Ganondorf

Ganondorf (ガノンドロフ) known as the Great King of Evil or the Dark Lord, is the primary antagonist of a majority of the games in the Legend of Zelda series. Ganondorf is the king of the Gerudo tribe of the Gerudo Desert in Hyrule. As the wielder of the Triforce of Power, he staged several coups against the Royal Family of Hyrule to take the Hyrulean Throne by force. In the game manual of A Link to the Past, his full name is stated to be Ganondorf Dragmire, and his alias before his incursion into the Sacred Realm is stated to have been "Mandrag Ganon", meaning "Ganon of the Enchanted Thieves."

Ganondorf came to power in the Gerudo tribe by means of tradition, being one of the sole male children born every 100 years. Even prior to his birth, his people were tormented by deadly sandstorms during the day, and a freezing cold that pierced their homes at night. The gentle, calm breeze that blew across Hyrule Field brought things other than suffering and ruin, and thus his longing for control over the kingdom was sparked out of a desire to bring his people to peace. However, after delving into research about the Triforce, a relic that was both omniscient and omnipotent, Ganondorf's mind was warped into believing that power was the only means to this end. Some time after aiding the King of Hyrule in unifying the land under the Royal Family's banner, he arranged a meeting with the King and became an advisor, further helping him in restoring order. In secret, however, he plotted to overthrow the King and unleash his own reign upon the land. Ganondorf turned against the King, entered the Sacred Realm and took the Triforce of Power, unleashing what history would come to call the Great Cataclysm.

Following seven dark years of Ganondorf's rule, the Hero of Time appeared, wielding the Blade of Evil's Bane, and sealed the King of Evil away, banishing him into the corrupted Sacred Realm in a conflict history would come to call the Imprisoning War. From that day forth, Ganon has broken free, been killed, and resurrected several times, each with a new Hero appearing to confront him.

Ganondorf's Triforce piece had granted him near-immortality; the only weapons that can harm him are the Master Sword, Silver Arrows and Light Arrows. During a massive time paradox following the Imprisoning War, the universe was severed into two separate time streams, creating two different incarnations of Ganondorf, each having met their ends at the hand of Link, leaving uncertain futures for both. Both incarnations of Ganondorf sport a chin curtain.

Origins
Ganondorf Dragmire was born a member of the Gerudo tribe a few decades before the beginning of the events of Ocarina of Time. Whether or not he is the biological child or either Kotake or Koume, it appears he was raised by them, or at the very least, that they had a powerful hand in his training. Only one male is born in this tribe every 100 years, this male becoming king of the tribe. This may have caused him to feel a sense of duty to his people. More than likely, is also caused him to become quite arrogant.

Ganondorf's lands were, in his esteem horrible: dry and desolate, the life of his people one of hardship. Then that he saw the land of Hyrule for the first time. The lands were beautiful and green, the people cheerful and happy. Having never seen anything like this, his jealousy drove him to insanity. He was overcome with a desire to take control of Hyrule and make the people's lives there as horrible as what his own people endured.

Hyrulean Civil War
Convinced that power was the only thing that would free his people, he began to spend days in his study, looking for an omnipotent power that would aid him in this. Ganondorf eventually came upon the Triforce, a power created by the Goddesses that is both omnipotent and omniscient. This is when he began to seek this power in order to save his people.

During the Hyrulean Civil War, he put his schemes in action. He joined sides with the King of Hyrule and aided him in the war, his negotiations helping to put the chaos to an end. With this, the king trusted him to the extent of making him an advisor.

For Ganondorf, everything was going as planned. However, the king's daughter, Princess Zelda, suspected that the Gerudo king had treacherous thoughts and sought out a hero to aid the future of Hyrule.

