Ganon

Character design

Ganon has two basic forms that appear throughout the series: one that is his demonic and porcine form, while the other is his humanoid Gerudo form. In the original The Legend of Zelda, A Link to the Past, Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages, Four Swords Adventures, and A Link Between Worlds, he is depicted as a blue, porcine biped wielding a trident. In Ocarina of Time, his demonic form bears more of a resemblance to a giant Minotaur while wielding two large swords. This game also marks the first appearance of his humanoid form, a physically imposing and armor-clad Gerudo. He displays physical traits typical of Gerudo: dark skin (with his having an olive green tint), a sharp bird-like nose, amber eyes, and red eyebrows and hair (with the former connecting to the latter). Ganondorf is 230 cm (7 ft. 6½ in.) and towers over Link and other characters. His Gerudo form reappears in The Wind Waker, albeit noticeably aged with a cloak and two unnamed swords, as well as in Twilight Princess with thicker armor, a glowing white wound in his chest that originated from his failed execution, and the same sword that was used during said execution attempt.

Ganon was originally known as "Hakkai" during development of the original The Legend of Zelda, in reference to a humanoid pig character known as Zhu Bajie (Cho Hakkai in Japanese) from the famed 16th-century Chinese novel Journey to the West. The character is given the surname "Dragmire" and the alias "Mandrag Ganon", which means "Ganon of the Enchanted Thieves", in the English version of the A Link to the Past instruction manual.

Ganon is named inconsistently throughout the series. In the Japanese versions of the first three games, his name is anglicized as "Gannon". This spelling appears in only two Western releases: the original game, and the non-canonical Zelda's Adventure. Since The Adventure of Link, the name is given as "Ganon". A Link to the Past uses "Ganon", while Ocarina of Time predominately uses "Ganondorf". Nintendo's current convention is to use "Ganon" for his beast form and "Ganondorf" for the character's human form.

For the development of Ocarina of Time, Ganon was conceived by character designer Satoru Takizawa. Takizawa had imagined Ganon as a "crooked and complex thief, who was basically an all around abominable human being". However, script director Toru Osawa claimed that this image was "not the case". He began to speak of how Ganondorf was meant to have "parts where he is rather good", comparing him to the character of Raoh in Fist of the North Star. With this idea in mind, Takizawa created a tentative model of Ganondorf based on actor Christopher Lambert. The end result of Ganondorf was very different from this model, with three forms of the character being created: one of Ganondorf in the beginning; one of Ganondorf seven years later, with longer hair; and one of Ganon in the end. Since Ganon appeared as a boar-like creature, Takizawa decided that Ganondorf should transform into such at the end of the game, despite the opinions of other staff members. He decided on making Ganon a beast "with the feeling of a pig" to reference A Link to the Past.

Characteristics

Ganon is depicted as the ultimate embodiment of pure evil and mindless hatred. His roles range from savage beast to scheming tyrant to godlike entity, sometimes in the course of a single game. The book Hyrule Historia reveals that Ganon's hatred is so intense that he can survive even the total obliteration of his body and remain conscious. Despite these negative traits, he does show some knowledge of the fine arts; most notably, he is shown playing his own leitmotif on an organ in Ocarina of Time. Ganondorf is incredibly arrogant, believing himself to be completely invulnerable. Because of this, he never considers anything to be a threat and appears to put minimal effort into fighting. Unsurprisingly, Ganondorf is often in total disbelief when he is defeated, once even bursting into laughter from having been outsmarted at the last second. He is not completely beyond sympathy, though; in The Wind Waker, Ganondorf reveals that his motives were not purely selfish, claiming to have sought the Triforce to allow the Gerudo Valley relief from its scorching desert wind. Zelda also expresses pity for him in Ocarina of Time in his attempt to steal the Triforce when its power was too great for him to control.

