The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker/Awesome

"King Daphnes: Ganondorf! May you drown with Hyrule!!"
 * The famed intro, which is the single most respectful and perfect homage to the series as a whole. Ganondorf's reign of terror is at its peak, and the mournful violin music fades with the hopes of Hyrule...then it kicks in with the Zelda theme we all know and love, as a young boy vanquishes the evil.
 * The beginning of the game, when Aryll is kidnapped and Link actually tries to jump after the bird who did it from over a cliffside. And, right afterwards, Tetra grabbing his hand at the last second before falling down, telling him "She's gone, you idiot!! There's nothing you can do!"
 * The heartbreak that accompanies this scene simply makes the later CMoA where you destroy that damned bird, complete with a kickass explosive death scene, all the greater.
 * Link's first face-to-face encounter with Ganondorf:
 * Valoo may have stole the show but special props need to be given to Komali in that scene, having gone from sulking in his room earlier in the game to
 * Tetra gets a Crowning Moment of Awesome just a few seconds prior to this when she freakin' kicks Ganondorf, lord of all evil in the face!
 * The scene where Ganondorf pummels poor young Link with his bare hands is just so unexpectedly brutal, given the art style, that it cements Ganondorf's total badassery... or Complete Monster status. Still, though Link is just a little kid, he is a little kid with a sword who has just The humiliating part here is that Ganondorf still treats him like a child.
 * Just before the final battle, Ganondorf has an unconscious Zelda in his grip, and then zooms forward and beats down Link with his bare fists, knocking the Master Sword away, grabbing an utterly helpless Link, and forcing the pieces of the Triforce to unite so he can make his wish. That's not the awesome part. No, the person to get a crowning moment in this scene is . And his wish?

"King of the Red Lions: ...You are surprisingly dim-witted."
 * Even with its controversial art style, Wind Waker probably scored a lot of points with the end of the final boss battle
 * Not to mention he jumps ten foot into the air before  and all this happens in a flooding arena. From the unarmed child beating, the unstoppable badassery of Ganondorf's health destroying sword slashes and unbeatable defense, to the insane laughter as he  ... the battle is The crowning moment for Link and Ganondorf.
 * Even more awesome is the second version of this, which is rather hidden. Link does the behind-the-back parry,
 * A more subtle Moment of Awesome (and probably more along the lines of Funny Moment) is the first meeting between Link and the King of Red Lions.


 * How about just the fact that the Triforce appears in the first place? Only one other time did the holy relic appear in the entire series (Link to the Past), and that was in 2D and only in the final cutscenes. You enter the battle expecting nothing more than just a fun battle against the King of Evil. Then Ganon takes out Link and, after 400 years, finally realizes the dream that he narrowly missed out on in Ocarina of Time, reuniting the Triforce, which floats there, massive and glowing in all its holiness. The Triforce does little more than just float there before Daphnes makes his wish, the sight of the golden relic in all its 3D epicness is breathtaking.
 * The showdown with The Helmaroc King was one long moment of awesome. First, you start out running up the tower as the room floods with water below you and the King breaks the platforms behind you. Then you get to the top where he stands in your way and stares you straight in the face, only for you to smack him in the face with your newly acquired Skull Hammer and send him falling straight down into the water. But Wait! There's More! He flies straight up as the silo at the top of the tower closes, and the two of you finally have a battle to the finish, involving you baiting him into flying straight into the tower and hammering away his mask even more. At the end of it all, it culminates in the King struggling and flying straight up, flailing as the spotlights of the Forsaken Fortress shine on him one by one until he gives one last giant screech before he explodes in a glorious blast of darkness from a completely zoomed-out camera view and drops you a delicious Heart Container from 100 feet in the air. After all he put you through by kidnapping your sister and screwing you out of saving her the first time by tossing you 50 miles out into the ocean, words cannot do this encounter justice.
 * The Shark Island secret cave. They pretty much send a freakin' army of Darknuts, Moblins, Wizrobes, Bokoblins, and Miniblins after you, and you still kick their asses. Once you are done, there will be tons of weapons lying on the ground as the remains of the slaughter. The best part? You can redo that battle as much as you want.
 * Ganondorf's epic villain laugh.