Editing Ganondorf (SSBB)

'''Ganondorf''' ({{ja|ガノンドロフ|Ganondorofu}}, ''Ganondorf'') is a playable character in ''[[Super Smash Bros. Brawl]]''. ''{{iw|zeldawiki|The Legend of Zelda|Series}}'' series director Eiji Aonuma first hinted that Ganondorf would return from ''[[Super Smash Bros. Melee]]'' when he stated that he sent (Ganondorf), [[Link]], and [[Sheik]]'s ''[[zeldawiki:The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess|Twilight Princess]]'' designs to [[Masahiro Sakurai]].<ref>[https://www.destructoid.com/eiji-aonuma-on-the-ds-phantom-hourglass-and-smash-bros-37441.phtml]</ref> He was ultimately confirmed on March 18, 2008. Most of Ganondorf's voice clips are from ''Twilight Princess'' and were performed by Hironori Miyata, while his [[Wii Remote selection sound]] is from ''The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time'' and was performed by Takashi Nagasako; it last appeared in ''Melee''{{'}}s Sound Test.

Ganondorf is ranked dead last on the ''Brawl'' [[tier list]], in 38th place out of the 38 characters in the game. This is a significant drop from his position on the ''Melee'' tier list, where he ranked 14th out of 26, and is tied with [[Ganondorf (SSBU)|his later iteration from ''Ultimate'']] as his worst placement in the ''Smash'' series to date (although he is far more viable in ''Ultimate'' compared to his ''Brawl'' iteration). Ganondorf's few strengths include high power throughout his moveset, respectable endurance, strong [[momentum cancelling]] capabilities, and some fearsome [[edgeguard]]ing abilities, with access to the most powerful [[meteor smash]] in the game in his [[down aerial]], and a great [[semi-spike]] in his [[up aerial]]. Ganondorf has also gained a new combo starter in [[Flame Choke]] and a superjump glitch in the [[Flight of Ganon]].

However, these strengths are eclipsed by a slew of significant flaws. Ganondorf's overall mobility and frame data are among the slowest, if not the slowest in the game, with even {{SSBB|King Dedede}} just barely beating him. His [[recovery]] is possibly his biggest flaw, being one of the worst recoveries in ''Brawl''; he has the third-lowest double [[jump]] in the game, [[Flame Choke]] covers minimal horizontal distance and is easily edge-guarded due to its slow speed and lack of protection, and aerial [[Wizard's Foot]] no longer restores his double jump. In particular, [[Dark Dive]] is likewise slow, and its newly added hitbox at the move's climax is not sufficient enough to defend from edge-guarding, while it has also lost all of its KO power and now only KOs past the [[Sudden Death]] range (300%), and has so little hitstun that opponents can hit Ganondorf out of it as soon as the move completes. Nerfs to his useful chain-grab options and his overall moveset from ''Melee'', along with the changes to [[hitstun]] severely weakened his KO and combo ability. Additionally, many of his moves either have large sourspots, poor [[reach]] for a character of his size, inconveniently placed [[hitbox]]es, or cannot KO at realistic percentages (like his aforementioned [[Dark Dive]]), invalidating his would-be impressive attack power. Also, the loss of [[L-cancelling]] has harmed him far more than any other character in ''Brawl'', as he is no longer able to safely use his powerful, yet laggy aerials in many situations. In addition, his [[grab]] is not only slow, but also the shortest-reaching grab in the series, which compounds with his slow attacks to give him poor [[out of shield]] options. While his great weight gives him respectable endurance, this is offset by his exploitable recovery, and it also makes him susceptible to [[chain grabs]] and combos (with a few being capable of [[zero-death]]ing him outright). Plus, his shield is unusually small, making it vulnerable to [[shield stab]]bing, similar to {{SSBB|Donkey Kong}}. Finally, his lack of any projectile makes him easily [[camping|camped]] and leaves him with little in the way of approach options or ways ability to force approaches.

As a result, Ganondorf has had the third-highest tier drop from ''Melee'' to ''Brawl'' (behind {{SSBB|Captain Falcon}} and {{SSBB|Jigglypuff}} for the second-highest and highest, respectively), with terrible tournament results and awful matchups against nearly the entire cast, although Japan has a slightly better opinion on Ganondorf, ranking him 31st. Nevertheless, most players consider ''Brawl'' Ganondorf to be the worst character in all of ''Smash''.

