#what if ganondorf used to be a sage. what if the curse of demise finally caught up with him and turned him against the others.

[three-bunnies-in-a-trenchcoat]

I hate these fucking statues

[tidaltwilight]

Me?

Scream about Twilight Princess?

Absolutely

Always

The way the story is handled in the game compared to the manga always makes me tear up.

Why?

BECAUSE THE RELATIONSHIP DYNAMICS.

IT’S A GREAT SEQUEL TO OOT/MM.

THE STORY IS COMPELLING TOO IDC, COME AT ME FOR THAT.

•••

Anyways. Onto the actual paragraphs.

First things first the relationship between the two Links, Twilight and Time. If you’ve played TP and OoT, you’ll understand where the two follow each other in the timeline.

In this separation of the timeline TP takes place in the Child Era when the Hero/Link(Time) is victorious and is sent back by OoT Princess Zelda. Time goes to warn the royal family about Ganondorf and he is promptly dealt with causing the sacred realm to be protected and preserved.

However, this also caused Ganondorf to be sent to the Twilight Realm(TRealm) during his execution. This was during the time the Sages would send prisoners to the TRealm as a way to get rid of them without actually executing them. He possesses Zant and causes mayhem for Midna and the rest of the Twili, starting TP as a whole.

As we know, Time grows up to be a knight in this timeline. Protecting the royal family and eventually becoming the Hero’s Shade after he dies. A skeleton and wolf spirit used to teach Twilight sword techniques. These techniques would assist the Hero of Twilight in his journey to save Hyrule from Zant and eventually Ganondorf.

Having a past variation of Link teaching that game’s Link is a phenomenal way to connect the stories, not just having the previous variation of Ganondorf as the enemy. A teacher and his student.

—

Next is the relationship between Midna, Twilight, and Zelda.

I. Love. Their dynamics.

Whether it was in the manga or in the game; the relationships between the three of them are always a chef kiss.

It goes from enemies to friends/lovers. Recovered friendships. Fated ties. The list goes on.

We already know the dynamic between Twilight and Zelda. The Triforce of Courage with the spirit of the hero and the Triforce of Wisdom with the will of the goddess. Forced to forever reincarnate due to the Curse of Demise and Hylia’s will to protect Hyrule and its people.

Zelda wishes to protect her people, keeping a distant hand due to the risks set upon her. Twilight wanting to protect the things he cares about, being the direct driving force besides Midna. There isn’t much interaction between the two, but you can tell their ancient ties come through. It’s especially shown in the manga during Twilight and Midna’s visits to the castle along with the final battle against Ganondorf.

Midna and Zelda have a complex relationship. Midna was a friend lost in the manga, but Zelda knew who she was when they met again. However in the game the two are rulers of Realms they care very dearly about. Midna slowly learns to love the Realm of Light and in turn its people. Zelda sacrifices herself to save Midna, which the Twilight princess never forgets.

They are two sides of the same coin in a sense. Both powerless to what Zant is doing to both realms, but one is actively trying to stop it while the other cannot. Zelda cannot act or else her people are at more risk than they already were. Her kingdom would fall to absolute chaos more than it already was. Midna was torn from her powers, her throne, her people. But once in the Realm of Light she was able to act because she already had one piece of the puzzle.

All Midna needed was someone she could use. And that brings us to her relationship with Twilight.

The two have an incredibly rocky start to say the least. Midna is only using Twilight for personal gain, Twilight only using her as a guide in the twilight as per their agreement. She’s a jerk to him at first and with good reason, she just wants to save her people. However during the journey you see her start to warm up, especially when Zelda sacrifices herself to save Midna. She wants to help Hyrule just like her own realm, willing to sacrifice herself to the greater good.

The two start to become friends, good partners in their journey. In the manga you notice there is some romance occurring on the sidelines. In the game it is there, but not as prominent. Twilight clearly cares about Midna by the end, and you can tell she cares about him too.

It’s sweet, yet sad. Especially considering the three of them have to say goodbye to each other by the end. Midna returns to the Twilight Realm, shattering the Mirror of Twilight in the process as a selfless sacrifice to protect both realms. She leaves Zelda and Twilight in Hyrule with a bittersweet goodbye.

—

God the freaking story though.

Twilight is a village farmboy who takes care of the kids and the goats. Tasked with delivering a sword to the royal family of Hyrule. In the game he has some trauma that gets explained deeper into the story.

Mans has some s e r i o u s lore.

I digress.

The way Ganondorf is told in this sequel and how the events of OoT play a part in his upbringing in this game. God damn. The strong hatred towards the spirit of the hero and Time. He is out for blood.

I do wish we could’ve gotten more information on the Twili since they’ve been around for a LONG time, but the information we have is just as good. Especially since they’re just descendants of the Interlopers who became a peaceful race just trying to live.

I do hope in future games they tell us more about the Twili and even the Interlopers story. I feel we have a lot to learn especially with that one shrine quest that happened in BOTW. I have yet to check that area in TOTK and honestly I really should.

That’s all. I’m done bye

[toushindai]

just a general question about your headcanon's on the ship. Do you think that maybe, in another life or universe Ganondorf and Rauru could love each other? Like maybe the goddesses don't want them together because they would be too powerful. ☕ I'm really looking forward to read your new fic. You're really talented!

That’s a really interesting question! I’m going to have a hard time answering it because once I’ve got one set of headcanons set up, I have a really hard time looking at alternatives to it because I’ve spent so much time getting all the pieces to fit together (this is why I read very little fic that’s not my own), but let’s give it a try

I think, first of all, that Ganondorf would have to be allowed to be a person in a way that TOTK, frustratingly, avoids. There’s a universe out there somewhere, I want to believe, where Ganondorf and Rauru bond over the solitude inherent in their positions: Ganondorf’s lone male of his culture to Rauru’s one of the last few members of his species. But to get to that, you need a Ganondorf willing to identify and feel his own loneliness, which I don’t think the guy we have in canon is inclined towards.

I wonder if this also requires Rauru to have allied himself not with the Hylians but with the Gerudo. That would be an interesting choice—in canon, allying with the Hylians makes sense because of their shared reverence for Hylia (seen in the existence of our familiar goddess statue not only in the GSI Temple of Time but also on Dragonhead Island). The Gerudo, for contrast, revere the Seven(-to-Eight) Heroines, to the near exclusion of goddess worship at all; in Creating a Champion, it notes that Gerudo Town’s goddess statue is out of the way and nearly forgotten for this reason. So a Zonai is going to be received differently among the Gerudo than they are among the other people of the land.

Rauru is a curious guy, though! Maybe it could happen like this: intrigued most of all by the people with whom the Zonai have historically had little in common—I have additional things to say about that but let’s wait until I have things finalized in my fic before I get into it—he made his descent to the land in the desert rather than in Hylian territory. Of course he was not permitted into town, but what if the Gerudo allowed him to stay in one of their other settlements? Let’s say the Northern Temple (what are now the Northern Ruins) just ’cause. But the prince of the Gerudo—who knows his place in his society, theoretically—by definition, by the uniqueness of his birth he can have only one place in his society—is equally intrigued by this foreign voe. Could he be the first other voe Ganondorf has met? Wait, was he actually, I should keep that in mind for my fic too They get to talking, they grow to know each other on an honest level. I think they could grow to love each other in a story like this. I do think the sex is a little less flavorful in this case tho so what good does it do me? Well, anyway.

And what then? If we trust the Sage of Lightning’s perspective—and we might as well, lacking any other insight on Ganondorf prior to the Gerudo Assault cutscene—it was not until after Ganondorf became chief that his hunger for power really began to develop. So what do we believe caused this? Is this just an inherent flaw in his personality? The curse of Demise rearing its head inevitably? (I should disclaim that I’ve never finished Skyward Sword and am only trying to use these words the way I’ve seen others use them.) In that case, both options—Rauru reviling his lover’s thirst for power and betraying him, or Rauru and the power of the Zonai turned in service to Gerudo conquest—are fascinating.

But if we are looking at Ganondorf as a person who gets to make person choices, then when he ascends to his position as Chief of the Gerudo and there is no neighboring nation consolidating an unearned power over the rest of the continent, what then? Might he be less driven towards conquest?

[tearsoffarosh]

My Personal Theory on the Zelda Timeline.

with TOTK featuring the classic Zelda event of the Imprisoning war, a lot of people have a lot of questions abt totk rewriting what happens in previous games & other aspects of the games.

SO im here to offer up my own explanation of what is going on in TOTK, and more widely the entire Zelda universe.

Major Spoilers for: Skyward Sword, Ocarina of Time, Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, with more minor discussions of other Zelda games such as A Link Between Worlds.

this all starts in Skyward Sword & the awakening of Zelda as Hylia Reborn and Link as her chosen hero. During the final fight between Demise & Link with his final breath, the demon king curses Link and by extension, Zelda, that his hatred shall never die and that it will follow Link and Zelda's predecessors, those Born with the Soul of the Hero and the Spirit of the Goddess will forever be at war with the physical embodiment of his rage. and with that. the Demon King is vanquished. for now.

Though this is not the end. My hate...never perishes. It is born anew in a cycle with no end! I will rise again! Those like you... Those who share the blood of the goddess and the spirit of the hero... They are eternally bound to this curse. An incarnation of my hatred shall ever follow your kind, dooming them to wander a blood-soaked sea of darkness for all time!” -Demise's Curse.

This paragraph, this curse, is what cements the events of every Zelda game going forward. Though everyone applies this curse to Ganondorf Specifically, this Anger, this rage being reincarnated can apply to any evil that Zelda and Link face in the games, Yuga, Vaati, and Majora. any other villain that appears in the games could be this evil reincarnated.

