Webcomic / A Tale of Two Rulers

It was the last thing he ever expected her to say.

A Tale of Two Rulers is a fanfiction webcomic created by Fig set in The Legend of Zelda universe with a unusual pairing set up as the premise. Once more, Ganondorf has raised his army to conquer the land of Hyrule. Zelda arranges a private meeting with him shortly before this great war would start at her request with a proposal.

Marriage.

Zelda has come to realize that the constant reincarnations and the cycles of battle have devastated Hyrule needlessly and Ganondorf has always failed to succeed in his goals due to the eventual rise of the Hero of Legend. So instead, to avoid all the needless bloodshed and suffering, she's willing to share Hyrule with Ganondorf equally via a royal marriage.

Needless to say, this proposal stuns even the great king of evil. But is he really the same Ganondorf fans of the series know him for? And just where is Link in all this?

What follows is a comic involving the intricacies of palace life, various plots from both sides for advantages that even involve assassination attempts, dark pasts revealed and much broken furniture.

A good chunk of the comic has also been dubbed and uploaded onto YouTube with Fig's blessing and personal appreciation.

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A Tale of Two Rulers provides examples of:

• Abhorrent Admirer: Vaati has a crush on Zelda. Zelda ... does not reciprocate.
• Abusive Parents: The Goron king. Which ends up going poorly for him since abuse is one of Ganondorf's hot buttons and after Zelda's influence he can approach the matter calmly enough to be both vindictive and creative in dealing with it while still not causing a political incident.
• Actually a Good Idea: When Vaati approaches Zelda for help with her baby shower gift, she's understandably less than impressed that he's asking her to help with her own gift. That is, until he mentions it's a portal which intrigues her and she even admits it's not a bad idea.
• Adaptational Villainy: The Three Goddesses are portrayed in a considerably more villainous light, as they are not happy about how Zelda and Ganondorf's wedding threatens to finally end the cycle of fighting between Ganondorf and Link, and are willing to use numerous underhanded methods such as manipulating Vaati in order to ensure the cycle continues. Notably, even Vaati, who makes no attempt to hide his desire to murder Ganondorf and take Zelda for himself, is appalled and horrified when he realizes just how far the Goddesses are willing to go in order to ensure the cycle continues.
• Age Lift: Midna is shown to have aged quite a bit since the events of Twilight Princess, now appearing as an elderly woman. What makes it especially interesting is that in this comic's version of the Twilight Realm, time moves incredibly slowly in that dimension compared to Hyrule, meaning that despite the amount of centuries that have passed, it's still the same Midna.
• Altar Diplomacy: The premise of the entire story. Instead of repeating the cycle, Zelda proposes to simply marry Ganondorf and prevent all upcoming suffering that would come of it.
• Ambiguous Gender: Neither Vaati nor the castle librarian has any idea what Impa's gender is. In the games, Impa is explicitly female, but the subject hasn't come up in the comic and...
  Librarian: ...I have no idea. But either way, I strongly recommend asking politely.
• Amusing Injuries: Played With. Zelda responds to Vaati's unwanted advances by bodily throwing him out the window. Despite being dozens of feet off the ground, he's perfectly unharmed since he can fly. He still objects, however, because Zelda couldn't have known that, only to find out that she was aiming for the moat below.
• Arbitrary Skepticism: Zelda displays a rather massive case of it here, doubting that the Deities exist despite her, Ganon, and Link all carrying a piece of the Triforce that the Deities had explicitly created.
• Arc Words: Are you a man or a pig?
• Arrow Catch:
  • Zelda's training with Impa includes grabbing arrows out of the air.
  • Impa catches a blowgun dart between her fingers.
• Art Evolution: As the comic has progressed, the characters have been drawn with much more crisp appearances. Compare the first issue of the webcomic to the newest ones and you can see how much smoother their skin and hair is. The backgrounds of the stills are also much more detailed and more smoothly drawn, but are still less crisp than the characters.
• Berserk Button:
  • Arguing that Ganondorf has been a bad king for his people or a bad father to his children appears to be one. Zelda wisely backed off both times it came up.
  • Also, Link — Ganondorf takes Link's defeats of him very personally and nearly flips out at the suggestion that he could get along with him.
