Ganondorf (SSBB)

Ganondorf in Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Universe	The Legend of Zelda
Other playable appearances	in Melee in SSB4
Availability	Unlockable
Final Smash	Beast Ganon
Tier	F (38)

Ganondorf (ガノンドロフ, Ganondorofu) returns from Super Smash Bros. Melee in Super Smash Bros. Brawl as a playable character. His design is based upon his appearance in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (although slightly shorter compared to Link). He retains his Melee incarnation's hand-to-hand combat style (not using his sword outside of taunts), remaining the only character to be based on a character from another series, but is no longer a straight clone of Captain Falcon.

Ganondorf holds the distinction of being the last character on the tier list in 38th place (a significant drop from his position on the Melee tier list, where he was 12th out of 26), as well as being the lowest-ranked veteran and unlockable. Ganondorf has a few strengths, including extreme power throughout his moveset, high endurance, very strong edge guarding ability, access to the most powerful meteor smash in the game and a great semi-spike in his up aerial. He also has strong combo abilities, including great combo starters in his autocancelled down aerials and Flame Choke that can potentially deal extreme amounts of damage. However, these strengths are nullified by a slew of crippling flaws. Ganondorf is the slowest character in Brawl, possesses the slowest attacks, the worst overall mobility, and one of the worst (arguably the worst) recoveries in the game. This main recovery move, Dark Dive, is painfully easy to edgeguard and gains low horizontal and vertical distance, while his other recovery move, Flame Choke, covers minimal horizontal distance. Flame Choke can also be exploited, as it is a Sacrificial KO. Most of Ganondorf's attacks either have poor reach for a character of his size or hold poorly placed hitboxes, putting him at a serious disadvantage against characters with disjointed hitboxes (like Marth), while the loss of L-cancelling greatly cripples the utilisation of his aerials. In addition, he possesses a slow grab that has the worst grabbing reach in Brawl, which combined with slow attacks leaves him with terrible out of shield options. This is further hindered by a heavy weight that makes him vulnerable to chain grabs and combos. He also suffers from an extreme vulnerability to shield stabbing, as like Donkey Kong, his shield is unusually small for someone his size. His lack of a projectile further hampers his approach, with the end result being that he can be outcamped at essentially any range. As a result, Ganondorf has the 2nd highest tier drop (Jigglypuff has the highest), terrible tournament results, and the dubious distinctions of not only being the only character in the entire Smash series to have absolutely no advantageous or even matchups (including being hard countered by 22 characters, the most out of any character in any Smash game), but of being the only character to have ever been in his own tier at the bottom of the tier list. He also has the highest amount of near unwinnable matchups of any character in the game, with a total of five. Despite being last on the American tier list, Ganondorf is ranked 31st on the Japanese tier list, where Jigglypuff places last.

How to unlock

Complete one of the following:

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

With the exception of the third method, Ganondorf must then be defeated on Final Destination.

Attributes

Ganondorf is a heavy, fast falling, very slow character (the slowest to be exact) with sub-par range, very strong attacks, including more than one of the strongest attacks in the game, Warlock Punch. His attacks, whether in the sweetspot or the sourspot, are very powerful and deal above average knockback, although this can also serve as a problem since it prevents him from comboing at medium damage percentages or higher. His side special grants him launch resistance (only helpful in team battles or Free-for-alls) 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, or several characters getting hit by dash attack and side tilt for KOs, and even his up aerial on platforms. In the air, Ganondorf's side special can cause a Ganoncide, although it is situational because even when it is 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 and his neutral aerial are his only moves considered to be a multi-hitting move; however, his neutral aerial's second hit will almost never connect at higher percentages), 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 the opponent is from the lower blast line). Ganondorf`s advanced superjump glitch is very situational, but, if done right, he travels far higher in the air than any of his aerial options. This technique is called the Flight of Ganon.

However, Ganondorf's extremely high power and heavy weight are counter-balanced with many factors. Ganondorf is a tall target, with him being 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 some 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 cannot even jump out of shield due to the significant 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 outcamp 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 short-ranged grab which has 7 frames start-up).