I personally think that Ganondorf cements himself as part of the Reincarnation cycle in Ocarina of Time when he steals the Triforce of Power, now I do think that Ganondorf was always a reincarnation of Demise's hate in this cycle BUT stealing the piece of the triforce permanently engraved him as part of the continuous cycle of rebirth, from now on- in the Majority of mainline releases, Ganon is present in one way or another, whether it be as the main villain, or as a puppet master controlling another villain.

Our next important title to explore is BOTW. this game takes place Thousands, if not Eons of years after any other Zelda game, meaning that when Zelda tells us that Ganon has given up on a physical form and has taken up this mass of malice- pure hatred. the words Zelda uses specifically do call back to Demise's curse, leading us to believe that Ganondorf the man is truly gone SPOILER- he isn't. We discover in TOTK that the mummified corpse of Ganondorf has been beneath Hyrule castle this whole time, being held there by the last morsel of Rauru's power. As we go through TOTK, we meet the Sages (who are not so subtly stand-ins for the ancient champions BUT im gonna touch on that later) and each Sage tells us about the Imprisoning war (sound familiar?) and that they helped Rauru seal Ganondorf away- but that he's gonna return and its links job- with aid from the new sages, to seal him once and for all.

got all that? good. Now, where the fuck am I going with this? well, Totk obviously isn't the first time an Imprisoning war is mentioned, the first mention of it is OOT where the event technically first occurs. where Link and the Sages, including Zelda, seal Ganon away with the power of the triforce, the master sword and whatever the Sages do. the War is then mentioned in A Link Between Worlds, when first visiting the castle you can read the paintings that tell us about the imprisoning war, but we're not entirely sure if this war is the same one from OOT. and totk has the same event just, with fewer sages, and the Zonai are also there.

so, why is the imprisoning war such an important event in the Zelda franchise? why does it pop up so often?. well, it's my personal belief that Demise's curse and the Triforce cycle, have triggered some kind of time loop, leading to repeated events within the timeline, TOTK has a repeating symbol of an Ouroboros, two dragons eating themselves in a continuous circle, which I think solidifies my point, obviously, it's also a solid reference to the whole "light can't exist without dark" theme that's shown by the literal light dragon and demon dragon.

so there's that, that's my theory- the Zelda franchise is in some kind of Time loop in which events repeat themselves, with slight differences in each loop. the Calamity & Link being asleep for 100 years disturbed this loop in some way but I wouldn't be surprised if in the next few years and in the next few games we see another Imprisioning war mentioned, with no Zonai and something new instead.

Have any questions abt this theory? or simply want me to clarify things! drop an ask and i'll try my best! :)

[foxshaped]

I still think the imprisoning war from TotK happened before Skyward Sword, and I’m finally writing it out. So sticking with what I’m good at, here’s way too much theorizing about a fictional story:

To start, this all hinges on one concept: if the Legend of Zelda, even as we play it, is all just stories and legends, no two people tell the story the same way. The games are reconstructions based on the stories told. I can’t find the tumblr post that I got that idea from, but it’s a great way to explain inconsistencies in lore and geography regardless. Even if you think everything else I say is bullshit, at least consider that.

Moving on. Some facts as presented in the games, each followed by my interpretation of those facts.

Fact: both The Improsoned and Ganondorf were physically sealed with an object and under a building. The path to Ganondorf’s boss fight in TotK, while not a perfect spiral like the pit the Imprisoned resides in, does wind back around on itself as you descend.

Rauru’s hand and the Sealing Spike are the same entity, they have the exact same function. The Imprisoned and dehydrated Ganondorf are the same entity, one just got a little embellished over the years, someone said “great evil,” and someone heard “large monster.” The Castle and the Temple of Time are both important places with sacred ties, one storyteller tells that the Castle sealed Demise, one says it’s the Temple. Either way, evil is squished by building.

Fact: all the Zonai buildings we are shown in the flashbacks are on the ground. They are in the sky in TotK. The ancient sea and desert in Skyward Sword are home to autonomous constructs, including a mining operation

Zonai civilization is what gets lifted up into the sky by Hylia to become Skyloft. The ones who made the constructs, the mine, and the related buildings were the Zonai. The Zonai existed before Hyrule, as it is implied that Rauru and Mineru are the last of the Zonai.

Last fact: there is no Link in the time Zelda travels to, and Zelda is not a recognized name despite it having been established throughout the series as a traditional name for the Hyrulean royal family.

In a wonderful time paradox, Zelda in Skyward Sword gets named after the Sage of Time who bravely fought in the Imprisoning War long ago and also happens her distant future relative, meaning BotW/TotK Zelda is her own namesake. Not very exciting as time paradoxes go, but what’s a time travel story without a little paradox? Link’s soul as of the Imprisoning War, if he even exists at the time, has not yet been linked to Zelda’s and become Hylia’s Chosen Hero, so there is no hero to help, no Master Sword to seal the evil. Hylia created the Goddess Sword to help should such a disaster ever come to pass again.

Now for some things that don’t have specific instances backing them up, but are still viable given established fact and lore

As for how it works with Ganondorf coming back through the series if I’m saying the Imprisoning War takes place before the confirmed canonical start of the timeline, he’s in a sort of limbo in TotK. When Ganondorf steals the secret stone from Sonia, his transformation into the Demon King gives birth to Demise (or calls Demise as an existing god or god-like being into him). Once Rauru seals Ganondorf, the spirit of Demise splits off from Ganondorf. When Link defeats Demise and Demise sets his curse, he uses Ganondorf as a template for all his incarnations.

The Rito are not seen other than in Wind Waker and BotW/TotK is because as a species capable of flight, they move around/are semi-nomadic. TotK establishes that there are civilizations outside of Hyrule, Yona comes from a Zora civilization outside Hyrule. This one doesn’t have anything to do specifically with the Imprisoning War, but works with why there were Rito during the War, Wind Waker, and BotW/TotK, but not between any of these events.

Honestly, the only thing I can’t come up with a good answer for is why Hylia didn’t do something in the Imprisoning War if she hadn’t given up her divinity yet. There’s options, but nothing that I can figure any existing evidence for. Perhaps she couldn’t directly interfere and is the source of the secret stones? Perhaps her divine energy would have caused the very people she’s trying to protect go mad, but lifting up the sky islands would not require her to be in direct contact with anyone? It’s a little flimsy. Honestly I like the idea of the secret stones coming from Hylia, but I don’t have anything to back it up other than they shine with golden light like other things that come from Hylia, Zelda’s magic is golden light, the light spirits in Twilight Princess are golden, but on the other hand there’s nothing to shoot it down. Also for the record, “secret stone” is not a bad translation. It’s a direct translation. Original is “hiseki” which is a portmanteau of “himitsu,” secret, and “kiseki,” gemstone. Again, doesn't have much to do with the overall theory, but I'm sick of people ragging on the translators for it.

Anyway, the Imprisoning War takes place before Skyward Sword, before Skyloft is in the sky.

Bonus theory! The dragons are the Golden Goddesses (I know this one’s probably pretty common, but I have more).If secret stones do in fact come from Hylia and have her divine energy, and the Goddesses have their own divine energy, those powers clashing when swallowing the stones to become dragons caused their personalities to split off and become the Oracles.

[skyloftian-nutcase]

Fanfiction master post

I have an Ao3 account now!! :D I’m Skye_the_Lofty_Nutcase over there, you can find my profile here.

This has not been updated in a while, sorry, I write too much lol. *sweating* However, you can find all my writing using the tag #writing on my blog and you’ll find not only the stories below but snippets, bonus scenes, and all kinds of stuff! I’ll eventually try to update this post to make things more accessible, sorry it’s a mess. >_<

A general note on my fanfiction: I work in healthcare, so sometimes injuries or illnesses might be more detailed than people are comfortable with because to me it’s just normal, but I don’t make things excessive or gratuitous. I will also never write any explicit sexual content. At best things will be steamy, but nothing will ever be NSFW.

My story tags! You can find fics and their bonus content with these :) I also have some extra highlighted tags that you can find by clicking the search bar at the top of my blog.

Breath of the Sky // Blood of the Hero // Elastic Heart // LU in Healthcare // Dad Squad // Good Ganondorf // Imprisoning War // Fierce Dadity // Secrets of the Shadows // Forsaken AU // Wild Spirit // Hero of Shadow 

Lovely Prompt Event Master List

Skyward Sword stories

A Dragon’s Care - 5+1 chapter Skyward Sword Sickfic

Summary: After the defeat of Demise, the dragons of the realm find a very sick Chosen Hero on their doorstep with no explanation and have to scramble to deal with it. Hurt/comfort. Starring Link, Faron, Eldin, crimson loftwing, and Lanayru, with a small helping of Zelda, Groose, Owlan, Eagus, Pipit, and Gaepora.

Ch 1

Ch 2

Ch 3

Ch 4

Ch 5

Bonus chapter

Sleeping Dove - Two part general Legend of Zelda story with emphasis on Skyward Sword characters

Summary: When the Spirit Maiden Zelda finally passes on, she finds herself in an unexpected situation.The true nature and cruelty of Demise’s curse is revealed, and reality crashes down. Angst and more angst, with a small bit of comfort. Starring Skyward Sword Zelda, with appearances from OoT/MM Link, Fi, SS Link, Sages, OoT Zelda, BotW Zelda, and BotW Link.

