Ganondorf (SSBB)

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Ganondorf in Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Ganondorf
Universe	The Legend of Zelda
Other playable appearance	in Melee
Availability	Unlockable
Final Smash	Beast Ganon
Tier	G (38)

Ganondorf (ガノンドロフ, Ganondorofu) returns in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. His design is based upon his appearance in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (although he isn't as tall as he was in Twilight Princess). He retains his hand-to-hand combat style, and does not use his sword outside of taunts. The Smash Bros. Dojo states that Ganondorf is the heaviest human character in the game, though this is false as in-game data shows that Snake is heavier. He is the only semi-clone to be based on a character from another series.

Despite several of his moves being the strongest of their kind in the game (in terms of damage and knockback), Ganondorf is currently last on the tier list in which several players refer to as the "Ganondorf tier." Many factors lead to Ganondorf's poor placement: his very sluggish moves, terrible out of shield options, an average spot dodge, very limited approach options, poor pressure, poor horizontal recovery and predictable vertical recovery, poor mobility, and the fact that L-canceling does not exist in Brawl. As a result, Ganondorf has a very poor metagame and terrible matchups, being the only character to have 0/100 matchups in Brawl. He has the second lowest tier drop (behind Jigglypuff), descending 28 spaces from 10 out of 26 in Melee to 38 out of all in Brawl.

How to Unlock

To unlock Ganondorf, the player must either -

• Clear Classic Mode on hard with Zelda or Link
• Play 200 brawls
• Have Ganondorf join the player's party in the Subspace Emissary by collecting the Link and Zelda trophies in the Subspace Emissary.

Note: With the exception of the third option, Ganondorf has to be fought in a 1v1 fight at Final Destination to unlock him.

Attributes

Ganondorf is a heavy, fast falling, very slow character (the 2nd slowest to be exact) with slightly above average range (excluding his grab and up smash, which have very low horizontal range), very strong attacks, including more than one of the strongest attacks in the game. His attacks, whether in the sweetspot or the sourspot, are still very powerful (which actually results in a problem for him, since this doesn't allow him combos at mid percents or higher). Almost all of his moves have above average knockback and can KO as well, although some have low priority (this case is severe, as the moves with low priority are mostly used to approach, but the priority of some of his other moves are not bad). His leg attacks have enough priority to clank with swords and even cut through them (most of the time). His side special grants him launch resistance (only helpful in team battles or FFAS) 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 (some that can avoid the down tilt but not the jab) or several characters getting hit by dash attack and side tilt for kills, and even his up aerial on platforms. He can also use it for tech-chases to predict the opponent, for example regrabbing with it or getting a down aerial or down angled forward smash, the damage side special does is fairly low though. In the air, Ganondorf's side special can cause a Ganoncide, although it is situational because even when it's impossible to escape from it or control the trajectory, landing it is very hard work. Ganondorf's moves are arguably the least affected by Smash DI, because he has the lowest number of multi-hitting moves (his down smash is his only move considered to be a multi-hitting move), 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; all have high knockback, and his down aerial is an extremely strong, reliable spike (sometimes can KO even at 0%, depending from how far they are from the bottom and how good their recovery is), Ganondorf`s advanced superjump glitch is very situational, but, if done right, he travels higher in the air, useful for an aerial reverse Warlock Punch, his most powerful move.

However, Ganondorf's extremely high power and heavy weight are counter-balanced with many factors. Ganondorf is a tall target, the tallest in the game (though most heavyweights have this problem). 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 and slow moves, his out of shield options are one of the worst in the game (though his grab is the shortest in the game, it can sometimes still shield grab depending on the range of the opponent's attack and the shieldstun of it), forcing him to rely on powershielding, and 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, it makes him easy to shield-stab with multi-hit moves. Ganondorf can't even take the sky out of shield due to jump lag (7 frames). Ganondorf has very bad air speed, and a very small second jump (though it auto-sweetspots ledges, allowing him to plank). He lacks a projectile and he is easy to camp for those who have a projectile. Ganondorf's overall ground attack speed is among the slowest in the game along with Ike (but 3 of Ganondorf's aerial attacks are only laggy if he lands while attacking; Ganondorf's fastest ground attack is his poor ranged grab which has 7 frames start-up).

