Ganondorf

Ganondorf (ガノンドロフ, Ganondorofu) is a playable character and the true main antagonist in Hyrule Warriors. He is also the main antagonist of the Legend of Zelda series.

His transformed state, Ganon (ガノン), is playable in one of the two exclusive modes of the game's Boss Pack.

Role in Game
As explained in The Legend of Zelda series, Ganondorf is an incarnation of the hatred of the Demon King Demise, which is continuously resurrected to bring ruin upon the descendants of the goddess Hylia and her chosen champion. Ganondorf was born to the all-female Gerudo tribe, becoming king by default as per their tradition. Raised by the Twinrova witches and motivated by his harsh upbringing in the desert, Ganondorf set into motion a plot to conquer Hyrule and acquire the Triforce, a legendary artifact of the gods which he believed would make him all-powerful.

Through clever manipulation of his enemies, Ganondorf successfully entered the Sacred Realm where the Triforce was hidden, but his dark, unbalanced heart caused the Triforce to separate into its components; Power, Courage, and Wisdom. Although the other two pieces were lost to him, he was able to claim the Triforce of Power for himself, awakening to his true destiny and discarding his humanity in the process. After conquering most of Hyrule, he set his sights on reforming the complete Triforce by defeating the bearers of its other pieces: Link (the reincarnated Hero) and Zelda (direct descendant of the first Zelda, the mortal incarnation of Hylia).

While Ganondorf was ultimately defeated and sealed away by the Link and Zelda of his era, their repeated use of time travel caused the Legend of Zelda timeline to split. Events played out differently in each path, but one thing remains constant; Ganondorf has repeatedly defied death and reincarnated himself before being defeated by the various Links and Zeldas he encounters. Even if he were to be permanently destroyed, Demise's curse would simply resurface in a new form to continue bedeviling the bloodlines that struck him down..

Hyrule Warriors
In the Hyrule Warriors continuity, Ganondorf was defeated and sealed by a previous incarnation of the legendary hero of Hyrule, who managed to halt Ganondorf’s continuous reincarnation by splitting his soul into four fragments. Three of the fragments were scattered across time and space while the fourth was sealed away by the Master Sword. However, Ganondorf was still able to sense events around him, and thus came to influence Cia, the watcher of the dimensions. Using her unrequited love for the legendary hero's incarnations and her jealousy towards the woman whose destiny was linked to his, Ganondorf corrupted Cia, expelling all goodness from her heart. The Demon King promptly manipulated his new puppet into assembling the Triforce and opening the Gate of Souls, freeing three fragments of his spirit from their prisons in three different timelines.

With three-fourths of his soul reunited, Ganondorf was able to regain physical form. He promptly betrayed Cia and attempted to take the Triforce from her, intending to use it to free the final spirit fragment and restore his full power. However, Cia managed to fight back, drawing upon the Triforce of Power to seal Ganondorf away between the dimensions. Doing so, however, forced the Dark Sorceress to return the other pieces of the Triforce to their rightful bearers, leaving her in a weakened state even as the Hyrulean Army closed in on her base.

Due to being sealed between dimensions, Ganondorf was able to attack both of his enemies when the Hyrulean Army attacked the Temple of Souls. Despite bringing a substantial army to attack the battling forces after they had whittled each other down, the Demon King still lacked his full power and was thus unable to overcome his enemies. However, he remained confident that his wrath would soon fall upon Hyrule, especially since Link had been forced to weaken the seal binding the last piece of his soul by drawing the Master Sword to use against Cia's army.

Ganondorf's confidence was soon justified - shortly after Cia's final defeat, the faltering seal gave way, allowing him to reclaim the last fragment of himself. With his full strength restored, Ganondorf recruited Zant and Ghirahim as his followers before launching an assault on Gerudo Desert, raising an army of monsters by defeating their commanders in battle. With his newfound might, the Demon King travelled to the Valley of Souls, where he reclaimed the Triforce of Power from Lana. He then attacked Hyrule Castle, drawing out and defeating Link and Zelda to take their pieces of the Triforce.

