Super Smash Bros. Fighters – The Legend of Zelda series – 05 Ganondorf

Debut 

In The Legend of Zelda series:

As the Beast, Ganon: The Legend of Zelda (1986)
As the Gerudo, Ganondorf: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998)

In the Super Smash Bros. series: Super Smash Bros. Melee (2001)

Boxing Ring Title: The King of Darkness 

Theme Song: Death Mountain

Ganondorf is the main reoccurring antagonist of The Legend of Zelda series, and the wielder of the Triforce of Power. There have been various incarnations of Ganondorf throughout the Zelda series, but only two Ganondorfs have competed Super Smash Bros.: “Ocarina of Time” Ganondorf in Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and “Twilight Princess” Ganondorf in Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS & Wii U.

Before the events of "The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time," Ganondorf was born and raised in the harsh Gerudo Desert. Coveting the peaceful and lush lands of Hyrule, he engaged in the massive Hyrulean Civil War. The war eventually came to an end when all of the races of the land - Hyrulean, Kokori, Goron, Zora, and Gerudo - were united under the Royal Family of Hyrule. Ganondorf pledges loyalty to the King of Hyrule, but only so he can freely move around the country to complete his goal.

To do that, he decides to obtain the Triforce, which is said to be sleeping within the Temple of Time. To open it, Ganondorf needs the three Spiritual Stones: the Kokori Emerald, the Goron Ruby, and the Zora Sapphire. He visits The Great Deku Tree, the Goron Chieftan Darunia, and the Zora King to obtain the gems, but when they refused, he cursed The Great Deku Tree, blocked off the entrance to Dodongo's Cavern with a giant boulder, and cursed Lord Jabu Jabu respectively.

The King's daughter, Zelda, senses the evil within Ganondorf, and sends Link out to obtain the Spirtual Stones so they can expose Ganondorf. However, by the time Link collected them all and was heading back, Ganondorf launched his assault against Hyrule, assassinating the king. Zelda and Impa flee, and Ganondorf tries to pursue them, only to stop when he notices Link to ask him where they went. When the young boy refuses to tell him where Zelda went, Ganondorf throws a magical energy ball at Link and proclaims his intention to rule Hyrule before running off. Once Link opens up the gates inside the Temple of Time, which lead to the Sacred Realm, Ganondorf sneaks inside to claim the Triforce. However, he is only successful at obtaining The Triforce of Power.

During his seven years long reign, Ganondorf has moved into Hyrule's Castle, transforming it into Ganon's Castle, and rules over Hyrule with an iron fist. He patiently waits for the wielders of the Triforce of Wisdom and the Triforce of Courage to reveal themselves, who turn out to be Princess Zelda and Link respectively. Once Zelda reveals herself to Link - after he found and awakened the six sages - Ganondorf uses his magic to seal Zelda inside a crystal, teleporting her to his castle. Once Link manages to climb his way to the top, Ganondorf and Link have their showdown.

The outcome of Ganondorf's battle with Link splits into three timelines: The Child Timeline, The Adult Timeline, and the Downfall Timeline. In the Downfall Timeline, Ganondorf manages to successfully kill Link, though Zelda and the seven sages manage to seal Ganon away somewhat. The Child and Adult Timelines happen simultaneously if Link defeats Ganondorf with Zelda and the Six Sages sealing Ganon away. Princess Zelda decides to send Link back in time so he can relive his lost childhood, effectively writing Link out of existence for the Adult Timeline, and allowing him to have new adventures for the Child Timeline.

In the Child Timeline, Link warns Zelda and the King of Hyrule about Ganondorf's plans. Thus, they are able to capture him, put him on trial, and sentence him to execution by the Sages. Just as the Sage of Water stabs Ganondorf in the chest with the Sword of the Six Sages, the Triforce of Power chooses Ganondorf as its wielder, thus preventing his death. Ganondorf proceeds to break free of his chains and kill the Sage of Water. Before he can do anything else, the other six sages send Ganondorf to the Twilight Realm.

100 years later in “The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess,” Ganondorf has managed to revitalize himself through the Twili people's anguish and hatred. One day, he comes across an individual of the Twili people named Zant. Zant aspired to become the next ruler of the Twili, but they passed over him for Midna as they could tell by looking in his eyes that he was power-hungry and would lead them into ruin. Ganondorf, seeing an opportunity, strikes a bargain with Zant: Ganondorf will give Zant the power to allow him to overthrow Midna and take over as the "rightful ruler" of Twilight if Zant helps him escape the Twili Realm. With Zant agreeing to the deal, Ganondorf's plan to exact revenge on the Royal Family of Hyrule is set in motion...

