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History
This page covers the history of The Wind Waker speedruns.
Any% Runs
January 30, 2005: The earliest recorded run of The Wind Waker is a segmented run on the English version done by David Gibbons, which had a time of 7:08:32.
April 20, 2005: TSA finished a segmented run on the English version with a time of 6:42:50. This run included some splicing.
April 26, 2007: Unreal claimed to have finished a run in 6:40:23. It's likely that this was a segmented run done on the English version.
June 16, 2007: Chimpas claimed to have finished a run on the English version in 6:27:14. It's likely that this was a segmented run.
March 1, 2008: Marcus completed a segmented run in 6:17:xx. The run was rejected for bad video quality. The video was deleted a long time ago, but it did exist at one point.
January 4, 2012: Jiano completed an RTA run on the English version in 6:16:29. It's available in four parts:
May 5, 2012: Cafde completed a run on the Japanese version in 6:03:53.
May 16, 2012: Narcissa completed a run on the English version in 5:56:34. Within the next month, Narcissa also completed a run on the English version in 5:33:36.
June 19, 2012: Narcissa completed a run on the English version in 5:27:59. Within the next month, Narcissa also completed a run on the English version in 5:25:27.
July 12, 2012: Narcissa completed a run on the English version in 5:21:08. This was the final record achieved on the English version.
July 21, 2012: Narcissa completed a run on the Japanese version in 5:15:45.
July 27, 2012: Narcissa completed a run in 5:14:07.
August 16, 2012: Narcissa completed a run in 5:05:38.
August 24, 2012: Narcissa completed a run in 4:58:55.
September 9, 2012: Demon completed a run in 4:58:02.
September 19, 2012: Narcissa completed a run in 4:57:03.
September 27, 2012: Demon completed a run in 4:54:25.
September 28, 2012: Narcissa completed a run in 4:50:46.
October 20, 2012: Demon completed a run in 4:48:02.
October 21, 2012: Narcissa completed a run in 4:46:23.
October 26, 2012: Narcissa completed a run in 4:46:16.
November 18, 2012: Demon completed a run in 4:42:03.
November 21, 2012: Narcissa completed a run in 4:40:15.
November 29, 2012: Demon completed a run in 4:39:01.
January 3, 2013: Narcissa completed a run in 4:37:25.
April 3, 2013: Narcissa completed a run in 4:36:55.
May 1, 2013: Narcissa completed a run in 4:36:36.
June 5, 2013: Demon completed a run in 4:34:09.
June 28, 2013: Narcissa completed a run in 4:32:26.
August 27, 2013: Narcissa completed a run in 4:31:03.
September 6, 2013: Demon completed a run in 4:28:41.
September 12, 2013: Narcissa completed a run in 4:27:53.
December 5, 2013: Demon completed a run in 4:25:54.
April 6, 2014: Kolja completed a run in 4:24:15.
April 14, 2014: Demon completed a run in 4:23:22.
April 28, 2014: Demon completed a run in 4:23:02.
June 9, 2014: Demon completed a run in 4:21:21.
July 21, 2014: Demon completed a run in 4:21:00.
July 28, 2014: gymnast86 completed a run in 4:20:10.
August 5, 2014: Demon completed a run in 4:17:42.
October 17, 2014: sva16162 completed a run in 4:17:29.
October 21, 2014: sva16162 completed a run in 4:16:34.
October 28, 2014: Demon completed a run in 4:13:18.
November 24, 2014: sva16162 completed a run in 4:13:07.
December 8, 2014: Ace completed a run in 4:12:57.
December 9, 2014: Demon completed a run in 4:11:46.
December 28, 2014: Demon completed a run in 4:09:42.
January 22, 2015: Ace completed a run in 4:09:35. It's available in four parts:
January 27, 2015: Demon completed a run in 4:08:22.
February 24, 2015: Ace completed a run in 4:06:52.
March 20, 2015: Ace completed a run in 4:05:41.
May 17, 2015: Ace completed a run in 4:04:16.
May 20, 2015: Ace completed a run in 4:03:58.
June 11, 2015: Ace completed a run in 4:02:12.
