Ganondorf (SSBM)

This article is about Ganondorf's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Melee. For the character in other contexts, see Ganondorf. Also, for information about the character of whom Ganondorf is a clone, see Captain Falcon (SSBM).

Ganondorf in Super Smash Bros. Melee
Universe	The Legend of Zelda
Other playable appearances	in Brawl in SSB4
Availability	Unlockable
Tier	A (12)

“	Since he's slow and can't jump very high, Ganondorf relies mainly on his immense physical strength to overwhelm his enemies.	”
—Ganondorf's trophy description

Ganondorf (ガノンドロフ, Ganondorf) is in his original human form as he appears in the more recent installments of the series. His design is based on his appearance from the SpaceWorld demo, which is itself based on his appearance in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Ganondorf is a clone of Captain Falcon, and as such, he fights in a brawler style similar to Captain Falcon, but in a slower, more powerful manner. Ganondorf is also an unlockable character.

Ganondorf currently ranks 12th in the A tier on the Melee tier list. Ganondorf boasts extreme power, good reach, decent chaingrabbing ability, and very useful aerials, including the strongest meteor smash in the game in his down aerial. He also has several effective edgeguarding options including the aforementioned down aerial, both the strong and weak hitboxes of his up aerial, and his back aerial. Nonetheless, Ganondorf has extreme flaws to counteract these great strengths as well. He has a bad neutral game due to his poor dash dance and lack of non-commital approaching moves, forcing Ganondorf players to rely more on reads and baits, and the punishes that come with them. However, Ganondorf is also very susceptible to punishes himself, as he is easily comboed and chaingrabbed due to his size and weight, and is very easily edgeguarded due to his very predictable (albeit long) recovery. He is also vulnerable to projectiles and has few ways to deal with characters that outrange him or have very fast attacks. Because of this, while Ganondorf has good matchups against other mid-tier and low-tier characters, including two nearly unloseable ones against Pichu and Kirby, he struggles against the top tier characters (especially Fox and Sheik).

How to unlock

• Play 600 VS. matches
• Complete Event 29: Triforce Gathering

Attributes

As a slower, larger clone of Captain Falcon, Ganondorf sacrifices speed for power and range. He is often considered to be the most powerful character in the game, with even Bowser running-up in terms of strength. His U-smash, though laggy to start, is the strongest in the game (if fully charged and both hits connect), and his U- and D-throws are excellent launchers, as well as effective chain-grabs. His neutral special, Warlock Punch, and his U-tilt are two of the slowest moves in the game, but can KO at very low percentages. His D-aerial is both the strongest aerial attack and meteor smash in the game; it is nearly impossible to recover from, even at low percentages, and can reliably star KO some grounded characters under 100%. Ganondorf's powerful attacks are counterbalanced by their slowness, but although most of his aerial attacks have long periods of landing lag, L-canceling greatly aids in this issue.

Ganondorf is highly susceptible to combos and chain-grabs due to being large, heavy, and falling quickly, although these attributes also make him harder to KO. His mobility and approach are ultimately crippled by his short, relatively slow Wavedash and long ending aerial lag, and as aforementioned, he lacks a projectile and a way of dealing with projectiles against him. However, he can Moonwalk, has great platform-dashing game, and, resulting from being a clone of Captain Falcon, has one of the fastest and farthest rolls. He has a long, extendable horizontal recovery, thanks to his D-special, Wizard's Foot, which is one of the only two specials that allow the character to regain their midair jump (the other being Falcon Kick, but is considered inferior to Wizard's Foot because of how much farther downward it travels and Captain Falcon's higher falling speed).

Ganondorf is regarded as one of the most easily edge-guarded and edge-hogged characters due his large size, his jumps not giving enough height, and U-special, Dark Dive (which can't attack opponents hanging from an edge). While weak against edge-hoggers, Ganondorf, in turn, is one of the best edge-guarders, with more aerial guarding options than any other character in the game; all of his aerials deal high damage and knockback, and Wizard's Foot is a non-recoverable spike. In particular, his sourspotted reversed U-aerial (performed while facing away from the edge) is one of the best edge-guarding moves in the game because of its long duration, range (330° bicycle kick), semi-spiking knockback (hard to tech out of) at a 20° (rear hitbox) or 0° (rear bottom hitbox) trajectory with gravity following suit, and extremely high hitstun. His D-aerial is also notoriously difficult to meteor cancel, regardless of damage percentage.