With the mystical artifact's complete power at his disposal, Ganondorf summoned unending hordes of monsters to subjugate Hyrule before retiring to Hyrule Castle itself. His dark power corrupted the surroundings into a terrifying stronghold as he readied a ritual to empower himself even further. This would prove to be his downfall, however - with the Demon King occupied, Zelda led her remaining forces to Gerudo Desert, defeating Ganondorf's lieutenants and cutting off the flow of reinforcements to his new base.

With Ganondorf's position weakened, the Hyrulean Army and its allies from across time and space attacked the former Hyrule Castle to stop the Demon King once and for all. Ganondorf initially left the battle to his minions as he continued the ritual of empowerment, unleashing his full power just as his enemies breached his tower. With his enhanced might, he began attacking the Hyrulean Army directly, but they recaptured Hyrule Castle to cut off his power boost before defeating him. In a final attempt to turn the tide, Ganondorf used the Triforce to become the monstrous Ganon, but Zelda granted the Light Arrows to her allies, who used their life force to power up the legendary weapons and defeat the Demon Beast.

Age of Calamity
In the Breath of the Wild timeline, as revealed in Tears of the Kingdom, Ganondorf was a leader of the Gerudo Tribe 10 millennia ago who attempted to conquer Hyrule but was stopped by the Royal Family’s Secret Stones. Ganondorf responded with a change of strategy to feign pledging alliance to Zelda’s ancestor King Rauru to get close enough to his wife Sonia so he can kill her and take her Secret Stone to amplify his magic. As the Demon King, Ganondorf ushers in the First Calamity which tore Hyrule asunder. Rauru leads a battle alongside a Hero and Sages with the Sheikah race creating the Guardians and the four Divine Beasts to support them. But Ganondorf proved too powerful, forcing Rauru to sacrifice himself to seal Ganondorf in the deepest depths of Hyrule Castle until a foretold hero could end him.

Forgotten to history within his prison, the decayed remains of Ganondorf emitted vast amounts of a corruptive substance called Malice. The massive amounts of Malice eventually manifests his wrath in the form of a monstrous creature known as Calamity Ganon which sought to contaminate the very land itself. When Calamity Ganon’s coming was foretold by a prophet, King Rhoam decided to re-enact their ancestors' plan and excavate the Guardians and Divine Beasts, choosing a Champion from each race of Hyrule to pilot the latter. What happened next depends on the timeline.

Original Timeline
In the original timeline (Breath of the Wild), Calamity Ganon was prepared for the Hyruleans' attempt to repeat history. With the support of the Yiga Clan (a splinter faction of Sheikah embittered by the ancient King of Hyrule's exile of their race for fear of their technology), he created the Blight Ganons to take control of the Divine Beasts and kill their pilots; he also used his Malice to take control of the Guardians and turn them against Hyrule. In the aftermath of the assault, a mortally-wounded Link was placed in the Shrine of Resurrection to recover, while Zelda used her sacred power to partially seal Ganon in Hyrule Castle. Though this gave Hyrule a century to recover, the Calamity still had enough influence to plague the land with monsters and Malice; furthermore, Zelda's seal gradually broke down over time as her power waned. Fortunately for Hyrule, Link would eventually recover from his wounds and set out to undo the damage Ganon had wrought, freeing the Divine Beasts and eventually striking down Calamity Ganon itself with the help of Zelda.

Eventually, during the events of Tears of the Kingdom, Link and Zelda would learn of Ganondorf as he eventually breaks free and is eventually killed by the former.

