History Videogame / TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword

** Being hit by one of the Guardians during a Silent Realm challenge. This doesn't actually give you a GameOver, but it does kick you out and force you to start again, so it's similar.

* AdultFear:
** Link has to deal with the kidnapping of his best friend, [[spoiler:as well as a number of instances where she was helpless and would have been brutally killed by a demon if he hadn't intervened]]. Also, at one point in the game, [[spoiler:Link has to outright tell Zelda's father that his daughter is not coming back]].
** Kukiel's mom is shown to be completely terrified when Kukiel suddenly disappeared. The disappearance of Kukiel is set up to look ''exactly'' like a child abduction that might show up on the news. She went out to play and never came home. When you ask around, all people can tell you was that she was last seen playing with a strange man. And from all evidence, ''he took her to his house''. [[spoiler:Turns out the guy is harmless and sends her home the next morning]], but still!

** [[spoiler:Once you get the boss room key in the Ancient Cistern, you have to get out of that pit before the falling Buddha statue crushes you]]. Should you instead try and take on all the Cursed Bokoblins in the pit instead, [[GoryDiscretionShot the camera cuts out of the pit and Link is heard gasping and then screaming as the statue lands in place]]

* NonStandardGameOver: [[spoiler:[[ApocalypseHow If The Imprisoned manages to reach the Sealed Temple before you can defeat and reseal it.]]]]

** Also, [[spoiler:once you get the boss room key in the Ancient Cistern, you have to get out of that pit before the giant Buddha statue's foot crushes you]].
** The advancing wall of lava in an underground tunnel in the Fire Sanctuary will also result in an instant game over if it engulfs Link.

* {{Metroidvania}}: This is the closest the ''Zelda'' series has gotten to being ''VideoGame/{{Metroid}}''-like, with {{Save Point}}s rather than free-saving and fewer safe towns. Considering the latter originally took many cues from the former, it's quite appropriate that the opposite would eventually happen.

* IdiotHair: Groose has an [[UpToEleven Idiot Pompadour]]. [[spoiler:The usual implicaions of the trope are subverted, however; while Groose at first comes across as a dumb jock, he later proves to have a gift for construction and engineering, which he uses to build a rail-mounted catapult]].

* IdiotHair: Groose has an [[UpToEleven Idiot Pompadour]].

* {{Irony}}: [[spoiler:Zelda only thinks she's playing the part of the Goddess at the beginning of the game. And then she turns out to ''actually be'' said Goddess.]]

** The case of Link and Zelda is an inversion. The two already live in the sky, alongside the other students of the Knight Academy and of Skyloft's population. But during the game's prologue, Zelda feels like something or someone from the surface is calling her, though she tries to brush it off. After she's forcefully taken downward by Ghirahim, Link is guided by sword spirit Fi to the inside of the Goddess Statue, where they open a hole in the clouds connecting to the surface. With the encouragement of Zelda's father (Gaepora), Link embarks on a journey to the earth in order to find his childhood friend.

* KleptomaniacHero: Lampshaded and defied. Opening a cupboard in someone else's house yields a message that doing so is impolite, not that the game actually stops you. Ultimately, however, Link won't steal from people except for the Piece of Heart he finds in Zelda's cupboard.

* LeapOfFaith: Towards the end of the Fire Sanctuary, you have to take one to find the way to the boss key.

** The first has Groose pining for Zelda, whom is {{implied|LoveInterest}} to be interested in Link.

* MagicMusic: By means of the harp and Fi's singing, magical portals open up and clues from the goddess are granted.

** At the beginning of the game, after a terrifying nightmare foreshadowing the game, Link's woken up by the sound of Zelda's Loftwing giving an ear-splitting caw, sending him tumbling out of bed, it then spits her letter directly into his face and just leaves.