*Have Ganondorf join the player's party in [[The Subspace Emissary]] by collecting Link's and Zelda's trophies in [[Subspace (Part II)]].

Ganondorf is a [[Weight#SSBB_Weight_Ranking|heavy]], fast falling, very slow character (the slowest to be exact) with sub-par range and strong attacks. Though only in their sweetspots, his attacks deal above average knockback; however, this can also serve as a problem since it prevents him from comboing at medium damage percentages or higher. His side special grants him [[armor]] (only helpful in team battles or Free-for-alls) while he is holding the opponent, and it leaves opponents vulnerable for a bit of time if used on the ground, leaving them open for another quick attack being a true set up like down tilt (on most characters), his jab, or several characters getting hit by dash attack and side tilt for KOs, and even his up aerial on platforms. In the air, Ganondorf's side special can cause a [[Ganoncide]], although it is situational because even when it is impossible to escape from it or control the trajectory, landing it is very hard work, and the results in a last-stock situation are unpredictable. Ganondorf's moves are arguably the least affected by Smash DI because he has the lowest number of multi-hitting moves (his down smash and his neutral aerial are his only moves considered to be a multi-hitting move; however, his neutral aerial's second hit will almost never connect at higher percentages), effectively rendering escape and punishment of his attacks ineffective, although his attacks are a lot easier to shield or dodge. Ganondorf's dash attack provides him with a quick speed boost, and the move is a hard hitter as well and can also KO, but it is easily punished if shielded. Ganondorf's aerials are also very strong, and all have high knockback and strong edgeguarding potential. His up aerial is a very useful [[semi-spike]] that can gimp opponents due to its high hitstun, and his down aerial is an extremely strong and reliable [[meteor smash]] that can surprisingly [[Auto-canceling|auto-cancel]] in a short hop in addition to being the strongest in the game (sometimes able to KO even at 0%, depending on how far away the opponent is from the lower blast line). Ganondorf's powerful up smash, despite its slow startup, has very low ending lag and a deceptive hitbox, making it one of Ganondorf's best moves. Ganondorf's advanced [[superjump glitch]], the [[Flight of Ganon]], is very situational, but, if done right, he travels far higher in the air than any of his aerial options, allowing him to escape pressure, and the maneuver allows him to set up an aerial reverse Warlock Punch, his strongest move.

However, Ganondorf's high power and heavy weight are counter-balanced with a slew of flaws. Ganondorf is the tallest fighter in the game, a problem shared with other heavyweights. His horizontal standing [[grab]] range is the shortest in the game (though his pivot grab has good range, but slower start-up). Because of his poor grab range, slow moves, and short distanced rolls, his out of shield options are some of the least effective in the game (though his grab can sometimes still shield grab depending on the range of the opponent's attack and the shieldstun of it, in spite of its range), forcing him to rely on powershielding; because of how much he relies on his shield that hasn't the size of characters like Snake without being able to punish the opponent, this makes him easy to shield poke with multi-hit moves. Ganondorf also has difficulty jumping out of shield due to his slow jumpsquat (7 frames). Ganondorf has poor [[air speed]], and a very small second jump (though it auto-sweetspots ledges, allowing him to [[plank]]). Ganondorf's mobility is also very poor with his poor air speed and ground speed; because of this, characters with a good projectile can easily break his approach and force him to jump and still get very little distance. He also lacks a projectile while also lacking easy ways to deal with them, and he does not have an easy way of dealing with camping either. Ganondorf's overall ground attack speed is among the slowest in the game along with {{SSBB|Ike}} (but three of Ganondorf's aerial attacks are only laggy if he lands while attacking; Ganondorf's fastest ground attack is his short-ranged grab which has 7 frames of startup). Two of Ganondorf's moves, his Volcano Kick up tilt and Warlock Punch neutral special, are extremely slow and highly situational. His forward aerial, while otherwise a decently powerful move with solid range, is affected by a coding error, preventing it from auto-canceling even out of a double jump and giving it noticeably more ending lag than the rest of his aerials.

