#lozhc

[shannonsketches]

Ganondorf in OoT: Ah yes my plan to takeover is perfect-

Link who just came back from the future: HE KILLED THE DEKU TREE, POISONED LORD JABU JABU, AND IS STARVING THE GORONS! I HAVE PROOF!

Ganondorf: … Welp time to get the girlies

this is the realistic version

[shannonsketches]

thinking about how ganondorf would totally mess with zelda's head by confirming her suspicions in absolutely untraceable ways, but only after she tries to accuse him and he lets her make a fool of herself in front of her father

[shannonsketches]

I noticed that the element of the triforce that the individual characters are supposed to represent, is also their weakness. Zelda's wisdom is being stifled by doubt and lack of experience; she's eager to learn, but her zeal is not enough and relies on faith and Link to save the day. I'm not implying that wisdom and faith cannot go hand in hand, but she needs to be able to represent her element more. Maybe her wisdom is knowing when to wait and allow someone else to bear the task? But it takes away too much initiative from her. Ganon's element is power but he's the one who ends up losing almost every time. And Ganondorf on his own, isn't powerless! He's a king, he knows magic, he can wield almost any weapon, he's patient, conniving and intelligent and knows how to make best with what he has. He isn't weak! And yet, the whole split happened, because he was feeling powerless.

They locked themselves in a self-sabotaging cycle that's powered by doubt.

Yeah! So one of the reasons I really love the Triforce lore is that it’s a three-way mirror that reflects both what the user has and also what they need (very wizard of oz).

Ganondorf is a very powerful man, physically, and magically.

Politically, though, he’s next to helpless, which is an awful thing for a king to be. He’s a king of thieves in OoT, because the Gerudo are not a wealthy or thriving nation there. In-Game they don’t have a local living area like the other regions (or even a store — just one floating bombchu salesman in the middle of the desert) — they’ve got a post-war fortress full of guards, and a temple that is being used as a secret base Hylians can’t get to.

Consider also, Ganondorf is the most highly decorated of the Gerudo, and he’s not decked out in gold. He’s wearing mostly iron and topaz. Nabooru and Twinrova are the only ones who have gold fixtures/jewelry along with the higher ranked guards for their protective elements (which is why I think it could arguably be pale bronze or yellow brass, which is a common and highly durable gold alternative).

The Gerudo are implicitly just surviving in OoT, and Hyrule speaks of them like they’re monsters (except for the one guy in town who has a fetish). More than that, WW establishes that his real grief comes from the weather, which any mortal is powerless to control.

So Ganondorf is powerful as a person, but powerless as a king, which is literally the only thing he was born to be.

Be that as it may, though, he is a well-loved king, and a survivor, and a thief, so he also has to embody both wisdom and courage too!

Zelda is the most obvious mirror to Ganondorf. She is a very powerful woman politically and magically, but physically-- compared to Ganondorf -- she's terribly meek. That's the obvious read, that they're 1:1 Parallels, but her real weakness lies in her courage.

Zelda (in OoT) leans on her massive political power -- In the child timeline, she literally sees a foreign dignitary executed before he does anything wrong, based on a recurring dream she has.

Do you know how insane that is? Do you realize how powerful she is?

Ganondorf is not just some guy -- he's a foreign KING. He's a KING that a TEN YEAR OLD had EXECUTED based on VIBES.

And we think she embodies wisdom because her vibes were (as we, the audience know) correct. But it's actually because as an adult, she understands that none of it needed to happen that way. That the only reason Ganondorf was able to pull off his stunt and get the Triforce at all was because she tried to control the situation, sending Link to gather everything Ganondorf couldn't get himself and put it all precisely where Ganondorf needed it to be.

Despite being a child at the time, by the end of the story, by the time she's Sheik, Zelda is taking full responsibility for what happened, and is doing everything in her now extremely limited power to fix it. She's so sorry to need Link, and at the end of it all is desperate to give him another chance to be a kid, and to be innocent, and to be happy, because she realized so quickly that she never should've involved him, visions be damned. She knows none of it was his fault or his business, and she's mortified that she dragged him into it in her own attempt to control the weather.

These other two items shift in other games -- WW and Twilight Princess show us a Zelda with tremendous courage and very little power, physical or political. And then the Wild's era, despite removing the Triforce narrative, shows us a Zelda with immense power and terrible guilt and insecurity -- her power locked behind her fear, and she is only able to access both when she embraces courage.

Which brings us to Link.

Link, on the surface, is a third wheel in a chess game between ancients. But the reality is that he's the base of the prism. He's the foundation that reflects both of the others.

