History TearJerker / TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker

* And finally, when the king refuses to take Link's hand, instead choosing to ''drown'' with his kingdom in the belief that, as part of the past, he too should be left behind. He even reaches up for a moment to do it, but then slowly takes his hand back, and the last you see of him is him bowing his head with a miserable look on his face as Link floats back to the surface.

** And to top it all off, the look on Link's face as the king lowers his hand. Link can only watch as this person he's come to see as his mentor and friend, choose to die with Hyruel over returning to the surface. And the most heartwrenching part is when you remember that this Link is just a ''child'', helpless to save his closest friend.

** And to think all this was because the Helmaroc King's only instructions were to find girls with PointyEars in hopes that one of them was Zelda. Aryll was just a victim of circumstance. On the bright side, [[HumbleBeginnings it led to another KidHero taking up the mantle as the new world's savior]].

*** At least prior to getting a taste for [[AGodAmI godhood]]…
*** An alternate interpretation to his death quote can make him feel kind of sympathetic in light of his goals, almost as though, in his dying moments, much like [[spoiler:the king]], he's realized Link as a hero of a magnitude similar to the hero of time, and realizes that, in some way, shape, or form, he will bring Hyrule back to life (and [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSpiritTracks he did]]).

*** There's also the fact that if you've played Skyward Sword, you'll realize that [[spoiler: Ganondorf is the incarnation of the demon king Demise's hatred]]. [[FridgeHorror Think about it:]] chances are, Ganondorf most likely would have just been a Gerudo desperate enough for his people to survive the harsh desert winds to try and make a complaint to the king of Hyrule at the time, probably come to an agreement, and that would have been the end of it. But BecauseDestinySaysSo, [[spoiler: Demise's hatred for the goddess and her hero]] caused him to seek out the Triforce for these ideals, twisting his noble desire into a thirst for power. His willingness to hold back during his battles with Link and Tetra [[spoiler: (Zelda)]] was probably a sign of him getting fed up with his destiny. He's lived a long time at this point, long enough to see the end of Hyrule, and just wants this accursed conflict to be over with; he's ''tired'' of this ceaseless struggle. Him happily walking towards the completed Triforce is him finally seeing the goal he'd been searching for all these years, and [[YankTheDogsChain then it's cruelly taken away from him]]. And in his LaughingMad state, it ''is'' implied that he's perfectly willing to kill the two heroes at this point...but it could also be seen as him wanting at least one good thing from this: one final fight with the heroes (namely Link) before [[spoiler: his final death in this timeline...as far as we're concerned]].

* Laruto is the only Zora we get to see in this game. She's also dead and only manifests as a ghost. It's been confirmed that the Rito are the descendants of the Zora-- which may mean that Laruto truly was the last of the Zora, and that they are functionally extinct in this timeline. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hppTZ5UfDXg Her theme music]] is also undeniably very sad.
* Fado's goodbye after you meet him in the entrance to the Wind Temple--
-->That Wind Waker you hold was used long ago to conduct us sages when we played our song to call upon the gods. In those days, it was always the king who conducted for us. Please... [[UndyingLoyalty tell the king that I will continue to play, even in the next life!]]

* For a more ManlyTears example, when Link pulls the Master Sword from its altar. [[CrowningMomentofAwesome The music, the sight of that legendary blade, it just brings a tear to the eye]].

** And to think all this was because the Helmaroc King's only instructions were to find girls with PointyEars in hopes that one of them was Zelda. Aryll was just a victim of circumstance. On the bright side, [[FromHumbleBeginnings it led to another KidHero taking up the mantle as the new world's savior]].

* Just think about what Aryll had to endure while at the Forsaken Fortress. She is a very young girl, probably no older than 8 and was forcibly abducted from her home, from the place she's lived her entire life and brought to a fortress, cursed into perpetual night and locked in a cold, dark cell with two complete strangers. Who knows what she and the others went through in there? Did she spend her entire time here? Did she talk with the others? Were they forced to do hard labor?

** In the room that houses the Master Sword, the windows are decorated with the images of the Sages that were awakened in ''Ocarina of Time'', showing that their sacrifices were not forgotten by the people of Hyrule.

[[caption-width-right:350:''"Your grandmother has been having a terrible time of it ever since you left. She rarely leaves the house, and as far as I can tell, she just spends her days sleeping. She hardly eats..."'']]

* Link's poor grandmother and her nightmares once you return to her. Accompanied by [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGgnrlfR1os this music]].

* The point in ''The Wind Waker'' where [[spoiler:Tetra is revealed to have really been Princess Zelda all along]]. Just... that ''music'' and [[spoiler:her parting words]].

