Tetra

Tetra as depicted in Phantom Hourglass.
Tetra
Species	Hylian
Hair color	Blonde
Eye color	Blue
Relatives	Daphnes Nohansen (ancestor) Zelda (Spirit Tracks) (great-great grandaughter)
Voiced by	Hikari Tachibana (2004)
Debut	The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

Tetra is a pirate who acts as a supporting character in The Wind Waker. She is revealed to actually be Princess Zelda, a secret that was unknown even to herself.

Background

The Wind Waker

As the descendant of King Daphnes Nohansen's daughter, Princess Zelda, she was oblivious to her ancestry, but seemed to show a great interest with Ancient Hyrule lore. She seemed bossy and strong-willed, but she is actually rather kindhearted. She inherited the pirate ship (and its crew) from her late mother, leaving her orphaned at a young age. She inherited a special necklace that she did not know was actually part of the Triforce of Wisdom.

She first met Link when she was kidnapped by the Helmaroc King, which accidentally dropped her into the forest above Outset Island. She was rescued from the monsters by Link. Shortly afterwards the Helmaroc King returned, but this time it went after Link's sister Aryll instead, out of confusion. Tetra saved Link from plummeting off the edge of a cliff and was later convinced by Quill to help Link rescue his sister. She was very critical of Link during their tenure together, but warmed up to him in later meetings.

Tetra as Princess Zelda.

They parted ways afterwards when Link was thrown across the ocean by the giant bird. They meet up again when Link is trying to meet Jabun and get the last pearl. Tetra was already in the middle of stealing the supply of bombs from Cannon when she noticed Link spying on their operation. Seeing this, she intentionally stayed another day at Windfall Island to let Link get the pearl first. When Link infiltrated Forsaken Fortress again, she and her crew helped rescue the trapped girls (with the intention of ransoming them off). She tried to help attack Ganondorf, but at this point Ganondorf saw that she had half of the Triforce of Wisdom. It was then she was revealed to be Princess Zelda. She and Link were brought to Hyrule Castle after they were saved from Ganondorf. The king revealed himself and brought out his piece of the Triforce of Wisdom. Once it was united, Tetra was transformed to resemble the typical image of Princess Zelda. She was then left in Hyrule Castle's basement, where she would be safe from Ganondorf.

When Link returned to Hyrule Castle, he found that Ganondorf had invaded despite and taken Tetra to his castle, to wait for Link's arrival. Link made his way to the highest point of Ganon's Tower, where Ganondorf took the pieces of the Triforce from Link and Zelda. His wish for world domination was prevented by the king, who wished for hope for the children as well as for Hyrule to be completely washed away. Ganondorf decided instead to kill Link and Tetra and make his mark on their future. Tetra took Link's bow and Light Arrows to help him in the final battle against Ganondorf. Together, they were successful in defeating hm. Tetra and Link were returned to the surface of the Great Sea after the battle, but they did no with reluctance due to the king staying behind in the flooding land. He urged them to forget Hyrule and to find their own land. No longer required to hold her Princess Zelda position, Tetra resumed her original appearance, and she departed with Link and her crew to sail in search of new lands.

Phantom Hourglass

In Phantom Hourglass, Tetra traveled with her pirates into other seas where there were reports of a Ghost Ship abducting people. Tetra believed it to just be pirates up to misdeeds and was determined to set them right. When they finally ran into the ship, she boarded and soon disappeared. Link tried to follow her, but he ended up washing up on the shore of another island. Tetra in the meantime was taken onto the ship and was turned to stone after her life force was drained for Bellum. Bellum's Ghost Ship had been attracted to Tetra's "bright, vibrant soul" (which could refer to the remnants of the light force from The Minish Cap and/or Hylia's divine soul from Skyward Sword).

When Link finally found her, he moved her to a ship belonging to a sailor named Linebeck until they could defeat Bellum. After Link defeated his first form, Tetra returned to normal and told Link she had seen everything that had happened through a dream like state. But before their reunion could continue, she was picked up by Bellum and carried to the Ghost Ship. Link and Linebeck destroyed the ship, but were assaulted by Bellum again. While Tetra was passed out, Link fought a possessed Linebeck.

After the battle and Oshus returning to his true form, Link and Tetra were told they were not in their own world and were sent back to their real world. They both woke up on the Ghost Ship, now strangely repaired. They were greeted by Tetra's pirates who told them they had only been gone for ten minutes. Once they boarded Tetra's ship, the Ghost Ship vanished. While Tetra continued to say it wasn't just a dream, Link discovered he still had the Phantom Hourglass and spotted Linebeck's ship sailing away.

Spirit Tracks

In Spirit Tracks, it was shown that Tetra (presumably still accompanied by Link) was eventually successful in founding a new land of Hyrule in a land inhabited by the Lokomos. She forged a strong bond of friendship with one of them, Anjean, and received the Spirit Flute from her for use in protecting Hyrule in the future from the threat of Malladus. The Spirit Flute was passed down her bloodline for several generations.

Tetra passed away at some point during the hundred years prior to the events of Spirit Tracks, and the Zelda of that time was her great-great granddaughter. Tetra was depicted in a stain glass window at the new Hyrule Castle, and during the final battle Zelda invoked Tetra's name during a prayer in order to unlock her sacred powers.

Spin-Off Games

Tetra made another appearance in the spinoff game, Navi Trackers that was included in the Japanese version of Four Swords Adventures. Using a combination of Game Boy Advances connected to the Gamecube, players would play one of four Links as they attempted to locate Tetra's various pirates to gain stamps from them.

Trivia

• Tetra might be named after a class of freshwater fish or the tetrahedron, which is the shape of the Triforce.
• Tetra is so far the only known instance in which an incarnation of Zelda has had a different name, with Princess Zelda being applied only as a title.
• The game Navi Trackers was originally titled Tetra Trackers and was meant to be a standalone game. It does not fit into existing canon.
• A trophy of Tetra appears in Super Smash Bros. Brawl and in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U along with a separate trophy of her as Zelda. In Brawl, there is also a sticker for Tetra using art from The Wind Waker.