Pirate Ship
- This article is about the Pirate Ship from The Wind Waker and Phantom Hourglass. For the Pirate Ship from Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages, see Pirate Ship (Oracle Series). For the enemy Pirate Ship from Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks, see Pirate Ship (Enemy).
The Pirate Ship is a location in The Wind Waker and Phantom Hourglass. It serves as the mobile base of operations for Tetra and her pirate crew. It can be entered twice as part of the plot of The Wind Waker.
Characteristics
The ship is a fairly standard pirate ship. It has a single mast with one large sail, a crow's nest above that, and the flag at the top of the single mast. A raised part of the ship at the front serves as a storage chamber for the catapult, which can be used to launch barrels (with live humans inside) at fortresses in order to infiltrate them, or heavy rocks at airborne targets. A raised part at the back is where the steering wheel is located. Four cords connect the spearing beam, back rail, and either side of the top sail support beam to the top of the mast.
The interior of the boat contains three rooms. One is the central room that contains a door to Tetra's room and the door to the basement of the ship. Tetra's room is considerably more well-decorated than the other rooms, due to the fact that she is the captain. On her walls, she has a picture of a woman who is likely her mother, a map depicting the three Triangle Islands, Dragon Roost Island, Forest Haven, and Greatfish Isle, as well as lines drawn in such a way as to create a Triforce by connecting the islands, all surrounding the Tower of the Gods. She also has two pieces depicting the Hero of Time as seen in the opening cutscene.
The basement room contains a number of platforms on the ground, and seems to serve no purpose aside from storage. At the end opposite the entrance is the Spoils room, where all the treasure is kept. Inside here, after Link completes two challenges from Niko on two separate occasions, he gets the Bombs and the Spoils Bag.
Role in Story
The Wind Waker
In The Wind Waker, the ship first appears while it is chasing the Helmaroc King, who has kidnapped Tetra. An accurate shot from the catapult knocks out the bird, causing it to drop Tetra. After Tetra has been rescued, it serves as transportation to the Forsaken Fortress while Link completes the Basement Room challenge for the first time, learning how to swing on ropes in the process. While on the ship the first time, Tetra's room is inaccessible.
The ship next appears in the story at Windfall Island, docked near where the gravestone is located. All the pirates are inside the Windfall Cafe except for Niko, who requires a password to enter. Once inside, Link can visit Tetra's room before proceeding down to the basement to complete the second challenge, allowing him to earn the bombs. Presumably, after that, the ship makes its way to Outset Island in order for Tetra to obtain Nayru's Pearl. Between this and its last appearance, the ship is used to transport the prisoners after they have been rescued from the Forsaken Fortress from there to Windfall, and then to Outset. No matter how long it takes to end the game, the ship always appears in the middle of the voyage back to Outset, with Aryll on board, at the end of the game.
Phantom Hourglass
In Phantom Hourglass, the Pirate Ship is only seen twice in the game: at the very beginning, and at the very end. Link and Tetra are traveling on the Pirate Ship together to try and find the Ghost Ship. Tetra is kidnapped by the ship and Link rescues her. They board the Pirate Ship again at the end of the game.
Non-Canon Appearances
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This section describes a subject that is or may be outside the core Zelda canon. |
Super Smash Bros. series
The Pirate Ship stage from Super Smash Bros. Brawl is based on Tetra's Ship from The Wind Waker. The stage is surrounded by water that can cause characters to drown if they stay in it too long. It has a couple of platforms on the sail that players can jump to and there is a catapult like contraption at the left side of the stage that comes out every now and again which—if a character is standing on it and it pops up—can throw a character instantly past the left blast line. If no character is on it when it pops up, nothing else will happen and it will retreat back down into the stage.
There are several different events on the stage:
- At some points, the ship will hit a rock and not move for a while. Players can stand and fight on the rock, but they must get back onto the ship as it starts to move again unless they want to lose a life.
- The King of Red Lions shows up on the right of the stage for short amounts of time. Players can fight and stand on it, but they must get back onto the ship as King of Red Lions moves away again.
- A tornado whisks the ship up into the air at times, giving players no chance of landing in water and getting a second chance to get back up to the stage after using their recovery. The ship will be dropped back down after the time has run out.
- In the background, a sentry tower appears that bombards the ship with bombs. The bombs inflict damage onto the characters and can cause them to fly past one of the blast lines.
The stage is later reused, with updated graphics and tweaked mechanics, in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U (where it was available as DLC for US$1.99) and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
Gallery
Pirate Ship stage with the King of Red Lions from Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Pirate Ship trophy with text from Super Smash Bros. Brawl: Randomly obtained.
Pirate Ship stage from Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
