History NightmareFuel / TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker

** The sound file used for them is recycled from Majora's Mask. Not just [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask the game]], but the title artifact itself. Definitely adds to the creepiness.

** The worst encounter with them would have to be under your Cabana. You need to go through this mini-dungeon of sorts to get a Triforce Chart. You have to drop into one area and… Two [=ReDeads=] are waiting for you at the bottom. Dick move, game, dick move…
*** [[FridgeHorror Which begs the question of WHY there are two [=ReDeads=] down there]].

** On that note, remember ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime Ocarina of Time]]''? How you got to be friends with most of the Kokiri tribe? Well, one of them was chosen to be the Sage of Wind... and Molgera '''ate him alive!'''
*** It may soften it a tiny bit that you never met that particular one -- unless the Fado you met decided to start looking like a boy instead of continuing to look like a girl for some reason -- but still...

* The [[GiantSquid Big Octos]]. No matter what, they are always terrifying. If you don't know the secret to finding them, they seem to COME OUT OF NOWHERE AND START SUCKING IN YOUR BOAT. Even if you do figure out where they appear -- [[spoiler:a large flock of seagulls circle their locations]] -- an intentional sail toward them is full of a mixture of ParanoiaFuel, anxiety, and a generally foreboding feeling. The fact that their markers -- [[spoiler:the seagulls]] -- go away just before you arrive at their locations makes you none-too-sure of just when the beast will show up and doesn't help the "STOP AND TURN BACK YOU IDIOT" feeling your brain is telling you. And then the whirlpool appears along with a giant thunderstorm. God help you if you're afraid of the sea, storms, or octopi.

** To top off all the horror already surrounding Big Octos, the southernmost one [[spoiler:has eaten the Great Fairy that resided in its region. You have to kill it in order to free her. Luckily, it's only got four eyes, so it's easier to beat than the eight- or twelve-eyed ones]].

** The music from both temples is pretty creepy. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sb_IyKd8jVw The Earth Temple]] has a slow tune that is occasionally interrupted by what sounds like a lunatic with a wind instrument. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROT3tJ11LSg The Wind Temple]] is creepy in a different way. The overtones are an innocent tune reminiscent of the Kokiri, but there's that creepy, constant humming that undermines it. The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=OGetsVjmBow&feature=emb_title Ganon's Tower version]] of it makes it even creepier, enough to make one's skin crawl.
*** That ''sound'' that starts up around 1:00 is especially creepy.

* Sea Octoroks. They tend to appear out of nowhere RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU with no warning while you are sailing and knock you off your boat, and as you try to get back on your boat, tons of them start popping up all around you surrounding you and firing at you. Not to mention they are also huge, have glowing yellow eyes and heads and make the screen shake every time they attack, and the music… never go west of Six Eye Reef or near Northern Triangle Island after placing the pearl and getting the treasure…
** While [[spoiler:hunting the Triforce Shards]], if you are just a little off when dredging one up from the ocean, you'll pull up a pot instead. As soon as it's dropped back into the ocean, a Sea Octorok will spawn DIRECTLY BEHIND YOU, even at normally safe islands like Greatfish Isle or Outset Island!
* The places where you get the [[spoiler:Triforce Charts]] in general are horrifying. We have; a holiday home with a flooded basement full of rats, [=ReDeads=] and claustrophobic crawlspaces, a ghost ship, the [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Savage Labyrinth]], other creepy basements full of enemies, a maze full of [[DemonicSpiders Floormasters that chuck you back to the beginning if they grab you]], [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and a series of islands infested with those ear-destroying birds]]. This might be FridgeBrilliance seeing as Link's Triforce piece is the Triforce of Courage.

* [[spoiler:The King essentially ''commits suicide'' right in front of you.]]
* [[spoiler:After his defeat, Ganondorf is turned to stone with the Master Sword still embedded in his forehead, as the ocean crashes down on top of him. Given that characters who are TakenForGranite in the ''Zelda'' series are often still aware of everything, [[AndIMustScream it's likely that he's still conscious and trapped forever at the bottom of the ocean]].]]
** Or perhaps not. [[spoiler: WordOfGod is that being TakenForGranite was really just for show -- Ganondorf is dead, plain and simple... not that that isn't better than the alternative, though]]
* [[spoiler:[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUzsVy9HdL4 Ganondorf's hauntingly deranged laughter]] when the King steals the Triforce right out from under him: it's the laugh of a man who's lost his very last hope after everything he has ever worked toward has been rendered all for nought. He just ''snaps'' completely. What's more, depending on what your beliefs are regarding the Zelda timeline, this is also the ''last time'' this Ganondorf ever resurrects.]]

