat named the King of Red Lions later finds Link and takes him to Windfall Island. Link and the boat discuss Ganondorf, the man who controls the Forsaken Fortress. He is the same evil spoken of in the legends of Hyrule, and they agree to help each other in saving Aryll and defeating the resurrected Ganondorf. After finding a Sail from one of the merchants, Link and the King head off to Dragon Roost Island.

After destroying an evil monster plaguing the island and irritating Valoo, Link is presented with Din's Pearl, the first of 3 Pearls needed to raise the Tower of the Gods. Soon after, Link saves a Korok named Makar from certain death, and finds the deity Jabun, obtaining the second and third pearls.

Link then places the three pearls on three different island on the Great Sea, which reveal the Tower of the Gods. After making his way up the Tower and completing the Goddess's test of courage, Link finds and uses a bell which opens the path to the floor of the Great Sea. Here Link finds the ancient ruins of Hyrule and Hyrule Castle, which is in a perpetual state of black and white, where time has stopped moving.

Link pulls the Master Sword from is pedestal, restarting the time inside the Castle. Link then makes his way back to the Forsaken Fortress to face off with Ganondorf once again. Ganondorf reveals that pulling the Master Sword out of its pedestal released his powers, making him stronger than ever. Tetra and Link are then saved by Valoo, who drops him off at the Tower of the Gods. Tetra, who is now revealed to be Princess Zelda, stays in the chamber of Hyrule Castle until Ganondorf is defeated.

To restore the Master Sword to its former strength, Link embarks on a quest to find the two Sages who prayed to the Gods for the Sword's strength. After finding out that Ganondorf attacked both Sages and killed them, Link finds the next two Sages in line to replace them, Medli and Makar.

After restoring the Sword with the power to repel evil, Link learns about the Triforce of Courage from the King of Red Lions. To reach the depths of the Great Sea once again, Link must collect the 9 shards of the Triforce of Courage that broke apart when the Hero of Time left the land of Hyrule. Once he finally collects these, Link and the King find Hyrule Castle in ruins, as Ganondorf has captured Princess Zelda and taken her to his Tower underneath the waves.

Before reaching Ganondorf, Link defeats the previous four bosses from Dragon Roost Island, the Forbidden Woods, the Earth Temple, and the Wind Temple. After finally finding Ganondorf at the top of the tower, Link must defeat three versions of Puppet Ganon. After doing so, Ganondorf challenges Link to face him on the roof of the Tower.

At the top of the Tower, Ganondorf brings together all three pieces of the Triforce, bringing it together for the first time in hundreds of years. Before he can make his demands, the King of Red Lions, who is now revealed to be the [[King of Hyrule], touches the Triforce and lists his own requests. These include drowning what is left of Hyrule beneath the Great Sea, along with giving Link and Zelda a future above the waves.

Furious at losing the Triforce, the battle with Ganondorf begins. After Link drills the Master Sword into Ganondorf's head, the evil villain turns to stone. The King and Ganondorf stay on the bottom of the ocean, while Link and Zelda float to the surface. They are found on the waves by the Pirates, who return them to Outset Island.

After watching the Staff Credits, Link sets sail on a replica of the King of Red Lions along with the Pirates, who sail away on their own ship.

Development

When Spaceworld 2000 came into being, Nintendo showed a quick video of what their new console, the Nintendo Gamecube, could produce. Fans were amazed by what it could do, and waited for 3 long years before they got their new game. But what was shown in the trailer was not quite the game they expected, instead, they were shown a world completely made by cel-shaded graphics. With bigger, more visual bomb explosions and enemy deaths, plus a new way to see Link and the rest of the world.

Reception

When The Wind Waker came out in 2003, it at first received a cold reception. The Great Sea featured in the game almost seemed too big, and sailing took quite a long time to accomplish, making side-quests and the storyline itself quite a long task to accomplish. Its new cel-shaded graphics were also criticized at first, but all worry soon went away, as players slowly warmed up to the new graphics.

In the end, fans and critics alike praised the game for its new innovations. With graphics and animations for kids, and the game-play, storyline and enemy battles for the adults, this game appealed to every generation.

Characters

Here is a listing of all of the characters found within The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker.

Races

Main article: The Wind Waker Races

Enemies

Main article: The Wind Waker Enemies

Items

Main article: The Wind Waker Items

Locations

Main article: The Wind Waker Locations

Other media

• The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker - Link's Logbook (Manga)

Merchandise

• The Wind Waker Sports Watch was a free GameStop giveaway in early 2003 with the purchase of a Nintendo GameCube, used to get customers in GameStop stores, and to push sales for the GameCube and Wind Waker.
• The Wind Waker Bobblehead Doll was a free limited giveaway at Target retail stores.
• The Wind Waker Yujin Gashapon Figures are a 5 piece set of small figures of Link, Aryll, and Tetra. These released exclusively in Japan at 200 Yen a piece.