History VideoGame / TheLegendOfZeldaTheMinishCap

The twelfth game in ''TheLegendOfZelda'' series, and the first completely new one-player ''Zelda'' adventure on the GameBoyAdvance. Despite the fact that it's one player only, it is a prequel to the [[TheLegendOfZeldaFourSwords Four Swords]] [[TheLegendOfZeldaFourSwordsAdventures games]], as it goes in depth about the origin of the titular weapon as well as [[StartOfDarkness who Vaati is]]. The game also features a "Kinstone" mechanism, by which Link can collect pieces of medallions and fuse them with {{NPC}}s. These Kinstone fusions unlock secrets, ranging from highly important bonus items to simple chests of rupees.

* ShiftingSandLand: Averted. This is one of the very few entries in this series that does not have a desert area in its overworld. (The others are ''[[TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker The Wind Waker]]'' and ''[[TheLegendOfZeldaPhantomHourglass Phantom Hourglass]]'', with ocean-based overworlds, possibly ''[[TheLegendOfZeldaOracleOfAges Oracle of Ages]]'', whose overworld has several sandy or arid-looking areas but not one that is unambiguously a true desert, and ''[[TheLegendOfZeldaFourSwords Four Swords]]'', which doesn't have an overworld.)

* DisconnectedSideArea: Very common in the overworld. Some of these become accessible in a more direct fashion later in the game, while others remain only indirectly accessible.

** Why Link always wears a hat.

* TempleOfDoom: Temple of Winds.
* TimedMission: The cucco minigame. Also, [[spoiler:when you're trying to rescue Zelda from Vaati's extraction process, there's a bell that, when rung three times, tells you the extraction process is complete, with Zelda dead and Vaati at full power. The first two rings are [[TakeYourTime not really timed]]--but the third one is. [[NonstandardGameOver That means if you take too long to defeat the Darknuts on that level...]]]]

* UniqueEnemy: There is only one blue Tektite.

* BigBoosHaunt: The Royal Valley.

* HighAltitudeBattle: The pair of boss in the Temple Of Winds.

* InevitableTournament: [[AvertedTrope Averted]]. It's over at the beginning of the game, and no other tournaments occur during the game's duration

* StealthBasedMission: At one point, while Vaati has taken control of [[spoiler:or rather, has cast an illusion to look like]] the king, you have to sneak past the guards in order to reach the Elemental Sanctuary.

* AdiposeRex

* StealthBasedMission: At one point, while Vaati has taken control of the king, you have to sneak past the guards in order to reach the Elemental Sanctuary.

* TakenForGranite: Zelda.

** Later, in Menari's mines, one of the Minish tells you that "the mine belongs to Menari and us, his seven apprentice," the seven miners being reminiscent of the [[SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs seven dwarfs]].

* LethalLavaLand: The aptly named Cave of Flames.

* DegradedBoss: A ''tougher'' version of the first dungeon boss (by virtue of being electrified) appears as a miniboss in the Temple of Droplets. To be fair, both of these are just regular enemies that Link happens to encounter while Minish-sized, the former a Green ChuChu and the latter a Blue ChuChu.

* GiantMook: Not actually giant, but some of the bosses are normal-sized enemies that you fight while small.
* HarmlessFreezing: You fight the boss of the Temple of Droplets immediately after it is thawed out from being frozen solid.
* HighAltitudeBattle: the pair of Bosses in the Temple Of Winds.
* IncredibleShrinkingMan: one of the game's gimmicks.

* BubblyClouds: [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Cloud Tops]], several layers of clouds that can be walked on and even dug through with the Mole Mitts in places. The Palace of Winds is a five-story dungeon floating above a tower built on the highest of these cloud decks. [[WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes And Ezlo is afraid of heights.]] [[spoiler:And as if that isn't high enough, the boss battle appears to take place a very long distance above the dungeon.]]

* GiantHandsOfDoom: Mazaal

* BubblyClouds: [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Cloud Tops]]. The Palace of Winds is a five-story dungeon floating above a tower built on the highest of several decks of clouds. [[WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes And Ezlo is afraid of heights.]] [[spoiler:And the boss battle appears to [[BeyondTheImpossible take place a very long distance above the dungeon.]]]]

* BubblyClouds: The Palace of Winds.

* DownTheDrain: Temple of Droplets.

** At one point in the game, you meet an AbsentMindedProfessor named Dr. Left. As opposed to [[SimCity Dr. (W)right]], one presumes judging by his hair.

* ColorCodedElements: The Fire and Water Elements are fairly standard red and blue throughout the ''Four Swords'' series. The Wind Element is [[WindIsGreen green]] in this game and ''FourSwordsAdventures'', although it was purple in its brief appearance in the intro to ''FourSwords''. Conversely and rather unusually, the Earth Element is purple in ''TheMinishCap'' and ''FourSwordsAdventures'' but green in ''FourSwords''.

* ColorCodedElements: The Fire and Water Elements are fairly standard red and blue throughout the ''Four Swords'' series. The Wind Element is [[WindIsGreen green]] in this game and ''FourSwordsAdventures'', although it was purple in its brief appearance in the intro to ''FourSwords''. Conversely, the Earth Element is purple in ''TheMinishCap'' and ''FourSwordsAdventures'' and green in ''FourSwords''.

* WindIsGreen: The Wind Element is green in this game and ''FourSwordsAdventures'', although it was purple in its brief appearance in the intro to ''FourSwords''. Conversely, the Earth Element is purple in ''TheMinishCap'' and ''FourSwordsAdventures'' and green in ''FourSwords''.

* DemonicPossession: Vaati uses this on the king.