When a Zelda fan opens their own business, they should look to Zunari for inspiration. The cheery, ambitious merchant in The Wind Waker is the quintessential success story, going from an upstart shopkeeper to the tycoon of Windfall Island in short order. Zunari is as fearless of the challenges in building a business from scratch as he is fearless of heatstroke while wearing that thick, hooded coat in the sun-drenched Great Sea. He might not play much of a role in The Wind Waker’s story, but he’s the architect behind some of the in-game world’s most enjoyable and most memorable activities.
Zunari claims to hail from a snowy, frigid island, which he’s left in order to pursue new opportunities on Windfall. His aspirations are grand as he arrives at the bustling town, but his wares are lacking. The only items in his possession are the hooded coat he dons — made by his beloved mother, and something he refuses to part with — and a sail. Proving that it’s sometimes more about how you use a tool than what that tool is, Zunari eventually goes on to commence his financial endeavors by hawking the sail to an interested buyer.
Link meets Zunari early into his adventure, requiring the merchant’s services to voyage over the waves with The King of Red Lions. What seems like a simple business transaction is actually a pivotal moment for The Wind Waker. Link purchasing a sail from Zunari sets into motion two different series of events. For Link, acquiring the sail allows him to journey across the Great Sea and complete his quest to stop Ganondorf’s calamitous plot; for Zunari, that sale provides him the necessary funds to get his business ventures off the ground and running, culminating in him becoming an influential figure on Windfall Island.
The player never actually has to interact with Zunari again after buying the Sail. You can go about the rest of the adventure and save the Great Sea from certain doom without paying him a second glance. However, that would mean missing out on a lot of fun that the game has to offer. As a simple NPC, Zunari’s tireless work ethic provides two of The Wind Waker’s very best sidequests.
In addition to his career in sales, Zunari goes on to become a member of the Joyous Volunteer Association. As the player completes the Island Trading Sequence, Zunari’s inventory expands to offer all sorts of different items that can be used to decorate Windfall Island. His once tiny stall eventually stretches all the way down the road, his product selection offering anything from flowers to statues to flags.
The charm of decorating Windfall is that it allows you to add a personalized touch to the town. No two players will have put up the same combination of adornments on the Joy Pedestals across the island. Maybe you lined the town streets with Exotic Flowers and dropped a couple of Sickle Moon Flags above the main gate, or perhaps you took a greater liking to Pinwheels spinning in the wind and the Shop Guru Statue glinting under the sun’s rays. The choice is entirely yours — but can we agree that the Postman Statue is probably the niftiest of the bunch?
When night falls across the Great Sea, Zunari can be found hosting auctions for valuable items in the Auction House. With the lights dimmed inside the hall, bids being shouted by various Windfall Island townsfolk, and the player mashing away on the A button to make a larger proposition of rupees, the auctions are some of the most entertaining diversions in The Wind Waker. Link’s look of disgust after being outbid, only to then have the chance to shock the crowd with a wild offer will always be way more fun than just happening upon a Piece of Heart or Treasure Chart in the overworld.
For those keeping score, this means that on a daily basis Zunari is: running his booming shop, serving as a member of the Joyous Volunteer Association, and — at least until the remaining items are mysteriously stolen — running the auctions at night. Clearly, a nine-to-five shift isn’t enough for him. Some might say he’s a workaholic, but nobody can dispute his results. Even when he is completely detached from the narrative that sees Link become the legendary Hero of Winds, Zunari’s entrepreneurial spirit makes just as big of an impression as any other character from The Wind Waker’s colorful cast.
