Ganondorf

''For Ganondorf's Final Smash, see Ganon, The Demon King. For the boss, see Ganon.''

Ganondorf (, Ganondorf) is the main antagonist of series. His first appearance was as the beast known as Ganon in the original The Legend of Zelda game, although it was misspelled as Gannon in-game. The name "Ganondorf" was first mentioned in  with the villain making his first appearance as Ganondorf in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Since then, the name "Ganondorf" has been used to refer to his true humanoid form while "Ganon" is used for his monster form, though occasionally the names have been used interchangeably, such as in ' and '. In either case, he has been Link and Zelda's archenemy since the first game.

Ganondorf debuted as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Melee, and also appears in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Super Smash Bros. 4, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as such.

Origin
Ganondorf was originally introduced in the original The Legend of Zelda game as Ganon. Here, he was established as a power-hungry porcine demon who had kidnapped Princess Zelda for her piece of the, but was slain by Link at the end of the game. Ganon is, in some form, the primary villain in most of the Zelda games, with his schemes usually involving kidnapping Princess Zelda, conquering the land of Hyrule, and/or obtaining the Triforce. Unlike Link and Zelda, who have descendants and successors, Ganon is the same individual in all but one of the games that he appears in, even across the series' multiple timelines. In The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, it was revealed that before he was a demon, he lived as a human thief.  formally introduced this human form, Ganondorf, for the first time in the series. Although Ganon appears in some form in the vast majority of The Legend of Zelda games, Ganondorf has appeared in only four mainline games so far: Ocarina of Time, The Wind Waker, Twilight Princess, and Tears of the Kingdom.

In Ocarina of Time, Ganondorf's first canonical appearance in the greater Zelda timeline, it is revealed that he belongs to the, a tribe of female thieves who bear a male only once every century. As the lone male Gerudo, Ganondorf is destined to become their king, but not all of the tribe approve of him, most notably. In terms of physical appearance, he sports his race's typical features: dark skin (with his having an olive green tint), a sharp aquiline nose, amber eyes, and red eyebrows and hair (with the former connecting to the latter). After conquering Hyrule and reigning over its ruins for about seven years, Ganondorf is finally defeated by Link and sealed by Zelda in the Dark World, after which the return of Link to his original time split the timelines.

In The Wind Waker, set in the "adult" timeline where the Hero of Time disappears after being sent back to his own time, the goddesses flooded Hyrule to seal Ganondorf under the sea; hundreds of years later, Ganondorf manages to escape to the surface, and starts planning his revenge. His evil plans are thwarted once again by Link, who at the end of the game vanquishes him seemingly once and for all. In Twilight Princess, instead set in the "child" timeline where the Hero of Time returns to his youth, Link warned the Kingdom of Hyrule about Ganondorf's future actions, and he was sealed preemptively in the Twilight Realm. Here, he conspired with the usurper king Zant to stage an invasion of Hyrule and cloak it in twilight. He is ultimately defeated by Link, Zelda, and the legitimate ruler of the Twilight Realm, Midna.

In both The Wind Waker and Twilight Princess, Ganondorf appears older than in Ocarina of Time, sporting a beard and a more curated hair style; he also has a considerably more robust body. In Twilight Princess, he wears armor and a cape like in Ocarina of Time, while in The Wind Waker he is seen wearing a full body cloak. In Ocarina of Time and Twilight Princess, Ganondorf has also had the ability to transform into Ganon during battle.

If Link were to be killed during the events of Ocarina of Time, Ganondorf is left to conquer Hyrule uncontested. This eventually culminates in the people of Hyrule rising up against him in a series of events known as the, where the seven sages are able to seal Ganon in the dark realm. Centuries later, Ganon returns during the events of A Link to the Past, where he is driven back by Link and the new seven sages. Centuries after that during the events of , a sorcerer named brings Ganon back and fuse with him to create Yuga-Ganon. Link and the sages are able to separate them and drive both back once again. Hyrule declines in power after these events, being nothing more than scattered communities by the time Ganon returns in The Legend of Zelda. While capturing Princess Zelda, she manages to shatter the Triforce and scatter it across the land. Link collects these pieces and manages to kill Ganon with a silver arrow. Years later, Ganon's minions discover that mixing the blood of Link with his own will revive him, causing Link to be hunted down. This curse is finally broken when Link collects all three triforce pieces and wishes for a sleeping Zelda to wake up.

