Ganondorf (SSB4)

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Ganondorf in Super Smash Bros. 4
Universe	The Legend of Zelda
Other playable appearances	in Melee in Brawl
Availability	Unlockable
Final Smash	Beast Ganon

Ganondorf was officialy revealed as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. 4 on October 15th alongside R.O.B.. Prior to this, Ganondorf was leaked via leaked videos from footage used by ESRB to rate the game, accidentally shown in an official video, where he appeared outside the boundaries of the screen while Pikachu taunted, before the trailer was replaced with a nearly-identical video which does not include Ganondorf, and he was also shown in Twitch.tv streams before being unveiled, and on October 10th 2014, Sakurai mentioned Ganondorf in the Pic of the day, which means he was leaked four times (twice by official material) prior to his official announcement.

Visually, he retains his Twilight Princess design, but with his glowing chest wound from that game clearly visible and a more tattered cape. His hair is a slightly brighter color of orange.

How To Unlock

• Play 80 VS Matches.
• Clear Classic Mode as Link or Zelda on difficulty 5.0 or higher.

Ganondorf must then be defeated in Gerudo Valley.

Changes from Brawl

Given that Ganondorf was a low tier character in Brawl, he has received multiple buffs in power, speed, and his recovery, but not without some flaws.

• Ganondorf is heavier than in Brawl.
• Ganondorf is overall a much faster character.
• Neutral attack has faster start-up and greater range.
• Forward tilt has faster start-up and decreased ending lag, and has been strengthened to where it can KO under 125%.
• Down tilt is faster and deals 1% more damage.
• Up tilt is stronger, almost as strong as its Melee iteration. It also deals 1% more damage.
• Up smash has decreased ending lag, deals 2% more damage and can KO under 100%
• Neutral aerial has faster start-up with the first hit dealing 1% more damage, and 2% more for the second.
• Back aerial is stronger, and deals 1% more damage.
• Flame Choke deals 3% more damage.
  • Aerial Flame Choke carries Ganondorf and his opponent airborne a bit before the slam.
  • Opponents can now tech the hit.
• Warlock Punch is stronger, deals more damage, has slightly faster start-up and has invincibility frames through out the charge up.
• Up and down throws have lower knockback growth, allowing Ganondorf to follow up with other attacks more often. The former also has slightly less ending lag.
• Dash attack is weaker and deals 1% less damage.
• Down aerial is less damaging (19% instead of 22%) and much weaker, no longer being able to KO grounded opponents under 110%.
  • It no longer auto cancels in a short hop, which harms his approach.
  • However, it has also gained a sour spot that hits opponents horizontally, similar to Captain Falcon's down aerial. The sourspot has heavy knockback and is a good KO tool.
• Beast Ganon's power has been reduced.
• Dark Dive now has a altered animation with one hand as opposed to two.
  • It produces more spectacular visual effects, with a noticeably larger finishing explosion.
  • It covers slightly more distance.
  • Its strength has weakened.
• Ganondorf's darkness attacks produce more saturated visual effects.

