I love how Ganon makes a Phantom that looks like Zelda just to troll everyone and give Link false hope. He's such a goof.

honestly it's funny af looking back at the theories going "Ganondorf will be a good guy this time and will team up with Link and Zelda!" only for this man to end up being a complete psychopath

He's such a contrast to The Wind Waker version of Ganondorf, who managed to find his humanity in the end and accept his death at the hands of Link. Out of all the incarnations of Ganon, this Ganondorf literally sacrificed everything to win no matter what. He not only gave up his people, but also his honor, humanity, mind and even reincarnation just to so he wouldn't be seen a loser. Even the Demon Dragon bears no resemblance to the pig Ganon or even bears the name Ganon. That's how much he lost in the end. In contrast to WW Ganondorf, who was more focused on reviving Hyrule over becoming a god because that game was all about letting go of the past. In that game, WW Ganondorf was able to retain his humanity because he cared about something beyond himself, even if it's still selfish in the end. Though he lost the Triforce to the King of Red Lions, he was able to die as a mortal Gerudo feeling the wind he once desired, which is why the Adult Timeline is no longer plagued by Ganon anymore. And the best part is that both are from the same mold but taken in different directions. Whereas WW Ganondorf shows the human side of Ganon, TOTK Ganondorf shows the inhuman side, one that ultimately consumes the character into a pure symbol of evil.

i love how ganondorf’s secret stone goes in the middle of his forehead, mirroring the third eye of the zonai. by imitating the natural-given feature of the zonai race, i think it shows his bitter jealousy of rauru’s power and status as the king of hyrule.

Everyone saying Ganondorf is a poor, broken and missunderstood person are those who would Ganondorf clearly manipulate into doing his own will.

Some notes on ToTK Ganondorf: - His pale skintone suggests a lack of sunlight. His "hatred of light" thing may be more literal than just evil. Maybe the Koume and Kotake look-alike Gerudo with the same skintone raised him underground? There are many caves in the desert, ruins too. - The final area of the game where Ganondorf is battled is a massive tree of Gloom roots, which seem to be all flowing the substance towards Ganondorf. All the Gloom in the game is draining Hyrule, and fueling him. I love this armageddon interpretation of Ganondorf. He is the end incarnate.

Visually he's peak Ganondorf. And as a pure villain, he works great, especially with hit "creepiness-factor". But just in terms of individual character depth, they certainly could've done much more for him.

All that and he’s even hot. The only possible counter of that is the creepy grin he has that one time that defies all known bone structure

Most disapointing part i think, is that Riju didnt interact with Ganondorf. I think it would been interesthing to see Ganondorf's reaction on Goruto cultures changes, and Riju Also Ganondorf finding out that he had followers (yiga clan), and meeting a being more powerful than him (the all mighty banana Master Kohga) would been fun

This Ganondorf's character writing is fascinating in a different way than Wind Waker's was. Wind Waker humanized him by having him finally come to terms with why he so obsessively sought to conquer Hyrule, while Tears of the Kingdom showed more depth to his pure evil than ever before. It's the perfect direction to take this Ganondorf, as we need to be able to look at him and fully buy that he is in fact the origin of the Calamity. He views the world strictly through the lens of power, believing it should be ruled by those that have the power to claim it for themselves, and that constant battle to be the very best is something he greatly enjoys. I love how throughout the game before the final battle, he never once appears stressed or discouraged; he always appears so determined and confidant. When he makes his first attempt to overrun Hyrule with the Moldugas and Rauru just blasts them away, he remains focused and looks for another way, which he immediately comes up with on the spot. That smile when he murders Sonia and steals her stone also says so much, as after all his plotting, he finally has access to a power far greater than Rauru's, and he's free to do whatever he wants with the world and its people while no one can stand in his way. Even when Rauru lands the sealing blow on him and he knows he's gonna be stuck down here for tens of thousands of years, he remains unphased as he knows keeping him sealed for a limited time is all Rauru can do, after which he'll reawaken in a time where his greatest foe is no more. The very first time he shows any sign of distress is when Link defeats him. Up until now, he has faced setbacks, but he always had a backup plan to get his way no matter what. Now, this man he saw as weak and unworthy when he walked in suddenly just became a far greater threat than Rauru ever was, and for the first time, there's nothing Ganondorf can do to take control; he's no longer unbeatable. Refusing to accept this reality, he does the only thing he can to gain even more power than he already has: sacrificing all that he is and becoming the full embodiement of the darkness that drives him. It seems like this would give him the upper hand, but with the arrival of Link's companion who had become the embodiement of the light that drove her, he didn't stand a chance. She still had something to fight for and protect, while all he had to fight for was now gone, and he was now nothing more than pure, aimless evil.

