Ganondorf (SSBU)

Ganondorf in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Universe	The Legend of Zelda
Other playable appearances	in Melee in Brawl in SSB4
Availability	Unlockable
Final Smash	Ganon, The Demon King
Tier	E (82)

Ganondorf (ガノンドロフ, Ganondorf) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. He was officially revealed alongside Ryu and the rest of the returning roster on June 12th, 2018 during E3 2018. Like in games prior to Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, he is unlockable, instead of being available from the start. Ganondorf is classified as Fighter #23.

In a similar vein to Link, this is the first time in the Super Smash Bros. series to break the tradition of Ganondorf using re-purposed voice clips from past Zelda games. Takashi Nagasako, Ganondorf's voice actor from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (and by extension, Super Smash Bros. Melee) and The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, reprises his role in all regions since previously voicing the character in 2002, providing new voice clips that mimic his portrayal from Ocarina of Time. He succeeds Hironori Miyata's portrayal from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess used in Super Smash Bros. Brawl and in Super Smash Bros. 4.

Ganondorf is ranked dead last on the Ultimate tier list, at 82nd out of 82, placing him at the end of the E tier. This is a slight drop from his already very low placement in Smash 4, where he was tied with Zelda at 52nd/53rd out of 54, and gives him the dubious distinction of being the only character ranked last whose previous iteration also ranked last for the NTSC and European tier lists for a previous game, that being his iteration from Brawl; however, despite his placement, he is overall more viable than in Brawl and even Smash 4. Ganondorf possesses raw damage and power throughout his moveset, with an abundance of KO options such as his tilt attacks, smash attacks, forward and back aerials and Dark Dive; the latter is also a capable out of shield option. Ganondorf now utilizes his sword from the SpaceWorld 2000 GameCube Tech Demo for his smash attacks, making them disjointed and wide-arching, with his forward smash being one of the strongest in the game and his up smash being able to cover an entire platform above him and apply pressure at the ledge. Overall, Ganondorf excels at what he does best: ending stocks in a few hits and instilling fear when in the advantage.

However, Ganondorf's core weaknesses continue to hold him back drastically compared to the rest of the roster. His terrible frame data, slow movement, and mediocre range give him severe difficulty in approaching and escaping disadvantage, which is especially problematic due to Ultimate's emphasis on faster-paced combat and variety of strong zoners. His shield safety is lacking despite his high shield pressure, while his grab and throws are extremely weak for a heavyweight, having short range and unable to KO easily. Several of his moves also have small or poorly placed hitboxes which results in poor range (with hitbox adjustments making some of them even worse than they were previously) or glaring blindspots (with some such as Dark Dive having worse hitboxes than Falcon Dive, its equivalent move from Captain Falcon). Some of his moves are nearly useless in a competitive setting due to their immense lag (such as his up tilt and Warlock Punch). His recovery is among the worst in the game due to Dark Dive's low distance, and despite it not causing helplessness when it connects, opponents are able to slowly gimp Ganondorf simply by getting grabbed deliberately to push him backwards. Finally, changes to his kit remove some of his only situational moves that allow him to play mindgames: his new up smash is no longer able to bait reactions nor is safe on shield if spaced, up aerial's shorter duration makes gimping with the late hitbox more difficult, and aerial Flame Choke can no longer be used to perform Ganoncide, as it can be escaped by button mashing, and even if the opponent fails to escape, it KOs Ganondorf first, resulting in a loss in a last-stock situation.

Overall, Ganondorf's issues collectively give him significant problems in the neutral game: the majority of the roster can outspeed him in almost every degree, his otherwise great endurance is hindered by having incredibly limited recovery options, while his strengthened power does not give him any proper approach or defensive options, resulting in him struggling to make use of his excellent raw power and KO ability. Because of these factors, while the community had high hopes for Ganondorf in the early metagame, his competitive reception plummeted as the metagame evolved and his weaknesses became much more exploitable, and despite some success from players like Major and Shinda Lion, Ganondorf is widely viewed as the worst character in the game, and as such, he has sat at the very bottom of every tier list.