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: [[spoiler: Zelda had this reaction when revealing to Link that she, as Hylia, deliberately put him in danger in order to ensure he would become powerful enough to be her chosen hero. While she acknowledges that is was necessary to stop Demise, she hates that it had to happen.]]
* MySensorsIndicateYouWantToTapThat: Fi can do exactly that. Played straight when [[spoiler:if you go through Peatrice's subquest by returning her love, she notices the effects of Peatrice's looks on Link and Peatrice's love for him, advising Link to avoid touching the subject with Zelda]]. In a roundabout way, Fi does this when she decides that every good news about Zelda's fate is likely to lift Link's spirits.
* MysticalLotus: The Ancient Cistern, a temple based around Buddhism with a prominent idol resembling the Buddha in the center of its main chamber containing the Sacred Flame of Farore, has both actual lotus plants in its waters and lotus artwork on its walls and ceiling.

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: It ends up being a bad idea to [[spoiler:leave a functioning and extremely conspicuous time portal out in the open like that]]. A rare example of the hero falling victim to Rule #41 on the EvilOverlordList.

** A late-game segment of Eldin Volcano has you blown off course by an eruption and captured by the Bokoblins. While you immediately get back the Mogma Mitts, six of your items are scattered throughout the region, while the rest are all in the same spot.

*** Zelda is rescued from Ghirahim's clutches [[spoiler:twice]] early in the game, [[spoiler:the first time by the old woman and the second by the young Impa]]. When venting to Link about his frustration, Ghirahim states outright that the same person foiled him twice; this hint is dropped long before the player is likely to take notice of it.

* CelShading: Envision the Link from ''Twilight Princess'' with a cel-shaded style that is reminiscent of Impressionist paintings, and you won't be far off from what ''Skyward Sword'' looks like. [[WordOfGod Miyamoto]] actually said this was necessary to make enemy actions more visible, to accommodate using [=MotionPlus=] sword controls. The style is such a direct hybrid of the two games that it's easy to see NPC designs that look straight out of each, and yet both look at home in the same game.

* CheckPoint: Bird statues within dungeons, in addition to providing a convenient place to save, are also where the game is loaded upon restarting after a GameOver, rather than sending Link back to the entryway of the dungeon upon turning on the game again.

* CultureChopSuey: As is typical of the series, and also one of the few times MedievalEuropeanFantasy takes up a much smaller portion of the mix. The Ancient Cistern, for one, is a Buddhist-like temple with a boss that resembles a Hindu deity but has a name (Koloktos) whose spelling implies a Greek origin. The Earth Temple is modeled on Mongolian temples while the Fire Sanctuary has a decidedly Indian motif. Also, the Lanayru Sand Sea features many hallmarks of the 17th to 18th century Golden Age of Piracy (e.g. tricorn hats, contemporary ships and cannons). The Three Dragons look like the dragons of Japanese art and lore, even wearing stylized kimonos, and Japanese music plays in the background during their cut scenes. And the music associated with Fi, the Goddess' Statue, and the Isle of Songs have a Medieval/Renaissance-era vibe.

** At one point, Link encounters in Lanayru Desert a broken gate, and he has then to find another way to enter the Temple of Time, fight its boss, then watch one epic cutscene involving [[spoiler:Zelda and Impa finishing activating the Gate of Time]] behind ''that'' broken gate. But if you're impatient, you can use an upgraded beetle to fly over that gate and see [[spoiler:the two of them attempting to activate]] that same Gate of Time, which is logically not yet open.
** When buzzing about Faron Woods with the claw beetle, you may discover you can carry hornet nests with it. You may then get the devious idea of dropping the nest on a baddie. Lo and behold, they will react to the swarm of angry hornets attacking them as well.
** One sidequest involves the player recieving mushroom spores from Parrow in order to heal Orielle's injured loftwing. However, if you already have mushroom spores or glittering spores on you when you speak to Orielle, you can just hand her the ones that you already have. This results in a slight difference in the dialogue, and the bottle that you were supposed to have gotten during the quest (and kept afterwards) is instead given to you once the quest is finished, as a conventional reward.

** A pair of Mogmas plot to get into the Earth Temple like a Heist movie, but then they ditch that when they remember that they could dig underground to get to the temple.

