Favorite Zelda Moments: Ganondorf at the Forsaken Fortress

In such a long-running series as Zelda, everyone’s going to have their favorite moments. That can be because of the story; the moment might be especially epic, surprising, emotional, or even funny. Other times it’s because of the gameplay, but this time it’s definitely about the story. One of my favorite moments in the series (not necessarily my number one favorite though… not sure I could pick that) is Ganondorf’s first appearance in The Wind Waker, at the end of your first visit during the game’s intro. Seriously, click that link. I still get chills every time.

I love this moment because of its presentation and style. It’s set up with an awesome song and never shows Ganondorf clearly. You only see him from his back or a distant shot from the front. This moment was amazingly cool and really set up the rest of the game. What I especially loved about it was how it differed from the rest of Ganon’s introductions. You wouldn’t think this off the top of your head, but looking back on the history of the Zelda series, every game Ganon appeared in played him up as a surprise reveal to some degree, barring the original Legend of Zelda and maybe Ocarina of Time, although this was the first game to feature the human form, Ganondorf, so it was still a reveal. However…

I feel Ganondorf’s appearance in The Wind Waker is one of the only times in the series where he’s revealed in such a way as to make you excited (though to be fair Ocarina of Time was my first Zelda game so for those who’d played prior games, his human form could have been quite an exciting surprise). In the other Zelda games, your surprise is usually along the lines of “Oh, so it’s Ganon, and that’s what he looks like in this game”, whereas in The Wind Waker the presentation made me, at least, wonder just who this guy was. I technically knew it was Ganondorf but I honestly didn’t think too much about it. I just wanted to see more of him, which the game teasingly kept you from for a while. I think The Wind Waker handled Ganondorf better than any other Zelda game, and this scene is an excellent example of that.

But what about you? What did you think about this moment? Do you feel that it is an especially cool unveiling of Ganon, or do you think there are better? Tell me in the comments!