He is portrayed in Ocarina of Time as an ambitious, cunning manipulator, gaining the king's trust before betraying him and tricking Link into opening the Door of Time, which allows him to access the Triforce. In Twilight Princess, Ganondorf is stated to have been known as a demon thief and an evil magic wielder renowned for his ruthlessness. In that same game, it is when he obtains the Triforce of Power that develops a conscienceless god complex, believing himself to have been chosen by the goddesses who created Hyrule to be its ruler. In The Wind Waker, Ganondorf is much older and prepares for the circumstances that led to his prior defeat, ordering the capture of girls that appear similar to Zelda and killing the sages in charge of blessing the Master Sword so that it cannot be used against him.

Ganon is a formidable sorcerer, able to use magic to attack as well as shapeshift, and he is skilled enough a swordsman to combat Link. Despite his size, Ganondorf is incredibly agile, and is not only capable of dodging sword attacks but arrows as well. The Triforce of Power, a magical relic of the Golden Goddesses, makes Ganon stronger, also granting him powers such as transvection, teleportation, and superhuman strength.

Further, the Triforce piece grants him immortality; although he can show signs of aging, such as in The Wind Waker, he is invulnerable to everything but his own magic and sacred weapons such as the Master Sword, the Four Sword, Light Arrows and Silver Arrows. He has survived events as severe as having an entire castle collapse on him and being impaled by a sword. Once drastically injured, he can be magically imprisoned by divine intervention, but this is often not effective, since he can escape. If he is actually killed, his followers may resurrect him. If he cannot be revived outright, he will be reincarnated due to the curse placed by Demise in Skyward Sword.

Video games

Ganon has appeared in most games in the series, some of which hide his existence until late in the game. Ganon made his first appearance in The Legend of Zelda. Ganon invades Hyrule with his minions, stealing the Triforce of Power. To protect the world from Ganon, Princess Zelda breaks the Triforce of Wisdom into eight pieces and scatters them across the land, but is then captured. She sends her nursemaid, Impa, to find someone to defeat Ganon. Impa discovers Link. He gathers the Triforce pieces and defeats Ganon, reducing him to a pile of ashes and recovering the Triforce of Power. Afterwards, he brings both the Triforces of Power and Wisdom to Zelda. Ganon makes no major appearance in the sequel Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, as it focuses on his minions' attempt to revive him by killing Link and spilling Link's blood over Ganon's ashes. If they succeed, Ganon's silhouette appears on the Game Over screen accompanied by his laugh.

He later appeared in the Super Nintendo Entertainment System game A Link to the Past, trapped in a place called the Dark World—formerly called the Sacred Land, before Ganon corrupted it. The game focuses on Ganon's attempt to escape from the Dark World and conquer the Light World, utilizing minions such as the wizard Agahnim to sacrifice the seven descendants of the sages who sealed him away, in order to break the seal. Zelda summons Link to rescue her, but she is captured and sent to the Dark World. Once Link defeats Agahnim, he is sent to the Dark World, where he rescues the seven maidens, defeats Agahnim yet again, and pursues Ganon into his lair, where Ganon is eventually defeated. Link finds the completed Triforce, and uses it to undo everything Ganon has done. In Link's Awakening, Link battles Dethl, a physical manifestation of the Wind Fish's nightmares. During the final battle, Dethl assumes several forms, all of which are based on creatures from Link's past. One of Dethl's forms is "Ganon's Shadow" and is constructed from Link's memories of his battle with Ganon in A Link to the Past.