%%* AllMythsAreTrue: In ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess Twilight Princess]]'', there is a MrExposition who rambles about the rumors of a civilization who lives in the clouds closest to the heavens and that the people who lived there, the Hylians, are descended from the gods themselves. This game proves both, the [[LateArrivalSpoiler latter of which]] is [[spoiler:a key plot point for Zelda's background: she is the goddess Hylia reincarnated in human form]].

* AllMythsAreTrue: In ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess Twilight Princess]]'', there is a MrExposition who rambles about the rumors of a civilization who lives in the clouds closest to the heavens and that the people who lived there, the Hylians, are descended from the gods themselves. This game proves both, the [[LateArrivalSpoiler latter of which]] is [[spoiler:a key plot point for Zelda's background: she is the goddess Hylia reincarnated in human form]].

* CaptainObvious: Fi frequently repeats information that has been explained by other characters or is clearly known to Link, like telling him his classmates are his classmates when scanning them. This tendency has earned her some ire from players, but it's possible this is meant to reflect a low faith in human intelligence, as she is essentially a holy AI with expansive knowledge sent to help Link, a pretty ordinary human.

** The relative scarcity of the resources needed for the item upgrade shop also qualify, since the flavor text does not take into account how many you'll need versus how many an average player will gather.

* UndeadCounterpart: Cursed Bokoblins are an undead variant of Bokoblin found only in the Ancient Cistern and the Sky Keep. They can not only deal damage by latching onto you, but also afflict you with the Curse ailment and can only be defeated by being dealt a Fatal Strike after being knocked down. You also have the chance to obtain an Evil Crystal after defeating them.

** In the Earth Temple, Link must ride a stone ball over lava and press two buttons to raise up a bridge. If Link takes the Eastern Path first, which is a long winding path including a bottomless pit, to reach the blocked off button on that side of the bridge, the secton that rises up is big enough for Link to pass under, allowing him to get the other button right away without any backtracking.

** [[spoiler:Impa]] stays alive for "thousands of years" in order to carry out the Goddess's commands as well as [[spoiler:see Zelda again]].

* DivineDelegation: "The Old Ones" placed the ultimate power (later revealed to be [[spoiler:the Triforce]]) in the care of the goddess Hylia sometime prior to the raising of Skyloft. Later, Hylia herself tasked the three dragons with watching over the surface world and [[spoiler:relaying parts of the Song of the Hero to her Chosen Hero]].

* DoesNotLikeShoes: The Old Woman and [[spoiler:Demise]].
* DontCelebrateJustYet: [[spoiler: Link may have eradicated Demise completely, but everyone forgot about Ghirahim. The time portal is still open and Ghirahim takes advantage of it by stealing the awakened Zelda and go back in time to revive Demise.]]

* AnEconomyIsYou: Lampshaded by Beedle, who will comment on not having had much business before Link started coming around. Peatrice thinks Link has a crush on her simply because he's the Item Check's only customer.

* EvilCounterpart: [[spoiler:Ghirahim to Fi. His "true form" resembles a darker, male version of Fi, and both are {{Equippable All|y}}ies of their Master's sword. The Master Sword in Fi's case, and the Anti-Master Sword in Ghirahim's case. It's bigger, blacker, has a serrated edge, gains power from storm clouds instead of the sky, and [[TheAntichrist has an upside-down Triforce on it.]]]]

* EasyLevelTrick The difficult second and third boss fights with The Imprisoned get more manageable if you figure out the alternate strategy. It's too long to go into full detail here, but it involves [[spoiler: ignoring its annoying, hard to hit toes, and instead jumping onto its head after stunning it with Groose's cannon.]]

* LettingTheAirOutOfTheBand: Travelling from the top of the Ancient Cistern into the basement causes the previously
airy music to drop off into more sinister tones.
* LevelEditor: The Sky Keep temple's gimmick is a puzzle involving the player using control panels to rearrange access to rooms that look like they could have come from previous dungeons.

* LettingTheAirOutOfTheBand: Travelling from the top of the Ancient Cistern into the basement causes the previously airy music to drop off into more sinister tones.

* EthnicGod: Hylia is this to the Skyloftians, protecting them from Demise by various measures.