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: bo🍷th 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 e🍌xplore 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 escape๊d 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!

Thin𝄹k we missed some good events? Make sure to let us know in the com𝓀ments 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 Ganon⭕dorf t✃ried 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 thou⛄gh? Did the Sages’ power weaken? Did he gain more strength? Who knows? But we know that Ganondorf was back and ready t🗹o take over Hyrule once again. This guy is just unstoppable.

18 𒊎 The Disappearing Hero

After the events of Ocarina of Time, many people 🐭knew about the Hero of Time and what he d♕id 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 evꦚents, the Hero of Time disappeared, never to be seen again. What happened to h🥂im? 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 Ki💦nd? ღ

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 gooꩵd chance this race was destroyed.

15 L🀅ost 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 And𝓡 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 sཧmart 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 𓄧 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 whe💧re 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 Ganondor🦂f’s dedication to his goals. And the fortress is pretty intimidating. Ganondorf doesn’t mess around.

12 ꦐ 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 act🌜ually 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 battleꦑ, 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.