Overall, Ganondorf is a powerhouse; with some of the strongest moves in the game, he can easily KO the entire Melee cast at significantly lower percentages than most other characters can achieve. All that's holding him back are his low speed, few approaching options and recovery, so players must be patient and wait for their opportunity to land their powerful moves while being careful not to get thrown off-stage.

Differences between Captain Falcon

Attributes

• Ganondorf is physically larger than Captain Falcon, giving his attacks more reach.
• Ganondorf's physically larger size makes his hurtbox larger and thus more easier to hit.
• Ganondorf's ledge jump is higher than Captain Falcon's, being the highest in the game.
• Ganondorf's walking and dashing speed, and air speed are all lower than Captain Falcon's.
• Ganondorf's jump and midair jump are lower than Captain Falcon's.
• Ganondorf cannot wall jump unlike Captain Falcon.
• Ganondorf is heavier than Captain Falcon but has lower gravity and falling speed, giving him horizontal endurance but less vertical endurance.
• Ganondorf's moves are generally slower but more powerful than Captain Falcon's.
• Captain Falcon's attacks that deal flame damage, such as forward smash, Falcon Punch, Raptor Boost, and Falcon Kick, are replaced by darkness for Ganondorf's counterparts.

Ground attacks

• Neutral attack is a single punch with unusually high knockback for a jab. It also deals more damage than the first two hits and the infinite of Captain Falcon's jab.
• Neutral attack deals 1% less damage than Captain Falcon's Gentleman (third hit), and is thus weaker than Captain Falcon's jab if all its hits connect.
• Neutral attack has an electric effect.
• Forward tilt is significantly more powerful (the third strongest in the game) and deals 2% more damage than Captain Falcon's.
• Up tilt deals 16% damage with drastically higher knockback, able to KO from center under 25% and at 0% near ledges and is thus the strongest up tilt in the game.
• Up tilt has drastically more start-up, hitting on frame 81 as opposed to Captain Falcon's hitting on frame 17, making it impossible to land in almost any circumstance outside of punishment.
• Up tilt has a wind effect while the leg is lifted up and an explosive effect that deals flame damage when the leg strikes the ground.
• Down tilt has significantly higher power, being the fourth most powerful down tilt in Melee (along with Bowser), while still being a useful combo starter at lower percentages.
• Down tilt has a slightly shorter duration, lasting 4 frames while Captain Falcon's lasts 6 frames.
• Dash attack deals 4% more damage and is much more powerful than Captain Falcon's, as well as being a useful combo starter.
• Forward smash has much higher knockback and range, and deals 1% (downward pivot), 2% (not pivoted), or 3% (upward pivot) more damage.
• Forward smash has more start-up than Captain Falcon's.
• Forward smash has almost purely vertical knockback (70 degrees) instead of largely horizontal (Sakurai Angle).
• Up smash's two hits do not link reliably, but both hits deal more damage and knockback, with the first hit dealing 14% more damage while being more powerful than the two hits of Captain Falcon's, and the second dealing 6% more with both hits connecting being the most damaging up smash in the game.
• Up smash is less useful as a combo move.
• Down smash's two hits can naturally combo into each other, dealing more damage than Captain Falcon's if both hits connect, and also deals more knockback.
• Down smash's two hits deal less damage, resulting it being weaker than Captain Falcon's if it only hits once; the first kick does 10% less damage for the first and 3% for the second.
• Down smash has diagonal knockback instead of largely horizontal.