Moveset

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack		Thunder Palm	8% hand, 6% arm, 4% body	Leans in with a palm strike. Ganondorf's fastest attack, with decent range and knockback.
Forward tilt		Leg Thrust	13% leg, 12% body	Leans back while forcefully thrusting one leg forward. Fairly quick start-up, with great knockback at a semi-spike trajectory. A powerful edgeguarding move against characters with little horizontal recovery.
Up tilt		Volcano Kick	28% leg, 20-18% explosion	Ganondorf lifts his leg up then holds it in place until smashing it down in an explosion. Has vacuum properties. Incredibly powerful, being able to KO at low percentages when near the ledge, but has laughable startup lag making it a high risk high reward move. Due to this, it rarely sees use in higher levels of play making it useful for mindgames as it can catch the opponent off guard.
Down tilt		Leg Sweep	13%	Kneels on one leg and thrusts the other leg forward. Good start-up, range and power with vertical knockback.
Dash attack		Shoulder Thrust	14% clean, 10% late	Charges at the opponent and rams into them. Ganondorf gains a quick speed boost during the move. Has good knockback, being able to KO at very high percentages.
Forward smash		Dark Elbow Thrust	24-33%	Thrusts his elbow forward, dealing darkness damage on contact. Relatively slow start-up and high cool down, but its extreme knockback is capable of KO'ing under 100%. Hitting closer to Ganondorf deals slightly higher knockback, but the same damage. Can be angled up or down.
Up smash		Skyward Kick	21-29% swipe, 24-29% kick	Forcefully swings his leg up. Has some start-up but surprisingly little cool down because of its interruptibility. Extremely powerful when used against aerial opponents, capable of KO'ing under 100%. Has small hitbox directly in front of him if he is too far away for the kick to hit.
Down smash		Dark Punisher	6-8% first hit, 21-26% second hit sweetspot, 19-26% second hit sourspot	Kicks his leg in front and then behind him. The first kick has low knockback to naturally combo into the second kick, which has the most damage and knockback. Ganondorf's weakest smash attack, but can be used to punish a roll.
Neutral aerial		Dark Double	12% clean first hit, 7% dirty first hit, 9% clean second hit, 5% dirty second hit	Two quick mid-air kicks. The first hit deals the most damage and knockback, making it impractical to combo into the second hit above extremely low percent. Some landing lag if not used in a full hop.
Forward aerial		Skull Breaker	17% fist, 16% arm	An overhead punch in a downwards arc. Very powerful with decent start-up. Suffers from high landing lag even when used with a full hop.
Back aerial		Back Fist	17% fist, 16% arm	A back-handed punch. Relatively fast start-up with power that slightly surpasses even his forward aerial. Has little cool down with decent landing lag. While it auto cancels in a short hop, its high vertical hitbox makes it unable to hit most grounded opponents.
Up aerial		Flip Kick	13-12% front, 12-10% back, 6-8% late	An overhead flip kick, covering a large arc above him. Fast start-up, good coverage with great power. Deals more damage and knockback when it hits closer to Ganondorf. The last few frames of this attack is a weak semi-spike with extremely low horizontal knockback. Has little cool down with decent landing lag, and can auto cancel into a short hop.
Down aerial		Shock Boot	19% meteor, 17% shoulder	Stomps his legs downward, dealing electric damage. The move is an extremely powerful meteor smash if hit with the lower half of his body. There is a sour spot on his shoulder that hits horizontally with less damage, but is still extremely powerful (stronger than his forward and back aerial at higher percentages). Has little cool down, but high landing lag unless used with a full hop.
Grab		Ganon Grab	—	A short ranged grab. Pivot grab has better range but suffers from cool down.
Pummel		Knee	3%	Knees the opponent. A moderately slow pummel.
Forward throw		Low Blow	5% first hit, 8% second hit, 13% total	Lifts his opponent up, then punches them in the midsection. High damage for a throw with good knockback. Good for setting up a meteor smash down aerial.
Back throw		Back Foot	5% first hit, 5% second hit, 10% total	Lifts his opponent behind him and kicks them. Decent knockback, sets up an edgeguard well. Moderate ending lag severely decreases ground combo potential.
Up throw		Gut Buster	4% first hit, 3% second hit, 7% total	Holds opponent above him, then punches them upwards. High base knockback, but low scaling.
Down throw		Back Breaker	7%	Throws his opponent violently on the ground. A weak throw with very low knockback scaling, making it useful for setting up into other moves.
Forward roll Back roll Spot dodge Air dodge		—	—
Techs		—	—
Floor attack (front) Floor getups (front)		Spin Kick	7%	Spins his left foot around him on both sides in a breakdance like fashion.
Floor attack (back) Floor getups (back)		Swing Kick	7%	Swings his right foot over his head as he gets up.
Floor attack (trip) Floor getups (trip)		Twirl Kick	5%	Spins around to kick those who are near.
Edge attack Edge getups		Swipe Fist	8%	Gets up with a horizontal left back hand to the opponent.
Neutral special	Default	Warlock Punch	30% (ground), 37% (ground reverse), 38% (air), 40% (air reverse)	Winds up a large amount of darkness and releases it all in a a powerful forward backfist. A player can pull off a 180° punch by turning in the opposite direction during the charging period, however this increases the moves wind up duration. A reverse aerial Warlock Punch is powerful enough to OHKO characters near the ledge.
	Custom 1	Warlock Blade	22% (tip), 18% (blade)	Ganondorf pulls out his sword and thrusts it forwards. Deals less damage overall than Warlock Punch, but has greater range and a powerful sweetspot at the tip of the sword.
	Custom 2	Warlock Thrust	?	A faster punch that deals explosive damage, though the opponent must be very close to get the full extent of the damage.
Side special	Default	Flame Choke	12% (ground), 15% (air)	Boosts forward with his hand extended out. Upon contact he grabs onto the opponent and attacks them with darkness before slamming them into the ground (though an opponent can tech the hit to avoid guaranteed follow-ups). In the air, Ganondorf grabs onto and descents alongside the opponent before slamming them into the ground, or to the lower blast line in a suicide KO if used off-stage. This works as a grab move, and as such works through shields and counters. Also can be used for short horizontal recovery, as it grabs onto the ledge.
	Custom 1	Flame Wave	?	Boosts forward with his hand extended out. Upon contact, he launches them into the air with an uppercut.
	Custom 2	Flame Chain	?	Boosts forward with his hand extended out. Upon contact, he strikes them with a series of attacks.
Up special	Default	Dark Dive	11% (grab), 7% (uppercut)	Ganondorf latches onto an opponent and unleashes electricity onto them before launching them with an explosion. Covers a very small amount of horizontal distance, but a decent amount of vertical making it a subpar recovery. If he successfully lands this move against an opponent, he doesn't fall helpless and can use it again. Ganondorf will perform an uppercut with weak knockback and darkness properties if this move misses an opponent.
	Custom 1	Dark Fists	?	Ganondorf launches himself into the air with a rising fist, followed by another uppercut at the height of his jump. He cannot grab opponents with this move, but he can chain the two uppercuts into each other.
	Custom 2	Dark Vault	?	Ganondorf travels much higher, but can only grab opponents at the very beginning or end of the move.
Down special	Default	Wizard's Foot	12%/10%/15%/14%/8%	Surrounded by darkness, Ganondorf launches himself while extending his leg out, dealing decent damage and knockback (but lots of cool down). In the air, Ganondorf launches diagonally downwards while extending his leg out below him. A powerful meteor smash during start-up, with a late hit sending opponents vertically instead (though it is still very powerful). A small shockwave is formed around Ganondorf when he lands on the ground, which has small amount of knockback. Has a lot of landing lag, and is extremely risky to use off stage.
	Custom 1	Wizard's Dropkick	?	Ganondorf jumps into the air before performing the kick.
	Custom 2	Wizard's Assault	?	Ganondorf shoots forwards with a faster kick that goes through opponents and travels straight down when used in the air.
Final Smash		Beast Ganon	?	Ganondorf becomes his beast form and rams into the opponent. Opponents can become stuck in the ground, or paralyzed in midair. Usually a one-hit KO.