June 22, 2015: Ace completed a run in 4:02:10.
August 15, 2015: Demon completed a run in 4:01:56.
August 30, 2015: Demon completed a run in 4:01:05. It's available in three parts:
September 7, 2015: Demon completed a run in 3:59:51.
October 2, 2015: Ace completed a run in 3:59:43.
October 17, 2015: Ace completed a run in 3:59:33.
November 26, 2015: Ace completed a run in 3:57:59.
March 14, 2016: Ace completed a run in 3:56:53.
April 7, 2016: Ace completed a run in 3:55:44.
January 28, 2018: Demon completed a run in 3:55:24.
March 7, 2018: Demon completed a run in 3:54:43.
April 2, 2018: Demon completed a run in 3:52:23.
April 21, 2018: Demon completed a run in 3:51:38.
June 28, 2018: Demon completed a run in 3:50:31.
July 5, 2018: Demon completed a run in 3:48:17.
July 12, 2019: gymnast86 completed a run in 3:29:10.
July 14, 2019: minimini352 completed a run in 2:51:39.
July 15, 2019: Demon completed a run in 2:00:30.
July 18, 2019: Ian_Miles completed a run in 1:49:00.
July 21, 2019: gymnast86 completed a run in 1:48:38.
July 26, 2019: Demon completed a run in 1:39:19.
July 28, 2019: Demon completed a run in 1:15:20.
August 3, 2019: Demon completed a run in 1:14:14.
August 24, 2019: Aloakirby completed a run in 1:13:42.
August 26, 2019: Aloakirby completed a run in 1:10:23.
September 6, 2019: Linkus7 completed a run in 1:09:31.
September 15, 2019: Linkus7 completed a run in 1:07:50.
November 18, 2019: Demon completed a run in 1:07:44.
November 19, 2019: Demon completed a run in 1:06:36.
December 15, 2019: Linkus7 completed a run in 1:04:50.
February 5, 2020: Demon completed a run in 1:03:14.
February 9, 2020: Demon completed a run in 1:01:12.
February 10, 2020: Linkus7 completed a run in 1:00:50.
February 15, 2020: Demon completed a run in 1:00:32.
February 21, 2020: Demon completed a run in 59:43.
March 26, 2020: Ian_Miles completed a run in 59:32.
April 11, 2020: Aloakirby completed a run in 57:19.
July 3, 2020: Aloakirby completed a run in 56:38.
July 13, 2020: Aloakirby completed a run in 55:15.
July 18, 2020: iwabi74 completed a run in 54:31.
September 17, 2020: iwabi74 completed a run in 53:08.
September 27, 2022: Aloakirby completed a run in 52:19.
October 4, 2024: Aloakirby completed a run in 51:58.
October 8, 2024: iwabi74 completed a run in 51:47.
October 9, 2024: Aloakirby completed a run in 50:52.
October 18, 2024: Aloakirby completed a run in 50:03.
October 20, 2024: minimini352 completed a run in 48:49.
October 24, 2024: minimini352 completed a run in 47:45.
October 27, 2024: Aloakirby completed a run in 46:21.
October 30, 2024: iwabi74 completed a run in 45:19.
November 5, 2024: Aloakirby completed a run in 45:18.
Discoveries
May 28, 2003: Soup Glitch was likely discovered almost immediately after the game was released, but the earliest known documentation of the glitch is here.
September 14, 2006: PyRoTHPS discovered a shortcut to enter the Bomb Shop.
September 26, 2006: Kazooie discovered how to enter Gale Isle without the Iron Boots.
September 26, 2006: Kazooie discovered how to skip the first floor of Tower of the Gods.
September 28, 2006: Kazooie discovered several strategies in Earth Temple. This included:
- Hitting the Skull Hammer peg without using the Command Melody.
- Using Medli and the Deku Leaf to skip putting Dark ChuChus on the switches in the room with the large block.
- Skipping half of the mirror puzzle with some precise light redirection.
October 4, 2006: Sorcerer88 discovered a way to skip the puzzle in Wind Temple with the moving blades.