How to unlock

Complete one of the following:

• Play VS. matches, with Ganondorf being the 40th character to be unlocked.
• Clear Classic Mode with Yoshi or any character in his unlock tree, being the 4th character unlocked after Ryu.
• Have Ganondorf join the player's party in World of Light.

Ganondorf must then be defeated on Bridge of Eldin (the Ω form is used in World of Light).

Attributes

Ganondorf is the epitome of the super heavyweight archetype: he is the fifth heaviest character in the game and possesses immense power in exchange for terrible mobility and frame data. Despite his high traction, above average falling speed, and moderately high gravity, he sports the seventh slowest walking speed, the fourth slowest dashing speed, the third slowest air speed, the sixth lowest air acceleration, and sixth lowest jump and double jump heights. As a result, he is among the least mobile characters in the game, but his high weight grants him respectable endurance, allowing him to survive at very high percentages and greatly benefit from rage.

Ganondorf's most defining trait is his incredible kill power and damage output. Most of his moves inflict over 10% damage and are capable of killing under 100% with ease, even from the middle of Final Destination, giving him one of the strongest punishment games in the roster. His forward tilt and down smash are very powerful semi-spikes, while his forward and up smashes are massive disjoints that utilize a large sword to cover Ganondorf. In particular, these two smash attacks can not only hit below the ledge, but the former is generally the third strongest of its kind in the game, having the potential to KO most opponents well below 65% (even at the center of Final Destination). His neutral special, Warlock Punch, has the most startup out of his entire moveset by far, but it also deals absurd knockback and damage (especially when B-reversed in the air), being capable of one-hit KOing middleweights and lighter (if it connects before touching the ground, though this is extremely difficult to pull off). Ganondorf's sweetspotted down aerial and aerial Wizard's Foot are extremely powerful meteor smashes that can KO opponents offstage at exceptionally low percents. Thanks to his strength, Ganondorf has among the highest KO potential in the game, as he can rack up massive damage and KO opponents in very few hits.

Ganondorf's shield-breaking capabilities are also potent and fearsome. His aforementioned forward and up smashes, Warlock Punch, and aerial Wizard's Foot can bring shields down to a sliver of health, while his Volcano Kick (up tilt) has vacuum properties, deceptively large reach, and can shatter shields in a single hit. These options also allow Ganondorf to play mindgames to make opponents with low shield health play more carefully around him, as he can punish any mistake extremely hard. As such, mistiming or overusing shields against Ganondorf can be very deadly, as his aforementioned powerful moves allow him to capitalize on shield breaks.

Despite his power, Ganondorf has excellent combo starters, some of which are potential kill confirms. His down throw can combo into every aerial except down aerial or dash attack up to mid-percentages. His dash attack is versatile; not only does it possess extreme KO power at high percentages, being the third strongest dash attack in Ultimate, but its early hit can potentially lead into neutral aerial, up aerial, or Dark Dive at early percentages. Even better, it has a late hit sourspot that grants follow-ups into neutral attack, forward tilt, grab, all aerials except down aerial, and grounded Dark Dive, with the latter two options being potential kill confirms at high percentages. Neutral aerial's set knockback on the first kick, as well as the late hit of the second kick, can lead to neutral attack, grab, forward tilt, down tilt, or dash attack right after landing on the ground. Sweetspotted down aerial's high hitstun combos into neutral attack, grab, forward tilt, down tilt, every aerial, up smash, or down smash up to middle percentages. Ganondorf's best combo starter is probably his grounded Flame Choke, which is a command grab that meteor smashes opponents into the ground, leading into dozens of follow-ups and reads. These follow-ups include, but are not limited to: neutral attack, forward tilt, down tilt, dash attack, grounded or aerial Wizard’s Foot, any smash attacks or aerials, or even another Flame Choke. While Flame Choke can be teched, its low ending lag allows Ganondorf to tech-chase with the move, with some followups hitting short-distanced techs such as forward tilt covering Bowser's inward tech, up smash or turnaround down smash on Snake's inward tech, down tilt on Inkling's tech away, or neutral attack on all of Piranha Plant's tech options. Some characters can even be trapped at the ledge, where they move no distance from the tech away and are hit during their neutral and inward techs.