Pt 1

Pt 2

Scenes from a Wedding - Couple vignettes from Link and Zelda’s wedding. Absolutely pure fluff. Starring the lovebirds.

One Last Look - Vignette, Zelda POV of a pivotal Skyward Sword scene, angst

Sparring - Zelink Vignette

Summary: Zelda hasn’t sparred in quite a while since their adventure. She decides the best way to dust off the cobwebs is to duel her chosen hero. Fluff, fun, bonding.

Adventure of a Lifetime - Vignette

Summary: Being a Hero is difficult and filled with trials. However, it isn’t all bad, and while on his quest, Link takes a moment to appreciate everything around him. Link, Fi, fun and fluff and highlighting the joy of playing this game.

For a Better Tomorrow - Vignette

Summary: On the day of Demise's first defeat, Hylia tries to find hope as she succumbs to her injuries. Starring Hylia and Fi, angst and bittersweetness and hope

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Breath of the Wild stories

A Promise of Armor - Miphlink oneshot

Summary: Mipha planned on giving Link the Zora armor, yet 100 years later it was found in Zora’s domain in her family’s safekeeping. So what happened on that fateful evening when she was to offer it? Did she gather the courage or decide to keep her feelings to herself? Mild angst, romance. Starring the lovestruck champions.

The Hero’s Guide - quick cut scenes, oneshot

Summary: An idea about a fun possibility for botw 2, featuring familiar characters serving in a mentor role. When Link finds himself alone again, Hylia sends him a guide to help him along. Adventure, starring BotW Link, Hylia, and a link from the past.

Breath of the Sky - pre-BotW canon divergence, BotW characters meet up with SS characters! Multi-chapter story

Summary: When Princess Zelda goes to the Spring of Courage to pray, accompanied by her appointed knight, a giant magical cog spitting out a goddess is the last thing she expects, but it is what she gets. Meanwhile, the Spirit Maiden Zelda is trying to figure out what the heck is happening and where her missing husband/chosen hero is. This story is set pre-calamity and is my way of comforting poor Princess Zelda and Champion Link because their destinies made them an absolute mess, and I just get to play with my favorite SS couple too. Starring Sky Link, Sky Zelda, Wild Link, Wild Zelda, co-starring the king and the Champions. Angst, adventure, romance, fluff, all of it.

Rainy Days

- Hylink oneshot

Summary: Every year, Hylia remembered her original chosen hero, and on that day every year it rained. One year, though, she finds a surprise in the form of a connection to the newest Hero. (this story goes along with the my headcanon about how Demise’s curse works, but it can be read without knowing it) Angst, emotional hurt/comfort.

Age - Vignette

Summary: After finally defeating Ganon, Link and Zelda take an excursion to Gerudo Town to celebrate. Very brief vignette. Silliness and some bonding.

Healing - Zelink vignette

Summary: Link takes care of Zelda after defeating Ganon. 100 years locked in a fight is draining, after all. Starring the traumatized teenage team. Hurt/comfort.

Great Expectations - Oneshot

Summary: When the time comes to finally face the Calamity at the castle, Link finds himself faltering. Doubt and old anxieties suddenly drown him. Amidst his spiraling, however, a voice from the past arrives to help him, and he learns a valuable lesson about self-worth. Starring Link, a ghost from the past, and mentions of family and friends long gone. Angst, emotional hurt/comfort.

Blood of the Hero - Multichapter story, also known as Link’s Parents play BotW

Summary: The Soul of the Hero will always be there to save Hyrule. But when Calamity Ganon is nearly victorious in killing him, it's those that bear the Blood of the Hero who will prevail. Ten years after the Great Calamity, the Shrine of Resurrection is damaged and Link's parents fight to save their son and Hyrule along with him. Starring Til & Abel, Link’s mom and dad! Also starring Link, as well as many characters from the AoC and BotW eras. Adventure, angst, family kicking butt and taking names, protective parents.

.

Ocarina of Time stories

Statue - Zelink vignette, Zelda’s POV upon meeting the Hero of Time. Angst, romantic undertones.

What is Lost and What is Bound - Post Oot/MM oneshot.

Summary: Everyone makes mistakes. When Link’s mistake costs him an eye, a fierce deity decides it’s time to take things into his own hands. Featuring Link, FD, and Nabooru, set after Link’s game adventures. Leans heavily into my HC that FD is a Soft Dad but also bears in mind that lore and fanon believes him to be dangerous and dark, so it’s like Soft Dad with an Edge lol. Blood and gore but nothing excessive, some angst and silliness and body horror because I’m weird and can somehow mix all of those together.

Veiled Eyes - Two chapters, Zelink and Malink, and complicated feelings

Summary: Link lives in a world where he feels he doesn't belong. Zelda doesn't understand. Link looks past the princess, but all she sees is him. Heavy angst, Link dealing with the emotional ramifications of living in two eternally separated timelines and learning how to move on from it. Can be viewed as either Zelink or Malink. Starring Link, Child timeline Zelda, mention of Adult timeline Zelda, and Malon

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Wind Waker stories

Ritual - Telink vignette

Summary: Link is getting his ears pierced. He’s excited, Tetra is hell bent on ensuring it’s done correctly. Quick vignette, fluff and fun.

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Twilight Princess stories

Secrets of the Shadows - Wolf Link Reveal, multichapter story

Summary: When Link goes missing shortly after his adventure, Rusl is worried. Preparing to leave and search for him, he stumbles onto a wolf. This has to be a sign of trouble, right? Rusl thinks it is, and the swordsman attempts to eliminate the threat... and then realizes that there is far, far more to this beast than he thought possible. Featuring Link, Rusl, Uli mostly, with appearances from other TP characters like Renado and Colin. Heavy, heavy angst and whump and hurt/comfort.

Winter’s Bite - Ordon family hurt/comfort/fluff oneshot

Summary: Link usually shows up at Rusl's house every day. When no one has seen or heard from him in the middle of a sleet storm, Rusl goes out in search for him. i.e. Rusl gets to take care of his fluffy boy <3

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Hyrule Warriors stories

UNDER CONSTRUCTION (i.e. I’m too lazy to put it in right now lol. Feel free to check out my Fierce Dadity series on AO3 and that’ll have all of them!)

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Linked Universe stories

Day Trip - Oneshot

Summary: Legend and Warriors are tasked with going into town to get supplies. Their dynamic and their baggage makes the trip go about as well as one might expect. Slice of life, basically, little bit of angst, little bit of fluff, a fair amount of banter. Starring Legend and Warriors, with the other boys in the background.

Homesick - Oneshot

Summary: At the end of another day, Twilight finds Sky by himself, aching for home. Little emotional ache/comfort, Twilight being a nice big brother. Starring Twilight and Sky, with the other boys mentioned. Inspired by twilight-linkess’ lovely art of Twilight and Sky!

Mild Adjustments - Oneshot

Summary: When the Chain steps through a portal and ends up on a seemingly floating piece of rock, they suddenly realize that there was far more to the Hero of the Sky’s title than they previously thought. Starring Sky and Wild with Twilight, Legend, Warriors heavily involved, and a speckling of Wind, Four, Hyrule, and Time. General, mild angst and illness, Sky being feral and not bearing in mind how his insane actions affect others.

Fierce Revelations - Three part story

Summary: When a battle spirals out of control, Warriors finds a familiar mask in Time’s arsenal and decides that desperate times call for desperate measures. Time then has to confront what it’s like to be on the other end of the mask, and the repercussions that come with it. Emotional hurt/comfort, some introspection of a few characters, angst, and family bonds. All the boys are present but the stars are Time, Warriors, Sky, and the Fierce Deity.

Surf’s Up! - Oneshot

Summary: When the Chain settles in early, Legend seeks out some peace and instead ends up having a very eventful evening. Because where Wild’s concerned, nothing can be peaceful... especially when you throw Sky and Warriors into the mix. Fluff, fun, and chaos with the knights and the veteran.

In the Library - Vignette

Summary: The boys find a library and chill. Featuring all the Chain! This vignette was just made to accompany the lovely art by sky-squido. Fluff and silliness.

On Display - Vignette

Summary: When Warriors is pressed into using his attractiveness as a distraction, Four steps in to save him from the discomfort of the situation. Starring Four and Warriors with Legend, Sky, Wind, Wild, Time, and Hyrule as supporting cast. Inspired by a post by skyward-floored, who always has great ideas. Mild angst and comfort and background silliness.

Beautiful - Vignette

Summary: After consecutive days of battle, Warriors sees Twilight struggling and reaches out to help. Starring Warriors and Twilight with Time and Wild on the side. All the boys are there, just not the focus. Angst, emotional hurt/comfort, fluff.

Paradox - Oneshot

Summary: When Sky suddenly falls deathly ill with strange markings, Time has to piece together the cause and save him. Starring Sky, Time, Warriors, Twilight, with Legend on the side and the rest of the boys in the background. Sickfic, Dad Time to the Rescue, Sky having a 0/10 experience, Wars, Twi and Ledge being scared and caring brothers.

Elastic Heart - Multichapter fic, curse reveal story

Summary: When Sky goes missing, the Chain scrambles to figure out where he is and what happened before it's too late. Featuring Sky as the centerpiece of the story, even though he’s not always actually in it, and then starring all the Chain. This story is designed to act like a LU arc, with lots of character interaction and highlights around a central plot. Angst, humor, hurt/comfort, drama, fluff, adventuring, and fun. Also featuring a sprinkling of Twilight Princess characters as the Chain explores Twi’s Hyrule.