In Super Smash Bros., Ganondorf is a powerhouse! His attacks do massive damage and can send his foes flying every which way! However, he can be a bit slow, and he doesn't really have a projectile to attack foes from afar, but that shouldn’t be too much of a problem for him.

Special Moves 

Neutral Special: Warlock Punch

Ganondorf pulls his fist back, surrounding it in dark energy before flinging his fist forward, delivering a DEVASTATING blow to any unfortunate foe in front of him!

If you tap the Special Button and quickly tap the control stick in the opposite direction Ganondorf is facing, he'll perform a Reverse Warlock Punch! A Reverse Warlock Punch is slightly stronger than a regular one, at the cost of taking a bit longer to throw out.

If the move is used while Ganondorf is on the ground, Ganondorf will be able to tank a couple of blows dealt to him before flinging his fist forward.

This move is original to Super Smash Bros. However, the move has snuck its way into “Hyrule Warriors” as one of Ganondorf’s attacks, where he uses a much faster version to punch and split a giant ball of dark energy towards foes in front of him.

Side Special: Flame Choke

Ganondorf rushes forward with his hand outward. If anyone is in his way, he grabs them and lifts them up in the air before blasting their face full of Dark Magic, which sends them flying downward towards Ganondorf’s feet. Ganondorf can then follow the move up with almost anything, from a dash attack to a down-tilt.

If used in the air, Ganondorf will instead grab his opponent and rush diagonally downwards to slam his foe on the floor. Although difficult, the opponent can try to escape this one, so Ganondorf has to be careful when using it.

The grounded version of the move appears to be inspired by two scenes in The Legend of Zelda. The scene in "The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess," where Ganondorf kills the Sage of Water (the rush part) and the scene where he lifts Tetra up in anger after she attempts to stop him from killing Link. (the attacking part) The aerial version is inspired by one of Ganondorf’s attacks in “The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time,” though in that game, he simply rushes downwards to deliver a powerful punch to the ground to create shockwaves, rather than attempting to grab Link and slam him into the ground. 

Up Special: Dark Dive

Ganondorf jumps upward. If anyone is in his way, he’ll grab them and unleash Dark Magic on them before blasting them away from him. After that, he can use the move again to rise even higher, and can continuing doing so as long as he grabs someone.

However, if he fails to grab anyone, then at the apex of his jump, Ganondorf will swing his fist upwards and deliver a powerful uppercut. Anyone who happens to be there at that exact time will get flung upwards.

This move is original to Super Smash Bros. 

Down Special: Wizard’s Foot

On the ground, Ganondorf flings himself forward using a kick surrounded by Dark Magic. Anyone hit gets sent flying, though it causes Ganondorf’s forward momentum to get slowed down.

In the air, Ganondorf performs the move at a more downward angle.

This move is original to Super Smash Bros. 

Final Smash: Ganon, the Demon King

Using the Triforce of Power, Ganondorf transforms into his frightening and hideous Beast Form, Ganon. Ganon lets out a mighty roar, stunning anyone in his line of sight. Afterwards, he swings his two swords in front of him and dashes forward. Anyone hit by the swing of the blades will get sent flying towards the ground, while anyone hit by the dash will get sent flying away!

Once Ganon dashes off the screen, he reappears where he initiated the move and transforms back into his Human Form.

Inspired by Ganondorf's original beast form, which debuted in the first game, "The Legend of Zelda." Notably, early games always had Ganondorf as a beast. It wouldn't be until "The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time" that his human form would be seen for the first time.

This move takes some inspiration from Ganon's Boss Fight in "The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time," where he would use his large swords to attack Link. Ganon charing forward after swinging his swords is inspired by Beast Ganon's Boss Fight from "The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess," where it was Beast Ganon's main method of attack.

Additional Notes

In Super Smash Bros., Ganondorf is notorious for the fact that his moveset is similar to Captain Falcon’s, an unrelated character from the F-Zero series.  This was done because Ganondorf was not in the original plans for “Super Smash Bros. Melee” and was only included because of his popularity, as well as the fact that his body shape was pretty similar to Captain Falcon’s so they could easily copy-and-paste his moveset and animations on to Ganondorf. (they didn’t have enough development time to create an original moveset for Ganondorf) Future installments would try to deviate Ganondorf from Captain Falcon though.

“The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword” heavily implies that Ganondorf is the reincarnation of the game's final boss, Demise. Upon being defeated by Link, Demise, with his dying breath, warns Link that “…An incarnation of my hatred shall ever follow your kind, dooming (your descendants, as well as Zelda’s) to wander a blood-soaked sea of darkness for all time!” Who knows how differently Ganondorf’s life would’ve turned out had fate not chosen him as Demise's next incarnation.