All of Ganondorf's aerials are very useful, as most of them are fast despite their immense power, and are guaranteed to knock opponents off the stage even at medium percents, giving him a great edgeguarding game. His sweetspotted down aerial is his most damaging aerial and the second strongest meteor smash in the game, and when sourspotted has the second strongest horizontal knockback out of all his aerials (after his sweetspotted back aerial). His up aerial is his lowest damaging aerial, but it is his second fastest aerial, can autocancel from a short hop, and its late hitbox is a very potent gimp with its semi-spike angle and high hitstun. His neutral aerial has the lowest knockback out of all his aerials, but is his fastest aerial, consisting of two hits that naturally combo into each other with damage rivaling his sweetspotted down aerial, while doubling as long-lasting sex kicks, and has the greatest horizontal reach out of all his aerials, allowing it to wall out approaches. His forward aerial boasts good reach in an arc that also hits slightly behind him, while his back aerial is a deceptively fast KO move that can autocancel from a short hop. Aerial Flame Choke is a chokeslam that lacks guaranteed follow-ups, but does more damage than when used on the ground and can still tech-chase. Aerial Wizard's Foot is Ganondorf's only aerial option with vertical knockback, making it a good anti-air that punishes juggles. Finally, Dark Dive is a command grab that does multiple weak electric hits that make it difficult to interrupt, which leads into a very powerful throw that can reverse edgeguard situations, especially when facing away from the stage, while also not causing helplessness and letting him reuse the move; if the grab misses, the move performs an uppercut at the end to deter potential edgeguards.

In spite of his strengths, Ganondorf has many glaring flaws. He is extremely vulnerable to combos, and juggling thanks to his heavy weight, very large size, above average falling speed and gravity, and low air speed, and his slow mobility hinders his approach and ability to close distance or create space. His lack of a projectile or reflector also leaves him susceptible to projectile camping and zoning.

Arguably, Ganondorf's biggest weakness is his lack of defensive options, courtesy of the issues within his moveset. To begin, his frame data is very sluggish and among the worst in the game: he has very few moves that are active before frame 9 (these being neutral attack, neutral aerial, up aerial, and standing grab) and some not even coming out before frame 28 (such as forward smash, Warlock Punch, and Volcano Kick), along with many of his moves having extremely high ending lag (most notably all of his smash attacks and all his special moves). As a result of his abysmal frame data, many of his moves are unsafe on shield unless fully spaced, despite his aforementioned shield-breaking capabilities. Combined with his poor mobility, Ganondorf struggles to compete with faster characters like Fox, slow projectile users like Ivysaur, and long-ranged characters like Simon and Min Min. This forces Ganondorf's offense to heavily rely on proper spacing and mind games.

In contrast to Ganondorf's tall size, some of his attacks have poor reach and often have problematic hitbox placements, causing them to have noticeably large blind spots. His neutral attack, forward tilt, back aerial, Dark Dive, and Wizard's Foot, some of which are considered Ganondorf's fastest attacks and best out of shield options, all suffer from a combination of short reach, short hitbox duration, small hitbox sizes, and/or high hitbox placements. Wizard's Foot and Flame Choke also have their hitboxes end earlier than their animations suggest, while forward aerial and back aerial's hitboxes do not properly match their trails. Neutral aerial's two hits often fail to link properly, especially against grounded opponents, likely resulting in Ganondorf getting punished if he whiffs the second hit, and the second hit itself is difficult to land due to its high hitbox placement. His forward smash, despite its impressive reach, completely lacks any active hitboxes during the downward swing, giving it a notoriously large dead zone above and in front of his head. His up smash has a blind spot directly in front of him, and its rear hitboxes end just above the ground. Ganondorf's numerous blind spots allow many small characters such as Pichu to easily exploit and weave through his attacks, especially when crouching.

