Awesome / The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

Nobody messes with your village.

• While it's a really minor moment in the game, it's a testament to Link's skill with a sword, even if it was wooden. When the kids teach him to jump slash, he performs it, and he manages to slash the hat off of the training dummy while leaving the pumpkin underneath untouched. It's so impressive that it leaves Malo stunned.
• The final fight between Link and Ganondorf, especially on the Wii version.
• When you first enter the Temple of Time and you hear the Most Wonderful Sound of the Temple of Time music!
• Ganondorf gets one of his own in Twilight Princess during an expository flashback, wherein he survives his execution of being impaled on a giant magical sword, then - with the blade still sticking through his torso - shatters the magical shackles holding him through sheer brute strength, kills the Sage of Water with a single strike, and is given a close-up of his incredibly frightening face just to show how powerful and evil he really is.
  • In particular, he uses the same sword that impaled him in his final fight against you.
  • You get your vengeance for Midna and the entire Twilight Realm when you leap into the air and stab your Master Sword right into his chest, exactly where the scar is. This is right after he came up with Midna's helmet in his hands, and crushed it in a major Kick the Dog moment.
  • You've destroyed his possession over Zelda. He turns into a giant beast, you beat it. He comes back as a demonic force that fights Midna. They blow up the castle together and GANONDORF is on his horse, crushing the fused shadow. You then fill him full of light arrows. And then, at his final fight, despite having lost or at best tied in every round of this fight so far, Ganondorf sneers, looks at you while erecting a barrier, and...
    Ganondorf: [looks at the Master Sword] An impressive looking blade... [takes out the Sword of the Six Sages, ready to kick ass] ...but nothing more.
  • That last one is another crowning moment of awesome for Ganondorf. Ganondorf has been driven out of a possessed body and defeated in his monster state; reduced to an incorporeal spirit, Midna attempts to assassinate him with the full and monstrously freaky power of the Fused Shadows, which the gods' deputies could merely seal away, and which destroyed Zant, who was Ganondorf's right-hand man, in a single hit. Hyrule Castle explodes - and in front of the smoking ruins, riding a badass horse, without a scratch on him, holding a fragment of Fused Shadow... is Ganondorf, who crushes the legendary artifact of power into so many pieces with a single hand. Triforce of Power, no kidding.
• The appearance of Dark Beast Ganon, which easily trumps the version seen in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Not quite an ape, not quite a lion, with huge tusks that look perfect for disemboweling Link, he's come a long way from his days as a supersized Pig Man — it's the perfect mixture of freakish and monstrous, truly earning the title "Dark Beast". And despite looking like a completely feral beast? This thing is NOT mindless, it adapts in the middle of the battle so there is no way to hurt him unless you turn into a wolf and have Midna's help, who engages in a struggle with Ganon in close range, where he can also overpower you.
• The final four battles. First you fight a Ganon-possessed Zelda (this clip also shows the heartbreaking cutscene right beforehand, in which Link realizes he has to try and kill his beloved princess). Then you defeat Ganon's Dark Beast form, which is so fast and strong it can hurt you while being downed through momentum alone, and THEN he flattens the castle and rides off on his badass steed from hell, Zelda summons the Light Arrows, and you fight him on Epona while she fires them. Eventually you knock him off his horse, and what follows is arguably the most epic video game sword fight of all time, which ends, as previously mentioned, with Link leaping over Ganon's body and stabbing him through the chest.
  • He then stands up with the Master Sword still in his chest, delivers a speech, then dies. And he still stands as the screen fades to black.
• The fight against Morpheel. Going from a recycled boss fight of Morpha from Ocarina of Time, to having to use the Clawshot to hold onto its eyelid for dear life, while you stick your sword in its eyeball like a shish kebob. Nothing felt cooler in the first half of the game than that.
• For a moment of awesome from a character you wouldn't expect to get one, Colin saving Beth from King Bulblin. He doesn't even look scared when Lord Bulbo is about to trample him.
  • The end of that sequence, where Link engages King Bulblin in a game of chicken, launches him off the Bridge of Eldin, and then rears Epona back into the classic badass horseman pose.
    • If you can hear it over the music, Link's growling glare in that scene is way more intimidating than any of his growls in his beast form. It incites some pretty intense Hot Blood in both the character and the player in the battle afterwards, as well as showing that Link's Big Brother Instinct is kicking into high gear.
    • When Link raids the Bulblin Camp to access the Arbiter's Grounds, he's a veritable One-Man Army rampaging through Bulbins up to his rematch with King Bulbin, which ends with the entire camp on fire and Link escaping on a stolen Bulbo.
