Ganondorf

**Ganondorf Dragmire** [2] (ガノンドロフ '**Ganondorofu'**?, ), known as the **King of Thieves**, the **Great King of Evil**, the **Emperor of the Dark Realm**[1], or the **Dark Lord**, is the primary antagonist of the majority of games in the *Legend of Zelda*series. Ganondorf was born a member of the Gerudo; as the only male member to be born in a hundred years, Ganondorf is made either the King of the Gerudo or the Guardian of the Desert, depending on the game. Gifted with powerful magic, Ganondorf often seeks the omnipotent Triforce to grant his wish of conquering the entire world. He frequently wields the Triforce of Power, and stages coups against the Royal Family of Hyrule to take the Hyrulean Throne by force. In the English-localized game manual of *The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past*, his alias before his incursion into the Sacred Realm is stated to have been **Mandrag Ganon**, meaning *"Ganon of the Enchanted Thieves"*.

The Triforce of Power that Ganondorf often holds grants him near-immortality; the only weapons that can truly defeat him are the Triforce itself, the Master Sword, the Silver Arrows, the Four Sword, and the Light Arrows. In addition to granting him power, the Triforce of Power allows Ganondorf to transform into a beast form, Ganon, reminiscent of a pig or hog.

During events of the ending of *The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time*, the timeline of *The Legend of Zelda* series was severed into three separate timelines. Thus the Ganondorf from *Ocarina of Time*had three different future incarnations, each eventually meeting their end at the hands of different Links at some point. While most incarnations of Ganondorf are the same individual, it was explained in *Hyrule Historia* that the one who appeared in *Four Swords Adventures* was the reincarnation of the one that appeared in *Twilight Princess* and *Ocarina of Time*.

He is commonly voiced by Takashi Nagasako.

## Personality

Ganondorf is commonly portrayed as the incarnation of pure evil, greed, and power. He is ruthless, cold, manipulative and calculating. He is also shown to have an ego, believing that only he is worthy to rule the kingdom and showing an arrogant sense of entitlement. One of Ganondorf’s most defining traits is his unquenchable lust for power. It was also shown that Ganon does not possess a balanced amount of power, wisdom, and courage as evidenced when the Triforce split in three pieces when he tried to wield it. It is heavily implied in *Skyward Sword* that his evil nature stemmed from being a reincarnation of the Demon King Demise as well as being a product of his curse. In *Four Swords Adventures*, Ganondorf's arrogance is such that he even refers to the Links as "worms" and "maggots", and also refers to the then-recently defeated Vaati as a "useless cur."

Ganondorf is also a skilled strategist, as he is implied to have manipulated Link and Zelda into opening the Door of Time for him, and he also deliberately allows Link to purify the temples he has captured knowing that this will draw Zelda out into the open. This knack for strategy was similarly demonstrated in *Wind Waker*, where he murdered the original Sages of Wind and Earth specifically to ensure the Master Sword lost enough of its power to not be able to kill him, as well as his using the opportunity presented by Link trying to restore the Master Sword to raid and abduct Zelda from Hyrule Castle. The best demonstration of his strategic skills, however, came about during his final fight against Link and Zelda in the same game, where he managed to quickly disable Zelda upon realizing the threat she posed with the Light Arrows, but after the latter regained consciousness, he proceeded to both evade her light arrows as well as parry all of Link's attempted parries.

It has been hinted that the Ganondorf originally seen in *Ocarina of Time* sought to conquer Hyrule out of jealousy, as he apparently lived a life full of suffering due to living in the desert. In *Ocarina of Time*, when he manages to conquer the kingdom of Hyrule, he never attempts to aid his own people, despite them living in the same conditions as he once did, and even resorts to mind controlling experiments at the Spirit Temple to ensure absolute loyalty and command them to commit crimes at his behest, reinforcing the notion that his desire for Hyrule was born out of jealousy and not a desire to help his people. However, Zelda after Ganondorf is seemingly killed briefly expresses pity and speculates that his death was caused in part due to failing to control the Triforce due to an imbalanced heart. Interestingly, he seems to follow a code of honor; in *Ocarina of Time*, Ganondorf is amused and almost impressed when a young, helpless Link drew his weapons at him. Effortlessly knocking Link away, Ganondorf let the boy live despite his defiance, acknowledging some respect for his courage. When he knocks Link down, he will wait for Link to get up before continuing a fight. In addition, when he realizes that Zelda keeps attacking him with the Light Arrows while he fights Link in *The Wind Waker*, he swiftly approaches Zelda, and when he could easily cut her down, he instead puts away his sword and backhands her. He also claims at one point that he will not kill Link, and merely seeks to claim the Triforce of Courage from him.