Numb - Oneshot

Summary: Nearly losing Twilight was devastating to the entire Chain. Sky managed to hold it together the best, though, and seemed to be doing fine. Until he wasn’t. Starring all the boys with Sky at the center. Heavy emotional angst and with some mild comfort to soften the blow, Sky has a mental breakdown and it isn’t pretty.

The Caregiver - Oneshot

Summary: Twilight tries to be there for everyone, and he usually doesn't need any kind of help in return. Except on some days. Too bad he refuses to reach out. Angst and mild emotional hurt/comfort, starring Twilight being the Big Brother who decides to tough things out on his own and comforts himself

Final Hour - Oneshot

Summary: When everything goes horribly wrong, Time desperately attempts everything in his power to fix it. Wind instead chooses to be the self sacrificing Hero, but the end result isn't what Time expected it to be. Based on art by kikker-oma. Heavy angst, emotional hurt/comfort, Time throwing caution to the winds (har har) when everything falls apart. Starring Time, Wind, and the Fierce Deity. 

[midzelink]

The Fate of Zant

The Usurper King’s is a story with which we are all intimately familiar; angry at the injustice of his people’s banishment and estranged by those who refused his rule, he flees the Palace of Twilight in a fit of anger one day, where he looks to the sky and finds his salvation in the form of Ganondorf, whom he believes to be a god.  With his newfound power, he banishes the true ruler of the Twili and usurps her throne, transforming his own people into dark and malformed Shadow Beasts - and with them at his side he invades the World of Light, storming Hyrule Castle and scattering the land’s Light Spirits in all but one fell swoop.  He commits countless atrocities, reducing Kakariko Village to a mere village of three, murdering the Zora Queen as a sheer display of power, and possibly even killing the King of Hyrule himself - but when all is said and done, he meets his demise at the hands of Hyrule’s hero and the very princess he had cursed, exploding in an agonizing but powerful display of the Fused Shadow’s might.

However, there is one scene in particular that always struck me as out-of-place in this overall narrative.  It comes when Ganondorf finally meets his own demise at the hands of Link, and he stands alone on a hill, Master Sword struck center in the scar he received over a century ago.  He gives us his last words - “The history of light and shadow will be written in blood!” he spits menacingly - but before he perishes, we cut to another scene, and are greeted with this:

It’s Zant, another evil man who recently perished himself, and he ostensibly looks down upon Ganondorf, before cracking his neck in a very morose, very fatal way.  We cut back to Ganondorf, and only then do his eyes go white, and the wind blows over the field, signalling that finally, it’s over.

For a long time, I had assumed that this scene was meant to be symbolic: that Ganondorf, having had such a strong connection with Zant, was only able to perish because Zant, too, was already dead.  But now - an incredible thirteen years later - I have come to believe that this isn’t the case, or, at the very least, there’s a chance it might not be, and I’d like to take a moment to talk about that here.

(Credit for this one 100% goes out to @therealflurrin​​, who also gave me permission to make this write-up.  Their conversations are always an excellent source of primo TP content.)

Something that is important to understand about the relationship between Zant and Ganondorf is that it is one of co-dependence; Zant, angry but utterly powerless to do what he thinks needs to be done, is found by the bearer of the Triforce of Power in a moment of outrage and weakness.  Ganondorf, reduced to mere a giant mass of malice and darkness in the Twilight Realm, tells Zant: “I shall house my power in you… If there is anything you desire, then I shall desire it, too.”  From Zant’s perspective, it’s not hard to believe why he believed this to a blessing from a god; in a great moment of need, a powerful entity appeared before him, offering him seemingly unlimited power.  But we know that Ganondorf is no god; that he only approaches Zant for reasons that are entirely self-serving, as a twisted and misshapen light dweller trapped in the realm of shadows.  He allows Zant to house him and his power with the ultimate goal of being “reborn” and returning to Hyrule, tricks the Twili into believing him to be a “god” so that he will carry out his will unquestioningly - but ultimately, Ganondorf needed Zant just as much (if not far more) than Zant ever needed him.

We know from the very scene where Ganondorf’s death unfolds just how deep this co-dependency runs.  It is my belief that the two formed a sort of “soul bond” following their initial encounter, intertwining their fates so that neither could perish while the other still lived; although Zant is not entirely aware of Ganondorf’s true nature, he is at least somewhat aware of this bond:

 “As long as my master, Ganon, survives, he will resurrect me without cease!”

These are his very last words before Midna strikes him down, in a move that ultimately seems to be very final, indeed.  But now we must return to the death of his supposed “master,” and the implications Zant’s appearance has in that moment.  Ganondorf is on death’s doorstep for the second time; the first, at the hands of the Great Sages, it was the Triforce of Power that saved him - and now, here, he sees Zant in his final breaths, a beacon of hope in a great moment of need.  But the scene plays out how we expect: Zant is already dead, and with nothing yet tethering him to life, Ganondorf meets his end, this time, for good.

Except there’s one teensy, tiny problem here, and I’m sure you can see where I’m going with this: Zant and Ganondorf’s relationship is one of co-dependency, as you’ll remember, their souls bound to one another in a fashion not entirely dissimilar to Zelda and Midna’s after the former gave up her own light in order to save the latter.  If this were untrue, then we would not see Zant in the moments leading up to Ganondorf’s death; furthermore, if Zant were somehow already dead despite this co-dependency, then Ganondorf would simply keel over sometime shortly thereafter following Link’s decisive blow with the Master Sword.

Instead, there is a pivotal moment where Ganondorf’s fate is evidently sealed, and it’s the moment where we see Zant snap his neck - a display, which, frankly, was probably far too gruesome for a 10-year-old me playing through the game for the first time.  It is immediately following this scene where Ganondorf reels back, releasing one final, raspy grunt as his life leaves his eyes, and Hyrule again knows peace.  If Zant had died X amount of time before this ultimate battle, it seems very peculiar that Ganondorf would have such a sudden and visceral reaction to it, as if it had happened elsewhere, simultaneously.

So, let’s scrutinize this scene under the lens of their co-dependency; let’s say that, despite the destruction of his body, Zant was able to survive his final blow in some way, as his master still lived on.  Following this, and going back to the initial scene, we can arrive at two simple conclusions:

That Zant was alive up until the very moment that Ganondorf perished, and

in that final, critical moment, he chose to sever their bond.

The question, then, is…why?  Why would the Usurper King, who had once thought the Gerudo King his god, choose to sever the only thing keeping him alive?  It’s true that Zant was undoubtedly a deeply troubled and hateful man; he was angry at the world of light and its inhabitants, whom he saw as oppressors, perhaps even rightly so - and he was angry at the Twilight Realm’s own “useless, do-nothing royal family that had resigned itself to [a] miserable half-existence.”  But Ganondorf’s spirit is one of pure malice, and it had invaded the world on the other side of the mirror long, long before the story of Twilight Princess begins.  One cannot help but wonder exactly what kind of effect such evil might have had on the realm and its denizens, though it is not hard to imagine the harborer of Demise’s Curse slowly and carefully plotting from the shadows, decades spent as whispers in the ears of the unknowing Twili until, finally, one suitable enough to become his vessel appeared - one who was vulnerable and angry enough to listen to those whispers, and would submit to anyone and anything if it meant obtaining the power to do what they thought was right.

Perhaps, then, Zant’s story is not one of an evil, bloodthirsty tyrant who met his rightful end at the hands of Link and Midna; perhaps his is a tragedy, the story of a man who fell victim to the malice residing within Ganondorf, only worsened the moment he became the Gerudo King’s vessel.  Perhaps - lost in fugue state in the Twilight Realm, formless and lost, but still otherwise alive - it took the apparent death of a particular someone at the hands of his “god” in order to finally snap him back to his senses.

(Zant could have simply killed Midna when he usurped her throne, yet he didn’t.  I personally think the two are related, but I can talk more about that in a different at a different time, as it is far more headcanon than analysis.)

Ultimately, nothing Zant could do could ever wash his hands of the blood that stained them, no matter how much Ganondorf might have in part been responsible - but in this one, critical moment, Zant, who had done such wrong and hurt so many, chose to do the right thing, even though that meant saving Hyrule, a world which he had so despised.  Maybe he, too, perished when he severed his bond with Ganondorf - one final, noble act - or maybe he didn’t.  Maybe, just maybe, on the other side of the mirror, there is yet another story waiting to unfold, one of a man who had done such wrong and hurt so many, willing to do anything and everything necessary to prove that he, too, is capable of change…

[thiefxking]

On Ganondorf and Demise

It was tradition that all children were given their test, and as the King in a time of war Ganondorf took his earlier, so much earlier, than he should have. There were those who protested yet he was sent to the Colossus for his trials. There he became the true King of the Gerudo, a King of ‘Thieves’, and there he found the sword.

The sword had waited for an impossibly long time to find one worthy of him and at the young King’s touch it latched onto him. The darkening of Ganondorf’s presence did not go unnoticed though, the shades of the Fallen God. Koume and Kotake both caught the change and started their preparations.

Contrary to what many thought the two did not serve the Goddess as their shared position as the Great Sage demanded. Instead they followed Demise, seeking a way to aid his return or to unleash his hate and malice upon the world to fulfill his Curse. The child King was just the key they had been seeking yet they knew moving too swiftly would bring their plans to ruin.

It was not until Ganondorf was fifteen that the witches set their plans in motion and used a ritual that sacrificed one of each race that defied Demise to open Ganondorf’s mind and body to the influence of the Fallen God. Demise immediately started influencing Ganondorf, stirring up his rage and hate faster while guiding him to more reckless courses of action. Ganondorf caught onto this in time, but by then it was too late and the influence had poisoned his being driving him to actions that in his right mind he would regret. Indeed when he noticed it he was in Hyrule Castle and had no way to separate himself from Demise.

