Young Sidon's introduction shows him facing a Lynel, shaking like a leaf, but nonetheless holding his ground.
Later on, you can complete a mission with Sidon as an adult protecting the Domain and his comrades from a Lynel attack. Not only is it satisfying revenge to defeat them, but Sidon gets a lot of praise and encouragement from the Zora fighters.
Sidon gets another moment of awesome during the second wave DLC. A young Sidon, far too weak to fight, tries to take on an Electric Moblin. Before the Moblin can do any damage, the adult Sidon, a full-fledged warrior, slashes the Moblin back. Sidon compliments the young child, who doesn't know the adult before him is himself, and it shows Mipha just how strong and charismatic Sidon will become.
Mipha's Big Damn Heroes moment of using Vah Ruta—against her father's wishes, no less—to obliterate an electric moblin right before it can lay some serious hurt on King Dorephan.
Dorephan himself is winding up to punch the moblin out of the air before Mipha's intervention. Though he almost certainly would have injured by the electricity, the moblin likely would have been launched straight out of the Domain by the force of the blow. This is, after all, the same King Dorephan who picked up a Guardian and hurled it over a cliff in Breath of the Wild.
Revali himself takes the cake for having his army respond to another raid on Rito Village and the Rito Warriors fly away as Revali walks towards the screen with his wings crossed and declares that the village is his home and as long as he is here, no one will threaten it.
The fight scene between Link and Revali is also worth a mention, we see the two of them go all out, with Link managing to push him against the barrigade, then Revali recovers, shoots a Bomb Arrow into the air, and kicks Link in range of the flying arrow, and him creating a smokescreen to catch Link by surprise and just as either of them could end up bringing the fight to a violent conclusion, Princess Zelda arrives and pleads them to stop.
If you take into account in the secret DLC dialogues in Breath of the Wild, Revali had once wished that they should have had that fight in life and how it would have been the battle of the ages with the hero of the Rito against Hyrule's mightiest knight, but here, it actually feels cathartic for Revali that they actually get to have an actual rival fight and they were on par with each other's skills.
Sooga's first appearance sees him showing up just in the nick of time to rescue Master Kohga, effortlessly beating back Urbosa and Link at the same time and vanishing without batting an eye. Even his title card—"Right Hand of the Inverted Eye"—stands in menacing contrast to Kohga's Plucky Comic Relief portrayal. His introduction effortlessly makes clear that the Yiga Clan are a real threat here, as opposed to the relatively minor annoyance they posed in Breath of the Wild.
Sooga's second appearance sees him introducing himself with a perfectly deadpan and thoroughly menacing Pre-Asskicking One-Liner. And then he very nearly follows through on it, only failing due to Terrako and Link's interference.
Each of the Champions Pre Ass Kicking One Liner as they fire their Divine Beast's power beam at Calamity Ganon.
Daruk: C'mon! Revali: Take this! Urbosa: Here it comes! Mipha: We must!
When Purah and Robbie are ambushed by the Yiga Clan, Purah doesn’t even flinch. Instead, she tosses the Sheikah Slate to the mini guardian so it can escape and bring crucial information to Zelda. Then they use the distraction to make their own escapes.
Sidon slashes through and destroys the Cryonis construct about to hit Mipha upon his entrance. Doubles as a heartwarming moment.
Sidon: NO! I will not allow you to take her again! Mipha: (gasps) Sidon? (Sidon turns to Mipha and flashes his signature grin.)
Just as Fireblight Ganon is about to deal the final blow, Yunobo throws himself between Daruk and the Blight summoning his ancestor's very own power.
Daruk: (in confused shock) Wait. That's my power... Who are you?
Yunobo: Umm, well... [Fireblight strikes Yunobo's shield] Don't worry about that! I'm here to help!
Riju bursts onto the scene astride Patricia who knocks straight into Thunderblight, sending the Shard of Ganon back. When Urbosa asks Riju where she came from the younger chief simply says they should focus on the fight for now.
Urbosa: (dumbfounded) Where did you... Riju: Lady Urbosa... For now, let us focus on winning this fight.
While the others burst through time first, it's Teba's arrows that emerge first, throwing off Windblight Ganon's aim that would have killed Revali from behind, before revealing the archer himself. On Revali's end, he doesn't question Teba's sudden appearance, getting right back into the fray with his new ally.