He makes a major appearance in Ocarina of Time as Ganondorf; in the chronology of the series's story, it is his earliest appearance (Excluding Demise in Skyward Sword). Ganondorf swears his allegiance to the King of Hyrule, in order to betray him and conquer Hyrule Castle. However, the Zelda of the game asks Link to take the Master Sword, a mystical weapon used to defeat evil. After Link finds all the items necessary to take the sword, Zelda and her nursemaid Impa are chased from Hyrule Castle. Once Link opens the door protecting the Master Sword and takes it, he falls into a deep sleep, allowing Ganondorf to steal the Triforce of Power from the room. Seven years later, Link awakens as an adult, and finds Hyrule corrupted by Ganondorf. Link collects the power of the seven sages—including Zelda, who is kidnapped after she reveals herself. He encounters Ganondorf, defeating him and escaping from the castle with Zelda. However, Ganondorf uses the Triforce of Power to turn into his bestial form. Link defeats him with the help of Zelda and the other sages, and Ganon is banished to the Sacred Realm, swearing vengeance against Zelda, the Sages and Link. Ganon does not make an appearance in Ocarina of Time's Nintendo 64 sequel Majora's Mask, but was referenced under the word "Evil" in the prologue. His race the Gerudo also make a return as the pirates.

Two Game Boy Color games, Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages, do not initially have anything to do with Ganon, but once both are linked together and both are completed, two of Ganon's minions, Koume and Kotake, seek to revive him by using Zelda and two oracles called Din and Nayru. Ganon is ultimately revived, but since Zelda was not sacrificed, he becomes a mindless beast and is defeated by Link. Ganon does not make an appearance in the subsequent Game Boy Advance game Four Swords, which instead introduces the new recurring villain Vaati.

Ganondorf appears in the GameCube game The Wind Waker. Following Ocarina of Time, in an alternate timeline, Ganondorf escaped from the Sacred Realm. As the Link of Ocarina of Time is nowhere to be found, the Hylians pray to the Goddesses to save Hyrule. The Goddesses respond by flooding the land with endless rain in order to destroy Ganondorf, driving the Hylian people to the mountaintops. When he is confronted in his fortress by the new Link, Ganondorf reveals his motives to capture Tetra, who is revealed to be the descendant of the Zelda from Ocarina of Time. After Link fails to defeat Ganondorf in their first encounter, Link finds the Master Sword and battles him in the sunken Hyrule Castle. Ganondorf explains his resentment of Hyrule, describing his country as one that was filled with death and despair, and that Hyrule was rich with life—that being his reason for trying to conquer it. However, before Ganondorf can use the Triforce to revert the flood, the King of Hyrule intervenes and wishes his kingdom to be totally destroyed to make room for the future. Though Ganondorf attempts to kill him and Tetra, Link thrusts the Master Sword into Ganondorf's head, killing him and turning him to stone as Hyrule is fully submerged underwater.

Ganon is largely absent in the Four Sword subseries. Instead, another power-hungry sorcerer, Vaati, is depicted as the main villain of the subseries. Despite this, Ganon is mentioned in Four Swords Adventures and makes a late appearance near the very end of the game after having revealed his manipulation of Vaati. As Four Swords Adventures takes place centuries after Twilight Princess, it is also the first and only game in the series to feature a reincarnation of Ganon. In the game's backstory, Ganondorf was to be the guardian of the Gerudo and the desert but his heart grew twisted with each passing year, and he became obsessed with obtaining power at any cost. Banished by the Gerudo, he retrieved an evil magical Trident from a Pyramid, which transformed him into the bestial Ganon, and then began to usurp power from many others so that he could coat the world in darkness. After Vaati is defeated, Link and Zelda battle Ganon and seal him away within the Four Sword.

In Twilight Princess, Ganondorf appears in flashback midway through the game, though he is behind all of the events of the story. Before the events of the game, revealed by the Hyrule Historia to be an alternate timeline where his deception is exposed, Ganondorf was captured by the Sages and condemned to death. As he was the bearer of the Triforce of Power, the Sages were unable to kill Ganondorf as he broke his chains and killed the Sage of light while claiming the Sword of the Sages for himself. The Sages were forced to banish Ganondorf to the Twilight Realm, where he presented himself as a demonic deity to Zant, delegating his power and persuading him to attempt conquest of the light world. Ganondorf does not appear again until the end of the game—in the throne of Hyrule Castle, proclaiming it as his own. He is challenged by Midna, prompting Ganondorf to possess the soulless Princess Zelda and attack Link before leaving her body and transforming into a feral version of Ganon. Midna recovers and teleports Link and Zelda to Hyrule Field before attempting to defeat Ganondorf when he reconstitutes himself, causing the castle to explode. But Ganondorf defeats Midna, appearing on horseback to fight Link before engaging him in a final duel where he uses the Sages' sword. Link defeats Ganondorf, impaling him through the wound in his chest with the Master Sword. After getting up and uttering a few words, the Triforce symbol on Ganondorf's hand disappears as he dies standing in place.