One thing I will add to what you were saying how he has no respect for Link is during their fight while in his base form anytime he lands a blow on Link he taunts Link calling "weak" and "Pathetic" and has a very stoic expression on his face. Once he transforms with his secret stone though he is smiling the whole battle and he no longer mocks Link when he lands a blow

I don't know if I'd say he's perfect, but he was definitely surprisingly refreshing. In the new era of tragic/sympathetic villains we are in now alongside the plotwist villains that show up at the very end of the story out of nowhere and make no logical sense, I was feeling a bit nostalgic at the idea of seeing a straight up selfish A-hole with a ton of presence and menace as an antagonist. I respect the opinion of those who were disappointed, but personally, I liked him a lot. Really wished we could have seen more interactions with him for sure, though.

This ganondorf is the most scenic we had this villain. It is a shame that the english version removed some nuances that explained most of this character's motivations. The guy has a deep hatred for the Zonai, as their, in his words, claim to rule out of the bounds of their people, shows an impressive, yet arrogant, feat. The same arrogance that this Ganondorf has, wanting to expand himself his reign, this shows an hint of hypocrisy in the character, that, despite that, is willing to fight and sacrifice everything, including his soul, to show that he is the true king. Soul sacrifice is the draconification, since in every version except the english one, the soul is the one that gets sacrificed as an "who seeks immortality is bound to eternal oblivion of the soul". For the final fight ganondorf calls again the arrogance of the zonai, calling peace what was expansion, since he really says, "hiding your cowardice under the word peace", adding also, "true courage, vanished long long ago", sentence that links to the triforce and the delusion he had when the first meeting with link ended with link getting railed by his miasma (true word, ganondorf does not use gloom, but miasma, word that links more to the sickness that it brings). In the fight too, ganondorf when transforms into demon king, he starts talking in the same way that Demise speaks in skyward sword. All nuances that sadly go away with the english version. A similarity i can give to totk ganondorf is to second age Sauron , during the fall if numenor. Also because of the eye theme that ganondorf has in the latest games

Wind Waker Ganondorf is still the most complex version, but this Ganondorf is my favorite. Not just because this is easily my favorite boss fight of his or his incredibly cool design. It's how he has never felt more menacing or threatening. Even as a decrepit mummy, he's able to inflict so much damage to Link and spread so much chaos. Not to mention when he transforms back into his original form and "the Menace Unleashed" displayed with his leitmotif...chef's kiss. And even if Wind Waker Ganondorf has more depth, there's nothing wrong with a villain who's simply evil and wants to rule. Not to mention how his draconification was the polar opposite of Zelda. Hers was an act of sacrifice. His was an act of selfishness.

When you first atack him and he dodges was the scariest thing i have experienced in my life

I agree completely. I think the idea that he'd be a better character if they tried to make him more sympathetic is totally inaccurate. What matters is if there's truth in the character, and there is indeed. History is full of people whose lust for power drove their every action from dictators to serial killers to even more "banal" psychopaths like clout-chasing influencers and Wall Street finance guys. Ganondorf is very "true" in that sense. Not everyone has a Freudian sympathetic backstory or misguided altruism guiding them.