Ganondorf's grab game is also lackluster. His grab reach is notoriously short despite his tall stature, and, outside of down throw, his throws have little to no follow-ups. Surprisingly, none of them are consistently viable KO options either, despite dealing respectable amounts of damage; while his forward and back throws deal passable knockback, even they are rather weak and can't KO middleweights under 200% from center stage, while his up throw lacks KO potential altogether. His down throw, despite being a decent combo starter, loses much of its combo potential very quickly past low percentages. The ability to tech Flame Choke at any percentage works against Ganondorf, as it forces hard reads, and incorrect reads can put Ganondorf in a vulnerable position. Flame Choke also lacks a collateral hitbox, allowing doubles, Ice Climbers, and Rosalina & Luma to hit him out of the move.

The other major weakness is his terrible recovery. Ganondorf's slow air speed and low jump height, as well as the helplessness-causing Flame Choke and Dark Dive having low speed and resilience, make his off-stage movement linear and predictable while leaving him very vulnerable to edgeguards and gimps. His recovery specials also work against Ganondorf; aerial Flame Choke can be escaped by button mashing and KOs Ganondorf first when used as a sacrificial KO, while Dark Dive's throw can be teched and punished in its endlag. As such, it's possible to edgeguard Ganondorf by even intentionally getting hit by his aerial specials, leaving him in a position where his abysmal mobility prevents him from recovering. All of this leaves Ganondorf with arguably one of the worst recoveries in the game.

Ganondorf also has considerable trouble landing safely. Despite his aerials having relatively low landing lag, the aforementioned poor hitbox placements fail to properly defend him from directly underneath, while down aerial and Wizard's Foot have noticeable start-up. While Wizard's Foot is Ganondorf's fastest option to return to the ground and can anti-air intercept opponents with its vertical knockback, its landing possesses a small and very brief quake along with large landing lag, making it highly punishable.

Overall, Ganondorf's raw power allows him to deal heavy damage quickly and close stocks early, but he has few means to defend himself, which forces him to play cautiously, enforcing a bait-and-punish playstyle. His playstyle is a high-risk, high-reward character: a single mistake can lead to either player losing a stock, even at 0%. He cannot afford to make any careless mistakes himself, where his exploitable recovery allows his opponents to take his stocks just as early as he can take theirs.

Changes from Super Smash Bros. 4

Ganondorf was infamously a poorly regarded character in Brawl and SSB4 (especially compared to his debut appearance in Melee), owing to a myriad of factors such as slow mobility, vulnerability to general pressure (such as rushdowns, zoning and combos), and awful recovery. Most likely due to this, Ganondorf has been buffed overall in the transition to Ultimate.

Ganondorf's primary strengths, such as his already strong damage output and knockback power, have been further increased since the previous game. Most of his moves deal even more damage, and some of his moves (whether they were already strong or among the weakest in SSB4) are more powerful, like his dash attack, back aerial, Dark Dive, and Wizard's Foot; notably, dash attack has become as potent as it was in Brawl, whereas Dark Dive and Wizard's Foot have had most of their lost KO power restored from Melee. Forward aerial, a move previously considered inferior to his back aerial, has improved range, making it a far safer KO move.

Ganondorf's smash attacks are now sword swings that possess increased, consistent power as well as larger, disjointed range. Up tilt, notorious for shattering full shields, is easier to land with its faster startup and stronger windboxes, and its sourspot has been strengthened to match its sweetspot. His notoriously weak grab game was also buffed, with his grabs having a longer duration and greater range, and his throws receiving improved utility such as higher power (forward throw, although it remains rather weak), damage (up throw), or combo potential (down throw). Ganondorf is also heavier, making his already great endurance better.

