Windfall Island is a bustling town filled with upbeat characters scurrying about their daily business. But as most Zelda villages have at least one disgruntled resident, so too does this island lying in the northern part of the Great Sea. Ascending from the shore to the center of town, Link spots Kamo seated sulkily on some steps and can tell that he is one of these fractious folk. Time for Link to bring some peace to this unwitting soul.
Kamo, or Andy Dandy as he is known in the Italian version of The Wind Waker, immediately erupts when you first speak to him, insulting Link and loudly proclaiming that no one in the entire Great Sea understands him. There’s a lot of exclamation points involved. Normal people would realize their cue to apologize and back away slowly, so, naturally, Link keeps pestering Kamo until he challenges Link to a side-quest. Yes! A chance for Link to manipulate this emotionally unstable fool out of some treasure.
Kamo’s challenge is to show him a picture of “the first perfectly round, pale thing you can think of.” If the picture is the same as his favorite thing, then Kamo will acknowledge that you “understand the inner workings of [his] heart and mind.“ Deep stuff. Unfortunately, there is no command to make Link drop trou and show Kamo his own perfectly round, pale thing, which may feel like the right thing to do after the way Kamo has treated Link. Kamo must have meant something else.
To gather more intel on Kamo’s favorite thing, Link can visit Windfall Island at night and find Kamo on the bridge stargazing. Kamo apparently loves stargazing so much that he is even the only resident to be found outside during the endless night curse, trying to see the stars through the pouring rain. That’s dedication. If Link talks to Kamo at night (anytime other than during the endless night), Kamo will hint for Link to use his telescope to look into the sky and then comments on the constellations. Looking through the telescope at the full moon elicits an excited response from Kamo. Hey, a full moon is a perfectly round, pale thing! Our earlier thinking was on track.
Returning to Kamo during the day with a color picture of the full moon forces Kamo to admit you understand the inner workings of his soul and apologize. He gives Link a treasure chart as a reward and thanks Link for lifting his spirits. But what was eating him? The answer can be unearthed by returning to speak to Kamo at night.
After Link plays matchmaker in another Windfall Island side quest, Kamo shares that he had a longtime crush on Linda, his childhood friend, but that she had fancied another man, Anton. Kamo adds, “And you know what’s worse? He [Anton] was my buddy!” The poor lad is heartbroken, suffering the sting of unrequited love. And Link was going to wax his moon to this suffering young man. For shame.
At first glance, Kamo comes across as a petulant wretch unable to handle a little hardship. With some assistance from Link and the full moon, Kamo comes to grips with his heartache and learns to cope. Link has helped yet another bystander on his quest and should be proud of his role in Kamo’s finding peace, but he’s already focused on finding the treasure marked on his shiny, new chart.
