Warning: Spoilers Off applies to this page. Proceed at your own risk.
"I... am... GANON!"
- The first trailer alone is full of these.
- One of the first seconds of the game we see include Link facing a horde of Bokoblins all on his own. Special mention to the barrage of bombs he launches.
- The Fire Rod, which creates a massive pillar of fire, then hits the enemies knocked into the air with a ring of fire.
- Two words. King. Dodongo. Complete with mouth beams.
- Link's Musou Attack involves creating a massive beam sword of light energy and then executing a massive version of his Signature Move, the Spin Attack.
- The epic rock remix of the main Zelda theme is pretty kickass.
- The E3 2014 trailer brought yet another one by revealing two beloved additions to the roster: Zelda and Midna!
- Remember those huge bedrock pillars Link chucked a grand total of twice in Ocarina of Time, which even then was a tremendous spectacle? Guess what he beats hordes of monsters with when he's got the Gauntlets on?
- The Gauntlet Musou attack, wherein Link apparently flips the world, literally, to attack a horde with the Iron Ball.
- Link's victory animation while using Gauntlets has him tossing the Iron Ball in his hand, the same way an average person might toss a tennis ball or baseball, with no effort. Just to drive home how heavy the Iron Ball is (and, as a result, how absurdly strong Link is with the Gauntlets), he then tosses it a few feet away from him, and the resulting impact launches him a few feet into the air.
- During the E3 demo, we're shown a level based on the Twilight World. At some point, they have to fight a dragon. The player has to awake a Great Fairy, who summons chains to make the dragon flee. When it comes back, you fire an upgraded version. First it's the same as last time, which the dragon shrugs off. Next, a giant one is fired, which is dodged. However, the chain latches on to the moon from Majora's Mask and pulls it down, knocking the dragon out of the sky.
- And not just any dragon. It is Twilit Dragon: Argorok, the last of the "Mirror Shard" bosses from Twilight Princess.
- Impa's video presentation
on Tecmo's YouTube channel, which showed her clearly fighting for the first time. Fans already expected her to be a badass, but this video surpassed their wildest dreams! - Bow-Wow the Chain Chomp is back!
- Several villains are playable, including Zant, Ghirahim, and Ganondorf.
- The first stage, we are introduced to Link as but an exceptional soldier of the Hyrulean Army. Impressive, but altogether a mere Red Shirt. However, when Cia's army launches its attack, he takes a sword and shield and races out there to help them, where he quickly runs into Volga. Link puts up his best fight, but Volga summarily brings him down. Impa, the Captain of the army and far higher than Link is, emerges to defend him, to which Volga responds by engulfing her in a wave of deadly flame...but, at the very last second, Link gets back up and puts himself between her and harm's way. A golden light fills the area, and cue in the Legend of Zelda theme as this selfless bravery awakens the Hero within, the crest of Courage appearing on Link's left hand.
- Just icing on the cake, Volga turns tail and runs at this, clearly not feeling confident about his odds against the newly-born Hero of Hyrule. Let's repeat that: Volga, freaking Volga, retreats without a second thought!
- The group meets Cia in person early on, but she defeats them, takes the Triforce pieces, and opens doorways to the other eras of Hyrule.
- When Link draws the Master Sword. Wizzro realizes now may be the best time to get the drop on him, and attempts to kill Link from behind whilst distracted via a blast of dark energy. Link proceeds to No-Sell it with an Offhand Backhand via the Master Sword. If an evil sorcerer born from a dark artifact is capable of wetting himself, Wizzro's reaction may indicate he did just that.
- Midna punching Cia in the face is ever so cathartic.
- Fi's You Shall Not Pass! scene towards Volga during the battle in Skyloft. Until this point, Volga's been knocking your forces around like dominoes, using his dragon blood to become more serious than ever, so Link has to head to the local Great Fairy shrine to get the latter to help Levias Nerf Volga down to fightable levels. Problem: Volga is right on Link's ass the entire time. So Fi solves the problem by charging right at him and fighting him one-on-one to buy time for Link to summon the Great Fairy. Keep in mind that Volga is so powerful is takes the freaking Great Fairy and the mighty Levias to weaken him enough just to fight him, and he's still a tough enemy nonetheless, and Fi is fighting him alone. Not only does it scream badass, it cements Fi's Undying Loyalty to Link.