Rewritten Timeline
In the rewritten timeline (Age of Calamity), a Ganon-possessed Guardian Stalker invades Hyrule Castle during the Calamity and finds a diminutive white Guardian (Terrako) opening a strange portal. After its attempts to shoot the little robot fail, it releases Malice into the portal, allowing a fragment of Ganon's consciousness to travel back in time. Emerging from the portal several days prior to the Calamity, Ganon's Malice possesses another instance of Terrako, becoming the entity known as Harbinger Ganon. After knocking out Terrako after absorbing the Malice of monsters, Ganon approaches a cult dedicated to him and subjugated them to his Malice until only one named Astor remained. Ganon provided Astor and the Yiga Clan with information from their immediate future in hopes of securing his eventual victory over Hyrule.

Realizing that Terrako intended to avert the Calamity by warning Hyrule of his coming, Harbinger Ganon spurred Astor to intensify monster attacks across the land while the Yiga increased their efforts to assassinate key figures, such as Zelda, Purah, and Robbie. The Harbinger also accompanied some monster attacks on Rito Village, causing the Rito to become hostile towards Zelda and her entourage when they mistook Terrako for an ally of the invaders. When Zelda still manages to recruit the other four Champions and activate the Divine Beasts, Ganon decides to take a more drastic step; unleashing the Calamity a day earlier than predicted. By doing so, he manages to trap Zelda, Link, and Impa in Hyrule Castle as the Guardians are corrupted by Malice and the Blight Ganons are unleashed upon the Divine Beasts' pilots.

Unfortunately for Ganon, the early Calamity would be largely mitigated by the Hyrulean Army's actions. King Rhoam would survive the Guardians' attack thanks to a Guardian Shield he confiscated from Zelda - this would also spur him to finally realize the error of his previous actions and mend his relationship with his daughter. Terrako used its time portals to summon reinforcements from the future - the successors of the "present" Champions - who would hold off the Blight Ganons long enough for Link to defeat them. The Yiga Clan sided with the Hyrulians when Astor sacrificed some of them to revive the defeated Blight Ganons, and Purah developed a device to shut down most of the corrupted Guardians; between these two losses, the Dark Forces were significantly diminished. To top it off, Zelda would awaken her sacred power far earlier than predicted when she saw Link fighting a hopeless battle against all four Blight Ganons.

Eventually, the Hyrulean Army was able to mount an assault against the Malice-corrupted Hyrule Castle, forcing Harbinger Ganon to reveal himself alongside Astor. He transforms his host body into a larger combat form to battle the heroes, but is forced to withdraw when they prove too powerful. When a similarly-defeated Astor furiously demands that Harbinger Ganon attack the assembled heroes, Ganon instead summons Malice to engulf the Prophet of Doom, absorbing him to create a new body for himself. Now resembling a demonic cross between a boar and his old Gerudo form made entirely of Malice and corrupted Guardian technology, the reborn Calamity Ganon retires to the Sanctum of Hyrule Castle to draw power from his past self, leaving the heroes to deal with Terrako after it was corrupted by some of his Malice.

By the time the Hyrulean Army reached the Sanctum, Calamity Ganon's power had grown to the point where he was completely immune to all of their attacks; even Zelda's sacred power proved unable to strike him. However, as Ganon moved to finish off the reincarnation of Hylia, he was attacked by Terrako, who had just barely regained functionality when Zelda called upon her powers. The little Guardian's sacrificial explosion weakened Ganon enough for the other heroes to defeat him, with Link slashing him with the Master Sword before Zelda sealed him away with her divine power.

After the main story is completed, Calamity Ganon can be unlocked as a playable character by completing certain bonus missions.

Personality
Ganondorf is best characterized by his greed, sadism, and lust for power. Cold and manipulative, he has no qualms in using others to fulfill his own desires, although he will offer some praise if they are able to prove themselves useful. He also has a bloodthirsty streak, being disappointed if his enemies prove too weak in the face of his might.

