How am I supposed to save everyone if I can't even save myself?
In an age of myth, at a time of legend, one unremarkable young man is pushed into an epic adventure of destiny and discovery. Guided by a mystical imp, this man must journey to save Hyrule from the End of All Things... Himself.
— The story summary.
Written by Daemonkhyra
in 2013, The End of All Things is a Self-Insert Fan Fic set in The Legend of Zelda universe, specifically the time of Twilight Princess. The Golden Goddesses of Hyrule have chosen a human from Earth, Zach, to go on an incredible adventure for the sake of their realm... except that he and Midna can barely tolerate each other thanks to one being a spoiled princess and the other a sarcastic and bitter Jerkass, Zach's knowledge of the game is turned on its head when the outcome turns out unexpectedly realistic, and his future self is evidently the reason they needed outside help in the first place.
As with most Self-Inserts, the story serves to lampshade and question most of the conventions in the original game. At the same time, it also expands and adds its own lore to the mythos, such as weapons, items, dungeons, bosses, and additional characters. Due to it taking place in January of 2013, A Link Between Worlds, Hyrule Warriors, and Breath Of The Wild are not mentioned though certain elements and characters will be featured.
The End of All Things contains examples of:
- Adaptational Badass: Midna. While she was no slouch in her eponymous game, here she has extensive combat training.
- Androcles' Lion: Early in his adventure, Zach rescues a baby hawk after it falls from its nest. When he returns to the village as a wolf, the hawkling's father provides information for him and Midna.
- Big "WHAT?!": Zach barks this when he finds out that Midna is not very skilled with teleporting other people.
- Claustrophobia: Zach does not like crawling through tight spaces.
- Brick Joke: Zach and Midna escape a Shadow Beast pen early on, then come back to the same area later to find that the Shadow Beasts are still there lurking about.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Implied with Zach. He lost his eye in an accident when he was five, and he is still struggling with the trauma. His evil future self certainly has one; he was prophesized to die in the final battle, only to steal the Triforce for himself and take revenge on the goddesses who sent him to his death.
- Dark Is Evil: Zant, obviously.
- Dark Is Not Evil: Midna, also obviously.
- Deadpan Snarker: Zach and Midna in spades.
- Eye Scream: Zach has a fake eye, lost when his brother struck him as a child. He also stabs his sword directly into Diababa's eye through its pupil. Later on, he gets stung in his good eye by a shadow insect in Kakariko Village, losing his sight until he restores the Tears of Light to the village and Death Mountain. And then again during the fight with Fyrus, the cannon Zach was going to use exploded on him, severely damaging his face to the point that he has to use a jagged piece of debris to open his eye to continue the fight.
- From Nobody to Nightmare: This is the case for Zach's future self.
- Genre Savvy: Zach, naturally. Subverted in that he is both this and Wrong Genre Savvy.
- Good Is Not Nice: Zach technically is a good guy, but he is certainly not the nicest. Midna to a lesser extent as well.
- Hammerspace: The satchel Farore gives Zach, plus the pocket dimensions Midna uses to store weapons and makeup.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Twice to devastating effect; the first time when Zach tries to use a cannon and it explodes on him, running him through with a large piece of debris. The second time was when Zatam ran Midna through with his arm, severing her spine and killing her almost instantly.
- Lampshade Hanging: Several, but one particular quote from Midna sums up the entire Zelda series.Midna: So the overall story is named after a princess, and this one is named after another princess, and the main character is neither of them?
- MacGuffin: The Fused Shadows, like in the game.
- MoodSwinger: Zach and Midna, though much more prominent with Zach. At one point, he goes from grumpy to singing to playful to contemplative and back to grumpy in the span of a few paragraphs.
- Mood Whiplash: Done often. For example, when Zach and Midna are about to enter the poisonous fog in Faron Woods, a monkey shows up to be their guide. Cue a Deku Baba shooting out and gulping the monkey down. Cue Zach quickly turning around and choosing to cling to the edge of the area rather than go straight through.
- Not a Morning Person: Both Zach and Midna, though Midna is the grumpier of the two in this case.
- Omniglot: Zach can speak, read, and understand any and all languages he comes across. Justified as a gift from Nayru, the Goddess of Wisdom.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Mayor Bo takes Zach seriously and is one of two who vouch for him when the other villagers wish to throw him out.
- Set Right What Once Went Wrong: The Golden Goddesses recruit Zach to prevent the future where he kills them. Why they don't simply wipe him from existence is anyone's guess.
- Sir Swears-a-Lot: Zach, though not to the extent as other examples, is the only one so far to say 'Shit' and 'Fuck' at least once a chapter.
- Skewed Priorities: When Zach and Midna inadvertently get caught in the gullet of a giant Deku Baba, Midna is more focused on the string of insults Zach just launched at her than the prospect of being eaten alive.
- Switching P.O.V.: Switches from first to third on occasion, marked by a line break.
- There Is Only One Bed: Happens when Zach and Midna free Kakariko Village from the Twilight. Justified, as Renado and the others are unaware of Midna's existence. Zach sleeps on the floor until Midna warms up to him.
- Trapped in Another World: Both Midna and Zach, but more prominent with Midna since she was forced into it while Zach was offered a choice.
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Once again, Zach and Midna. They absolutely can not stand each other but they know they need each other. They get better as the adventure goes along.
- Unlikely Hero: Zach - an unemployed overconfident schmuck with high levels of Jerkass and Snark - gets to be the big hero of the story. Eventually.
- Unspoken Plan Guarantee: Lampshaded by Zach when discussing how he would deal with a waiting ambush of Shadow Beasts. When he tells Midna, the plan fails and he is forced to come up with another on the spot without informing her. That one succeeds.
- Verbal Tic: Coro, who ends most sentences with 'guy'. His pet bird has a similar mannerism of squawking.
- Weakened by the Light: Midna once she becomes an imp.
- Wham Line: Invoked on multiple occasions, the most devastating of which comes from Lanayru:Lanayru: They [the Golden Goddesses] never chose you to be the Hero.
- Wrong Genre Savvy: Delightfully invoked against Zach's favor. He assumes everything will be exactly like in the game, such as the lay of the land, the dungeons, etc. The second he hears 'Kokiri Marsh' instead of 'Forest Temple', he realizes that this trope is now in effect.
