Ganondorf

Ganondorf (full name Ganondorf Dragmire and true form's name Ganon) is one of the main antagonists from The Legend of Zelda series. Since Super Smash Bros. Melee, he has appeared as a playable character in the Super Smash Bros. series.
==Biography==
Ganondorf is the main antagonist of The Legend of Zelda series and is Link's arch-nemesis. His schemes usually involving kidnapping Princess Zelda, conquering the land of Hyrule, and/or obtaining the Triforce. Unlike Link and Zelda, who have descendants and successors, Ganondorf is the same individual in all but one of the games that he appears in, whether in his Gerudo form or his demonic Ganon form, and even across the series' multiple timelines. He is a rare male Gerudo who was born many years ago from the evil of Demise, who was defeated by the descendants of the goddess Hylia and her chosen hero; as a result, he is endlessly resurrected as long as there are individuals who share the blood of the goddess and the spirit of the hero.
In The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures, Ganondorf, in this game, is a reincarnation born centuries after the previous Ganondorf's death in Twilight Princess. Calamity Ganon is another reincarnation of Ganondorf in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. In that game, all three timelines of the Zelda franchise supposedly unify again. The Calamity Ganon took over Hyrule Castle and brought terror to the land for 100 years, trapping the princess inside the castle.
Ganondorf's true form and name is known as Ganon who is a large boar-like creature. Ganondorf is the wielder of the Triforce of Power which allows him to access his Ganon form and is the source of his many dark magic skills. Unlike most of Nintendo's other famous villains, such as some depictions of Bowser and King K. Rool, Ganondorf is cunning, ruthless, and boasts the strength of a god. This was most evident in Ocarina of Time, where he successfully conquered Hyrule, thus forcing Link to build up his strength so he could take Hyrule back from Ganondorf and end his seven-year-long reign. Whether he appears as Ganondorf/Ganon, Hyrule knows that it will be facing an incredible evil that only Link and Zelda can stop.
==Super Smash Bros. series==
Ganondorf is one of the many playable characters in Super Smash Bros..
===Super Smash Bros. Melee===
Ganondorf debuted in Super Smash Bros. Melee. He can be unlocked after completing Triforce Gathering or by playing 600 VS. matches. According to the official Melee website, Ganondorf wasn't planned to be included as a playable character. However, the convenience of him having a body build very similar to Captain Falcon's allowed him to be easily cloned from Captain Falcon, leading to his inclusion as one of the last-minute clones to pad out the roster. His design is based on his appearance from the SpaceWorld 2000 GameCube Tech Demo, which is in turn based on his appearance from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time in his "past self."
===Super Smash Bros. Brawl===
In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Ganondorf used his Twilight Princess design. He has a new side special, Flame Choke, that involves choking the opponent, then throwing them downward. Some of his attacks have changed from his Melee set and have undergone large aesthetic changes to resemble various hand-to-hand moves he has used in the Zelda franchise, while his other attacks are similar to their Melee counterparts.
Beast Ganon also appears as Ganondorf's Final Smash. Once the Smash Ball is retrieved and activated by the player, Ganondorf immediately transforms into the Twilight Princess rendition of Beast Ganon. In beast form, he stomps his front legs on the ground, immobilizing any foes in his wake, pounding them down into the earth, making them unable to perform any actions. The beast then charges straightforward into the direction he was last facing when the Final Smash was activated.
Ganondorf is one of the two secondary antagonists (under Tabuu) alongside Bowser in the Subspace Emissary. Ganondorf first appears in a control room on the Isle of the Ancients, where Zero Suit Samus was in to find her Power Suit, giving Bowser the coordinates to find King Dedede, who had stolen Wario's trophies.
Later, in the same control room, he receives orders from Master Hand to destroy the Isle of the Ancients. Appearing in their island base as a hologram, he consequently orders the R.O.B. Squad to activate all of the Subspace Bombs on the Isle. When the Ancient Minister objects, Ganondorf presses an override button that forces the R.O.B.s to ignore the Minister and continue. When he continues to intervene, Ganondorf goes further and forces the R.O.B.s to attack the Ancient Minister, setting him aflame; while sending a flock of Auroros to distract an approaching group of heroes. Suddenly, the burning Ancient Minister fires beams from his eyes, destroying the Auroros and shedding the remnants of his robes to show that he himself is a R.O.B., and proceeds to help the others fight the advancing Subspace troops.