Quotes

 * See also: Ganondorf/Quotes

Hyrule Warriors
Great Sword=
 * X: Ganondorf rises off the ground and then pounds down hard into the ground with incredible force, which deals heavy damage to everything around him. This attack's damage and area of effect greatly increase as Ganondorf's meter fills up; if his meter is full, Ganondorf also gains full invincibility during the attack's animation. Using this attack completely empties Ganondorf's meter.
 * Y, X (rapid): Ganondorf forcefully plants his swords in the ground, which knocks enemies into the air. He then performs a series of repeated diagonal slashes that send out shockwaves at the airborne enemies, then finishes by swinging both his blades, creating an x-shaped slash and knocking his targets away. Rapidly tapping X causes Ganondorf to perform more slashes and further charge his meter.
 * Y, Y, X: Ganondorf points his blade skyward while a large ball of dark energy forms at the tip of the blade. He then slings it forward, with the orb detonating after traveling a set distance forward or hitting an enemy.
 * Y, Y, Y, X: Ganondorf rapidly swings both swords in a flurry around him, enclosing him in a sphere of slashes. He then explodes it outward, knocking back enemies.
 * Y, Y, Y, Y, X: Ganondorf raises both hands up to create a large orb of dark energy. He then slams it into the ground in front of him before punching it, causing the orb to explode and send out a spread of smaller orbs forward in an arc.
 * Y, Y, Y, Y, Y, X: Ganondorf punches the ground to summon a dark manifestation of his demon form, Ganon, to perform a horizontal swipe that blows away surrounding foes.
 * Y, Y, Y, Y, Y, Y, Y: Ganondorf swings his swords horizontally left and right, then slams them both down into the ground. He then releases a spherical pulse of dark energy from him, and then swings his sword in front of him. He swings his swords three times in front of him before delivering a final blow infused with dark energy.


 * A: Ganondorf raises his sword into the air, which simultaneously infuses his blade with electricity and causes thunderbolts to crash down in 2 parallel lines in front of him. He then swings his sword, sending a wicked burst of lightning towards his foes.


 * Focus Spirit + A: Ganondorf summons a black shadow in the shape of his demon form, Ganon, to attack nearby enemies.
 * Focus Spirit Finisher: Ganondorf hovers into the air and gathers dark energy around his fists, before slamming his fists down hard onto the ground, knocking back enemies.


 * Weak Point Smash: Ganondorf envelops his right arm in darkness, forming a large claw of shadow, before using it to swipe at his enemies.

Ganondorf's attacks consist of a mix of powerful sword slashes and magic attacks. He is rather slow, but his attacks have a large range. All of his strong attack combos excluding X and Y, X can be charged up by holding down the strong attack button, and doing so fills up a special gauge. Said gauge is then consumed to deliver a devastating strike when the player presses the strong attack button.
 * Fighting Style
 * Use of two swords as he does in Wind Waker.
 * C5 references the charged energy blast from Ocarina of Time after taking significant damage.

Added in Legends, can only be used in the Wii U version if registered.
 * -|Trident=
 * X: Ganondorf throws his trident forward, then dashes to catch it.
 * Y, X: Ganondorf jumps into the air swinging his trident.
 * Y, Y, X: Ganondorf quickly coats his arm in shadow, then delivers a darkness-infused tackle to whatever is in front of him.
 * Y, Y, Y, X: Ganondorf throws his trident, causing it to orbit around him like a boomerang. His trident returns to his hand after completing one wide orbit.
 * Y, Y, Y, Y, X: Ganondorf rapidly infuses his arm with darkness, then performs a powerful uppercut that sends himself and his enemies into the air.
 * Y, Y, Y, Y, Y, X: Ganondorf throws his trident forward like a javelin, then dives after it while punching the ground, creating an eruption of dark energy upon impact. The direction that Ganondorf throws his trident in can be adjusted with the control stick, but the dive afterwards cannot be dash-cancelled; however, enemies struck by the dive before Ganondorf punches the ground will still take rather high damage.
 * Y, Y, Y, Y, Y, Y, Y: Ganondorf swings his trident diagonally upwards to the left, then repeats the same swing again to the right. He then charges forward and quickly stabs at anything in front of him. Afterwards, Ganondorf performs a vertical slash with his trident, then slams the ground in front of him with an electricity-infused strike. Ganondorf then performs a lightning-infused horizontal swipe and ends his string by throwing his trident forward at his foes, after which his trident returns to his hand. The trident travels a surprisingly long distance when it is thrown.
 * Y, Y, Y (aerial): Ganondorf rapidly stabs at his foes while in the air.
 * X (aerial): Ganondorf crashes towards the ground, knocking his foes out of the air and creating a large burst of energy on impact.


