Ganon

Ganon is the main antagonist of  series. His first appearance was as the beast in the original The Legend of Zelda (mistranslated 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" (alternatively Beast Ganon or Dark Beast Ganon) is used for his monster form.

Origin
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, but was destroyed by Link at the end of the game. Since then, collecting the Triforce and conquering has usually been Ganon's main goal in the series. He is physically present or otherwise referenced in nearly every Zelda game, with four exceptions: ', ', ', and '.

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 ), 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. , in a departure from previous games, features a quadrupedal Ganon for the first time.

While Ganon does not physically appear in , his spiritual ancestor,, appears as the main antagonist and final boss. Upon being defeated, Demise warns that he will be reincarnated for eternity along with the blood of the goddess (Zelda), and the spirit of the hero (Link), and all three will be forced to battle for the fate of the world. One of these incarnations would be Ganondorf in Ocarina of Time. Another incarnation would be Ganon from , who is related to the previously mentioned Ganon in name only.

In Super Smash Bros.
Although he does not appear in-game, Ganon is mentioned in 's profile.

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

As a Final Smash
In Ultimate, 's Final Smash attack functions largely the same, but Ganon's appearance is based on his Ocarina of Time version and has been renamed Ganon, The Demon King.

As a boss
Ganon appears as a boss in both and in World of Light; in the latter, he is fought in the center of the Sacred Land sub-dungeon. He is fought in an arena resembling the ruins of Ganon's Castle in Ocarina of Time, with 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:

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, , , and. Usually, ' plays during the battle, but ' plays in Zelda's Classic Mode.

Spirits
Ganon also appears as three different primary spirits.

Ganon can be obtained by defeating the boss in the Sacred Land sub-dungeon in World of Light.

Beast Ganon can be obtained by enhancing the Ganondorf (Twilight Princess) spirit at level 99.

In Adventure Mode: World of Light, Calamity Ganon is presumably one of the countless spirits captured by Galeem during his takeover of the universe. After Galeem's defeat, Dharkon takes control of Galeem's spirits, including Calamity Ganon. Calamity Ganon's spirit is located in the Sacred Land sub-dungeon of The Dark Realm.

Calamity Ganon uses a Giant Ganondorf puppet fighter and is fought on the Great Plateau Tower stage's Ω form. The player's fighter is fought along with a puppet fighter representing her appearance in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. During the battle, the player's fighter receives sudden damage, referencing how Calamity Ganon is made of Malice, an evil sentient substance capable of damaging Link. Also, the player's fighter must prevent Zelda from being KO'd, referencing how Zelda's hold on Calamity Ganon is weakening in Breath of the Wild.

Trivia

 * is the only character who faces on the same stage before his transformation into Ganon.
 * and are the only Zelda characters who do not face Ganon as their Classic Mode final boss.
 * is the only non-Zelda fighter to fight Ganon as a boss in Classic Mode.
 * Ganon's boss fight in Ultimate takes place on a unique stage comprising reused models from various stages in the game, specifically Coliseum (as the ground) and Reset Bomb Forest (as the burning castle in the background).
 * The stage makes an appearance in Kazuya's reveal trailer, where he uses his Final Smash against Mario and Bowser. This is not possible in normal gameplay as the stage is only used for the boss battle and cannot be fought on against other players. The stage was also briefly seen in Sephiroth's trailer, though in that case he was only shown standing by himself.

Ganon