A World Split In Two

 * See also: Split Timeline Theory

Following Ganondorf's sealing in the Sacred Realm, Link was sent back in time by Princess Zelda to regain his lost childhood. It is widely agreed amongst fans that this action created a massive time paradox and split Hyrule's history into two branches: the pacified past, where Hyrule is still tranquil and Ganondorf never took over (the Child Timeline), and the dark future with Hyrule in ruins (the Adult Timeline). The former ultimately led to Zant's Invasion of Hyrule, while the latter led to the Great Flood. Thus, as with everything, two incarnations of Ganondorf resulted out of this paradox, both now bound to the Triforce of Power.

The Dark World
In the Child Timeline, it appears that while Ganondorf may not have taken over Hyrule, he still attempted to take the Triforce from the Sacred Realm. It can be assumed that the Hero of Time warned Hyrule of Ganondorf's treachery after being sent back to the past by Zelda, thus allowing the Seven Sages to seal him in the Sacred Realm before he could conquer Hyrule. Undaunted, Ganon proceeded to conquer the Sacred Realm and turn it into the Dark World and looked for a way to return to Hyrule. Eventually, he was able to send part of his spirit there in the form of the wizard Agahnim, who captured the Seven Maidens and sent them to the Dark World so Ganon could use their power to completely break the seal. However, the Legendary Hero entered the Dark World, defeated Ganon and claimed the Triforce, wishing for all of Ganon's evil to be undone.

It is possible that a side effect of that wish was Ganon's resurrection and escape from the Dark World, causing the Triforce to shatter and Ganon to gain possession of the Triforce of Power, much like the Ganon from the Adult timeline did. This could very well have led to the Royal Family's motivation to hide the Triforce of Courage in the Great Palace to keep Ganon from assembling the complete Triforce.

Execution
After returning from the Dark World, Ganondorf was eventually subdued and sentenced to death by impalement in the infamous Arbiter's Grounds in the heart of the Gerudo Desert. The Ancient Sages conducted the King of Evil's death, chaining him to a rock in the Mirror Chamber, and impaling him with a shining blade. Since he possessed the power of the goddesses, the Triforce of Power would not allow him to die. Through the Triforce, Ganondorf survived, and broke free of his chains, murdering the sage bearing the symbol of the Water Medallion. In desperation, the others sages activated the Mirror of Twilight, sending Ganondorf into the bleak darkness of the Twilight Realm.

His spirit lingered on in the Twilight Realm for roughly a century, until the day came when he found the answer to his situation. He encountered a depressed adviser to the Royal Family of the Twilight Realm, named Zant. The maddened Twili believed Ganondorf to be a god, and pledged his loyalty to the King of Evil. Gifting him with extraordinary powers, Ganondorf used his ambition to devastate Hyrule. The pair struck a bargain: Ganondorf would give Zant sorcerer's powers and kingship in exchange for release from the Twilight Realm once Zant had usurped the Throne.

Invasion and Death
A new Link of the Hero bloodline rose when Zant invaded Hyrule and caused a spread of Twilight. Teamed with the Twilight Princess, Midna, who was usurped by Zant, Link infiltrated the Twilight Realm and assassinated Zant, delivering Zant's powers back to Ganondorf and reviving him, giving him Gerudian form once again.

Now with complete control over Hyrule, Ganondorf resided in the throne room of the Hyrule Castle. Link and Midna used the powers of the Fused Shadows to enter the castle and confront Ganondorf on his throne. Ganondorf possessed Princess Zelda very briefly, but his soul was purged from her body by Midna, and amassed on the floor. However, he wasn't human anymore.

Ganondorf somehow triggered his Ganon transformation. In response, Link transformed himself into his sacred wolf form and battled Ganondorf, in the end a clash between Ganon's soul and Midna occurred, resulting in the teleportation of all those present in the throne chamber to the middle of Hyrule Field. Ganon triumphed over Midna and reincarnated himself into his human form, pursuing Link and Zelda into Hyrule Field.