- After playing through Skyward Sword, Fi's first lines even before Link encounters her in Skyloft are all of this, a Moment of Heartwarming, and a Tear Jerker:Fi: Master... Link... I am here...
- After playing through Skyward Sword, Fi's first lines even before Link encounters her in Skyloft are all of this, a Moment of Heartwarming, and a Tear Jerker:
- Just the fact alone that the heroic roster bands together in one big Badass Crew of True Companions.
- It's even more awesome in the penultimate chapter. Following Cia's defeat some time prior, all the characters from various eras were sent back. Cue Lana being surrounded by a horde of Ganondorf's monsters closing in for the kill, desperately trying to defend herself, and guess who shows up. The fact they all immediately crowd themselves around Lana to protect her doubles as a Heartwarming Moment, and Lana's reaction is wonderful to behold.
- Darunia's expression in that scene is made of awesome as it is Let's Get Dangerous! in facial form.
- Said cutscene even makes Gameplay and Story Integration awesome in Legends. Until then, the player only has control of Link. Once the cavalry arrives, all four playable slots become filled.
- After Cia returns from the Era of Twilight, Ganondorf uses his three spirit fragments to restore his physical body then tries to take the Triforce from Cia. Cia's response? To send the pieces of Courage and Wisdom back to Link and Zelda and use the Triforce of Power to seal Ganondorf away once more, all done in a big "screw you" to the King of Evil. The Badass Boast she gives makes it all the more awesome.Cia: I will reclaim the Triforce! It shall be mine alone... as will the Hero.
- Making it more awesome is that Ganondorf is fine with this, and amasses an army while he's stuck there so he can get the drop on Hyrule when Cia is defeated. But even beforehand, he makes a couple of small attempts to take the Triforce, while he is at his absolute weakest, and is barely foiled both times. He takes those defeats in stride, knowing that once Cia is down and he gets his full power back, he can still turn the tables.
- This incarnation of Link, canon or not, may be one of the most powerful and most badass Links we have ever beheld. Not only does he have to contend with forces of evil spanning three eras apart from his own — each taking their own hero to defeat on their own, mind you—and not only does he have to fight literal armies constantly, but he takes on a Ganon powered by the entire Triforce, and wins.
- For added awesomeness, the Majora's Mask DLC pack allows Young Link to get in on the action. That's right, the Hero of Time himself gets a chance to join the fight and wipe out monsters by the hundreds. Why is this awesome? Because this incarnation of the Hero leads the fight as a kid!
- It sounds even more awesome when you think about Young Link's background: He's defeated two evils before, one of which was Ganondorf, and has saved both Hyrule and Termina from said evils. In turn, he's the most experienced fighter in the roster, right next to the King of Evil himself!
- For added awesomeness, the Majora's Mask DLC pack allows Young Link to get in on the action. That's right, the Hero of Time himself gets a chance to join the fight and wipe out monsters by the hundreds. Why is this awesome? Because this incarnation of the Hero leads the fight as a kid!
- For an "evil triumphs" variant, Ganondorf executes a flawless Xanatos Gambit so that he wins no matter what, and as soon as he fully revives, gathers up an army and successfully assails Hyrule Castle. The end result? For the first time since A Link to the Past, Ganondorf has the entire Triforce and all of its power at his beck and call.
- The cherry on top? For the first playable time in the entire series, Ganondorf faces Link in open combat, and WINS. This Link is able to actually use the Triforce of Courage, plus he has an entire army to back him up, and Ganondorf still beats him into submission alongside Zelda, who uses the Triforce of Wisdom, and Impa, who for once couldn't reach the Great Fairy despite her best efforts, all three of whom can get battered to a pulp at least twice each during the siege level. Plus, this time the defenses of Hyrule Castle are at their best, as they foil Cia's attack in the beginning of the game. It's a monumental achievement for the Demon King of Evil, even if it doesn't stick.