One of the things that stuck with me most about the ending of this game is that killing ganondorf is not the last thing you do. The final moments of this game are about saving zelda not killing ganondorf which I think perfectly sells the themes of community and reminds us that this isn’t ganondorf story it’s link and zeldas

I've played mostly every Zelda game since I was a kid in the 80's and love pretty much them all. Ocarina ofcoarse is a favorite and has been since I first played it but something about this games story and presentation just blew me away. It may be from nostalgia and sadness of lose from siblings I used to play these games with are no longer alive but the end of this game brought me to tears literally. It was just so beautifully well done. The finally time you have controlled over Link and you dive down to catch Zelda is just brilliant. What a masterpiece and perfect conclusion to Botw.

Idec if he's a "shallow" villan the final battle was SO HYPE

I know nothing about Zelda and was never interested in playing it yet I still enjoy these Zelda video essays, they are very well produced and entertaining. 👍

He’s literally just Ocarina Ganondorf mixed with Demise.

Is this what it's like when a Zelda fan has actual media literacy? Im not even being facetious, this I genuinely one of the only TotK videos I've seen that actually takes character dislogue and actions and examines them beyond the surface level. It's one of the only TotK videos I've seen that actually engages with the media they're consuming instead of just going "My hand isn't held through every major plot point and character detail, therefore this is bad writing". All this to say, I think this video was great and perfectly encapsulates why this iteration of Ganondorf is such a good character, and an even better villain. In my opinion, he's the best villain the Zelda series has had so far

Well about Ganondorf's "Selfish Act" of Dragonification. You still need to understand how the Demon Tribe works. Demise in Skyward Sword's Japanese Text seems to act more like a representive for the Demon Community as if they are having one wish and one desire: The Dominance of Darkness And That's exacty what Ganondorf's wish was at the end. If he shall perrish then so be it, but Darkness should still be in charge.

This is my second favorite iteration of Ganondorf, only surpassed by the Hyrule Warriors version who just like the TOTK Ganondorf is an absolute unit, but he also has some of the more affable qualities of his Wind Waker counterpart, albeit not to the same extent. He’s also the strongest version of Ganondorf due to gaining the full Triforce and it takes an entire army of heroes to stop him.

My favorite part of the video was when he called ganondorf a complete loser, and I’m being 100% serious. He doesn’t hype him up, he doesn’t make him look cool, he doesn’t make him look like some edgelords fantasy. Crustbound calls him exactly what he is. A loser. An entitled man who manipulated and used people to fuel his own selfishness, lost to genuinely good people who loved each other, and in the end died the exact same way he lived: alone, grasping for any straw he could and not able to admit his shortcomings.

This just highlights how powerful lore accurate link is

I just love Ganondorf, and one of the big reasons is because he can be anything. In Ocarina of time he's An arrogant prince, Windwaker he's a broken man, in Twilight princess he's a manipulative criminal and Tears of the kingdom he's just a sadist

This was a great video! It really made me appreciate this take on Ganondorf after so many people wrote him off as a pale shadow of past versions. I would love to see a video covering your thoughts on BOTW/TOTK's version of Princess Zelda, as I think she's the best version of the character yet. I really loved her story across both games and related to her a lot.

Finally, some respect on TotK Ganondorf's name. People love to complain about how boring and shallow his motivations are, but I honestly can't recall an instance (aside from maybe Wind Waker) where Ganondorf was truly compelling in that regard. I do wish he had a bit more screen time to fully flesh him out, and I'm not a huge fan of how much you need to read between the lines to get the full picture of his character, but he's still very much a threatening presence and does a great job at elevating the game's themes of community and sacrifice.

