When you are writing a story, sometimes the best thing to ask yourself is ‘What if’. Call it the what-if game. Storytelling is about letting your imagination run wild. Take a surprising turn. Surprise yourself with the unexpected.
This is also fun to do with characters and worlds you already know.
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker is the next game we’re tackling. This is my Legend of Zelda Inspired series, where I take a look at the games and see how they have inspired me.
While Nintendo has released its newest game system, the Switch 2, here I am looking backwards. If you want to know why I replayed Ocarina of Time a million times you can check out this post, and we also explored how the mood and characters in Majora’s Mask make it so memorable.
In 2003, Wind Waker was released for Nintendo’s GameCube system. It featured an instantly recognizable cartoon, cell-shaded art style. Toon Link, the character is often called. Instead of a vast land, there was a sea and islands to explore. Instead of a horse, you sailed with a talking ship named the King of Red Lions. Instead of a Princess, you had a Pirate (although they made her a sleeping Princess later, thankfully, Tetra was the kind of girl who fought back in the end.)
The story took the established elements of a Zelda game and tried something new.
The Story of Wind Waker
A young boy named Link lives on Outset Island with his grandmother and little sister. On his birthday, he witnesses a strange girl being carried off by a giant bird. Only the bird drops the girl on his island, and Link rushes into the wilderness to help her. He reaches the girl, and the monstrous Helmrock bird returns, but this time it kidnaps Link’s little sister, Aryll!
Link soon joins forces with the pirates to go rescue his sister, so begins the epic sea adventure.
What if the story of Wind Waker was different?
The grand setting of Wind Waker allows us to play a What-If game. Since we know the general rules of the world, like where people live, we can change this into a new story. A new adventure.
So, let’s start with a big one. What if instead of having a little sister, Link had a big sister?
Meet Aryll, big sister, and hero of Winds.
What if Aryll has to go on an adventure to save her little brother Link after he is kidnapped by a monstrous bird?
She meets Tetra, a pirate captain, and I don’t think they’d get along.
But generally, Aryll is a sweet girl, and the frogmaster of winds is very fond of her. So is the Queen of the Fairies. And the dragon Valoo adores Aryll. She gets along with Bomberboys in town.
Oh no, where is the conflict? This is turning Wind Waker from an epic adventure into a cozy slice-of-life exploring game. Aryll appears to be sailing around, making friends with everyone because she is so lovable.
Conflict within a Story
Stories need conflict. So, here’s the challenge of being a storyteller. How do we make this story exciting? How do you introduce conflict?
The main antagonist of the game is named Gandondorf, an ancient enemy trying to control the world. He kidnapped our little brother, and we must become strong enough to face him. Only Aryll isn’t a fighter like her brother.
So, she can’t fight her way through dungeons to collect the spiritual stones. Instead, after we rescue the dragon Valoo, he’ll help us get to the Forbidden Fortress, where our little brother Link is being held. Also, Aryll bonds easily with birds, so during a fight against the Helmrock bird, she’ll tame him, and he becomes our ally! Hold on, I see a pattern here. What if this ‘charm’ power also works on the sharks and other monsters? You can explore the dungeons with the monsters’ help. Link can become a courageous young boy who gathers the Triforce of Courage with his big sister. He can help us fight Gandondorf in the end, too.
The story of Wind Waker has transformed into one about finding allies. (Hold on, again. Why does this sound familiar? Oh, it’s like the newest Legend of Zelda game where you play as Princess Zelda and she summons ‘echoes’ to fight for her.)
Are we just making Fan Fiction?
Yes, we are.
Playing with a world and story that already exists is creating fan fiction. There’s nothing wrong with that. When you love a story, it’s hard not to imagine living it and interacting with your favorite characters. (Though honestly, I’d probably be in Hufflepuff.)
What-if scenarios will help you with an original story too. I’m always inspired by Zelda games. So, let’s imagine this adventure. Your family is missing. You want to rescue them, but you’re powerless. You must seek out allies to fight off the bad guys. Who do you meet?
Or
Ask questions about your character.
How will the older sister travel? What if she is transformed into a bird? And what if someone catches her and puts her in a cage? What if she meets a young man who can talk to animals, and she falls in love, even though she’s still a bird? (Why do I want to write this story now?) (Also, this is like my story Changeling Fate, where someone does transform and goes on an adventure with faeries.)
This is the beauty of storytelling. If you know your character and give them challenges and a conflict, then you have the beginning of a story.
Zelda games focus on gameplay before story
I love Zelda games because they are delightful to explore. You want to know what’s on the next island in Wind Waker so you go there. While the games use familiar elements, each new game remixes, reworks, and makes you rethink what a Zelda game is. In interviews, the director of Zelda games Eiji Aonuma, has said that he focuses on gameplay first.
Eiji Aonuma
It turns out Wind Waker came from a desire to make a game with wind in it.
Gimmicks that inspire
Since Zelda games evolve from their main gimmick, you can look and see how that’s true in other ones. What if there was a magic hat that lets you shrink down to miniature size, or what if the game turns you into a wolf? These are real Zelda games that I’ll be looking at soon: The Legend of Zelda: Minish Cap and The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. Games have their hook in the same way a story does.
I hope this exploration into Wind Waker and playing what-if games inspires you.
Where do you find inspiration? Let me know if the comments below!