Although his weight and good momentum canceling allows him to live very long, his slow, predictable and easily gimped recovery does not travel far horizontally. In addition to that, his main recovery move, Dark Dive, can be hit out of from above by certain characters where he lacks hitboxes (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 teched. Because of these reasons, Ganondorf's up special is one of the worst in the game and is practical only when used offensively if the opponent is at a low percent or is one of the few who cannot punish it. Although his damage input and KO power allows to compensate his poor recovery somewhat, it still lacks sufficient utility, as opponents can act as soon as they are let go, while Ganondorf must wait for a while before attacking, giving enemies the chance to attack Ganon as soon as he lets go. He, like Captain Falcon and Wolf, has a very fast falling speed and a heavy weight that can backfire by making him vulnerable to chain grabs. Ganondorf's mobility is also very poor with his poor air speed and ground speed; because of this, characters with a good projectile can easily break his approach and force him to jump and still get very little distance. To counteract this, Ganondorf mains often have to learn to perfect shield every projectile aimed at him. Also, certain characters can avoid much of his moveset by crouching (jab, f-tilt, 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 can rack up damage extremely quickly, with combos like short hop auto-canceled down aerial (coined as thunderstorming) three times with an up smash at the end (this can do more than 60% to an opponent caught off-guard). Due to his Flame Choke, which puts the opponent in an ideal position for a tech-chase, he can follow up with several of his moves with the aforementioned extreme power, most notably a forward smash or a Thunderstorm. Overall, Ganondorf's moves can be hard to hit with, but he can compensate with raw power.

Changes from Melee to Brawl

Ganondorf has been overwhelmingly nerfed from Melee to Brawl, and he is now only a semi-clone of Captain Falcon.

