Zelda franchise strategy guide/Bosses/Vaati

Vaati (グフー), the Wind Mage, is a fictional character and antagonist from The Legend of Zelda series of video games. His most common appearance is a black orb with a single eye, although his original appearance was that of a purple Minish. He is the second-most frequently recurring major villain in the series, after Ganon. In the 210th edition of Nintendo Power, Vaati was listed as number two of the top five Zelda series bosses, surpassed only by Ganon.

The Minish Cap
Vaati's first appearance chronologically is in The Minish Cap, wherein he is a young sorcerer wielding powerful dark magic, who one day unleashes monsters upon Hyrule and turns Princess Zelda to stone. He appears several times throughout the game to taunt the hero Link, and often emits a high-pitched evil laugh upon his entrances.

Later in the game, it is revealed that Vaati was once a Minish who became corrupted by the evil that lay in the hearts of men, and who used the Wishing Cap, created by his former master Ezlo, to transform himself into a Hylian sorcerer. Vaati desires ultimate power, and seeks to obtain the mystical light force&mdash;a source of limitless magical power that is hidden within Princess Zelda. When he finally learns of its location, he takes the princess to Hyrule Castle to complete his plan. There, Vaati manages to steal most of the light force from Princess Zelda, using it to transform himself into a god-like being in order to combat Link. He is defeated and is forced to assume the form of a one-eyed demon in a desperate attempt to continue the battle. Despite his newfound power, Vaati is ultimately defeated by Link and is later sealed away by the Four Sword, a reforged Picori Blade with the ability to split its wielder into four separate entities.

Four Swords
Vaati next appeared in Four Swords, which was actually his first appearance in terms of game release dates. In the beginning of the game, Princess Zelda senses a weakening of Vaati's seal and asks Link to accompany her in repairing it. Vaati breaks free at this point and kidnapps her with the intention of forcing her to marry him. Link draws the Four Sword and eventually seals Vaati with it, rescuing Zelda.

Four Swords Adventures
In Four Swords Adventures, Dark Link tricks Link into releasing Vaati. Dark Link ambushes the shrine maidens while they are visiting the enshrined Four Sword and seals them all within magical crystals which he took with him, similarly to events in A Link to the Past. When Link draws the Four Sword to battle Dark Link, Vaati breaks the seal and escapes. It is revealed only at the very end of Four Swords Adventures, in a twist ending, that Vaati was being used by Ganon (though it is hinted at as early as the fifth level). Ganon had used the Dark Mirror to create evil clones of Link whom he ordered to abduct Princess Zelda and the other shrine maidens so that he might siphon their power to himself and take over the world. Before facing Ganon, Link fights and defeats Vaati once more, appearing to finally kill him rather than merely sealing him with the Four Sword. However, when he is "killed", dark waves appear, similar to that of Dark Link going into the Dark World, so whether Vaati died or escaped remains to be seen.