Soapbox: TOTK's Ganondorf Is Great, But Zelda Needs To Do More With Its Villain

“if I'm going to feel any sense of agency from my Zelda villain“

-did you mean to say urgency?

ToTK Ganondorf has a cool design and is great for memes. But as a villain and character he's pretty weak. He didn't do anything that the other Ganondorfs didn't do already.

Bring back the blue pig man!

I liked what they did with Ganondorf's character, just not how it was done storywise. The memories were the bulk of the story, again, but he didn't really do anything in the present day. I was secretly hoping for a twist villain in Rauru, but that didn't come to fruition, unfortunately.

Honestly, the game we should have gotten was the adventure that Zelda got to go on without us.

@DAHstroy While it could be a mistake, I think 'Agency' fits just fine.

The sense of agency, or sense of control, is the subjective awareness of initiating, executing, and controlling one's own volitional actions in the world.

To want to get a sense of Ganondorf's agency could mean wanting to understand what actions he is doing in the present or even, what motivates him in the present.

@JimNorman Yes, Ganondorf's story here should have suspense build up to it. I felt the narrative beats were incredibly staccato.

Each major event felt so narratively independent from the cumulative journey Link or you take.

Whereas, I wish we saw Ganondorf's reaction to the player's journey. Like a few narrative beats speaking ire on the player's conquest or plans foiling and upgrading enemies to counteract a stronger Link (which we see game-play wise does happen, but there's no narrative feedback as to why)

Zelda games have characters??

Sorry, what was great about Ganondorf in TotK?

@Frogspree Didn't you read the article? Obviously, his pecs.

From all of the hype around this gandondorf you'd

The reason Ganondorf worked so well in Ocarina of Time is that he was Ganon in disguise. We had seen the pig-like Ganon in previous games and the similar name had us thinking "I wonder..." Of course, our suspicions turned out to be true.

Ganondorf was a complex character in Wind Waker, which is one reason that the game's depiction of him is so cherished, and in Twilight Princess he was revealed as the secret, hidden power behind Zant.

The trouble is that, as the Zelda games have abandoned the idea of plot and structure, the story doesn't evolve as you play. Completing a dungeon (if there are any) doesn't make the villain escalate his plan. The game doesn't change as you go, leaving many fewer opportunities to flesh-out the villain.

Ganondorf do big bad angry thing

Grrrr

While I do like Ganondorf’s redesign in totk, and there’s nothing wrong with a villain simply coveting power and dominion over the land, (Sauron comes to mind), perhaps a little more nuance and depth to his character would’ve been appreciated.

Maybe he fancies himself a freedom fighter, fighting for the rights of the Gerudo people, who were in his eyes oppressed by the ancient Hylians. And at some point along the way he becomes corrupted by his own ambitions. Anything to take him beyond, generic evil man. Which again, is fine, it works. Zelda has always been a series, i think, that places the experience of playing the game firmly above its narrative, which I do respect.

Well, at least TotK Ganondorf is eye candy, but I would like Zelda games to include more lore around him.

I just want a new villain all together. To me Gandodnorf peaked character wise in Wind Waker. Breath of the Wild was like a devolution of his character. Which was good. It showed the end result of what he would become in the end.

Now, I want the character to retire all together. Zelda devs have shown they can make a villain that isn't Ganon(dorf) that's just as terrifying.

Majora was such a mysterious and frightening individual, and Zant was wasted potential. I want a new villain next time around that isn't big G.

I was really frustrated during my gameplay that as soon as he was unsealed, he disappeared. I was going all over the world interacting with NPCs, and none of them seemed to even have a clue he existed, or that there was anything going on in Hyrule other than the Upheaval, which is treated like a natural phenomenon. There's no sense of urgency or immediate threat. You could never escape Calamity Ganon in BOTW; all the NPCs talked about the Calamity and the flashbacks were to Link's own story. This time around, the flashbacks are to Zelda's story, not Link's, Ganondorf is MIA in the modern timeline, not seeming to pose all that much of a threat, and none of the NPCs have any clue what's going on.