  • Vaati has one that keeps popping up; he hates being addressed as inhuman. Even Zelda merely alluding to the fact that his human form is magically manufactured pisses him off, but with Ghirahim and Ganondorf constantly calling him a rat to his face, it's rare he's not in a foul mood.
• Big Damn Kiss: After Ganondorf finally apologizes to Zelda after a huge fight they had, he's yelling at her to not make a fuss over the apology even as she's recognizing what it meant for him to apologize at all. She shuts him up with one of these. Considering that Zelda's pregnancy starts the very next arc, this likely didn't stop with the kiss.
  Zelda: So is this too much of a fuss?
  Ganondorf: It's not nearly enough. Keep going.
• Bilingual Bonus: Zelda's child is the hero's incarnation, and her child's name is Rinku, the Japanese version of Link's name.
• Bitter Wedding Speech: Ganondorf gives one of these in place of his wedding vows, instead calling out the nobility for their insults about him and Zelda, before finishing with the threat to cut out the tongue of anyone else who continues to disrespect them.
  Ganondorf: I may not be the king you wanted... you pretentious, inbred Hylian dogs... but I vow to be the king you deserve.
• Blatant Lies: Nobody seems to believe Zelda's official story that Rinku is a war orphan that she adopted.
  • Vaati claims his Minish origin is an ugly rumour, but Zelda obviously performed thorough background checks on Ganondorf's minions before they came to her castle.
• Bullying a Dragon: Hylian General Ralph gets the brilliant idea to go against Zelda's wishes and attack Ganondorf. Without the Master Sword. Or the Light/Silver Arrows. His head is presented to Zelda moments later.
• Compete for the Maiden's Hand: A variant in that the maiden in question, Rinku, is the one being challenged for her own hand. She only accepted because she thought it was a challenge for her literal hand.
• Continuity Nod:
  • Zelda’s training attire is basically her Shiek disguise.
  • Rinku is left-handed, just like all her other incarnations.
  • Often, when Ganondorf flashes back to his previous lives, they're direct references to games in the series, such as his death in Twilight Princess.
  • When Zelda is trying to help understand Ganondorf's perspective on things, the art in the history books references Ocarina of Time, The Wind Waker, Twilight Princess and Four Swords Adventures.
  • When Ghirahim betrays Ganondorf's trust, he turns him into a sword.
  • Rinku references saving up for the big wallet.
  • In Part 144, Rinku's first memory being Link is remembering the events of Skull Kid's possessed rampage in Termina with the moon looming ever closer.
  • Early on, Ganondorf summons the two swords he uses in Hyrule Warriors. Similarly, Skull Kid has Link's scarf from Hyrule Warriors.
• Crossover:
  • Kirby is one of Rinku's imaginary friends — albeit an actual imaginary friend, unlike Skull Kid.
  • In one strip, Zelda is reading a book emblazoned with the seven stars and white tree of Gondor.
  • When Zelda and Vaati test their interdimensional portal for the first time, Vaati reaches through with a hand, feels something bite him... and pulls out Tom Nook, who's none too happy about Vaati grabbing a bag of his Bells.
  • During a meal with Goron royalty there is a photo of Bowser in his nice suit on the wall of the dining hall.
  • Vaati's ultimate solution to deal with the monster that was Featherington is to dump it right outside the College of Winterhold. This results in a potential Class 6-level apocalypse in Tamriel.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: Incensed that his son is daring to challenge him for the right to not go through with an Engagement Challenge for Rinku that he angrily accepts. The very next panel he is flattened under his son's massive palm.
• Dark Is Not Evil: A major theme of the comic appears to be distinguishing between the two.
  • Ganondorf can be vicious and cruel, but he approaches the things he cares for with the same passion. See Berserk Button and Even Evil Has Standards
  • Ghirahim literally poisons Zelda against Ganondorf's wishes... out of a desperate fear that his beloved master's own life was in danger.
  • Vaati seems to be a subversion, self-centred and ambitious. Then he Took A Level In Kindness Because You Were Nice To Me.
• Decapitation Presentation: Ganondorf angrily shows Zelda the head of her general who just attempted to assassinate him the night before her wedding.
