The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess/Awesome

• The final fight between Link and Ganondorf, especially on the Wii version.
• When you first enter the Temple of Time and you hear the Most Wonderful Sound of the Temple of Time music!
• Ganondorf gets one of his own in Twilight Princess during an expository flashback, wherein he survives his execution of being impaled on a giant magical sword, then - with the blade still sticking through his torso - shatters the magical shackles holding him through sheer brute strength, kills the Sage of Water with a single strike, and is given a close-up of his incredibly frightening face just to show how powerful and evil he really is.
  • In particular, he uses the same sword that impaled him in his final fight againt you. Holy cow.
  • You get your vengeance, when you leap into the air and stab your Master Sword right into his CHEST, exactly where the scar is, prompting him to give the biggest wordless scream EVER! This is right after he came up with Midna's helmet in his hands, and crushed it in a major Kick the Dog moment.
    • That last one is another crowning moment of awesome for Ganondorf. Ganondorf has been driven out of a possessed body and defeated in his monster state; reduced to an incorporeal spirit, Midna attempts to assassinate him with the full and monstrously freaky power of the Fused Shadows, which the gods' deputies could merely seal away. Hyrule Castle explodes - and in front of the smoking ruins, riding a badass horse, without a scratch on him, holding a fragment of Fused Shadow... is Ganondorf, who crushes the legendary artifact of power into so many pieces with a single hand. Triforce of Power, no kidding.
    • He then stands up with the Master Sword still in his chest, delivers a speech, then dies. And he still stands as the screen fades to black!
• One that proves this trope is subjective: Colin saving Beth from King Bulblin. He doesn't even look scared when the giant pig is about to trample him 'Nuff said.
  • Not to mention the end of that sequence, where Link engages King Bulblin in a game of chicken, launches him off the Bridge of Eldin, and then rears Epona back into the classic Badass horseman pose. Not to mention right before that when Link charged after Bulblin with that look...
    • If you can hear it over the music, Link's growl in that scene is way more intimidating than any of his growls in his beast form. It incites some pretty intense Hot Blood in both the character and the player in the battle afterwards.
    • That "Badass horseman pose" belongs on a page for Crowning Moment of Badass. The fact that, in general, the pose is pretty much a cliché at this stage does nothing to diminish the moment.
    • King Bulblin's last appearance in the game. After capturing an innocent girl from the village, ambushing your escort at the Bridge of Eldin and getting knocked off the freakin' bridge, he reappears to match you again and then after you beat him, burning the building that you're in even when his battle mount... thing is in it (and by the way you ride out of the building and into the dungeon with his mount too), he finally has his last appearance in the final dungeon, and after you beat him for the fourth time, he gives you his key, says "I follow the strongest side! That's all I've ever known." and rides away. Then Midna realizes he actually spoke, leaving her stunned and almost speechless, simply "Link, he...spoke...", which isn't very easy to do. So King Bulblin is generally a pretty cool guy.
    • When you think about it, King Bulblin is pretty badass; he's gone up against Link's full, unbridled rage four consecutive times and lived through all of them. Not even Ganondorf can claim that, and it blows Wind Waker's King Helmaroc's 3 consecutive times completely out of the water... especially since he fled the first and died after the third.
• The combat sequence where you're escorting Ilia, Telma, and the Zora Prince to Kakariko Village. The horseback parts in that game were awesome.
• More moments of pure Badass in Twilight Princess happen near the end, when The Group rides in and shoots the guard of the boss key for that dungeon.
  • Auru, the old geezer, has a fucking bazooka. Ashei with the bow? Nice. Rusl and his bird? Meh... saved you from an arrow that you coulda dodged anyway. Shad... charging directly into the enemy base with nothing more than the knife in his book. So much for his lack of combat prowess.
• Whenever you sheath your sword after a Mortal Draw. Although you do that with proper timing after killing any enemy that actually poses a threat, it's best when combo'd with the M.D.
• The final four battles. First you fight a Ganon-possessed Zelda (this clip also shows the heartbreaking cutscene right beforehand, where Link realizes he has to try and kill his beloved princess). Then you defeat Ganon's Dark Beast form and THEN he flattens the castle and rides off on his badass steed from hell, Zelda summons the Light Arrows, and you fight him on Epona while she fires them. Eventually you knock him off his horse, and what follows is arguably the most epic video game sword fight of all time, which ends, as previously mentioned, with Link leaping over Ganon's body and stabbing him through the chest.