Although his weight and good [[momentum canceling]] allows Ganondorf to potentially live up to very high percents, his slow, predictable and easily gimped recovery compromises this, being among the worst in the game. His main recovery move, Dark Dive, not only gains little distance, but it can be hit out of from above by certain characters where he lacks hitboxes (e.g. {{SSBB|Falco}}, at around 90% damage, can meteor smash Ganondorf out of his up special with his down aerial). It can poorly [[stage spike]] edgehoggers, but Dark Dive is easily [[tech]]ed, and in fact the uppercut at the end is stronger than the primary attack (which does not KO until 300%, and is substantially weaker than in other ''Smash'' games). Because of these reasons, Ganondorf's up special is one of the worst in the game and is practical only when used offensively if the opponent is at a low percent or is one of the few who cannot punish it. Although his overall damage input and KO power allows to compensate his terrible recovery somewhat, it still lacks sufficient utility, as opponents can act as soon as they are let go, while Ganondorf must wait for a while before attacking, giving enemies the chance to attack Ganondorf as soon as he lets go. He, like Captain Falcon and {{SSBB|Wolf}}, has a fast falling speed and a heavy weight that can backfire by making him vulnerable to [[chain grab]]s from the {{SSBB|Ice Climbers}} and {{SSBB|King Dedede}}. Also, certain characters can avoid much of Ganondorf's moveset by simply [[crouching]] (jab, f-tilt, non-down angled forward smash, down smash, auto-canceled short hop down aerial, [[Warlock Punch]], grounded [[Wizard's Foot]] and even standing grab and dash grab).

Additionally, despite him having some useful combo starters at low percentages (including his down throw, Flame Choke and auto-canceled down aerial), Ganondorf is otherwise virtually unable to combo past low-mid percents. Ganondorf cannot pursue his opponents with most of his other moves both in the air and on the ground due to his low air speed, his abysmal overall mobility, his sluggish jumpsquat, the high knockback of most of his attacks, and the ability to more easily act out of hitstun in ''Brawl'' than in any other ''Smash'' game, which makes him nearly incapable of consistently and efficiently racking up damage above mid percents. As mentioned earlier, he does have some decent combo starters in his short hop auto-canceled down aerial and his Flame Choke. However, both moves are flawed in the same way: they have long start-up lag and are as such extremely predictable and avoidable. Furthermore, his Flame Choke has high ending lag if he whiffs it, and requires proper reads in order for him to effectively tech-chase and combo his opponent repeatedly with it, while his auto-canceled down aerial stops leading into any of his other moves above mid percentages.

Despite being a low-mid tier in Melee while also receiving some good buffs, Ganondorf was heavily [[nerf]]ed from ''Melee'', being one of the most nerfed characters in the transition alongside {{SSBB|Jigglypuff}}. His already slow mobility has been weakened, and some of his moves have less [[reach]] (despite his tall stature), leaving him very easily out-maneuvered and vulnerable from all sides. His comboing and KOing ability also have been severely crippled: his grabs can no longer [[chain throw]] nor set up effectively as before; and his great power has been toned down to being only slightly above-average, due to his moves either being drastically weakened to the point where they cannot K.O. even at 200% or have received extremely large [[sourspot]]s that cannot KO reliably, most notably his forward aerial, the crux of his metagame in ''Melee''. Finally, his already poor recovery was significantly weakened to be among the worst, with his main recovery move ([[Dark Dive]]) being completely unsafe on hit.

**{{buff|With the exception of standing grab's near grabbox, grabs have larger grabboxes (3.906u (standing)/3.906u/3.906u/3.906u (dash) → 4.8u (standing)/4.8u/4.8u/4u (dash)), giving them more range despite dash grab's furthest grabbox being positioned closer to Ganondorf (z offset: {{rollover|9.2807|8.5932 x 1.08)|y}} → 9).}}

|desc=Emerges from a portal of dark magic. Based on how {{iw|zeldawiki|Phantom Ganon}} emerges from similar dark portals in his boss fight in ''Ocarina of Time''.

Ganondorf initially was not seen as the worst character, being ranked above {{SSBB|Link}} and {{SSBB|Captain Falcon}} on the first tier list, and was still ranked above Captain Falcon on the second tier list. From the third tier list on however, Ganondorf was consistently ranked the worst character, and on the fifth tier list, was considered to be so much worse than everyone else he was ranked in his own tier at the absolute bottom. Despite his reputation as the worst character, he had a dedicated playerbase that achieved better tournament success than most other bottom/low tier characters (however minor it was). A player named {{Sm|Fonz}} even once won [http://www.smashboards.com/threads/go-kakuto-geemu-results.305979/#post-12926734 a legitimate tournament] using Ganondorf (except for in one game), an accomplishment players of most other low/bottom tier characters have not been able to replicate. As such, with Ganondorf's better tournament success compared to most other low/bottom characters, there was some dispute near the end of ''Brawl'''s active life on if Ganondorf was actually the worst character in the game, with {{SSBB|Zelda}} and {{SSBB|Jigglypuff}} frequently being cited as even worse. Interestingly, the [[Japanese tier list|Japanese]] do not consider Ganondorf the worst character, and actually have him listed above five other characters on their tier list. Despite arguments in favor of Ganon's punish game and his slightly superior results compared to other bottom tier characters, the BBR still considered him the worst character in their final tier list.