TotK Ganondorf is clearly delegating responsibility to the countless Bokoblins, Moblins, etc. Why get his perfectly manicured hands and pedicured feet all dirty ? But I agree, if he wants to rule Hyrule, I would think he would want to do so from the Surface, not the Depths.

I also don't quite understand why Flux Constructs are in The Depths since they are Zonai devices, not Ganon minions.

Still the boss fights against TotK Ganondorf and Demon Dragon Ganon are far superior to BotW Calamity Ganon and Dark Beast Ganon.

A good character, just not a terribly imposing villain because of how bad TOTK’s story is when it comes to immersion and player agency. Some showing instead of just telling for the stakes could’ve already done a whole lot of good. Well, besides the fact it ain’t that well-written with how strongly the trailers pushed the story part but oh well.

I wish, he becomes like a good guy and they become the Triforce team, fighting against a universal baddy.

Very, very much agreed. He was cool in this game but ultimately felt a bit shoved into the background when there was certainly potential for more. My guess is that he was just biding his time down there to fully restore his strength, which just so happens to come to pass the moment Link greets him down there, because why not.

But I'd absolutely love to see him getting further fleshed out in future games. Make the player fear him! Make him be an actual looming threat rather than being more of a regular enemy reset timer and distant memory with history's most forgettable comeback.

@CartoonDan
This reminded me that my partner jokingly called him 'gammon' in bed the other night and didn't know he was actually evil bacon (a pig) when he feels like it.

I thought between all three games he felt like this omnipresent, sinister presence. He has been a plague on Hyrule since the early days and his actions benefit no one (not the Gerudo that turned against their own, not the Yiga, not Astor, not even really the monsters as they are mindless canon fodder. They attempt to build little camps but they can't grow as a species). Which is better than funneling everything into one evil figure (with the assumption that defeating said figure brings endless peace)as evil is never ending. He created everything that is trying to kill link, everything (except the yiga) that tries to undermine the lives of all Hyruleans (including the Gerudo). And it never ends. You kill monsters and they come right back…stronger. And he is doing this while half dead. Like a dictator you feel his presence in the lack of freedom and poor quality life you have. Not because he is working on his organ skills. Link has to rebuild a town and help retake forts and running from one end of hyrule to the other solving problems. You feel ganondorf everywhere. The entire world state is due to him. The good thing is you see good collectively fighting back. People trying to live and thrive.

Granted I am still working on ToTK but I feel his presence in the world and peoples he continually ruins. He does sorta feel like Dracula in TotK so far though.

As much fun as I’ve had playing TOTK, I feel BOTW is actually the better game. It’s a much more distilled experience and the tension is palpable. Link’s journey to get stronger is driven by the need to confront the ever looming threat of Ganon before it goes boom. I did really love all the memories/stories in both though.
I don’t let Ganondorf’s absence in TOTK bug me to much, I just assume he needs to sleep in boxes of dirt or something. It must take a while to rehydrate that much!

Ganondorf was fine but i only wanted to find the origin village of the Lynals and rescue a newborn that would imprint and fight along beside me!

I get he is the big bad guy but can they mix it up with the villain I've already seen this dude for the umpteeth time. AND no I not talking about big scaly dinosaur looking thing. All I'm saying is that there are other ways to create a very good villain that is not Ganon (dark ganon, old ganon, cel-ganon, calamity ganon, polygon ganon, hungover ganon.)

@OldManHermit I very agree, I’d love to see a Ganondorf with a much more humble beginnings, even a sorrowful Ganondorf. The typical just evil for evil sake just gets a bit bland and uninspiring, I mean once evil has corrupted the world what else is there to achieve when everyone is dead and the world is desolate?

i was so disapoited with TOTK Ganondorf, i was hoping Nintendo would do a deepen development of Ganondorf just like they did with Zelda, but no they turned Ganondorf into a generic cartoon evil, doing cartoonish evil things, look at me i evil, Wind Waker Ganondorf is still the superior Ganondorf, also hoping he would be more proative like Ocarina of Time Ganondorf, that ounce he was revived in the begining of the game, he would be acting to hinder your progress, manipulating everyone, killing a major character such as Impa, not just sit and wating for you to kick him

