Ganondorf (PM)

Ganondorf in Project M and Project+
Universe	The Legend of Zelda
Base game appearance	Brawl
Moveset inspiration	Ganondorf (SSBM), Ganondorf (SSBB)
Alternate costume	Ocarina of Time Ganondorf

Ganondorf's Ocarina of Time Costume in Project M 3.5

Ganondorf is a playable character in the Brawl mod Project M. He was buffed significantly in Project M after being mostly reverted to his Melee version. However, some Brawl attributes were maintained, and part of his moveset was changed to make him more well-rounded.

Attributes

Despite Ganondorf mostly being based on his Melee iteration, he remains as a slower, stronger, and heavier semi-clone of Captain Falcon, as he was in Brawl, unlike Falco to Fox, as most of Ganondorf's moves continue to use their respective animations from Brawl. In Project M, positive attributes he had in his previous appearances remain, and thus he falls under the general heavyweight archetype, being deemed as a slow, but powerful character with good range due to his large stature. Because his size and height are greater compared to those of Falcon, Ganondorf's attacks are not only stronger than Falcon's, but also have increased range. Ganondorf is formidable and his amazing strength allows him to easily dominate his foes when pushed to the limits.

Ganondorf is an overall powerhouse like he was in Melee; being one the strongest characters within the cast, his attacks inflict dangerously high knockback, with some being able to kill at mid-high percentages when charged. Ganondorf also has access to the most powerful meteor smash in his down aerial and one of the strongest spikes in his aerial Wizard's Foot; these attacks are notoriously excellent edgeguarders, as his down aerial is rather difficult to recover from, even when meteor canceled, due to its immense strength, while his Wizard's Foot, being a spike, sends opponents downwards like his dair, but deprives them of the ability to meteor cancel.

Ganondorf is unique in that he is one of the only two characters who can capable of lengthening his recovery, alongside Captain Falcon. While his recovery is normally regarded as abysmal, combined by his low jump height, high gravity, low air speed, and his up special, Dark Dive, not granting enough vertical or horizontal distance, while being very predictable and easy to edgeguard and edgehog, Ganondorf has the ability to enhance his recovery by executing his aerial Wizard's Foot. For every attempt of the move, Ganondorf will restore his midair jump, and thus bringing him closer to the stage and greatly increasing his horizontal recovery.

Back in Melee and Brawl, Ganondorf struggled against projectile users due to his tall size and no counter to them, as well as off-stage survivability due to a poor recovery, but these are no longer an issue in Project M due to the advent of Dead Man's Volley & Drift. This new move gives Ganondorf a reflector that sends projectiles back at double their original speed, arming him with an effective anti-projectile option. In addition to slightly higher mid-air jumps and aerial Wizard's Foot restoring mid-air jumps, the new move also provides brief floating when used in the air, allowing Ganondorf to recover better to the stage while giving him more options for recovery mix-ups. Dead Man's Volley & Drift serves as a useful tool for Ganondorf, remedying several of his major issues and allowing him to compete better.

Even as a powerhouse, Ganondorf does have his flaws. On the disadvantageous side, his larger and taller stature than Falcon's grants him a larger hurtbox, which, combined with his heavier weight, makes him easier to combo and generally, hit. He also possesses one of the slowest dashing speeds despite it being significantly faster than in Brawl, hindering his ability to catch up to his opponents on foot. His high gravity make him one of the easiest characters to combo and chainthrow. Lastly, despite Flame Choke, Dark Dive, and Wizard's Foot being significantly improved, as well as the addition of Dead Man's Volley & Drift, his recovery is still somewhat predictable due to it being mostly linear.

Despite this, Ganondorf's strengths generally overpower his flaws. As a result of a general return to form in the transition from Brawl, while still maintaining his combo starter Flame Choke (while it was slightly nerfed), DACUS, improved tilts, the welcome changes to Dark Dive, and now being equipped with an extra recovery tool that doubles as a reflector, he is considered to be vastly buffed.