ALSO: he's hot

Finally someone who says it how it really is. Ganondorf was never misunderstood. People only say that because of one throwaway line in Wind Waker, but he never mentioned the Gerudo suffering being his reason for wanting power. He wanted it because he envied the prosperity that Hyrule had. His actions in Ocarina if Time show he did nothing to help his people either. They remained in the desert and were brainwashed to see him as a god by Twinrova while he sat in his castle and spread misery. He doesn't need to be redeemable and know about Demise and that is what makes him a good character. People like him actually exist in the world.

Love that intro editing. Love embodiment of evil enemies and enemies who are just regular people who become massively evil, decayed ganondorf in this game is true peak though.

Totk Ganondorf is by far the best version of Ganondorf in my opinion as well! I completely agree with everything you had to say in this video. Keep up the good work!

I absolutely love the cutscenes before and after you beat phantom ganon in Hyrule castle. It makes ganondorf really feel like an intimidating, maniacal villain, and he exudes such a sense of power and control

I don't get why so many say this version of ganondorf was shallow. I actually think he was portrayed perfectly.

This video made me appreciate this game and its Ganon so much more. Well done

The final boss intro, the lines, the second phase, everyrhing

AYEE I never noticed the finger puncture wounds lol. LOVE THIS VIDEO AGAIN

watching him finally acknowledge you as a worthy foe is such a rush during the boss fight, the one on one duel just hits different, I would always say my favorite zelda boss was twilight princess gannondorf, the one on one sword duel is just so cool

Great job, this is a great video.

I don't like Ganondorf in this game, but i like him in theory. He doesn't get enough screen time to make a meaningful impact and him pretending to be zelda to trick everyone is diminished by bad story telling (its painfully obvious and if you did the memories beforehand then link knows everything but doesn't tell anybody which is frustrating as hell.) Also I find people saying Wind Waker Ganondorf is redeemable funny as hell. He was very clearly lying through his teeth so link would put up less of a fight. Somehow he was so convincing he managed to convince the player base. Like this takes place in the adult timeline when he had full power over hyrule and he still abandoned the gerudo. He doesn't care about giving the resources of hyrule to his people, he just wants power for himself.

I think you should have realy mentioned what he says in the Japanese dub because it makes his motivation more clear. We see even more that he thinks hes the true king and how he thinks people have become weak. 7:30 I mean stuff like this wasnt even in the original. Other than that good analysis

I realized some time ago that when I really hate a villain like "You killed my favorite character you little -" hate then I love that villain. (I really liked Sonia why did she die? Why Nintendo?)

7:18 I NEVER NOTICED THAT! Thats so dope

I love that he's just a pure evil villain, it's so great

I love complex villains. Mostly antagonists. Other ganondorfs especially wind waker gives the fandom a more sympathetic glimpse into a a VERSION of what he could be. I love this version cuz 1. SEXY 2. He’s an asshole and has charisma 2a. Asshole, pure asshole, literal demon made mortal and I LOVE the eldritch horror concept idea that COULD be played with (as an artist and story teller) 2b. That shit eating grin and him owning his assholery. He’s an asshole, he knows it and doesn’t give a shit. 3. Confidence is sexy

or Ganondorf’s motives in Tears of the Kingdom, I’ve found out that he really wants to bring the world back that its rightfully was when the land is roamed by demons. In Japanese, his dissatisfaction to the rulers of Hyrule to lived in a peace and tranquility where as he remained attached to the brutal past were those with a sense of fighting spirit are the supreme. He aims for controlling all creation instead of world domination. And he willing to go extreme lenghs to fulfill his desire. No wonder why he despises the Zonai and Rauru’s kingdom. And ths why I do not like how the English vocalization re written the original source materials…. just like NA Nintendo did to Link’s Journal Entry logs.

"I always come back" -Gannondorf

Something interesting to think about: the world was probably supposed to looks as he wanted until the goddesses and added land, water and life and then Hylia

You witness a king....Mid-Suavemente.