- And speaking of Ganondorf, after being restored to full power thanks to the aformentioned Xanatos Gambit, Ganondorf heads to Gerudo Desert where he summons Zant and Ghirahim as his followers. The awesome part? Without Ganondorf saying a word, without him having to so much glance at them, the two immediately bow to him. And when he finally speaks to them, he only says one sentence and he has their Undying Loyalty. In other words, despite Zant and Ghirahim being terribly powerful in their own right, Ganondorf's power so eclipses theirs that they know full well to bow to him. Now that is true badassery.Ganondorf: Follow my every command or else perish again.
- The first thing they do after that one sentence? Gerudo Desert eats greatsword note And to really make you feel like a Demon King, there is no defeat condition. You can only lose if Ganondorf note gets his health depleted, and that stage is designed to be able to be cleared by a Level 1 Ganondorf.
- Then there's their whole Villain Team-Up in general, particularly if you're playing in Free Play mode. Taking over Hyrule with the three baddest villains in the Zelda universe at your disposal? Video Game Cruelty Potential at its finest.
- Zant of all people gets one in the Valley of Seers level. To elaborate, the three of them are attempting to take the Triforce of Power from Lana, but Impa has arrived and has made clones of herself to distract them. What's Zant's response? To advise Ganondorf to attack Lana and some of the Gorons to draw out the real Impa. The awesome part is that it was such a good idea that even Ganondorf compliments this strategy (And it comes from Zant)! It goes without saying that when the King of Evil's giving you props, you know you're a badass.Ganondorf: That's not a bad idea.
- In that same level, Lana shows just how clever she truly is. First she draws in Ghirahim and Zant, then traps them in separate keeps, forcing their master to waste time to save them. Then, when Zant proposes the above strategy, Lana finds a way to remain untouchable, thwarting it. Then, when Ganondorf fights through a horde of Gorons and Impas to fight and defeat Lana, it's revealed to be a magic clone made to distract him while the real Lana flees. And then when Ganondorf catches up to her, she splits herself in two (three in the 3DS version) and Ganondorf has to defeat all of them or else he'll lose if a single one of them escapes. It's enough for Ganondorf to start bordering on a Villainous Breakdown.Ganondorf: How hard must it be to capture ONE LITTLE GIRL?!
- The player gets one if they manage to defeat Lana at the Fairy Fountain before she can duplicate. Or if they manage to figure out the real Impa without Zant's strategy, since she is the one Impa with a different fighting style.
- And Ganondorf also gets one, for despite Lana's very clever tricks, he still beats her. While she is the one who has his Triforce of Power.
- The way Ganondorf gets the Triforce. Cia got the pieces by essentially sucker-punching the heroes, but Ganon fought Lana, Impa, Link, and Zelda in open combat and won.
- Even in his twilight hour, Ganondorf manages to go out with a bang. After beating him into pulp during the final mission, Ganondorf still has one trick up his sleeve - turning into the monstrous Ganon. You might expect him to roar about his power or how you aren't able to stop him... but all he has to say is three words to let you know he means business:
- How does the game introduce us to Link? He's training among a bunch of other new recruits, and defeats his opponent by jumping around twenty feet in the air and hitting him on the head as he comes down.
- The Hyrulean Army even has a chance to get in on the action, on the occasion that they manage to seize a keep completely unassisted. In the first level, there is a scripted moment where they do so. Bonus points if they happen to kill an Elite Mook in the process.
- Opening level after the fight with Volga. After Volga takes some damage, he decides he's had enough and uses his dragon arm to KO Link. Impa shows up to try and help him and Volga tries to roast both of them. It seems he's killed them both, but when the flames clear, Link and Impa are both unharmed, protected by the awakened Triforce of Courage in Link's hand. The scene is so awesome, Volga is forced to withdraw from the fight.
- You have GOT to give Volga some credit. Despite being The Brute for the villain B-Team, he commands some serious chutzpuh. You might be able to fight him head-on but his berserker fury makes him one of the most fearful situations for the heroes. It takes a Great Fairy assault and multiple Master Sword beatdowns to finally put this guy down for keeps! On top of that, he's often the one to fight Link specifically, giving him shades of The Rival on top of it!
