Tetra

Tetra (テトラ, Tetora) is a young girl pirate from The Wind Waker and Phantom Hourglass. She is the captain of an unnamed ship with few other pirates, who respect her even though she is much younger than them. Tetra has a tendency to act tomboyish, taking challenges head on and even seeming bossy sometimes, but she actually has a kind personality.

The Wind Waker
When Link first meets Tetra, she is being kidnapped by the Helmaroc King. The monster bird is distracted by Tetra's crew and she is dropped into the Fairy Woods. Link comes to her rescue, but because of this distraction, his sister Aryll, mistaken for Tetra, is kidnapped instead.

After persuasion, Tetra and her pirate crew take Link to the Forsaken Fortress in a bid to save his sister. Link, however, fails and they go their separate ways. They meet again when they both go after Nayru's Pearl. Tetra catches Link spying on the pirates in the Bomb Shop, and decides to give Link a head start.

Tetra catches Link in the Forsaken Fortress again trying to save his sister, and Tetra claims that Link never thinks before he acts since her crew had to distract the Helmaroc King for him. She is shocked to see that he has the Master Sword in his possession, and even thinks that Link might be the Hero of Time or a descendant of him; however, she quickly shrugs off the thought seeing that it would be impossible. She swears to Link that she will help him save his sister. Later, with Link nearing defeat at the hand of Ganondorf, Tetra runs into the room distracting Ganondorf. However, she is easily defeated as well. While in Ganondorf's grasp, his Triforce of Power resonates, leading him to believe that he has finally found Princess Zelda. Tetra denies this, claiming that she does not know anyone named Zelda. After another distraction by the Rito and the Great Valoo, Link and the unconscious Tetra head to Hyrule Castle where they meet the King Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule.

King Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule tells Tetra that she is indeed Princess Zelda, using her necklace (which was a piece of the Triforce of Wisdom) to turn her into the Princess. Tetra is in shock, and later apologizes to Link for dragging him into her mess. King Hyrule tells the Princess that she would be safer in the castle, while he and Link search for the Triforce of Courage.

When Link returns to Hyrule Castle, he sees that Zelda was captured, and he seeks to save her. She is last seen in the game reaching the surface and meeting up with her pirate crew again after helping Link defeat Ganondorf using his light arrows.

Four Swords Adventures
In Four Swords Adventures' Navi Trackers mode, Tetra sets Link out to solve puzzles and locate several stamps held by the pirates. Tetra is exceptionally notable here as she remains to be the only character in the series to be given full voice acting, featured only in Navi Trackers.

Phantom Hourglass
In Phantom Hourglass, Tetra does not regain her royal persona as Princess Zelda, although quite often when she appears Zelda's Lullaby plays in the background, and she is called "Zelda" by some of the pirates during the game's intro, much to Tetra's chagrin. During the beginning of the game, she and Link happen upon a Ghost Ship, which they investigate. Tetra is separated from the others and is summarily kidnapped, forcing Link to try and rescue her.

Once Link defeats the Cubus Sisters on the Ghost Ship, Link finds Tetra turned to stone, and she stays this way for the most of the game. Once Link defeats Bellum's first stage, Tetra turns back to normal.

After Link defeats Bellum, he and Tetra awaken on the Ghost Ship, only ten minutes after the prologue according to the pirates. Tetra's crew tries to convince her that it was just a dream, but Link finds the Phantom Hourglass in his pocket, and the S. S. Linebeck is seen sailing in the distance.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Tetra does not appear as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, but hacking of the game have discovered that there were unused character files for 'Toon Zelda' and 'Toon Sheik', which many speculated to be Tetra, as Sheik has never had a 'Toon' form. As Sheik is already the alternative form of Zelda, Tetra could be the alternative form of Toon Zelda.

However, Tetra appears in the game as a trophy.

Notes about the Character

 * Tetra's name could be derived from the Latin meaning for 'four', similar to Tetris.
 * Tetra could also allude to tetrahedron, the physical shape of the Triforce.
 * A Tetra is also a type of South American freshwater fish, adding to the sea-faring theme of the game.
 * Although she is often considered one of the more independent and self-serving incarnations of Zelda, she is one of the only ones for Link to have to save in two games.
 * Although Tetra is never seen as Zelda in Phantom Hourglass, Zelda's Theme plays for a brief moment at the beginning of the game when she boards the Ghost Ship, and when her petrification is reversed.
 * Some members of the pirate crew call her Zelda in Phantom Hourglass. Tetra does not take very kindly to that.
 * The credits theme from Ocarina of Time begins playing as Link reaches out to Tetra, but the music is interrupted by the sound of rumbling caused by Bellum.