Aerial attacks

• Neutral aerial deals 6% more damage for the first kick and 5% more for the second (for a total of 22.92%, due to stale moves), with it dealing 10% more total damage than Captain Falcon's if both hits connect. It also has increased knockback on both hits, and the first hit has KO power on its own.
• Neutral aerial's two hits do not link reliably, thus dealing slightly less damage than Captain Falcon's two hits if it hits once.
• Ganondorf has a completely different forward aerial: an arcing downward punch. It has no sourspot and much longer range than Captain Falcon's Knee Smash. Additionally, Ganondorf's forward aerial has 1 frame less ending lag.
• Forward aerial deals 1% less damage and is less powerful than a sweetspotted Knee Smash and has significantly higher landing lag (almost twice as much).
• Back aerial deals 2% more damage and has no sourspot and better range and power than Captain Falcon's.
• Up aerial is much stronger and longer-ranged (KO`ing about 25% earlier than Captain Falcon's up aerial), and its late hitboxes that semi-spike have more knockback and higher hitstun, making it more effective at edge-guarding than Captain Falcon's.
• Up aerial is a less effective move for combos thanks to its increased power.
• Down aerial deals 6% more damage with higher knockback, being the strongest meteor smash in Melee, able to KO grounded opponents under 100%. It also has transcendent priority.
• Down aerial has more landing lag and lacks the Nipple spike hitbox. The attack having transcendent priority means that it cannot cancel out projectiles.
• Down aerial has an electric effect.

Special moves

• Warlock Punch is much more powerful than the Falcon Punch, dealing 7% damage and able to KO virtually any character under 30% damage on tournament legal stages.
• Warlock Punch has more start-up lag than the Falcon Punch, and Ganondorf is unable to perform an equivalent to Captain Falcon's Sacred Combo due to his lower air speed, the diagonal knockback angle of his forward aerial, and Warlock Punch's obscene start-up.
• Warlock Punch has significantly different aesthetics from the Falcon Punch; even discounting the darkness effect, it lacks the falcon-shaped fiery aura and falcon screech during the punch.
• Gerudo Dragon deals 10% damage on the ground and 9% more in the air than Raptor Boost.
• Gerudo Dragon's increased knockback makes it harder to combo into other attacks compared to Raptor Boost, while still being unable to KO at realistic percentages. It also covers less distance and the aerial version cannot meteor smash.
• Dark Dive has slightly more vertical distance. Its grab deals four weak electric hits, which can hit opponents who attempt to intercept Ganondorf, and makes it deal 2% more damage than Falcon Dive. The throw also has stronger knockback.
• Dark Dive's release has a different animation, where Ganondorf leaps backward, as opposed to Captain Falcon's backflip.
• Grounded Wizard's Foot is much stronger than Falcon Kick. It also lasts longer and lacks any sourspot hitboxes.
• Aerial Wizard's Foot is a powerful spike instead of dealing upwards vertical knockback like Falcon Kick, making it deadly off-stage. It is also safer to use to restore Ganondorf's midair jump thanks to his lower falling speed compared to Captain Falcon.
• Both Grounded and Aerial Wizard's Foot have slightly more ending lag. Aerial Wizard's Foot also deals 3% less damage.
• Grounded Wizard's Foot wall rebounding has a different animation, where Ganondorf leaps backward, as opposed to Captain Falcon's backflip.

Moveset

For a gallery of Ganondorf's hitboxes, see here.

Ganondorf's aerial attacks

Ganondorf performing his forward aerial after a wall tech on Captain Falcon. Observe the move's high base knockback, enough to gimp characters with subpar recoveries.