I have a hard time feeling a sense of danger in this game. Yes the Ganon ooze is back but that’s not enough. To paraphrase Stan Lee, the villain needs the better writing effort for the story to work

I was looking forward to seeing Ganondorf realised in a proper way but it was disappointing that he got three scenes with Link throughout the entire game, literally at the beginning, middle and end. The fact that most of his scenes are in the distant past and missable makes it harder to appreciate him.

Ganondorf's a bad guy, but he's not THE bad guy (it's the curse of Demise). We need a Zelda experience with a good Ganondorf free from the curse but still able to wield the TriForce of Power

@VideoGameBoy I spent 4 hours catching fish in ToTK. It occurred to me the story doesn't change until I wil it. Thus making Link more powerful than Ganondorf himself.

The villain is forever stuck in one place unless Link chooses to pursue him.

Zelda can be more than ganondorf as last boss and link saving zelda. I wouldnt mind them creating a whole new story with link with a new arch enemy and different main quest, as long as they stick to the core elements that makes the zelda games a great adventure game.

I haven’t even completed it yet. There doesn’t seem to be any panic for me to complete it in the game world that is. I had exactly the same problem with botw I play for maybe ten hours then get bored and play something else then go back a few weeks later and do a bit more. I think it’s just too big in a way I don’t know I’m thinking about the games I love most and think about halo and gears of war they have quite a short campaign but it’s all action so I think we need a shorter all action Zelda adventure!

The memories format is atrocious … get rid of it completely and let something actually happen during the game.
Feels like you’re playing a game where nothing actually happens.

Zelda games’ story are now static, hindered by the open world format. There’s no sense of progression at all.

Go back to the Metroidvania roots and design and use the format to tell a dynamic story FFS

I feel like Ganondorf is sort of like Megatron. Yes you need him to be evil and end up the main villain but you can show his downfall. Humanize (or these cases, Gerudoize and ... Cybertronianize) the character by forcing to watch his moral compass twist and break until they're finally driven to villainy.

Ocarina of Time and Wind Waker both do it really well, as Ganondorf actually has a proper presence in the game throughout the entire thing. In Ocarina of Time, you see him in a strangely prophetic dream, he gets talked about early on, you see him introduced as a threat but you can't do anything about it (explained that you're powerless), you then hear about him a few more times before you come face to face with him in a cutscene that culminates in his easy victory. Turns out, he was manipulating the situation as he knew you'd have the keys he needed which is why he lets you live. While you're kept safe in the sacred realm for 7 years, he wreaks havoc. You get to see the contrasted world in which he's king. He actively taunts you in the Forest Temple, not just because he's a good ***** but because he needs Link, Zelda and himself to come together in one spot to reassemble the triforce, and just like how you held the keys before, knows that you're the best shot at doing it. The first iteration of Ganondorf might be one of the simplest, but his motives and when he goes hands-on and hands-off make by FAR the most sense, because his goal isn't complete due to the nature of how the Triforce works in Ocarina of Time.

Even if he's not necessarily there, he's still very involved in every action that's taken. In Tears of the Kingdom on the other hand, he seems evil mostly to be as evil as possible. And I'm not saying he can't just be a d*** for the sake of it, but he's not present at all for most of the gametime, not even in a passing mention sometimes.

I'm really just so, so tired of Ganon. Pretty much every other main villain in this series is more interesting than he is and the only time he's ever had any depth to it him deeper than MWAHAHAHAHAHA was Wind Waker.

The only thing I was disappointed in was that they didn’t use Kotake and Koume (aka Twinrova) in any form, considering they’re in the game, in cut scenes. I thought for sure she’d be used as fake Zelda, would have been a cool surprise.

Some of us actually prefer if there is space to fill in the spots with our imagination. It is another extreme when people want everything explained word by word. There could be more, but this more would also dictate the flow of the game. Keeping some things hidden gives the game more freedom for us to create our own story and that was the goal of this game!