Teba: All yours, Master Revali! Revali: (taking aim at Windblight Ganon after recovering) Some payback is in order!
As Revali and Teba are getting ready to defend Western Hyrule, Teba destroys the Guardian Skywatchers that were about to attack Revali and the latter returns the favor, leaving a very good impression on Teba regarding his skills. Since he managed to survive the Blight, he boasts like a true badass that he can finally display the divine power of Vah Medoh. His grin as he speaks this really helps◊.
Revali: Well, then... I suppose the time has finally come... to reveal Vah Medoh's divine power!
During the Divine Beast Vah Medoh mission, if you recall Revali telling Link to avenge him before his fight with Windblight Ganon in Breath of the Wild, at the time, Revali could not attack it himself due to him being a spirit. In this game, however, Windblight Ganon flees before Link and his friends could destroy it like they did the other Blights. Ultimately, Revali actually gets his revenge on it with Teba at his side, by using Vah Medoh, the very weapon Windblight tried to take control of, to finally obliterate it. Revenge is Sweet indeed!
Zelda is finally able to awaken her powers just by seeing Link being attacked by the Blight Ganons, something she wasn’t able to do in the original timeline until it was too late. One of the interesting aspects: the music that plays in the resulting battle With Power Awakened is a combat remix of the soft-toned music Zelda's awakening which plays during the final memory, signaling this is the exact same moment, except now Zelda has a chance to actively change things.
After the battle of Akkala Citadel, Zelda gives a fantastic rousing speech to the exhausted soldiers. She doesn't just leave things at chest thumping and fancy words, but methodically lays out all of the tools that Hyrule has at their disposal. She draws attention to their super weapons in the Divine Beasts, the Master Sword and its wielder, and the people's vast armies, capping things off with a first hand demonstration of her sealing power. All of this completely turns around their morale for the better.
When Terrako is destroyed after being possessed by Calamity Ganon, Zelda stands up, more determined than ever to defeat Ganon. This time, It's Personal for her.
Zelda: Calamity Ganon...for the sake of Hyrule, for all those harmed and slain, for our future, this is where you fall!
The little Guardian Terrako’s sheer determination to protect Zelda allows it to travel through time to change the outcome of the battle against Calamity Ganon and bring the Future Champions to join the fight. Even when it’s broken beyond repair, it manages to get back up and blow itself up to break through Ganon’s defenses to allow Link and Zelda to defeat him once and for all.
Link fought all four Blight Ganons at the same time, held his own, and lived to tell about it. Bear in mind, these are the very same Blights that overpowered and bested the other Champions, and even with their future successors aiding them, they were only able to stall for time until Link arrived. We all knew Link was badass, but this just goes to show how much of a beast he actually was.
Not only do we get to finally see the Champions in their prime, we get to see the Blight Ganons in their prime too. All four of them are surging with elemental energy, glowing radiant colors and possessing beefed-up bodies: Waterblight has a mace arm, Thunderblight is surrounded by orbs of electricity, Fireblight's mane is huge and wreathed in flame, and Windblight now has cannons on both arms. Not only that, but even with the intervention of the Champions' future counterparts, the Blights still manage to keep them on the ropes until Link arrives: it's no wonder the Champions didn't stand a chance in the original timeline!
It's clear from his actions in the game that Link will do whatever it takes to protect his princess. Just in the first three chapters, he blocks and parries a Guardian's laser trained on her, shields her from Sooga's kunais (and saves Terrako in the process), and wields his newly-earned Master Sword against Astor and his Hollows the moment he threatened her. While she's certainly not helpless, especially once she awakens to her own powers, Link proves time and again that he is more than worthy to be her knight.
Revali is a prodigy with a bow and works hard to hone his skills on top of that, yet Teba still outclasses him in combat. This is not only commented on in-universe, but fans also generally agree that his moveset is superior to Revali's. While this makes sense from a story standpoint (Teba is older than Revali and grew up in a post-apocalyptic Hyrule, giving him the edge in experience on multiple fronts), Teba is also secure in himself and doesn't feel the need to rub his skill in others' faces the way Revali does. He is the Always Someone Better to the very warrior he idolizes.
