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Ganon At His Best

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.
 

Fede-hime

All about the treasure
Joined
Aug 6, 2011
Location
The S.S. Linebeck
It's a toss up between OoT Ganondorf and TWW Ganondorf. In OoT he looked more like a warrior; the dark armor and all. In TWW he looked more like a sorcerer; just as you said. Which is odd, since in OoT he used magic more than in TWW. I just couldn't decide if I liked him with a beard or without a beard. He still managed to kick butt though. Just in TWW he didn't have to resort to turning into Ganon.
 

DarkestLink

Darkest of all Dark Links
Joined
Oct 28, 2012
TP version. I kinda actually liked the OoT version more until they ruined him in Wind Waker. Suddenly jumping the gun and making him a sensitive person who cared for and was envious of Hyrule didn't fit his character and contradicted so much of OoT.
 

Cfrock

Keep it strong
Joined
Mar 17, 2012
Location
Liverpool, England
The Wind Waker's take on Ganondorf is by far my favourite. It was the only time he was more than "Blurr, me do evil and me love it!" He had some depth and a real motive and it revealed a lot about his character from Ocarina of Time and his monologue about the harsh winds of the desert even comes to mind when I play Twilight Princess. Besides that he was visually brilliant in TWW, the robes suited him so much better than his other outfits. Gave him a real presence and an aura of power, which is exactly what Ganondorf should have, in my opinion.
 
The Wind Waker's take on Ganondorf is by far my favourite. It was the only time he was more than "Blurr, me do evil and me love it!" He had some depth and a real motive and it revealed a lot about his character from Ocarina of Time and his monologue about the harsh winds of the desert even comes to mind when I play Twilight Princess. Besides that he was visually brilliant in TWW, the robes suited him so much better than his other outfits. Gave him a real presence and an aura of power, which is exactly what Ganondorf should have, in my opinion.

Needing to quote you so much recently, but you're dead on WW Ganon is by far my fave Ganon and he has never been so intriguing and interesting. I doubt Ninty will get to that level for him again.
 

Castle

Ch!ld0fV!si0n
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Even though his character was most shallow in Twilight Princess, his portrayal just oozed cool, pure evil and raging hatred. He looked sinister, and it freaks me out!
 

Ventus

Mad haters lmao
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It's a toss up between The Wind Waker and Twilight Princess for me.

TWW's facade (that's just what I'm gonna call it) of being envious of Hyrule's lush green only added more to OoT's Ganondorf as far as I'm concerned. Once a big-shot, he seemed to have a genuine sympathy...but proceeded to all-out war with two mere kids. Dual-wielding, really? Man this guy was just a badass! I must repeat, though, tha tI do not believe his story about being jealous of Hyrule was legit.

TP's...rushedness does get int he way of his character, but like Castle said, his mere looks intimidated me!
 

ihateghirahim

The Fierce Deity
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The First is the Best.

The OoT Ganondorf is the best depiction. He is powerful and cunning. He is commanding, intimidating, and simply an awesome battle. I love Ganondorf, and he needs a proper resurrection in Zelda Wii U.
 
Joined
Jun 28, 2010
Location
USA
I loved his appearance in TP and his battles a lot, but the story issue is really the main thing that sets it back for me. As far as looks and the overall battle went, I enjoyed TP Ganondorf the most.

Story-wise, though, I think TWW Ganondorf was better done and what I liked about his incarnation in that storyline was that he actually had a bit of depth. Not a lot, but enough to make you think about his character and motivations a bit.

TP Gangans was intimidating and powerful, giving you a sense of "oh boy, what am I getting into here?" but TWW Gangans was more complicated and a more consistent villain throughout the game.
 

Shadsie

Sage of Tales
Again with Wind Waker's Ganondorf:

Some people see him as "too soft" in this game, having been given a bit of sympathy that some think is not fitting with the ur-evil power-hunger he represented in Ocarina of Time. I thought that at first, too, but when I thought about it - and played the game a couple of times - I came to see it merely as a realistic touch and not diminishing of his evil at all. Now he does strike me as a little tired of the Goddesses'-game by the time the Wind Waker era rolled around, but he is still representative of great evil. He killed the Sages in cold blood, for instance - and was fully prepared to kill children (Link and Tetra). He sent his creatures to torment the benevolent patron-gods of the peoples. (He went after the Great Deku Tree *again* and Valoo).

His "love" for Hyrule strikes me as the kind of "love" any brutal dicator has for their country - how a man in power might "love" his people even as they're starving to death and half of them are in forced labor camps. Some dictators love the country of their birth or the country of their conquest, but only in so much as they love the idea of creating the country in their own image, to their own ideals - the actual people living there who don't quite fit be damned.
 

DarkestLink

Darkest of all Dark Links
Joined
Oct 28, 2012
His "love" for Hyrule strikes me as the kind of "love" any brutal dicator has for their country - how a man in power might "love" his people even as they're starving to death and half of them are in forced labor camps. Some dictators love the country of their birth or the country of their conquest, but only in so much as they love the idea of creating the country in their own image, to their own ideals - the actual people living there who don't quite fit be damned.

Except even Hitler didn't try to burn Germany to the ground.
 

Justac00lguy

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Shewhale
I would say OoT Ganon! He was a major villain throughout the story, ever since the dream that Link had duringthe start of the game you knew you were going to face him! It was just a matter of when....

Of course when we first see him he is trying to set an alliance with the King of Hyrule how ever Zelda thinks different! So after collecting the 3 spiritual stones we encounter Ganondorf in an epic scene which Link forsaw in his dream! This lead up to an epic final conclusion in which we battled with Ganondorf in his noraml form and just when we thought it was all over he appears before us as Ganon! Such an epic final boss and great villain throughout the proceedings of Ocarina of Time!
 

Sir Quaffler

May we meet again
I'm not even gonna dignify your stereotyping of the other villains as Ganon-knockoffs.

As for Ganon himself, toss-up between OoT and WW.

WW for the story and characterization aspect. It's the first time in a Zelda game where I could sympathize with the villain. Seeing that he wanted to do some good initially but had a beef with the Goddesses hit a chord with me for some reason. And like the other reasons other people have said.

As for actually fighting him, though, definitely OoT's Ganondorf. To this day I look to him as the golden standard for how to do a final fight. That was the most epic fight I had ever had, and still remains up there even today.
 

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