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Ganondorf Dragmire is the main antagonist of The Legend of Zelda series. His first appearance was in The Legend of Zelda where the link between him and the pig-like beast Ganon is established.
He is well-known for being the wielder of the Triforce of Power and for being the King of the Gerudos. Because he wields the Triforce of Power, his energy form can not die, although his body can. His body has been revived several times.
Story
Ganondorf was born as the only male to be born in a hundred years to the all female Gerudo tribe. He immediately due to the customs of the Gerudo tribe became their leader and king. Not much is known about Ganondorf's childhood but his adulthood is very well known and his motives through the games he has appeared in.
Characteristics
Personality
Commonly portrayed as the incarnation of evil, power, and greed, Ganondorf is ruthless, cold, unscrupulous, cunning, resourceful, arrogant, and manipulative. His most defining trait is his lust for power. His lack of wisdom and courage is what causes the Triforce to split into three pieces when he touches it.
Ganondorf's evil nature is most likely because of him being a reincarnation of the Demon King Demise and a product of his curse. Ganondorf is also very strategic, as shown in Ocarina of Time, when he tricks Link and Zelda into opening the Door of Time, and allows Link to interfere with his plans, as he knows it will draw Zelda out of hiding, and in The Wind Waker, where he attacks the Earth and Wind Temples to disable the Master Sword.
It is presumed that Ganondorf intended to conquer Hyrule out of jealously, because he and his people lived a life of suffering in the desert. In addition, he also seems to follow a code of honor; he is amused when, in Ocarina of Time, a child Link attempts to fight him, and shows some respect for his bravery. In Wind Waker, after getting annoyed by Zelda firing Light Arrows at him during the final battle, Ganondorf heads towards her, and knocks her out by backhanding her. In each of his appearances, Ganondorf is also shown to have a sense of humor, but is serious when necessary. He also shows some respect towards anyone he considers worthy opponents.
Powers and abilities
With or without the Triforce of Power, Ganondorf is very powerful, as he can use dark magic with little effort, and he is efficient with punching and kicking. He is also a formidable swordsman. In one instance, he can read minds, as shown in Wind Waker, when he looks into Zelda's dreams while she is sleeping. In addition, the Triforce of Power seems to give Ganondorf immortality, as shown when he dies shortly after losing the Triforce of Power at the end of Twilight Princess. Ganondorf's most significant ability is being able to turn into his beast form, Ganon.
Appearances
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
In The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Ganondorf uses dark magic that he has acquired to attack The Great Deku Tree, Jabu Jabu and Dodongo's Cavern in order to try to sway the inhabits, the Kokiri, Gorons, and Zoras, that looked up to and lived around these areas to give up their Spiritual Stone. Eventually Ganondorf figures out that Link, along with the aid of Princess Zelda, had helped these civilizations and acquired the spiritual stones. He knew that if they got to the Triforce first that he could never acquire it. In a last ditch effort Ganondorf attacks Hyrule Castle to try and get the last piece of the puzzle needed to open the Door of Time.
He chases Princess Zelda and Impa, who held the Ocarina of Time, out of the castle where he met up with Link. Link stands in his way while Impa and Princess Zelda gallop out of sight. Ganondorf pushes him out of the way only to see that they had gotten away. Ganondorf, knowing Link had the spiritual stones, follows him into the Temple of Time where he sneaks into the Sacred Realm where he takes the Triforce. But upon grabbing the Triforce, it splits into three pieces, leaving him with only one: the Triforce of Power.
Ganondorf, knowing that to truly rule the land he will need all three pieces, waits 7 years for Princess Zelda and Link to reappear. Taking his chance he captures Princess Zelda once she takes her Sheik disguise off. Using her, Ganondorf gets Link to come to the top of his tower where they have an enormous battle. Ganondorf is defeated by the power of the Master Sword, but uses his last ounce of breath to destroy his castle hoping to kill Link and Zelda in the aftermath of the destruction. But they manage to escape and the power of the Triforce of Power keeps Ganondorf alive and using the full power of the Triforce he turns himself into the beast, Ganon. After a ferocious battle, Ganon is defeated and the sages seal Ganondorf into the Sacred Realm.
From this point on in the series the timeline splits creating to separate accounts of what happened. The first (the Adult timeline) shows Ganondorf's attempts at taking the Triforce and shows his true motives through his escaping the Sacred Realm. The other (the Child Timeline) shows Ganondorf's actions once his original scheme was stopped and once by a "Divine Intervention" Ganondorf gained the Triforce. Another timeline was recently revealed which shows that if Ganondorf wins the final battle against Link, he reassembles the triforce and becomes the new demon king: Ganon. Eventually he is sealed in the Evil Realm (Once the Sacred Realm) by the Sages and the people of Hyrule which leads to the events of, The Legend of Zelda a Link to the Past, The Legend of Zelda Oracle of Seasons, and Oracle of Ages, The Legend of Zelda Link's Awakeing, The Legend of Zelda, and The Legend of Zelda Adventure of Link.