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack			7%	A quick jab that electrocutes enemies on contact. Has actual KO potential at higher damages, but since he jabs directly in front of him, some smaller characters can easily duck under it. Ganondorf's fastest attack, it is often use in combos with his other attacks, especially his D-aerial.
Forward tilt	↗		14%	Quick kick in front of him. Has great speed and range for a powerful tilt (3rd most powerful forward tilt in the game), but is short in duration (3 frames). This attack is often used to space away opponents due to its speed, range, and power. This is often considered, if not one of, the best forward tilt in Melee. This move is even more deadly when used in edgeguarding situations, especially when angled downwards. Also, it`s even better at KO`ing when angled upwards (under 150%, like mostly all of his other moves).
	→		13% (foot), 12% (leg), 11% (body)
	↘		12% (foot), 11% (leg)
Up tilt			27%	Lifts up and charges his leg, then brings it down in a violent explosion. Slowest move in the game (hitting on frame 81), though very powerful; can OHKO from its extremely high base knockback if landed by an edge. It is by far the most powerful tilt in the game, and can KO even earlier than the Warlock Punch, but its small hitbox and long start-up makes it very difficult to land.
Down tilt			12% (fresh)	A quick breakdance kick. Sets up aerial combos or his up special. Good reach, but is rather slow when compared to other D-tilts. Can KO at very high percentages. Fourth most powerful down tilt in the game, along with Bowser's.
Dash attack			14%	A quick shoulder tackle. Despite its upward knockback not being extremely high, it is a strong dash attack that combos very well into a B-aerial/U-aerial at 40-60% damage. This is the second most powerful dash attack in the game, second to Samus's.
Forward smash	↗		24%	Lunges forward while thrusting out his elbow. Impressive vertical knockback combined with almost no horizontal knockback, making it difficult to DI out of. It has fairly slow start-up and significant ending lag, but is very powerful, and because Ganondorf moves ahead while performing it, it has great reach. It is the second most powerful F-smash in the game, only being exceeded by Bowser.
	→		22%
	↘		20%
Up smash			22% then 17%	Kicks both his legs upward. The first hit can lead into the second, though is unlikely, and can be DI'd out of. It is the second most powerful (uncharged) U-smash in the game (second to Pikachu's), and when fully charged, is the most powerful and damaging U-smash, as well as the most powerful smash attack overall. However, even though it is extremely powerful and surprisingly fast, its lack of horizontal reach limits its effectiveness as a reliable KO move. Regardless, even when uncharged, it can KO under 100% (even on characters with excellent vertical endurance, such as Captain Falcon, Donkey Kong, and Falco).
Down smash			8% then 13%	Swings his leg in front and back of him. Can chain together, but the second hit is easily DI'd out of. It's one of, if not the most powerful D-smash in the game, capable of star KOing lighter/floatier characters under 100%. It is rather fast, especially for how powerful it is, and, due to Ganondorf's long legs, is one of the farthest-reaching D-smashes. If near an edge, even if an opponent avoids the second kick, the base knockback of the first kick can set up an early edge-guard opportunity.
Neutral aerial			12% each but will inflict 22.92% if both kicks hit.	Very fast one-two kick. Both kicks have high knockback (especially the second kick, capable of KOing under 130%), and can deal very high damage when landed in succession, but it is extremely difficult to land the two kicks even at very low percentages, and impossible to land at percentages higher than 25% (under standard conditions). It's possible to land the second kick without the first one, but requires correct timing. With both kicks, it is the second strongest N-aerial in the game (exceeded by Mr. Game & Watch's).