 * A: Ganondorf throws his trident into the ground in front of him, then floats into the air and flings a ball of electricity at it, which causes a column of lightning to erupt around his weapon and blow his foes away.


 * Focus Spirit + A: Ganondorf punches the ground with his darkness-infused arm before throwing a ball of dark energy at his foes.
 * Focus Spirit Finisher: Ganondorf raises his left arm, with the Triforce of Power glowing brightly on the back of his hand. He then roars and raises his trident skyward, causing a large explosion of energy to erupt around him.


 * Weak Point Smash: Ganondorf slashes his opponent with his trident twice before lunging at his foe and performing a lightning-infused thrust that creates a burst of energy around him.

Ganondorf's attacks when using his Trident consist of a large mixture of darkness-infused arm attacks, lightning-infused stabs and a lot of energy bursts. His combos like C4 can easily deal with large hordes of enemies, but he can also take on enemy captains and Giant Bosses with his semi-fast light string and his powerful C5, the latter of which he can follow up on with his quick and powerful aerial attacks that get boosted by his weapon's Lightning element. While Trident Ganondorf lacks the sheer burst damage provided by the Great Swords and retains his semi-slow movement speed, he makes up for it with his much faster attacks and versatility.
 * Fighting Style


 * -|Ganon=

As a boss
Ganon uses attacks from the other Giant Bosses sans the Imprisoned. These must be countered by the same items that repelled the original bosses: Bombs for Fireball, the Bow and Arrow for Ganon Bomb, the Hookshot for Burning Breath, and the Boomerang for Fury Horn; the Boomerang must be used twice, once for each horn. Once each attack is countered, Ganon will begin to charge forward, leaving him vulnerable to the Bow and Arrow (Light Arrows in Legend and Free Mode).
 * Boss abilities
 * 1) Fireball: Charges a massive fireball from his fist, then launches it forward.
 * 2) Ganon Bomb: Charges an energy bomb from an eye from his bracer.
 * 3) Fury Horn: Ganon's horns split open to spit a barrage of seeds forward.
 * 4) Burning Breath: Ganon hovers in the air and breathes a stream of fire.
 * 5) Ganon punches the ground, creating four wide lines of lightning that arc along the ground.
 * 6) Ganon charges forward, ramming anyone in his path.
 * 7) Ganon performs a spinning punch, repelling anyone around him.
 * Counter Strategies

As a playable character
DLC only.
 * Y, Y, Y: Ganon uses his claws to perform a upwards diagonal claw swipe to the left, then repeats the same claw swipe to the right. Afterwards, he smashes both of his fists into the ground, creating a shockwave that blows his surroundings away.


 * X, X: Ganon punches the ground, creating 4 wide lines of red lightning that arc along the ground in a fan-like pattern. Pressing X again will make Ganon punch the ground again, creating 5 more lines of red electricity that zap the areas where the first 4 arcs of lightning did not hit.


 * Up on the D-Pad: Ganon charges forward, ramming his entire body into his foes and knocking them backwards.


 * ZL: Ganon winds up and performs a spinning punch that knocks back any enemies around him.


 * A: Ganon charges his fist with a huge amount of dark energy and punches the ground, blowing away his surroundings and creating a large crater.