• Deconstruction Fic: Zelda and Ganondorf's relationship and the comic's setting is a deconstruction of the relatively light-and-soft, fairy-tale-esque The Legend of Zelda, bringing in elements such as Inferred Holocaust that are rarely, if ever, alluded to in the games. Examples include:
  • The toll of death and devastation that would really result from Ganondorf's invasions; the comic, unlike most of the games, shows directly the civilians caught in Ganondorf's path and that his invasions have destroyed irreplaceable parts of history, such as the castle's library.
  • Link has accumulated considerable trauma over his lives, as he's a Heroic Mime now because of all the memories of war with Ganondorf and other threats.
  • The decadence and corruption in Hyrule's court; in the games, Hyrule may as well not even have a court — despite a huge castle seen in nearly every game, the only royalty typically seen is Zelda herself. The comic, however, shows them to be largely bigoted aristocrats, with Zelda's tutor being the worst of the lot.
  • The retribution and genocide of the Gerudo after Ganondorf's actions in Ocarina of Time, showing a backlash against his people that (as far as we know) isn't present in the games at all.
• Deliberate Values Dissonance: In-Universe, after Ganondorf's arena battle against the kingdom's criminals on death row, Zelda is initially horrified and angry. Then she looks through the history books and considers that, given Ganondorf's moral code is cobbled together from all his past lives — some of them hundreds and thousands of years in the past — what he's doing may have been acceptable and expected of a ruler in those times.
• Destination Defenestration: How Vaati's second attempt at flirting with Zelda ends for him. Good thing he can fly.
• Doting Parent: Ganon bonds quite quickly with Rinku, barring the odd slip-up that prompts a grounding.
• Dragon with an Agenda:
  • Ghirahim is intensely loyal to Ganondorf and usually willing to listen to his orders, but he believes the ultimate goal of this marriage should be to kill Zelda and take Hyrule before she gets a chance to kill him first. He tries to manipulate Ganondorf into poisoning Zelda, then goes ahead anyway and poisons her himself. To say Ganondorf is furious about this is a vast understatement.
  • Impa is significantly more restrained than Ghirahim, but they don't approve of the situation, either. They try to burn Ganondorf's apology letter before Zelda can read it.
  • A more straight example is Vaati, who is plotting to get Link and Ganondorf to go at it, and he'll kill the victor, in order to get Zelda. He's even started trying to figure out how to kill Ganondorf without the aid of the Master Sword. After being genuinely befriended by the woman he once saw as a trophy and learning the truth about Rinku, his plans are now running in such dramatic opposition to Ganondorf that it's practically a Heel-Face Turn.
• Dramatic Irony: Initially, Ganondorf thinks that Rinku is Link's child with Zelda, and proposes adopting her as his own daughter partly so he can train her. If and when the Hero returns to face him, Ganondorf relishes in the idea that he'd have to face his own child allied with Ganondorf. What Ganondorf doesn't know is that Rinku is the Hero reincarnated. More than that, Ganondorf is incensed at the suggestion that he and Link should try to get along, unaware that he and Link's current incarnation already do get along.
• Embarrassing Statue: Zig-zagged for laughs when Zelda and Ganondorf's baby shower gifts include a huge nude statue of them in a dramatic pose. Ganondorf is thrilled, but Zelda insists on a few strategic fig leaves as a compromise.
• Enemy Mine: Invoked. Zelda eventually decides that the best way to break the cycle is if she becomes the evil tyrant worse than Ganondorf to give Rinku and Ganondorf a common enemy and work together to stop her. She's just a bit stressed from the pregnancy, so the idea doesn’t get off the ground.
• Et Tu, Brute?: Ganondorf makes it quite clear that Ghirahim's betrayal falls into this category:
  Ganondorf: Goddamn you... Of all the people to betray me... Why... Why did it have to be you, Ghirahim?
• Even Evil Has Standards: Ganondorf is willing to wage bloody war across multiple generations, but even he draws the line somewhere:
  • He threatens horrible violence on the man who abused Zelda as a child.
  • The threat against anyone who would dare make his children (even the soon-to-be-adopted Rinku) into pawns is unspoken, but certainly there.
