Vaati

Vaati in his human form from The Minish Cap.
Vaati
Species	Picori
Hair color	Silver
Eye color	Red
Debut	The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords

Vaati is a powerful mage who has appeared as a recurring villain within the Four Swords games of the Zelda series. He was initially portrayed as a monstrous Wind Mage known for his mastery over the power of wind and for kidnapping beautiful maidens. His origins were shown in The Minish Cap, where he was shown to originate as a power-hungry Picori who sought the power of the light force. He is notable as the only recurring primary antagonist for the series who is not Ganon.

Background

The Picori Sorcerer

Although he would become a powerful sorcerer, his beginnings were rather humble. As a Picori, he was apprentice of a powerful wizard named Ezlo. His master had created the a cap which contained immense power. When Ezlo was not looking, Vaati stole the cap and put it on. This transformed his body into that of a human. When his master confronted him, Vaati turned him into a a bird-shaped hat and made his way to Hyrule. Eager for more power, Vaati began searching for the legendary 'Light Force'. He took on a larger size and proceeded to win a sword fighting contest at Hyrule Castle in the beginning of The Minish Cap.

He revealed his true purpose when the time came to claim his reward, which was to touch the Picori Sword. Vaati dealt with the soldiers easily and turned Zelda to stone to prevent her magical powers from interfering. He opened the Bound Chest, only to find it full of monsters instead of the Force. He vanished for the time being. While Link set out to repair the Picori Sword, Vaati grew tired of searching for the force, so he imprisoned the king and took his form. He then sent soldiers all over Hyrule to find this missing force. After Link transformed the Picori Blade into the Four Sword, Vaati revealed himself and, realizing that the Light Force was within Zelda all along, attempted to drain it from her body. Link arrived in time to stop Vaati and fought him in a more advanced form. Vaati then transformed into a giant floating eye and fought Link again in two subsequent battles. Ultimately, Link succeeded in destroying Vaati.

Vaati The Wind Mage

Pre-Timeline Split

Vaati in his shadowy form.

Vaati was not gone for good. He resurfaced at some point through unknown means in the form of a monstrous one-eyed figure. The Hyrule Historia clarified that Vaati no longer remembered his former life as a picori, nor did he remember his desire for the light force. He was instead motivated by a desire women. Vaati became known as the Wind Mage at this time and based himself in the Palace of the Winds while kidnapping beautiful maidens. He was defeated by an obscure hero, who sealed him within the Four Sword. The Four Sword was enshrined at the Four Sword Sanctuary.

Some amount of generations later, the seal weakened to the point where Vaati was able to escape. Link and Zelda soon arrived to examine the seal at the beginning of Four Swords. Vaati briefly hid from them and revealed himself. He captured Zelda and brought her to the Palace of the Winds so that she would become his bride in order to commemorate his return. This Link was also able to use the power of the Four Sword to defeat Vaati. Vaati was once more sealed within the Four Sword at its sanctuary.

Adult Timeline

Vaati returned again in this branch of the timeline, but this time the entire scenario was manipulated by Ganon. Ganon had created a shadowy version of Link known as Dark Link and had him attack the Four Sword Sanctuary, where he kidnapped Zelda and the six Shrine Maidens. Link had no choice but to draw the Four Sword in order to stand a chance against Dark Link. This released Vaati from his seal, and he quickly sent the Links flying away with a powerful cyclone.

He returned to the Palace of the Winds, but he did very little this time around. He had created a darkness which siphoned power from the land (and apparently opened the Dark World for Ganon), and his dark power had also drained the Four Sword of its ability to combat evil. Aside from this, Ganon orchestrated most of the trouble throughout Hyrule. Once more, four Links confronted him at the Palace of the Winds. By then, his fear of the Four Sword had grown. Because of this, he fought poorly and was easily defeated.

Other Appearances

Video Games

• In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Vaati appears as an Ace-rank Primary Spirit, using his art from Four Swords. When fought in a Spirit battle, Vaati would possess Ridley and start the battle equipped with a gale-producing Ore Club. The battle would also involve heavy winds in effect.

Trivia

• His Japanese name is Guufuu, which means tornado. His English name may be derived from "venti", the Italian word for "winds", or it is also possible that they are named after the Wind Dukes of Aaqa from Dungeons & Dragons, who are also known as the Vaati and are associated with wind magic.
• Vaati's original picori form was basically like other picoris. When he had the Minish Cap, he was still the size of the Picori, but had already taken a more human appearance.
• Although there have been other end-game villains like Dethl and Majora, Vaati is the only one to ever be the final boss in two games besides Ganon.
• The Hyrule Historia also mentions that Vaati's mind collapsed as a result of his frequent sealing and resurrections, as a way to explain how Vaati seems less intelligent in each chronological appearance. Vaati notably has no dialogue at all in Four Swords Adventures, while he was still capable of speech back in Four Swords.