Calamity Ganon

, also known as the Great King of Evil and the Calamity, is a recurring major antagonist in , serving as the secondary antagonist of the "Era of the Wilds" saga.
==Characteristics==
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 is known as a primal evil that has appeared throughout Hyrule's history. Ten thousand years before the events of , he appeared to ravage the world, in an event known as the . In preparation for this, the built a massive army of mechanical weapons called to aid the unnamed hero and princess. Four massive mobile fortresses known as served as the centerpieces of this army. With this collaboration between the Sheikah and the Hylians, Ganon was sealed beneath Hyrule Castle where he laid dormant for many millennia.
One hundred years prior to the events of , a prophecy warned of the return of Ganon. Hoping to prepare in the same fashion as their ancestors, the Hyrulians began working to locate and excavate the Divine Beasts and Guardians. Four from each of Hyrule's races were chosen to pilot the Divine Beast of their people and the restoration of the mechanical army seemed to be a phenomenal success. Meanwhile, worked to awaken her sealing powers alongside a young knight, , who had been appointed as her protector. Zelda was determined to awaken her power and prayed at the three springs of the goddess Hylia in Hyrule, but her efforts were met with failure. Minutes after she had finished praying at the Spring of Wisdom, Ganon broke the seal that kept him dormant in and rose up around it.
In a move unanticipated by the Royal Family of Hyrule, Calamity Ganon managed to corrupt the entire army with his Malice and turned them against the Hyrulians. Even the , with their pilots slain, fell under the control of incarnations of Ganon's known as the Blight Ganons. With its strongest weapons turned against it, Hyrule was laid to ruin and grievously wounded, requiring him to sleep in the Shrine of Resurrection for 100 years. Zelda went to confront the Ganon on her own and managed to seal it once more, though this required her to also become its prisoner to maintain the seal.
Throughout 's journey during the events of , Ganon can be seen swarming around Hyrule Castle, where Zelda is using her power to keep him tethered there. When arrives at the Sanctum of , Ganon is found hibernating within a cocoon, attempting to regenerate a physical form. Link awakes Ganon from this process prematurely, confronting him in an incomplete form resembling a grotesque mixture of Ganondorf, , and parts. Ganon fights with a mixture of attacks used by his four incarnations of .
 has an influence on monsters. One hundred years ago, as 's revival grew nearer, the number of monsters found throughout Hyrule increased. After Ganon's revival, monster activity became even more fierce. During the previously killed monsters are resurrected.
==Other Appearances==
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 appears as a Spirit in and has no ability.
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 retroactively debuts during the second . In an attempt to ensure that his manifestation cannot be averted, he sends a piece of himself through the time warp used by Terrako to stop it from changing the future. Soon afterward, he tries to use a possessed in an attempt to kill Zelda as she, , and are on their way to the Royal Tech Lab.
 eventually gained a more complete form after having his form absorb after the two were fought into a corner by the Champions of Hyrule. This form resembled a gigantic, Malice and technology-fused version of his human form, albeit with a slightly piggish snout. He was also invincible in this form, forcing the Champions to their knees until , reactivated after being forced to fight the Champions due to , proceeded to intercept 's attack on Zelda and self-destructed, weakening Calamity Ganon enough to ultimately seal him away.
 can also be unlocked as a playable Warrior by completing Challenges pertaining to the Blight Ganons until a trio of three Challenges unlock where players must challenge the three final bosses in one-on-one confrontations. Completing the Challenge "Versus Calamity Ganon" will unlock him. His weapon is the Malice-infested Ancient Screws, as part of his form is derived from .
The playable version of is slightly smaller than the boss version, though he can still use many of the same attacks. His unique ability is to spread Malice when performing combos and certain Strong Attacks. His Unique Action will have Ganon absorb Malice back into his body, filling the Malice gauge. Filling it completely will have him enter his Calamity form, where he gains new and powerful combos. Either combo will not only stagger strong enemies and bosses but expose their Weak Point on contact. His Enhanced Ability allows him to spread even more Malice in his Calamity form with his normal combo.
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Although Calamity Ganon doesn't officially appear in , the entity is briefly mentioned by Impa after the latter returns to Kakariko Village, referring to him as the Demon King's hatred manifest. Zelda also indirectly alludes to Calamity Ganon when she expresses her uneasy suspicions about Ganondorf's true character to King Rauru, citing that his name alone gave her dread. Part of Ganondorf's transformation into the Demon Dragon bears a resemblance to the pig-like incorporeal form of Calamity Ganon.
== Trivia ==
* Calamity Ganon may be inspired by Tiānpéng Yuánshuài, a face of the Chinese goddess Doumu described in《道法会元》, a biography of Taoism and Chinese mythical stories compiled in Ming Dynasty. In《道法会元》, his physical appearance is described as such: "He was scarily imposing with three heads and six arms, red hair, red armor all over; Holding a magic seal, an axe, a firm rope in left hands and a convulsion bell, a symbolic artifact of constellations and a long sword in right. He leads 360,000 warriors; travels along with scary and dark gas, in which there is a five-colored cloud."
** Tiānpéng Yuánshuài is the pre-incarnation of Zhu Bajie from the novel Journey to the West. Ganon's boar-like appearance was inspired by Zhu Bajie. In fact, during development of the first Zelda game, Ganon was originally going to be named Hakkai, the Japanese transliteration of Zhu Bajie.https://archive.today/20120629063241/http://www.nintendo.co.uk/NOE/en_GB/news/iwata/iwata_asks_-_zelda_handheld_history_15603_15604.html
==Nomenclature==
==Gallery==
BotW Calamity Ganon Model.png| as seen in-game from 
BotW Link Calamity Ganon.png|Link confronting from 
BotW Calamity Ganon Concept Artwork.png|alt=Calamity Ganon Concept|Concept art of Calamity Ganon's corporeal form.
HWAoC Calamity Ganon Artwork.png|Artwork of from 
AoC-Calamity-Ganon-1.png|Calamity Ganon's portrait
AoC-Calamity-Ganon-2.png|Calamity Ganon's portrait
AoC-Calamity-Ganon-3.png|Calamity Ganon's portrait
AoC-Calamity-Ganon-4.png|Calamity Ganon's portrait
AoC-Calamity-Ganon-5.png|Calamity Ganon's portrait
BotW Calamity Ganon Tapestry.png|Calamity Ganon in the tapestry
HWAoC Calamity Ganon Icon 2.png|Icon of Calamity Ganon circling Hyrule Castle
HWAoC Calamity Ganon Icon.png|Icon of Calamity Ganon
==See Also==
* Dark Beast Ganon
* Fireblight Ganon
* Ganon
* Ganon's Cocoon
* Great Calamity
* Malice
* Thunderblight Ganon
* Waterblight Ganon
* Windblight Ganon
* Harbinger Ganon
* Mutated Ganon
es:Ganon_(Breath_of_the_Wild)
it:Calamità_Ganon
zh-tw:災厄加儂