His stailing ratio is one of the highest in the game. Many of his moves like his Dash Attack, Down Tilt and his Down Aerial lose a lot of their KO power and damage input very quickly, the KO factor having an even bigger impact. This will give him trouble KOing if he can't land a fresh move. Although his weight and good momentum canceling allows him to live very long, his slow, predictable and easily gimped recovery does not horizontally travel much distance. In addition to that, it is easy to be hit out of from above (where he has no hitboxes), and most characters can hit him out of his up special (e.g. Falco, at around 90% damage, can spike Ganondorf out of his up special with his down aerial). It can poorly stage spike edgehoggers, but Dark Dive is easily tech'd. Because of these reasons, Ganondorf's up special is one of the worst in the game and should only be used offensively if the opponent is at a low percent or is one of the few who can't punish Ganon's up special. Although his damage input and kill power allows to compensate his poor recovery somewhat, it is still a major problem, especially in teams where his partner has to be good at preventing gimps. He, like Captain Falcon and Wolf, has a very fast falling speed and a heavy weight that can backfire by being very vulnerable to chain grabs. Ganondorf's mobility is very poor. This means that characters with a good projectile can easily break his approach and force him to jump and still get very little distance, so it's suggested to all Ganondorf mains to learn to perfect shield every projectile aimed on him. Also, half of his moveset can be ducked under by certain characters (jab, ftilt, 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).

Ganondorf is a unique character. His extreme power means that a single blow from him can turn the tide of a match with opponents in the danger zone as low as 30% (his earliest killer, Warlock Punch, essentially guarantees kills at damages as low as 13% or 14% when reversed), but landing that blow is usually difficult. Opponents need to relentlessly pummel him with attacks and keep him from executing his big finishers, or they may see themselves down a stock. He can rack up damage extremely quickly, with combos like short hop auto-canceled dair (thunderstorming [1]) three times with an up kick at the end (This can do more than sixty percent to an opponent caught off-guard). Thanks to his Flame Choke, which puts the opponent in a very bad position he can tech-chase into very powerful moves in terms of both damage and knockback like his forward smash, which kills at fairly low percents, or even into another Flame Choke. So as said before, he can find it very difficult to land a move, but once he does, with proper prediction he can become a lethal character.

Changes from Melee to Brawl

Ganondorf has been severely nerfed from Melee to Brawl, despite having some good buffs, some of his nerfs leaves him with some terrible attributes, overwhelming the buffs. Ganondorf has had a good deal of changes from Melee to Brawl, beginning with a general design change to his Twilight Princess incarnation and a new voice actor. The animations of his attacks are largely different as well. Ganondorf's moves and attributes also underwent a lot of changes, the result of which is that while he was Middle tier in Melee, he is currently the lowest in the Brawl tier list.

