Ganondorf (SSBU)

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Ganondorf in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Universe	The Legend of Zelda
Other playable appearances	in Melee in Brawl in SSB4
Availability	Unlockable
Final Smash	Ganon, The Demon King

“	His new design matches his appearance in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time! Now he uses his sword for all his smash attacks. He's a bit slimmer then [sic] he was before, but his Warlock Punch is devastating! For his final smash he transforms into Ganon, The Demon King and quickly charges forward.	”
—Super Smash Blog, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Official Site

Ganondorf (ガノンドロフ, Ganondorf) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Ganondorf is classified as fighter #23.

Takashi Nagasako reprises his role as Ganondorf after having previously voiced the character in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Super Smash Bros. Melee.

Changes from Super Smash Bros. 4

Ganondorf was granted multiple buffs during the transition from Smash 4 to Ultimate and has benefited greatly from universal gameplay changes. His ability to approach has been significantly improved due to his faster running speed, faster jumpsquat, and ability to dash cancel into his forward tilt and down tilt. In addition, his smash attacks are now sword swings that possess increased range, and all of his special moves provide more utility due to reduced lag and/or increased damage/knockback. However, the Ganoncide technique is much riskier and more situational. Overall, Ganondorf is considered to be as viable, if not more, as he was in Melee.

Aesthetics

• Ganondorf's appearance is based off of his original design from Ocarina of Time. He bears a close resemblance to his official art from Ocarina of Time 3D.
• Ganondorf now utilizes his sword from the Space World 2000 tech demo for his smash attacks, which further declones him from Captain Falcon. He also shows the sword as his down taunt, which replaces the Sword of the Six Sages from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.
• Ganondorf's initial dash and running animations have been altered, with his arms positioned further out to the side.
• Ganondorf's on-screen appearance now shows him stepping out of a liquid-like vortex of darkness.
• All attacks that utilize darkness have more intense particle effects.
• Ganondorf has new victory animations:
  • The first has him flip his cape before pumping his fist.
  • The second has him levitate in the air, land on the ground while punching his palm, then reel back before thrusting his hand towards the screen.
  • The third has him flip his cape before laughing wickedly. [1]

Attributes

• Like all characters, Ganondorf's jumpsquat animation now takes 3 frames to complete (down from 7).
• The universal ability to dash cancel into any ground attack greatly benefits Ganondorf, allowing him to use his relatively quick forward tilt and down tilt while approaching.
• Ganondorf dashes slightly faster (1.218 → 1.34), now being nearly as fast as he was in Melee. His initial dash animation is both faster (1.3 → 1.87) and goes a longer distance.
• Ganondorf walks slighy faster (0.73 → 0.767), now being slightly faster than he was in Melee.
• Ganondorf's air speed is slightly higher (0.79 → 0.83), now being nearly as fast as he was in Brawl.
• Ganondorf jumps higher.
• Ganondorf is considerably heavier (113 → 118), now weighing more than Charizard. This improves his already excellent endurance, but makes him even more suspectible to combos.