While fighting Link wielding the Master Sword Ganondorf was finally able to find what he needed to do to separate himself from Demise. In two separate timestreams he was unable to do so. In the first the god had entwined himself deeply enough that Ganondorf would kill himself trying to separate the influence of Demise from him. In the second he only fought Link after a long while of using Demise’s power and saw no true reason to separate himself from him. In the third he was sealed away with the use of the Master Sword and while sealed he loosened the ties that bound Demise to him which eventually allowed himself to separate the two of them entirely though what happened to the Cursed influence or even the remnant of the Fallen God he knew nothing.

[hyrule-in-a-pokeball]

A DIFFERENT TIMELINE

The goddess collection, a series of four books consisting of Hyrule Historia, Arts and Artifacts, LoZ encyclopedia, and LoZ: creating a champion, states that the overall timeline of the Legend of Zelda series spans so many years, that in present day Hyrule, it is uncertain which are historical fact, and which are fairy tales. While some are assumed to be fact based on things that still exist in present day Hyrule. The following is a timeline of the events that I believe are the factual events of Hyrule, using Breath of the Wild as “Present day” Hyrule I have bolded and italicized things that are not stated in these books, but are either fan theories or me trying to add context to inconsistencies

Era abbreviation legend PHK: Pre-Hyrule Kingdom  HKE: Hyrule Kingdom Era AFH: After the Fall of Hyrule

PHK ??? The events of Skyward Sword take place. The master sword is created, and the demon king Demise lays a curse that will begin an endless cycle of conflict between the hero, one with the blood of the goddess, and an incarnation of the demon’s hate.

Hyrule is founded. Beginning of the Hyrule Kingdom Era HKE ??? Ganondorf is born to an unknown member of the Gerudo tribe. Being the lone male of the Gerudo, he is made their king in accordance with Gerudo tradition. The child is raised by Kotake and Koume, a pair of exceptionally aged Gerudo women adept in the dark arts.

HKE ??? A civil war is fought in Hyrule. It is unknown exactly who the belligerents of this war were, or even what sparked the war, though the Hylians are believed to be major players. A gravely injured woman flees from the war with her baby and enters the deep forest where she encounters the Kokiri and the Deku tree. The mother soon passes away from her injuries and the baby is taken in by the Kokiri and raised as one of them.

HKE ??? The events of Ocarina of time take place. Ganondorf invades Hyrule to claim the Triforce for himself and seize absolute power. He is defeated by the hero, princess, and sages of the era. Historians disagree on the particulars of this event. Some believe the hero failed to defeat Ganondorf. Others say he was successful, while others believe that Ganondorf's plans were thwarted before he was able to find the triforce. Whatever the case, historians are in agreement that the actions of the hero, princess, and sages of the era were instrumental in the events.

HKE ??? Over countless centuries, Ganon revives and is pushed back by the hero and the princess of Hyrule again and again, sealed away, killed, reincarnated only to be sealed or killed again. Ganondorf eventually gives up on reincarnation, likely viewing his mortal body as a weakness that lead to his countless defeats.

HKE: 10,000 years before the fall of Hyrule 1. The guardians and the divine beasts are constructed using advanced Sheikah technology as a preemptive measure against the inevitable return of Ganon. Two of them are named for ancient sages; Ruto and Nabooru, who long ago helped the princess and the hero save Hyrule. The origins of the names of the other two machines, Vah Medoh and Vah Rudania, remains unknown. Lost to time. (Vah Rudania is likely named for Darunia, the Goron sage of fire in OoT who lived in the same era as Ruto and Nabooru. While there was a character named Mido in past games, he was a Kokiri, and more importantly, not a sage. The only known Rito sage was Medly, the sage of Earth in the Wind Waker. Curiously, combining the names of Medly and Mido gets you “Medo” I do have another theory on this though, which I will get into in a different post.)

2. Ganon returns as Calamity ganon, a being of pure malice and hate, but is again defeated by the hero and princess, with the aid of the guardians and the divine beasts.

3. Some time later, the Sheikah, who constructed the divine beasts, are banished from Hyrule, as the hylians grew fearful of them and their advanced technology. The Sheikah wandered as nomads for many years, and eventually abandoned their technology in order to return to Hyrule. A faction of the Sheikah split off and became the Yiga clan at this time, swearing themselves to Ganon to get revenge on the hyrulian royal family who banished their people from Hyrule.

Apparently, for the next several thousand years, Hyrule was peaceful, but legends of the demon, and the hero and princess who fought it again and again persisted. 

HKE: 16 years Before the fall Princess Zelda is born Link is presumably born in the same year.

Unlike past eras where the races were largely segregated, Hyrule of this era seems very unified. Urbosa, the leader of the Gerudo and the unnamed Queen of Hyrule, leaders of two races who were long ago bitter enemies, regard one another as sisters, with the queen even travelling into the desert with her newborn daughter to introduce the princess to the Gerudo chief.

HKE: 10 Before the fall The Queen of Hyrule dies of unknown causes.

HKE: Between 10 and 1 year(s) Before the fall The divine beasts and guardians, who had long since become legends, are rediscovered, excavated and studied in preparation for the return of Ganon. Champions are chosen from each of the four races of Hyrule to pilot the machines. Daruk, leader of the Gorons, Revali, the greatest flyer and marksman of the Rito, Urbosa the leader of the Gerudo, and Mipha, the Princess of the Zora. Link, the son of a knight and a knight in training himself, is chosen by the master sword to be the new Hero and Princess Zelda’s personal body guard.

HKE: The Kingdom of Hyrule falls Calamity ganon breaks free of its seal. Anticipating the divine beasts and guardians, it uses its malice to corrupt them and take control. The four champions are killed The King is killed The hero falls Princess Zelda’s powers finally awaken, and Calamity ganon is sealed away inside Hyrule castle, however, she too is sealed with it. Hyrule falls. The Divine beasts and guardians go dormant.

AFH 100 The events of Breath of the wild take place. Calamity Ganon is destroyed and the process of rebuilding Hyrule begins.

AFH 101~ A mummified male Gerudo is discovered by Link and Princess Zelda deep within a cave... He’s not dead.

[the-delta-42]

The Pirate Prince Chapter 15

The Pirate Prince

Chapter 15: Zelda – Stal-king

Zelda looked around the room, her grip on her sword tightening. Everything in the room made her on edge. Aside from the pile of bones, there were two tombs in the room, with the shattered remains of two other tombs near them. Zelda saw the crest of each of the Champions of Hyrule, taking a step forwards, Zelda went to inspect the ruins.

As soon as Zelda drew level with the first of the tombs, the pile of bones started to stand up. Once the bones fully assembled themselves, a skull floated from the corner. Zelda mentally identified the monster as a Stalfos, but this one had a cape, a large sword and shield and was encrusted with gold and various gem stones. The monster slowly turned and faced Zelda, its eyes lighting up red and letting out a snarling growl.

The Stalfos rushed at Zelda, the Princess barely having enough time to block the blow, a loud clang echoing through the room. Zelda swung her sword at the monster’s legs, only to have the monster to jump back and start laughing at her.

“What have you done, you twisted monster?!” Yelled Zelda, her grip on her sword tightening, “You have no business desecrating this place.”

“I have more right than anyone!” Growled the skeleton, “Bow down before the Stal-King!”

The monster swung his sword at Zelda, who parried the blow with her shield, Zelda then struck the monster with her sword four times before he jumped away. Stal-King drew a second sword and rushed towards the Princess swinging his dual blades at Zelda, making her jump backwards, barely dodging them and causing the blades to become stuck in one of the remaining tomb stones, stopping the monster in his tracks.

Zelda quickly rushed in and struck the monster multiple times before he finally yanked his sword free and spun around to face her. Zelda quickly raised her shield to block the blows from the sword, making her skid backward a few paces. Stal-King rushed at Zelda again, only this time Zelda wasn’t fast enough to evade the blades. Zelda felt a searing pain in her side, a quick look down told Zelda that the blade had cut into her side, with blood leaking from the wound.

Zelda grit her teeth and adjusted her stance, so she was ready for Stal-King to advance towards her again. The monster didn’t disappoint, and he rushed towards her, Zelda hopped to the side, causing his blades to become stuck in the floor, allowing Zelda to strike him a few more times before he got his sword free.

Stal-King rushed at Zelda once more, allowing Zelda to duck under the blades and kick his legs off. The rest of his body fell to the ground, merely a pile of bones without their head. Stal-King’s head rolled across the floor, with Zelda chasing after it. In her peripheral vision, Zelda saw Stal-King’s body reassembling itself, prompting her to kick the head into a corner and stab it with her sword.

Stal-King’s head slowly turned black, before it exploded into nothing. A heart container slowly appeared from where Stal-King’s body fell. Zelda slowly hobbled towards it, the wound in her side causing more pain as the adrenalin slowly wore off. Zelda picked the item up, sighing as it melted into her hands and sealed up the wound in her side. Zelda heard a small laugh from behind her, Zelda grit her teeth and spun around, drawing her sword. Only for her to drop it at the sight of the person before her.

Standing there, golden hair flowing, and green eyes filled with laughter, stood the Queen Zelda the Scholar from the era of the Hero of the Wild.

“I never expected from my own descendent to draw a sword at me.” Said the spirit of the past Queen.

Zelda dropped down onto one knee, “Forgive me, your grace, I did not mean to disrespect.”