  • On the less violent side, after Vaati confuses Ganondorf's legitimate sorrow over the children he and Zelda might have had for an act, Ganondorf calls him a "vile thing."
  • Speaking of Vaati, as part of his plans to off Ganondorf he successfully locates this incarnation of Link and the Master Sword. He takes the Master Sword for himself... and doesn't breathe a word about Rinku to anyone.
    Vaati: I know something that would destroy you and the only reason I let it alone is out of mercy to someone else.
• Everything's Sparkly with Jewelry: The star spark diamond ring Ganondorf prepares for Zelda is never directly seen, but the dazzling light it gives off says it all. As the Bulblin that presented the ring says, it's a perfect fit because "Hyrule is all about tasteless extravagance".
• Evil Chancellor:
  • Zig-zagged with Ghirahim. For starters, the leader he betrays is the King of Darkness, although Dark Is Not Evil is at work here. And his betrayal comes from being an Overzealous Underling with a deep love for Ganondorf, rather than any intention to defeat or usurp him.
  • Vaati plays this straight as the royal wizard, actively planning on killing Ganondorf and seducing Zelda. He's hindered somewhat in that Ganondorf, while valuing his usefulness as an asset, trusts him less and less as time goes on, ultimately deciding to banish Vaati after the babyshower.
• Fairytale Wedding Dress: Zelda's wedding dress is extremely opulent and is almost as wide as she is tall.
• Fantastic Racism: Defied with Vaati. Zelda tells him she hates him for a lot of things, but being Minish is NOT one of them.
  Vaati: And yet you hate me.
  Zelda: Of course I do. ...But for who you are deep, deep in your heart.
• Fiery Redhead: Though the comic is in black and white, due to characters resembling their canon selves it can be assumed this applies to Ganondorf and Ralph.
• Fluffy Fashion Feathers: Zelda's wedding dress has feathers along the edge of the overdress, and the train the dress consist entirely of feathers.
• Food Slap: Vaati gets a faceful of Zelda's alcohol after he gets in close to flirt with her. At her own wedding.
  Vaati: (in pain) WAS SHE DRINKING GIN OR TURPENTINE?!?!
• Foregone Conclusion: Art from Fig and the occasional side comic have featured, among other things, three of Zelda and Ganondorf's children, so it was a given that Zelda would survive an early arc where she gets poisoned. In the latest arc, a pregnancy was confirmed.
• Gender Flip / Reincarnated as the Opposite Sex:
  • While it appears at first that Link is nowhere to be seen, she has been around the whole time, this time reincarnated as Princess Rinku.
  • This trope is likely true for Ganondorf and Zelda in at least one reincarnation cycle each. Ganondorf explains to Zelda that he was once a mother in a previous life. And while it’s yet to be seen in-comic, Fig did post a picture of Zelda as a man.
• Generation Xerox: Several mortal characters share names and appearances with their blood ancestors from the official games, and also have similar roles or personalities. The reincarnations of the three Triforce bearers also tend to follow this, with the marriage being an attempt to finally end the cycle. Link being born as Zelda's child is another, unplanned deviation from the normal pattern.
• Gentle Giant: The Goron prince. To the point of being an Extreme Doormat to his abusive and much smaller father when he's introduced.
• Hate Sink: Zelda's old tutor took advantage of her, and is entirely there for a being that makes Ganondorf a hero in comparison. You know Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil when the person in question is considered more vile than the universe's Satanic Archetype, and said Satanic Archetype swore to break his face, and shove his family jewels down his throat.
• Heirloom Engagement Ring: In lieu of a wedding ring, Zelda gives Ganondorf a pair of earrings that he himself owned in one of his old lives, long-lost and unearthed by archaeologists. Ganondorf is uncharacteristically touched.
  Ganondorf: The gemstones in these... they were cut from the headcrests of the first mothers I ever knew... I like them very much... Thank you.
• Heroic Mime: Deconstructed. Here, Link's silence is a result of trauma gathered over lifetimes of constant combat. This is currently averted with Rinku, but according to Impa that will change when she inherits her Past-Life Memories and is traumatized into silence.
  Innocence... tranquility... the joys of childhood... all of that will be prematurely torn from her as the memories return... leaving behind only Link... a warrior who's so numb from trauma that he rarely even speaks.