Ground attacks

• Neutral attack deals slightly more damage, no longer has sourspots (6%/8%/10% → 11%), and has less endlag.
• Forward tilt (12%/13% → 13%/14%), down tilt (13% → 14%), and dash attack (10%/14% → 11%/15%) all deal slightly more damage.
• Up tilt is significantly faster, with less startup (frame 81 → 60) and endlag (frame 115 → 96). The vacuum effect is also much stronger.
  • Up tilt does less damage but no longer has sourspots (28%/20%/18% → 24%).
  • Up tilt has a new hitbox at the height of the explosion that deals 13% damage and semi-spikes.
  • Up tilt now produces a flame effect on Ganondorf's foot during startup, and Ganondorf no longer holds up his leg with his hand.
  • Up tilt now triggers Special Zoom if it successfully hit the opponent.
• All of Ganondorf's new smash attacks utilize his sword from the Space World 2000 tech demo.
• Forward smash:
  • Forward smash is now a downward sword slash in front of Ganondorf, similar to Ike's.
  • Forward smash has greatly improved range and disjointed hitboxes. It now covers overhead.
  • Forward smash now hits below the edge of the stage, allowing it to be used for onstage edgeguarding.
  • Forward smash has more startup with fewer active frames (frame 21-26 → 28-32) and more endlag (FAF 60 → 70).
• Up smash:
  • Up smash is now an overhead sword swing from front to back, similar to Ike's.
  • Up smash has greatly improved range and disjointed hitboxes. It now covers around Ganondorf's body.
  • Up smash has less startup with more active frames (frame 21-23 → 19-26).
  • Up smash has more endlag and interrupts significantly later (FAF 42 → 62), removing its ability to bait opponents into approaching.
• Down smash:
  • Down smash is now forward hilt thrust that leads into a backwards stab, similar to Cloud's.
  • Down smash's second hit sends opponents at a semi-spike angle, improving its edgeguarding utility.
  • Down smash's second hit has slightly faster startup (frame 35 → 33) and less endlag (FAF 64 → 60).
  • Down smash's lower hitbox placement allows it to reliably hit crouching opponents. It also lowers Ganondorf's hurtbox.
  • The hitbox on the first hit that previously sent opponents away from the second hit has been removed, allowing both hits to connect more reliably.
  • Down smash's first hit deals slightly less damage (6% → 5%).

Aerial attacks

• All aerials have much less landing lag (Neutral: frame 17 → 10, Forward: 21 → 13, Up/Back: 19 → 11, Down: 26 → 16). This also makes neutral aerial and down aerial less punishable on landing.
• Forward aerial has increased range due to Ganondorf leaning farther forward as he punches.
  • Forward aerial's auto-cancel window has been restored.
• Ganondorf no longer crosses his legs during back aerial.
• Up aerial has increased startup (frame 6 → 8).
  • Up aerial's sourspot no longer hits below Ganondorf, significantly weakening its gimping potential and removing its jab reset combos.
  • Ganondorf kicks with his right leg instead of his left.
• Down aerial has Ganondorf lean back slightly as he stomps, similar to its Melee animation.

Throws/other attacks

• Standing grab has more range.
  • Standing grab has slightly more startup (frame 7 → 8) and endlag (FAF 36 → 39).
  • Ganondorf now grabs with his left hand.
• Dash grab has more endlag (FAF 45 → 48).
• Pivot grab has slightly more startup (frame 10 → 11).
• Pummel is much faster.
  • Pummel deals less damage (3% → 1.6%).
• The first hit of up throw deals more damage (7% → 10%, total: 10% → 13%).
• Down throw is no longer weight dependent, allowing more consistent followups on heavyweights.
• Forward throw deals more knockback, now KOing around 150% near the edge.
  • Forward throw's animation is now an uppercut.
• Back throw deals more knockback, now KOing near 145% near the edge.

Special Moves

• Warlock Punch now triggers Special Zoom upon hitting the opponent.
• Flame Choke:
  • Grounded Flame Choke has less endlag (FAF 62 → 58), significantly improving its combo potential and allowing for more possible follow-ups on missed techs; in particular, a combo into down tilt or dash attack is now guaranteed against all characters.
  • Grounded Flame Choke stops when it reaches a ledge, making it safer to use.
  • Grounded Flame Choke ends earlier if used at any edge.
  • Aerial Flame Choke can now be escaped by button mashing and is scaled with the opponent's damage percentage, significantly hindering Ganoncide's utility at low percentages.
  • The opponent is no longer KO'd first during a Ganoncide, removing the technique as a viable option when both players are on their last stock.
• Dark Dive:
  • Dark Dive's multi-hits deals more damage (multi-hits: 1.2% → 1.9%, total: 13.8% → 16.6%).
  • Dark Dive's throw deals drastically more knockback and launches opponents at a semi-spike, now reliably KOing at 89% near the edge, while also giving it gimping potential.
  • Dark Dive's throw has less endlag (FAF 60 → 50).
  • Opponents who are grab released by trading attacks with Dark Dive now receive damage.
  • Dark Dive's throw now causes a vibrant burst of purple magic rather than a fiery explosion. The throw also now has the electric effect.
• The landing lag glitch on Flame Choke and Dark Dive has been fixed.
• Wizard's Foot:
  • Grounded Wizard's Foot deals more damage (14%/12% → 16%/14%). In addition, the move's hitbox placements were swapped, with the sweetspot now being the foot and the sourspot being the leg, making it much easier to land the sweetspot.
  • Grounded Wizard's Foot has signifcantly higher knockback, now reliably KOing at 93% near the edge.
  • Grounded Wizard's Foot no longer has a blindspot.
  • Grounded Wizard's Foot travels faster and has significantly less endlag (FAF 77 → 60), giving the move combo potential and making it safer to use at low percentages.
  • Aerial Wizard's Foot can no longer be teched by grounded opponents during the initial hit.
  • Wizard's Foot's animation is closer to its appearance in Melee.
• Ganon, the Demon King:
  • Ganondorf's Final Smash is now called Ganon, the Demon King and is based on his bipedal form from Ocarina of Time. It is functionally identical to Beast Ganon; however, instead of slamming the ground with his body, Ganon slashes with his swords before rushing forward. When Ganondorf activates his Final Smash, the Triforce of Power briefly flashes on the back of his hand.

