Breath of the Wild What is calamity Ganon? (all data and theory)

[Aku]

Though, if the quotes provided in the OP are word-for-word accurate, then the thing that catches my eye is the fact that it's not referred to as "Calamity Ganon;" rather "The Calamity Ganon." Dunno if that is signififant.

I think without the 'The,' Calamity Ganon would just be a name, like Calamity Jane. However adding 'The' makes it more the name of a type of pig creature or pig daemon, meaning that there might not just be one Ganon out there, but Ganons. Some being more powerful then others, some even being former humans.

Ganondorf Dragmire.
Mandrag Ganon.
Ganondorf II.
The Calamity Ganon.

Makes sense, no?

 

[Amy Lu Minati]

Are you familiar with how the Master Sword in A Link to the Past looked? It was aged and worn but still at full power.

Uhhh. The Master Sword in a Link to the past was not at full power. You could still upgrade it twice using the dwarfs and the fairy queen. But Oh MY GOSH! What if this has ALWAYS been happening to the master sword? What if Link needs to upgrade it constantly because Demise's consciousness is slowly making it lose power? Maybe even using the sword weakens it slowly. :O Think about it! In Wind Waker you have to restore power to the MS! In ALTTP you can upgrade it! And in ALBW you can upgrade it! Since you only use the Master Sword once in the child era it doesn't make sense that you should have to upgrade it. Thank you Satan!

Plus Demise likes to look like a spiny avocado with puffy white marshmallow toes, not a pig. For him to look like a pig would be almost out of character at this point, since piggies are Ganondorf's thing. The devs could have made Demise a big-ass demonic boar to connect him with Ganondorf (and explain why Ganondorf keeps trying to turn himself into one) but they didn't, so they missed that opportunity.

Great input! Thanks for joining the discussion! (Also sorry I totally missed this.)

Just a little clarity here. Demise doesn't "like" to look that way. That's the form he was forced into when he was sealed away. It's like his first evolution in his pokemon life cycle. A baby demise. So we don't know what his spirit animal is. And if we take a look at the Demon on the cave drawing at the sealed grounds, it has horns. Since that huge horned demon appears in multiple parts of the cave drawing leading armies of demons, I'd bet that its demise.

Since Ganon is a reincarnation of Demise's hatred, what do you think of Calamity Ganon still being a second Ganon, but reincarnated from what was left over of Demise? Showing why he doesn't have a physical form. This would explain the broken master sword, and give us a new villain.

 

[Mike Riendeau]

The curse is that Demise will forever reincarnate(like Link), and that reincarnation is heavily implied to be Ganondorf. That's why people think that, because it's most likely true(if not outright confirmed). So that's kind of like saying Link isn't Link, or SS Zelda isn't Hylia.

I guess, but that doesn't outright confirm that Ganon is Demise in this game, not at all! It's a possiblity yes, but close to confirmation? No way. It all depends on the big N on this one, so we will have to see.

 

[Fraxinus]

Uhhh. The Master Sword in a Link to the past was not at full power. You could still upgrade it twice using the dwarfs and the fairy queen.

In the aspect of the Master Sword's properties as the Blade of Evil's Bane, yes, it was at full power in terms of its magical capabilities. The offensive damage is increased with the upgrades, yes, but you were talking about its essence as a magical sword. There is no change in its ability to defeat Ganon whether or not you upgrade. You can still defeat Ganon with the Master Sword without any upgrades. This supports my claim that the Master Sword retained its full power despite aging in the Lost Woods for who knows how long.

In another instance, Ganondorf in the Wind Waker threw a jab at the Master Sword's magical and physical condition (its power is gone and its edges are dull), because he knew full that that it was not at full power in terms of its ability to repel evil. It having dull edges probably would have nothing to do with it at all.

 

[Amy Lu Minati]

In the aspect of the Master Sword's properties as the Blade of Evil's Bane, yes, it was at full power in terms of its magical capabilities. The offensive damage is increased with the upgrades, yes, but you were talking about its essence as a magical sword. There is no change in its ability to defeat Ganon whether or not you upgrade. You can still defeat Ganon with the Master Sword without any upgrades. This supports my claim that the Master Sword retained its full power despite aging in the Lost Woods for who knows how long.