Ganondorf offered Link one final duel. Using the same blade that was used to murder him during the execution, the Sword of the Sages, he enclosed the battlefield with Twilight matter to ensure that his victim would not escape. In the ensuing clash, Link outmaneuvered Ganondorf and impaled him through the torso with the Master Sword. The Triforce of Power supposedly abandoned Ganondorf, leaving him to seemingly die in the field. However, Ganondorf has been known to escape death more than once, and the mysterious circumstances surrounding his supposed "death" are questionable, leaving his true fate unknown. Another reason why Ganondorf may not be dead is that after the battle, even when the Triforce of Power has left him, he remains standing without any noticeable movement rather than collapsing to the ground as he had done on the roof of his tower in Ocarina of Time. However, it is entirely possible that, given the large amount of effort Ganondorf exerted, the proteins in his muscles would accumulate. After the final blow was given, those proteins stiffened, allowing him to die standing.

Great Flood
Meanwhile, in the Adult Timeline, many years after the Hero of Time and the Seven Sages banished Ganondorf to the corrupted Sacred Realm at the end of Ocarina of Time, the seal on the Evil Realm began to weaken and the Dark Lord saw his chance to escape his imprisonment. Using the Triforce of Power, he was able to fully break the seal between the two worlds and returned to Hyrule in a red wrath.

Sending two of his minions (Jalhalla and Molgera) to murder the Sages that now safeguarded the Master Sword's power to repel evil, the Dark Lord deactivated the Blade of Evil's Bane, rendering it useless against him. As the Hero of Time had been sent back to his childhood long before these events, there was now no hero to rise up against him, and with the Master Sword now powerless, the Dark Lord assumed his bestial form of the Dark Beast Ganon and attacked the kingdom of Hyrule head on.

As his victory seemed near at hand and the land of Hyrule was overwhelmed by his evil forces, the Golden Goddesses answered the frantic cries of Hyrule's people and ordered them to take refuge on Hyrule's mountaintops while they brought down a torrential downpour that buried the land of Hyrule and all still in it beneath a vast ocean, while a protective seal was cast over the land to preserve it, freezing it in time along with Ganondorf's powers, a seal that was held in stasis by the Master Sword and the Pedestal of Time. Thus Ganondorf was left forgotten at the bottom of the ocean along with his army of monsters and the land of Hyrule, which passed into legend as people forgot about the kingdom beneath the waves of what came to be known as the Great Sea.

Escape and Defeat
Hundreds of years after the Great Flood, the Dark Lord Ganondorf was able to weaken the seal cast over him enough to create a portal in his tower to the world now above the waves. Although his power was now far more limited due to the seal of the Master Sword, he was able to unfreeze part of his army and transported it to the surface of the Great Sea, taking over the Forsaken Fortress as his base of operations on the surface of the Great Sea. He then sent his pet and servant, the Helmaroc King, to search the Great Sea for the descendant of Princess Zelda, who would be the keeper of the Triforce of Wisdom. It was now his goal to reconstruct the one complete Triforce and wish for the Great Sea to be drained, leaving him the ruler of Hyrule forevermore.

The Helmaroc King ended up bringing a young girl named Aryll to the Forsaken Fortress since she matched the description of Princess Zelda given to it by Ganondorf, but she was one more in a long line of girls that ended up not being the one he sought. The Dark Lord ordered her locked up in the cells of his fortress, which resulted in her brother, Link, the Hero of Winds (the Hero of Time reincarnated), coming after her to save her from doom. This set up a natural enmity between the young Hero of Winds and the Dark Lord, which would draw the Hero of Winds into a quest not only to save his sister but to also defeat the Dark Lord and restore peace to the world of the Great Sea. The Hero gathered the Pearls of the Goddesses and conquered the trials of the Tower of the Gods, finding his way to the ancient land of Hyrule beneath the Great Sea, where he took the Master Sword from the Pedestal of Time, both breaking the seal cast over Hyrule that kept it frozen in time as well as fully releasing Ganondorf's powers. Unaware that the sword had long since lost its power by Ganondorf's doing, the Hero of Winds confronted the Dark Lord and attempted to slay him with the blade, only to be beaten back. After the Dark Lord realized that Tetra, an associate of the hero and captain of a band of pirates, was in fact Princess Zelda, he made it his goal to find her and the Triforce of Wisdom she possessed.