In *Ocarina of Time*, he is confident, wise-cracking and sarcastic, calling Link "kid" even when he reaches adulthood, calling Link's weapons "toys", and making remarks such as *"I like you, kid"* before blasting him with magic, but is ultimately serious when he needs to be. Ganondorf always cracks a smile, even in the most dire of circumstances, showcasing a pleasure in destruction and a confidence that never dies, even when the odds are against him. Even when meeting his final end in *The Wind Waker*, he still smiled, and even chuckles briefly when sensing the wind from Gerudo Desert blowing.

In *The Wind Waker*, he seems to have matured with age. He is portrayed somewhat as a tragic villain, being altogether more solemn and less prone to wisecracks. Despite this, he still longs to cover the entire world in darkness, even after his actions led to the destruction of Hyrule, and even places a curse upon the Great Sea to keep it in a perpetual state of terror. It is also implied that Ganondorf is emotionally unstable throughout the events of *The Wind Waker*, spending the early course of the game kidnapping young girls in a desperate attempt to find the Triforce of Wisdom, lacking the overtly evil nature of his previous appearance, and laughing maniacally when Hyrule is about to be flooded. Knowing that his plans that have taken centuries of trial and error have finally come to a dramatic end at the climax of *The Wind Waker*, he shows a more tragic side that seems to contrast his attitude in *Ocarina of Time* and *Twilight Princess*, making Wind Waker the first game to truly delve deeper in to Ganondorf's personality. Having dedicated his life to controlling a kingdom that was now destined to disappear alongside his body, in his final moments, Ganondorf desires nothing more than the death of Zelda and Link, showing that despite showing signs of compassion and deeper thought, Ganondorf was still the embodiment of evil at his core.

In *Twilight Princess*, Ganondorf's personality is more closely linked to his Ocarina of Time persona, as Ganondorf has, in this timeline, faced less hardships and overall appears to be younger and more emotionally stable, even possessing some of his usual cockiness from *Ocarina of Time*. The Sages also mention that Ganondorf, due to being blinded by rage and his own might, ended up caught, subdued, and promptly executed, implying that he was extremely reckless in his own actions and planning.

## Powers and Abilities

Ganondorf is shown to be very powerful in the series, mostly due to his frequent possession of the Triforce of Power. Even without the Triforce of Power though, Ganondorf is still a powerful Gerudo with potent magical abilities, able to use dark magic with ease. He is often shown to possess titanic strength, with few characters in the franchise able to match or surpass him.

In *Ocarina of Time*, Ganondorf plagues the Great Deku Tree, Dodongo's Cavern, and Lord Jabu-Jabu with monsters, somehow managing to tame these dangerous creatures. After acquiring the Triforce of Power, he was also able to break the seal on Kakariko Well and releasing Bongo Bongo, resurrect the feared dragon Volvagia, freeze several Zoras in Red Ice, fly, imprison and warp away Princess Zelda, open up a portal to another dimension, and conquer Hyrule. He also has the power to transform into a boar demon known as Ganon as well as create a copy of himself called Phantom Ganon. In addition, he has enough strength to cause an entire portion of his throne room's floor to collapse with a single punch, should it not be connected to the room below. He was also implied to have gained immortality from his possession of the Triforce of Power. He was also skilled in playing the pipe organ, as evidenced by his playing a song on it to lure Link up to the top of his castle. He also implies when being sealed away that the Triforce of Power is also capable of allowing him to break the seal in the future.
In *The Wind Waker*, even without his full power backing him when it was sealed within the Master Sword, Ganondorf was still shown as being capable of generating an Endless Night and a barrier around Hyrule Castle. His full power was such that he could survive a direct flame blast from Valoo unscathed, which had been powerful enough to set the top portion of the Forsaken Fortress on fire. Having apparently learned from his previous battles with the Hero of Time centuries earlier, Ganondorf relied more on his physical power, sword fighting skills, and minions like Helmaroc Kingand Puppet Ganon to deal with his enemies. In his final battle with Tetra and the Hero of Winds, Ganondorf relied entirely on his swords fighting skills, which where shown to be superior to those possessed by the Hero of Winds, who required the assistance of Tetra to stun Ganondorf with Light Arrows, in order to by pass Ganondorf's defenses.

