Ganon

Ganon
Official artwork of Ganon from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
Universe	The Legend of Zelda
Debut	The Legend of Zelda (1986)
Smash Bros. appearances	Brawl SSB4 Ultimate
Most recent non-Smash appearance	The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (Nintendo Switch) (2019)
Console/platform of origin	Nintendo Entertainment System (Famicom Disk System)
Species	Demon
Gender	Male
Place of origin	Hyrule
Article on Zelda Wiki	Ganon

Ganon (ガノン) is the main antagonist of The Legend of Zelda series. His first appearance was as the beast in the original The Legend of Zelda game, although it was misspelled as Gannon in-game. The villain made his first humanoid appearance as Ganondorf in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Since then, the name "Ganondorf" has been used to refer to his Gerudo form while "Ganon" is used for his monster form.

Origin

Beast Ganon in Twilight Princess, the basis of his design in Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Smash Bros. 4

Ganon was originally introduced in the original The Legend of Zelda game. Here, he was established as a power-hungry monster who had kidnapped Princess Zelda for her piece of the Triforce, but was destroyed by Link at the end of the game. Since then, collecting the Triforce and conquering Hyrule has usually been Ganon's main goal in the series. He has appeared or been mentioned in nearly every Zelda game, with four exceptions: The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks, The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords and The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap.

Ganon's appearance has changed over the course of the series. In his first appearance in The Legend of Zelda, he appears as a bestial, porcine demon with turquoise skin (though it will change to red at one point, which is the cue to hit him with the Silver Arrow), while in The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, he has blue skin and turns silver when weak to the aforementioned Silver Arrows. Ocarina of Time, which first showed Ganon's human appearance as Ganondorf, depicts his bestial Ganon form with similar articles of clothing as Ganondorf, dark green fur, a red mane, and large curved horns. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, in a departure from previous games, features a quadrupedal Ganon for the first time.

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Smash Bros. 4

Ganon as a Final Smash in Smash 4.

Ganon made his debut in the Super Smash Bros. series as Beast Ganon, the Final Smash of Ganondorf in Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Ganondorf in Super Smash Bros. 4. Ganon is modeled after Beast Ganon from Twilight Princess to match Ganondorf's design from the same game.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

As a Final Smash

Ganon as a Final Smash in Ultimate.

In Ultimate, Ganondorf's Final Smash attack functions largely the same, but Ganon's appearance is based on his Ocarina of Time version and has another name as Ganon, The Demon King.

As a boss

Ganon's render in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Ganon appears as a boss in both Classic Mode and in World of Light; in the latter, he 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 Zelda.

Spirit

No.	Image	Name	Type	Class	Ability	Series
191		Ganon		★★★	Weight ↑	The Legend of Zelda Series
221		Beast Ganon		★★★★	Impact Run	The Legend of Zelda Series
243		Calamity Ganon		★★★★	No Effect	The Legend of Zelda Series

Trivia

• Ganon is the only Classic Mode boss who does not face characters outside his own series.
  • Zelda is the only character who faces Ganondorf on the same stage before his transformation as Ganon.
  • Sheik and Ganondorf are the only Zelda characters who do not face Ganon as their final boss.
• Counting DLC, Ganon and Giga Bowser are the only Ultimate bosses not to be fought by newcomers in any of their Classic Mode Routes.