The Hero of Winds then embarked on a quest to restore the Master Sword's power by replacing the Sages of the Master Sword in Hyrule's temples. After accomplishing this, the hero returned with his boat, the King of Red Lions (revealed to be Hyrule's last king, Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule), to Hyrule Castle beneath the Great Sea, where Princess Zelda was hidden from Ganondorf. However, the Dark Lord had realized where she was hiding and kidnapped her, taking her to his tower, also beneath the Great Sea and not far from Hyrule Castle. The hero journeyed there and conquered the many trials of the tower, causing Ganondorf to acknowledge the hero's strength and declare him the Hero of Time reincarnated. The two enemies met again on the roof of the tower, where Ganondorf explained his origins and his reasoning for wishing to take over Hyrule, having stemmed from the harsh life he and his people had been subjected to in the Gerudo Desert. The Dark Lord then knocked the hero out and used his Triforce of Power to call the two other Triforce pieces, the Triforce of Wisdom and the Triforce of Courage, from Zelda and Link and for the three to recombine there at the top of the tower. Just as Ganondorf was about to use the reunited relic to drain the Great Sea and take control of Hyrule forever, Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule appeared and touched the relic before he could, wishing instead for Hyrule to be drowned beneath the Great Sea along with Ganondorf and himself, having realized that Ganondorf and himself were both bound to Hyrule, and that as long as Hyrule existed, the world above would never be free of Ganondorf's threat. As the protective shield cast over the land collapsed, the Great Sea began to pour into the land. The Dark Lord engaged in one final sword duel with the hero and Princess Zelda, resulting in the Master Sword being driven into his skull, turning him to stone. As the kingdom was drowned beneath the sea, Link and Zelda were returned to the surface of the Great Sea by the Triforce's magic while Ganondorf's stone body was left at the bottom of the sea, with the Master Sword still stuck in his head.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Ganondorf is first seen in a dream Link has at the beginning of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. This was also the first time Zelda players saw the Ganondorf form. To gain the Spiritual Stones, Ganondorf tried to force the Great Deku Tree to give him the Kokiri's Emerald by sending in parasites, such as the Queen Gohma, he tried to obtain another one of the Spiritual Stones, the Goron's Ruby, by blocking the entrance to Dodongo's Cavern, the main source of food for Gorons, and refusing to open it until the Goron leader, Darunia, gave him the stone, believing that the major starvation that would ensue would grant him the stone. To get the Zora's Sapphire, Ganondorf sent parasitic creatures led by Barinade inside of Lord Jabu-Jabu, to steal the stone from Princess Ruto when she was inside Jabu-Jabu.

Unfortunately for Ganondorf, Link was able to thwart these schemes, and once he gathered the sacred stones, Ganondorf attacked the castle. He tried to chase after Zelda as she fled with Impa on a horse, but lost them just outside of Hyrule Castle Town. Seeing Link nearby, he asked him which way Zelda had gone. Link refused to tell him, either in an attempt at protecting Zelda or as a result of Link's usual silence, and ultimately altered the fate of all Hyrule. This was the first ever (chronologically) confrontation between the two, and it ended when Ganondorf knocked Link aside with a shadow-like energy attack.

When Link opened the Door of Time, Ganondorf took the opportunity to break into the Sacred Realm. He touched the Triforce but because of his evil, he received only the Triforce of Power and the other two vanished.

Despite this, the single Triforce that remained gave him enough power to take over all of Hyrule and reign unimpeded for seven years. In order to prevent anyone from being able to defeat him, he sent monsters into five of the six temples of Hyrule to keep their powers under his control. He had no need to attack one of them, the Temple of Time, as his castle was so close. Ganondorf demolished Hyrule Castle and built his own castle in its place, with six barriers to defend the keep. Hyrule Castle Town was overrun by ReDeads and abandoned by the townsfolk, who evacuated to Kakariko Village. He also continued to search for Zelda, but could not find her as she was disguised as a member of the Sheikah named Sheik.

