If you asked a Zelda fan what their favorite game is, there’s a good chance they would say Ocarina of Time or Wind Waker. And for a good reason: both games have a great story and they’re just plain fun to play. And the fact that their stories are tied together makes them pretty interesting.
As a Zelda fan, while I really enjoyed Ocarina of Time, I absolutely adored Wind Waker. Everything from the interesting story to the fun graphics to the enjoyable gameplay makes this game a really awesome one to play. And the events that happen before Wind Waker are also incredibly fascinating. The concept of a world that’s been destroyed and forgotten and a new world rising up is a classic but always intriguing tale. And while some people thought sailing in the Great Sea was incredibly boring, I thought it was cool to explore this new and strange world.
(Plus, thanks to the cel-shading animation used in Wind Waker, it’s aged a lot better than Ocarina of Time has. Sorry Ocarina of Time fans! That’s my opinion.)
But do we know what actually happened in between the events of Ocarina of Time and Wind Waker? Since the two are connected, we should probably know what happened that led up to Wind Waker. And while we may know about some events, there are other things that happened that probably escaped your notice.
So here are 20 things that happened between Ocarina of Time and Wind Waker. Let’s have a little fun with Zelda history!
Think we missed some good events? Make sure to let us know in the comments section below!
20 Water, Water Everywhere
It’s hard to realize that Hyrule and the Great Sea are actually the same land, but that’s what happened before the events of Wind Waker. After Ganondorf tried to take over the kingdom, the people prayed to the gods for help, and how do the gods respond? They flood Hyrule.
No seriously, the gods tell the people of Hyrule to go to the mountaintops, and then Hyrule becomes so flooded that those mountaintops become islands and the land of Hyrule is now one giant sea. It’s an interesting way to handle impending doom. (Though I probably would’ve done it differently.)
19 Guess Who’s Back
If there’s one thing constant in the Zelda universe it’s that Ganondorf and his various forms always come back. In Ocarina of Time, Ganondorf was sealed away in the sacred realm by Link, Zelda, and the six Sages. And there he stayed for quite a while.
But like usual, Ganondorf escapes the Sacred Realm and proceeds to wreak havoc on Hyrule once again. How did he break free of the seal though? Did the Sages’ power weaken? Did he gain more strength? Who knows? But we know that Ganondorf was back and ready to take over Hyrule once again. This guy is just unstoppable.
18 The Disappearing Hero
After the events of Ocarina of Time, many people knew about the Hero of Time and what he did for Hyrule. It was thanks to him that Ganondorf was no longer in power and sealed away. The people owed the newfound peace to this hero.
This guy just shows up, does his thing, and disappears.
But soon after these events, the Hero of Time disappeared, never to be seen again. What happened to him? Did he die? Did he go off to other lands? It was a great mystery to the people of Hyrule. But they hoped he would be back should Ganon returned. And when that didn’t happen, the people knew that this legendary hero was gone for good.
17 These Two Are Related?
The Rito in Wind Waker are a pretty interesting race, being a group of bird-like people. Their designs were pretty amazing and they proved to be a group of helpful and efficient people. But where did they come from? They weren’t around during Ocarina of Time.
Well, according to the game, the Rito actually evolved from another race: the Zora. This supposedly happened after the Great Flood. Now, I don’t know about you, but a race of fish people evolving into bird people after the world is flooded doesn’t make a lot of sense. But don’t question the game logic too much; it’ll hurt your brain.
16 These Guys May Be The Last Of Their Kind?
In Ocarina of Time, the Gorons lived on Death Mountain and were pretty content to be there. The Gorons were a pretty friendly people and gladly welcomed Link as a brother after he helped them out with their food shortage. But the question is what happened to them?
The only Gorons we see in Wind Waker are the traveling merchants, and there aren’t very many of them. So what happened to this race? The implications are that the race more or less disappeared after the Great Flood, which was pretty sad. Since Gorons don’t handle water very well, there’s a good chance this race was destroyed.
15 Lost In Time (And The Waves)
I think people forget that a lot of time happened in between the Great Flood and the events of Wind Waker. So much time passed, in fact, that people eventually started to forget about Hyrule. By the time Wind Waker happens, Hyrule has been pretty much forgotten by the people.