He now has the 2nd slowest dash speed, his dodge rolls are slower (though still very fast for his weight class), has shorter grab range (now the shortest in the game) and lower jumping height, but has a faster spot dodge (thanks to its new IASA), now average instead of being one of the worst in the game. In general, his attacks are slower but with generally greater reach: his neutral jab and down tilt are noticeable. Although, more of his killing moves were weakened than strengthened, often on a higher scale. Volcano Kick, his up tilt, has a vacuum effect, has 81 frames start-up instead of 88, has an incredibly long disjointed range and completely cancels knockback if knocked close to it (can act like a spike on aerial characters, for example being great for punishing Snake's C4 jump) but has slightly less killing power and purely vertical knockback if hit from afar. His up smash is now a single, vertical kick with less lag at the end. His Warlock Punch, now fired from his left hand, was made faster and can be reversed during the start-up frames for more damage and knockback. Gerudo Dragon was replaced with Flame Choke, his new side special. Dark Dive is weaker during the grab (11% compared to 17% and Ganondorf can even get punished from grabbing the opponent when he/she has around 50% damage or higher due its poor hitstun) and can no longer KO outside of stage spiking, but can now grab edgehoggers and hit enemies with an uppercut at the end. Wizard's Foot no longer enables a midair jump if one was used already making his horizontal recovery much worse, the aerial Wizard's Foot must hit during the initial frames to spike and the grounded version has much lower knockback, but the non-spike hitbox of aerial Wizard's Foot has very high upwards knockback. His side smash can be angled up or down, has more horizontal knockback than vertical knockback, but is weaker (though, it is still very powerful). His down smash is slower, hooking opponents into the second kick better, but the second kick has significantly less knockback. His dash attack has better range and is much stronger, while 2nd kick of neutral aerial is much weaker. His forward aerial's start-up is slower by three frames, it has a sourspot and has 10 frames longer landing lag than his non-L-canceled one had in Melee, now having 1 frame more landing lag than his down aerial and because of a programming error, it has now no IASA at all and no auto cancel frames either. His back aerial no longer has the 5 frame duration it had in Melee and is slightly weaker. Finally, another buff is his down aerial auto-cancels during short hops, making it easier to abuse, but it doesn't prevent him from being severely nerfed.

Moveset

Ground Attacks

Normal

• Neutral attack - Quick palm strike. Moderate knockback, deals more damage if the tip of the attack connects. Very slow for a jab, but it is Ganondorf's quickest attack. Hits on frame 8-9, and ends on frame 25 which makes it one of the slowest jabs in the game. This attack is good to use out of a Perfect Shield. Does 7%, 9% if tipped and 5% if hit from very close.
• Dash attack - Shoulder tackle. Ganondorf gains a quick speed boost during the move. Has fairly long duration. Like King Dedede's, this can KO at high percentages. The 2nd strongest dash attack. Some characters can be dash attacked after a grounded Flame Choke. However, it is very unsafe on shields because it has fairly little shield stun and the opponent goes back with Ganondorf. Does 15%. Hits on frame 10-19.
• Strong side - Ganondorf leans back a little and thrusts one leg straight forward. Surprisingly the same range as his jab, but slightly slower start up (10-12 frames), good low angle horizontal knockback, so it's a semi-spike, so also good for KOing characters with poor horizontal recovery, fairly quick. Often referred to as the "Sparta" Kick due to this attack resembling a kick from a famous scene from the movie 300. Ganondorf makes a similar kick in the final battle of Twilight Princess. Inflicts 12%-13%.
• Strong up - Volcano Kick, Ganondorf lifts his leg for a very long time before smashing it down in an explosion. Has vacuum properties, and has huge damage and knockback if it connects, and it does very high damage on shields. Does less damage and with only vertical knockback if it connects from afar. The explosion has incredibly long range, which is disjointed and about as long as the vacuum. His slowest start up attack (81 frames of start-up lag, almost 1.5 seconds), yet not one of his longer end lag attacks. 27%, 19% if hit from afar.
• Strong down - Ganondorf kneels on one leg and sweeps the other leg forward. Great range and sets up for aerials and has great priority, including a slight disjoint in the end but is not safe when shielded (although more safe than most of his moves). Lowest knockback out of all of his tilts, although still powerful in general. Does 12% damage. It also stuns weak enemies in the SSE before destroying them. Could be chained against opponents at low percentages but has a risk of being shield grabbed. Hits on frame 10-12.

