Skyward Sword Story

Backstory

This is a tale that you humans have passed down through uncounted generations...

It tells of a war of unmatched scale and ferocity, the likes of which would never be seen again. One dark, fateful day, the earth cracked wide and malevolent forces rushed forth from the fissure. They mounted a brutal assault upon the surface people, driving the land into deep despair... They burnt forests to ash, choked the land's sweet springs, and murdered without hesitation. They did all this in their lust to take the ultimate power protected by Her Grace, the goddess. The power she guarded was without equal. Handed down by gods of old, this power gave its holder the means to make any desire a reality. Such was the might of the ultimate power that the old ones placed it in the care of the goddess. To prevent this great power from falling into the hands of the evil swarming the lands... The goddess gathered the surviving humans on an outcropping of earth. She sent it skyward, beyond the reach of the demonic hordes. Beyond even the clouds. With the humans safe, the goddess joined forces with the land dwellers and fought the evil forces, sealing them away. At last, peace was restored to the surface.

That is a tale that you humans have told for many ages, generation to generation... But there are other legends, long hidden away from memory, and are intertwined with this tale. Now, a new legend bound to this great story stands ready to be revealed. A legend that will be forged by your own hand.

Beginning

Skyward Sword begins in a village called Skyloft atop an island floating in the clouds. The people of this village fly on large colorful birds called Loftwings and worship a single goddess, a statue of whom is located at the top of the island. All that the people of Skyloft know is the sky; the world above the clouds and their birds are their entire life. All that the people of skyloft know of the land below the clouds is from ancient texts that Gaepora keep, which tell of a place called the surface, but does not describe what lies down there.

Link is a seemingly normal boy living in Skyloft. He and Zelda have grown up together and are very close friends. Zelda is the daughter of the headmaster of Skyloft, Gaepora. The game starts out with Link having a dream of a large, black monster in a forest area. In this dream, he hears a voice telling him it will soon be time to realize his destiny. A screech from Zelda's bird wakes him up to find a letter from Zelda telling him to come to see her in her new ceremony dress for the festival that is about to take place. Later there is a bird riders' competition (as part of the festival), the prize of which is given by Zelda herself. Link enters the competition with his recently rescued bird (after another competitor kidnapped it) and at the ceremony Zelda delivers a small statue that is then carried off by a bird. Link must then prove his skills as a birdrider by taking this statue from the bird. He and several other competitors chase after the lead bird, but as Link gets close to winning the other two riders attempt to stop him. Still, he eventually passes the test and is excited to tell Zelda.

When Link arrives to tell Zelda, she simply leaps from Skyloft, trusting that Link will catch her. The two meet on top of the Statue of the Goddess, where Zelda gives Link the Sailcloth. Later they are riding on a bird alone together when a tornado appears from the land below and knocks Zelda off her bird. As Link falls, a woman-like figure appears from above...

Link later wakes up after being saved by his bird. He hears a sound outside his room and goes to check it out. What he finds is the woman-like figure from before. He follows her around Skyloft until she leads him Inside the Statue of the Goddess, where he finds a sword in a large pedestal. This mysterious figure reveals her name as Fi and tells Link a little about the sword, which is known as the Goddess Sword. Fi gives Link the Emerald Tablet, which opens up a hole in the clouds to the surface. Back in the village, Link is given the garb of a Rescue Knight by Gaepora and sets off to save Zelda and dives to the land below.

The land below is ruled by evil. While looking for Zelda within a dungeon called the Skyview Temple, Link meets the supposed ruler of that evil. He appears in a blinding flash of light, causes his sword to disappear, and comments how he is surprised Link wasn't torn up in the tornado he had created. But he says that Link's life doesn't matter, only Zelda's does, and he can sense "her holiness" beyond the door in the next room. He introduces himself as the demon who rules over the surface, Ghirahim, stating that he prefers to be known by his full title, Lord Ghirahim.

