Written by: J.H. Longman
In 29 years of gaming, ever since the first game in the series of the same name, made its first appearance in Japan in 1986, before surfacing in the US & Europe in 1987, playable on the Nintendo Entertainment System, the Legend of Zelda has been a huge hit, won many awards, gathered hundreds of thousands fans all across the globe and even a short lived TV series, which saw a speaking Link with the catchphrase: “Well excuse me Princess!” The Legend of Zelda has brought gamers hours and hours of joy, giving us a flowing story that never fails to disappoint, worthy enemies to face off against as the young Hero must wield the Iconic Master Sword and do his absolute best to save Hyrule and other lands.
Every storyline is more compelling than the last and all the different characters we get to met never fail to please, so it is only natural that a series, which has been out this long that it would have many iconic moments, moments that overjoyed us, moments that moved us, moments of surprise and suspense, even moments of sadness, the heartfelt moments that shocked many of us and even made a majority shed a tear or two and so because of this, we dedicate this to the Top 5 moments, voted by the public. A huge thank you to Shigeru Miyamoto & Takashi Tezuka for bringing us such a great video game series and now here is your Top 5 moments:
Number 5: The King Remains – (Wind Waker)
Voted in at number 5 is the Hyrulian King Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule, the momentous scene after Link & Zelda defeat the dreaded Ganondorf, where after the King of the Red Lions tells Link & Zelda to live for the future in a land that would belong only to them, the Ocean floods most of Hyrule, Link & Tetra make their way to the surface, but the King is left behind, remaining with his doomed Kingdom, awaiting Death.
Number 4: The End of Majora’s Mask – (Majora’s Mask)
Edging in front of Daphnes’ Demise is the sad end of Majora, the end where Link fails to defeat the Skull Kid & Stop the Moon in Time, the scene where on the Final Day when time runs out, the menacing smiling Moon falls down upon the land, crushing the Clock Tower & Clocktown before taking with it, Termina and all the surrounding areas, destroying everything, ending hundreds of lives, without a doubt Majora’s Mask is one of the most emotional driven story’s in Zelda History and it is because of such a sad, dark story that the Zelda series continues to be what it is today.
Number 3: The Lead-up to Zelda’s Sleep – (Skyward Sword)
This moment comes to us via the Wii, Link’s last Nintendo Wii adventure. Link has travelled back in time and after speaking to Impa, he is finally reunited with his Life-long friend Zelda, he travelled far and wide to find her, battling many a monster in the hopes of bring her home to Skyloft, but sadly this would not be, for now was time for the truth, so Zelda begins to tell Link about the creation of Skyloft, the Triforce & the battle raging between the Demon King Demise and the Goddess Hylia, who Zelda reveals is herself, for she is the Goddess reborn in Mortal form & Link is the Chosen Hero, but that is not all for her news saddens still as she reveals to Link that in order to maintain the seal that keeps Demise from resurfacing & devouring everything, she must remain in the past in a deep sleep. However she does bestow upon Link the True Master sword and deems him Worthy of Wielding the Triforce. The entire scene is emotionally moving and has a select few on the edge of crying, but it is the very moment when Zelda goes to sleep that sets us of, her confessing she’ll have to sleep for thousands of years before apologizing for using Link all along. Link then runs to her as a bright light engulfs her, sealing her in a crystal, which Link slaps again, trying to break so he can be with his friend, but it is no good, the crystal does not break, leaving Zelda to relay her final words, her last message, her last request that after all the times when she had to wake Link up that when all this is over, when Demise is vanquished for good that Link wakes her up before at last she enters her sleep and Link leaves the room with a bowed head and sadness in his heart. This is without a doubt the most heartfelt moment between Link & Zelda.