I've always thought a Zelda Triforce Trilogy would be great way to feature all three main characters in a different light. Zelda Triforce of Power featuring Ganondorf as the playable character, TriForce of Wisdom with Zelda as the playable character, etc. I think we'd all love to play as the other characters and experience the rich history of Hyrule from different perspectives. Release all three spaced out in a year, and talk about sales potential and story momentum.

@ShinEon I love OOt but in fact this game is the real OOT remake. BOTW is like the Kid Links part and TOTK is adult Links part. Also from the cutscenes it’s pretty clear Ganon saw what power do the Zonai hold and he wanted to get it. His presence is also there through fake Zelda and Shadow Ganon- which was amazing throwback to OOT’s Shadow Temple and more. This game provided enough but most people are spoiled with fancy cutscenes and the story is supposed to be served on silver platter. I think the story in TOTK was solid and ballanced in a way for people to make their own stories within the game. I think sometimes it’s good to have more vague story like Dark Souls. This story was at least as good as OOT but it’s a different style of storytelling. I think that the story can be as deep as we make it. Imagine for Gerudo await 100 years for their messiah to bring their culture to glory-awaiting their long foretold king-who happens to be an ass@&£” obsessed so much with power and his quest that lead Gerudo warrior to believe that Zonai are the race that maintains power through ancient relict and the only way to be free was to take it from them, but the Gerudo didn’t know his aim wasn’t to bring Gerudo to glory years but to obtain power only to himself and his selfish desires, putting all Gerudo to shame for which they don’t want to be associated with him. Also the ancient Zonai tech that’s believed in the world to be magic while it was just a normal part of super advanced culture which Ganon destroyed. There are honestly so many hidden messages that deeply resonate with worlds religions and history that I think is honestly amazing. Hope people will learn to look deeper because the story here, while not cinematic is far deeper than games like Last of us, Arkham games, or more- which are praised for story. This experience is just really long but the intense deep story and lore is there for everyone to discover if they pay attention.

@Znake Nope. Im not spoiled. Those random AAA titles you picked out, I've never played. However, I've played CRPG's with nowhere near the budget of Zelda or AAA titles, but with depth as deep as the ocean. Far deeper than even Zelda.

@Znake Haha, what? Nintendo doesn't favor complex storytelling by choice. It's always been Gameplay above all else.

Zelda is surface level by design. There is no deep whatever it is you wrote. if you found something good on you, but don't go throw people under a bus as if they idiots who can't think for themselves unless told.

Dark Souls as you mentioned is one the best selling franchises alone. That alone already throws away your argument people are spoiled by tons of cutscenes and being spoon fed.

@Bratwurst35 if you have the intellect to appreciate a gem than good for you. Most people behave like greedy monkeys and not everything needs to be adapted to those. Either you get my point or not. If I were a kid sure maybe I would like being fed a fancy story, but now experiencing almost 30years of gaming, I actually feel that what we got here is far deeper than most games today. Not claiming there are no deeper stories out there, but for Zelda it’s really deep and deeper than most AAA titles today.

@Frailbay30 sure I am not saying this is the deepest game out there. Sure some games are much deeper-mainly RPGs I’ve played, but for this genre this might be one of the best.

Yeah respectfully disagree, when it comes to making a menacing villain less is more. Yammering away at a camera and making him less enigmatic would take away that sense of dread when you do see him
Sephiroth is a great example of what happens when you try to do too much with a villian

@Nourldean Original Sephiroth was great! He's just a victim of becoming so popular that Enix wants to milk the character for all he's worth now.

Vii is no longer a standalone title but an entire franchise. With multiple tie in media to boot.

Make ganon playable so we can murder the koroks

@Namco TotK is generally weak from start to finish, easily the worst Zelda game in the mainline series. I do agree with the author's points to some extent. OoT had plenty of Ganondorf to go 'round, and WW's representation was just phenomenal. TP was a welcome change because you weren't expecting him for most of the game, and SS did wonders with Ghirahim and Demise. Even BotW gave him a great presentation even if the final battle was weak. When they revealed TotK Ganon, I was excited because it looked like they were finally going to give us another WW type of villain if not better. Instead, we got a weak game in every aspect.