November 25, 2006: Katsukawa Sojuro discovered how to Bomb Boost to get to a Small Key faster in Wind Temple.
November 25, 2006: Katsukawa Sojuro discovered how to access the blue Warp Pot early in Wind Temple.
November 30, 2006: Kazoozie uploaded a video of a way to skip using two of the Warp Pots in Diamond Steppe Island.
May 26, 2007: Aruki discovered Wind Waker Dives.
August 2, 2007: FIERCELINKMASTER discovered Zombie Hovering and mentioned it in a forum post. Unfortunately, the comment went unnoticed.
August 11, 2007: YautjaElder discovered Rock Skip on Dragon Roost Island.
September 23, 2009: AniMeowzerz posted a single segment Any% speedrun route.
March 29, 2010: Unreal discovered how to skip using the Command Melody in the room with the Dark ChuChus and the large block.
May 6, 2010: MajoraMIM discovered that allowing Forest Water to expire while carrying a heavy object allows you to move freely.
May 13, 2010: Venick discovered Helmaroc Second Phase Skip.
May 18, 2010: Narcissa discovered how to skip the Command Melody in Tower of the Gods.
June 4, 2010: KlydeStorm discovered how to skip the miniboss of Earth Temple.
June 5, 2010: MajoraMIM discovered how to get behind the first invisible wall of the Hyrule barrier.
June 15, 2010: Cerpin discovered Zombie Hovering by jumping out of the King of Red Lions into the Fire Mountain lava and mashing the B button. KlydeStorm then reproduced the glitch with damage knockback.
June 16, 2010: KlydeStorm discovered a Big Key Skip for Dragon Roost Cavern using Zombie Hovering.
June 16, 2010: KlydeStorm discovered how to skip the Helmaroc King with a long Zombie Hover.
June 18, 2010: Jiano discovered a Big Key Skip for Wind Temple using Zombie Hovering.
June 18, 2010: KlydeStorm discovered how to skip the Big Key in Earth Temple.
June 19, 2010: Aruki discovered Trials Skip.
June 19, 2010: KlydeStorm discovered Bait Bag Skip.
June 19, 2010: KlydeStorm discovered how to skip the Cabana sewers by hitting pegs through the wall with the Skull Hammer.
June 20, 2010: Aruki performed Puppet Ganon Skip by using a turbo controller to perform the Zombie Hover.
June 22, 2010: KlydeStorm discovered Storage using Forest Water.
June 22, 2010: KlydeStorm discovered Superswimming using Camera Lock.
June 22, 2010: KlydeStorm discovered a Big Key skip for Forbidden Woods using Forest Water Storage.
June 23, 2010: Jiano discovered Cabana Deed Skip using Forest Water Storage and Chest Storage.
June 25, 2010: Aruki discovered a Big Key Skip for Earth Temple that uses a Ledge Clip and a Tingle Bomb.
June 26, 2010: Aruki discovered how to skip the Skull Hammer.
June 27, 2010: KlydeStorm discovered how to do Trials Skip with a Bomb Clip.
June 27, 2010: Aruki discovered Light Arrows Skip using Forest Water Storage.
July 1, 2010: Aruki discovered how to clip into the Tower of the Gods miniboss room.
July 20, 2010: Cheeseoman discovered a way to clip under the stairs in the Hyrule courtyard.
August 20, 2010: Aruki discovered how to do the Back in Time glitch to spawn on any map.
August 26, 2010: KlydeStorm discovered how to skip the Command Melody in Earth Temple.
January 3, 2011: KlydeStorm discovered how to do a Superswim without using Camera Lock
July 25, 2011: Venick and Narcissa discovered how to Zombie Hover to skip the first floor of Dragon Roost Cavern.
March 16, 2012: abahbob discovered how to enter Diamond Steppe Island early with a Superswim.
April 14, 2012: mugg1991 discovered Grand Staircase Battle Skip.
April 30, 2012: mugg1991 discovered Ghost Ship Fight Skip.
May 7, 2012: GlitchesAndStuff discovered Death Storage.
May 10, 2012: The earliest known use of the strategy to defeat Kalle Demos with Bombs was in mugg1991's TAS of Forbidden Woods.