How could you forget an entire kingdom?
It’s hard to imagine a kingdom as big as Hyrule was to be forgotten, but that’s pretty much what happened. The only elements we see of it are in legends and stories. This does explain some of Ganondorf’s actions. He just wanted to restore Hyrule to the way it used to be (except where he is the ruler).
14 The Old And The New
We learn in Wind Waker that the Master Sword gets power from two different temples. And it’s only at full power when the Wind and Earth Temple sages are there praying to the gods. So, what did Ganondorf do when he broke free again? He went after these two sages.
This shows Ganon’s ruthlessness. He ended the two sages simply because he wanted to weaken the Master Sword’s power. It’s a smart move, but a ruthless one. This shows that Ganon was willing to do what it took to complete his goals. But thankfully, with Link’s help, new sages were restored to these temples.
13 The Ultimate Fortress Of Bad
Ganondorf’s main headquarters in Wind Waker is the Forsaken Fortress, a harsh island that’s crawling with monsters and minions of darkness. It’s also where Link goes to save his sister after she’s stolen by Ganondorf. But where did this place come from? Did it just spring up out of nowhere?
Turns out Ganondorf actually built the Forsaken Fortress after he broke free from the second seal placed on him. This is kind of impressive considering in Ocarina of Time, Ganondorf just took over Hyrule Castle. It shows Ganondorf’s dedication to his goals. And the fortress is pretty intimidating. Ganondorf doesn’t mess around.
12 A Split Timeline
The events of Ocarina of Time involve Link doing time travel in order to save the future and the past. And at the end, Link is sent back to his own time to when he was a child. So, what happens after that? Well, the timeline actually becomes split.
This timeline is all over the place.
When Link goes back to his time, he and Zelda manage to stop Ganondorf before he ever takes over. But in the timeline he left where he was an adult, the hero of time disappears never to be seen again, and that’s where Wind Waker happens. (There’s also the timeline where Link fails and is defeated by Ganondorf in the battle, but that’s a more random timeline.)
11 From Royalty To Pirates
The Royal Family and the people involved with the Royal Family in Hyrule have gone through some changes over the years. But probably the most dramatic transformation is the one in Wind Waker. In this case, they became pirates.
We’re familiar with Tetra and her pirate crew, but when we find out that Tetra is actually princess Zelda, this sheds a whole new light on her crew. And according to a painting in Hyrule castle, the crew has been a part of the Royal Family and castle for many generations. We don’t know exactly when they turned to piracy, but it’s quite the transformation.
10 He’ll Go Down With His Kindom
We know that after Ganondorf broke free from the Sacred Realm, he attacked Hyrule, and the gods then flooded Hyrule. And we know that Princess Zelda survived and took part of the Triforce of Wisdom. But what happened to the King of Hyrule at that time?
Well, while Hyrule was being flooded, a part of it was sealed away in time. And the King of Hyrule chose to remain there while the people retreated to the mountaintops. So, over the many years and generations later, the King stayed behind in a doomed land. Why did he do this? Who knows? Maybe he knew he’d be needed later on.
9 Nothing’s Going To Stop This Guy
Apparently, it’s impossible to seal away an entity forever, as Ganondorf has proved this. Between the events of Ocarina of Time and Wind Waker, he broke through not one but two different seals.
No seal is strong enough to keep Ganondorf contained.
The first seal he broke away from was when he was sealed away in the Sacred Realm by the six sages. And the second seal he broke was when he was sealed away in Hyrule after it was flooded. To be fair, a lot of time passed between when he was sealed away to when he broke free, so it was just a matter of time before Ganondorf was wreaking havoc again.
8 An Army Lost In Time
We know what happened to Ganondorf when he attempted to take over Hyrule again after breaking free from the Sacred Realm. He was sealed away in Hyrule as it was flooded. But what happened to his army?