Smash attack

• Side smash - Elbow thrust, with a dark magic effect on contact. Moderately slow startup (but fast for being such a powerful move) with high ending lag. Has very high knockback, killing reliably at 70%. Although farther hitboxes do exactly the same damage, they have slightly less knockback. Can be angled up or down. This is somewhat unique to other Side Smashes that can be angled as the damage does not increase when angled upward and does not decrease when angled downward. Stutter Stepping increases its range a bit. This attack also has a disjointed hitbox. Ganondorf used a similar elbow strike attack in Twilight Princess, but it lacked dark magic. Inflicts 24%-35% damage. Hits from frame 21 to 26.
• Up smash - Ganondorf does a high kick, lifting his leg to about thirty degrees from vertical quickly. Has lots of IASA frames. Very effective to charge it as it's safe on shields, but unfortunately it has poor horizontal range. Has a slight disjoint in the farthest horizontal range. Does 19%-26% damage if hit with leg, 22%-30% damage if hit with foot. Hits on frame 21-23.
• Down smash - Ganondorf sweeps his leg forward, then back. The knockback from the first kick usually makes the second kick connect as well. First hit comes out fairly fast (at least in comparison to Ganondorf's other moves, being 15 frames) but second hit is somewhat laggy (hits on 35 frames). Nearly useless move in general because the 1st hit can be Smash DIed out of the 2nd hit and it's weak compared to his other moves. CPUs can also Air dodge to avoid it. Does 19%-26%. One of the few uses is to punish a roll.

Other

• Ledge attack - Backhands the edgeguarding opponent. If the opponent is a distance away, the attack knocks them away. If the opponent is standing close to Ganondorf, the attack will throw the opponent off the ledge. 10%.
• 100% Ledge Attack - Ducks slightly and delivers a kick across the ground. Comes out fast, and Ganon keeps low. 10%.
• Trip attack - Does a rising, spinning kick. Reach of the attack extends across the entire height of his legs, and the attack is incredibly fast. 6%.
• Floor attack - Flips upward, kicking with his feet, similar to his up-aerial.

Aerial attacks

• Neutral aerial - Double kick.The first hit will hit hard but weak compared to his other aerials and the second hit deals a weaker attack that lacks KO potential. First hit deals 11% while the second does 7%. First kick hits on frame 7-13, second kick on 20-32 frames.
• Forward aerial - Swings his hand forward in an overhead arc downward. High knockback. Slower, longer range, high land lag and slightly weaker than Captain Falcon's Knee Smash, and has somewhat of a sweetspot, which is the fist (doing 17% damage) with huge base knockback but fairly little knockback growth compared to its base Knockback, whereas if it connects with his arm, it does 15% with less knockback. Sweetspot is fairly safe on shields due its high amount of shieldstun, while the sourspot is unsafe on shields. Hits on frame 14-20.
• Back aerial - Backhand. One of Ganondorf's fastest aerials, good knockback. One of his few moves that are fairly safe on shield even when it's not auto canceled, but unfortunately its high vertical hitbox reduces its usefulness as it can't hit grounded opponents with a buffered short hop back aerial. Can be ground canceled. Does 16%. Hitbox out on frame 10 until 12.
• Up aerial - Overhead Flip Kick. The hitbox travels in a large arc, hitting opponents above and behind as well. Fast and great for edge guarding. Difficult to hit smaller characters on the ground. Very strong at the start and semi-spike at the end. Hit in last few frames is great at gimping recoveries that either lacks horizontally, vertically, or both. Ganondorf's fastest attack and grants him a good aerial game because of its range and speed. Inflicts 13%. Hits on frame 6-16.
• Down aerial - Thunder Stomp. Ganondorf kicks his legs downward, with an electric effect if the attack connects. Will always spike if it hits, even if not sweetspotted, which makes it one of the easier to spike with.Inflicts 23% damage. If connected with body instead of his leg, the attack will do 17%. This meteor smash has by far the highest knockback growth in the game but still average base knockback spike, making it along Ness's down aerial (which instead has very high base knockback but fairly low knockback growth), often KOing even at 0% (although, with DI, and if their recovery is well-timed, some characters can survive this up to around 80%, however, it is very difficult to Meteor Cancel at such high percents). This spike is so powerful that grounded opponents will be launched upward, getting Star KOed at high enough damages (most characters lower than 100%). Can chain 2 autocanceled down aerials at 0%, or 1 down aerial to chain into an Up Smash or short hop up aerial. Ganondorf can also chain three autocanceled down aerials at 0% on large, heavy characters like Bowser, dealing roughly 60%. Can be auto-canceled after short hops making it a great approach move, and is also a solid edgeguarding move. Given its quick start-up (16 frames) and deceptive horizontal range it can be difficult for characters off-stage to avoid it, however its KO power stales extremely quickly.