May 14, 2012: mugg1991 discovered a way to skip the Helmaroc King with a Bomb Boost.
May 24, 2012: abahbob discovered Password Skip with Door Cancel.
May 24, 2012: abahbob discovered how to enter Fire Mountain without Ice Arrows.
May 24, 2012: KlydeStorm discovered Password Skip with a Ledge Clip.
May 29, 2012: abahbob discovered Flight Control Platform Escape.
June 2, 2012: abahbob discovered Ledge Clipping out of Mother and Child Isles.
June 6, 2012: mugg1991 discovered a TAS-only method for skipping the Cabana Deed without Storage.
June 15, 2012: mugg1991 discovered Floor Skips in Savage Labyrinth.
July 4, 2012: Kirkq discovered Hookshot Clipping to get to the Ghost Ship Chart faster.
July 18, 2012: Demon discovered an easier method for Cabana Deed Skip with Chest Storage.
July 25, 2012: abahbob discovered how to skip the Hyrule barrier breaking cutscene.
August 13, 2012: Gords1229 discovered how to skip Helmaroc King with a short zombie hover.
September 3, 2012: Dry Storage (the Storage glitch but without Forest Water) was discovered. After Narcissa received a direct message from ForgoneMoose, abahbob streamed looking into the new glitch. He eventually figured out what ForgoneMoose had done to get Dry Storage and uploaded a video.
September 4, 2012: mugg1991 discovered a method for Light Arrows Skip that uses Dry Storage.
September 5, 2012: Narcissa discovered how to defeat the Helmaroc King inside the tower by using Storage.
September 5, 2012: Narcissa discovered how to Superswim directly to Greatfish Isle.
September 7, 2012: GlitchesAndStuff discovered getting Storage with Camera Lock active.
September 9, 2012: Narcissa theorized the Bombs Early Route.
September 12, 2012: GlitchesAndStuff discovered a new route for the second half of Earth Temple.
September 13, 2012: GlitchesAndStuff discovered getting the Mirror Shield early with a Zombie Hover and Chest Storage.
September 24, 2012: ZeldaHax discovered how to skip the fight in Hyrule after obtaining the Master Sword.
September 29, 2012: Matti discovered how to skip the Big Key in Wind Temple without using the Tingle Tuner.
September 30, 2012: Matti discovered how to skip the cutscene that plays when you first reach Greatfish Isle.
October 3, 2012: abahbob tested a Barrier Skip theory involving Fake Death.
October 21, 2012: abahbob discovered how to enter Ice Ring Isle without Fire Arrows.
January 2, 2013: YashichiDSF discovered how to get to the Hookshot faster with Chest Storage.
January 29, 2013: Gords1229 discovered a route for the second half of Wind Temple that uses Chest Storage. This route was later improved and incorporated into runs in June 2013.
June 11, 2013: Demon discovered a faster overworld route that involves Superswimming to Greatfish Isle.
July 9, 2013: Demon discovered an easier way to get Storage by using Bombs on a chest or ledge.
July 9, 2013: Demon discovered a way to use Chest Storage in Forsaken Fortress 2 to reach the Helmaroc King faster.
July 11, 2013: Matti posted timings that show that the Bombs Early route is faster.
August 5, 2013: Finzenku discovered how to skip the Zephos cutscene.
August 28, 2013: Matti discovered a route that made Delivery Bag Skip faster.
October 31, 2013: CryZe discovered a faster route for the second half of Wind Temple that involves using a different chest for Chest Storage. On May 20, 2014, wooferzfg discovered a more consistent way to destroy the final panel with the Iron Boots. This route was eventually incorporated into runs in October 2014.
December 6, 2013: wooferzfg and CryZe discovered a route speeds up chart collection in the second half of the game.
December 20, 2013: gymnast86 discovered Roll Clipping.
January 4, 2014: Nap42 discovered a way to skip the Helmaroc King without a Zombie Hover.
February 14, 2014: Nap42 discovered a Password Skip method that uses a Roll Clip.
February 19, 2014: Nap42 discovered how to skip the block puzzle in Hyrule.