There are MANY different personalities for Link, and personally my favorite gag is that Link is simply too stupid to be scared, but that's just a gag -- because something I've come to really enjoy and respect about him is that he consistently displays fear. Link embodies courage because he is full of fear and chooses to fight anyway. Link leads a good life. He is comfortable, he has family, he has friends, he knows peace. What makes Link courageous is that he is willing to give up his access to all of that if it means that everyone else keeps theirs.

Link will lock himself in a room with the apocalypse if it means he's the only one who gets hurt, and it's not because he believes this is his sacred duty, or his life's purpose -- he'd much rather be at home chasing chickens around or riding his pony through some pretty scenic route -- it's because he is so full of love for other people that he's willing to give up anything to keep them safe.

Link's not very powerful, but he is also unburdened by any desire to be powerful. Link's not very wise, but he is unburdened by any desire to be wise. Link is content in who he is, Link is happy to keep things simple. But Link is so brave that he becomes a leader, which actually makes him the most dangerous of the three.

Courage, unburdened, is fucking terrifying. To both Wisdom and Power. Because, unlike Wisdom and Power, Courage is contagious.

Link can empower and inspire and reveal truths others might not have been able to find on their own. Link doesn't need charisma or brutality. Link can build armies just by being observed.

"But Sketches, you haven't really said anything about how Link reflects the other two." It's subtle! But he does. I see it like this:

• Ganondorf reflects Link's relentless determination, refusing to stand down in the face of impossible odds. In this way, they're connected by their power and courage. • Zelda reflects Ganondorf's burden of being born in a crown, forcing them to learn leadership, and how to use their recklessness strategically, as children. In this way, they're connected by their power and wisdom. • Link reflects Zelda's sense of love for the faceless innocent, and her dedication to protecting all who can't protect themselves. In this way, they're connected by their courage and wisdom.

Because the inherent configuration of the triforce requires those connections to be balanced -- Separately they are overwhelmed by their traits. Ganondorf is willing to sacrifice everything he is in order to reach his goals, Zelda is so pre-occupied with preventing prophecy she ends up instigating it, and Link is so ready to step in and help that he never considers the consequences.

Every single one of them, left to their own devices, would rather see themselves destroyed than fail those who may or may not be relying on their success. They're all very similar, highly reflective characters who all represent compelling foils for each other and yes, display how their unfettered strengths are also the thing that damage them most.

[shannonsketches]

no one can convince me this isn't what happened

[shannonsketches]

Your OOT Ganon is a smug little bastard and I love him for it

He loves him for it too

[shannonsketches]

I've been thinking about this all day

[shannonsketches]

You had one job, Princess.

Kinda digging the limited palette instead of doing full color. Still a WIP buuuuuut I'm sharing it anyway.

[shannonsketches]

For oot ganondorf doodles (or headcanons), what were his interactions with baby zelda like?

Nonnie I don't have a lot of brain right now but please know....this is one of my favorite topics. Shout out to @eissibee for being an OG writing partner in Giant Man Has Beef with Small Child dynamics

this is why she grew up to be a ninja

Bonus: Let the record show she's a great shot

[shannonsketches]

Okay the first time I tried to send this Tumblr crashed so I apologize if this goes through twice

Ganondorf, to the king: Haha so true bestie!! *Leans over to Nabooru* we have to kill this clown right fucking now

Nabooru mostly stays in the valley when Ganondorf is away so let me offer another Ganon + Impa moment instead

she knows she wants to

[shannonsketches]

I think I’ve realized why I loved the OOT/TP/WW Triforce Trio setup of Spirit Successor Hero, Bloodline Heroine, Same Ganon.

There’s something very fun and quietly tragic for me about having three distinct experiences of what’s going on in the same story:

One character who doesn’t know anything about what’s happening, but can’t get out of it

One character who may or may not be informed, but is held responsible regardless

One character who was there and remembers, but he’s alone in knowing

They’re all trapped in distinct ways: The innocent, the ancestor, and the scorned. And it’s not because one was born good and one was born evil and one of them is caught in the fray. It’s because once upon a time the scorned was like the others — an innocent, an ancestor — in a position of immense pressure, and his solution punished them all.

Every time he fails he gets farther away from his reasons, so every time he comes back he comes back worse and angrier and even more isolated, and the only two people left that he has any connection to at all have no idea who he is outside of folklore.

And it’s this continuous, bittersweet reunion of ghosts, but only one of them ever knows the house is haunted, and he’s too angry, and they’re too young, to find the answer.

So they kill him, and he fails once more, only to have return, and force them all to be aggressors, and punish them again. Over and over.

And I’m sad Nintendo doesn’t do something with the grief of it all.