After the Isle of the Ancients is engulfed in Subspace, Ganondorf appears on the Subspace Gunship as its co-commander, with Bowser, but they are forced to retreat into Subspace when the Gunship is destroyed by Kirby and his Dragoon. Ganondorf then decides it is time to betray Master Hand, so he takes out the last remaining Dark Cannon and fires it at Bowser, his own co-captain and the most loyal of Master Hand's henchmen. Kicking the Bowser trophy out of the way, Ganondorf proceeds to present himself to Master Hand. However, as he prepares to betray Master Hand for complete control of the Subspace Army, he sees that Master Hand was literally a puppet of Tabuu, the supreme ruler of Subspace. Ganondorf tries to attack him, but is quickly defeated and turned into a trophy. As he falls, however, he bumps into the chains of light which puppeteer Master Hand, freeing him from Tabuu's control. Master Hand then attempts to attack Tabuu, but is also defeated with ease.
Later, after the main group of heroes had been defeated by Tabuu and rescued by Luigi, Ness and King Dedede, Kirby finds Ganondorf's trophy - leading the resurrected Bowser to appear and brutally attack the trophy as an act of revenge for shooting him with a dark cannon before tossing it aside. If both Link and Zelda were rescued, a cutscene will show Ganondorf being revived by them (with a headache from his trophification and Bowser's retaliation) and after the Hyrulian heroes walk away, he clenches his fist in anger and reluctantly decides to help the heroes travel through The Great Maze in order to defeat Tabuu.
===Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U===
Ganondorf reappears as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, being an unlockable character in the 3DS version, but a starter in the Wii U version. He reuses his Twilight Princess appearance, but with his glowing chest wound from that game clearly visible and a more tattered cape. His moveset appears to be similar to its Brawl incarnation, but has been buffed to make him a better character. In Smash 4, His moveset is similar to its Brawl incarnation, though he now has a set of special custom moves that are completely different from Captain Falcon's.
===Super Smash Bros. Ultimate===
In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Ganondorf's design uses the Ocarina of Time design based on his "future" self. He gained many notable mobility buffs across the board and capable of using a sword in his Smash attacks. His forward smash now involves him swinging his sword which covers more distance and is more powerful the longer it is charged. Like each of his previous appearances in the series (except for Super Smash Bros. for Wii U), he is an unlockable character. His Final Smash is based on his Ocarina of Time incarnation and also appears as a boss in Classic Mode and Adventure Mode: World of Light.
Ganon is fought in the center of the Sacred Land sub-map. He is fought in an arena resembling the ruins of Ganon's Castle in Ocarina of Time, with Ganondorf standing amid the ruins before transforming into the Demon King. Like Ocarina of Time, he can only be damaged by attacking his tail: if the tail is hit hard enough, Ganon will be stunned and allow the player to deal further damage, with his head becoming another weakness. Along with standard sword slashes and a charge attack similar to the Final Smash, Ganon uses several new attacks:
*Ganon performs a large swing upward. After the attack, he briefly faces away, allowing the player to attack him from the front.
*Ganon unleashes a spin attack.
*Ganon shoots a disc of lightning from his swords, a reference to Demise from The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. At lower health, he will fire two discs.
*Ganon breathes a ball of fire that follows the player, similar to a move Calamity Ganon performs in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
*Ganon unleashes a beam of malice from his mouth, similar to an attack used by Dark Beast Ganon in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
*Ganon can leap in the air and perform a ground pound attack.
When defeated, Ganon will wildly flail his swords and roar, similar to his defeat animation in Ocarina of Time, before exploding. The Fighters that are assigned to fight Ganon in Classic Mode are Link, Young Link, Toon Link and Princess Zelda.
==Trivia==
*Both Ganondorf and Bowser are the first playable villains in Super Smash Bros.
*Ganondorf is the only clone to not be from the same universe as the character his moveset is based on. Ganondorf is a clone of Captain Falcon. After Melee (where there moveset was the exact same), Nintendo slowly differentiated their movesets.
*Ganondorf is first playable villain in Smash to be a clone character and an unlockable character.
*Ganondorf and Ike are the only characters in the Super Smash Bros. franchise to revert back to an earlier design used for their debut appearance in a later installment.
*According to Sakurai from a Famitsu column, as of January 2019, Ganondorf was the most used fighter in Elite Smash.
==External links==
*Ganondorf on the Zelda Wiki
*Ganon on the Zelda Wiki
*Ganondorf's page on Smashpedia
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Category:Characters in Super Smash Bros. series
Category:Male characters
Category:Characters not from the Mario Universe
Category:Villains
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Category:Characters in Super Smash Bros. Brawl