It is elaborated in  that Ganondorf is the personified malice of the Demon King, who was defeated by the descendants of the goddess and her chosen hero; as a result, he is endlessly resurrected as long as there are individuals who share the blood of the goddess and the spirit of the hero. The only exception to this is Four Swords Adventures, which features a reincarnated Ganon born centuries after the previous Ganondorf's death in Twilight Princess. By the time of , Ganondorf's malice has entirely consumed him and caused him to lose control over his humanity, turning him into a swirling mass of primal evil known as. In , the sequel to Breath of the Wild, Ganondorf finally regains his humanity and mind, seeking to wipe out all the citizens of Hyrule and leaving no survivors.

Unlike some of Nintendo's more comedic villains — such as certain depictions of Bowser or King K. Rool — Ganondorf not only boasts the strength of a god, he is also cunning and easily capable of accomplishing his goals. This was most evident in Ocarina of Time, where he successfully conquered Hyrule, forcing Link to build up his strength so he could take the kingdom back and end Ganondorf's seven year-long reign. In one timeline, Ganondorf even succeeds in killing Link and collecting the complete Triforce, forcing the to seal him within the  as a last resort.

Whether he appears as Ganondorf or as Ganon, Hyrule knows that it will be facing an incredible evil that only Link and Zelda can stop.

In Super Smash Bros.
Ganon is mentioned in 's profile, although his humanoid Ganondorf form is never directly referenced.

In an official poll held on Smabura-Ken (the game's official Japanese website) regarding characters for a potential sequel, Ganondorf placed fifth with 36 votes.

As a playable character
Ganondorf makes his first appearance in the Smash Bros. series as a secret playable fighter in Super Smash Bros. Melee. He can be unlocked after completing Triforce Gathering or by playing 600 VS. matches. According to the official Melee website, Ganondorf wasn't planned to be included as a playable character. However, the convenience of him having a body build very similar to 's allowed him to be easily cloned from Captain Falcon, leading to his inclusion as one of the last-minute clones to pad out the roster. His design is based off of his appearance from the SpaceWorld 2000 GameCube Tech Demo, which is in turn based off of his appearance from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

In terms of raw power, Ganondorf, along with is often considered the most powerful character in the game, with slow moves but decent speed for his size. He has superb reach and a melee style of fighting. Though comparatively slow to most characters, particularly those of power in lower tiers, he is not so slow as to render his great strength unusable. Almost every attack in his arsenal (with the exception of his throws) has high power and KO potential, ensuring that if a hit does connect, it will likely knock an opponent near or past one of the blast line when said opponent is at high damage. His neutral special move is the Warlock Punch, which is similar to the Falcon Punch, except that it takes more time to execute; however, it is considerably more powerful and undergoes a further increase in power when connected on the back. His side special move is the Gerudo Dragon, which launches enemies up into the air. His up special move is the Dark Dive while his down special move is Wizard's Foot. His up tilt is extremely powerful, but it takes a while to "charge". His forward smash is unique, sending foes vertically more than horizontally. His up smash is the second most damaging smash in the game (only behind 's down smash), dealing 53% when fully charged. What Ganondorf is most known for are his very powerful and surprisingly fast aerials (start-up lag wise). He is the only character in Melee to have all five aerials being capable of reliably KOing under 150%. His most known aerial is his down aerial, which is both the most powerful meteor smash and aerial attack in Melee. Despite being a meteor smash, it can star KO the majority of the characters under 100% when grounded. It also works well at setting up combos at low percentages despite its power, especially against the fast fallers. Ganondorf is arguably the character who benefits from L-cancelling the most, as all his aerials have high landing lag, but L-cancelling allows him to fully utilize his aerials without being so punishable. These positive attributes have offered him the position of 14th place on Melee's mid-tier.