1:32 into the video and, just something I want to bring up; "Weak, peace loving cowards run rampant." TotK Ganondorf is an ableist bastard, and that makes it personal. Yes, I am weak. Yes, peacetime is the only chance I'd have at survival without help, and Ganondorf would see me dead for it.

I think people are saying Ganondorf is shallow here because we were expecting him to play a bigger role and there was a mis-translation with the dialog. In the Japanese version, Ganondorf discredited Rauru, didn't really respect him because he was leading Hyrule into a false sense of security, he thought leading people with peace was making them complacent and wouldn't ever be prepared for threats. So, as a King, he felt it was his duty to go and conquer other kingdoms because the strong win over the weak. But in the English one, it was just, hey I'm bad, I want shiny pebble gimme shiny pebble. Don't know why this was decided but...🤷🏾‍♀️🤷🏾‍♀️

People are forgetting he is the physical form of evil why should he care about other ppl of course he wants to have power

I quote Ganondorf’s lines all the time because he’s so demonic and badass.

I just wish we got more background on his upbringing, its a real missed opportunity. design wise he's your typical gerudo, its obvious he has his demon tribe connection through his choice of clothes and weapons. And as you were saying i dont want to see his life story to make him sympathetic, i want to see the hunger for power, entitlement and jealousy of the king being built up. and to see a more about the demon tribe.

The one true king

The fact that people look at Ganondorf as “misunderstood” is hilarious. Even in WW, he’s trying to use the triforce for his own selfish goals. He’s the incarnation of the ultimate evil for Hylia’s sake!

Ganondorf is just a pawn in the hand of master kohga

You could say Ganon sacrificed himself for the people he loves… Himself.

I've been wondering for a while: Does anyone know, where exactly the final explosion of the Demon Dragon leaves a crater in the map? From what I could see it's either between Hyrule Castle and Korok Forest, or on top of one of them. I ask because I like the idea that the final blast could have annihilated Hyrule Castle, the Gloom gloom tree and a good chunk of the underground catacombs leading the the Chamber of Imprisonment, finally destroying the root of what haunted this Hyrule for good and putting an end to an era of constant fear. EDIT: I just replayed the ending. Yeah no, Hyrule Castle is still there, I just forgot about it. It would've been nice tho, at least in my opinion. :) My original question still stands tho, though it seems the explosion is too high up to destroy a chunk of the surface.

The TotK Ganondorf is just pure evil for no reason, but I think the Wind Waker Ganondorf is the best. Cuz he lost his people to the great flood. The only thing he wants is getting back the desert and his tribe.

So you’re telling me Ganon doesn’t remember being defeated by Link in breath of the wild?

Dawg I didn't know you could slash those malice things he sends at you I feel so stupid now

I wish we got to see him more tho..

I like Totk Ganondorf I just had a few issues and I believe there are better incarnations of the character

Can you make a full review of TOTK? I would actually watch it, even if it's 3 hours (I'm not joking, I once watched one that long), and I would like to see what you thought of the game

Wooooo a video that isn't Dorf slander

He was defeated because he didn’t have the power of suavemente

Number 1 villainof all time I don’t f*%#ing care what you say he is the peak of evil and he’s not pathetic😡🤬

While I like that you laughed off the bizarre "the Zonai are colonialists" narrative that I saw a lot of not too long after TOTK released, there's a small part of me that kind of sees where that asinine take comes from. Rauru and Sonia have the Hyrulean equivalent of every nuke on the planet in the form of the Secret Stones. The angle that the people pushing the colonialism narrative are coming at this from is "the entire world may have just bowed to Rauru out of fear that he would wipe their species off the face of the earth if they didn't". That's very obviously not what you're supposed to take away from the story, but the weird contrarians are just going as far against the game's story as they can.

Totk Ganondorf is daddy material

Why couldn’t xehanort be like this version of ganondorf!??

When I finished the game and Gannon exploded like a nuclear bomb I was like are we just not going to talk about that like what the f*** what happens after y'all just ignoring the fact that there's a giant hole in the Earth now like people must have died like Jesus

I never wanted to beat TF put of Ganon, so much, in any of the other games, as I did the moment he pulled that crap with poor Sonia!