The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker
A long time prior to the events of the game, Ganondorf somehow manages to break the seal that was placed on him, and attempted to establish dominion over the land of Hyrule once again. The people of Hyrule believed that the Hero of Time would stop him again, but he did not return. So to stop his nefarious plot, the people of Hyrule prayed to the Golden Goddesses, which made them flood the land which created the Great Sea, impeding Ganondorf's plans. After some time had passed, Ganondorf somehow broke out of his underwater imprisonment, though his power was somewhat diminished due to the Master Sword's influence. He was referred to in ancient texts referring to this event as the "emperor of the dark realm."
To find the direct descendant of Princess Zelda, who held the Triforce of Wisdom, Ganondorf sent his loyal minion, the Helmaroc King, to kidnap all young, pointy-eared girls living on the islands of the Great Sea. After being captured, the young girls were imprisoned within Ganondorf's new lair, the Forsaken Fortress. In addition to that, Ganondorf sent monsters to islands all around the Great Sea to prevent a successor to the Hero of Time who had sealed him away from interfering with his plans. To further secure himself against the coming of the hero's descendant, Ganondorf ordered two of his minions, Jalhalla and Molgera, to kill the Sages of the Wind Temple and the Earth Temple, whose prayers gave the power to repel evil to the Master Sword.
Eventually, the Helmaroc King came to Outset Island, where the young boy, Link, lived, who came of the age when young boys were given green garments in memory of the Hero of Time. The Helmaroc King had kidnapped the young pirate leader, Tetra, and Link travels into the forest to save her, and successfully does so. However, as they leave the forest, Link's sister, Aryll, is taken by the Helmaroc King in Tetra's place. Link travels with Tetra and her pirates to the Forsaken Fortress. Link manages to sneak his way into the dungeon cells, but is discovered. Link catches a brief glimpse of Ganondorf, just before he is thrown far away from the island by the Helmaroc King at Ganondorf's command. Floating in the ocean while unconscious, Link is discovered by the King of Red Lions, a talking boat who becomes his ally and companion.
The King of Red Lions and Link work together to obtain the three Pearls of the Goddesses, which when gathered, raises the fabled Tower of the Gods from the depths of the Great Sea. After Link collects the pearls of Din and Farore, Ganondorf uses his evil magic to destroy Greatfish Isle, where the spirit Jabun, holder of Nayru's Pearl, resided. Jabun escapes to a cave on Outset Island,which is later found by Link and the King of Red Lions. Despite this drawback though, Link successfully obtains the final pearl. By doing so, Link gains access to the Tower of the Gods, leading him to the Master Sword. Taking the Master Sword, Link travels once more to the Forsaken Fortress with some indirect aid from Tetra's Pirates, and takes out the Helmaroc King once and for all. Ganondorf then meets the hero face to face and, after he commending him for making it as far as he did, reveals that removing the Master Sword's seal also returned his full powers, and cites how time resuming and his forces reactivating as proof; however, Ganondorf's safeguards proved useful when it is revealed that the Master Sword held no power over Ganondorf without the prayers of the Wind and Earth Sages. Tetra arrives to aid Link, and distracts Ganondorf, but is promptly overwhelmed. Just as when Ganondorf is about to squeeze the life out of her, Ganondorf's Triforce of Power resonates, and reveals Tetra's true identity to be that of Zelda's descendant and (partial) holder of the Triforce of Wisdom. Before Ganondorf has the chance to take the Triforce fragment, Link and Zelda are rescued by Valoo, a great dragon whom Link befriended earlier. Valoo sets Ganondorf's Lair on fire, but Ganondorf escapes, and retreats to his tower in the sunken land of Hyrule.
Link leaves Zelda safe in the chamber beneath Hyrule Castle, awakens the descendants of the sages, and restores the Master Sword to its former glory. However, Ganondorf, anticipating Link's actions and presumably deducing where Zelda was being hidden, proceeds to call all of his monsters back to his tower from the Forsaken Fortress. The now abandoned fortress is noticed by the fishmen and later relayed to the King of Red Lions. To make his way back into sunken Hyrule, Link gathers the shards of the Triforce of Courage at the behest of the King of Red Lions, as the latter anticipates that Ganondorf was at his endgame. However, Zelda is taken away by Ganondorf to his domain. Link destroys the barrier that Ganondorf placed around the entrance to Hyrule Castle, and defeats the evil monsters that lurked there. Inside his tower, Ganondorf reveals to Link part of his motives for conquering Hyrule.
After the destruction of his puppet form, Ganondorf retreats to the top of his tower. When Link re-confronts him on the roof, Ganondorf fully explains the reasons for his ambition to conquer Hyrule: his homeland, the Gerudo Desert, was a harsh, barren place, with its winds often bringing nothing but misery and death to his people, either hot searing winds by the day or piercing cold gales at night. When he learned of Hyrule's lush nature, Ganondorf coveted the friendlier winds that blew across Hyrule. Ganondorf's personal quest had been born of a desire to bring his people to lush Hyrule.
