Ganon
- This article is about the boss. For other uses, seeGanon (disambiguation).
| Ganon | |
|---|---|
   Official artwork of Ganon fromThe Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time andThe Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. | |
| Universe | The Legend of Zelda |
| Debut | The Legend of Zelda (1986) |
| Smash Bros. appearances | Brawl SSB4 Ultimate |
| Most recent non-Smash appearance | The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom (2024) |
| Console/platform of origin | Nintendo Entertainment System (Famicom Disk System) |
| Species | Demon |
| Gender | Male |
| Place of origin | Hyrule |
| Article on Zelda Wiki | Ganon |
Ganon (ガノン) is the main antagonist ofThe Legend of Zelda series. His first appearance was as the beast in the originalThe Legend of Zelda (mistranslated as "Gannon" in-game). The villain made his first humanoid appearance asGanondorf inThe Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Since then, the name "Ganondorf" has been used to refer to his Gerudo form while "Ganon" (alternatively Beast Ganon or Dark Beast Ganon) is used for his monster form.
Origin[edit]
Ganon was originally introduced in the originalThe Legend of Zelda game. Here, he was established as a power-hungry monster who had kidnappedPrincess Zelda for her piece of theTriforce, but was destroyed by Link at the end of the game. Since then, collecting the Triforce and conqueringHyrule has usually been Ganon's main goal in the series.The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time elaborates that Ganon is a transformed version ofGanondorf, with later games confirming that Ganon is more or less that exact same character every time. He is physically present or otherwise referenced in nearly everyZelda game, with four exceptions:The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask,The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords,The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap, andThe Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks.
Ganon's appearance has changed over the course of the series. In his first appearance inThe Legend of Zelda, he appears as a bestial, porcine demon with turquoise skin (though it will change to red at one point, which is the cue to hit him with theSilver Arrow), while inThe Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, he has blue skin and turns silver when weak to the aforementioned Silver Arrows.Ocarina of Time, which first showed Ganon's human appearance as Ganondorf, depicts his bestial Ganon form with similar articles of clothing as Ganondorf, dark green fur, a red mane, and large curved horns.The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, in a departure from previous games, features a quadrupedal Ganon for the first time.
While Ganon does not physically appear inThe Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, his spiritual ancestor,Demise, appears as the main antagonist and final boss. Upon being defeated, Demise warns that he will be reincarnated for eternity along with the blood of the goddess (Zelda), and the spirit of the hero (Link), and all three will be forced to battle for the fate of the world. One of these incarnations would be Ganondorf inOcarina of Time. Another incarnation would be Ganon fromThe Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures, who is related to the previously mentioned Ganon in name only.
InSuper Smash Bros.[edit]
Although he does not appear in-game, Ganon is mentioned inLink'sprofile.
InSuper Smash Bros. Brawl andSuper Smash Bros. 4[edit]
Ganon made his debut in theSuper Smash Bros. series asBeast Ganon, theFinal Smash ofGanondorf inSuper Smash Bros. Brawl andGanondorf inSuper Smash Bros. 4. Ganon is modeled after Dark Beast Ganon fromTwilight Princess to match Ganondorf's design from the same game.
InSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate[edit]
As a Final Smash[edit]
InUltimate,Ganondorf'sFinal Smash attack functions largely the same, but Ganon's appearance is based on hisOcarina of Time version and has been renamedGanon, The Demon King.