Ganondorf notably benefits from some of the universal gameplay changes. The increase in mobility (most notably to his running speed, although it remains slow), his faster jumpsquat, and the reduced landing lag on his aerial attacks all improve his very poor neutral game and approach. His faster jumpsquat and landing lag reduction also improve his combo ability, thus further strengthening his damage-racking game.

Despite these notable buffs, Ganondorf is not without several noteworthy nerfs, especially toward his hitbox placements and ineffective defensive game. His forward and up smashes, despite having disjointed range, have significantly increased ending lag; up smash has especially lost its ability to bait approaches. His down tilt's vertical angles on its close hitbox make it a much less effective KO option, especially out of Flame Choke. His up tilt is weaker, and has gained an incredibly weak late hitbox with no KO potential. Hitbox adjustments and/or reductions on his forward tilt, up tilt, back aerial, Dark Dive, and Wizard's Foot make them harder to land and further worsen his blindspot issues. Among his biggest nerfs were to his up aerial, which has more startup and its sourspot no longer hits underneath him, thus removing most of its gimping effectiveness and lock combos, and Flame Choke, as the aerial version is now escapable at low percentages and a "Ganoncide" now KOs him first. Dark Dive's release also pushes back Ganondorf after he launches the opponent away, though this is counterbalanced by the release having less ending lag.

Despite gaining considerable improvements from the game's engine, Ganondorf is also hindered by some of the universal changes; the universal increase in mobility makes it slightly harder to catch up with some characters. The increased shield drop frames impairs his poor out of shield options, and the universally increased traction, which reduces shield push, makes his attacks, especially his aerials, less safe unless perfectly spaced. The increased tech window, as well as the restoration of buffering techs during hitlag, makes Flame Choke easier to escape from, and makes Dark Dive much easier for opponents to survive from being launched under the stage and retaliate. Although Ganondorf's heavier weight allows him to survive even longer, he is also easier to combo. The changes to air dodging are a mixed bag for Ganondorf, as they improve his great edgeguarding ability, but make him easier to edgeguard in return. Finally, the weakening of rage slightly hinders Ganondorf, though due to his increased damage and power, this change is fairly negligible.

Overall, Ganondorf has gained some drastic increases in power that render his punish and advantage states much deadlier, but at the cost of notable nerfs that further affect his disadvantage, exacerbating his glaring weaknesses and making him even more polarized. Although initially considered to have improved substantially from SSB4, the lack of changes from game updates, as well as various changes made to his fellow veterans both on release and through updates, have caused Ganondorf to fall behind; said updates have also introduced a bevy of more powerful DLC characters, all of which Ganondorf struggles against in one way or another. Because of this, despite performing better as a standalone character in Ultimate, Ganondorf has not significantly improved from his appearance in SSB4, instead performing worse relative to the rest of the cast.