Unlike the Zora who live for hundreds of years,note Unlike the other races who only have stories to go off on most of the Zora knew Mipha and exactly what she could do meaning she is actually the only champion that can be considered to be peerless in her craft as she actually has people that remember her unlike the other Champions. the Rito don't live as long with the oldest Kaneli not having been around during the calamity or was young enough that he wouldn't know who Link was. Meaning that although they knew Revali was second to none with the bow they had no way of knowing how their current warriors stack up against him. Meaning that Teba who is also considered to be the greatest warrior among the Rito in his time and is also significantly older than Revali would trump him in skill and experience. While Revali would most likely surpass Teba as an adult at the moment he's no older than Link or Zelda and has yet to truly perfect any of his moves in the current time period.
During the invasion of Hyrule Castle, several Guardians that are scattered all around the area are possessed by Ganon's Malice, and you are expected to destroy all those that would block your path. However, after leaving the docks, two more Guardians awaken behind you, and the game encourages you to run away from them and head for the exit. If you're skilled enough, you can run the other way, back towards the docks and defeat those Guardians too. If you do this, three more Guardians will activate at the docks, and those can also be destroyed without penalty. Some more Guardians will also appear just as you're ready to exit the castle and finish the battle, and they're placed so far away that the game expects you to ignore them entirely, but some of them are reachable, and can be fought just the same. Exterminating every last corrupted Guardian in the castle will make you feel like the badass hero of the Calamity you're supposed to be.
Ganon gets a villainous moment, showing much of his thought to be lost cunning across the game. Having put himself in his Harbinger form, he works with Astor until his purpose is served, quickly absorbing him to do what his BoTW counterpart had failed - reincarnate successfully.
The Final Boss fight against Calamity Ganon demonstrates how horrifying he would have been if Zelda hadn't been weakening him in Breath of the Wild. His perfect reincarnation shrugs off everything the heroes throw at him, including the two weapons tailor made to beat him, and unlike the fragile spider or slow boar of the original game he's fast and deadly.
You can't help but be impressed, that with or without the Master Sword in hand, Link's reputation as a high achieving established knight capable of great feats and leadership is genuine and not played for laughs. It's even more telling when you realize that even before he became the Hylian champion and claimed the Master Sword for himself, he still ended up as Zelda's appointed knight, and the one chosen to lead the Champions in the coming battle. Master Sword or not, the King, the Champions (except Revali), Zelda, and Impa can all see that Link is every bit as capable as his reputation claims he is.
The first piece of DLC brings forth some cool things: for Zelda, replicas of the Master Cycle, for Link, a Sheikah flail that can copy enemy weapons, and a playable Guardian, which is able to lock on to enemies for their strong attacks.
The fact that this is the first Zelda game ever that completely averts All Up to You. Every race in Hyrule contributes and fights alongside you to stop Calamity Ganon.
In the DLC mission, Searching Hyrule Forest, Teba's son Tulin, after being rescued by the former and Revali, helps them all escape from the forest by detecting the wind through the hidden passages in the fallen tree trunks. Revali himself is geniunely impressed with the kid's skill.
Revali: (to Tulin after they escape) You know, you're pretty good for a little kid.
Unlocking Sooga; You have to double back to save the Blademaster trying to Hold the Line from the hollows, and with Kohga's loyalty to his men well proven, Sooga steps up to aid the Top Banana of the Yiga Clan in fending off the Blight Ganons. In the cutscene afterwards, Sooga uses a Yiga clan Jutsu to freeze all four Blights at once while Kohga flees and sets himself up for a Bolivian Army Ending... and if you met the criteria to unlock him as playable, he wins. One particularly notable thing about this is that before DLC 2 came out, nobody knew who the second character would be as Nintendo went out of their way to hide it, so when you fulfill the condition and Sooga declares his desire to protect Kohga, what follows is...
In Guardian of Remembrance, Terrako engages in a beam-o-war with Mutated Ganon and wins. When two Yiga foot soldiers catch the defeated remains, the little guardian walks forward menacingly, seeming fully intent on finishing the job. Badass Adorable doesn't even begin to describe it.
◊.Revali: Well, then... I suppose the time has finally come... to reveal Vah Medoh's divine power!