• How Did You Know? I Didn't: Zig zagged. Zelda throws Vaati out a window, and he protests that she didn't know he could fly and the fall could have killed him. Zelda then dryly says the moat would have broken his fall, though the expression on her face suggests she wouldn't be too put out if he had gone splat.
• Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: While Zelda is of a normal height, Ganondorf is simply enormous to the point he dwarfs her. Ganondorf is so big he regularly breaks furniture in Hyrule castle just by sitting on it, and it's mentioned that he's ordered special Goron-made furniture to replace it.
• Hypocrite: When Zelda suggests Ganondorf could get along with Link, he gets angry. He states that forgiving him would mean forgiving all the times Link has taken away his kingdom, family, and even his life. He is seemingly unappreciative that he has done no less to Zelda ^note  Except for killing her, although even that is not for lack of trying in past lives, and she has managed to forgive him for it. He also seems to forget that Zelda worked hand-in-hand to defeat him and is just as responsible, but he has already forgiven her.
• I Need a Freaking Drink: Zelda ends up drinking quite a bit of gin when Ganondorf first settles into the castle. The author takes a less comedic interpretation, stating that it's part of her self-destructive coping.
  • Played for laughs with Vaati at the wedding, downing his drink in one swig as part of the peanut gallery's collective YUCK! at the kiss.
• Irony: Zelda, the incarnation of wisdom, retains the least amount of information from her previous lives. Ganondorf even refers to it as her "ironic forgetfulness."
• Lame Pun Reaction: As Zelda puts it, of course the self-proclaimed "King of Evil" is a fan of puns.
• Last of His Kind: As far as Ganondorf knows, he's the last remaining Gerudo in all of Hyrule due to prejudice from his previous attempts to conquer Hyrule.
• Lie Back and Think of England: Zelda accepts that in offering marriage, she's also offering herself as the mother to Ganondorf's future children, and everything that comes before children. She later suggests that old Hylian traditions enforce this for both partners by having them wear blindfolds, earplugs, and mittens during sex. It is then deconstructed and averted: Ganondorf refuses to do anything she clearly doesn't want to happen, while Zelda's primary apprehension about sex stems from her past abuse. It's only after they're both comfortable being intimate with each other that they consummate the marriage, and Zelda happily instigates intimacy as time and their relationship further progress.
• Meaningful Gift: In place of a wedding ring, Zelda gives Ganondorf a pair of earrings from one of his earliest incarnations, unearthed by her archaeologists. Ganondorf is genuinely shocked and grateful.
• Mood Whiplash: The comic moves between dramatic and comedic, often within the same entry. When, for example Ganondorf finds out that Zelda was abused by her tutor, his vows of vengeance against the perpetrator are both heartwarming and terrifying. His vow of vengeance against the bed when it breaks under him mid-rant is hilarious.
• Multiple-Choice Past: Ganondorf's story in pages 191-193 about the origin of the cycle and the Triforce itself, which is rather distinctly not the story in canon, and as Skull Kid notes, doesn't explain how Link got involved in the cycle, and claims the Triforce to be the manifestation of Hylia and Demise's divinity when it was ripped away from them by the Goddesses, leaving the kids confused about why there are three pieces for two people. Ganondorf explains that nobody knows the whole truth, not even himself, so he decided upon this one.
• Mundane Utility:
  • Rinku uses her sword (which appears to be the Master Sword!) as a fishing rod.
  • Ganondorf uses dark magic in a pillow fight.
• Nay-Theist: Zelda is of the "God Is Evil" opinion if the Goddesses exist, as they allow death and destruction to occur while demanding worship.
• Never Grew Up: The Skull Kid. This actually makes him sad because Link has been his friend in other lifetimes, but always forgets this when reincarnated.
• Oblivious Guilt Slinging: Upon successfully testing the portal she is working on with Vaati, Zelda admits that she'd like to consider him a friend, having now interacted with him in a context where he's not making unwanted advances towards her. Vaati, who is planning to kill her husband Ganondorf partially out of spite for Zelda calling him nothing more than a useful asset previously due to said unwanted advances, spends the night asking Ghirahim how he can advance his evil plans while remaining guilt-free.