The spirit giggle slightly, “It is only natural,” she said, “That you be on guard after finding out the tomb of your ancestors had been desecrated and a monster stationed here to prevent anyone finding out.”

Zelda slowly looked up, before looking at the necklace, which only now did she realise that she had been gripping it for the entirety of the battle. The Scholar followed her gaze, “Keep them, you will need them for the task ahead of you.”

Zelda’s head sprung up, looking at The Scholar, “But they were gifts to you when the Calamity was defeated, priceless heirlooms-”

“That serve no purpose to the dead.” The Scholar interrupted, “An heirloom is something that must be passed down from generation to generation, not locked away in a tomb.”

A ring of light appeared behind Zelda, making both royal women turn and look at it. The Scholar smiled, “It appears are conversation is drawing to an end, before you go, I must tell you of your task, you must collect the fragments of the Tri Force of Wisdom.”

Zelda’s face morphed into confusion, prompting The Scholar to continue, “When the Colossi first rose from the earth, the Tri Force of Wisdom was shattered into eight pieces, the evil you will face will be at its weakest once you have the Tri Force.”

“The thing that’s corrupted the Colossi.” Whispered Zelda, as The Scholar gently guided her to the light.

“Yes,” said the Spirit, stepping back “May the Goddesses smile upon you, and the Sages bless you in this fight.”

Zelda was lifted up and warped out of the Tomb.

The Scholar was quiet.

“It seems she has her work cut out for her, Little Bird.” Said another spirit, making the Scholar turn and look at them.

“Urbosa,” Said the Scholar, looking at the Gerudo Champion, “They are so divided, the Hero wants revenge and isn’t coping with his sister’s death and the Princess is so angry that she would choose violence above all else.”

“And with the blade in the state it’s in, they will certainly have their work cut out for them, along with the false Hero hindering them.” Said Champion Urbosa, before placing a reassuring hand on The Scholar’s shoulder, “Once this is all over, Link will return to us and Demise’s curse being lifted from Ganon should make up for those problems.”

The Scholar only looked at the ceiling, “I can only hope.”

TPP

A glowing blue ring appeared in the middle of Kakariko Village, making Ganondorf and Link stop in their tracks, as Zelda was dropped down in front of them. Zelda turned around and spotted Link, before rushing to him and grabbing hold of him.

Link and Ganondorf shared a glance, before Ganondorf cleared his throat.

“Princess, is everything alright?” Asked Ganondorf, looking down at the girl.

Zelda took in two shuddery breaths, before looking up at the Gerudo man, “Someone desecrated the Royal Tomb, it was filled with monsters and the tomb of the Hero of the Wild is empty.”

Ganondorf frowned, “Perhaps we should discuss this inside, with Impa near you.”

Zelda nodded, allowing Link to guide her towards the Matriarch’s house. All oblivious to Skyloft watching them, His eyes flickering to their natural blue colour.

A/N: Managed to write this, it’ll probably be a while before I add another chapter, hopefully no one had abandoned reading this story since it’s been quiet for a while.

[yay855]

Legend of Zelda Lore Tips

So I’ve seen a lot of people confused about how the Legend of Zelda series works in terms of lore. So I’m here to set you straight! You can find the whole thing under the cut.

1: Reincarnation

Despite what most people think, reincarnation only happens once in the Zelda series, during Four Swords Adventure, where Ganondorf is reincarnated as... himself, basically. Thanks to Skyward Sword, we now know:

* Link does not reincarnate, ever. He bears the Spirit of the Hero, some esoteric trait that is passed on from hero to hero, which may just be the approval of Hylia herself. This sometimes carries through his bloodline, but not always. Furthermore, the Spirit of the Hero can be both destroyed, and remade, as seen in The Wind Waker, where Link is not the chosen hero, but a normal child who made himself into the hero. That said, Links usually share some traits, such as having a love of food and sleep. But, as shown in Twilight Princess, they are all different people.

* Hylia does not reincarnate, ever. After the first Zelda died, Hylia returned to her status as a full goddess. Her descendants, the various Princess Zeldas throughout the series, don’t reincarnate either. Every Princess Zelda after the first one (who was the goddess hylia in a mortal body) is a demigod, a mortal descended from a god. Their power comes from this connection to Hylia. Furthermore, as evidenced in the first two Zelda games, it is tradition for the Hyrule Royal Family to name their firstborn daughter Zelda- the Zelda in The Adventure of Link is the aunt of the Zelda from the first game.

* Demise does not reincarnate either. His incarnations bear not his soul or spirit, but his hatred. His “incarnations” are essentially just people whose hearts were corrupted by hatred or evil.

* Ganondorf, as I stated earlier, only reincarnates once. Every other time, he is sealed away, typically returning after his power is regained.

2: The Curse

Despite what many believe, Demise did not lay down a curse after being defeated in Skyward Sword. Fi says as much, his power was gone. Rather, he laid down a prophecy, which he infused with what power he had left to influence, that his hatred would continue on in others, and they would continue to plague Hylia’s descendants and their champions for all eternity.

3: Ganondorf

Despite popular belief, Ganondorf is not Demise’s reincarnation. Neither was he unduly influenced by the prophecy/curse. Rather, Ganondorf was merely an exceptional man born into evil. He is the child of Twinrova, a fusion between two ancient and evil Gerudo witches, and as such, he inherited much of their power. And because they raised him, he became evil. His origin story is no more complex than that; he was simply a man born into power and evil, who happened to fulfill the conditions for the prophecy due to the hatred in his heart.

The only reason Ganondorf has lasted for so long is because he was the only villain to truly grasp even a fraction of the Triforce, which is itself creation given form. By taking the Triforce of Power for himself, his magic and strength were increased to ridiculous levels, causing him to be all but incapable of dying to anything but divine power.

He dies a total of three times across the series- once in A Link to the Past, once in the Oracle games, and once during Twilight Princess. In every other game in which he appears, Ganondorf is never killed, only sealed away.

However, it is clear that, by the time Breath of the Wild takes place, Ganondorf has become a force of nature, and lost what humanity he had left; he is a monster, a miasma of evil energy. This is likely due to him repeatedly dying, as seen in the Downfall Timeline- each time Ganon is resurrected, he loses a small piece of his mind, until he’s completely mindless in Link Between Worlds, used as a puppet by the real final boss to grant them extra power.

4: Timelines

The series is divided into four timelines: a unified timeline beginning with Skyward Sword and ending with Ocarina of Time, and then three new timelines spawned from OoT’s events: the downfall timeline, the child timeline, and the adult timeline. However, the timeline itself is largely just made up after the fact, and aside from a few games, most aren’t made with continuity in mind.

The Downfall Timeline is where Ganondorf defeats Link in their final battle, and a war is raged between the awakened sages and Ganondorf, ending with Ganon being sealed away in the Sacred Realm as a last resort. After spending an unknown amount of time in the sacred realm, Ganondorf’s power transforms it into the Dark Realm, a land of demons and monsters. In this timeline, Hyrule is in a constant state of decline due to Ganondorf’s influence, with monsters becoming more and more common even when Ganondorf isn’t around, to the point where it generally isn’t safe to venture outside by the time the original game comes along.

The Child Timeline is one where Ganondorf’s influence is never truly allowed to spread. However, this also causes Hyrule to slowly lose its magic, and to slowly grow more dependent on technology. By the time Twilight Princess comes along, magic is all but unheard of outside of divinity and the royal family; similarly, the Sheikah, ancient magical protectors of Hylia and her descendants, are all but gone, with only one Sheikah remaining, Impaz. However, it seems to make a small return once Four Swords Adventures comes along, as the four Links find various magical tools and items to help them on their journey. That said, it’s obvious that Four Swords Adventure was just tacked on to the Child Timeline because it didn’t fit anywhere else. Furthermore, Twilight Princess only happens because of how Link was sent into the past; by holding the Triforce of Courage in the future, Link accidentally created a time paradox, which caused himself, Zelda, and Ganondorf to each hold their triforce pieces in the new timeline despite not having split the triforce yet.

The Adult Timeline is a unique one. Hyrule is subjected to Ganon’s reign, but he is defeated by Link. Link is then sent back in time by Zelda, creating the Child Timeline, but the Adult Timeline still exists- and it is without a hero. Link is nowhere to be found, and the creation goddesses instead lead the peoples of Hyrule to the tops of mountains, before flooding it underneath a great sea. Ganondorf is sealed away underneath the ocean, inside the remnants of Hyrule, trapped in a bubble of time as the world moves on. However, Ganondorf’s power was not fully trapped, and he managed to escape after untold years to once more wreak havoc. After he is defeated in the Wind Waker, Link and Tetra move on to explore the world, eventually coming across a continent, which they rename New Hyrule. In this New Hyrule, magic and technology flourish in tandem, causing a technological boom; magical trains become the standard method of transportation, and the royal family itself sponsors it all. However, this land is home to an ancient evil which was sealed away long ago by the Lokomo tribe, a demon king named Malladus; the train tracks that New Hyrule relies on are actually chains which bind Malladus’s prison, which existed long before the people even arrived on that continent.

Finally, there’s Breath of the Wild, which has a unique problem of not really fitting into any of the timelines. It contains elements from every series, and was intentionally created separate from the rest of the series, likely in order to help further separate it from the rest of the series. Breath of the Wild contains many timeline-specific things, including:

* The Rito, which only existed in the Adult Timeline, and which were Zora transformed by the power of a minor god. Some argue that these Rito are not the same due to the difference in design, but the fact remains that they consider Medli to be one of their own, to the point of naming Vah Medoh after her- thus, these Rito must be descended from the Rito of Wind Waker.