- On the first level, simply hearing a rock remix of the franchise theme kick in.
- The amount of character development Link gets, especially since he's still a voiceless protagonist. It also deconstructs the One-Man Army idea that's typical of Links.
- For fans of the 2D games, there's the Adventure Mode map, rendered in 8-bit style.
- At the end of the first level, you get news that Zelda has disappeared. Has she been kidnapped again?! Nope! She slipped away during the fighting and later entered the fray, herself, as Shiek. That's right: in this game, Zelda never gets kidnapped!
- The Master Quest DLC allows you to play as Cia as she meets the other villains, assembles an army, and attempts to conquer Hyrule. Turns out she had to physically beat both Volga and Wizzro into submission.
- DLC characters are planned, including a Dark Link costume, two characters from Majora's Mask, and one from Twilight Princess.
- Some of those DLC characters are Cia, Volga, and Wizzro.
- The Twilight Princess Pack includes Midna's true form; she wields the Mirror of Twilight, which provides players with the opportunity to see that she's just as powerful in her true form as in her imp form.
- The Majora's Mask Pack comes with two characters: Young Link, the legendary Hero of Time complete with the Fierce Deity Mask as a weapon, and Tingle, a rather unconventional yet effective warrior.
- More DLC additions are more modes of gameplay, new weapons, and new types of weapons.
- Link, Zelda, and Ganondorf can wear their Ocarina of Time, Twilight Princess, and Skyward Sword appearances as preorder bonuses.
- During the final level, when Ganondorf- who is powered by the entire Triforce, no less -takes to the field, all of your allies fall back and keep a wide berth... except Darunia, who despite not being armed with the Master Sword stays behind to cover them and to fight Ganondorf head-on. To get the Hard Mode Skulltula to appear, you yourself have to play as Darunia and recreate this moment, too.
- Cia's additional Legend Mode levels do end on a downer for her, but the last charge against Ganondorf in her final level is pure, unadulterated awesome as she teams up with Lana to remove his magical barrier and the two fight him together.
- If you are playing as Cia, Volga is pretty awesome in this level. When Cia has lost most of her sanity, he decided to CHARGE THROUGH THE BATTLEFIELD AND FIGHT GANONDORF! He is tricked, but it's awesome that he tries.
- Cia's entire storyline is wall to wall awesome. But what gets it on this page is that she managed to utterly defeat Volga, Wizzro, Zant, and Ghirahim and get them all to join her army. Keep in mind that all four of these guys are powerful in their own right, and two of them took their own hero to take down but Cia did it like it was just another day at the office for her.
- Princess Zelda herself can be playable for Cia's final fightnote . The series has been going on for almost thirty years and the princess it's named after gets a chance to shine as the one who takes out the Big Bad. It is immensely satisfying to finish off Ganon with Zelda's Light Arrow finisher. It took 30 years, but the princess can finally take her kingdom back herself.
- One of Young Link's attacks involves transforming into Fierce Deity Link, and slicing the moon in half! This is powerful gameplay-wise as well, as it immediately stuns every foe.
- Tingle, of all characters, finally gets the chance to show off how awesome he can be, and can he ever!
- The Boss Pack DLC for the game introduces a new character to play as. Who is it? Oh, just some guy named Ganon. Yes, that one. And every single one of his attacks absolutely devastates the battlefield, allowing you to dominate both opposing armies like never before.
- It also gives you a giant playable Cuckoo.
- It's incredibly rare, but in missions where Ganondorf is a enemy captain (Such as Darunia's lv. 3 hammer mission), you may just get to see the message "Hylian Captain has defeated Ganondorf!" appear on your screen.
- If you play as Cia in her last campaign level, Volga breaks out of her mind control and charges the King of Evil. And unlike Darunia, he actually believed he had a shot.
- Ganondorf gets his own in his reaction to Volga's challenge to a fight to the death. His response is basically, "Who are you and why should I care?" Nobody else could just dismiss Volga as a nobody throughout the story.
- And that's not the only time we see him break the control; In the final mission you fight Volga, he breaks control to prove he can defeat the heroes without magic powering him up.