Classic Mode: Encroaching Darkness

Ganondorf fights against the heroes of various series.

Round	Opponent	Stage
1	Mario and Luigi	New Donk City Hall
2	Fox and Falco	Lylat Cruise
3	Shulk	Gaur Plain
4	Marth, Ike, and Roy	Coliseum
5	Palutena and Pit	Skyworld
6	Zelda and Link	Great Plateau Tower
Bonus Stage
Final	Master Hand	Final Destination

Role in World of Light

Although Ganondorf does not appear in the World of Light opening cutscene, he was vaporized and later imprisoned alongside the rest of the fighters (sans Kirby) when Galeem unleashed his beams of light.

Ganondorf is unlocked in the Sacred Realm in the World of Dark on the top of the land which makes up the Triforce of Power. This land can only be accessed after interacting with the Master Sword (just after the Cloud unlock). Unlocking Ganondorf will briefly reveal the Triforce of Power in the center of the map before disappearing to reveal Ganon's castle and his boss battle.

Alternate costumes

Gallery

• 

  Artwork of all The Legend of Zelda characters, as posted on the official Legend of Zelda Twitter account.

• 

  Ganondorf's fighter card.

• 

  Ganondorf idling on Coliseum.

• 

  Striking Marth on Arena Ferox.

• 

  Idling on Bridge of Eldin.

• 

  Running from Ness and a Bomber on Gaur Plain.

• 

  Idling with Zelda on Hyrule Castle.

• 

  Performing Demon King Ganon on Arena Ferox.

• 

  Idling with Link and Zelda on Great Plateau Tower.

• 

  Struck by Bayonetta on Mario Galaxy.

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  Taunting with Captain Falcon on Temple.

• 

  Being put to sleep by Jigglypuff on Town and City.

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  Trapped by Toon Link's Triforce Slash.

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  Taunting with all Zelda veterans on Great Plateau Tower.

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  Idling towards the Moon on Bridge of Eldin.

• Ganondorf(SSBU)WarlockPunch.png

  Striking Sheik (the latter barely visible except for her lower legs) with his Warlock Punch.

Character Showcase video

<youtube>Q7pzoLQlrsM</youtube>

Trivia

• Ultimate marks the first time in the Smash series that Ganondorf utilizes a sword in his base moveset.
• The voice clip played during Ganondorf's down smash features him shouting "Oooh-yah!", which was a clip that went unused in Melee. The clip also made an appearance in Brawl as Ganondorf's Wii Remote selection sound.
• Ganondorf's entry on the official Super Smash Blog has a grammatical error, using the word "then" instead of the correct "than." Also, the words "Final Smash" are lowercase instead of uppercase like in other fighter entries.
• Despite now being based on his Ocarina of Time appearance, Ganondorf's unlock battle takes place on Bridge of Eldin, which is from Twilight Princess.