Aesthetics

• Ganondorf's design has been reverted back to his appearance in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, which was the basis of his appearance in Melee; unlike Melee, which used his model from the Space World 2000 GameCube Tech Demo, his model has been updated to accurately be based on his appearance in Ocarina of Time, with his overall design being an amalgamation of his designs from before and after the game's seven year time skip. It features a more vibrant color scheme due to the aesthetic used in Ultimate, and his clothing and hair now feature simple detailing.
  • His facial features and muscles are more pronounced, and his skin tone is more green. He has the red eyes, ear rings, and the short vibrant red hair from his pre-time skip self. His bracers and greaves have visible hair detailing; his attire overall has a suede finish instead of a leather finish. He also wears the diadem, boots, gauntlets, epaulets, and cape that come from his post-time skip self.
  • Ganondorf's sword has also been reverted back to the sword seen in the Space World 2000 GameCube Tech Demo.
  • Palutena's Guidance conversation for Ganondorf has been changed to accommodate for his Ocarina of Time design.
• Ganondorf has received two new alternate costumes based on his appearance in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker and The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess respectively; the latter replaces his yellow costume in SSB4, which was based on his Ocarina of Time appearance, effectively swapping its place with his default costume.
• Ganondorf's cape has improved physics and rigging, allowing for more fluid animations.
• Ganondorf's darkness particle effects appear more liquid-like, most notably seen during his on-screen appearance and Flame Choke. They resemble how his dark magic was depicted in Ocarina of Time.
• Initial dash, walking, running, spot dodge, roll, air dodge, hitstun, jump, and backwards jump animations have changed, further differentiating him from Captain Falcon.
• Like many other characters, Ganondorf is more expressive. The corners of his mouth once again open, allowing for his facial expressions to be more natural and dynamic.
• Ganondorf's new blast KO voice clips no longer play past the duration of the KO animation.
• Much like in Melee, Ganondorf vocalizes upon waking up from sleep status when not suffering from any knockback. He shares this addition with Link, Zelda and Wolf.
• Ganondorf's victory poses have been updated:
  • His left-inputted victory pose now has him flipping his cape and turning to face the screen before pumping his fist, showing the back of it. Ganondorf also no longer kneels when pumping his fist.
  • His up-inputted victory pose now has him levitate in the air, land on the ground while punching his palm, then reel back before thrusting his hand towards the screen rather than pumping his fist.
  • His right-inputted victory pose now has him flip his cape before crossing his arms and laughing wickedly, then looking at the screen with a sinister smile.

Attributes

• Like all characters (with the exception of Kazuya), Ganondorf's jumpsquat animation takes 3 frames to complete (down from 7).
• The inability to move past opponents on the ground prevents dash attack, Flame Choke, and Wizard's Foot from whiffing up close.
• Ganondorf dashes slightly faster (1.218 → 1.34), being nearly as fast as he was in Melee.
  • Ganondorf's initial dash animation is both faster (1.3 → 1.87) and moves him farther, resulting in his foxtrot outpacing his dash.
• Ganondorf walks slightly faster (0.73 → 0.767), being slightly faster than he was in Melee.
• Ganondorf's traction is higher (0.068 → 0.125).
• Ganondorf's air speed is slightly higher (0.79 → 0.83), being nearly as fast as he was in Brawl.
• Ganondorf's gravity is slightly higher (0.107835 → 0.108).
• Ganondorf is considerably heavier (113 → 118), weighing more than Charizard. This improves his already excellent endurance.
• Forward roll has less ending lag (FAF 34 → 33).
• Forward roll grants less intangibility (frame 4-19 → 4-16).
• Back roll has more startup with less intangibility (frame 4-19 → 5-17), and more ending lag (FAF 34 → 38).
• Spot dodge has faster startup (frame 4 → 3).
  • However, its total duration remains the same, giving it one frame more ending lag.
• Air dodge grants more intangibility (frame 4-29 → 4-32).
• Air dodge has drastically more ending lag (FAF 35 → 47).