Grabs & Throws

• Range - High vertical range but one of the shortest horizontal grab ranges (the shortest in the game) except the pivot grab which has good range.
• Pummel - Knees opponent. A moderate speed pummel that is slow for a pummel of its strength. Does 2% per hit.
• Forward throw - Punches his opponent forward. High damage for a throw and good power. Does 13% worth damage.
• Back throw - Throws opponent backward and kicks them. Strong knockback for a throw, it easily sets up edgeguard opportunities, and can even KO at high percents when near the edge. Does 10%.
• Up throw - Throws opponent upward and jabs his/her back. A poor throw that isn't strong enough to KO under 200%, but has too high of base knockback to be effective at setting up more attacks at low percentages. Does 7%.
• Down throw - Throws his opponent violently on the ground. A weak throw that works very well for setting up at low percentages, even a shutter-step Forward Smash for high damage. Can often be led into a Flame Choke, up aerial, back aerial, or even down aerial depending on the opponent's DI. Inflicts 7% damage.

On-screen appearance

• Emerges from a portal of dark magic. It also appears to be similar to the purple color of subspace.

Special Moves

Ganondorf's special moves

Neutral special	Warlock Punch
Side special	Gerudo Dragon	Flame Choke
Up special	Dark Dive
Down special	Wizard's Foot
Final Smash	—	Beast Ganon		Ganon, The Demon King

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)

Down: Takes his sword out, dark energy pulses from the tip, looks at it, then puts it away. It is possible to hack such that Ganondorf is permanently holding an invisible Beam Sword, using his sword as the visible weapon.

Side: Punches his hands together, and dark energy appears.

Wii Remote choice

A sound clip of Ganondorf shouting from Melee is heard.

In competitive play

Super Smash Bros. Brawl Character Matchups

Avg.

Role in the Subspace Emissary

Ganondorf in the SSE

Ganondorf first appears in a control room on the Island of Ancients giving Bowser the coordinates to find King Dedede, who stole Wario's trophies. Later in the same control room Master Hand gives him the orders to destroy the Isle of the Ancients. He then appears in the island base as a hologram and orders the R.O.B. Squad to activate all of the Subspace Bombs they had. When the Ancient Minister gets in their path, Ganondorf presses an override button that forces the R.O.B.s to ignore the Minister. When the Ancient Minister continues to intervene, Ganondorf presses the override button again and the R.O.B.S attack the Ancient Minister, setting him aflame. The heroes attempt to stop the R.O.B.s, so Ganondorf sends a flock of Auroros to distract them. Suddenly, the burning Ancient Minister fires beams from his eyes, destroying the Auroros, and reveals that he, himself, is a R.O.B. who was disguised, and proceeds to help the others fight the advancing Subspace troops. After the Isle of the Ancients is engulfed in Subspace, Ganondorf appears on the Subspace Gunship as it's commander along with Bowser, but he retreats into Subspace with Bowser when the Gunship is destroyed by Kirby and his Dragoon. Ganondorf decides it is the time to betray the Master Hand so he takes out the last remaining Dark Cannon and aims it at Bowser, his own co-captain and the most loyal of Master Hand's henchmen. After shooting Bowser in a surprise attack with the dark cannon, Ganondorf kicks the Bowser trophy out of the way and goes up to the edge of a ledge. When Ganondorf presents himself to Master Hand preparing to betray him for complete control of the Subspace Army, he sees that Master Hand was literally a puppet of Tabuu, the supreme leader of the Subspace Army. Ganondorf tries to attack him, but is defeated and turned into a trophy. As he was falling however, he bumped into Master Hand, freeing him from Tabuu's control. Master Hand then attempts to attack Tabuu, but is defeated with ease. When Kirby finds Ganondorf's trophy the resurrected Bowser appears and brutally attacks his trophy as an act of revenge before tossing it aside. If Link and Zelda were rescued, a cutscene will show Ganondorf being revived by Link and Zelda (with a bit of a headache from the abuse treatment) and after Link and Zelda walk away he clenches his fist in anger he then helps the heroes defeat Tabuu. Ganondorf might have been the secondary antagonist of the story (The Ancient Minister does not count, due to him being R.O.B later on and the fact that he does not have evil intentions), due to him being responsible for the destruction of the Isle Of The Ancients.