• Once Done, Never Forgotten: Ganon accurately diagnosing Zelda's pregnancy leads to Rinku commenting on it.
  Zelda: Y-you already know about that?!
  Rinku: Yeah! Dad told me! And he's been bragging for days that he knew about the baby before you!
• One-Man Army: Ganondorf is able to kill over two thousand fully armed prisoners without taking a scratch.
• Parental Abandonment: The only mention of the King or Queen of Hyrule before Ganondorf and Zelda are coronated is to mention that the old king went missing years ago, with no further explanation in the comic. In a blog post, Fig goes into a little more detail:
  Fig: Zelda’s mother died while giving birth to her! And something strange happened to her father, but I’m not sure if there’s room to put it into the comic anymore or not.
• Papa Wolf: Ganon is very protective of his family, blood-related or adoptive.
• Past-Life Memories: Zelda and Ganondorf often received flashes of their past experiences that has caused them to remember their other incarnations. Rinku hasn't had any yet, but Zelda believes this is only due to her age and is expected to happen in a few years for her too. In a Q+A, Fig says Ganondorf has very detailed memories, which lets him accumulate skills (such as knitting), Zelda keeps almost no memories, and Link keeps memories but they're not as vivid as Ganondorf's. Impa states that Link's past memories leave him so traumatized that he rarely speaks, suggesting that while his memories are not as vivid as Ganondorf's, the emotions passed from life to life are significantly moreso. This is confirmed when Skullkid mentions Termina to Rinku, and Link's memories are disjointed and nightmarish, clearly more emotional than factual.
• The Prankster: Skull Kid loves pranking the people of Hyrule castle, which apparently includes unleashing spider swarms in the sauna. He even briefly repairs an Artifact of Doom with no intention beyond using it for a practical joke, though nothing comes of it.
• Pretty Princess Powerhouse: Zelda also qualifies up until her coronation as queen, both for her political daring that sets up the plot and continues throughout the comic, and for what's been seen so far of her combat skills.
• Princesses Rule: In line with her Twilight Princess incarnation, Zelda is the ruling monarch though she only carries the "princess" title. It doesn't last long, as unlike Twilight Princess, her coronation to become queen goes off without a hitch.
• Rage Against the Heavens: There are many reasons why Zelda married Ganondorf. One is that this incarnation of her is a misotheist, and wants to spit in the face of the gods who force her, Ganon, and Link to participate in an endless cycle of fighting.
• Rape as Backstory:
  • Zelda's reluctant to consummate her marriage with Ganondorf out of trauma from being raped by a lecherous tutor when she was a child. Since Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil, Ganondorf is more than understanding, and flies into a rage as he swears to feed the bastard his own entrails and rip his balls off.
  • Ganondorf mentions being forced into sex work as a child, after his mother's death in a brothel. This is why he empathizes so much with Zelda when she tells him about her past.
• Ridiculously Cute Critter: The baby boar Ganondorf gives Rinku as a present is quite huggable.
• Running Gag: Ganondorf breaking furniture because he's too big for most of them.
• Scars Are Forever: A cut that Rinku accidentally gives Zelda when she meets Ganondorf is still visible as a scar more than 100 comics later.
• Screw Politeness, I'm a Senior!: The return of Midna as an old woman is noted by the author after she has only spoken two lines that "the sass level just goes up as one ages" and "now it's old person no filter time". Considering this is Midna we're talking about, hoo boy.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: After Dr. Featherton is hit by something nasty during a portal test, Vaati attempts to remove the harmful substance from the librarian with his protective gloves... until he realises the substance is assimilating his gloves, whereupon he cuts his losses and ditches Dr. Featherton in favour of damage control.
• Sealed Evil in a Can: Ganondorf seals Ghirahim in his sword for going against his orders.
• Sealed Evil in Another World: When an experiment in dimensional portals creates an invincible Animalistic Abomination in the lab, Vaati traps it in a Containment Field bubble and dumps it through the portal.
  Vaati: Then we can roll him through it and make him some other universe's problem. [huff]
• Shapeshifting Seducer: Vaati offers to take Impa out on a date, attempting to seduce Impa in a male form, then Sex Shifts into a busty woman when it falls flat. Impa is emphatically Not Distracted by the Sexy.
