Great Calamity

The refers to two distant events in Hyrule's history related to the resurgence of the BotW: in.

First BotW:
The first BotW: refers to the first emergence of BotW:, 10,000 years before the events of. BotW:, having given up on his endless cycle of reincarnation, rose to conquer BotW: as a monstrous creature of pure BotW: — the Calamity. Anticipated by the then-highly advanced BotW: civilization, opposing BotW: were an unnamed knight designated by BotW: and a Princess blessed with an unspecified "sacred power" (illustrated by a BotW: symbol on the BotW: displayed at BotW:'s home in BotW:), and the mechanical creations of the BotW: tribe: the NaN Guardians and the four NaN Divine Beasts. The BotW: side was victorious and Calamity Ganon was successfully sealed. It was then prophesied that Ganon would eventually break free of the seal as he always had, prompting BotW: to conduct archeological surveys and unearth the forgotten Sheikah machines, 9,900 years after the first Great Calamity.

Second Great Calamity
The Second Great Calamity is an event from. This event serves as the main historical context of the game. It corresponds to the disaster caused by BotW: throughout BotW: that occurred on BotW:'s 17th birthday, one hundred years prior to event of the game. After BotW: awakens at the BotW: at the beginning of, he discovers much of BotW: ruined and devastated by BotW:'s forces. However, thanks to BotW: sealing herself and BotW: away in BotW: the rest of BotW: managed to survive and somewhat rebuild.

Ten thousand years after the First Calamity, during the reign of BotW:, it was foretold that the return of BotW: was imminent. The prophecy of BotW:'s return forced the Royal Family and the BotW: still loyal to the kingdom to excavate ancient technology, in preparation to confront BotW: as their ancestors had done 10,000 years prior. They eventually recovered the mechanical army, and were able to reactivate and use them. The teenage Zelda assisted them in their research, as she still had trouble awakening her powers. BotW: then requested each race of BotW: produce a BotW:, and four elite warriors were selected from across the kingdom by Zelda herself: BotW:, crown Princess of the BotW:, BotW: the BotW:, BotW: the BotW:, and BotW: the BotW: chieftain. They were each tasked with the duty of piloting a BotW: to assist the Hylian Champion, the knight BotW:. The final key to defeating BotW: was the divine sealing powers of the royal family's bloodline, and the recent death of Hyrule's Queen saw this immense duty fall to Zelda. As she was now the sole bearer of this birthright, the King ordered Zelda to focus on awakening her divine sealing powers, to the exclusion of all else.

Unfortunately, having learned from his previous defeat, BotW: created four phantom embodiments of himself representing the elements of fire, water, thunder, and wind, each tasked with corrupting and taking control the NaN Divine Beasts, and killing the four NaN Championss. Succeeding in taking control of the NaN Divine Beasts and killing their NaN Champions, BotW: proceeded to take control of the army of NaN Guardians using his BotW:, and turned the machines against BotW:. He then destroyed BotW: and devastated much of BotW:, slaughtering countless innocents. Amidst the chaos, BotW: was killed, and the remaining soldiers and NaN Knight of Hyrules who survived the attack on the castle were helpless against the BotW: onslaught, and were forced to retreat to a massive citadel in BotW:. The final remnants of the Hyrulean Army took their final stand in BotW:, the kingdom's largest stronghold, which was all but destroyed in the historic battle, leaving the once great structure in ruins.

BotW:'s allies fared far better than the doomed kingdom. BotW:'s attack focused squarely on the heartlands of Hyrule, and though the NaN Guardians advanced throughout the kingdom, they did not reach the realms of the BotW:, BotW:, or the NaN Gorons. A single BotW: ventured into BotW:, though, before being hurled into a ravine by the Zora king BotW: before it could cause any damage to the domain.

BotW: and Zelda, meanwhile, were ambushed by the NaN Guardians in BotW:, and retreated south to BotW:, where they made their desperate last stand against an army of NaN Guardians. Though BotW: skillfully wielded the BotW:, which reacted to BotW:'s corruption within the NaN Guardians, and managed to take several down, there were simply too many, and he was eventually overcome. It was here, faced with the impending death of a loved one, that Zelda's powers were truly awakened, allowing her to shut down the NaN Guardians with a blinding ray of light which purged them of BotW:'s influence. Though the NaN Guardians were stopped, BotW: was nonetheless greatly injured, and seemingly died in Zelda's arms. Heartbroken, Zelda wept in despair. As if responding to her cries, the BotW: suddenly spoke to Zelda, and revealed to her that BotW: could still be saved by using the BotW:, an ancient BotW: medical facility her research team had discovered. Wasting no time, Zelda ordered her BotW: allies, BotW:, BotW:, and BotW:, to carry BotW: to the BotW: upon the BotW:, and to place him in an experimental BotW:. Zelda then returned the battle-damaged BotW: to its pedestal in front of the BotW:, promising the blade that BotW: would one day return for it. In a final sacrifice, Zelda marched alone on BotW: and used her newly awoken powers to seal both BotW: and herself inside, ending the Second BotW:.

The arrival of the Guardian HWAoC: from the future in which the events of occur produces an alternate timeline, where the events of the second Great Calamity unfold and end quite differently. In this version of events, HWAoC: survived the attack on HWAoC: and the four NaN Championss are able to be saved. Being led by HWAoC:-who succeeded in activating her sealing power-the people of HWAoC: united to fight HWAoC:, and eventually HWAoC: atop HWAoC:. HWAoC:, HWAoC:, and their allies subsequently prevail in defeating them both.