* The Sea Zora, which only existed in the Child Timeline. They were transformed into the Rito in the Adult timeline, and were transformed into the monstrous River Zora in the Downfall Timeline. Some people defend them by saying that these Zora are relatively new to the region, but the fact remains that they consider Princess Ruto to be one of their own, to the point where Vah Ruta is named after her; thus, these Zora must be descended from the same Zora found in Ocarina of Time.

* Goponga Island, Kanalet Ridge, Mabe Village Ruins, Martha's Landing, Tal Tal Peak, Tabhal Woods, Ukuku Plains, and Koholit Rock, all of which areas named after places on Koholint Island, in Link’s Awakening, which itself took place on the Downfall Timeline. And Koholint Island is itself not a real place, but rather the dream of the Wind Fish, a place that is presumably never seen in any of the other timelines.

* Linebeck Island, named after a character in Phantom Hourglass, of the Adult Timeline.

* Lulu Lake, Mikau Lake, and Toto Lake, named after characters in Majora’s Mask, which takes place in the Child Timeline.

* Mount Daphnes, named after the King of Hyrule in The Wind Waker.

* Ralis Pond, named after the Zora Prince in Twilight Princess, in the Child Timeline.

* The Tunic of the Wild, which most resembles the clothing of the Downfall Timeline links.

* Vah Medoh, named after Medli (named Medori in the original Japanese), the Sage of Earth in The Wind Waker, found only in the Adult Timeline.

As such, it can be said that Breath of the Wild takes place in a New Unified Timeline, where elements from all timelines existed.

[wazafam]

In the Legend of Zelda series from Nintendo, Ganon is often depicted as the final “big bad,” desperately trying to take over the Kingdom of Hyrule. From 1986’s The Legend of Zelda to 2020’s Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, Ganon is continuingly trying to spread his corruption across the peaceful lands of Hyrule.

While others have also attempted to take over Hyrule, such as Chancellor Cole in Sprit Tracks and Ghirahim from Skyward Sword, none have made such an impression as that of the flame-haired Gerudo King. Thankfully for the many races that inhabit this vast fantasy world, Link is always there to ready his weapons and put Ganon back in his box time and time again.

Related: Zelda: How Old Link Is In Breath of the Wild

As the Legend of Zelda series has developed over the 35 years since its debut on the NES, so has the character of Ganon. His plots, and incarnations, have become more convoluted, extravagant, and cinematic. Here is every time Ganon has attempted to take over Hyrule (and every time Link has prevented him from doing so).

The game that started it all. 35 years ago, gamers were first introduced to the Kingdom of Hyrule, its plucky hero Link, and the porcine Ganon in The Legend of Zelda. During the game’s introduction, players learn how "Prince of Darkness" Ganon stole the Triforce of Power. To prevent Ganon from finding the piece of Triforce in her procession, Princess Zelda broke the Triforce of Wisdom into eight pieces. Before she is captured by Ganon, Zelda sends her nursemaid, Impa, to find a hero (enter Link) to collect the eight fragments before embarking on defeating Ganon. Link will only come face to face with Ganon in the game’s climatic final battle in Death Mountain. On defeating Ganon, who ends up being an especially difficult foe given his penchant for turning invisible for most of the battle, Link will collect the Triforce of Power from his remains, thus saving the Princess, the Kingdom, and the day.

While Ganon does not feature per se in this installment of the Legend of Zelda series, his minions are still alive and well, and doing his bidding from beyond the grave following on from his demise in The Legend of Zelda. Should the player receive a Game Over while playing The Adventure of Link, however, Ganon’s henchmen will take the blood of the now fallen Link and sprinkle it over their Master’s corpse to revive him. On doing this, players will receive the sinister message “Game Over. Return of Ganon.”

Despite being the third time that players will have to save Hyrule from Ganon, chronologically A Link to the Past serves as a prequel to The Legend of Zelda. In this game, Ganon is already sealed away in the Dark World (formerly The Legend of Zelda's Sacred Realm that has now become corrupted with Ganon’s dark influence) after he invaded it and obtained the Triforce. While Ganon is stuck in the Dark World, a wizard called Agahnim captures Princess Zelda in the Light World (Hyrule) and uses his power to send Zelda and Link to the Dark World with Ganon. This all part of an elaborate plan to break the seal that confines Ganon to this realm.

Related: Zelda Breath of the Wild 2 Leaked Names: Every Fake One So Far

Meanwhile, in the Dark World, Ganon controls an avatar of Agahnim within Ganon’s Tower, using this influence to build up his strength before he can proceed to overcome the Light World of Hyrule. When Link finally defeats this avatar of Agahnim in the Dark World, Ganon will rise from the wizard’s now useless body, turn into a bat, and fly to the Pyramid of Power. Here, Link will fight Ganon in his typical hog-esque appearance. When Ganon is finally defeated, Link will be able to touch the Triforce and use his essence of good to return Hyrule and the Sacred Realm to its former splendor. A Link to the Past is also notable for being the first time that the famous Master Sword appears within the Zelda series.

Perhaps one of the most famous incarnations of Ganon, in Ocarina of Time players learn more about the King of Evil’s history and finally see him in both his human (Ganondorf) and eventual porcine form. This time, Ganon uses Link and Princess Zelda to uncover the three Spiritual Stones within Hyrule to unlock the Door of Time by cursing, releasing monsters into, and infecting the Great Deku Tree, Dodongo’s Cavern, and Lord Jabu-Jabu’s belly. These stones act as a key to the Sacred Realm, where the Triforce is kept.

Not realizing Ganon’s plan, Link uses the stones to unlock the door while Ganon lays siege on Castle Town. As soon as Link pulls the Master Sword from its pedestal, which is hidden behind the Door of Time within the Temple of Time, he is plunged into a seven-year slumber. Ganon takes this opportunity to enter the now open Sacred Realm and steals the Triforce. What Ganon did not count on, however, was the Triforce breaking up into three pieces due to the unbalanced nature of his desires. While Ganon maintains the Triforce of Power, the pieces of Wisdom and Courage go to Princess Zelda and Link, respectively.

In the seven years that Link is in his magical slumber and Princess Zelda is in hiding, Ganon rules over Hyrule while searching for the final two pieces of the Triforce. Once Link awakens as an adult with the power to wield the Master Sword, he sets off to undo the evil that Ganon has allowed to take over Hyrule during his rule. Eventually, Link is able to obtain enough power with the help of Princess Zelda (who has been hiding behind the pretense of being an enigmatic ninja named Sheik) and the newly awoken Sages (who are revealed as Link cleanses certain areas of Hyrule) and can head to Ganon’s Castle to do battle for Hyrule.

Related: Ocarina of Time Beta Leak Explained: What Zelda Fans Know Now

After defeating the human form of Ganondorf, and destroying Ganon’s Castle, however, a beast rises from the ruins; Ganon, his dark and powerful final form. Even though Link wins this battle, Ganon still possesses the Triforce of Power and ultimately cannot be killed. Instead, the Sages use their powers to seal Ganon away in the Dark Realm. Before he is fully sealed away though, Ganon vows to “exterminate (the) descendants” of Zelda and Link.

While this game initially starts on the islands that are scattered across the Great Sea, eventually The Legend of Zelda players will be taken under the waters to the submerged Kingdom of Hyrule. In The Wind Waker’s history, Hyrule was flooded by the goddesses to contain Ganon, and its people fled to higher ground. But a little bit of water will not stop the mighty Ganon from trying with all his might to claim the power that he believes should to be his.

In this game, Ganon is shown several times on the islands above Hyrule, although it is not revealed to be him at first. Instead, he is shown to be the master of the Helmaroc King, who is kidnapping “girls with long ears” for a mysterious reason (which ends up being a bid for Ganon to find the descendant of Princess Zelda). Eventually it transpires that this incarnation of Ganon is a “returned Ganon.” Soon, Ganon recognizes Tetra, the feisty pirate comrade of Link’s in The Wind Waker, as the descendant of Ocarina of Time’s Princess Zelda.

He kidnaps Tetra / Zelda in the hope of uniting the pieces of the Triforce and finally securing his rule over Hyrule. After battling Link and revealing him to be the ancestor of the Hero of Time, Ganon manages to claim the three Triforce pieces and asks the Gods to “expose (Hyrule) to the rays of the sun once more” and to “give Hyrule to (him).” Obviously, he is ultimately unsuccessful. With the help of the King of Hyrule and Princess Zelda, Link once more takes the Master Sword and, after an intense subsea duel, plunges it into Ganon’s face. This results in Ganon being turned into a rocky edifice.

In the GameCube offering of Hyrule, Ganon once more uses others to do his bidding before his true intentions are exposed. In the case of Four Swords Adventures, it is Shadow Link and Vaati who initially pose a threat to the Kingdom of Hyrule. As the game unfolds, Ganon is revealed to be the brains behind the nightmares that have gripped Hyrule, having stolen both a trident that was full of a powerful magic as well as a Dark Mirror, which he used to create the evil counterpart of Link.

Related: Complete Legend of Zelda Franchise Timeline Explained

Using Shadow Link to kidnap the powerful shrine maidens within Hyrule with the hope that he could add their power to his, Ganon proceeds to murder the Knights of Hyrule and trap their souls in the World of Darkness. Thankfully, Link possesses the Four Sword, and creates three additional clones of himself to battle the forces of evil. Once the Link quartet free the shrine maidens, Link uses their power and the help of Princess Zelda to overcome Ganon and seal him inside the Four Sword. Once more, peace and prosperity are brought back to the Kingdom of Hyrule.