Ganondorf forcibly reassembles the Triforce. However, before Ganondorf gets the chance to make his wish, Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule, the former King of Hyrule who had taken residence within the King of Red Lions, touches the Triforce before him, and wishes that Hyrule be flooded, preventing Ganondorf from ever attaining his true wish as well as bringing a future to Link and Zelda. After a fit of hysterical laughter at his failure, Ganondorf attacks Link and Zelda as water begins to cover Hyrule. Zelda attempts to use the Light Arrows to attack Ganondorf, but is knocked out. Link defends himself against Ganondorf's attack until Zelda reawakens. Working as a team, Link and Zelda use the Master Sword and Light Arrows to weaken Ganondorf. Once Ganondorf is severely weakened, Link plunges the Master Sword deep into Ganondorf's forehead, turning the madman into stone. Immediately prior to his petrification, however, Ganondorf briefly references the wind that often plagued the Gerudo with some amusement. Link and Zelda escape to the surface while Ganondorf and Hyrule are flooded once and for all.
Oddly, even though the Triforce of Power was explicitly shown leaving Ganondorf to reform the Triforce, the final battle showed Ganondorf having the Triforce of Power mark on his hand. This was later retained in Wind Waker HD. This hints each Triforce piece returned to its host after Daphnes stated his wish, which could explain why he was able to take blows from both the Master Sword and Light Arrows without immediately perishing.
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
After Link tells Zelda of what happens, the sages lock Ganondorf in the Sacred Realm. Some generations later, Ganondorf breaks free into the Twilight Realm where he uses Zant to take over the realm. He then uses the Twilight forces to take over Hyrule Castle, forcing Zelda to surrender. He then encompasses the land of Hyrule in Twilight. Ganondorf takes a mostly backseat role in this game, not actually appearing until the final battle. In this game, he first uses Zelda as a puppet and then, takes on a Beast form to take on Link. Then, Ganondorf flees to Hyrule Field where Link must chase on horseback, with Zelda firing Light arrows. The final segment of this battle has Link and Ganondorf finish it off with a duel.
Four Swords Adventure
The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventure does contain Ganondorf but not the same Ganondorf as in the previous games. Due to another 100 years passing and the death of the original Ganondorf on either side of the timeline a new Ganondorf was born. This Ganondorf is said by the Gerudos to have shown many signs of evil similar to the original Ganondorf. Ganondorf before the game begins goes to the temple within the Lost Forest where he takes the Dark Mirror and with it he creates many Dark Links that let Vaati free and cause havoc which creates a good distraction so Ganondorf can start his plan.
The first thing it is known that he did after this is he goes to the Pyramid lost within the Gerudo Desert where he acquires the Trident of Power. He is not seen again though till the very end where it is shown that with the Triforce of Power and Trident of Power he had turns himself into Ganon. Trying to take the other pieces of the Triforce yet again he traps Link and Princess Zelda atop the Tower of Winds where he fights them. In the end though he is defeated by them and sealed away into Vaati's prison where he is known to rest. This game could happen on either side of the timeline but is most often seen as happening on the child timeline due to its ties to other games that happen on this timeline such as The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past.
The Decline Timeline
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past , A Link Between Worlds, Legend of Zelda
Spinoffs
Hyrule Warriors
Ganondorf as seen in Hyrule Warriors.
Super Smash Bros.
Ganondorf first appears in Super Smash Bros. Melee as a secret character. He has been a secret character in all the other games, excluding Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, where he will make his debut as a starting character. He's a clone of Captain Falcon since most of his moves are similar to Captain Falcon's moves.
Attacks
Ganondorf plays a lot like Captain Falcon but slower and stronger. These are his specials
- Neutral Special: Warlock Punch
- Side Special: Flame Choke, Gerudo Dragon in Melee
- Up Special: Dark Dive
- Down Special: Wizard's Foot
- Final Smash: Beast Ganon
Appearance and Costumes
In Melee, his appearance was derived from his appearance in Ocarina of Time, but with Brawl, 3DS & Wii U, he takes on his Twilight Princess appearance.
Trivia
- Ganondorf's last name was confirmed to be Dragmire in April 2017 via the official site. Previously, this name was only seen in the Western manual for A Link to the Past.
| Characters in Hyrule Warriors | |
|---|---|
| Base game | Link • Princess Zelda • Impa • Lana • Princess Ruto • Darunia • Midna • Agitha • Fi • Zant • Ghirahim • Ganondorf • Cia (DLC) • Volga (DLC) • Wizzro (DLC) • Twili Midna (DLC) • Tingle (DLC) • Young Link (DLC) |
| Boss Mode | Ganon • Cucco |
| Legends | Linkle • Toon Link • Tetra • King of Hyrule • Skull Kid • Medli (DLC) • Marin (DLC) • Toon Zelda (DLC) • Ravio (DLC) • Yuga (DLC) |
| Age of Calamity | Link • Princess Zelda • Revali • Princess Mipha • Daruk • Urbosa • Impa • Hestu • Teba • Makeela Riju • Prince Sidon • Yunobo • Master Kohga • King Rhoam • Great Fairy • Monk Maz Koshia • Terrako • Calamity Ganon • Battle-Tested Guardian (DLC) • Purah & Robbie (DLC) • Sooga (DLC) |