In the Nintendo DS game Phantom Hourglass, the direct sequel to The Wind Waker, Ganondorf appears in a cameo in the opening sequence that summarizes the plot of the latter game. However, he is not seen or even mentioned in any capacity in Spirit Tracks (save for the Demon Train which has a face that heavily resembles Ganondorf), the direct sequel to Phantom Hourglass.

While Ganondorf does not make an appearance in the Wii game Skyward Sword, his origin is foreshadowed. Demon King Demise, the main villain of the game, curses Link and Zelda before his impending death and states that his curse (Curse of the Demon Tribe in the Japanese version) will see his hatred towards the descendants of Link and Zelda be reborn in an endless cycle. This curse ultimately comes to pass when Demise's hatred manifests in physical form as none other than Ganondorf himself.

In the Nintendo 3DS game A Link Between Worlds, Ganon makes a short appearance in his normal form, though his past actions and influence greatly affect the course of events throughout the story and serves as the inspiration for Yuga. Yuga summons him back from his seal with the power of the seven sages, previously trapped within paintings by Yuga, and absorbs Ganon to take his power as his own. Becoming Yuga Ganon, Yuga reveals plans to complete the Triforce once again and remake both Lorule and Hyrule in his own image, but is defeated in this by Link. Ganon is also mentioned by several characters and old legends, which describe his actions during the events of A Link to the Past, and his prior invasion between the events of Link's Awakening and A Link Between Worlds.

An incarnation of Ganon appears in Breath of the Wild, by this time known only as the evil entity Calamity Ganon, which is described exclusively by gender-neutral pronouns. Mentioned to have have terrorized Hyrule for ten millennia, causing the then-advanced civilization to dwindle back to its medieval state, Ganon forced opposition when the kingdom of Hyrule uncovered their ancestors' lost technology and attempt to use it in preparation for his return. But Ganon turned the Guardian robots against the Hyrulians while having creatures created from his being take over the Divine Beasts while killing the champions chosen to use them. This forced Zelda to use her power to seal Ganon, which lasted for a century with the ruined kingdom ravaged by nature over time. But Ganon continued to grow in power while trapped, with Zelda awakening her knight Link from his slumber to stop Ganon before he can break free and destroy the world.

Other appearances

Ganon appears in his "demon boar" form in two of the three CD-i Zelda titles: Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon and Link: The Faces of Evil. In Zelda's Adventure, he is a large, muscular devil-creature. In the first two of these games, he only requires one hit to defeat, and appears to be a sorcerer of some sort with features based on his cartoon incarnation.

Ganondorf made his first playable appearance as an unlockable character in Super Smash Bros. Melee (where he is based on his appearance in the Nintendo Space World demo, even wielding the large, cleaver-like sword in one of his victory poses though he cannot actually use it in combat) Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U (both using his Twilight Princess design). He is one of five characters from the Zelda series to be playable in each game. In each game, he is a slower, heavier, and more powerful "clone" of Captain Falcon, performing mostly the same attacks and moves. Eiji Aonuma said that his design team submitted designs for Ganon based on Twilight Princess to the developers of Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Ganon appears in the single-player The Subspace Emissary mode, allied with Bowser and Wario (in which, near the end they leave Tabuu's side to join Mario's side) as well as being a servant of Master Hand. His Final Smash is his "Dark Beast: Ganon" form from Twilight Princess, in which he transforms, charges across the screen, and then warps himself back onto the stage.