Link draws his sword and Ghirahim taunts him, calling him foolish. He claims that Zelda should have "fallen into our hands" already, that she was "almost ours when that loathsome servant of the goddess snatched her away," (meaning that he isn't working alone). Ghirahim grows angry, stating how much it enraged him. As he thrashes his arms in anger, the bright colors of the room darken and distort in his rage, and then he teleports away, leaving the color drained from the room. His disembodied voice speaks, saying that these events have left him with a strong apetite for bloodshed. He appears behind Link, leaning over his shoulder and startling him. Ghirahim doesn't think it's fair to take all of his anger out on Link, so he reassures him he won't murder him, but instead will beat him within an inch of his life. He then looks up and licks out at the air insanely with his long tongue.

Link jumps away, ready for battle. Ghirahim dematerializes his mantle and begins to toy with Link as they fight. Eventually Ghirahim draws his sword again and begins teleporting, but Link manages to last long enough for Ghirahim to comment on his skills, telling Link that he's better than he ever could have thought possible out of such a soft boy. He says Link shouldn't celebrate; the Goddess' Sword is the only reason he's still alive. He's spent too long toying with Link; Zelda's presence has faded and he has no reason to stay. Ghirahim tells Link to run and play, but if he ever crosses him again he will die.

Link will spend much of the game searching for his childhood friend Zelda, and throughout his journey the sky will be very important. Along the way, he shall unravel the mystery of why Hyrule and the islands in the sky have been separated. Much of the plot will also include the forging of the Master Sword and eventually lead up to the events of Ocarina of Time.

The cut scene that follows Ghirahim's defeat is one where the door behind him dissolves. After that you walk forward to the Skyview Spring. Once here you see another goddess symbol like in the chamber under the Statue of the Goddess. You are told to skyward strike it and when you do it releases Fi and she tells you a memory that the goddess restored to her. This story tells that Zelda or the Spiritual sage has to go to one other spring in the Earth Temple to cleanse her soul. On that cryptic note, the ruby tablet appears and Fi says that you should put it in the figure you found in skyloft inside the Statue of the Goddess. So, upon returning to skyloft and doing as Fi suggests, another light flashes from the Statue of the Goddess and opens up a ruby light that leads to the Eldin Volcano region of the world below. So, if you continue to Eldin you are met by some of the Mogmas who are a new race to the Zelda series. Throughout the Eldin region you talk to a series of them and they tell you to go to the top of the mountain where they mention seeing another like you (aka Zelda) and a mysterious figure dressed in black.

At the top of the mountain, you see a cutscene that consists of two Mogmas discussing the location of 5 pieces of a key, the key capable of opening the door to the temple with "treasure" within it. This temple is actually the Earth Temple. The Mogma also mention that the red guys (Red Bokoblin) took a girl inside. Fi then tells you that there is a 95 percent chance of this girl being Zelda, and that she has added Key Shards to your dowsing list. After dowsing and finding all 5 Golden key pieces, you then enter the Earth Temple. In the Earth Temple, you help out one of the Mogmas you saw outside, and in return you receive a Bomb Bag! Once you reach the end of the Temple, there is a short cut-scene consisting of Ghirahim talking to Link about how angry he was that his men had caught Zelda, and then let her get away. He then says that he doesn't have the time to toy with you, and he proceeds to release one of his beasts, named Scaldera, to extinguish Link. After defeating this boss, you will receive a Heart Container and then be allowed to enter the temple's Spring. Here we see a cutscene that involves Zelda seeing Link, and being overwhelmed with joy, and the mysterious Black Figure (who we later find out is Impa), stopping her. Zelda expresses her apologies to Link, and then leaves on to the next temple. After a very harsh talking to from Impa, Link continues on deeper into the spring. After using a Skyward Strike, he receives the Amber Tablet, allowing him to enter the Lanayru Province via the sky. Fi tells him what the tablet says, and then transports him outside to the Bird Statue, then recommends he goes back to Skyloft to prepare for the journey to the Lanayru region.

Ending

Having completed the Triforce and annihilated Demise, Link then freed Zelda (the mortal incarnation of the goddess Hylia), from having to imprison the demon for many years. Overjoyed at their victory, Groose and the others had a tearful reunion inside the sealed temple. But, suddenly, out of thin air, something grabbed Zelda. It was Ghirahim, who was hiding in order to capture her. He gloats as usual, except this time revealing his plan to revive the Demon King Demise through the Gate of Time in the past. Brushing an angry Groose aside, Ghirahim makes off with Zelda to the past.