* Also in ''Wind Waker'', when Prince Komali arrives to find [[spoiler:Medli has left (to become a sage, although he doesn't know that)]]. What makes it worse is when you come back, he's still waiting for her to return, to give her a flower. Come back even later, and the flower's wilted… but he's still waiting. [[spoiler:Fortunately, Komali and Medli were seen among the search and rescue party for Link and Tetra at the game's end, subtly implying that they have finally reunited at last.]]

-->That Wind Waker you hold was used long ago to conduct us sages when we played our song to call upon the gods. In those days, it was always the king who conducted for us. Please... [[UndyingLoyalty tell the king that I will continue to play, even in the next life!]]

* The point in ''The Wind Waker'' where [[spoiler:Tetra is revealed to have really been Princess Zelda all along]] Just... that ''music'' and [[spoiler:her parting words]].

* The first time you enter the sunken Hyrule Castle, but before claiming the Master Sword. Everything is frozen and grey. The castle is in ruins, overrun by monsters. And that creepy, sorrowful reed music plays in the background.

** They are remembered until the flood, at least, when everyone seems to think that the power of the Gods lies in a special set of eating utensils.

* The point in ''The Wind Waker'' where [[spoiler:Tetra is revealed to have really been Princess Zelda]] -- just... that ''music'' and [[spoiler:her parting words]].

* Laruto is the only Zora we get to see in this game. She's also dead and only manifests as a ghost. It's been confirmed that the Rito are the descendants of the Zora, which may mean that Laruto was the last of the Zora tribe and that they are functionally extinct in this timeline.
* Fado's goodbye after you meet him in the entrance to the Wind Temple. "Tell the king that I will continue to play even in the next life!"

*** The above quote can be viewed as a tear-jerker or FridgeHorror, depending on which "wind" you think he's referring to. The tear jerker option is the wind that blew through Hyrule -- the one he was referring to in saying "I coveted that wind, I suppose" -- and it's kind of nice to think that, regardless of what he did, [[spoiler:he got to experience it one last time before his death.]] On the ''other'' hand, he could be referring to the wind that blew through the Gerudo Valley -- the destructive wind. Either is an entirely feasible option since [[spoiler:Hyrule has been restored for some small amount of time while Link's been fighting through the castle... but it's also true that Hyrule is pretty much screwed at this point.]] [[TakeAThirdOption Or for an even more profound option,]] one can consider Ganondorf's acknowledgment of the wind as [[DieWithDignity him accepting his death]], again tying into the destructive winds of Gerudo Valley.

*** The above quote can be viewed as a tear jerker or FridgeHorror, depending on which "wind" you think he's referring to. The tear jerker option is the wind that blew through Hyrule -- the one he was referring to in saying "I coveted that wind, I suppose" -- and it's kind of nice to think that, regardless of what he did, [[spoiler:he got to experience it one last time before his death.]] On the ''other'' hand, he could be referring to the wind that blew through the Gerudo Valley -- the destructive wind. Either is an entirely feasible option since [[spoiler:Hyrule has been restored for some small amount of time while Link's been fighting through the castle... but it's also true that Hyrule is pretty much screwed at this point.]]

* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aO50pX6uLE Departure]], which only plays two times over the course of the game -- both equally heart-wrenching. The first is when Link sets out with the pirates, toward the Forsaken Fortress, waving to his Grandma, and the second… [[spoiler:is when Link sets out with the pirates at the end of the game, beginning the search for New Hyrule.]] The positions are roughly reversed, with [[spoiler:Aryll]] running the length of the dock to wave to him, as they set off.

*** [[spoiler: You leave her inside Ganondorf's head at the bottom of the ocean possibly never to be retrieved and used ever again.]]

** [[spoiler:Ganondorf's]] speech just before said final battle. While he was [[WellIntentionedExtremist doing it all wrong]], all he really wanted was for his people to stop dying...
*** At least prior to getting a taste for [[AGodAmI godhood]]...

* Also in ''Wind Waker'', when Prince Komali arrives to find [[spoiler:Medli has left (to become a sage, although he doesn't know that)]]. What makes it worse is when you come back, he's still waiting for her to return, to give her a flower. Come back even later, and the flower's wilted... but he's still waiting. [[spoiler:Fortunately, Komali and Medli were seen among the search and rescue party for Link and Tetra at the game's end, subtly implying that they have finally reunited at last.]]
* Link's poor grandmother and her nightmares once you return to her. Accompanied by [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGgnrlfR1os&feature=related this music]].