 * Focus Spirit + A: Pulls out his Trident, and flings it forward causing it to spin around and damaging all enemies directly in front of him self.
 * Focus Spirit Finisher: Ganon gathers dark energy around his fists and rises into the air before slamming the ground.


 * Weak Point Smash: Creates a massive orb of dark energy, slams it onto his opponent, then performs a powerful right hook punch into the orb of energy causing it to explode.
 * Weak Point Smash (vs Boss): Jumps up into the air, slashing the enemies with his trident while ascending, then throws it down ward to have the teeth of the trident pierce the boss monsters body.

Unlike most characters who can use battle items like the Boomerang or Bow, Ganon is capable of using a Giant Boss's signature abilities in battle like his enemy version can; these are stocked in his inventory instead of battle items. In order to use them, Ganon must first find a Giant Boss and defeat it, after which the Giant Boss will drop an item that grants Ganon their signature move. Each Boss Attack is strong against another Giant Boss and will expose their Weak Point Gauge when used against them.
 * Boss Attacks

Ganon is a hulking beast, capable of damaging Giant Bosses without needing the necessary items to make their Weak Point Gauges appear. However, due to his large size, it makes him an easy target for mobs to gang up on.
 * Fighting Style

Age of Calamity
Calamity Ganon has a Malice gauge underneath his health bar and Special Attack gauges. His attacks spread Malice, which are absorbed into him after some time, but his unique action allows him to absorb Malice at the player's whim. When the gauge is full, he can enter Calamity mode.
 * Y, Y, Y, Y, Y, Y: Calamity Ganon slashes to the left, then slashes to the right. He slams the ground, creating three fountains of Malice, does a double slash to the front, another double slash, and finally a leaping slam that generates five fountains of Malice. In Calamity Mode, Ganon punches forwards, sending a blast of Malice, then slashes upwards, throws Malice in front of him, stomps downwards, and finally fires a blast of Malice from his mouth.
 * Dash + Y: Ganon does two quick slashes, then a stomp.
 * Dash + X: Ganon does a three-strike spin attack.
 * Air + Y: Ganon sends out an X-shaped slash from his arms.
 * Air + X: Ganon transforms his right arm into a cannon and fires up to five shots.
 * X: Ganon creates volleys of Malice.
 * Calamity Form + X, X, X, X, X: In Calamity Form, Ganon performs a flail smash, a leaping slam, a blast from his arm cannon, a winged jump slash, and finally enters his smoke form and spirals around.
 * Y, X: Ganon creates an outcrop of Malice.
 * Y, Y, X: Ganon performs a flurry of punches, finishing with a blast of Malice.
 * Y, Y, Y, X: Ganon generates a flail of Malice and slams it around him.
 * Y, Y, Y, Y, X: Ganon performs two quick attacks, generates two wings, and slams them, creating shockwaves of Malice in his wake.
 * ZR: Calamity Ganon absorbs Malice spread by his attacks. Pressing the button after his Malice gauge is full activates Calamity mode.
 * Stasis: Ganon freezes enemies in a wide radius around him in time.
 * Magnesis: Ganon throws out three spikes and shocks them with lightning.
 * Cryonis: Ganon creates five pillars of ice around him.
 * Bombs: Ganon throws and punches five bombs at once, creating a wide range of explosions.

Weapons
Great Sword=

Added in Legends, can only be used in the Wii U version if registered.
 * -|Trident=

DLC only.
 * -|Ganon=

Badge Materials

 * See also: Hyrule Warriors/Badges

Attack Badges=
 * -|Defense Badges=
 * -|Assist Badges=

Trivia

 * When fans saw Ganondorf's design upon his initial reveal, they started a meme associating him with various hair care products such as Dove. In response, Nintendo joins in on the fun by claiming he uses a special hair spray.
 * Ganondorf's Great Swords were among the few weapons to receive patch updates.