** To make things worse about [[spoiler:Ganondorf's death, just look at Link's expression after he does it, and think about what that wound might have looked like in a less kid-friendly game. Link probably looks so horrified because he's '''[[FridgeHorror covered in blood]]'''.]]
* The sailing music that plays [[spoiler:when the [[DarkReprise Great Sea is cursed.]]]] Normally, it's light, upbeat music that makes the lengthy sailing easier, but the [[spoiler:cursed theme]], which is already pretty bad, is made worse by the constant heavy rain and endless dark skies similar to a dark sky you'd see in a literal nightmare.

* When you're sneaking around the Moblins in the beginning of the game and one happens to spot you, the camera suddenly turns towards them, they make a very sudden movement and a loud ScareChord plays. It's one of the very few real [[{{Jumpscare}} jumpscares]] in a Zelda game, and it's even worse if you couldn't see the Moblin before it spotted you.

** To top it off, you ''will'' have one forced encounter with him before you can get a hold of the bow and arrows, at [[spoiler:Northern Triangle Island]]. You can avoid him and get to the island quickly, however, if you pay close attention to the cyclone, you'll notice that it's ''actively chasing Link'', albeit ever so slowly. This means you only have a certain amount of time on the island before he catches you. [[ParanoiaFuel Try not to panic!]]
*** Even worse, you can run into both him and Sea Octoroks at the same time in certain islands like the aforementioned [[spoiler:Northern Triangle Island]] and Shark Island. Have fun trying to run away from Cyclos only to go face-first into a swarm of Sea Octoroks.

** There’s a subtle moment when you return for the last time. If you notice as you enter the throne room, you’ll notice that [[spoiler:the statue of the Hero of Time has been destroyed and the room to where you left Zelda has been opened.]]

*** Same thing with Laruto, who was the Sage of the Earth Temple and also the only Zora seen in this game. The thing that killed her was the monstrous king of the Poes, Jalhalla, who enjoys flinging around fire and [[Bellyflop crushing body slamming his enemies]]. So Laruto, who just may have been the last Zora, was either crushed or burned to death; or possibly impaled on the spikes lining Jalhalla's chamber. Of those methods, when you take the Zora species' [[OneHitKill inherent vulnerability to fire and ice]] into account; being burned alive in particular would have been an ''[[CruelAndUnusualDeath agonising]]'' [[CruelAndUnusualDeath way for Laruto to die]].

*** Same thing with Laruto, who was the Sage of the Earth Temple and also the only Zora seen in this game. The thing that killed her was the monstrous king of the Poes, Jalhalla, who enjoys flinging around fire and body slamming his enemies. So Laruto, who just may have been the last Zora, was either crushed or burned to death; or possibly impaled on the spikes lining Jalhalla's chamber. Of those methods, when you take the Zora species' [[OneHitKill inherent vulnerability to fire and ice]] into account; being burned alive in particular would have been an ''[[CruelAndUnusualDeath agonising]]'' [[CruelAndUnusualDeath way for Laruto to die]].

** [[KingMook Every boss in the game follows the trend of resembling a common dungeon enemy...]] [[TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers Except Molgera.]] It's some strange sort of deformed sandworm-thing, and the only creatures in the game that it resembles are its own young that it regurgitates to help fight you. It makes one wonder if Ganondorf had simply run out of ideas at this point and just birthed the most terrifying and freakish monstrosity he could come up with.

* The places where you get the [[spoiler:Triforce Charts]] in general are horrifying. We have; a holiday home with a flooded basement full of rats, [=ReDeads=] and claustrophobic crawlspaces, a ghost ship, the Savage Labyrinth, other creepy basements full of enemies, a maze full of [[DemonicSpiders Floormasters that chuck you back to the beginning if they grab you]], [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and a series of islands infested with those ear-destroying birds]]. This might be FridgeBrilliance seeing as Link's Triforce piece is the Triforce of Courage.