Ground attacks

• Neutral attack:
  • Neutral attack deals more damage and no longer has sourspots (8%/10%/6% → 11%).
  • It has slightly less ending lag (FAF 29 → 27).
  • The move's knockback values are consistent across its hitboxes (38/30/40 base/ 90/90/105 scaling → 41/74). It deals more knockback than its previous two sourspots, but less than its previous sweetspot.
• Forward tilt:
  • Forward tilt deals more damage (12%/13% → 13%/14%), with its knockback compensated (30 base/88 scaling → 31/82).
  • It has slightly smaller hitboxes (5.5u/5.3u/5.1u → 5.5u/5u/4.8u).
  • The sourspot takes priority over the sweetspot.
• Up tilt:
  • Up tilt has significantly less startup (frame 81 → 60) and ending lag (FAF 115 → 96). Because of this, the windboxes have a shorter duration (frames 6-70 → 6-53).
  • Its windboxes have higher set knockback (1 → 22/22/10/10), allowing them to pull opponents in more effectively.
  • The explosion has more vertical reach.
  • Its sweetspot has decreased knockback scaling (80 → 68), no longer KOing opponents under 50% from the center of the stage.
  • The explosion has much less horizontal reach.
  • On frames 62-63, the move has a new sourspot at the height of the explosion. It launches opponents at a semi-spike angle (80° → 0°) but with much less damage (18% → 13%) and has decreased base knockback (60 → 0), being unable to KO even at realistic percentages.
  • The move deals consistent damage (28%/20%/18% → 24%), dealing more than the original sourspot, but less than the original sweetspot.
    • The sourspots increased damage allows it to shatter full shields like the sweetspot, and boosts its KO potential despite its lower angle (80° → 70°).
  • Its sweetspot triggers Special Zoom.
  • The windboxes no longer affect items or attackable stage elements. Notably, this prevents Ganondorf from riding on rolling crates at high speed.
  • The move has a revamped animation; rather than simply holding his pose, he reels back and anticipates the kick. His foot produces a flame effect rather than wind, and he no longer holds his leg up with his hand, much like in Melee.
  • Ganondorf now vocalizes during the move's startup.
• Down tilt:
  • Down tilt deals more damage (13% → 14%), with its knockback scaling compensated (100 → 94).
  • The priority on its angles has been swapped (80°/70°/60° → 60°/70°/80°). This weakens its KO ability especially out of Flame Choke.
• Dash attack:
  • Dash attack deals more damage (14% → 15% (clean), 10% → 11% (late)).
  • Its clean hit has higher knockback scaling (80 → 85). Combined with its higher damage, it now KOs around 120%, making it the second strongest dash attack in the game.
  • The late hit has improved combo potential due to Ganondorf's faster jumpsquat.
  • The late hit deals more shieldstun (1x → 1.3x), improving its safety on shield.
• Ganondorf has new smash attacks: they utilize his sword from the Space World 2000 tech demo. They also all have the slash effect, with forward smash losing the darkness effect, and up and down smash losing their normal effect.
• Forward smash:
  • Forward smash is now a downward sword slash in front of Ganondorf, similar to Ike's.
    • This new forward smash has disjointed hitboxes and significantly more range, allowing it to hit opponents above Ganondorf, further in front of him, and slightly below the edge of the stage. This gives the move more coverage and allows it to be used for onstage edgeguarding.
    • It now deals consistent and more knockback (35/30 base / 83/75 scaling → 61/75), KOing around 65% from the center of the stage.
    • It has noticeably more startup lag with a shorter duration (frames 21-26 → 29-31) and more ending lag (FAF 60 → 70).
    • Forward smash can no longer be angled.
    • Ganondorf does not lean back during his new forward smash, making it less safe than his previous forward smash.
• Up smash:
  • Up smash is now an overhead sword swing from front to back, appearing visually similar to Ike's up smash, and Link's previous up tilt from Smash 4.
    • This new up smash has disjointed hitboxes and significantly more range that hits all around Ganondorf, making it more effective as an anti-air, at covering platforms and catching rolls. It also hits slightly below the edge of the stage, allowing it to be used for onstage edgeguarding.
    • It has less startup lag with a longer duration (frames 21-23 → 20-25).
    • It has significantly more ending lag (FAF 42 → 62), going from one of the fastest smash attacks interruptibility-wise to one of the slowest. This removes its ability to bait opponents into approaching, while also making it much more punishable on shield.
    • It has a blind spot directly in front of Ganondorf. This can cause it to miss on certain situations.
• Down smash:
  • Down smash is a forward hilt thrust that leads into a backwards stab, similar to Cloud's.
    • Its hitboxes are disjointed and placed lower, reliably hitting crouching opponents.
    • Ganondorf ducks while performing it, lowering his hurtbox.
    • It has less ending lag (FAF 64 → 60).
    • The hitbox on the first hit that previously sent opponents away from Ganondorf has been removed. In addition, its first hit launches at a more horizontal angle (160°/165°/147°/150° → 160°/175°/147°/150°) with decreased base knockback (90/110/90/110 → 90/95/90/95). This allows it to connect into the second hit more reliably.
    • The second hit deals consistent damage (15%/13% → 15%) and sends opponents at a semi-spike angle (130° → 35°), improving its KO potential, especially near edges, despite its lower knockback (60 base/94 scaling → 61/81).
    • The first hit deals less damage (6% → 5%).
    • Both hits have slightly less horizontal range.