==In Solo Modes==

In Classic Mode, Ganondorf can appear as an opponent or ally in Stage 1 if he has been unlocked along with {{SSBB|Link}}, {{SSBB|Zelda}}/{{SSBB|Sheik}}, and {{SSBB|Toon Link}} on [[Bridge of Eldin]] or [[Pirate Ship]] (with the latter available if it has been unlocked). Ganondorf can also appear as an opponent in Stage 11, but only if he hasn't appeared in Stage 1.

 

===[[All-Star Mode]]===

 

*'''[[Event 31: The Ultimate Bodyguard]]''': As {{SSBB|Marth}}, the player must defend {{SSBB|Zelda}} and defeat two Ganondorfs on [[Castle Siege]]. During the third background change, Zelda will transform into {{SSBB|Sheik}} and assist Marth.

*'''[[Event 33: Advent of the Evil King]]''': As Ganondorf, the player must defeat {{SSBB|Link}}, {{SSBB|Zelda}} and {{SSBB|Pit}} on [[Temple]].

 

 

 

==Role in [[The Subspace Emissary]]==

Ganondorf is one of the two secondary antagonists (under [[Tabuu]]) alongside {{SSBB|Bowser}} in the Subspace Emissary.

Ganondorf first appears in a control room on the [[Isle of the Ancients]], where {{SSBB|Zero Suit Samus}} was in to find her Power Suit, giving Bowser the coordinates to find {{SSBB|King Dedede}}, who had stolen {{SSBB|Wario}}'s trophies.

After the Isle of the Ancients is engulfed in Subspace, Ganondorf appears on the [[Subspace Gunship]] as its co-commander, with Bowser, but they are forced to retreat into Subspace when the Gunship is destroyed by {{SSBB|Kirby}} and his [[Dragoon]]. Ganondorf then decides it is time to betray Bowser, so he takes out the last remaining [[Dark Cannon]] and fires it at Bowser, his own co-captain and the most loyal of Master Hand's henchmen. Kicking his [[trophy]] form out of the way, Ganondorf proceeds to present himself to Master Hand. However, as he prepares to betray Master Hand for complete control of the [[Subspace Army]], he sees that Master Hand was literally a puppet of [[Tabuu]], the embodiment of Subspace and the mastermind behind the army. Ganondorf tries to attack him, but is quickly defeated and reduced to his trophy form. As he falls, however, he bumps into the chains of light which puppeteer Master Hand, freeing him from Tabuu's control. Master Hand then attempts to attack Tabuu, but is also defeated with ease.

Later, after the main group of heroes had been defeated by Tabuu and rescued by {{SSBB|Luigi}}, {{SSBB|Ness}} and King Dedede, Kirby finds Ganondorf's trophy - leading the resurrected Bowser to appear and brutally attack the trophy as an act of retribution for his betrayal before tossing it aside. If both Link and Zelda were rescued, [[List of cutscenes in the Subspace Emissary|a cutscene]] will show Ganondorf being revived by them (with a headache from his trophification and Bowser's retaliation) and after the Hyrulian heroes walk away, he clenches his fist in anger and reluctantly decides to help the heroes travel through [[The Great Maze]] in order to defeat Tabuu.

*Ganondorf is the only playable villain who is never fought in The Subspace Emissary, excluding his [[False character|dark clone]] in [[The Great Maze]].

**He and Wario are the only characters in ''Brawl'' when going through The Subspace Emissary that are neither unlocked by simply clearing a level, nor defeated in a secret room.

*Ganondorf's ''Brawl'' design has various changes from his appearance in ''Twilight Princess'': he, for some reason, does not seem to have the glowing chest wound (even though he does have it as [[Beast Ganon]]), and his cape is hemmed instead of tattered like the one worn in that game as well. This is ultimately corrected in ''SSB4''.