** But the most nightmarish area has to be the Ghost Ship. Just… that place. It appears at night at certain islands, fair enough. But when you first hear about the ghost chart (tells Link where it will appear), Lenzo warns Link that the creator of the map "died suddenly" with no explanation. When you actually do get the chart, you obtain it by lighting a path for a "lost spirit" stuck in a ship graveyard. The actual ship's appearance is accompanied by some extremely unsettling music. Link goes in to find himself in a mostly deserted room, before all the game's undead enemies ambush him at once. And then, there's the treasure chart room itself, a whole new league of nightmare fuel. There's a mask on the wall that resembles a face. If Link looks at it, it seems to be a calm-faced mask. But once he turns his back to it, it gains a horrific [[ScaryTeeth sharp-toothed]] SlasherSmile. And the ultimate icing on the cake (in the GCN version)? If Link jump attacks near the chest to get closer to the mask, '''[[GameBreakingBug the game freezes]]'''. It locks up with no way out but a hard reset. ''This does not happen with any other chest in the game''.[[note]]Good thing that was fixed in the Wii U release.[[/note]]

[[caption-width-right:285: [[SurpriseCreepy And they said this was a kiddie game.]]]]

[[ArtStyleDissonance Despite its art style]], ''The Wind Waker'' sure does have its share of [[NightmareFuel horrors]].

* The Great Sea itself can be rather unnerving to traverse if you know what you're in for. Think you're in for a relaxing sail? Have fun trying to avoid [[GiantSquid Big Octos]], giant cyclones, a ghost ship, and giant flying propeller... ''Things'' along the way! Hope you don't have thalassophobia on top of it! The random torrential downpours don't help, either.

** But the most nightmarish area has to be the Ghost Ship. Just… that place. It appears at night at certain islands, fair enough. But when you first hear about the ghost chart (tells Link where it will appear), Lenzo warns Link that the creator of the map "died suddenly" with no explanation. When you actually do get the chart, you obtain it by lighting a path for a "lost spirit" stuck in a ship graveyard. The actual ship's appearance is accompanied by some extremely unsettling music. Link goes in to find himself in a mostly deserted room, before all the game's undead enemies ambush him at once. And then, there's the treasure chart room itself, a whole new league of nightmare fuel. There's a mask on the wall that resembles a face. If Link looks at it, it seems to be a calm-faced mask. But once he turns his back to it, it gains a horrific SlasherSmile. And the ultimate icing on the cake (in the GCN version)? If Link jump attacks near the chest to get closer to the mask, '''[[GameBreakingBug the game freezes]]'''. It locks up with no way out but a hard reset. ''This does not happen with any other chest in the game''.[[note]]Good thing that was fixed in the Wii U release.[[/note]]

* The Great Sea itself can be rather unnerving to traverse if you know what you're in for. Think you're in for a relaxing sail? Have fun trying to avoid [[GiantSquid Big Octos]], giant cyclones, a ghost ship, and giant flying propeller... ''Things'' along the way! Hope you don't have hydrophobia on top of it! The random torrential downpours don't help, either.

** And when you defeat the Helmaroc King and gain access to Ganondorf's chamber, you find the wall outside splattered with something that looks suspiciously like dried blood, with skulls and machetes strung up over the door. Considering this "rival gang" of Tetra's was probably ''the Gerudo'', it's not hard to imagine what Ganondorf might've done them once he made his return.

* Miniblins. You would think that as some of the smallest and weakest enemies in the game they wouldn't be very frightening, but somehow they are. First is their appearance. With the horns on their heads, tridents in their hands, and rodent-like faces [[MoreTeethThanTheOsmondFamily full of little teeth]], they look like some kind of Satanic perversion of Mickey Mouse. Next is their behavior. While very easily to deal with individually, they always seem to ZergRush you, in dark places, and while just one of their attacks doesn't deal much damage, a lot of them can add up, resulting in a DeathByAThousandCuts if you're not careful. After they hit, they also laugh, showing that, weak as they are, they seem to take sadistic pleasure in hurting you. Last but not least, their wall climbing behavior is somewhat buggy, which causes them to get stuck on a wall, jerking around erratically and often clipping in and out of the wall, which looks very creepy and out of place in a game that otherwise has mostly very smooth animations. So in short, Miniblins are sociopathic rat-demon hordes that ambush you in the dark, and are ''anomalies in the very fabric of the game universe itself''.

** Though they are actually very easy to defeat if you have the Boomerang, it's very possible to encounter the one near Fire Mountain before getting the boomerang, leaving you no choice but to let it swallow you and your boat and spit you out, sending you flying ridiculously far and giving you massive damage.

** It's very possible to encounter the one near Fire Mountain before getting the boomerang, leaving you no choice but to let it swallow you and your boat and spit you out, sending you flying ridiculously far and giving you massive damage.