Ganondorf – Goodnight Sweet Prince

It’s been a long and storied road for the antagonist of eight Zelda titles to date. He’s captured Princess Zelda many a time, been longing for the triforce since 1986, and always loses in the end to a the almighty hero… Link. He helped influence the spread of the twilight realm in Twilight Princess, the flooding of Hyrule in The Wind Waker and Phantom Hourglass, and always seems to convince a loyal minion to bring him back from the clutches of eternal damnation. Yet, despite all this, it’s time for him to simply say goodbye.

Lets face the facts. The last time I saw Ganondorf was in Twilight Princess. I stabbed a sword right through his chest, and watched him die. Of course, this isn’t the first time I’ve done this. I did the same sort of deal in Ocarina of Time, and I distinctly remember jamming my sword right into his skull in The Wind Waker. Don’t even get me started on his body exploding at the end of The Legend of Zelda. He’s dead. He’s been dead. He wont ever win, or give any of us the feeling he’s going to win. It’s time for Nintendo to tell Ganondorf to stay dead this time around.

Sure, there have been other bosses not named Ganondorf in the Zelda franchise. Vaati is usually brought up in these instances, but who really thought that he was really as bad-ass as Ganondorf? Not only that, but if he isn’t as bad-ass as Ganondorf… then what is he? After all, Ganondorf is a proven failure over the years. Malladus in Spirit Tracks truly was just a one off Ganondorf clone with a different name. We recently had Demise in Skyward Sword (annual Skyward Sword Walkthrough plug). Of course, Demise was setup and destroyed all in the same game, so it’s not like he was truly a solution to Ganondork syndrome.

So, Nintendo, hear my plea. It’s time to say goodbye to one of the most fabled villains in all of gaming. His story will be held forever in gamers hearts across the world. We need something fresh. We someone who strikes fear. The funny part about this is that you created that atmosphere in Twilight Princess with Zant… until you brought Ganondorf back into the fold.

Zant was scary. He had his scary looking, brand spanking new to the Zelda franchise, minions with him in the first ever scene you see him. He walked right into the court room of Hyrule Castle and made Zelda drop her sword with how defenseless she was. He, at this point, seemed unstoppable.

It goes even further then that. Midna and Link spend half the game gathering this almighty eat-face-and-die shadow mask that makes Zant chuckle. He renders the power useless turns Link back into a wolf, and puts Midna on her death bed. For the first time in what had seemed like years, it really truly felt like I was in a fight I couldn’t win.

Then in comes Ganondorf. The shadow mask that was rendered useless by Zant, who was merely using the same sort of power that supposedly Ganondorf has, magically was no longer useless. And low and behold, how do I end up slaying the Gerudo King? Hitting him in the face with a fishing pole, rolling around back, and stabbing him. Awesome. Well, okay, so the cut scene after shows me, in a sense, stabbing him through the chest, but leading up to that my first time was indeed with the fishing pole in hand. Ganondorf completely destroyed what Zant was. For some, Ganondorf ruined what was otherwise a pretty good story. He was somehow less powerful with his own “magical powers” than Zant was.

There I said it. Ganondorf ruined Twilight Princess. When it gets to the point where your main villain is actually a detriment to the game he is in… it’s time to let go. He’s been defeated for the last time in my mind. This also naturally means that Ganondorf like clones need to go by the wayside as well, as they too have proven to be just as weak of a threat as Ganondorf himself. Lets get an all new, never before seen, enemy that actually strikes fear.

Of course, I am but one voice in the crowd. What do you say?