Changes from Melee to PM

Given the sheer amount of nerfs Ganondorf received in Brawl that made him plummet to the very bottom of the tier list, he is significantly buffed in Project M; most of his favorable traits from Melee return, along with Brawl's tilt attacks and Flame Choke, restoring his recovery, speed, and combo and K.O.ing ability back to its prime. Some of his more powerful moves have been given less ending lag or greater reach, many late weak hitboxes and sourspots were removed, and his less often used moves have been replaced with weaker but much more practical moves: his new up tilt comes out much faster, and his new neutral special Dead Man's Volley & Drift is a reflector that doubles as a floating maneuver; to compensate for the loss of Warlock Punch, Ganondorf's down taunt received an attack that operates similarly to it. Finally, several of Ganondorf's animations have been overhauled, which combined with the addition of Dead Man's Volley makes him a slightly more accurate representation of his appearance in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

Now equipped with an anti-projectile and recovery mix-up option, and decent speed combined with his menacing power, he has the tools to be far better than his previous two appearances. However, despite his buffs, he can still easily be overwhelmed by faster or combo-heavy opponents.

Ganondorf's new neutral special.

Ganondorf using his sword.

Aesthetics

• Ganondorf now uses his laughing SFX during his on-screen appearance.
• Most of Ganondorf's aesthetics were altered to be more inline with his magical warlock theme:
  • The fist hitbox of forward aerial produces a darkness effect, while back aerial produces an electric effect.
  • Dark Dive makes Ganondorf briefly flash purple during the uppercut portion.
  • Back aerial and neutral attack now use the same "punch" SFX used for his side taunt.
  • His sidestep and rolling dodges make him flicker and glow purple during his intangible frames.
  • Ganondorf retains animations from Brawl for most of his attacks like down tilt, Dark Dive and forward throw, which, along with the new moves he has been given, further declones him from Captain Falcon (instead of being a full clone of him like in Melee).

Attributes

• Jump squat is one frame shorter, allowing Ganondorf to be airborne and perform aerials and wavedashes slightly faster.
• Midair jumping height slightly increased; Ganondorf can now edge hop more easily onto the stage.

Ground attacks

• Forward tilt from Brawl is retained, dealing a more powerful hit with a semi-spike angle. It can now also be angled like his Melee forward tilt, and has improved horizontal reach along with less ending lag.
  • The tip of forward tilt launches at the Sakurai angle.
  • Forward tilt's animation is faster, with Ganondorf now quickly retreating his leg after kicking instead of dropping it.
• Ganondorf has a new up tilt: he lifts his foot, then quickly brings it down an electric stomp of high hitbox duration. Hits twice, much like Captain Falcon's up tilt in Smash 64, doing 3% more damage than the original up tilt due to the extra hit, and the second hit has strong power and knockback. It also has significantly faster startup and ending lag, striking on frames 5-11 and 25-28 instead of 81-83 from the old up tilt and interruptible on frame 62 instead of 113. This new up tilt is much faster and slightly more damaging than the original Volcano Kick.
  • New up tilt has significantly weaker knockback, KOing around 100% as opposed to 25% from center or OHKOing near the ledge in Melee.
• Down tilt from Brawl is retained, having stronger knockback and slightly more reach, and has additionally less ending lag.
• Dash attack can be canceled in to a long DACUS, improving Ganondorf's grounded approach options, and it retains its knockback values from Brawl, being more powerful overall.
  • Dash attack's knockback values were not adjusted for the much faster falling speeds, making it a bit less effective and reliable at KOing (with it now KOing around the 115-145% range, about 25% later than in Brawl).
• Forward smash is slightly weaker unless it is angled upward, and it additionally produces more vertical knockback, slightly weakening its KOing ability, especially against fast fallers.
  • Forward smash's animation now resembles a faster Warlock Punch, making up for the loss of said special move.
• Up smash has slightly wider hitboxes and the second kick deals 2% more damage.
  • Up smash's interruptibility is pushed forward to be slightly later than in Melee.

Aerial attacks

• Neutral aerial's hits are easier to link into each other, and the move autocancels sooner, allowing it to be autocanceled in a short hop fast fall. The first kick also comes out faster.
  • Neutral aerial's late hitboxes were removed, significantly decreasing its hitbox duration (from 6 frames to 2 frames).
• Forward aerial has significantly higher base knockback.
• Back aerial has less ending lag.
  • Back aerial retains its Brawl sourspot on the arm.
• Down aerial retains its short hop autocancel window from Brawl. It also has slightly less ending lag and no longer has transcendent priority, which now allows it to cancel out projectiles.

Grabs, throws, and other

• Forward throw from Brawl is retained, inflicting more damage and knockback.
• Down throw's knockback scaling is weakened, allowing it to chain throw and setup more effectively.
• Down taunt can be held to make Ganondorf attack with a downward swing of his sword. It has the same startup, damage and knockback as his Warlock Punch but it has much greater range and has light armor right before it hits. The damage is at its highest at the tip of the sword where it makes a small explosion on the ground. It also possesses a large, weaker but still quite powerful sourspot during the swing of the sword. However, it cannot be reversed or used in the air like Warlock Punch.