• Jab now has a sweetspot that deals 2% more damage and even more knockback, and has slightly more reach.
• New forward tilt is stronger, and semi-spikes.
• The start-up of up tilt now produces a weak vacuum effect, and the explosion produced is significantly larger, giving the move drastically better reach and making it overall easier to land. In addition, the move also has 7 frames faster start-up (from 88 frames to 81 frames)
• New down tilt is stronger and has slightly better reach.
• Dash attack is drastically more powerful, now being a reliable KO move that can KO in the 100-125% range. Despite the significant power increase, it is still the second most powerful dash attack.
• Forward smash now produces normal horizontal knockback, and is more powerful as well.
• Down aerial autocancels earlier in a short hop, giving Ganondorf the Thunder hopping technique.
• Forward and back throws were improved; forward throw deals 4% more damage for a high 13% total, while back throw deals 1% more with significantly improved knockback, getting opponents offstage more effectively and now being capable of KOing at very high damages.
• Warlock Punch is significantly more powerful, now being capable of reliably KOing under 25%. It can additionally be reversed for more power. The move also has slightly faster start-up lag, though this is pretty much negligible as the move is still extremely slow and near impossible to land under normal conditions.
• Ganondorf gained a new forward special in Flame Choke, which operates similarly to Gerudo Dragon, but instead of uppercutting the opponent, it works as a special grab that meteor smashes opponents to the ground. This new move is significantly better, setting up followups much better while being a more versatile move in general. It additionally can actually be used for recovery and can suicide KO, unlike Gerudo Dragon, which (like Captain Falcon`s Raptor Boost) did not grab ledges at all.
• Dark Dive can now grab opponents hanging on the ledge. It additionally gains slightly better vertical distance, and now produces a weak hitbox in the move's ending uppercut animation to prevent edgehoggers.
• Aerial Wizard's Foot is significantly more powerful, and the non-initial hitboxes of the move do not meteor smash, allowing it to be an effective vertical KO move, as well as a better anti-juggle attack.
• Ganondorf now has access to the Flight of Ganon technique.
• Dashing speed is even slower (from 1.35 to 1.16), now being the second slowest in the game.
• Relative to the rest of the cast, Ganondorf falls faster, going from the 10th highest falling speed out of 26 characters in Melee, to tied for 7th highest out of 39 characters in Brawl. While this slightly improves Ganondorf's vertical endurance, it worsens his already poor recovery, and makes him especially vulnerable to chain throws and combos. Considering his lack of movement speed and mobility, and his very laggy aerials, this falling speed increase does him more harm than good.
• Jab is significantly slower, going from a very fast 3 frames in start-up, to a very slow for a jab 9 frames. This also makes Ganondorf's fastest attack outside his grab much slower, significantly weakening his inclose game.
• New forward tilt has 1 frame slower start-up, less horizontal reach (despite Ganondorf being taller/bigger in Brawl), more ending lag, and cannot be angled, making it more difficult to land, and a less safe and less useful spacer.
• Up tilt now has several large, drastically weaker sourspot hitboxes throughout the attack, and the sweetspot is significantly weaker as well. The sweetspot though still KOs at an extremely early 50% however, while the sourspots can KO around the 75-100% range, making it still the most powerful tilt by far.
• Ganondorf lunges about half the distance during his forward smash, significantly decreasing its reach (despite it having a bigger hitbox) unless it's pivoted.
• New up smash consists of a single kick, that is also weaker than the first kick in Ganondorf's Melee up smash, with less damage. The move additionally has slightly slower start-up lag.
• Down smash is much worse. The transitioning to the second kick is carried out slower, making the first kick less reliable at carrying opponents into the second kick. Along with this, the move has much more ending lag, making it much less safe to use. The second kick additionally hits at a more diagonal angle with much less knockback scaling, making the move KO much later (opponents can now survive it to over 150% under standard conditions) and overall a much less reliable KO move. The first kick also deals 3% less damage.
• The second kick of neutral aerial is drastically weaker, dealing 7% less damage while producing little knockback, completely removing its KOing capabilities. The first kick also deals 1% less damage.
• Forward aerial has more landing lag and drastically more ending lag (its start-up is still 14 frames). The move also now has a large sourspot on Ganondorf's arm that is significantly weaker. As such, despite the sweespot being slightly stronger than it was in Melee, this significantly hinders the move's usability, completely removing its capability as an effective aerial spacer, while making it a dangerously unsafe and difficult to land KO move. Also, the move appears to have less reach as in-game data shows that it was suppose to have a third hitbox, like it did in Melee.
• Back aerial deals weaker knockback, KOing about 15-25% later. Its hitbox duration was additionally reduced to half of its previous duration, and has less reach, making it more difficult to land. The move`s sourspot on Ganondorf's arm is also weaker (due to lower knockback scaling, from 100 to 85), but it is still not that much weaker than the sourspot.
• Down aerial now has a sourspot that deals 5% less damage on Ganondorf's upper body, and has smaller hitboxes overall. It also deals less base knockback.
• The loss of L-cancelling hurt Ganondorf far more than any other character, as he can no longer safely use his powerful but laggy aerials for general usage, which was a major part of Ganondorf's success in Melee.
• Ganondorf's rolls are slower and cover less distance.
• Grabbing reach was significantly reduced to being the shortest-reaching grab in the game, significantly hurting Ganondorf's out of shield capabilities and inclose game.
• New up throw is near useless; while it deals 2% more damage, it deals significantly higher base knockback with more ending lag, completely removing its chain throwing capabilities and making it completely unreliable for setting up followups, while it still can't KO at realistic damages under standard conditions.
• Down throw now sends opponents a fair distance forward, removing its chain throwing capabilities and making it much less reliable at setting up followups.
• Dark Dive is drastically weaker to where it cannot KO at realistic damages outside stage spiking, and it deals 6% less damage. Opponents can also now hit Ganondorf as they're released from Dark Dive, weakening Ganondorf's already poor recovery farther, and making the move completely unsafe to use in general. It also has more difficulty turning around (1 frame window), 1 frame slower start-up, and its furthest grabbox has slightly less reach (in data, from 14.4 to 13.65).
• Lost a KO option in Flame Choke and deals less damage.
• Grounded Wizard's Foot is significantly weaker, dealing 3% less damage (5% if the his toe connects), and it is no longer a reliable KO move under 150%. It also now has sourspots on the later portion of the move.
• Aerial Wizard's Foot no longer restores Ganondorf's midair jump, drastically hindering Ganondorf's recovery. The lack of a meteor smash (it was a spike in Melee) outside the initial hit also reduces its offstage lethality.
• Many of Ganondorf's attacks that weren't replaced were given slight animation tweaks to differentiate them from Captain Falcon's moves. Such moves are Ganondorf's jab, up tilt, down smash, neutral aerial, down aerial, Warlock Punch, Dark Dive, and grounded Wizard's Foot. Ganondorf's dash and rolling dodges also have different animations.