Exclusive Stickers

These stickers can only be used by Ganondorf or by a select few including him:

• Boomerang: [Weapon] Attack +4
• Bowser (Mario Power Tennis): [Darkness] Attack +21
• Colin: [Specials: Direct] Attack +4
• Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule: [Electric] Attack +31
• Darknut: [Slash] Attack +13
• Epona & Link: [Arm, Leg] Attack +9
• Fierce Deity Link: [Slash] Attack +21
• Ganondorf (Ocarina of Time): [Darkness] Attack +29
• Ganondorf (Wind Waker): [Darkness] Attack +33
• Happy Mask Salesman: [Leg] Attack +9
• Hylian Shield (Twilight Princess): Slash Resistance +10
• Lantern: [Flame] Resistance +7
• Legend of Outset: [Arm] Attack +26
• Linebeck: [Throwing] Attack +20
• Link (Link to the Past): [Electric] Resistance +31
• Link (Twilight Princess): [Slash] Resistance +27
• Link (Wind Waker): [Flame] Attack +31
• Link with Goron Mask: [Slash] Attack +17
• Link's Grandma: [Arm, Leg] Attack +2
• Lon Lon Milk: Launch Power +18
• Midna & Wolf Link: [Leg] Attack +26
• Moblin: [Slash] Attack +15
• Octorok: [Leg] Attack +4
• Petey Piranha (Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour!): [Darkness] Attack +47
• Phantom Ganon: [Darkness] Attack +40
• Piece of Heart: Heart Container Effect +50
• Revolver Ocelot: [Darkness] Attack +17
• Ridley (Metroid): [Darkness] Attack +30
• Salvatore: [Electric] Attack +9
• Shadow Beast: [Darkness] Attack +28
• Sheik: [Body, Spin] Attack +17
• Skull Kid (Ocarina of Time): [Darkness] Attack +7
• Space Pirate: [Darkness] Attack +13
• Tingle (Wind Waker): [Flame] Resistance +24
• Young Zelda (Minish Cap): [Battering] Resistance +16
• Zelda (Ocarina of Time): [Flame] Resistance +18

Costume Gallery

File:Alt-ganondorf2.jpg

Ganondorf's changeable clothing in SSBB

Trophy description

A man who wants to use the power of the Triforce to conquer the world. In Twilight Princess, he gives strength to the Twilight King, Zant, and tries to change the land into a world of darkness. He possesses Zelda, transforms into a magical beast, and attacks Link. In the end, however, Link deals him a finishing blow and defeats him.

• The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (Nintendo 64)
• The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Wii)

Trivia

• Ganondorf is the only playable villain who is never fought in the Subspace Emissary, excluding his dark clone in The Great Maze.
• Though Ganondorf can be the first character unlocked by playing Classic Mode as Link/Zelda on hard, he is one of the last characters to be unlocked when playing the Subspace Emissary.
• Ganondorf is the only character to have three moves with grab hitboxes.
• The sound clip that plays on the Wiimote's speaker when Ganondorf is selected is a sound clip from Melee, despite Ganondorf having a different voice actor in Brawl.
• While Ike has the most meteor smashes in Brawl, two of them are not possible to land on aerial opponents. Because of this, Ganondorf is tied with Diddy Kong for having the most meteor smashes landable on aerials opponents, with four.

External links

• Ganondorf's page on DOJO!!
• Ganondorf Character Guide at SWF
• Ganondorf's hitbox size of each of his moves