Special moves

• New neutral special: Dead Man's Volley & Drift. Using this move in the air causes him to float for one second, like Peach and Mewtwo. Using it while floating or on the ground will have him flip his cape, reflecting projectiles back at twice their speed. This improves Ganondorf's recovery and his options against projectile users.
• Ganondorf conserves Flame Choke from Brawl as his side special, which is much more useful for tech-chases and followups than Gerudo Dragon. Grounded Flame Choke deals 3% more damage and travels faster and farther. If Ganondorf falls off an edge with the move, he will go into the ending animation instead of instantly becoming helpless, allowing him to still grab the ledge within the game's new physics.
  • Grounded Flame Choke can now be teched, making its followups from Brawl more read-oriented.
• Aerial Flame Choke deals 1% more damage and now inflicts caught opponents with a weak set knockback meteor smash, causing them to weakly bounce up instead of being immediately floored; this leads to it having guaranteed followups like its grounded version. In addition, if Ganondorf performs a Sacrificial KO with it when he and his opponent are on their last stock, he'll always win now, as opposed to a Sudden Death or loss for Ganondorf in Brawl.
• Dark Dive has slightly faster start-up and conserves its ending uppercut and ability to grab ledge hangers from Brawl. The grab also deals 1% more damage, and both the throw and uppercut are more powerful, being able to reliably KO under 150%. The throw completes much faster, giving caught opponents much less time to react and DI.
• Wizard's Foot is slightly stronger, reliably KOing around 115%, and dealing 2% more damage on the ground and 5% more in the air.

Revisions

v2.1

• Fixed one of Ganondorf's up tilt hitboxes so that when the explosion occurs it is likelier to hit.
• Forward tilt has its animations adjusted, and the angled up version can now properly hit enemies standing on upper platforms.
• Flame Choke causes Ganondorf to go into the aerial ending animation when slipping off an edge with it, allowing to grab the edge and come back to the stage.
• Down smash kicks hit at the proper frames apart now, so the second kick doesn't whiff as easily.
• Ledge attacks now match those of Melee.
• Adjusted Ganondorf's Dark Dive physics and grab hitboxes to be closer to Melee's.
• Dash attack can slip off edges like in Melee.
• Back and up aerial's ranges now match those of Melee.
• Down throw's animation was adjusted.

v2.5b

• Flame Choke's top grab box fixed to affect grounded opponents, so he doesn't miss opponents on platforms.
• Down throw increased slightly in knockback growth.
• Jab and down aerial have new electric graphical effects.
• Warlock Punch is now reversible. Its turn occurs slightly later than in Brawl, but can be performed up to four times.
• Flame Choke has its darkness hit effects restored.
• Dark Dive's launch fire hit effects were restored.

v2.6b

• Initial dash animation length increased by 1 frame to match Melee, also improving moonwalk distance slightly.
• Dash attack adjusted to use Brawl's damage and knockback values.
• Up tilt (Volcano Kick) replaced with new, electric stomp attack, which is weaker in knockback, but much faster and of practical use.
• Neutral aerial's first kick has less base knockback and higher angle to be slightly better as a combo starter and combo into second hit more often.
• Forward smash's angles adjusted in damage, power, and trajectory so there is more reason to use them over up angled, while previously the move was superior in all 3 angles.
• T-pose bug with his Final Smash is fixed.
• Ganondorf's magical effects now illuminate his body.
• Warlock Punch's additional turns can be prevented by holding the special button.

v3.0

• Dark Dive's startup is slightly faster.
• Wizard Foot's damage increased on both ground and air kicks; knockback compensated to be the same. The move is now also reversible.
• Ganondorf is now always KO'd first when performing a Sacrificial KO with Flame Choke.
• Forward air's animation was polished. Active frames begin and terminate one frame earlier to better match the animation.
• Down air's animation was polished.

v3.02

• Ganondorf is now KO'd last when suiciding with Flame Choke only when he has a lower port than his opponent.
• Aerial Wizard's Foot can be ledge-canceled.
• Up and down aerial item throw animations' heights have been adjusted.

