The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

The Wind Waker‘s Climax is one of its strongest plot points, as it brings together its entire central cast and puts their goals into direct conflict in a way that emphasizes the story’s theme. Link’s final fight with Ganon is particularly notable for the way it includes Princess Zelda in combat. This inclusion allows Zelda to help drive the narrative forward again, after spending much of the Second Act on the sidelines.  

After Link escapes the burning chamber, the seal on the back entrance to the castle disappears, and he gains access to Ganon’s Tower. Each wing of the tower takes him through a miniature reimagining of a previous dungeon, complete with rematches against previous bosses. By defeating them all, Link gains access to Ganon’s chamber, where Zelda sleeps in an ornate bed. Ganon sits beside her, where he claims he can see the endless oceans in her dreams. They’re all that’s left of the kingdom the gods drowned, he says, and none of the people they left behind are capable of creating a better world. The gods didn’t save the world; they destroyed it. 

As Link digests this information, Ganon remarks that he’s been waiting for someone like him: a hero. He hopes that Link won’t disappoint—and then he’s overcome by shadows as his body twists and grows into an enormous, violent puppet. Zelda is taken from the area, and Link must fight the puppet to progress. This is a fairly standard boss fight, offering no greater commentary on Ganon or his motivations. The puppets are simply a series trope used to pad out an otherwise short final battle. 

Once Link has defeated all of the puppet’s forms, he climbs to the tower’s roof, where Ganon waits for him with an unconscious Zelda at his side. While Link catches his breath, Ganon muses about the miserable desert where he was born, and how he envied the lush fields and calm winds of Hyrule enough to try to seize it for himself. Although this is not the strongest possible motivation, this is an unusual amount of development for Ganon in both The Wind Waker and the series as a whole. At this moment, he is not just a force of evil, but a man who desired a better life and envied those who had what he did not. 

In Ganon’s eyes, it’s fate that the three pieces of the Triforce would come together in Hyrule now. To ensure their reunion, he swats Link aside and calls the Triforce together to make his wish. It’s not his wish that gets granted, however, but the King of Hyrule’s. The King has been waiting for this moment, and he comes out of hiding to touch the Triforce first. It’s a twist that not even Ganon himself saw coming. 

With his hand on the sacred relic, the King wishes for the gods to drown what’s left of Hyrule and help the children create a new world. The Triforce glows with holy power, answering his wish, and floodwaters fall from the sky to fill the bubble surrounding the castles. It’s a strong character moment for the King, as it demonstrates his level of commitment to his dream. The idea of a new world is so important that he would see his own kingdom destroyed to achieve it. 

As the rain comes down, Zelda wakes up and hands Link his sword. They prepare to fight Ganon together while he laughs at his own misfortune. Although he has lost, he can still ensure Link and Zelda don’t win, and so he draws his swords and challenges them to prove what their precious Triforce is worth. This is the game’s final fight: Link and Zelda together, combining forces against Ganon as the rain pours around them on the rooftop. 

Working as a team, Link and Zelda subdue Ganon, and Link lands the final blow with the Master Sword. Its holy power turns Ganon to stone, ending the narrative’s climax. The primary threat has been extinguished; all that’s left is the aftermath.