    • How you choose to raid the camp is completely up to you. Do you go in, guns blazing, sword slicing through every Bulbin that stands between you and the Arbiter's Grounds? Or wait until nightfall, pull out your bow, and snipe the entire compound from afar? Your choice.
    • King Bulblin's last appearance in the game. After capturing Colin only to be knocked off the Bridge of Eldin, ambushing your escort at the Bridge of Hylia and getting knocked off the freakin' bridge AGAIN, he reappears to match you before the Arbiter's grounds and then after you beat him, sets fire to the building that you're in only for you to ride out of the building and into the dungeon with a spare Bulbo, he finally has his last appearance in the final dungeon, and after you beat him for the fourth time, he gives you his key, says "I follow the strongest side! That's all I've ever known.", and rides away. Then Midna realizes he actually spoke, leaving her stunned and almost speechless, simply "Link, he... spoke...", which isn't very easy to do. So King Bulblin is generally a pretty cool guy.
• More moments of pure badass in Twilight Princess happen near the end, when The Group rides in and shoots the guard of the boss key for that dungeon for you.
  • The scene is accused of being Cutscene Incompetence on Link's part, but it's quite the opposite. He's easily capable of taking on all those opponents, and The Group knew it. But, they figured they'd let him know that that they're watching his back and chose to do so with style. The castle grounds are permanently cleared of enemies from that point on.
• Whenever you sheath your sword after a Mortal Draw. Although you do that with proper timing after killing any enemy that actually poses a threat, it's best when combined with the M.D.
  • Just learning the skill is a moment of awesome. The Hero's Shade tells you that he is now going to teach you the advanced stuff, and he isn't kidding.
    Hero's Shade: There's no defense for this. The mortal draw deals death.
  • The Shade isn't kidding. The Mortal Draw kills common enemies in a single hit, and can also do that to the vicious, annoying Darkhammer.
• Princess Zelda got her own Crowning Moments of Awesome in this game. For one, there was the scene in which wolf Link brings the dying Midna to the royal presence, and Zelda saves her by transferring her own life force into the imp's body. (She got better.) This also leaves Midna immune to the Sun and allows Link to change between his forms at will. Her sacrifice didn't just save Link and Midna, it made them stronger. But there's another: after the final battle, the three Triforce bearers stand together on Hyrule Field. Ganondorf is dead, or dying, and Link is watching him, looking solemn. Zelda stands behind Link where she folds her hands, bows her head, and prays.
  • When three people repeat the same battle for countless generations, time and time again, it's only natural that they begin to respect each other despite all the animosity.
  • An awesome fan theory in hindsight is that the reason Ganondorf seemed to be much more ruthless and evil in this than usual is that this reincarnation of Ganondorf is the closest ever to being Demise himself.
• Wolf Link taking down Beast Ganon, while being a quarter of his size. Not to mention Midna's role in the final battle. No other character has fought as hard alongside Link as she did then. That's why the very final battle with Ganondorf is so jarring in its lack of Midna there to help you as she could during all the previous bosses. And that happens because Midna decided to hold off Ganondorf alone for a while.
• The Hidden Village, where Link has to pick off twenty Bulblins with his bow, complete with spaghetti western music. Sniping every single one of those bastards with the bow and arrow was a pretty good moment.
• Link's arsenal of weapons have never been cooler than in Twilight Princess. At first it didn't seem like it could get any cooler than getting the ball and chain from the ice dungeon (which was a destructive powerhouse and fun as hell to use), but then you get to the City in the Sky and receive dual clawshots.
  • The Spinner, which lets Link ride a giant sprocket like a skateboard along walls and across quicksand.
  • The Hawkeye, which effectively turns Link's bow into a sniper rifle. Also the ability to attach BOMBS to your arrows.
• If you ever doubted Link's Super-Strength in this game, look no further than the way to the second dungeon. When going up Death Mountain (with the Iron Boots now equipped), Link grabs the Gorons and tosses them to his side when they attempt to do a Rolling Attack. This without any magic bracelet or gauntlets of any kind. That's how strong this Link is.
  • This is followed by Link dusting his hands off non-chalantly as he observes the Gorons being bested by "a mere human". You know Link's earned the right to do so!
  • Link dusting his hands off also happens after defeating Gor Coron in the Sumo Wrestling match, and each time after tossing the Goron Mines' Mini-Boss, Dangoro, into the lava in his lair.
• The fight against Argorok. Fighting a dragon? Cool. Fighting a dragon at the very top of a city in the sky using Double Clawshots to go even higher, all in the middle of a heavy thunderstorm with amazing music to boot? Awesome!
• You knew that this whole adventure was really for keeps when you realized exactly who was pulling the strings. The whole story was one big Batman Gambit by a villain who was really known more for his brute strength rather than his persuasive abilities.