[shannonsketches]

Do you have any headcanons regarding Ganondorf and horseback archery? The gerudo seem to enjoy that pastime quite a bit and I think he definitely has the thighs for it.

Yes yes yes

I live and die by Weird Horse Girl Ganondorf and I absolutely headcanon that he and his horse are an excellent team for horseback archery. I have a big long headcanon about how yes technically any male born to the Gerudo is King but you still have to earn your place as a leader, and so Ganondorf makes it his business to be outstanding, if not the very best, in every category he can.

Plus, it's his primary means of hunting and defense and showing off. Horseback hunting is also a much easier (hands free) way to keep up with desert fauna.

I'm too excited to think about this so I was lazy and just altered concept art of the moludga but like

do u feel me!!!!!!

It's basically a Gerudo national sport in OoT and I'm so sad that they dropped that in later games, and my poor dear friends have to hear me scream about not being able to ride my horse in the desert in botw/totk constantly, Hidalgo did not die for us to sin like this. IT'S LITERALLY CALLED A GERUDO STALLION WHY CAN'T I RIDE IT IN THE GERUDO DESERT!! THIS IS MY VILLAIN ORIGIN STORY.

[shannonsketches]

Heartaches for best boy Shuruq

(for those who don't know, Shuruq is my Gan's horse's name)

So I did technically do the assignment but I got distracted because despite me knowing Epona is a fairly large horse I saw this image

so this happened

[shannonsketches]

Headcanon questions, you say? I will ABSOLUTELY be sending more if you don't get too many for that, but in the meantime, how do you think he acts/spends his time when not doing his whole extremely menacing king bit? He's so incredibly dramatic, and it makes me wonder how that translates to when he's not strictly required to be. Maybe how that changes over time, based on the progression through the games? This ask feels kinda rambly but hopefully I'm getting the point across djdbsjsn

Oh man I could go on forever about Gan switching his personality depending on his audience but this felt funniest. Impa's caught him talking shit so many times, she just really thought (read: hoped) he'd never have the guts to go through with what he did. BUT Generally I write him as a stoic who kind of embraced the performance once he committed to his plans, but I really love talking about him trying harder and harder to mask after he gets the triforce, because Confident Well-to-Do Dude Talks Loudly In Attempt To Suppress Feral Rage Beast Barely Contained Behind His Teeth is one of my favorite Villain Things and Ganondorf does it better than anybody. Please continue asking me about this I love him so much.

[shannonsketches]

Oot Ganondorf already has the natural >:3 face, and the way you draw/write him turns that up to 11, he's absolutely perfect and I am rotating him within my brain. He really is just a horrible cat like you said, I love that for him

Thank you so much, I really enjoy that he can go from zero to a hundred with one simple step

[shannonsketches]

life is so hard when your king is so stupid

[shannonsketches]

Sorry if someone has already asked but what’s your opinion on WinderWaker Ganondorf?

I think he’s sort of tragic in a way, at least

Oh nonnie I LOVE WindWaker Ganondorf. He's IS very tragic and he's my favorite one next to OoTdorf, and my #1 favorite in terms of in-game character development and storytelling. He gave so much context and heart to Gan's character in OoT (which Eiji Aonuma also directed) and was really the first to make Ganondorf a complex antagonist who did really care about his people, and about his role as a leader.

WW Ganon is 100% responsible for informing my headcanons that even if his actions were ultimately selfish, the initial intention for Ganondorf seeking power came from a place of helplessness and love and fear and failure that a leader faces when his people are dying from something a human being can't control or stop. He's the driving force behind my headcanons that Ganondorf taking the triforce wasn't for a war against Hyrule, it was for a war against the gods themselves, and demanding to be heard, and finally being in control of something you were handed responsibility for.

(He's also one of the reasons I regularly draw Ganondorf with sharp teeth, haha.)

I also just love his vibe. When I was younger I didn't appreciate the shape language and art direction in Wind Waker as much as I do now, and I just love his design, and his dialogue, and how casually dangerous his energy is, even when he's sympathetic. The music, the lighting, the dialogue, the cinematic cuts, god. What a great game that was. If you can forgive sailing around in nothing for six hundred years (which I can, just because the wind and the music and the atmosphere is so good), it's one of my all time favorite games, ever.

I just absolutely adore WW!Ganondorf, and how he's presented as sorrowful but not sorry, ykwim? One of my favorite things about Gan is that even as a complex villain he is sympathetic without being remorseful, and WW Gan did that so well. "Sorry it had to come to this, but, I'm still going through with it" is such a good fucking energy for a complex villain to have, especially when the gods keep putting literal children in your way, despite knowing you can and will go through them if need be.

Thank you for asking op I!!!!! Love Him!!!!!!!!!