  Impa: I respect the beauty of your craft... but the only reason I'm not hurting you right now is because this is the most entertaining thing that's happened to me in months.
• Ship Sinking: Given that the premise is the marriage between Zelda and Ganondorf, Link being Zelda's daughter effectively eliminates any possibility of the love triangle one might expect given Link and Zelda's relationship in some of the games.
• Shout-Out: Part 147 has Zelda and Rinku discussing her pregnancy, and she has a book that's called The Princess and the Plumber. The cover directly features the characters as they appear in the Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, but with a twist: Mario and Peach have switched faces.
• Soft Water: Discussed after Zelda throws Vaati out a window. When he accuses her of trying to kill him, she suggests he could have landed in the moat. She even calls it "soft." It's possible Zelda is perfectly aware of how hard water can be, and is just adding a subtle layer to her snark.
• Speech-Bubble Censoring:
  • When Zelda receives the bloody bag from Ganondorf, her second internal monologue has her assuming that the victim was Rinku and hating herself for allowing this to happen. Among her self-deprecations include "I'm such a fucking idiot", but the letters F-U-C-K are covered by Zelda's speech bubble on that same page.
  • When the court presents Ganon and Zelda an Embarrassing Statue (Ganondorf, stark nekkid standing on a pile of crushed skeletons and armor; carrying an equally-bare Zelda), the statue's junk is covered by Ganon shouting "MAGNIFICENT!"
• Surrounded by Idiots: Save for Ghirahim and Vaati, Ganondorf's minions seem to be made up of these that more then once quite visibly annoy him.
• Taunting the Transformed: Inverted with Vaati, who always uses Humanshifting to hide that he's a mouse-like Minish. As a punishment, Ganondorf publicly destroys the spell and mocks the sight of his true form while Vaati silently begs people not to look.
• Tempting Fate: Discussed. Ganondorf is aghast to hear Zelda speak ill of the Goddesses, because whatever his feelings on them might be, he has very strong personal reasons to fear their retribution.
• Too Desperate to Be Picky: When Vaati realizes he needs two mages to construct the portal, he turns to Zelda of all people since she's the only proficient mage that he can ask for help from.
• Undead Child: Skull Kid, effectively. He became an Imp when he got lost in the woods and succumbed to deprivation, and even refers to himself as "something that isn't quite dead or alive".
• Unwillingly Girly Tomboy: Princess Rinku hates having to wear dresses and acting like a stereotypical princess when she's rather spend her time playing games and pranks with the Skull Kid. She even latches onto the idea of Ganondorf teaching her to fight. Her true identity of being Link would give a good reason as to why.
• Visual Pun: The Zora doctor who attends to Zelda? She's a nurse shark!
• Vitriolic Best Buddies: Ghirahim and Vaati. Ghirahim even admits that he doesn't really like Vaati, but he's the only one he can talk to. Vaati meanwhile trolls Ghirahim, particularly with his Copy Vaati power.
• Warrior Princess: Princess Rinku's training is to be a warrior, instead of something more purely courtly (in fact, she can't stand the courtly stuff). While still young and in training, she shows an immense amount of courage, even willing to fight and kill Ganondorf when she thinks he's a threat to her mother. Her status as Link's reincarnation is likely the reason for it.
• What Measure Is a Non-Human?: Averted for most characters, everyone from Rito to Zora to the undead Skullkid are treated by the narrative and the other characters as having full personhood no different than a human. Played brutally straight when Ganondorf exposes Vaati's Minish form to the visiting rulers at Zelda's babyshower.
• Why Don't You Marry It?: After listening to one of Rinku's rants about how much she hates everything she's heard about Link, Skull Kid loses his temper and tells her just how highly he thinks of him. Rinku childishly invokes the trope as a result, and Skull Kid response is that maybe he will. Given what he knows about Rinku, and the discussed possibility of returning himself to life, he may have meant it.
• Win Your Freedom: To win the favor of the Hylian citizens after the marriage, Ganondorf holds a massive fight in the kingdom's arena where all convicted murderers, rapists and child molesters are given top quality weapons and armor to do just one thing for their freedom: Kill him. It goes about as well for them as you can imagine.

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