Vaati

Vaati (pronounced, ) is the main antagonist in the Four Swords subseries of The Legend of Zelda games, appearing in , and. Vaati, much like Ganondorf, appears in both humanoid and monstrous forms, although the former only appears in The Minish Cap. In The Minish Cap, Vaati also takes on three other forms, one before his human form, one after his first monstrous transformation and one in between.

Four Swords
Peace returned briefly to Hyrule as Vaati was presumed dead, until he one day reappeared to terrorize the land once more. No longer remembering his days as a Picori, Vaati kidnapped many beautiful maidens and brought them to the Palace of Winds in the sky that he had taken. At that moment, a hero wielding the legendary Four Sword appeared. Using the sword, he split his body in four to defeat Vaati and seal him away inside the Four Sword in the Four Sword Sanctuary.

The seal on Vaati was apparently weakened over time, and a long time later Vaati managed to break out of his prison within the Four Sword. In order to commemorate his return, Vaati kidnapped Princess Zelda and took her to his palace to become his bride. After traveling over three different lands and the dungeons they contained, the four Links confronted the wind mage in the Palace of Winds, the seat of Vaati's power. After an arduous battle between the sorcerer and the heroes, Link was able to reseal Vaati into the Four Sword's blade.

Vaati has two forms in this game. The first is Vaati possessing a statue of himself, encased in armor, similar to the Vaati's Transformation form from later in, and the battle is very much like the battle against Cyclok in the later. In the second form, he appears as he does in the opening cutscene.

Four Swords Adventures
After Link had rescued Zelda and sealed Vaati in Four Swords, Hyrule was at peace for a time. This changed when Ganondorf stole the Dark Mirror from the Temple of Darkness. Creating Shadow Link to kidnap Zelda and the Shrine Maidens, Ganondorf tricked Link into drawing the Four Sword, resurrecting Vaati. After cursing the Royal Jewels, Ganondorf used the darkness that Vaati spread to steal the Force from Hyrule, empowering himself.

During his adventure to save Hyrule, Link found evidence that Vaati was not his only enemy, and eventually learned that a "man from the desert", Ganondorf, was behind the theft of the Trident and Dark Mirror, and thus the power behind Shadow Link.

Over the course of the adventure, Link rescued the Shrine Maidens and Zelda, and restored his good name upon defeating Shadow Link with Zelda's help. At the final battle, Link and his split selves defeated Vaati for good, and sealed Ganon within the Four Sword with the help of Zelda and the Shrine Maidens. With this, peace returned to Hyrule, and the Four Sword was laid to rest in its shrine.

The Minish Cap
Vaati is a Minish that once lived in the Minish World as Ezlo's apprentice. Over time, Vaati became fascinated with the evil in the hearts of men and began to desire power. He learned the legends of the Picori Blade and Light Force, two gifts that the Picori gave to the humans. These gifts were used by the Hero of Men to seal away the evil terrorizing Hyrule. Vaati decided to go to Hyrule and look for the Light Force, a relic said to be the source of unlimited magical power.

Since the portal between Hyrule and the Minish World was about to open, Ezlo created a gift for the humans. He fashioned a powerful magical cap that was able to grant the wishes of the one who wears it. Vaati put on the cap without permission and transformed into a sorcerer. In order to spite his master and show off his new power, Vaati cursed Ezlo, turning him into a living cap. Before leaving, Vaati revealed his plan to cross into the human world through the Minish Door and obtain absolute power.

Vaati learned that the Picori Blade was being used to seal a chest, which he thought contained the Light Force. He decided to enter a competition in the Picori Festival because the winner had the honor of touching the blade. As he approaches it, he blows away the guards protecting it and breaks the Picori Blade, releasing all the evil contained in the chest. Zelda is guarded by a mysterious power which Vaati recognizes, and he turns her to stone to prevent her from interfering with his plans. To his surprise, the chest didn't contain anything other than the monsters, but he vows to continue searching for the Light Force.

To aid in his search, Vaati impersonates King Daltus and orders the soldiers to look for the Light Force. Many of the guards don't believe in the tales of the Light Force,  even suspecting that the king is not the same person, but continue looking for it under the threat of being imprisoned for disobeying the "king". Vaati learns that the location of the Light Force will be revealed if the Four Sword is reforged, and allows Link and Ezlo to continue their quest. The two eventually unlock a hidden room in the Elemental Sanctuary containing stained glass which tell that the Light Force resides within Princess Zelda. Vaati then thanks the heroes before knocking Link out and teleporting to look for the princess.

By the time Link reaches Vaati, he's already managed to extract some of the Light Force from Zelda and transforms into his tall sorcerer form known as Vaati Reborn. Link defeats the form with the power of the Four Sword, and Vaati transforms into a demonic one-eyed black orb known as Vaati Transfigured, but is vanquished again. In his anger, Vaati transforms yet again, into a larger, more powerful version of this form known as Vaati's Wrath, but he is defeated in this form as well. Zelda then proceeded to use the magical cap to restore what Vaati had done, destroying the cap in the process.