As noted earlier, Ganondorf is a clone of Captain Falcon in Melee, with a lot of identical animations and very similar moves, though he does have a few notable differences. Ganondorf is slower but more powerful than Captain Falcon. Ganondorf's neutral attack consists of a single hit instead of being an neutral infinite combo like Captain Falcon's. The most notable difference is that they have different forward aerials, as while Captain Falcon has the Knee Smash, Ganondorf has a downward arcing punch, which has been referred to by fans as the "Skull Crusher". The primary statistical difference between the two is that Ganondorf's forward aerial is not as powerful as the Knee Smash, but it lacks a sourspot and has greater reach. Ganondorf is also heavier, making him more difficult to KO horizontally than Captain Falcon, along with a slower falling speed allowing him to recover farther when coupled with his Wizard's Foot, which gives him an extra midair jump (though Captain Falcon's faster falling speed gives him greater vertical endurance). Ganondorf's neutral aerial, down smash, and up smash are all two hit moves with effects that are the inverse of Falcon's. For example, both hits of his neutral aerial and up smash can KO, while only the second hit of Captain Falcon's same moves has real knockback. Conversely, Ganondorf's down smash's first hit has set knockback that sends opponents behind him to connect the second hit, which can KO, while either hit of Captain Falcon's down smash can reliably KO.

Trophies
Ganondorf, as with the other playable characters, is featured on three trophies. His normal trophy is acquired by beating the Classic Mode with Ganondorf on any difficulty, and his Smash Red and Smash Blue trophies are acquired through winning the Adventure and All-Star modes, respectively.

As a playable character
Ganondorf reappears in Super Smash Bros. Brawl as a playable unlockable character, using his The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess character model, although without the glowing chest wound like in the game and sporting a hemmed cape instead of a tattered cape. Some of his attacks have changed from his Melee set and have undergone large aesthetic changes to resemble various hand-to-hand moves he has used in the Zelda franchise, while his other attacks are similar to their Melee counterparts.

In Brawl, his attacks are noticeably more sluggish (especially his forward aerial) and have less reach. His jumping ability, his walking speed, and dashing speed have been hindered, which hinders his mobility rather severely. His rolling dodges, once on par with Captain Falcon's (from whom they were inherited), are now slower and gain less distance. His horizontal recovery is worse due to the Wizard's Foot no longer restoring his midair jump. Many of Ganondorf's attacks were weakened as well, most notably the Dark Dive (can no longer KO at high percentage), grounded Wizard's Foot (could KO under 125% in Melee but can't KO under 150% in Brawl), the up tilt (though it is still the strongest tilt in the game but it can no longer KO at low percentage unless used near the ledge), the down smash, and the back aerial. Some of his attacks were buffed in terms of power. His forward smash is stronger with horizontal knockback now (it has less reach however), his dash attack was strengthened significantly (it is now a reliable KO move instead of being his second weakest attack that wasn't a throw), his back and forward throws are stronger (they can now KO on the edge at high percentages), and the Warlock Punch was buffed (higher damage, knockback, and can be reversed) and can now get guaranteed KOs at damages as low as from 13%-20%. He has a new side special, Flame Choke, that involves choking the opponent, then throwing them downward. With it, Ganondorf has an alternate recovery move and can now Ganoncide. Flame Choke is faster and less punishable than Gerudo Dragon was and is good for setting up as well, but it deals approximately half the damage and is completely incapable of KOing unlike the Gerudo Dragon. Besides Ganondorf being slower and having less overall power, he was especially hurt by the loss of L-Cancelling, which allowed Ganondorf to utilize his very powerful aerials to their fullest in Melee. These aforementioned negative attributes of Ganondorf has resulted in him holding the reputation for being the lowest ranked character on the tier list, placing 38th (which is an immense drop from being 14th out of 26th in Melee).

Beast Ganon also appears as Ganondorf's Final Smash. Once the Smash Ball is retrieved and activated by the player, Ganondorf immediately transforms into the Twilight Princess rendition of Beast Ganon. In beast form, he stomps his front legs on the ground, immobilizing any foes in his wake, pounding them down into the earth, and making them unable to perform any actions. The beast then charges straightforward into the direction he was last facing when the Final Smash was activated.

Trophies
Ganondorf has a trophy that is awarded each time is completed with Ganondorf on any difficulty.

As a playable character
Ganondorf returns as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. 4. He reuses his Twilight Princess appearance, but with his glowing chest wound from that game clearly visible and a more tattered cape. His moveset is similar to its Brawl incarnation, though he now has a set of custom special moves that are completely different from Captain Falcon's.