To keep hold of the five temples located in Hyrule, he had monsters overrun the Kokiri Forest, and captured Saria by the monsters inside the Forest Temple. When Link defeated Phantom Ganon, whom Ganondorf had created to guard the temple, (Ganondorf was not physically in the room, so presumably spoke either by telepathy or through the phantom) Ganondorf praised Link but told him he would not defeat the real Ganondorf so easily. He called Phantom Ganon worthless and banishes him to the "gap between dimensions".

In addition, Ganondorf revived Volvagia and attempted to feed all the Gorons to it as an example to anyone else who would try to oppose him. The monster that he had sent to guard the Water Temple, Morpha, created a curse on the source of Hyrule's water supply, Zora's Domain, which froze the domain to ice and sealed away most of the Zoras beneath a thick coat of ice. As another means of stopper opposers, Ganondorf freed the shadow monster Bongo Bongo from his imprisonment in the Bottom of the Well at Kakariko Village. Bongo Bongo attacked and partially destroyed the village, before taking control of the Shadow Temple. In the Spirit Temple, located where Ganondorf was born, his surrogate mothers made sure that the Spirit Sage would not hear her "call of awakening", even though at the time there was no apparent sage.

All of Ganondorf's allies were eventually defeated by Link, but he finally succeeded in capturing Princess Zelda when she let her guard down and revealed herself to Link. Having previously learned that Zelda held the Triforce of Wisdom, and Link the Triforce of Courage, he used Zelda as bait to force Link to battle him, allowing Ganondorf to control all three Triforces, should he defeat Link. He refused to acknowledge that Link was powerful enough to defeat him, saying that he had simply underestimated the power of the Triforce of Courage. And until Link arrived at his room in the Castle, he would play the Organ while Zelda would float haplessly in a crystal in the air.

Ganondorf tried to kill Link, but was himself beaten and brought to the verge of death. With what appeared to be his final breath, Ganondorf tried to destroy his own castle to crush Zelda and Link in the ruins. They survived, but before they could leave, Ganondorf used the Triforce of Power to transform into Ganon for the first time, with the sole aim of annihilating Link. It seemed he would be victorious when he knocked away the Master Sword from Link's hand and sealed the hero inside a ring of fire. However, Link's courage beat Ganon's power and the monster was briefly stunned. Link was able to reclaim the Blade of Evil's Bane and wound Ganon. The seven sages, including Zelda, now opened the doorway to the Sacred Realm and forced Ganon through it, before sealing the gateway. Transformed back into Ganondorf, the Evil King promised to exterminate the descendants of those who had defeated him, before drifting away into the void.

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker


Having somehow escaped from the Sacred Realm, Ganondorf tried to acquire the whole Triforce in order to wish for Hyrule to be given to him. To do this, he sent his minion, the Helmaroc King, to kidnap all young girls with long ears in the Great Sea, in the hopes of finding Princess Zelda, who held a part of the Triforce.

He made his base on the abandoned Forsaken Fortress, and captured girls were kept in a cell in the main tower. Ganondorf himself lived in a wrecked ship balanced on top of the tower. When Link tried to free the imprisoned girls but was captured by the Helmaroc King, he caught a brief glimpse of Ganondorf before the Gerudo ruler ordered the monstrous bird to throw Link into the sea.

Ganondorf sent monsters around all regions of the Great Sea. Submarines, rafts and platforms were built to attack ships, and ChuChus and Miniblins appeared on peaceful islands like Outset. He sent his creatures to attack the three guardians of the Pearls of the Goddesses; Valoo, the Great Deku Tree, and Jabun. Valoo, who was being tortured by Gohma, and the Deku Tree, whose Korok child, Makar was captured by Kalle Demos, were saved by Link, but the hero was too late to stop Ganondorf's attack on Greatfish Isle, where Jabun lived. Although the island itself was mangled and destroyed, Jabun escaped beforehand.