In another instance, Ganondorf in the Wind Waker threw a jab at the Master Sword's magical and physical condition (its power is gone and its edges are dull), because he knew full that that it was not at full power in terms of its ability to repel evil. It having dull edges probably would have nothing to do with it at all.

Actually no. The term full power doesn't work there. If its power was "full" it wouldn't be able to become stronger. :/ it may not have lost its power to repel evil yet, but it was not at full power. Just a still-capable amount of power. In Skyward Sword the Master Sword becomes its "ultimate" form (actual wording, watch the cutscene). Here is the definition of ultimate.

ul·ti·mate
ˈəltəmət/
adjective

1. 1.
   being or happening at the end of a process; final.
   
   noun

1. 1.
   the best achievable or imaginable of its kind.

That proves it would have had to have lost some power since Skyward sword since the Master Sword in ALTTP is not the "ultimate form."

The curse is that Demise will forever reincarnate(like Link), and that reincarnation is heavily implied to be Ganondorf. That's why people think that, because it's most likely true(if not outright confirmed). So that's kind of like saying Link isn't Link, or SS Zelda isn't Hylia.

Sort of... But all of their reincarnations work differently than the others. Link is a child (or descendant) of a knight, born with The Hero's Spirit. Zelda is a princess that Hylia uses as her chosen vessel to host her power in. And Demise is reincarnated through Ganondorf's hatred, it's more like Ganondorf is stepping in the role of Demise. He becomes the Demon King. They do each fulfill the role of their predecessors though. :/ The whole thing is still a little confusing.
Notice how Zelda and Link have their reincarnations blood related and Ganondorf just randomly gets picked because he's a hater?

 

[Mipha]

Sort of... But all of their reincarnations work differently than the others. Link is a child (or descendant) of a knight, born with The Hero's Spirit. Zelda is a princess that Hylia uses as her chosen vessel to host her power in. And Demise is reincarnated through Ganondorf's hatred, it's more like Ganondorf is stepping in the role of Demise. He becomes the Demon King. They do each fulfill the role of their predecessors though. :/ The whole thing is still a little confusing.
Notice how Zelda and Link have their reincarnations blood related and Ganondorf just randomly gets picked because he's a hater?

I think there's only a few Links/Zeldas who were blood related to their other reincarnations, but I could be wrong idk

 

[Mike Riendeau]

Actually no. The term full power doesn't work there. If its power was "full" it wouldn't be able to become stronger. :/ it may not have lost its power to repel evil yet, but it was not at full power. Just a still-capable amount of power. In Skyward Sword the Master Sword becomes its "ultimate" form (actual wording, watch the cutscene). Here is the definition of ultimate.

ul·ti·mate
ˈəltəmət/
adjective

1. 1.
   being or happening at the end of a process; final.
   
   noun

1. 1.
   the best achievable or imaginable of its kind.

That proves it would have had to have lost some power since Skyward sword since the Master Sword in ALTTP is not the "ultimate form."

Well, how do we know it isn't the ultimate form? Just because it doesn't say it is, doesn't necessarily mean it isn't in it. It's looks in the game may not be its finest hour, but looks don't always matter. Sure you can upgrade it, so maybe on its final stage it's at it's "ultimate form" or maybe, the ultimate form was just phrasing for the swords potential at the time.

 

[Night Owl]

My personal hunch is that calamity Ganon is the gaseous form of Ganon that attacked before the great deluge in the events leading up to wind waker.

Yes the legend says that the hero did not appear during that era. However this coukd be the first time calamity Ganon showed up and it was a future escape of calamity ganon that was met without a hero.

 

[Aku]

I wonder...

Would people be upset if the devs threw us a curveball with Calamity Ganon, like how they did with say, us finding out there was a Lorule?

What if it changed up everything that you thought you knew about Hyrule's 'traditional' bad guy? How would you feel? What would be considered 'world-rocking/exploding/ending?

 

[Amy Lu Minati]

I wonder...

Would people be upset if the devs threw us a curveball with Calamity Ganon, like how they did with say, us finding out there was a Lorule?

What if it changed up everything that you thought you knew about Hyrule's 'traditional' bad guy? How would you feel? What would be considered 'world-rocking/exploding/ending?

