Warlock Punch
| Warlock Punch | |
|---|---|
 Warlock Punch in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. | |
| User | Ganondorf |
| Universe | The Legend of Zelda |
| “ | 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. | ” |
| —Ganondorf's All-Star trophy description in Smash 3DS | ||
Warlock Punch (魔人拳, Demon-Man Fist) is Ganondorf's neutral special move. In every game since its introduction in Melee, it has consistently been one of the most (if not the most) powerful attacks of any character that is not a Final Smash.
Overview
General
Being the epitome of a slow-yet-powerful attack, the move involves Ganondorf winding back for a devastatingly powerful, but incredibly slow darkness-fueled punch. Fitting with its extreme power, it takes approximately 70 frames to charge up (a little over a second).
This move is extremely powerful, dealing 30% damage or greater with extreme 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. In the air, Warlock Punch is even more powerful and does about 37%-40% with higher knockback, but the very slow start-up of the Warlock Punch combined with Ganondorf's poor jumping and fast falling speed makes landing the Warlock Punch while airborne extremely difficult.
This move is considered a "clone" move of Captain Falcon's Falcon Punch as it has the same animation, nicknamed the "Ganon Punch" or "Dorf Punch" by fans, but as mentioned above, it is slower, deals more damage, and has higher knockback. Also unlike the Falcon Punch, it is extremely difficult to attempt a Sacred Combo facsimile with due to its lag. Later in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Ganondorf has a different animation with the attack, where he instead does a powerful forward backfist with his left hand instead after a waving motion, and in Smash 4 he gains a different ending animation where he crouches menacingly.
Starting from Brawl, a player can pull off a 180° punch by turning in the opposite direction during the beginning of the charging period. This is known as a Reverse Warlock Punch. This version of Warlock Punch deals roughly 3% more damage than a normal punch with more knockback. This move can be done on the ground and in mid-air, but on the downside, it is 0.167 seconds longer or 10 frames slower than a normal Warlock Punch. This reversed move is good for mindgames (as with Falcon's) and does serve as a way to turn a match around, but is still very laggy.
Warlock Punch usually guarantees a KO at around 20-29% damage upon connecting (with a reverse aerial Warlock Punch being able to KO at 12%), the second lowest of any special move without special criteria (such as Oil Panic and Judge), behind Ike's stage 8 Eruption, which can KO at 5%.
In Super Smash Bros. 4, the regular grounded version has been reduced in power, now dealing 30% damage with much lower knockback scaling. However, all other versions of the move have drastically increased power with slightly increased damage, KOing Mario below 25% in the middle of Final Destination even with DI and without rage; lighter characters are guaranteed to get KO'd near the ledge if they do not DI at all, regardless of rage. Both grounded versions also have super armor during most of their startup, from frame 11 to frame 66 for the regular version, or frame 58 for the reversed version. With the increase in damage for the other versions of Warlock Punch, as well as the decreased shield health in Smash 4, they can easily shatter any shield that is not at full size.
Stages
Warlock Punch has four stages of power depending on what type of punch is performed. Smash 4 KO percents assume no DI on Mario and in the middle of Final Destination.
| Type | Damage | Percent that can KO |
|---|---|---|
| Warlock Punch | 32% (Brawl)/30% (SSB4) | 34% (Brawl)/53% (SSB4) |
| Reverse Warlock Punch | 35% (Brawl)/37% (SSB4) | 26% (Brawl)/0% (Rage), 14% (Normal) (SSB4) |
| Aerial Warlock Punch | 36% (Brawl)/38% (SSB4) | 21% (Brawl)/0% (Rage), 8% (Normal) (SSB4) |
| Reverse aerial Warlock Punch | 38% (Brawl)/40% (SSB4) | 12% (Brawl)/0% (Rage), 1% (Normal) (SSB4) |
Origin
Ganondorf never uses the Warlock Punch as it is (a superpowered punch enhanced by dark energy) in any canonical Zelda game, but similar attacks, fitting in with Ganondorf's motifs as the Warlock Punch does, have been used in several games. In Melee, the Warlock Punch's closest analogue in canon is a ground punch that Ganondorf uses in his boss battle in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, which later became the basis for the slam in the aerial version of Flame Choke. In Brawl, the move's animation was changed to resemble the backhand slap that Ganondorf uses to knock out Zelda in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker.