Volga: "I lose, but I do so without regrets..."- If you play as Volga, Cia will also fearlessly charge at Ganondorf, even though beforehand she did her best to even keep him at bay.
- Hyrule Warriors for 3DS gets announced and immediately starts with a bang, showing Tetra finally proving her worth as a pirate, using BOTH a sword and a gun to blast enemies. And King Daphnes' moveset is capable of using the King of Red Lions to powerful effect.
- Toon Link also joins the fray, not only using a sword, but also the Deku Leaf, to show exactly why he's called the Hero of Winds.
- Speaking of the 3DS, Skull Kid is confirmed to be a playable character. Now we can play as the tragic villain fans know and love.
- The 3DS roster also added a character from the cutting room of the initial game; Linkle. She dual wields cross bows, and kicks with fire. And, a minor bit from her reveal, she slams her foot down when she steps outside, ready for adventure.
- The last Nintendo Direct prior to the release of the 3DS version dropped another surprise for Wind Waker fans: Medli is playable!
- In an even bigger surprise announcement, the summer DLC pack for the Link's Awakening set will feature Marin as the new playable character!
- With the release of the aforementioned Link's Awakening pack, data miners have found the last three DLC characters to be released later this year. Representing Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks is Toon Zelda, with Ravio and Yuga hailing from A Link Between Worlds. And in addition to all of that, the former also comes with a Sand Wand as a new weapon; the moveset even consists of summoning the Spirit Train!
- At about the same time as the 3DS announcement, the Wii U game got a new costume for Link, transforming him into his 1980's NES incarnation. Bear in mind, this is not Link turned into an 8-bit sprite (though that would be nice too), but rather the actual character model, previously only seen in instruction manual art. Better yet? It comes free with the new update.
- One of the Adventure Mode missions has you try and defeat Ganon, flanked by Gohma and Dodongo, with none other than Ganondorf himself. That's right, you get to fight your own One-Winged Angel form, flanked by two other powerful bosses to boot!
- A mission exclusive to Legends ups the ante by having you fight Ganon with Ganondorf again, but this time flanked by The Imprisoned and Phantom Ganon. Now you can fight your own One-Winged Angel form, your preincarnation, and your spirit-double to prove that you are the true Demon King.
- Linkle's story is one long fight scene with interchanging background characters, and never once does she even think about giving up. Faced with multiple miniature-yet-still-dangerous Imprisoned? She fights. Seeing the rampaging Twilight magic devouring everything it touches? She fights. An invulnerable King Dodongo dropped in front of her? She FIGHTS. The legendary hero she may not be, but there's no denying that she's a hero in her own right. In the last scenario, she is even called "the other hero" and clears Ganondorf's remnants.
- She might look innocent enough, but she is a fearsome warrior. So are her troops. She has a horde of Cuccos working for her in her campaign.
- Gameplay-wise, in The Demon Lord's Plan, if you are playing up to Normal difficulty, the Cuccos will defeat some of the miniature Imprisoned.
- When Linkle's theme plays near the end of a scenario, you know the battle is pretty much won. Especially awesome if you're going for the Hard Mode Skulltulas and this plays.
- The Lorule Rewards Map is the only mission in the game where Link and Linkle canonically team up to take down the enemy. Bonus points for Ravio joining in as well.
- Completing an Adventure Map with all A Ranks will make you feel like a badass. Completing the Rewards Map with all A Ranks will make you feel like a true master!
- Completing all of the Adventure Maps, from the first one to Lorule, plus all of the Rewards Map spaces, will make you feel like your adventure is complete.
- Bought the Wii U version? Oh dear, you don't have the fairy companions or the side stories for the new characters, only gaining new Adventure Mode maps, costumes and characters with the DLC.
Bought the 3DS version? Lower quality graphics, no 8-Bit Weapons and no Ganon's Fury mode...
Buying the Switch version?... When it says Definitive Edition. It's not kidding, the first trailer confirming the fairy companions and Ganon's Fury mode are both intact, plus content based on The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, in the form of the latest Link and Zelda.