Honestly, the next Zelda game needs to go back to a more traditional style and utilize a new villain.

Honestly, I am of the belief that we should give Ganon a break for at least a few Zelda games, and have another villain play the main antagonist.

I don't care if it's a previous villain (such as Vaati; it would be interesting to see him in 3D form) or a brand new one, but I just think we need a few Zelda games going forward where it's not some form of Ganon as the big bad of the game.

As a working stiff without alot of time to play games, and lots of different gaming interests, I still havent beaten this game and it's soul crushing to have gone SO long without spoilers only to experience the 1000 cuts of a number of articles such as this.

ive seen others ask for these editorials to be obscured from the main feed of actual headlines, and i don't think ive made such a request but here i am. thanks for your consideration, and if it keeps happening... I'll keep coming back lol no worries ✌️

@-wc-

I can't discern any spoilers from the headline or thumbnail.

@AstroTheGamosian

absolutely, same with Bowser in the Mario games.

Wart was crying out for a return in 3D World.

Wonder seems suited to a new villain, but looks like it's Bowser yet again.

Tears of the Kingdom was suited to be in another realm a la Majora's Mask, but they bottled it.

@-wc- Gandondof was spoiled before the game even came out though. By Nintendo themselves. It was like a big thing before the game's release.

@Uncle_Franklin

im sure im being overly sensitive. believe it or not I had managed to steer my eyes away from any ganondorf content at all until very recently, when stuff like this has started to be posted to the main thread.

now, my mind is pre loaded to basically think it sucks when i do experience it for myself. and maybe thats not even what this article says but i wouldnt know, because i dont want to read it and risk "real" spoilers.

(let's be real, "that's great, do better" sounds exactly like a nice way to say it's a letdown, at best.)

again, im being sensitive. and, i could simply stop reading the site while i feel this way. i realize this. i could point to the other editorials im talking about but i dont wish to see them again obv.

my actual point is that I've seen multiple others in these comments saying this exact thing about other "soapbox" entries, at times when i wasnt offended or spoiled but clearly they were. those people also requested that these editorials be in a different section from the usual, spoiler free news, reviews, and polls. ✌️

@WaffleRaptor01

yeah i was on media blackout for totk so i didnt even realize that lol. its not hard for me because i dont use social media or even look at gaming sites besides this one. i just really, really care about playing zelda and a handful of other games and i dont want anything about them spoiled, regardless of who's spoiling what. ✌️

@-wc- This is the social media age. Things will be spoiled left and right before you know it.

I recall how Sakurai was saddened so many people on youtube spoiled SSBB by posting the entire games story.

In this age, everyone wants to be the first to get the most likes on twitter , the most upvotes on reddit, the most views on youtube, and gaming sites, the most clicks.

It's kinda hard to avoid them now because you can see one even when you weren't actively looking for it, just by a simply browsing a random page.

@GoshJosh

I mean, I think a Nintendo site is going to have Nintendo content.

I wouldn't visit a football site if I didn't want to know a particular football score.

@Uncle_Franklin "You can see one even when you weren't actively looking for it"

That right there, in my post. Yes you are right this is Nintendo site, but I said everywhere as well. I have been spoiled by things on random sites just by daily browsing.

But thank you for reminding me of what site im currently visiting. I nearly forgot.

@GoshJosh

"just by a simply browsing a random page."

insinuates that you were already on a particular site.

Apologies for the misunderstanding.