v3.5

• Ganondorf received a new Neutral special, "Dead Man's Volley/Drift". When used in the air it allows him to float. When used on the ground or while already floating, it allows him to reflect projectiles with a flip of his cape. Despite this new change, Kirby still copies the Warlock Punch.
• Jump squat reduced (from 6 to 5 frames).
• Ganondorf is now always KO'd last when suiciding with Flame Choke.
• Down taunt can be used as an attack when held. It has the same startup, damage, and knockback as his Warlock Punch except it has greater range and has super armor right before it hits. The damage is at its highest at the tip of the sword where it makes a small explosion on the ground.
  • The sword swing cannot be reversed, nor can it be used in the air like Warlock Punch could.
• Neutral aerial has slightly less endlag and start-up (first active frame from 7 to 5 frames).
• Forward throw deals more damage (from 9% to 13%), and has increased knockback.
• Back throw has less endlag.
• Aerial Flame Choke is no longer techable before final hit.
• Sidestep dodge has been sped up; it is now tied for the fastest sidestep in the game.
• Down throw's chain grabbing and set-up capabilities have been toned down due to its slightly higher knockback scaling (from 40 to 45).
• Forward tilt outer hitbox trajectory changed to Sakurai angle.
• Up smash interruptibility was pushed 5 frames later.
• Forward smash animation now resembles his Warlock Punch.
• Forward throw now gives off darkness effects.
• Back aerial has a new animation.
• All of Ganondorf's dodging animations have new magical animations, with purple overlays and a brief stutter.

v3.6 Beta

• Neutral aerial's late weak hits were removed, as well as an active frame being removed from the strong hit, resulting in a significantly reduced hitbox duration for each kick (from 6 frames to 2 frames).
• Back aerial no longer snaps downwards when transitioning into a fall.
• Dead Man's Volley reflect window increased by 3 frames. It also now has a trail that accurately depicts its reflect location and duration.
• Ganondorf's down taunt attack now receives light armor instead of super armor. It also hits 1 frame later.
  • Now has a large, weaker hitbox that covers the swing of the sword in return. This hitbox has the lowest priority, so opponents in front of Ganondorf are still hit with the main hitbox.
• As an aesthetic when wearing the Ocarina of Time costume, Ganondorf will wield a different sword, similar to one seen in his render for Melee upon using his down taunt attack.

Moveset

Up to date as of version 3.6.