Vaati's Five Forms
In the game, Vaati is seen in a total of five forms: a Minish, a human, a demonic sorcerer, a wind mage, and a true demon form. His humanoid demon sorcerer form has an attack pattern that strongly resembles that of a Patra from the original, his wind mage form moves and looks like Wart in , and his final form resembles the Nightmare's final form from.

The figurines for Vaati's boss forms are hidden; they cannot be won in the figurine lottery without first defeating Vaati. However, if Link defeats one of Vaati's forms but fails to defeat the next immediate form, the forms Link had successfully beaten will become available in the Figurine Shop's lottery.

Four Swords Manga
In the adaptation, Vaati mirrors his role from the game. However, when Link first splits into four, the demonic mage first appears as a stone golem. After the golem's defeat, the wispy form of the Wind Mage escapes to the Tower of Winds. After the four Links are separated, he sends Big Poe to the Temple of Darkness to eliminate Red and Blue. Later on, he takes the guise of Princess Zelda, luring Link's father into his trap, seeing him as a possible way to kill Link. This plan is foiled by the Links and his father who destroy the disguise. At the final battle, Vaati sends the Links into a surreal world which he commands. But he is ultimately defeated by the four Links and Shadow Link.

The Minish Cap Manga
Vaati appears in, reprising his role as the main antagonist of the story with his background remaining virtually unchanged though there are some heavy differences that occur in the final battle. During his final fight with Link, he assumes a previously unseen form referring to himself as the Great Demon Vaati, in which he adorns new clothes and a helmet. However, he does not utilize this form for long before assuming his reborn form. However, things go awry as he loses control of the light power whilst his body goes through an uncontrollable transformation into a form resembling his Wrath form, as then he is seen begging to be saved from himself, which Link promptly does, using the Sacred Blade. Unlike the game, the sword purifies and redeems his being as he shrinks back to his original Minish form, apologizing to everyone for the evil he had committed in his conquest for power.

The Minish Cap
Vaati is fought as the final boss of The Minish Cap. As Vaati Reborn, his main attacks are shooting laser beams from the small eyes orbiting around him, and casting fire at Link. He also often teleports around the room to evade Link's attacks. The young hero must destroy all of the eyes that orbit around Vaati to reveal his weak spot: an open eye in his chest. After dealing enough damage, Vaati's attacks will become more intense, he'll teleport more often, and black energy spheres will appear around the eyes, protecting them from damage until Link uses the Gust Jar to suck them in.

After enough damage is dealt, Vaati transforms into his second form, Vaati Transfigured. He floats around the room, occasionally causing rocks to fall down, conjuring purple spikes around the battlefield, or electrifying himself before shooting energy balls at Link. Four of the eight orbs that surround Vaati must be struck with an arrow to reveal which ones are vulnerable to Link's swords; vulnerable orbs turn into red eyes, while invulnerable orbs turn blue. After all four weak spots are uncovered, the young hero must clone himself with the duplication tiles in the battlefield to strike all of Vaati's vulnerable eyes at the same time. This will stun the mage, rendering him weak to continued sword strikes. As before, Vaati's attacks become more intense as he takes damage, and he also moves faster, making it harder for the young hero to line up his own attacks.

Upon defeat, Dark Hyrule Castle starts to crumble. Link and Princess Zelda attempt to flee to the Sanctuary for safety, but Vaati stops them before they can reach it, and warps Link to a dark battlefield and assumes his final form, Vaati's Wrath. In this form, he floats around the room, shooting energy projectiles, and making his arms emerge from the ground by plunging them into it. Link must use the Cane of Pacci at Vaati's arms when they emerge to disconnect them from his body, then quickly use the nearby Minish Portal to shrink and enter the discarded arm before Vaati reattaches it. Once inside the arm, the young hero comes across several small eyes; one of these, whose pupil moves, is the arm's core that Link must strike down to destroy the arm. The young hero must then repeat the same process with Vaati's other arm, except this time the inside of the arm will be dark, requiring Link to use the Lantern.

After both arms are destroyed, Vaati's attack pattern changes slightly. He continues shooting energy projectiles from his horns with more intensity, but he also charges up blue energy balls from the four eyes on his underside. The young hero must make sure to clone himself at the right time to reflect those blue energy balls back at Vaati's eyes, which will stun the mage and make him vulnerable to sword strikes. Should less than four of his eyes be destroyed, Vaati will not be stunned and the eyes will reappear immediately. This process must be repeated until Vaati finally falls for good.

Etymology
Vaati's name is a reference to his mastery of wind. It resembles "venti," the Italian word for "winds." Vaati's Japanese name, "Gufū," means "tornado."

Vaati's English name may also be a reference to the Wind Dukes of Aaqa from , who are known as the Vaati, and live on the elemental plane of air and use wind magic.

The pronunciation of Vaati's name has been disputed among fans. Some examples would be "", "" , "" or "". The weekly show on Wii's Nintendo Channel has confirmed his name is pronounced "" on its September 29, 2011 broadcast.

Trivia

 * Vaati's laugh closely resembles the Happy Mask Salesman's.
 * Vaati, in his final demon forms, resembles Dethl, the Shadow Nightmares' final form from.