Ganondorf appears as a playable character in the Zelda spin-off title Hyrule Warriors, revealed to be permanently sealed when his soul was divided into five fragments by a previous Link and placed in separates eras in time. But one fragment of Ganon's soul was freed by the overseer Cia, corrupting her into a dark sorceress to have her create an army to gather the Triforce and use its power to retrieve areas across time where the rest of his soul is imprisoned. But Ganondorf's act to purging Cia of her light created the White Sorceress Lana as she helps Link and Zelda. When Ganondorf regained four fifths of his former self, he restore his physical body so he can take the Triforce from. But Cia returns the Triforces of Wisdom and Courage back to their original bearers, while temporary sealing him away. Following Cia's defeat, Ganondorf regains the final fragment of his soul and is fully revived, though without the Triforce of Power, which was claimed by Lana. He then leads a campaign composing of himself and the summoned Ghirahim and Zant to gain the complete Triforce. Though he succeeds in obtaining the complete Triforce, his over confidence causes him to underestimate his enemies, who dispose of Zant and Ghirahim, before engaging Ganondorf himself at Ganon's Tower. Ganondorf is defeated, though he uses the Triforce to revive himself as the Dark Beast Ganon, however is defeated, allowing Link, Zelda, and Lana to reclaim their respective Triforce pieces. Using the combined Triforce, the three reseal Ganon. Princess Zelda and Link return the Master Sword to its pedestal to completely restore the seal on Ganondorf's soul.

Ganondorf is available as an unlockable "Mystery Mushroom" costume in Super Mario Maker.

Appearances in other media

Ganon was the main villain of 1989's The Legend of Zelda cartoon, which was shown as part of The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! in syndication that year. In the cartoon, Ganon was a brown-skinned anthropomorphic wild boar and a wizard. He was in possession of the Triforce of Power, and—despite having seemingly endless abilities and magical powers—lost every chance to steal the Triforce of Wisdom. He spent most of his time living in his subterranean lair, referred to as his "castle", which was located in the Underworld. He is disintegrated when attacked several times by Link's sword, Zelda's arrows, or the Triforce of Wisdom. He was voiced by Len Carlson.

In addition to the Zelda cartoon, Ganon (along with Link and Zelda) also appeared in Captain N: The Game Master, as a secondary villain in the episode "Quest for the Potion of Power". This was something of a continuation of Ganon's appearance in the Zelda cartoon. The episode uses elements from The Legend of Zelda and The Adventure of Link. During the episode, Ganon is revived, double-crosses Mother Brain, and is killed again by the reflected magic on Link's shield.

In the South Park episode "Imaginationland Episode III," Ganondorf is seen as one of many evil characters battling the good characters. In the Robot Chicken episode "Shoe", Ganon appears briefly but is killed by Link, who frees Zelda shortly afterward.

Ganondorf also makes an appearance in The Legend of Zelda manga.

Reception

Ganon is one of the most recognizable and popular villains in gaming and has been met with positive reception over the years. In 2010, Nintendo Power named him the best villain in Nintendo history. In 2013, GamesRadar ranked him as the best villain in the entire history of video games. Nevertheless, in 2007 Andrew Gordon of Cracked.com listed Ganondorf from Twilight Princess among the six most disappointing video game end bosses, writing "We went into this battle expecting Darth Maul, and what we got was C-3PO."

GameSpot counted his appearance in Ocarina of Time among the "Top Ten Boss Fights." GameSpot also included him in "Top Ten Video Game Villains". He was the runner-up in GameFAQs' "Got Villains?" Character Battle, losing in the final to Final Fantasy's Sephiroth. GameDaily ranked him the second on their lists of "Top Ten Nintendo Characters That Deserve Their Own Games" list. and "Most Persistent Video Game Villains of All Time". GamesRadar listed him second on their 2009 list of "The Top Video Game Villains who will Never Stay Dead". IGN listed Ganon as one of the "Top 10 Characters In Need of a Spin-Off" and ranked him third in their "Top 100 Videogames Villains" list.