Taunts

• Up: Floats in the air, curls into a ball, spins, opens up from his curled position and poses, all while laughing maniacally. (Same as in Melee)
• Side: Punches his hands together, and dark energy appears.
• Down: Takes his sword out, dark energy pulses from the tip, looks at it, then puts it away.

On-Screen Appearance

Emerges from a portal of dark magic.

Victory Fanfare

A flourished remix directly from Brawl. It is a remix of the tune that will play when Link obtained a Triforce Piece in The Legend of Zelda for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It is shared with Link, Zelda, Sheik, and Toon Link.

Palette Swaps

Trophies

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS trophy descriptions

Ganondorf

NA: The King of Evil that awaits Link at the end of most of his adventures. Ganondorf possesses the Triforce of Power. In Smash Bros., he makes up for his low speed with devastating power. The strength of his blows can knock back most opponents. Get close with a dash attack, and pummel your foes!

PAL: The King of Evil is Link's arch-nemesis in most games in the Legend of Zelda series. With the Triforce of Power at his disposal, he's a fearsome opponent. In this game, his mighty attacks have so much impact, they easily make up for his slow speed, and his launching ability is extra impressive! Rush in when the enemy's open and strike hard.

Ganondorf (Alt.)

NA: Being the powerhouse that he is, the King of Evil is a great choice for free-for-alls. His Warlock Punch delivers a thunderous, dark-energy-fueled blow from his left hand. Unfortunately, left-handed dark-energy-fueled blows take some time to charge. You can turn to face someone as they cowardly try to hit you from behind.

PAL: Being the powerhouse that he is, the King of Evil is a great choice for free-for-alls. His Warlock Punch focuses dark energy into his left hand to deliver a thunderous back-hander. Unfortunately, focusing all that energy takes time. If someone sneaks behind you just as you start the move, quickly try to turn around.

• GanondorfTrophy3DS1.png

  Classic

• GanondorfTrophy3DS2.png

  Alt.

Gallery

• 

  On Battlefield.

• 

  Using Flame Choke on Link on Final Destination.

• 

  Being blocked by Palutena's Reflect.

• 

  Being attacked by Meta Knight and Pit.

• 
• 

  Using Wizard's Foot on Robin and Marth.

• 

  Being chased by Toon Link, Ness, and Villager.

• 

  Using his Final Smash on Link and Lucina.

• 

  Taunting.

• 

  Fighting with Link in Gerudo Valley.

Trivia

• In all official artwork of Ganondorf in previous Smash games, he has held a sword but has been unable to use it in battle. In Smash Bros. 4, He does not have the sword in his official artwork, yet he is able to use his sword in a custom special move