I will say I would love to see a version of Ganon that is a rejected well intentioned extremist. Totk almost felt like it would go that way but either the Gerudo that backed him lost or he used them as canon fodder (haven't beaten the game). But some version that wakes up and wages war so that he can lead the Gerudo to his idea of a Golden age (while the actual Gerudo recognize that he is insane) by wiping out the other peoples that he is jealous of (technically if you look at it each people except maybe the Gerudo live rather well in comparison to their natures). Urbosa's hatred of him really felt like they were hinting at that (and that he is a source of national shame to them as a people...apparently so much so that they quit having male kids lol) but then he just comes off as wanting power and death for the sake of it. I know there are people depraved enough to follow such a person, but most won't unless there is something they get out of it or they grew up indoctrinated and see nothing wrong with what they are doing.

Granted the Gerudo are hard to expand, for the simple fact that since they are a female only (99.9% as Ganondorf appears to be the sole exception since he first showed up at the start of Hyrule) race, (which is of course not respected as men are always trying to get in) it is doubtful at least based on real world examples that they would be allowed to prosper without constant attack or at the very least having to expend a great deal of effort kicking males out. Plus they likely lose a decent amount of the population due to Gerudo women that stay with their husbands (or non Gerudo wives as you don't really see other vai that grew up there or had been there for a long period of time). So that plus the harshness of the desert means they likely won't get larger than a city. Granted all the other non Hylian races have similar restrictions due to their natures as Gorons likely can survive outside of death mountain (as a species) and same with the Zora and the waters of Zora's domain. For me that is my only real issue with Hyrule. I would love to see more cities that belong solely to the non Hylian species. Which may be a big ask considering Ganon likes to bomb Hyrule back to the stone age every chance he gets.

Waddawant? Ganandorf's Fury? Where he rains down hell every once in a blood moon?
(Actually, that does sound kinda cool..)

I thought he was a load of balls - extremely underwhelming and more like a generic anime antagonist, rather than, y'know, Ganondorf.

I'm sure folks may disagree, but... I don't know. I just felt the series deserved better.

@Bratwurst35 do you also understand how gameplay can change and the structure of side quests and main quests if you enforce a lot of cutscenes and spoon fed story? You might realize a game could never have so much openness and freedom the other way around.

Maybe that's it! I love Bowser for taunting me time and time again and getting away. Reminding me he's the one doing the messing up everything. And the spin offs helped! 😂

What I'm saying is: Paper Link with controleable Ganny sections when?! 😂

I wanted the zomboid, undead Ganandorf to be the primary one as the final boss. Maybe he could have mutated into something else.

TotK has the best Ganondorf by a landslide. Not only his epic presentation, but also the feats! You ask what he's been doing? Let's make a list:

In the past he

• created all the monsters in Hyrule
• created the blood moon
• waged war on Hyrule and almost won
• Killed Sonia and countless others in the war

In the current day he

• Was the cause of all calamity Ganon events that lead to destruction of central Hyrule and the castle, and killed all the champions except Link with the blights.
• Is the cause of all regional calamities in TotK. The sandstorm in Gerudo region, freezing Rito Village, polluting zora's domain, poisoning the Deku Tree and drugging the Gorons. The boss monsters and puppet Zelda causing them are his direct extensions. You can see the bosses share his eyes.
• Gloom Hands and phantom Ganons are also his extensions. The phantoms are his direct extensions. Why should he get off his throne when he can do it remotely? Wouldn't it be anticlimactic as hell if Ganon himself walked on the surface doing everything by himself?
• Caused the gloom to spread, decaying weapons and making people sick
• the monsters in TotK seem to be more disciplined, carrying out his will on the surface

Compare this to WW Ganon for example who just kind of kidnapped some kids and managed to ravage one island... also, his presentation was weak as hell. Losing a little kid in a sword fight... now that was lackluster.

Looking at the comments some people seem to have nostalgia goggles on. Here's my list of best Ganon's from best to worst:

1. TotK
2. ALttP
3. OOT
4. BotW
5. TP
6. WW
7. The wannabe Ganon called Demise
8. NES Zelda

Honestly they did a better job with Skyward Sword and it's villain than any other game.

The best Zelda story is in the original NES Zelda. Let the player make the story through adventuring.

@keatypoo
Lol , I disagree. Demise feels like a braggart who's all talk and no action.