Because the Master Sword was the only weapon that could defeat Ganondorf, he aimed to remove the power to repel evil from the blade. To do this, he had the sages who prayed for the power to remain in the sword murdered, sending Jalhalla to kill Laruto and Molgera to kill Fado. To prevent the temples where this took place from being accessed via Old Hyrule, he created a barrier around Hyrule Castle to prevent Link from leaving the building once he was in Old Hyrule.

Link returned to Forsaken Fortress with the Master Sword, and this time destroyed the Helmaroc King, allowing him to reach Ganondorf's chamber. Before Link could do battle with him, Ganondorf revealed the truth: when Link had pulled out the Master Sword, the seal on Ganondorf's power completely broke and he became even stronger (very similar to Ocarina of Time, when Link drawing the Master Sword allowed Ganondorf to steal the Triforce of Power). He also explained that the Master Sword had lost its power (but he did not mention how)

Link attacked Ganondorf anyway, but before Ganondorf could kill him, Tetra reappeared and distracted Ganondorf. Ganondorf turned on her, but just as he was about to kill her, the Triforce of Power in his hand began to resonate. He realized Tetra had a piece of the Triforce of Wisdom, and that she must be Princess Zelda. Before he could act on this, Link and Zelda were then rescued by the Rito, and Valoo destroyed the ship with his fire breath. However, Ganondorf could survive anything except the restored Master Sword, and lived on.

He searched everywhere for Princess Zelda, but could not find her. Once Link had defeated Jalhalla and Molgera and restored the Master Sword, Ganondorf retreated to Old Hyrule beneath the sea, through a portal he opened between the Forsaken Fortress and his castle in Hyrule (Link and the King of Red Lions were able to unlock this portal from inside Ganon's Tower and use it for themselves). This news was conveyed to the heroes by a spying Fishman.

In Old Hyrule, Ganondorf discovered Zelda's whereabouts, and kidnapped her. When Link arrived to check on Zelda, Ganondorf tricked him into thinking she was still in the cellar and trapped Link inside a ring of fire with two Darknuts. Link escaped and destroyed Ganondorf's barrier with the Master Sword, allowing him to enter Ganon's Tower.

As Link worked his way through the tower, Ganondorf's remaining minions were slain one by one; the shadows of Gohma, Kalle Demos, Jalhalla and Molgera, and finally Phantom Ganon. Because of this, Link acquired the Light Arrows (the modern Zelda equivalent of the Silver Arrows, which had been used to defeat Ganon in previous games).

When Link finally reached Ganondorf, he claimed that the gods were responsible for destroying Hyrule by sealing the land away. He transformed into Puppet Ganon, but Link defeated him. Ganondorf mentioned that Link must be the Hero of Time reborn, before disappearing onto the roof of the tower with Zelda.

When Link confronted him again on the roof, Ganondorf finally explained why he attacked Hyrule: his homeland, the Gerudo Desert, had been a harsh, barren place, but he coveted the friendlier winds that blew across Hyrule. This was a first in the series that he was merely doing this for the Gerudo, as had previously been assumed that Ganon's motives consisted of nothing but greed and hatred.

Ganondorf attacked Link and knocked him down, stealing the Triforce of Courage from him. He took the Triforce of Wisdom from Zelda (still unconscious) and united them with his own Triforce of Power, finally obtaining the full Triforce he had touched in Ocarina of Time.

Ganondorf, his ultimate goal realized, made his wish to the Gods: "Hear that which I desire! Expose this land to the rays of the sun once more! Let them burn forth! Give Hyrule to me!"

He moves to touch the Triforce, to make his wish come true, only for the King of Hyrule to reappear and make his own wish first, asking that Hyrule be washed away completely, so that Zelda and Link could have a future in a new world, telling Ganondorf to 'drown with Hyrule'. Ganondorf stood perfectly still, with his arm extended to touch the Triforce, and watched as the Triforce floated up and vanished. He laughed, claiming that there was no future for the two, before drawing two swords and attacking.