May 11, 2014: gymnast86 finished the first run with the Leaf Early route. The route was theorized by wooferzfg, Kolja, and gymnast86.
June 4, 2014: sva16162 discovered a faster route that involves getting a Wallet upgrade immediately before Savage Labyrinth.
July 5, 2014: TrogWW uploaded a video showing that you do not need the Triforce to break the barrier, which called into question a lot of existing knowledge about flags and triggers. The Wind Waker speedrunning community then investigated the requirements for major story events, and that knowledge is now documented here.
July 8, 2014: WiiU247 discovered how to skip the Helmaroc King with a Walk Clip. Note that this trick is significantly more difficult in the original game compared to The Wind Waker HD.
July 13, 2014: Kolja and wooferzfg discovered how to skip the Helmaroc King by using the Leaf to grab a ledge and do a Walk Clip.
July 16, 2014: Hood_Rad discovered a way to skip the first Song Stone in Earth Temple.
July 27, 2014: wooferzfg and CryZe analyzed how Superswim speed is determined, and wooferzfg uploaded a tutorial on how to buffer for consistently good Superswim speed.
October 29, 2014: sva16162 discovered how to clip out of the Ghost Ship in order to farm rupees faster.
November 12, 2014: Ace discovered a faster way to leave the room after getting the Hookshot by using Chest Storage.
November 15, 2014: TrogWW posted a tutorial on how to do the Superswim to Diamond Steppe Island consistently. This was the first time that this Superswim was considered RTA viable.
November 20, 2014: TrogWW discovered a more consistent method for Floor Skips in Savage Labyrinth.
January 15, 2015: Ace became the first runner to perform Puppet Ganon Skip on console without a turbo controller.
January 21, 2015: TrogWW discovered how to Hookshot Molgera's tongue earlier.
March 11, 2015: TrogWW discovered a faster route for the second half of the game that revolves around clipping out of Mother and Child Isles.
May 5, 2015: TrogWW discovered how to get the Earth God's Lyric without the Power Bracelets.
September 19, 2015: Hyxost discovered a glitch that lets you pull an invisible Bomb, which is useful for memory exhaustion.
July 16, 2015: TrogWW discovered Extended Superswimming.
July 31, 2015: gymnast86 discovered Spring Jump Storage.
October 14, 2015: TrogWW discovered how to skip the Deku Tree cutscene.
January 27, 2016: TrogWW discovered a fast way to defeat the final phase of Gohma in one cycle.
February 23, 2016: Ace discovered how to do a Bomb Push Clip to get to the Ghost Ship Chart faster.
May 21, 2016: dragonbane0 discovered a way to unload Song Stones in Wind Temple.
May 26, 2016: dragonbane0 theorized a way to perform Barrier Skip with Actor Unloading.
June 6, 2016: dragonbane0 theorized a way to skip Tower of the Gods with Actor Unloading.
June 10, 2016: dragonbane0 discovered a way to skip the cutscene before Puppet Ganon. gymnast86 also discovered an alternative method for the skip that does not require the Iron Boots.
March 2, 2017: TrogWW discovered Brakesliding, which is a technique that makes movement in a TAS much faster. The same technique was originally discovered in Skyward Sword by sva16162.
March 31, 2017: Gigopler and TrogWW developed a route that makes multiple Triforce Chart deciphers be faster overall. TrogWW uploaded a video of the route.
October 10, 2017: TheMasterZelda found an old video of a skip for the first statue in Tower of the Gods. The video was uploaded by MetalFrost and showed a skip that was discovered by his brother Jack. The original video has been deleted, but a new video of the skip is available here.
January 1, 2018: Demon performed a Manual Superswim to Dragon Roost Island.
January 7, 2018: TrogWW discovered a Forsaken Fortress 1 route that takes advantage of Chest Storage.
January 20, 2018: gymnast86 revealed the Morth Hover in Ganon's Tower.
July 10, 2018: LegendofLinkk discovers File Item Transfer. The way to trigger the glitch and what it does exactly is figured out thanks to a teamwork effort by RETIRE, azer67 and JakeZSR.