What if it changed Link to being the real bad guy in the game. Maybe Link was a criminal or an anti-hero who tried to escape his fate as the hero? Then because he was the last one in the knight bloodline they brainwashed him and put him to sleep for 100 years and implanted a voice chip in his head to guide him on where to go. What we have seen of Links attitude towards other people (only the old man) is that he is a greedy self-centered person, or just a loner who doesn't say anything (you get to choose) he doesn't really seem like a person who wants to even be a hero, he's just curious to uncover his past and that's what they're using to lure him into killing Ganon. I think this would be quite mind blowing. Maybe the guardians are programmed to take out link for a reason. What if for some weird reason, Link doesn't want to kill Calamity Ganon, but society is forcing him to? Maybe there is a reason he needs to let the world end. This would rip my heart to pieces.

Well, how do we know it isn't the ultimate form? Just because it doesn't say it is, doesn't necessarily mean it isn't in it. It's looks in the game may not be its finest hour, but looks don't always matter. Sure you can upgrade it, so maybe on its final stage it's at it's "ultimate form" or maybe, the ultimate form was just phrasing for the swords potential at the time.

If a sword is broken or dull it is no longer in its ultimate form because it will be way less effective as a sharp and sturdy a sword as it was before, thus being different than what it was when it had achieved its "ultimate" status. That means it is in a lesser form than it was before, that's all that makes sense. :/ As for it being used as "phrasing"... No. It's the game where you MAKE the Master Sword! It has to be at full power to get the PTRE to return to it, although it doesn't have to be at full power to have it (which we see in ALTTP). I can't see why they would use it as phrasing and it sure doesn't seem that way when you play the game.

I think there's only a few Links/Zeldas who were blood related to their other reincarnations, but I could be wrong idk

All Zeldas come from the royal family, even Tetra who is the only non-princess Zelda. The only Link i'm not completely positive on is the Spirit Tracks Link.

 

[Moblinking5000]

I have an idea that Calamity Ganon is Ganon's spirit, based on the fact that he has a more spiritual, otherworldly looking form in this game, and that the mysterious old man might be a bunshin of Ganon trying to regain his full power like Agahnim in ALttP. Calamity Ganon might just be a folk lore name for Ganon's spirit in the BotW era like the Triforce being called the ''Triumph Forks'' in TWW era.

 

[Amy Lu Minati]

I have an idea that Calamity Ganon is Ganon's spirit, based on the fact that he has a more spiritual, otherworldly looking form in this game, and that the mysterious old man might be a bunshin of Ganon trying to regain his full power like Agahnim in ALttP. Calamity Ganon might just be a folk lore name for Ganon's spirit in the BotW era like the Triforce being called the ''Triumph Forks'' in TWW era.

But don't you find it weird that its never Ganon's goal to destroy the world? It's always been his goal to rule one or multiple worlds/dimensions. So why now? Why would he change his goal?

 

[Moblinking5000]

When Ganon was revived in OoX, he said...''Kill All!!! Destroy ALL!!!'', so his goals seemed to change as a result of his mind being warped by Twinrova's corrupted resurrection, And according to HH, he's still mindless in LoZ, and ALBW implies that he's mindless in that game as well, as he just stands around and lets Yuga take his power and body. If anything, it just might be further confirmation that BotW is on the Downfall Timeline, which is the theory that makes the most sense to me after looking at all the evidence so far, even though the CT could possibly work too.

 

[Amy Lu Minati]

When Ganon was revived in OoX, he said...''Kill All!!! Destroy ALL!!!'', so his goals seemed to change as a result of his mind being warped by Twinrova's corrupted resurrection, And according to HH, he's still mindless in LoZ, and ALBW implies that he's mindless in that game as well, as he just stands around and lets Yuga take his power and body. If anything, it just might be further confirmation that BotW is on the Downfall Timeline, which is the theory that makes the most sense to me after looking at all the evidence so far, even though the CT could possibly work too.

By golly you're right! Do you have a theory on how Ganon was separated with Calamity Ganon? Because they said the Calamity Ganon was the one that appeared and not Ganon.

 

[Moblinking5000]

Either:

-Legends were corrupted over the 100 years, and Ganon was resurrected as usual, and had his soul sealed in HC, with legends being corrupted to say that CG was the state he was in the entire time.

-An incomplete resurrection like in OoX, only this time Ganon didn't even have a vessel, and as such only his spirit was released into the living world, although for the same reason why Vaati was able to be a threat in TMC even as just a spirit(the figurine for his second form said his body was shattered), Ganon was still a threat as a spirit; they're powerful demons.