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 ground 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.
• Up tilt - 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. Can KO at low percentage if used very close to the edge and the opponent doesn't utilise DI and momentum cancelling. 27%, 19% if hit from afar. It is the strongest up tilt in the game, and one of the strongest attacks in the game.
• Forward tilt - 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). Still fairly quick. Good low angle horizontal knockback with a semi-spike trajectory, which is good for KOing characters with poor horizontal recovery. Often referred to as the "Sparta" Kick due to this attack resembling a kick from a famous scene in the movie 300. Ganondorf makes a similar kick in the final battle of Twilight Princess. Inflicts 12%-13%.
• Down tilt - Ganondorf kneels on one leg and sweeps the other leg forward. Great range and sets up for aerials, 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 Adventure Mode: The Subspace Emissary 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 attacks

• Forward smash - Elbow thrust, with a darkness on contact. Moderately slow startup (but fast for being such a powerful move) with high ending lag. Has very high knockback, KOing 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%-33% damage. Hits from frame 22 to 27.
• 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 22-24.
• 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 16 frames) but second hit is somewhat laggy (hits on frame 36). 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. Does 19%-26%. One of its 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. However, the first kick can still KO at high percentage. First hit deals 11% while the second does 7%. Total 18%. 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 14-19.
• 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. A Stomp attack. 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 percentages). 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. Despite its somewhat slow start-up (16 frames), it can be difficult for characters off-stage to avoid it due to its deceptive horizontal range. However, its KO power stales extremely quickly and many characters can avoid it by simply crouching.

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 percentages 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.

Cheer

Ganondorf's NTSC and PAL cheer

Gan-on-dorf! (deep male voices)

Wii Remote choice

A sound clip of Ganondorf shouting from Melee is heard.

In competitive play

Matchups

Super Smash Bros. Brawl Character Matchups

Avg.

Notable players

See also: Category:Ganondorf professionals (SSBB)

•  DLA
•  Fonz
•  Vermanubis

Tier placement and history

Ganondorf initially was not seen as the worst character, being ranked above Link and Captain Falcon on the first tier list, and was still ranked above Captain Falcon on the second tier list. From the third tier list on however, Ganondorf has been consistently ranked the worst character, and, on the fifth tier list, was considered to be so much worse than everyone else he was ranked in his own tier at the absolute bottom. Despite his reputation as the worst character, he has a dedicated playerbase that has achieved better tournament success than most other bottom/low tier characters (however minor it is). A player named Fonz even once won a legitimate tournament using Ganondorf (except for one match), an accomplishment players of most other low/bottom tier characters have not been able to achieve. As such, with Ganondorf's better tournament success compared to most other low/bottom characters, there has been some dispute on if Ganondorf is actually the worst character in Brawl, with Zelda and Jigglypuff frequently being cited as even worse. Interestingly, the Japanese do not consider Ganondorf the worst character, and actually have him listed above five other characters on their tier list. Despite this, the BBR still considered Ganondorf the worst character in their most recent tier list.

In Event Matches

• Event 31: The Ultimate Bodyguard: As Marth, the player must defend Zelda against 2 Ganondorfs each with 2 stock each. The event results in a failure if either Marth or Zelda is KO'd. During the third background change, Zelda will transform into Sheik and help.
• Event 33: Advent of the Evil King: As, Ganondorf, the player must defeat Link, Zelda and Pit. The player has 2 stocks while the opponents have 1.
• Event 34: All-Star Battle Melee: Ganondorf is one of the eight opponents fought in this event. All opponents debut in Melee and returned as veterans.
• Event 40: The Final Battle: Ganondorf is one of the opponent fought along with King Dedede and Bowser. The character, chosen by the player, as 2 stocks while the opponents have 1.
• Co-Op Event 13: Blades of the Quick and Mighty: A team of Marth and Ike must defeat Link, Meta Knight, and Ganondorf in a 1 stock battle. Strangely, Ganondorf only uses his sword in a taunt since the name refers to swordsman.
• Co-Op Event 14: The Dark Guardians: A team of Ganondorf and Wolf must defeat Giant Charizard and Giant Donkey Kong in a 1 stock battle. The players are tiny in this event.
• Co-Op Event 20: The Final Battle for Two: Ganondorf is one of the six opponents the two players must fight in order to finish this event. All opponents are playable antagonists in this event.