  • While said villain always was a great manipulator, it's clear that his brute force is superior, and his Triforce piece shows he values power over wisdom. As a result, his mind games are underestimated even In-Universe, which he can properly exploit.
• The many awesome things Midna does, up to and including using the Fused Shadows to turn into what appears to be a most unpleasant Eldritch Abomination type thing (after being violently tossed against a wall three times, no less) then shattering the barrier to Hyrule Castle with some crazy polearm-thing.
• The first three bosses, after you've dealt enough damage, give the option to Finish them rather than just slashing normally at them..
  • It's especially awesome on the third boss (an armored sea-worm that puts most Zelda bosses to shame in size) and the seventh boss (A freaking dragon!). After spending the fight grappling onto their back for a few desperate hits, you stand up on their writhing backs and not just impale, BURY the sword all the way up to the hilt in their weak points.
  • You have to use the Ending Blow to beat the Final Boss, he won't die otherwise.
• In Kakariko Village, there's one part where you have some archery training. Target? Easy. Slightly further target? A bit tougher, but still easy. A far-off pole you can't really even see? The awesome moment comes if you manage to snipe that pole on the first try. Those who can do that deserve to have the Hawkeye unlocked for their use.
• For Zant, after Link and Midna return to Lanayru after the Water Temple. After going through three dungeons to get all of the Fused Shadows needed to defeat him, Zant rends their efforts completely useless by dealing out a Curb-Stomp Battle to Link, Midna, and Lanayru with only a wave of his hand, taking the Fused Shadows from them, cursing Link to remain in Wolf form even when he isn't in the Twilight Realm, and causing Midna to nearly die from exposure to Lanayru's light. A major Kick the Dog moment, but damn it was cool.
• Snowboarding to the Snowpeak Ruins. Especially the races you can do after the dungeon. Yeta, ironically, can be more of a challenge against Link while she is herself than while she is possessed by a Mirror Shard!
• While weird and creepy, the scene where Lanayru tells Link the story of the Fused Shadows shows that when Nintendo does scary, they can do it awesomely well.
• The very fact that Link turns into a wolf is pretty damn awesome. Kicking the Shadow Beasts' asses in wolf form, defeating a Poe by ripping out its soul, looking intimidating to all humans and even howling melodies that allow you to learn a new sword technique can't help but make you feel like a total badass.
• It may be minor, but Telma chewing out the cowardly soldiers was pretty cool. And as she shows in the sidequest that follows, she is not a hypocrite, she really is braver than them.
• The Ending Blow, Back Slice, and Helm Splitter skills. They're the parry attacks from The Wind Waker. And you can use them at will, once you learn them.^note Well, the Back Slice, anyway. Respectively, the Ending Blow requires the target to be down and prone, and the Helm Splitter requires you to daze the target with a Shield Attack.
• Everything about the Hero's Shade. You summon him while you're in wolf form, and you have to howl the right melody. Succeed twice, and you and the Hero's Shade perform a duet while facing each other on two cliffs overlooking the whole of Hyrule. Then you seek him out in your normal Hylian form and before the training starts, your blades meet while both you and the Hero's Shade strike an awesome pose. And then there's the way the Hero's Shade talks and acts. He's just so intimidating. The final kicker? The Hero's Shade is none other than the Hero of Time himself, there to pass on his knowledge to his heir.
• The fight with Zant. He drops his calm facade and goes insane, fighting you in recreations of several locations, forcing you to use several items and change your strategy to defeat him as you go along. As the battle progresses, he loses what little sanity he had left and becomes more erratic and mad. When the final phase starts, he goes completely apeshit and starts attacking you frantically with Sinister Scimitars. He's fast, too, which makes for a very tense and exciting battle, especially the first time you fight him. The music changing and becoming faster and more erratic as the battle progresses helps a lot.
• When not delivering letters to you, the Postman appears in several places. If you play through the Cave of Ordeals a second time, you find him there, meaning he got through a nigh-impossible gauntlet of increasingly powerful enemies, one that's found in a region that isn't easy to get to, in order to deliver the mail.
• The lead in to the horseback battle with Ganondorf has several for multiple characters. First as Ganondorf (backed by ghost horsemen) bears down on you, Link prepares himself for battle (Triforce of courage remember); but Zelda gently places her hand on his wrist and nods at him, clearly saying "I got this". She then says a prayer to the Light Spirits: "Spirits of the light! Wielders of the great power that shines far and wide upon the lands of our world...In my hour of need, grant me the light to banish evil!" The Light Spirits respond and teleport Link and Zelda to safety, and arm the latter with Light Arrows. Princess Zelda then turns to Link, a simple goat herder, and bows to him asking for his help for the final confrontation.
  Zelda: Link...Chosen Hero! Lend us the last of your power!

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