In *Twilight Princess*, Ganondorf is implied to wield the Triforce of Power, and may gain some abilities from his connection to Zant. Like Link's wolf form, he transforms into a different form when exposed to the magic of the Twilight Realm, though in his case he takes the form of a burning head made of golden fire (possibly due to the protection of the Triforce of Power, as the Golden Goddess of Power, Din is commonly associated with fire) referred to in *Hyrule Historia* as "**Ganondorf's Malice**". His "Ganondorf's Malice" form can also be accessed in the Light World, as evidenced by his transforming into this state shortly after his Ganon form was felled, and was also capable in this state of withstanding even a direct blow from Midna's Fused Shadow form's trident, which was potent enough to completely obliterate Hyrule Castle. The powers he displays are never definitively attributed to any source, though he has many abilities seemingly Twilight-based in nature. These include the use of Twilight Portals and turning into Twilight in order to possess another person. He is also capable of generating a barrier powerful enough to require the Fused Shadows to fully dissipate (especially evident after Link left Hyrule Castle and a pyramidal barrier was erected), and was also capable of transfiguring various entities, such being especially evident with his turning Midna into an imp-like creature via Zant. In addition, he can also bestow entities with immortality as well as guaranteed revival from death so long as he himself does not perish beforehand, as evidenced with Zant. He can create Phantom Riders as well, and was fully capable of horseback combat, as evidenced by his fight with Link. He was also capable of destroying one of the Ancient Sages, who were implied to be disembodied spirits, with his bare hands, shortly after surviving his execution and shattering the chains binding him to a pillar. He is also demonstrated to shatter chains binding him with minimum effort, as evidenced by his first actions shortly after surviving his execution. His overall strength seems to rival Link, as evident in their duel where they pitted their strength against each other in a sword lock. Ganondorf also gifted Zant with many of his abilities (though Ganondorf is never shown using them) - including altering his size or changing the terrain he fights in.

Ganondorf can survive attacks that would kill another being, such as his 'execution' at the hands of the Sages before the events of *Twilight Princess*, and his defeat at the end of some games in which he is not actually slain. The exact limits of his powers are unknown. He is also very skilled with swords, as shown in *The Wind Waker* and *Twilight Princess*. Both *Ocarina of Time* and *Twilight Princess* strongly imply that his surviving lethal attacks was attributed to the Triforce of Power.

His most infamous ability, however, was his ability to transform into the boar-like demon known as Ganon, which generally required the use of at the very least the Triforce of Power if not the full Triforce itself.

## Attributes

### Physical Appearance

Ganondorf's appearance varies throughout his appearances in *Ocarina of Time*, *The* *Wind Waker*, and *Twilight Princess*, although in general, he is depicted with flaming red hair, gold eyes, a head brooch, and dark olive-green skin (a trait he shares with his adoptive mothers Koume and Kotake).

In *Ocarina of Time*, Ganondorf is shown to be extremely muscular, with black shoulder armor, hand gauntlets and knee armor with gold spikes and a gold jewel, as well as brown outer armor with intricate designs throughout most of his body as well as white desert arm, leg, and chest cloths with blue and red lines on them. His face also has a long beak-like nose, with his eyebrows being directly connected to his hair. He is shown to have yellow irises like the other Gerudo, only he also has red-colored pupils. He is also in some cinematics depicted with a cape similar in design to the cloths on the other designs. However he originally wears a short mini cape on the back which he wears during his first encounter with Link. Character artwork also depicts him with a dagger, although he never actually uses it in-game (however it does appear on his *Ocarina of Time*inspired "Era of the Hero of Time Armor" in *Hyrule Warriors*). Even before gaining the Triforce of Power and becoming Ganon, Ganondorf was already significantly large, being about 230 cm (7 ft. 6½ in.) according to the *Hyrule Historia*. After seven years had passed, his Gerudo form had some slight differences, namely his red hair was longer to shoulder length, his green skin is more apparent, and his eyes become significantly more demonic by having his sclera glow yellow and his irises turned red. In addition, he also wears a red cape with intricate gold lines as well as golden tassels at the bottom during his battle with Link, as well as possessing earrings.