Direct allusions to the move have appeared in the Zelda series following Ganondorf's inclusion in Melee. In The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Ganondorf uses a rushing chokeslam very similar to the Melee version of the Warlock Punch (sans dark energy) to instantly kill a sage in the Twilight Mirror Chamber, which became the basis for Flame Choke. Conversely, Ganondorf uses the Brawl version of Warlock Punch as one of his moves in the spin-off Hyrule Warriors (albeit with his right fist rather than left), but with added dark energy effects; in fact, he uses the punch to fire orbs of dark energy towards foes.
In Brawl and SSB4, Ganondorf uses his left hand to perform Warlock Punch and its custom variants, even though he is depicted as right-handed in the GameCube version of Twilight Princess and his right hand is inscribed with the Triforce of Power. As with Flame Choke, this is likely due to the mirrored Wii version of Twilight Princess, and has the side-effect of further differentiating the move from Falcon Punch animation-wise.
Warlock Blade involves Ganondorf wielding the Sword of the Sages, which he used extensively during the final battle in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. The sword was used by the Sage of Water in an attempt to execute Ganondorf for his crimes, but the Triforce of Power kept Ganondorf alive and he proceeded to kill the Sage of Water, keeping the sword throughout the events of the game. While the animation in Smash Bros. is a modified version of Warlock Punch itself that involves Ganondorf wielding the sword in a reverse grip, one of Ganondorf's moves during the aforementioned boss battle is a similar one-handed thrust/stab with the sword.
Customization
Special Move customization was added in Super Smash Bros. 4. These are the variations:
| 1. Warlock Punch | 2. Warlock Blade | 3. Warlock Thrust |
|---|---|---|
 |
 |
 |
| "Channel dark energy into a devastating punch, Difficult to interrupt." | "Draw a sword and thrust it forward. The blade's tip deals the most damage." | "A faster, explosive Warlock Punch. Make sure your fist hits home for max damage." |
- Warlock Punch: Default.
- Warlock Blade: (魔人剣, Demon-Man Sword) Ganondorf pulls out his sword and plunges it forward in a stabbing motion via reverse grip, with the sword's tip being a sweet spot, adding great horizontal range at the cost of some power, and less vertical reach. Has faster start-up but less armor frames due to this, transcendent priority and high shield damage, whereas the tip can instant shatter a full shield.
- Warlock Thrust: (魔迅拳, Demon Swift Fist) Ganondorf punches significantly faster than Warlock Punch/Blade causing a large explosion past his fist, giving it slightly more horizontal range and vertical range, transcendent priority on the explosion, and less ending lag (though is still notably large due to its faster start-up). However, it comes with a great loss in power and knockback (KOing at an extremely late 300%), large, weak sourspots covering the arm and explosion, and no super armor. Arguably one of the worst moves in the game; it offers no real advantage over the Warlock Punch/Blade, and is made completely redundant by most of Ganondorf's basic attacks, which can KO much earlier and are faster still, such as a sourspotted jab which is his weakest non-special move.
Gallery
Warlock Punch in Melee.
Warlock Punch in Brawl.
Warlock Punch in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS.
Trivia
- In Brawl, if a player performs a Reverse Warlock Punch on Pit, and Pit pulls out his Mirror Shield at just the right moment, Ganondorf will be sent flying across the stage a long way, longer than the distance of most stages. This also works on any other characters that can use a reverse.
- Even though this attack has very high startup lag, it is not the slowest attack in Ganondorf's arsenal. His up tilt has an even slower start-up of 81 frames.
- If the victim's damage is higher than around 100%, a reverse Warlock Punch will have higher knockback than a Home-Run Bat, which makes this move very useful in the Home-Run Contest.
- The names for all three variations of Warlock Punch are pronounced the same way in Japanese (Majinken).
- Warlock Blade is Ganondorf's only move that uses his sword in the entire Smash Bros. series.