Compared to TotK's Ganondorf, the presentation of Demise is nowhere near as menacing or epic. TotK's intro scene with Ganondorf awakening alone is more intense than anything Demise ever did.

Demise is also one of those bosses who are introduced way too late in the game. Sure, there's the Imprisoned but actual Demise appears when the game is pretty much over. Lame. Reminds me of TP Ganon's late arrival.

Totk's Ganondorf's feats and the final battle also blows Demise out of the water.

Demise is a Ganondorf wannabe despite the fact he precedes Ganon lorewise.

I feel only a young player could write this article. Since the whole Ganon plot happened in the past-logically the player could not fully experience that. I agree that there is too much Ganon as reincarnation of evil, but Gerudo culture, Master Kogha trying to bring Ganon back and being stuck while discovering Zonai tech, Gerudo disowning Ganon as a leader, power stones, religion, destruction of culture and how long dead culture can be viewed 10 thousand years later, curse that leaked everywhere and people adapting to it. I think considering the player freedom and the need for the story to be flexible- this was an excellent work. If we got more linear style Zelda game in more intimate world- Like Ocarina Of Time remake, I think the story could be more direct and bold. On one hand I wished we could see more of Ganons past and his hunt for power. But is t it enough that Gerudo are stuck in the desert, and the Zoni that lead the world through power-even though being good- doesn’t it make sense that he felt that it’s unfair that some beings from the sky use magical relics to maintain control and he wanted to take it for himself? Maybe he wasn’t so evil until he touched the stone which amplified his warrior spirit which forced the evil reincarnation within his soul? Then he became evil and all Gerudo abandoned him then for bringing so much shame to their culture. The question is at which point did the reincarnation happen- because Gerudo can have a male child every 100 years, but this Ganon killed the Zoni, and then until TOTK 10 thousand years passed and this was the only main calamity until TOTK- so it’s possible that Gerudo have a male only for as long ad o e of them is alive in some form- making the punishment for their culture even more severe- that for Ganons evil deeds he got possessed and cursed Gerudo for not being able to have more children until he was defeated. Now it would make sense if he had a Child with a Zoni long ago-maybe with Mineru- which would be the secret Zoni armor warrior relic in TOTK- one warrior who tried saving Gerudo honor by defeating his father or maybe braking the curse that befell Gerudo and their warrior culture- that’s why they can have a child only every 100 years and only 1. Still I love when a story is put together so the lore makes space for so many options and explanations. There is only a certain number of options for stories in media and I don’t think any studio can create something super original- great story sure, but original?! That would be tough and for that reason I think they did better making the story and lore through the memos from the past so the player makes their own stories through playing the game. Now for the future games- I hope they remake Ocarina of Time and through that game it could be easier to make a more detailed straightforward story since it’s not as complex as all the events attached to TOTK. Ocarina could be more intimate hero’s journey.

@Cia great job, finally someone who doesn’t need to be spoon fed, and notices all the details! Great job! Totally agree. Ganon and the shame he brought to his culture and his selfish search for power and bringing Gerudo over Zoni- it’s like when a small country tries to free itself from a dominance of a much bigger country in a way, plus all the religion sub themes… this game has so much depth I could spend hours talking about all the analogies with todays politics and religion and history. Too bad that not everyone notices this depth and just consume at the surface level. People are just lazy to read between the lines:( Glad there is someone like you!

At this point I'm far against the current non-linear approach to the main quest of these games, it results in sacrificing way too much for what you gain. It's especially hard to tell a compelling story with opposing forces working around each other when large sets of events can happen in any order, which is why they had that whole "mischievous phantom Zelda causing random problems" thing going for most of the game, and then finishing it all doesn't even directly lead towards finding and fighting Ganon, but rather one of the many large side adventures it lightly recommends you do indirectly results in one npc narrowing down that he's at the extremely obvious location that anyone would have guessed from the start of the game. Like yeah super cool that anyone can play this game in any way they feel like, but there's no combination of events that results in an actually good version of the story that holds up against the older games.

OOT Ganon is still the best Ganondorf