Ganondorf saw a slight rise in tier list placement for SSB4, now ranking 53rd out of 55 characters (being tied with ). He still retains his trademark extreme power, granting him a powerful punish game. He also benefits from the removal of chain grabbing, meaning he can no longer be a victim of such, and the removal of hitstun cancelling gives Ganondorf some combo capability. The new shield mechanics introduced in updates and 1.1.1 also enhances his already superb shield-breaking power, as well as make his more heavy-hitlag moves safer on shield. Nonetheless, Ganondorf's slow speed, susceptibility to combos, vulnerability to projectile camping, and terrible recovery options remain prominent. While some custom moves grant him better recovery and approach options, custom moves are currently banned in tournaments, leaving Ganondorf with only his default options. Although he received some buffs in the transition from Brawl to SSB4, as well as gained many more buffs in game updates, his glaring flaws remain. When this is coupled with the aforementioned custom moves ban, he is mainly seen as a non-viable pick for high-level play, though he still has a few dedicated players, some of whom even use him as a singular main.

As a playable character
Ganondorf returns as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, as with all previous playable characters. His appearance is now based on his design in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time for the first time since Melee. Ganondorf has received new smash attacks which use his sword from the Space World 2000 tech demo, and his Final Smash transforms him into Ganon as seen in Ocarina of Time as well. Like each of his previous appearances in the series (except for Super Smash Bros. for Wii U), he is an unlockable character. Additionally, Ganon appears as a boss in Classic Mode.

Ganondorf's strengths and weaknesses have both become more potent, solidifying his status as a glass cannon. His absurdly high damage output has been further increased, which is especially notable with moves like Dark Dive and Wizard's Foot. Most of his attacks are also faster, have longer range (most obviously shown with his new sword-based smash attacks), or sport additional utility, and he also benefits from universal mobility improvements. However, Dark Dive and Flame Choke are easier to escape, Ganoncide now KOs Ganondorf first, and his already poor out of shield options have been worsened by the increase in shield drop frames, while universally higher traction makes it harder for Ganondorf to safely pressure shields himself. Despite initially positive reception, Ganondorf is generally agreed to once again be low- or bottom-tier like in Brawl and Smash 4, though he has seen greater success than in either previous installment.

Trivia

 * In Melee and Brawl, Ganondorf has been shown with a sword of some type at least once, though he can never use it to attack. In Melee, he "uses" the sword seen in the in a fight against Link. It appears in one of his victory poses, on his Smash Blue trophy, and on the "Challenger Approaching!" screen. In Brawl, his down taunt sees him unsheath and then re-sheath the Sword of Sages he stole in Twilight Princess.
 * In Super Smash Bros. 4, a custom variation of Warlock Punch called Warlock Blade allows Ganondorf to perform a reverse gripped thrust with the Sword of Sages instead of throwing a punch, making it the first instance of Ganondorf doing such in the Super Smash Bros. series. In Ultimate, Ganondorf uses his Space World 2000 sword as an actual in-game weapon, wielding it for all his smash attacks.
 * Not counting Kirby, who can copy Egg Lay, Chomp, King Dedede's and Blunderbuss, Ganondorf is the only character who has more than one command grabs in a single game, being Flame Choke and Dark Dive in all of his appearances except Melee, where Gerudo Dragon appears in the place of the former.
 * Ganondorf and Sheik both made their playable debuts in Super Smash Bros. Melee. Coincidentally, both made their playable debuts outside of Super Smash Bros. in Hyrule Warriors.
 * Ganondorf is the only clone to not be from the same universe as the character his moveset is based on.
 * Jigglypuff also had a parent clone in Kirby, but it has been completely de-cloned since Melee.
 * He is also the only clone not to share the name of any of his special moves with his base fighter.
 * Ganondorf and Ike are the only characters in the Super Smash Bros. franchise to revert back to an earlier design used for their debut appearance in a later installment.
 * None of Ganondorf's unlock battles take place on a stage from the game his design is based on. In Melee and Brawl, his unlock battle is set in their respective Final Destinations. In Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS (which features his Twilight Princess appearance), he is fought on Gerudo Valley, a stage from Ocarina of Time, and in Ultimate (which features his Ocarina of Time appearance), he is fought on Bridge of Eldin, a Twilight Princess stage. This makes Ganondorf the only Legend of Zelda series character in Smash Bros. with this distinction.
 * Ganondorf’s voice actor in Melee and Ultimate also voices Donkey Kong outside of the Super Smash Bros. series.
 * Ganondorf and Jigglypuff are the only characters to rank dead last on the current tier lists for multiple games. The NTSC and European tier lists for Brawl and the Ultimate tier list place Ganondorf dead last, while the Japanese tier list for Brawl and the Smash 4 tier list place Jigglypuff dead last.