Ganondorf has always had an army of monsters at his beck and call. So, what happened to his army at the Great Flood? Well, apparently, a lot of them were sealed away in Hyrule Castle and frozen in time. And they don’t come out of that stasis until Link pulls the Master Sword from the pedestal. Considering the Flood happened a long time ago, that’s a long time to be frozen.
7 What Happened To These Guys?
The six sages became a fundamental reason for why Link and Zelda were able to stop Ganondorf and seal him away in the Sacred Realm. Without their help, none of that would’ve been possible. So, it’s fair to assume that these sages have a lot of power. But what happened to them?
For Ganondorf to break free from that seal must mean that the sage’s power was weakened. And we never see the six sages again other than a little reference to them in Wind Waker. So, what happened to these guys? No one knows. They seemed to have just disappeared. Maybe that’s why Ganondorf was able to break free and take over.
6 This Was A Long Time Ago
I don’t think we realize just how much time has passed in between Ocarina of Time and Wind Waker. But it has been several generations, and possibly several centuries between the events of these two games.
A long time passed between these two games.
While we don’t have a specific amount of time, we can conclude that many generations passed before Ganondorf returned to try and take over Hyrule. And after the great flood, enough time passed for people to almost completely forget about Hyrule. That takes a long time; at least a few generations. So, while we don’t know the exact amount, we can assume that quite a few centuries passed in between these two games.
5 She’s No Longer Around
The Zelda from Ocarina of Time is a pretty iconic one. The fact that she basically became a shadow ninja as Sheik was also pretty awesome, and she proved to have some impressive power. While she wasn’t always the best in a fight, she knew what she had to do in order to protect her kingdom.
Since we know a lot of time passed in between Ocarina of Time and Wind Waker, we can assume that the Princess Zelda we knew from Ocarina of Time has been gone for a long time. Tetra, the new Zelda, is a descendent of her, so she is living on in the fierce pirate lady. But it is kind of sad to think that this brave princess was more or less lost to memory.
4 Back To His Own Time
To most of the people of Hyrule, the Hero of Time, or Link, kind of came out of nowhere to fight Ganondorf, and then disappeared soon after. Who was this guy? Where did he come from and where is he now?
But we know what happened. After the events of Ocarina of Time, Link and Zelda both decided that it was best that Link went back to his own time to when he was a kid, and live out his life there. And doing so caused a bit of a split in the timeline. So, when Ganondorf returned, and the people waited for the Hero to return again, he didn’t come because he was no longer there.
3 Split The Power
It seems like the Triforce rarely stays intact for long in the Zelda games, though maybe that’s because it’s so powerful. In most games, it’s split into three pieces which are all held by Zelda, Ganondorf, and Link. But before the events of Wind Waker, the Triforce was split even more.
The Triforce was broken up into several pieces.
The King of Hyrule split the Triforce of Wisdom and gave one of the pieces to Zelda. The other piece remained with him. And the Triforce of Courage was split into several pieces and hidden away. Considering how powerful the Triforce is, it’s not that surprising that the gods and the King decide to split it up to keep it from Ganondorf.
2 A Sword Hidden Away
The Master Sword is probably seen as one of the most powerful weapons in Hyrule. It’s the only sword that’s proven to be effective against Ganondorf, the great Demon King. And it’s often thanks to the sword that various versions of Link are able to prevail against bad. But what happened to the sword after Ocarina of Time?
Well, it was placed back in the Temple of Time by Link, and remained there for ages. And when Ganondorf returned, the gods sealed the sword away inside Hyrule castle. In fact, when Link in Wind Waker pulls out the sword, it breaks the spell that’s on the castle that had frozen everything in time. This sword has some interesting powers.
1 This Kid's Going To Be A Legend
Throughout the different Zelda games, we see three main characters over and over again. Ganondorf, Zelda, and Link. These three are destined to come together again and again over the years. And while we know that Ganondorf is the same guy who’s practically immortal, and the different Zeldas come from the Royal Family lineage, we’re not sure about Link.
Unlike Zelda, Link’s reincarnation cycle seems to happen at random, choosing a boy who’s willing to fight bad. And in between the events of Ocarina of Time and Wind Waker, a new legendary hero was born on an island. Who would’ve thought he would soon become the next hero?