Number 2: Fi’s Farewell – (Skyward Sword)
Missing out on the Top spot is another heart-tugging moment from Skyward sword, the scene where after Demise is defeated for Good, Fi calls Link over to a sword pedestal and tells him how as he has fulfilled his mission as the Hero of Legend and that she tell has fulfilled her goal, it is time they parted ways, ending their Master-Servant relationship that it is time Link drives the Master sword into the awaiting pedestal, signifying his mission’s end and sending Fi into a deep sleep. Link does as he is commanded, but not before looking down at Zelda, who nods encouragingly to him, who then plunges the weapon into its rightful stand, however this is not Fi’s immediate end, for as Link turns to walk away, Fi speaks to him once more, appearing one last time before him to tell him of the happiness she feels and thanks him before relaying a wish to meet again in another life and then returning to the sword, to sleep until she is needed once more. It is not just the emotional aspect of the scene and story that drive these moments, but also the music that plays in the background, making them even more memorable.
Number 1: Midna’s Tearful Goodbye – (Twilight Princess)
Coming in at the Top Spot, the public’s all-time saddest Zelda moment is the moment Link’s & Midna’s eventful quest & companion ship comes to an end, gathered together our Heroes & the Princess of Zelda are gathered together by the Mirror of Twilight and as Midna is about to re-enter the Twilight Realm, she turns to Link and as a single tear runs down her face (and the faces of some of us), she says: “Link, I…See you later,” before sending the the tear into the Mirror of Twilight, fracturing it long enough for her to make her escape before the Mirror explodes into shards, preventing Link from being able to go after her.
So there you have it, your Top 5 and what a five they are, each one more memorable than the last and it is moments like these that makes all those hours of game-play worth it, giving us a sense of Triumph and it is because of all the sad, the memorable characters and dynamic battles that each and every Zelda game will continue to live in our hearts & minds long after we’ve played them and with all this aspects, new remakes and new games coming out that the Legend of Zelda is here to stay, its story is not yet over and with that and all the emotional iconic moments, that I look with great exciting to the future of Zelda gaming, when Zelda Wii U comes out. Thank you Shigeru Miyamoto & Takashi Tezuka, video gaming would not have been the same without your beautiful creation.
4 Comments
Well, what about LA (game spoilers ahead!)? You make great connections with the people on Koholint Island, and the monsters also try to warn you that if you wake the Windfish, everyone and everything on the island will disappear. You get so many clues about how Koholint Island is the Windfish’s dream, but you’re selfish and won’t listen. I mean, you could easily build a boat and sail away, but no, you have to ruin everything. The owl tells you when you arrived the monsters started to act violent, and they are acting violent because they know you are going to destroy them and their home. They try to stop you to protect it. You abuse your power and steal all of the instruments to wake the Windfish, and after you defeat the final boss, the boss tells you you made a mistake and everything is going to disappear. You go talk to the Windfish, and again the Windfish tells you the island is going to disappear. The Windfish apparently didn’t know it was dreaming a magical island. The monsters trapped in in the egg at the top of the mountain so they wouldn’t die. After you talk to the Windfish, you watch everything you experienced fade away, including Marin, the sweet girl who found you wash up on the island. You grow a special connection with Marin as you play the game. She sings you a song, she helps you wake a walrus, she has a private chat with you on the beach, you save her, and she even grows a crush on you. She tries to confess her feelings, and she never gets to because you made her disappear. Yes, the island was all a dream, but the island was still real. If it wasn’t real, Link never would’ve found it. So, this is the saddest game to me because you find this island, and you slowly destroy it because you didn’t listen. Of course, in the original game, at the end you see Marin in the sky getting her wish of becoming a seagull, but that is just another one of the Windfish’s dream, it’s a daydream. That moment stabs me when I think of Marin and how we wiped her from existence. Well, I rest my case. LA is the saddest game, try and change my mind (you’ll fail)
I admit I felt nothing for Fi, considering the character was more of a nuisance than a character, so I didn’t mind seeing her go.
The King of Hyrule’s end in Wind Waker was legitimately sad though.
True, Fi isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, The king of Red Lions was a more touching goodbye