Role in The Subspace Emissary

Ganondorf's introduction in the Subspace Emissary

Ganondorf plays the role of the second main antagonist (under Tabuu) alongside Bowser in the Subspace Emissary. Ganondorf first appears in a control room on the Isle of the Ancients, where Zero Suit Samus was in to find her Power Suit, giving Bowser the coordinates to find King Dedede, who had stolen Wario's trophies.

Later, in the same control room, he receives orders from Master Hand to destroy the Isle of the Ancients. Appearing in their island base as a hologram, he consequently orders the R.O.B. Squad to activate all of the Subspace Bombs on the Isle. When the Ancient Minister objects, Ganondorf presses an override button that forces the R.O.B.s to ignore the Minister and continue. When he continues to intervene, Ganondorf goes further and forces the R.O.B.s to attack the Ancient Minister, setting him aflame; while sending a flock of Auroros to distract an approaching group of heroes. Suddenly, the burning Ancient Minister fires beams from his eyes, destroying the Auroros and shedding the remnants of his robes to show that he himself is a R.O.B., 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 its co-commander, with Bowser, but they are forced to retreat into Subspace when the Gunship is destroyed by Kirby and his Dragoon. Ganondorf then decides it is time to betray Master Hand, so he takes out the last remaining Dark Cannon and fires it at Bowser, his own co-captain and the most loyal of Master Hand's henchmen. Kicking the Bowser trophy out of the way, Ganondorf proceeds to present himself to Master Hand. However, as he prepares to betray Master Hand for complete control of the Subspace Army, he sees that Master Hand was literally a puppet of Tabuu, the supreme ruler of Subspace. Ganondorf tries to attack him, but is defeated and turned into a trophy. As he falls, however, he bumps into the chains of light which puppeteer Master Hand, freeing him from Tabuu's control. Master Hand then attempts to attack Tabuu, but is defeated with ease.

Later, after the main group of heroes had been defeated by Tabuu and rescued by Luigi, Ness and King Dedede, Kirby finds Ganondorf's trophy - leading the resurrected Bowser to appear and brutally attack the trophy as an act of revenge before tossing it aside. If both Link and Zelda were rescued, a cutscene will show Ganondorf being revived by them (with a headache from his trophification and Bowser's retaliation) and after the Hyrulian heroes walk away he clenches his fist in anger and helps the heroes travel through The Great Maze in order to defeat Tabuu.

Cameo Appearances

Ganondorf appears frequently during Subspace Emissary.

• The Lake Shore
• The Cave
• The Subspace Bomb Factory (Part II)
• Entrance to Subspace

Playable Appearances

• The Great Maze - If Link and Zelda are rescued in Subspace (Part II)

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

Alternate costumes

Ganondorf's alternate costumes in Brawl

Trophy description

Ganondorf's trophy in Brawl

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

: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

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 (Dark Dive, Flame Choke, and his standard grab).
• The sound clip that plays on the Wii Remote speaker when Ganondorf is selected is a sound clip from Melee; unusually, it's never used in the latter game, save for the Sound Test.
• While Ike has the most meteor smashes in Brawl, two of them are impossible to land on aerial opponents. Because of this, Ganondorf is tied with Diddy Kong for having the most meteor smashes landable on aerial opponents, with four.
• Ganondorf and R.O.B. are the only characters in Super Smash Bros. Brawl to be unlocked on a stage that is not from their respective universe. In Ganondorf's case, he is unlocked on Final Destination.
• Ganondorf, Mario, and Bowser are the only veterans in Brawl to receive one completely different special move. In Ganondorf's case, his side special was changed.
• Ganondorf is one of the few known characters to have an obvious error in his moveset coding - his forward aerial cannot be autocanceled, but the coding of the move shows that it was intended to do so; this was caused by using the wrong type of timing function. It was also meant to have a third, disjointed hitbox like in Melee.

External links

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