As a boss[edit]
| Ganon | |
|---|---|
 | |
| A boss in | Ultimate |
| Universe | The Legend of Zelda |
| Location | Sacred Land |
Ganon appears as a boss in bothClassic Mode and inWorld of Light; in the latter, he is fought in the center of theSacred Land sub-dungeon. He is fought in an arena resembling the ruins of Ganon's Castle inOcarina of Time, withGanondorf standing amid the ruins before transforming into the Demon King. LikeOcarina of Time, he can only be damaged by attacking his tail: if the tail is hit hard enough, Ganon will be stunned and allow the player to deal further damage, with his head becoming another weakness. Along with standard sword slashes and a charge attack similar to the Final Smash, Ganon uses several new attacks:
 | This article or section may require additional technical data. The editor who added this tag elaborates:Base damage values You can discuss this issue on thetalk page oredit this page to improve it. |
| Move | Damage | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Continuous Slash (連続斬り) | Ganon slashes twice with his swords. | |
| Rush (突進) | After a brief telegraph, Ganon rushes forward offscreen, similar to Ganondorf's Final Smash. He then jumps back onscreen. | |
| Spinning Slash (回転斬り) | Spins around several times with his swords extended. Ganon briefly pauses at the end to regain balance, allowing the player to counterattack. | |
| Jump Slash (ジャンプ斬り) | Jumps into the air, swinging his swords downward from above. | |
| Slash Up (斬り上げ) | A large upward swing with both swords. After the attack, Ganon briefly faces away, allowing the player to attack him from the front. | |
| Giant Jump (大ジャンプ) | Leaps in the air and performs a ground pound attack. | |
| Back Sweep (後方薙ぎ) | Turns around, slashing behind him. | |
| Homing Explosive Shot (追尾爆発弾) | Breathes a ball of fire that follows the player, similar to a move Calamity Ganon performs inThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. | |
| Thunder Slash (雷鳴斬り) | Shoots a disc of lightning from his swords, a reference to both Link being able to shoot projectiles from his sword at full health and to a similar attack Demise fromThe Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword uses. At lower health, he will fire two discs. | |
| Laser Beam (レーザービーム) | Unleashes a beam of dark energy from his mouth, similar to an attack used by Dark Beast Ganon inThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. |
When defeated, Ganon will wildly flail his swords and roar, similar to his defeat animation inOcarina of Time, before exploding.
The Fighters that are assigned to fight Ganon in Classic Mode areLink,Young Link,Toon Link,Zelda andSephiroth. Usually,Calamity Ganon Battle - Second Form plays during the battle, butDeath Mountain plays in Zelda's Classic Mode.
Spirits[edit]
Ganon also appears as three differentprimary spirits.
Ganon can be obtained by defeating the boss in the Sacred Land sub-dungeon in World of Light.
Beast Ganon can be obtained byenhancing the Ganondorf (Twilight Princess) spirit at level 99.
InAdventure Mode: World of Light, Calamity Ganon is presumably one of the countless spirits captured byGaleem during his takeover of the universe. After Galeem's defeat,Dharkon takes control of Galeem's spirits, including Calamity Ganon. Calamity Ganon's spirit is located in theSacred Land sub-dungeon ofThe Dark Realm.
Calamity Ganon uses aGiant Ganondorf puppet fighter and is fought on theGreat Plateau Tower stage's Ω form. The player's fighter is fought along with aZelda puppet fighter representing her appearance inThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. During the battle, the player's fighter and Zelda both receive sudden damage and the former must prevent the latter from being KO'd, referencing how Zelda's hold on Calamity Ganon is weakening inBreath of the Wild.
| No. | Image | Name | Type | Class | Slots | Base | Max | Base | Max | Base | Max | Ability | Series |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 191 | | Ganon |  | ★★★ | 2 | 3113 | 9365 | 1762 | 5301 | 1175 | 3534 | Weight ↑ | The Legend of Zelda Series |
| 221 | | Beast Ganon |  | ★★★★ | 3 | 4349 | 10876 | 2593 | 6484 | 1589 | 3974 | Impact Run | The Legend of Zelda Series |
| 243 |  | Calamity Ganon | | ★★★★ | 1 | 4932 | 12330 | 2466 | 6165 | 2466 | 6165 | No Effect | The Legend of Zelda Series |
Trivia[edit]
- Zelda is the only character who facesGanondorf on the same stage before his transformation into Ganon.
- Sheik andGanondorf are the onlyZelda characters who do not face Ganon as their Classic Mode final boss.
- Sephiroth is the only non-Zelda fighter to fight Ganon as a boss inClassic Mode.
- Ganon's boss fight inUltimate takes place on a unique stage comprising reused models from various stages in the game, specificallyColiseum (as the ground) andReset Bomb Forest (as the burning castle in the background).
- The stage makes an appearance inKazuya's reveal trailer, where he uses his Final Smash againstMario andBowser. This is not possible in normal gameplay as the stage is only used for the boss battle and cannot be fought on against other players. The stage was also briefly seen inSephiroth's trailer, though in that case he was only shown standing by himself.
