Shadsie
Sage of Tales
:ganondorf:
Some side-discussion in another thread got me thinking about this, although I'm pretty sure it's been a topic before. I don't want to do thread-necromancy.
Ganon, Ganondorf, Bosses that aren't him but are based on him - Malladus who looks like him kinda, Demise who is something like his spiriutal great-grandpappy... We've seen many sources of ur-evil in Zelda, uber-tyrants and they've all been based upon the original sorcerer Ganon of the first game, with many variants on the theme. The central figure unting most of the games, of course, being Ganon.
What's your favorite incarnation of the Evil King? Which Ganon or Ganondorf (or even not-really-him-but-based-on-him villain) do you think reigns supreme?
My personal favorite is... I just love, love, love Wind Waker's Ganondorf. For such a cartoony game that intially wasn't taken seriously and has lots of crazy humor, Ganondorf really shines as a great villain in it. In the backstory, he's given a situation in which he *won* for a while. He escaped his cosmic prison *of his own freaking accord!* and sowed destruction over the land so devestating that the Goddesses themselves chose to flood everything in the absence of the Hero. Maybe it was overkill, but feeling that was the only thing that could be done to stop his strength - wow!
After that - well, a lot of people make fun of Ganondorf for being "fat" in that game, but for me, his character design evokes a lot of power and stateliness. When I played the game, I didn't see the "fat" that people had been talking about online because I noticed that he actually carries most of his weight in his chest - he has a big, broad chest. There's also the flowing sorcerer's robes which make him look "big" - but I think make him look intimidating.
To add to all of that, he's actually kind of complicated and conflicted - yes, it's still a "Zelda" game and he's still a pretty cliche'd fantasy villain, these games are epic games, not epic novels - but in one scene, he's ready to murder young Link for daring to come at him with the de-powered Master Sword, in the latter/end parts of the game, he's willing to spare both Link and Zelda as long as he can get the Triforce because that's what he's interseted in. We see a little bit about his desire for ancient Hyrule because of the hard land he grew up in and the plight of his people... But then, you remember the darkness he set upon the Great Sea and the innocent Sages he murdered. So, yep, Ganondorf is still evil, but has that little touch of humanity that makes evil even scarier than in the typical complete monster.
Also, I love his huge twin swords with the tassels on them.
So, yeah, there's my favorite Ganon-incarnation.
Some side-discussion in another thread got me thinking about this, although I'm pretty sure it's been a topic before. I don't want to do thread-necromancy.
Ganon, Ganondorf, Bosses that aren't him but are based on him - Malladus who looks like him kinda, Demise who is something like his spiriutal great-grandpappy... We've seen many sources of ur-evil in Zelda, uber-tyrants and they've all been based upon the original sorcerer Ganon of the first game, with many variants on the theme. The central figure unting most of the games, of course, being Ganon.
What's your favorite incarnation of the Evil King? Which Ganon or Ganondorf (or even not-really-him-but-based-on-him villain) do you think reigns supreme?
My personal favorite is... I just love, love, love Wind Waker's Ganondorf. For such a cartoony game that intially wasn't taken seriously and has lots of crazy humor, Ganondorf really shines as a great villain in it. In the backstory, he's given a situation in which he *won* for a while. He escaped his cosmic prison *of his own freaking accord!* and sowed destruction over the land so devestating that the Goddesses themselves chose to flood everything in the absence of the Hero. Maybe it was overkill, but feeling that was the only thing that could be done to stop his strength - wow!
After that - well, a lot of people make fun of Ganondorf for being "fat" in that game, but for me, his character design evokes a lot of power and stateliness. When I played the game, I didn't see the "fat" that people had been talking about online because I noticed that he actually carries most of his weight in his chest - he has a big, broad chest. There's also the flowing sorcerer's robes which make him look "big" - but I think make him look intimidating.
To add to all of that, he's actually kind of complicated and conflicted - yes, it's still a "Zelda" game and he's still a pretty cliche'd fantasy villain, these games are epic games, not epic novels - but in one scene, he's ready to murder young Link for daring to come at him with the de-powered Master Sword, in the latter/end parts of the game, he's willing to spare both Link and Zelda as long as he can get the Triforce because that's what he's interseted in. We see a little bit about his desire for ancient Hyrule because of the hard land he grew up in and the plight of his people... But then, you remember the darkness he set upon the Great Sea and the innocent Sages he murdered. So, yep, Ganondorf is still evil, but has that little touch of humanity that makes evil even scarier than in the typical complete monster.
Also, I love his huge twin swords with the tassels on them.
So, yeah, there's my favorite Ganon-incarnation.