		Name	Damage	Description
Neutral attack			7% (hand), 8% (body)	Ganondorf performs a quick palm strike that electrocutes enemies on contact.
Forward tilt	↗		12-14%	Ganondorf quickly kicks the opponent with a large force. This move can be angled.
	→		11-13%
	↘		10-12%
Up tilt			8% (hit 1), 22% (hit 2 foot), 20% (hit 2 body)	Ganondorf does a very quick stomp on the opponent. Weaker than the original up tilt, but much quicker. Ganondorf's left arm and leg are intangible the moment he plants his foot on the ground.
Down tilt			12%	Ganondorf kneels on one leg and thrusts the other leg forward.
Dash attack			15% (clean), 10% (mid), 8% (late)	Ganondorf charges at the opponent, and forcefully rams into them.
Forward smash	↗		24%	Ganondorf winds up a large amount of darkness and releases it all in one deadly back-handed punch. Resembles the Warlock Punch.
	→		22%
	↘		20%
Up smash			22% (hit 1), 19% (hit 2)	Ganondorf does a double kick upwards. Deadly knockback, and also the most damaging up smash in the game.
Down smash			8% (hit 1), 12% (hit 2 foot), 14% (hit 2 leg)	Ganondorf kicks his leg in front and then behind him. The first kick combos into the second kick.
Neutral aerial			10% (hit 1), 12% (hit 2)	Ganondorf performs two quick mid-air kicks.
Forward aerial			17%	Ganondorf performs an overhead punch in a downwards arc with deadly force and knockback. Great finisher.
Back aerial			16%	Ganondorf does a back-handed punch. Faster than his forward air, but with weaker knockback.
Up aerial			12%/13% (clean), 10%/12% (mid), 6%/8% (late)	Ganondorf does an overhead flip kick, covering a large arc above him. Deals more damage on Ganondorf's foot.
Down aerial			22%	Brings both his feet down in an electric stomp. The most powerful meteor smash in the game, though unlike Captain Falcon's down aerial, it lacks the nipple spike hitbox. Unlike its previous appearances, this attack no longer has transcendent priority, and can now cancel projectiles.
Grab			—
Pummel			3%	Knees the opponent. A moderately fast pummel.
Forward throw			5% (hit 1), 8% (throw)	Ganondorf punches the opponent forwards.
Back throw			5% (hit 1), 4% (throw)	Ganondorf throws the opponent backward and kicks them.
Up throw			4% (hit 1), 3% (throw)	Ganondorf throws the opponent upward, then punches them upwards into the air.
Down throw			7%	Ganondorf forcibly throws the opponent on the ground.
Floor attack (front)			6%	Ganondorf gets up and flips while kicking.
Floor attack (back)			6%	Ganondorf stands on both hands and does a spinning double kick.
Floor attack (trip)			5%	Ganondorf spins around to kick those who are near.
Edge attack (fast)			10%	Ganondorf quickly gets up and performs a low kick.
Edge attack (slow)			10%	Ganondorf slowly gets up and performs a horizontal backhanded punch.
Down taunt (attack)			24%/31%/33%/35%/37%	If the player holds down the down taunt button, Ganondorf will swing the sword downward after looking at it briefly as it glows purple. Extremely strong knockback equivalent to the old Warlock Punch if opponent is directly in front of him, but it also possesses a very large sourspot during the swing, where it will deal less damage and knockback. Deals more damage towards the tip of the sword at the end of the move.
Neutral special		Dead Man's Volley & Drift / Dark Descent	5% (cape flip)	On the ground, Ganondorf will swing his cape, reflecting projectiles at twice their original speed. Using it once in midair will make him float, and using it again will make him perform the volley. This is based on a move Ganondorf used in his boss battle in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
Side special		Flame Choke	Ground: 12% (hit), 1% (release) Air: 1% (hits 1-6), 7% (release)	On the ground, Ganondorf slides forward stretching his hand. Once the attack connects with an enemy, he puts them up, chokes and releases them onto the ground. In the air, Ganondorf grabs the opponent and slams them into the ground, weakly bouncing them upwards, and as a recovery move it can sweetspot ledges. If Ganondorf does the aerial version and lands on and facing the ledge, the grabbed opponent will be meteored just under the stage, but is not powerful enough to KO. If there is no ground, there will be a self-destruct for both players. Can be used for edgehogging. The move can fall off edges if used too close to them, but Ganondorf can then grab them and come back to the stage. This can be still be dangerous, though, as he will fall helpless and SD if the edge is ungrabbable.
Up special		Dark Dive	2% (hits 1-4), 10% (release), 7% (uppercut)	Ganondorf grabs onto the opponent and unleashes electricity onto them, then launches them with an explosion. If he grabs an opponent with the move, he doesn't fall helpless and can use it again. The grab attack inflicts 4 electric hits of 2% damage that can damage nearby foes, then the explosion deals 10% with a flame effect. Ganondorf can receive damage when grabbing an opponent, but cannot be knocked out of the move. If he misses, he will then perform an uppercut that launches enemies upwards and can punish edge-hoggers, while possessing a large edge sweet spot.
Down special		Wizard's Foot	17% (both versions), 8% (landing)	Ganondorf launches with a dark kick forward, or diagonally downwards when used in midair. The grounded version acts as a strong horizontal finisher, while the aerial version spikes opponents, yielding early KOs against recovering ones if they fail at dodging the attack. The midair version also restores Ganondorf's double jump, extending his recovery, and has a landing hitbox that bounces foes upwards. The grounded version can fall off edges and bump into walls; in the latter case, Ganondorf will flip backwards and suffer a great amount of lag.
Final Smash		Beast Ganon	10% (grounding), 10% (stomp), 45% (charge)	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.

In competitive play

Notable players

•  Arty
•  Darkrain
•  Hungry Headcrab
•  Junebug
•  Kage
•  Mr. Brandandorf
•  n0ne
•  Spider Sense
•  Vex Kasrani

Alternate costumes

Ganondorf has an alternate costume based on his appearance in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Melee. This costume also changes the Sword of Sages from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess that he pulls out during his down taunt into the sword he is depicted with (but never uses) in Melee.

The set comes with recolors for team battles, as well as a purple recolor; his Ocarina of Time color scheme was replaced to make room.

Ganondorf's alternate costumes in PM

Trivia

• Oddly, whenever the player selects Ganondorf in red or blue Ocarina of Time costumes, the stock icons would be in the wrong place. (The blue costume will use the red stock icon and vice versa.) However, there is a custom patch fix existing for this issue and similar problems. A similar issue also happens with Meta Knight's Dark and Concept Art costumes. This was fixed in version 3.6.
  • The purple Ocarina of Time costume will occasionally show a blue underside of its cape during certain animations.

External links

• Project M character page