wind waker ganondorf’s sympathy lies in his biggest character flaw, his refusal to let go of the past. and it’s a shame because, if he did let go of the past…he and tetra would (kind of) get along.
seriously, think about it.
tetra’s a pirate queen. it’s ironic, the latest incarnation of princess zelda is herself a queen of thieves just as ganondorf in ocarina of time was a “king of thieves” (which was a fucking racist characterization of an entire group of people modeled after middle eastern cultures, but that goes into another rant). moreover, while she carries her own form of compassion, she is ambitious, passionate, and can even be ruthless in getting her way. hell, she tried to steal an ancient, sacred pearl until link came along.
perhaps the best part is that this life is something she’s built herself. the ship was inherited from her mother, but her crew, her reputation, all of these things were built by herself. there is no “hylian privilege” to fall back on. these people weren’t taught that she was, essentially, a goddess reborn or the key to a continuing prosperous kingdom. tetra essentially proved her own authority from a very young age.
in many ways, tetra is a kinder version of the ganondorf we meet in ocarina of time. hell, even some of the dialogue she gives mirrors comments ganondorf makes to the young hero of time in the N64 classic.
even the environments they grew up in are similar, almost like foils. ganondorf grew up in the desert. technically speaking, real deserts are full of life that have evolved to thrive in that biosphere, but for humans (or in this case gerudo), living in the desert is harsh, especially if there’s no stable river valley nearby.
tetra grew up in the great sea. now, you’d think maybe because it’s an ocean there would be more resources. however, canonically, the great sea doesn’t support a lot of life. it’s an ocean created by the goddesses’ rage. it doesn’t support normal fish, only the fish men and those goddamn annoying sharks. even the zora couldn’t stand to live in that water. it’s, by all intents and purposes, a supernatural aquatic desert.
idk. it’s just fascinating. the game wants us to contrast ganondorf and daphnes, but that doesn’t make as much sense to me as ganondorf and tetra.