February 25, 2019: azer67 developed a proof of concept for how to do the Morth Hover without Bombs. Thanks to more testing work from Smokey, mralberto23, and Ian_Miles, a Morth Hover without Bombs was made RTA viable the next day.
June 27, 2019: R3D discovered a glitch that allows an arrow to be stuck in Link's hand.
July 2, 2019: LegendofLinkk replicated the arrow duping glitch that was discovered by R3D, which provided a quick and easy way to exhaust the game's memory.
July 5, 2019: dragonbane0 discovered Barrier Skip by using memory exhaustion.
July 10, 2019: Demon discovered that you can exhaust memory rather easily in Forest Haven with the Grappling Hook by repeatedly bonking the Deku Tree after storing the cutscene of the Chu Chus going back on its head. The routing for the first Bow Skip route took a few days, and Demon finished the first run with it on July 15.
July 22, 2019: TrogWW discovered that using Bait exhausts the game's memory very quickly.
September 1, 2019: deothos figured out that you can take damage from a burning Morth. This led to gymnast86 developing a new setup for doing the Morth Hover without Bombs. This is slower than the fall damage method, but it is easier.
December 7, 2019: azer67 discovered a faster way to skip the command melody in the first room of the Wind Temple. This uses the Makar Damage Interrupt glitch discovered by gymnast86 exactly 3 years earlier, and is inspired from TrogWW's wind temple route, which used the tingle tuner and invisible Makar instead.
December 11, 2019: mralberto23 discovered how to get Bombs from the Earth Trial.
February 1, 2020: bowserisbored discovered a Barrier Skip method that uses a Bomb Push Clip.
February 2, 2020: gymnast86 discovered how to skip using the Grappling Hook when climbing up to Ganondorf.
June 29, 2021: Salvage Item Manipulation is stumbled upon in a randomizer. It is then replicated and done without crashing on the 30th.
January 9, 2022: bowserisbored discovered a bomb push clip to enter the Earth Temple early. The clip is made RTA-viable on the 11th.
March 14, 2022: TrogWW discovered a Chart Set RNG Manipulation from a hard reset.
June 24, 2022: TakaRikka_ discovered the hidden crash debug screen and the inputs to access it.
April 1, 2024: azer67 and EJ125 discovered a new setup for the early earth temple bomb push clip, using an upgraded script written by TrogWW. This setup is both easier and faster than the one found two years prior. Many other bomb push clips were found around this time using the new script, such as a Cabana Deed Skip and a Light Arrows Skip.
April 10, 2024: minimini352 discovered how to get door cancel without losing vision. This led to viable Door Cancel methods for obtaining the leaf early becoming faster for Any% and Any% No MSS.
September 26, 2024: CGF discovered that unplugging the GBA twice while in Ganon's Tower allows for using the Tingle Tuner in the dungeon. This had the major consequence of making Puppet Ganon Skip a lot easier, and replacing the morth hover in categories that performed it.
October 19, 2024: TrogWW discovered a new Barrier Skip method that uses the displacement of a running slash to go through the barrier instead of using a bomb. This saves time in Any% and Any% no MSS by skipping the bombs completely.
GDQ Marathon Runs
AGDQ 2013 - Any% by NarcissaWright
SGDQ 2015 - Any% by Chaotic_Ace
AGDQ 2020 - Any% by Linkus7
SGDQ 2022 - All Dungeons by Linkus7
Tool-Assisted Speedruns
June 19, 2013: abahbob published a 23 minute work in progress of an Any% TAS.
February 27, 2014: BreadWizard published a TAS of Master Sword Low%. The TAS is available in four parts:
September 7, 2015: gymnast86 published an Any% TAS with a final time of 3:08:13.
July 25, 2016: TrogWW published an Any% TAS with a final time of 2:46:38.
February 4th, 2023: KryptekSR published an Any% No MSS TAS with a final time of 1:05:31.
July 8th, 2023: minimini352 published a 16 Keys LOTAD with a final time of 2:53:21.
January 6th, 2024: Endvad published an Any% TAS with a final time of 42:57.
