Ganon

Ganon
Official artwork of Ganon from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and The 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	Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition (2024, cameo)
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 of The Legend of Zelda series. His first appearance was as the beast in the original The Legend of Zelda (mistranslated as "Gannon" in-game). The villain made his first humanoid appearance as Ganondorf in The 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

Ganon was originally introduced in the original The Legend of Zelda game. Here, he was established as a power-hungry monster who had kidnapped Princess Zelda for her piece of the Triforce, but was destroyed by Link at the end of the game. Since then, collecting the Triforce and conquering Hyrule has usually been Ganon's main goal in the series. He is physically present or otherwise referenced in nearly every Zelda game, with four exceptions: The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords, The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap, and The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks.

Ganon's appearance has changed over the course of the series. In his first appearance in The 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 the Silver Arrow), while in The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, he has blue skin and turns silver when weak to the aforementioned Silver Arrows. 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 in The 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 in Ocarina of Time. Another incarnation would be Ganon from The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures, who is related to the previously mentioned Ganon in name only.

In Super Smash Bros.

Although he does not appear in-game, Ganon is mentioned in Link's profile.

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Smash Bros. 4

Ganon as a Final Smash in Smash 4.

Ganon made his debut in the Super Smash Bros. series as Beast Ganon, the Final Smash of Ganondorf in Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Ganondorf in Super Smash Bros. 4. Ganon is modeled after Dark Beast Ganon from Twilight Princess to match Ganondorf's design from the same game.

In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

As a Final Smash

Ganon as a Final Smash in Ultimate.

In Ultimate, Ganondorf's Final Smash attack functions largely the same, but Ganon's appearance is based on his Ocarina of Time version and has been renamed Ganon, The Demon King.

As a boss

Ganon
A boss in	Ultimate
Universe	The Legend of Zelda
Location	Sacred Land

Ganon's location in World of Light

Ganon battling Young Link on his stage.

Ganon appears as a boss in both Classic Mode and in World of Light; in the latter, he is fought in the center of the Sacred Land sub-dungeon. He is fought in an arena resembling the ruins of Ganon's Castle in Ocarina of Time, with Ganondorf standing amid the ruins before transforming into the Demon King. Like Ocarina 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 the talk page or edit 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 in The 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 from The 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 in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

When defeated, Ganon will wildly flail his swords and roar, similar to his defeat animation in Ocarina of Time, before exploding.

The Fighters that are assigned to fight Ganon in Classic Mode are Link, Young Link, Toon Link, Zelda and Sephiroth. Usually, Calamity Ganon Battle - Second Form plays during the battle, but Death Mountain plays in Zelda's Classic Mode.

Spirits

Ganon also appears as three different primary spirits.

Ganon can be obtained by defeating the boss in the Sacred Land sub-dungeon in World of Light.

Beast Ganon can be obtained by enhancing the Ganondorf (Twilight Princess) spirit at level 99.

In Adventure Mode: World of Light, Calamity Ganon is presumably one of the countless spirits captured by Galeem 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 the Sacred Land sub-dungeon of The Dark Realm.

Calamity Ganon uses a Giant Ganondorf puppet fighter and is fought on the Great Plateau Tower stage's Ω form. The player's fighter is fought along with a Zelda puppet fighter representing her appearance in The 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 in Breath 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

• Zelda is the only character who faces Ganondorf on the same stage before his transformation into Ganon.
• Sheik and Ganondorf are the only Zelda 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 in Classic Mode.
• Ganon's boss fight in Ultimate takes place on a unique stage comprising reused models from various stages in the game, specifically Coliseum (as the ground) and Reset Bomb Forest (as the burning castle in the background).
  • The stage makes an appearance in Kazuya's reveal trailer, where he uses his Final Smash against Mario and Bowser. 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 in Sephiroth's trailer, though in that case he was only shown standing by himself.