Aerial attacks

• All aerials have less landing lag (17 frames → 10 (neutral), 22 → 13 (forward), 19 → 11 (back, up), 26 → 16 (down)).
  • The lowered landing lag improves neutral aerial's and down aerial's safety, while allowing them to function as effective combo starters.
• Neutral aerial:
  • Neutral aerial has slightly less ending lag (FAF 42 → 41), and auto-cancels slightly earlier (frame 38 → 37).
  • Both hits have a shorter duration (hit 1: frames 9-13 → 9-12, hit 2: 19-29 → 19-26).
• Forward aerial:
  • Forward aerial has an altered animation: Ganondorf leans farther forward as he punches, similar to its animation in Melee. This increases its range.
  • The move auto-cancels earlier (frame 55 → 45), matching the move's interruptibility and auto-canceling in a double jump.
• Back aerial:
  • Back aerial deals more damage (16%/17%/16% → 17%/18.5%/17%), with its knockback scaling not fully compensated (89 → 86), improving its KO potential.
  • The hitboxes are significantly smaller (5.5u/6.3u/4.8u → 4u/4.5u/3u), greatly reducing its vertical range.
  • It has an altered animation where Ganondorf leans further back into the move, kicks one of his legs out and keeps his arm out for a longer duration. This makes Ganondorf significantly more vulnerable to being punished and makes him a larger target to hit.
  • In addition to the aforementioned change, Ganondorf's arm hurtboxes are stretched during and after the swing, making him even more vulnerable to being attacked and reducing the effective safety of the move.
• Up aerial:
  • Up aerial's foot hitbox is marginally larger (5.76u → 5.8u).
  • It has more startup lag and a shorter duration (frames 6-16 → 8-16). Not only is the move no longer Ganondorf's fastest attack, this causes the late hit to no longer hit below Ganondorf, significantly weakening its gimping potential and lock combos.
  • It has a slightly altered animation: Ganondorf brings his kicking leg forward midway through the spin.
• Down aerial:
  • Down aerial no longer has transcendent priority, allowing it to cancel out projectiles.
  • It has a slightly altered animation: Ganondorf leans back slightly as he stomps, similar to its animation in Melee.

Throws and other attacks

• Grabs:
  • All grabs have a longer duration (2 frames → 3).
  • All grabs have more range (Z2 offset: 9.0u → 10.0u (standing), 10.8u → 11.8u (dash), -15.1u → -15.6u (pivot)).
  • Standing and pivot grab have slightly more startup lag (frame 7 → 8 (standing), 10 → 12 (pivot)).
  • Standing and dash grab have more ending lag (FAF 36 → 39 (standing), 45 → 47 (dash)).
  • Ganondorf now grabs with his left hand.
  • Ganondorf has a different pose while holding the enemy.
• Pummel:
  • Pummel deals much less damage (3% → 1.6%).
  • It deals more hitlag (5 frames → 15), but has less startup (frame 4 → 2) and significantly less ending lag (FAF 24 → 8), shortening its duration. This makes it faster and more reliable for racking up damage.
  • Pummel has a different animation, with Ganondorf arching forward as he delivers his knee strikes.
• Forward throw:
  • Forward throw deals more knockback (60 base/65 scaling → 68/70), KOing around 150% near the edge.
  • It has an altered animation: it is now an uppercut with his right hand instead of a gut punch with his left hand.
• Back throw:
  • Back throw has a slightly altered animation: his upper body is near parallel with the ground during the kicking portion.
• Up throw:
  • Up throw's first hit deals more damage (7% → 10%, total: 10% â