Forward aerial			17%	Ganondorf brings his fist down in an arc rather quickly, with impressive knockback and damage, though slightly weaker than the Knee. Unlike the Knee, however, it always strikes with the same force, and is also just as fast as the Knee with much more reach, though it has more landing lag. This is the fifth most powerful F-aerial in the game (Zelda, Dr. Mario, Captain Falcon, and Yoshi respectively surpass him in this regard).
Back aerial			16%	Punches behind him with high power. It is fast, very powerful, good for edgeguarding, and has great range. It has less base knockback than his F-aerial, but has more knockback scaling, making its power proportional to his F-aerial, knockback-wise. Has the exact amount of frames as Captain Falcon's B-aerial, but unlike his, it hits with the same power throughout the entirety of the attack. This is the second most powerful B-aerial in the game (second to Zelda).
Up aerial			13% (sweetspotted), 7% (sourspotted)	Spinning kick. Knockback direction depends on which angle the foe was hit in. If Ganondorf is facing away from the opponent and the attack hits with the sourspot at the tip of his foot, the opponent will be semi-spiked, with low damage but extremely high hitstun. This is the sixth most powerful U-aerial in the game (Bowser, Fox, Peach, Zelda, and Kirby respectively surpasses him in this regard).
Down aerial			22% (Fresh)	Stomps with electric effect. Extremely powerful meteor smash, and an excellent SHFFL option, with a massive hitbox that covers Ganondorf's entire body. It is the second most powerful meteor smash in the game (only being meteor-smashed by Moltres will deal more knockback), and is overall the most powerful aerial in the game. It is capable of setting up combos at low percentages when used against grounded opponents, and serves as a great finisher on grounded opponents at high percentages. This attack has transcendent priority.
Grab			—
Pummel			2-3%	Knees the foe.
Forward throw			5% then 4%	Punches foe in front. Has two hitboxes. Its only use is setting up edge-guarding situations at high percentages.
Back throw			5% then 4%	Brings foe behind him and kicks. Can set up edge-guards at high percentages.
Up throw			3% then 4%	Knocks his foe above him. Excellent set up for juggles, and can be an effective chain-grab against fast fallers until high percentages.
Down throw			7%	Takes foe and slams them into the floor. Another throw well-suited for juggling. Can also chain-grab characters with average falling speeds until around 90%, and fast-fallers to about 130%.
Forward roll Back roll Spot dodge Air dodge		—	—
Techs		—	—
Floor attack (front) Floor getups (front)			6%	Flips up and lands on his feet.
Floor attack (back) Floor getups (back)			6% then 5%	A round kick that can hit twice.
Edge attack (fast) Edge getups (fast)			10%	Gets up and thrusts knee. Can knock opponents off the edge if they are close, potentially setting up an edge-guard.
Edge attack (slow) Edge getups (slow)			8%	Slowly gets up and punches in front of him.
Neutral special		Warlock Punch	34%	A slow but extremely powerful punch. Like Falcon Punch, Ganondorf announces the move with a loud yell, so the move will not be surprising anyone. It has very high knockback, able to KO at low percentages and can even KO light characters under 10%. Except on utterly defenseless or paralyzed opponents, this attack is very hard to use in combat because it is very slow and predictable, making it practically useless in competitive play.
Side special		Gerudo Dragon	17% (Ground), 16% (Air)	Lunges forward. If he connects with an opponent, they will be sent upwards. The move causes helplessness if used in the air. In the middle percentages, the attack sets the opponent up for many juggling combos, but due to it being easily punished if used under the wrong circumstances, it is not often the optimal move to use.
Up special		Dark Dive	17% (Total)	Quickly jumps upward. If he connects with an opponent, they will be trapped in a flurry of electricity. Also, if the move connects, Ganondorf will not get the helpless state. The attack hits 4 times.
Down special		Wizard's Foot	15% (Ground), 12% (Air)	On the ground, Ganondorf rushes forward with his leg extended, dealing damage and relatively high knockback. In the air, He plummets to the ground at a sharp angle. This move has the odd property of rewarding the second jump back.