Zelda tried to help Link by shooting Ganondorf with the bow, but this only served to enrage Ganondorf, so he knocked her out and continued to attack Link. He was held off until Zelda awoke, and the pair defeated him. Link lodged the Master Sword in Ganondorf's forehead. The Evil King chuckled weakly, and groaned, before being turned to stone. He was then buried beneath along with all of the rest of Hyrule.

It is interesting to note that during the final battle with Ganondorf, one can notice that the Triforce of Power is still resonating on his hand.

The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures
Ganondorf is not apparently the enemy at first, however when Link arrives at the Forest of Darkness the Deku there are under his control. More is revealed about him in the next area, the Desert of Doubt. The Gerudo there know him, but they dislike him because he entered the Pyramid which is sacred to them. He took the Trident of Power and transformed into Ganon (perhaps indicating that the Trident held the Triforce of Power, though the Triforce is never mentioned in the game).

After Link defeats Vaati in his palace, the Tower of Winds starts to crumble, and Link and Zelda travel down the tower back to Hyrule. However they are stopped by Ganondorf, who uses the Trident to transform into Ganon and faces Link in battle. After he is defeated he is locked within the Four Sword.

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
In essence, Ganondorf is the one behind all the events of Twilight Princess. He was to be executed by the Ancient Sages of the Twilight Mirror at Arbiter's Grounds, but he escaped and killed the Water Sage with his bare hands. He was then sealed away in the Twilight Realm as a result, taking the execution Sword of the Sages with him. He poses as a god to Zant, who was passed over as the ruler of the Twili. Ganondorf pretends to offer his powers to Zant, without specifically mentioning any requests. Zant agrees, and through Zant, Ganondorf escapes to Hyrule and captures the castle, while Zant dies at the hands of Link and Midna. He serves as the final boss of the game at Hyrule Castle. First, he possesses Princess Zelda. His soul is purged from her body by Midna, but he then morphs into his Ganon form. After his Ganon form is defeated by Midna and Wolf Link, Midna warps Link and Zelda to Hyrule Field. She fights him with the power of the Fused Shadows, but loses.

Ganondorf is then fought on horseback, where he sends ghost riders to attack Link. Zelda fires Light Arrows at him, stunning him for long enough for Link to attack. The final battle is a one-on-one sword duel, with Ganondorf using the glowing sword originally intended for his execution, before the fight he draws the sword saying "Would you hear my desire? To take this foul blade and blot out the light forever!", ending with Link impaling Ganondorf with the Master Sword. As this is the last we see of him in this game, it is unknown if he died, though the obvious abandonment he suffers from the Triforce symbol on his hand, and the cracking of Zant's spiritual neck to signify his final death, implies this heavily. However, Ganondorf has been known to escape death several times before this (he was already a powerful sorcerer even without the Triforce of Power, having learned powerful dark magic from his surrogate mothers, Twinrova, as well as the dark magic of the Twili during his imprisonment in the Twilight Realm).

That he is alive in The Wind Waker, is explained by the splitting of timelines between the eras of past and future Link, which occurs when Link is sent back to his childhood at the end of the events of Ocarina of Time. The Wind Waker takes place in the world where Ganondorf ruled Hyrule for seven years and was later imprisoned in the sacred realm.

Super Smash Bros. Melee
Ganondorf was for the first time playable in Super Smash Bros. Melee. To unlock him, beat Event Match #29 or play 600 vs. mode matches. His moves are almost exactly the same as Captain Falcon's, but he is slower and more powerful. He gets his appearance from the Space World 2000 Demo and even has the same sword in one of his victory poses, even though he doesn't use it in battle.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Eiji Aonuma first confirmed that game designers have already submitted designs for Sheik, Link and Ganondorf.