*** That statue is later ''broken''. The icon of a beloved hero being defiled like that... It's inexcusable, and tragic, how something so significant of hope can be destroyed so shamelessly.
** In the room that houses the Master Sword, the windows are decorated with the images of the Sages that were awakened in Ocarina of Time, showing that their sacrifices were not forgotten by the people of Hyrule.

* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aO50pX6uLE Departure]], which only plays two times over the course of the game -- both equally heart-wrenching. The first is when Link sets out with the pirates, toward the Forsaken Fortress, waving to his Grandma, and the second... [[spoiler:is when Link sets out with the pirates at the end of the game, beginning the search for New Hyrule.]] The positions are roughly reversed, with [[spoiler:Aryll]] running the length of the dock to wave to him, as they set off.

* For a more ManlyTears example, when Link pulls the Master Sword from its altar. The music, the sight of that legendary blade, it just brings a tear to the eye.

* That look of stunned helplessness right after [[spoiler:Link runs off a cliff trying in a blinded effort to save his sister]]. His mind was completely blank except for having to watch his only sister vanish over the horizon and being able to do nothing to stop it.

*** An alternate interpretation to his death quote can make him feel kind of sympathetic in light of his goals, almost as though, in his dying moments, much like [[spoiler: the king]], he's realized Link as a hero of a magnitude similar to the hero of time, and realizes that, in some way shape or form, he will bring Hyrule back to life (And [[TheLegendOfZeldaSpiritTracks he did]]).

*** The above quote can be viewed as a tear jerker or FridgeHorror, depending on which "wind" you think he's referring to. The tear jerker option is the wind that blew through Hyrule-- the one he was referring to in saying "I coveted that wind, I suppose"-- and it's kind of nice to think that, regardless of what he did, [[spoiler: he got to experience it one last time before death.]] On the ''other'' hand, he could be referring to the wind that blew through the Gerudo Valley-- the destructive wind. Either is an entirely feasible option since [[spoiler: Hyrule has been restored for some small amount of time while Link's been fighting through the castle... but it's also true that Hyrule is pretty much screwed at this point.]]
* Also in ''Wind Waker'', when Prince Komali arrives to find [[spoiler:Medli has left (to become a sage, although he doesn't know that)]]. What makes it worse is when you come back, he's still waiting for her to return, to give her a flower. Come back even later, and the flower's wilted... but he's still waiting. [[spoiler: Fortunately, Komali and Medli were seen among the search and rescue party for Link and Tetra at the game's end, subtlety implying that they have finally reunited at last.]]

** The statue of the Hero of Time. It's so easy to think of the events of these games restricted only to the space of their specific story, but seeing that statue, the sheer reverence to which his memory is held to, was an incredibly moving moment. For the first time, the Hero's legend was more than just an abstract or reference to a vague history - ''Ocarina of Time'' is a story that ''everyone'' knows. There's something so hopelessly tragic about rewatching the end of that game, knowing Zelda believes indubiously that she is doing right by Link in sending him back in time so he can start his life over, having no idea of what's to come. It just really sunk in how terribly sad the history behind these games really is.

* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aO50pX6uLE Departure]], which only plays two times over the course of the game-- both equally heart-wrenching. The first is when Link sets out with the pirates, toward the Forsaken Fortress, waving to his Grandma, and the second... [[spoiler: is when Link sets out with the pirates at the end of the game, beginning the search for New Hyrule.]] The positions are roughly reversed, with [[spoiler: Aryll]] running the length of the dock to wave to him, as they set off.
* Speaking to the Deku Tree, where it sinks in that this really is the Hyrule Link saved in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime Ocarina of Time]]''.
** He's so nostalgic upon seeing Link's tunic that he begins speaking in ancient Hylian. It's been so long since OoT that the language spoken by the Hero of Time has completely died out and only the King of Red Lions, the Deku Tree, Valoo, and Jabun can speak it fluently anymore. Of course, they have an excuse, being that they were all alive either in or shortly after that point in time.

* Related to [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword Skyward Sword]]'s ending, [[spoiler: even though by now she may be nothing but residual energy in the Master Sword, this is the last time Fi will ever meet Link "in another life" (in this timeline, anyway) and is now entombed at the bottom of the sea forever.]]
** Also, when you first find the Master Sword, it's drained of power. [[spoiler: Fi is ''dying''.]]

** [[spoiler: "This is the only world that your ancestors were able to leave you. Please... forgive us."]]

** In short, this is the only game in the series to really make you feel legitimately bad for Ganondorf, turning him into a sympathetic WellIntentionedExtremist. It's also the only game in the series where Ganondorf is explicitly ''killed'' at the end. Just think about that.