• Princess Zelda got her own Crowning Moments of Awesome in this game. For one, there was the scene in which wolf Link brings the dying Midna to the royal presence, and Zelda saves her by transferring her own life force into the imp's body. (She got better.) But there's another: after the final battle, the three Triforce bearers stand together on Hyrule Field. Ganondorf is dead, or dying, and Link is watching him, looking solemn. Zelda stands behind Link...where she folds her hands, bows her head, and prays.
  • When three people repeat the same battle for countless generations, time and time again, it's only natural that they begin to respect each other despite all the animosity.
• Wolf Link taking down Beast Ganon, while being a quarter of his size. Not to mention Midna's role in the final battle. No other character has fought as hard alongside Link as she did then. That's why the very final battle with Ganondorf is so jarring in its lack of Midna there to help you as she could during all the previous bosses.
• The Hidden Village, where Link has to pick off twenty Bulblins with his bow, complete with spaghetti western music. Sniping every single one of those bastards with the bow and arrow was a pretty good Crowning Moment of Awesome.
• Link's arsenal of weapons have never been cooler than in Twilight Princess. At first it didn't seem like it could get any cooler than getting the ball and chain from the ice dungeon (which was a destructive powerhouse and fun as hell to use), but then you get to the City in the Sky and receive dual clawshots. If you didn't say "Awesome!" out loud to either of those items, there just might be something wrong with you.
  • And the Spinner, which lets Link ride a giant sprocket like a skateboard along walls and across quicksand.
  • And the Hawkeye, which effectively turns Link's bow into a fucking sniper rifle. Also the ability to attach BOMBS to your arrows.
• The fight against Argorok. Fighting a dragon? Cool. Fighting a dragon at the very top of a city in the sky using Double Clawshots to go even higher, all in the middle of a heavy thunder storm with amazing music to boot? Awesome!
• As much of a Shocking Swerve as it was to have the game suddenly be Hijacked by Ganon, you knew that this whole adventure was really for keeps when you realized exactly who was pulling the strings. The whole story was one big Batman Gambit by a villain who was really known more for his brute strength rather than his persuasive abilities.
• The many awesome things Midna does up to and including using the Fused Shadows to turn into what appears to be a most unpleasant Eldritch Abomination type thing (after being violently tossed against a wall three times, no less) then shattering the barrier to Hyrule Castle with some crazy polearm-thing.
• The first three bosses, after you've dealt enough damage, give the option to Finish them rather than just slashing normally at them. Needless to say, seeing Link drive his sword into the boss' weakpoint with a few fancy twirls or a jump... It's just awesome.
  • It's especially awesome on the third boss (an armored sea-worm that puts ALL Zelda bosses to shame in size) and the seventh boss (A freaking dragon!). After spending the fight grappling onto their back for a few desperate hits, you stand up on their writhing backs and IMPALE their weak points with all your might.
• Zant finishing off Ganondorf certainly qualifies. Up till now, Zant has just been a childish prick and his CMOAs are more just flaunting Ganondorf's power. And then he brags about how Ganondorf can resurrect him without end. But when Ganondorf is dying, he, instead of using his powers to support Ganon- who at this point have made it perfectly clear that he disdains Zant and his people, uses his Onmyoji bond to finish off his "God". ...Maybe.
• In Kakariko Village, there's one part where you have some archery training. Target? Easy. Slightly further target? A bit tougher, but still easy. A far-off pole you can't really even see? The awesome moment comes if you manage to snipe that pole...on the first try.. without even having the Hawkeye.
• A CMOA for Zant happens after Link and Midna return to Lanaryu after the Water Temple. After going through three dungeons to get all of the Fused Shadows needed to defeat him, Zant rends their efforts completely useless by dealing out a Curb Stomp Battle to Link, Midna and Lanaryu with only a wave of his hand, taking the Fused Shadows from them, cursing Link to remain in Wolf form even when he isn't in the Twilight Realm, and causing Midna to nearly die from exposure to Lanaryu's light. A major Kick the Dog moment, but damn it was cool.
• Snowboarding to the Snowpeak Ruins. Especially as the races you can do after the dungeon.
• While weird and creepy, the scene where Lanayru tells Link the story of the Fused Shadows shows that when Nintendo does scary, they can do it awesomely well.
• The very fact that Link turns into a wolf is pretty damn awesome. Kicking the Shadow Beasts' asses in wolf form, defeating a Poe by ripping out its soul, looking intimidating to all humans and even howling melodies that allow you to learn a new sword technique can't help but make you feel like a total badass.