He is based off of his appearance in Twilight Princess. His moves remained largely the same, though visually different. His uppercut now strangles the enemy. His final smash is a running charge at a player as Ganon.

In the storyline, Ganondorf uses the Ancient Minister to drop Subspace bombs on the world, "erasing" it and transporting it into Subspace. He serves under Master Hand, and Bowser is Ganondorf's right hand man. The Ancient Minister (revealed to be a ROB unit) turns on Ganondorf, refusing to fight the heroes. Ganondorf then takes control of the R.O.B.s, forcing them to attack the Ancient Minister and then proceeding to have them detonate the bombs, which tear a hole so large that it destroys the Island of the Ancients. Ganondorf uses this hole to bring the subspace gunship to the real world, using it against the alliance of heroes sent to take him down. The gunship is destroyed when Kirby flies the Dragoon through the hull. Ganondorf then betrays Bowser, turning him into a trophy. Ganondorf soon learns that Master Hand, who he was apparently going to betray for more power (though this is difficult to determine since the only line of dialogue in the entire story is spoken by Solid Snake), is only a puppet being controlled by a higher being, Tabuu. Ganondorf attempts to attack Tabuu alone, but is easily subdued with a single strike and turned into a trophy (though his attack does succeed in inadvertantly freeing Master Hand from Tabuu's control). Later on, the trophy of Ganondorf is attacked by a revived Bowser in retaliation for his earlier betrayal before being revived himself by Link and Zelda, who convince him to help them and the rest of the playable fighters in the final battle against Tabuu.

A fact about Ganondorf in Brawl is his lack of using the sword he had in Twilight Princess even though his appearance is based off of his Twilight Princess design. However, the sword is seen in one of Ganondorf's taunts, where he takes his sword out of its sheath just to inspect it, and possibly show it off, then immediately returning it.

Personality
Ganondorf is commonly portrayed as the incarnation of pure evil, greed and power. He is ruthless, cold and calculating seeing all others as either tools to be used or enemies to be destroyed. He is just as likely to reward a servant for a job well done as he is likely to kill them for speaking out of line. He is also shown to have a big ego, believing that only he is worthy to rule the kingdom and showing an arrogant sense of entitlement. All these traits imply that he may be suffering from an antisocial personality disorder.

Like that of Link, Ganondorf's personality undergoes subtle changes throughout the games. In Ocarina of Time he was wise-cracking and sarcastic (e.g. calling Link "kid" even when he reached adulthood, calling Link's weapons "toys", saying to him "I like you kid" before blasting him with magic etc.) but was ultimately serious when need be. In The Wind Waker ehe seems to have matured somewhat with age. He was portrayed as somewhat of a tragic villain, being altogether more solemn and less prone to wisecracks. In Twilight Princess he was similar to his persona in The Wind Waker though having regained some of his usual cockiness.

His maturity is most likely due to his time being sealed away, after having such a rough defeat in Ocarina of Time. After this humiliating defeat he most likely became more serious, less sarcastic and having more lust for the power he tries so hard to receive.

Powers and abilities
Ganondorf's power is God-like with the Triforce of power. Even without the Triforce his magical powers are still extremely potent. It was shown in Ocarina of Time that he possessed some magical abilities before obtaining the Triforce when he blasted Link with magic as mentioned above. In the game he was able to create despair all over Hyrule, create countless monsters, break the seal on Kakariko Well releasing Bongo Bongo, resurrect the feared dragon Volvagia, create a clone, open up a portal to another dimension etc. He also has the power to transform into a powerful boar demon known as Ganon as well as create a gigantic copy of it. The exact limits of his powers are unknown although they're probably great as in the climax of Twilight Princess he defeated (and almost killed) Midna despite her having the power of the Fused Shadows with her at the time and it stated by Midna that the Fused Shadows' powers are great. Ganondorf's power is also apparently strong enough that he can lend some of it to another being and still keep enough for himself (as he did to Zant).

Gallery
Ganondorf