When I was younger, one of my favourite parts of The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker was Tetra, the tomboyish pirate captain who would eventually turn out to be - spoilers - Princess Zelda, a transformation that saw her being slightly whitewashed and donning a gorgeous flowing dress. This transition into a beautiful princess was amazing to witness, but it also took away from the charming and daring personality that had defined Tetra up to that point.

She was no longer a cheeky pirate, but a Princess with a duty to her Kingdom. For the rest of the game, her original character felt toned down, making way for a more traditional version of Princess Zelda that we were all used to seeing. This was a huge missed opportunity for Nintendo, even back in 2002, who could have taken pride in character who superseded generic views on femininity and focused on a female character who wasn’t afraid to be herself, leading the charge in a world dominated by men.

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It wasn’t until Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks on the Nintendo DS that Tetra and this iteration of Princess Zelda received another chance, but she was also turned into a ghost for the latter game so such agency was more than a little limited. So, after all these years locked away in the Nintendo vault, I think it’s time that Tetra had another chance in the form of her own game. It’s an experience that could take place across the Wind Waker universe with locations and characters the player will be keenly familiar with.

Tetra Wind Waker

Tetra would be the perfect lead for a swashbuckling pirate adventure, already having the charisma to carry a game of this magnitude alongside her crew, which itself is filled with a variety of quirky characters. Much like Wind Waker, Tetra’s solo effort would be an open-world affair that would span the open ocean, having her and her crew track down a mysterious treasure that has long resided in the annals of legend.

It’s a simple premise, but so is Wind Waker, and it’s the only impetus we’d need to become fully invested in the unfolding tale. Have Tetra stumble across a local legend promising an endless variety of riches, and given her rash personality, she’d be determined to seek it out and land herself in a pile of endless riches. On the course of this journey she could learn the true definition of greed, caring for friends, and we could even delve into her backstory beyond the fact she’s the heir to Hyrule’s throne.

There’s a lot of fascinating ground to cover, and Zelda spin-offs like this simply aren’t that commonplace anymore. Nintendo could use the sailing, the combat, and the flow of exploration from Wind Waker - all that it needs to do is to expand upon them in different ways. Let Tetra toy with different weapons or customise her ship, giving each player’s adventure a distinct rebellious identity. It should also be a prequel, detaching Tetra from her relationship with Link and the personal revelations that inevitably come with it.

Tetra Wind Waker

You could venture to Outset Island and see him chasing seagulls and smashing vases, but you’d have no reason to approach him beyond nostalgic curiosity. Part of me is still hoping that Princess Zelda will be a playable protagonist in Breath of the Wild 2, raising the franchise’s finest iteration of the character to even higher levels of brilliance. If this doesn’t happen, a standalone adventure focusing on Tetra would be the next best thing.

Wind Waker HD is yet to receive the port treatment to Nintendo Switch, so perhaps bulk up the package with a brief excursion in the form of Bowser’s Fury from Super Mario 3D World. It was a small addition, but such a confined runtime allowed it to experiment with bold, courageous new ideas we’d never seen from the franchise before. Zelda could do the same, building upon a formula that finally escaped a generic routine with Breath of the Wild. If it ever happens, this would be Tetra’s time to shine after years away from the spotlight.

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