Ganondorf


 * For fighter info, see Ganondorf (SR).

Ganondorf (ガノンドロフ) is the main antagonist in the The Legend of Zelda video game series. He made his debut in his beast form known as Ganon (ガノン) in the original The Legend of Zelda game, although it was misspelled as Gannon in-game. The name "Ganondorf" was first mentioned in The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past with the villain making his first appearance as Ganondorf in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Since then, the name "Ganondorf" has been used to refer to his human form, while "Ganon" is used for his monster form, the only exception being in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, though at times the names were used interchangeably in said game.

Ganondorf has first appeared as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Melee and later appears in Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U.

Character description
Ganondorf was originally introduced in the original The Legend of Zelda game as Ganon. Here, he was established as a power hungry monster who had kidnapped Princess Zelda for her piece of the Triforce, but was destroyed by Link at the end of the game. Since then, collecting the Triforce and conquering Hyrule has usually been Ganon's main goal in the series. He has appeared or been mentioned in nearly every Zelda game, with five exceptions: The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, Legend Of Zelda Spirit Tracks, The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap and The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. Note that in Phantom Hourglass, he was included in the prologue, describing the events from Wind Waker, in which Ganondorf appears.

Ganon's appearance has changed over the course of the series. In his first appearance, he appears as a monster whose facial features are like that of a pig's with turquoise skin (though it will change to red at one point, which is the cue to hit him with the Silver Arrow), while in The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, he has blue skin and turns silver when weak to the aforementioned Silver Arrows. In Ocarina of Time, Ganon's skin is dark green and he has yellow eyes (and so far, this and Twilight Princess are the only games to depict Ganon with a tail). The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, in a departure from previous games, features a quadrupedal Ganon for the first time, and appears as more of a boar than a pig.

In his first appearance as Ganondorf in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, it is revealed that he is the only male in the Gerudo Tribe, born every 100 years. All Gerudos are identified by their noticeably darker skin (which may be due to living in the desert) and red hair. He is seen wearing armor in both Ocarina of Time and Twilight Princess, while in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker he appears to be wearing sorcerer's robes.

Ganon is the primary villain in most of the Zelda games, with his schemes usually involving kidnapping Princess Zelda, conquering the land of Hyrule, or obtaining the Triforce (sometimes all three). The only game (So far) to feature Ganondorf as a playable character is Hyrule Warriors, which is a spinoff, and thus non-cannon.

Unlike most of Nintendo's other famous villains, such as Bowser, Ganondorf is a cunning, intelligent, and an extremely powerful character. Andross from the Star Fox series shares this trait. In Ocarina of Time, Ganondorf accomplishes something that Bowser (and many other villains) struggle with--he conquered the world! Thus, Link had to build up his strength so he could take Hyrule back from Ganondorf, who had ruled for seven years by that point.

Whether he appears as Ganondorf or as Ganon (A Link to the Past's game manual gives him the name Ganondorf Dragmire which is a name which hasn't appeared before or since), Hyrule knows that it will be facing an incredible evil that only Link and Zelda can stop.