He’s evil cause he’s evil. Love it

I loooove videos about why someone loves something! It's great to see positivity out here :D

The only flaw is the "Evil for the sake of being Evil" Charecter. Wind Waker had a story and a reason for Gannondorf to be against Link, but TOTK has no reason. It's a hallow evil but a bad-ass one.

I feel like this version of ganondorf would probably agree with sukuna form JJK's philosophy.

Design wise he’s great. That said- they really don’t do much new with him. He’s doing his OOT gerudo king with a war against the Sages like before. IDK I kind of liked how Twilight Princess and Wind Waker closed out Ganondorf in their respective timelines. The nonGanon villains in the series showed imo that Zelda can outgrow Ganondorf and still be good.

I love how personal is to Ganon to defeat Zelda and Link. Because Zelda has a direct hand in sealing Ganon.

And who in Hyrule (especially Link) could belive at any point that fake Zelda is the real one.

I'd argue equally as important. Totk Ganondorf is so hot... Smash

Best version of ganon in the franchise.

What did ganondorf do to Sonia punch her from the back choke her from the back?

Is he straight up insane

ngl though that explosion should have destroyed hyrule

It's interesting that you actually found reason in Ganondorf as bland as his motivations seemed.

I really don’t see the point of this game. Botw had done something different with ganon for the first time, it really felt like the end of the timeline, in a post apocalyptic world, it felt like the end of the story, or that the end would be followed up in the sequel. Totk just felt like it was made just to bring more money in and not bring the story anywhere. It doesn’t even tie with botw at all. It feels like an unnecessary ad on. I think they should have made this game be the end of the timeline for good by bringing demise in as the final boss to end the curse he put on them at the beginning of the timeline in skyward sword. Then if they wanted to make more games which of course they will and we want, they can just do more prequels in the timeline, or games that don’t tie into the timeline at all.

So you are telling me to go and kick Ganondorf's ass again?

Ime the biggest Ganondorf simp

they made him hot!

I love the human design of Ganondorf! It’s great, but for some reason, the demon design just looks kinda… goofy. Like I like it in a way, but idk, it just doesn’t seem that good to me

Xehanort from kingdom hearts 3 makes this ganondorf seem like the superior villain. Or TOTK ganondorf makes xehanort from kingdom hearts 3 seem pathetic.

Unfortunately in this game ganondorf has been pretty much reduced to calamity ganon 2.0. All he does is wait for you to fight him because he isn't at his full power, and his motivation to take over hyrule is simply "I want power and the secret stone will give it to me". Meanwhile in past games such as the wind waker, he envied the vibrant healthy environment of hyrule field and wishes to help his people use it since they live in the harsh gerudo desert.

I’ve always seen ganondorf as a spoiled little kid

Ganondorf is my favorite villain. I liked this version especially visually, but he's not my favorite. For me it's still oot Ganondorf, tp Ganondorf, ww Ganondorf

Link is a coward and weak for relying upon other people, thats the theme of totk

Idk man. I feel this is arguably the least impactful ganondorf has ever been aside from maybe twilight princess. Literally all the interesting stuff ganon does happens either in the past or whenever he's foreshadowing what he's going to do once he takes over when you encounter phantom ganon in the castle. In current day, he's just chilling in the depths and not impacting anything really. Its really mostly an issue with the storytelling... but also not really, since they could have simply give him much more impact in the current day. For example, once clearing out 3 of the 4 overworld dungeons, there could be an event where ganondorf blows up lookout landing and captures purah, while forcinh everyone else to retreat to kakariko for example. Idk, just freestyling here. But instead of impacting the current day we only get a history recap.

I love this Ganondorf but i HATE the simps that come with him. Stop simping after Ganondorf you weirdos!!!

Also he a daddy 😏