Taunt

• Ganondorf spins around and laughs manically, similar to his behavior in Ocarina of Time.

Victory Theme

An orchestrated portion of the main theme from The Legend of Zelda series.

In competitive play

Matchups

Super Smash Bros. Melee Character Matchups

Avg.

Notable players

See also: Category:Ganondorf professionals (SSBM)

Active

•  Bizzarro Flame
•  Eikelmann
•  Kage The Warrior
•  Loki
•  Mr. Brandandorf
•  RockCrock

Inactive

•  Eddie
•  Linguini
•  Renth

In single-player

In Classic Mode

Ganondorf's unused intro image.

Like Roy, Ganondorf does not appear as an opponent in the game's Classic Mode, though he can appear as an ally in Team and Giant battles.

In Adventure Mode

Upon being unlocked, Adventure Mode makes no concessions to Ganondorf whatsoever.

In All-Star Mode

In All-Star Mode, Ganondorf and his allies are fought on Brinstar Depths. Unusually, the music remains unchanged.

In Event Matches

Ganondorf is featured in the following event matches:

• Event 29: Triforce Gathering: As Link and teamed with Zelda, the player faces Ganondorf on the Temple stage. If the player has not yet unlocked Ganondorf upon completing this event, they will have the opportunity to do so after defeating him one-on-one.
• Event 49: All-Star Match Deluxe: Ganondorf is the final opponent the player must fight in this series of staged battles. The player battles him on Final Destination, and their character has two stocks, while Ganondorf has one. With a timer of four minutes, the player must defeat him and the other five characters one-by-one with the overall time and life the player is given: Dr. Mario, Falco, Pichu, Young Link, and Roy.
• Event 51: The Showdown: The final event match pits the player against a team comprised of Giga Bowser, Mewtwo, and Ganondorf on the Final Destination stage, without friendly fire, and all four characters having three stocks apiece and unlimited time.

Ending images

• 

  Classic Mode.

• 

  Adventure Mode.

• 

  All-Star Mode.

Trophy descriptions

In addition to the normal trophy about Ganondorf as a character, there are two trophies about him as a fighter, unlocked by completing the Adventure and All-Star Modes as Ganondorf, respectively, on any difficulty:

Ganondorf (Trophy #64)

Said to be the sole man born to the Gerudo tribe in a hundred years, Ganondorf aspired to conquer the world. He plundered a piece of the sacred Triforce from the Temple of Time when Link pulled the Master Sword from its pedestal. With the Triforce of Power in Ganondorf's possession, Hyrule was plunged into darkness until Link and Zelda defeated the fiend.

• Game: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Ganondorf (Smash Red) (Trophy #65)

Since he's slow and can't jump very high, Ganondorf relies mainly on his immense physical strength to overwhelm his enemies. His great weight also makes him a difficult foe to send offscreen. Ganondorf's Warlock Punch is slow but absurdly powerful, and when he strikes with his Gerudo Dragon, enemies rise skyward enveloped in dark flames.

• B: Warlock Punch
• Smash B: Gerudo Dragon

Ganondorf (Smash Blue) (Trophy #66)

Ganondorf's slow speed works against him in single combat, but in melees, his crazy power lets him earn his keep with innumerable KOs. Ganondorf can't strike quickly, but each blow he lands adds up. Ganondorf is at his quickest when he uses the Wizard's Foot, and his Dark Dive blasts foes in a burst of dark energy.

• Up & B: Dark Dive
• Down & B: Wizard's Foot

• 

  #64

• 

  #65

• 

  #66

Alternate costumes

Ganondorf's changeable clothing in Melee.

Trivia

• Despite being a rather poor jumper, Ganondorf has the highest ledge jump in the game, jumping higher than his more agile counterpart, Captain Falcon, and even Falco (who has the highest normal jumps, and the second highest ledge jump).
• Ganondorf is tied with the Ice Climbers for the world record in the Home-Run Contest. Ganondorf is also the only character that can break the max distance in the Home-Run Contest without the use of a glitch or Action Replay (the Ice Climbers have to utilise the freeze glitch to break the max distance).
• When Ganondorf's trophies are viewed under the "night"/"dark" background in the Trophy Gallery, his eyes glow. He is the only character whose trophy holds this trait.
• Ganondorf's hand is briefly seen during Link's montage in the introduction to Melee, making him one of the five hidden characters, along with Jigglypuff, Mewtwo, Young Link, and Pichu, to have some kind of involvement with the intro.
• Most of Ganondorf's voice clips were imported from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time; for example, his victory pose and taunt both use a sped up version of his laugh from that game. One voice clip involving Ganon saying "Ooya!" was imported, but nowhere is it used in the game.
  • This "Ooya!" clip would later find itself used in Brawl, as it is the sound that plays when Ganondorf is selected with the Wii Remote, despite him having a new voice actor.
• Ganondorf is the only clone whose original character (Captain Falcon) is from a different series.
• Despite being slower than Captain Falcon, Ganondorf has only three moves that are actually slower than Captain Falcon's: Up tilt, Forward smash, and Warlock Punch.

External links

• Ganondorf combo video