In *The* *Wind Waker*, Ganondorf is shown having a red beard, and his red eyebrows that are separated from his hair. His nose is also significantly shorter, though still somewhat beak-like comparable to the Rito. In addition, he also wears a black Kimono-style cloak with orange lines near the arms comparable to wings and talons, as well as a pattern on the back showing what resembled a bird. He also wears a red outer shirt at the front with a belt similar in nature to his other cloths in *Ocarina of Time*, with a marking that's divided with red on the right and blue on the left. He also wore yellow shoes. He also carried with him two Long Swords with a golden handle and a tassel at the end.

His appearance in *Twilight Princess* is a mixture between his *Ocarina of Time* and *Wind Waker* appearances. He wore armor similar to his *Ocarina of Time* self, yet his face was similar in appearance overall to *Wind Waker*, albeit having a flatter nose. His design featured dark green cargo pants possessing red and black lining, as well as dark gray shin armor and boots with white edges. In addition, his upper body was covered in dark gray armor with white lining, a cloth on his neck similar to his appearances to the chest cloth in *Ocarina of Time*, gold jewels on the collar, shoulder, and gauntlets (which now encompass his arms rather than just the back of his hands), plus some rubies, as well as possessing finger-less gloves. His head brooch now is stylized with lines reaching to the back of his head, resembling a crown of sorts, and his hair also is placed in curls to the back, with the back of his head containing a dark blue skull-cap with yellow linings. Because of the botched execution against him, he also bore a glowing white wound on his abdomen. Just before he was sealed into the Twilight Realm shortly after his botched execution, Ganondorf's eyes glowed yellow with him demonstrating visible tusks on his lower jaw. Early concept art for *Twilight Princess* depicted him in a radically different appearance, where his thumb, knuckles, forearm, shoulders, lower eyelids, and portions of his neck are lined with red hair as well as forming a slight beard, with his hair forming small dreadlocks. His armor was also comparatively miniscule, only being composed of shoulder armor, a breast plate, gauntlets, armored boots, and shin armor, with it exposing portions of his body, and possessing a cape and a cloth mini belt. Overall, however, the design bore a closer resemblance to his *Ocarina of Time* appearance, save for his nose being slightly shorter and squatter. It is also to be noted that the breastplate in this concept art has similar eyes to that of Majora's Mask.

His default appearance in *Hyrule Warriors* and *Hyrule Warriors Legends* contains elements of his appearances from *The Wind Waker* and *Twilight Princess*, along with a little bit of Demise mixed in as well. Like Demise, he wears a cape around his waist, though with the addition of cargo pants and armored boots. One his upper body he wears ornate blue armor with gold trim & red pearl-shaped jewel. He also wears a pair of gold colored gauntlets which cover his arm from his elbow to his fingers. The armor covering his finger are have claw-like appearance. There are also tufts of fur round the certain unarmored sections of his outfit . He wears a spiked crown on his head resembling the one from *Twilight Princess* which is connected to the red jewel on his forehead. He also has a beard and long mane of red hair that stops at his waist. His overall appearances resembles a feudal warlord, which is fitting given the game's setting. His *Hyrule Warriors* design (which is known as the "Standard Armor" costume in-game) also has several recolors that can be unlocked as alternate costumes.

In addition to his default costume, Ganondorf has several costumes modeled after his appearances in *Ocarina of Time*, *Twilight Princess*, and *The Wind Waker*.

## TMNT X Pokemon

Ganondorf is one of the most difficult due to him taking many forms that could confuse the player when encountering him.