Again, Ganon uses others to do his bidding in Twilight Princess, this time using Zant, King of the Twili, to reign darkness over Hyrule. Zant and Ganondorf made a pact to grant each other the power they desire by overthrowing Hyrule and the Twilight Realm of the Twili. As the story progresses, it is revealed that the Sages of Hyrule once banished Ganon with the Mirror of Twilight after he tried to steal the Triforce. Zant tried to break the Mirror of Twilight, but instead just scattered the pieces across Hyrule as he is not the true ruler of the Twili (it is actually Midna, who is Link’s companion throughout Twilight Princess).

After a lengthy series of quests and temples, Link and Midna defeat Zant before heading to Hyrule Castle to take on Ganondorf. When they find him, Ganondorf possesses Princess Zelda to act as his puppet, before finally turning into a gigantic boar-like beast. Once Link slays this beast, Hyrule Castle begins to collapse. Midna uses her powers to transport Link and Zelda to Hyrule Field, and to safety. This safety does not last long for the heroes, though, as Ganon once more rises up in his human form to do battle with Link. On horseback, and with the help of Princess Zelda and some well-placed Light Arrows, Link knocks Ganon to the ground. Using the always-faithful Master Sword, Link finally plunges it into Ganon’s chest, once more releasing Hyrule from his evil grasp.

In the most recent games in the Legend of Zelda franchise, Ganon is depicted as a beast of malice and machine. For the Switch era, Nintendo switched it up and created a Hyrule that was already under a significant threat from Ganon and his cronies. In Breath of the Wild, Ganon has already taken Hyrule under his control with the help of the Blight Ganons and hordes of bokoblins and lizalfos when the player's adventure begins. As the story is revealed through unlocked memories, it is shown that Ganon initially tried to conquer Hyrule 10,000 years before the game’s narrative.

Related: Zelda's 35 Anniversary: What Nintendo SHOULDN'T Do

At that time, he was locked away by four Champions of Hyrule in their Divine Beasts, a Princess with the blood of the goddesses, and her appointed knight. 9,900 years later however, Hyrule has unevolved and no longer commands the ancient tech of its predecessors. Princess Zelda, along with Link, Impa, Purah, Robi and the other races within Hyrule, have recognized signs that Ganon is once more going to attempt to break free of his seal and reign supreme over their Kingdom. In effort to stop this from happening, the heroes endeavor to learn the ways of their ancestors and control the mechanical beings that won the battle against Ganon 9,900 year prior.

Sadly, Ganon is wily, and manages to possess the Divine Beasts and the Guardians, and Hyrule falls to his malice. During the battle that eventually becomes known as the Great Calamity, Princess Zelda manages to seal Ganon in Hyrule Castle with her newly revealed magic, and a wounded Link is sent to the Chamber of Resurrection. After sleeping for 100 years, Link awakens to a derelict and fearful Hyrule that lives in the shadow of Calamity Ganon, who is trapped within Hyrule Castle and only being kept at bay by Princess Zelda, who is trapped there with him. As Link gets stronger and learns more about the world that he now inhabits, he is able to free the Divine Beasts from Ganon’s power and uses them to fight the malicious beast once more. Soon, Calamity Ganon transforms into his final form of malice and hatred; Dark Beast Ganon. With the added help of Zelda’s Bow of Light, Link defeats Dark Beast Ganon on Hyrule Field, and Zelda is once more free from her entombment within him. Using her magic, Zelda seals Ganon away, and peace is restored to Hyrule.

Age of Calamity, meanwhile takes place before and during the Great Calamity itself. Here, players meet Astor, a Prophet of Doom and follower of Calamity Ganon. Astor uses a Diminutive Guardian that is infected with Ganon’s malice to create Harbinger Ganon. Throughout Age of Calamity, Astor uses Harbinger Ganon to see the future, witnessing the devastation that Calamity Ganon is destined to bring to Hyrule. However, in his final moments Astor is consumed by malice and absorbed into Harbinger Ganon. This combination of powers results in Astor and Harbinger Ganon becoming the game’s ultimate boss; Calamity Ganon. While the end results of this rendition of the Great Calamity differ from how they play out in Breath of the Wild, this final incarnation of Ganon that players face during the games' finales is the same for both Legend of Zelda games available on the Nintendo Switch (so far…).

While Ganon has appeared or been mentioned in other The Legend of Zelda games, he is often being used as part of a greater plan by other antagonists, such as within Oracle of Ages and Seasons. Needless to say, he is certainly one of the most iconic and terrifying baddies in gaming today. Thankfully for the Kingdom of Hyrule, though, Link and Princess Zelda also happen to be two of gaming's most reliable heroes.

Next: Breath of the Wild 2: The One Zelda Character Who NEEDS A Voice Actor

Zelda: Every Time Ganon Tried To Take Over Hyrule, Explained from https://ift.tt/39pRmps

[kaialone]

I’m gonna ramble about Ganon(dorf) for a bit

Proceed if you’re interested (I wrote a lot)

Okay so I don’t even know how to start this, I’ll just go.

(note that I’ll mention the timeline in this, please dont think that I dont know that the timeline could be changed at any moment should nintendo feel ike it, I just like semi-going by currently established canon. Also please note that I got no problem with people who dont feel like following the timeline for any reason, to each their own.)

I kinda really like the fact that Ganondorf is said to be a reincarnation of Demise, because, idk, somehow the idea of powerful demons needing to reincarnate into human form for some reason, and then once they have this form and live that life they start having human feelings and emotions and start struggling with what they want to be and maybe end up becoming good guys, is just somethign I really enjoy.

(If that sounds weirdly specific, Great Demon King Piccolo from Dragonball is one character with that kinda arc that I love.)

And then of course, one of the most interesting things about Ganondorf, imo, is how in the three different timeline branches, you got one incarnation of Ganondorf who turns out very different in each branch.

Something I always like is to just kinda, look at the different “last words” Ganondorf has in each timeline branch, and what they really mean for each of them:

"The wind... it is... blowing."

“I am the Evil King, Ganon...”

“The history of light and shadow will be written in blood!”

(though this gets a bit muddled in the Downfall Timeline, as technically Ganon died in ALttP, but was revived in OoX,´, which I see as his true death for now, but then again we dunno if any Ganons after that where him revived or reborn so *shrug*)

But first we should talk about the guy that “grows up” to be these other three.

I mean, personally I think no matter how you look at it, OoT!Ganondorf did lots of bad stuff, and wasnt a good ruler to the Gerudo (I dont mind different interpretations at all though), but I do think his initial intentions were good like we hear him talk about in WW, but lets not get ahead of ourselves here.

OoT!Ganondorf doesn’t really end up helping the Gerudo once he actually takes over Hyrule (all the Gerudo are still over in the desert, cept for maybe Iron Knuckles) and its heavily implied all the Gerudo were brainwashed to some extent (The carpenters note that the Gerudo seem nicer, post-Twinrova’s defeat), and Nabooru, who was very respected among the Gerudo, was explicitly against Ganondorf, but then brainwashed into submission.

Like even if you think Twinrova did all that without him knowing, not noticing your parents brainwashing your people doesnt exactly make you a good leader.

Adding to that, if A Link to the Past’s backstory is to be believed (and the timeline is not said to split until Link falls in the final battle) then, Ganondorf entered the hiding place of the Triforce alongside fellow thieves of his, and ended up killing them all so he could have the Triforce for himself.

Buuut before you think I’m just gonna talk about how bad OoT!Ganondorf is, like, I still think he genuinely wanted to help his people (at first) and that everything WW!Ganondorf says does represent his true feelings, and that at some point, he just really wanted to do something good.

I think its interesting to think about why that presumably changed for a while, wether you think its the usual getting mad with power, getting to close to the “dark side” or whatever with all the dark magic going on, or being groomed into this role by Twinrova, or all of that, or something else entirely.

I mean, he definitely did some bad stuff before that too, but in the context of Ganondorf being a reincarnation of Demise, I wonder if it could be possible that either seeing Link and/or Zelda or laying eyes on the Triforce ended up having some effect on him, like awakening some part of Demise within him so to speak, contributing to him losing sight of his initial goals and getting more about power in general.

Notably post timeskip Ganondorf seems to use a lot more monsters/dmemons to do his bidding than before, but this could easily just be the difficulty spike for the player.

Idk if this sounds cheap to people somehow, but I remember a popular theory being that the Triforce of Power turned him evil so, its not that different imo.

Of course, in the final battle we see OoT!Ganondorf become Ganon, presumably for the very first time, but honestly? The transformation itself isn’t that important to me, as it just feels like a visual representation of the downfall Ganondorf had undergone already anyway.

And then, when he is defeated, he infamously curses Link, and ZELDA, and THE SAGES, vowing to kill their descendants once he breaks free from the seal and all...

...which leads into who is everyone’s favorite Ganondorf, and rightfully so, WW!Ganondorf.

Before going into the present day of WW, there is its backstory, which is very interesting to me, cause you just gotta think, how do we go from a guy like OoT!Ganon to WW!Ganon?

At some point after OoT but before WW, Ganondorf’s threat became reality, he broke out of the seal and tried taking over Hyrule once more.

But I cant help but wonder how it mustve felt for him. I picture him for years, decades, centuries maybe, sealed away, picturing his revenge, imagining how great it’ll feel to get free and eradicate the descendants of Link and Zelda, and finally making Hyrule his.

But when he was freed, he likely found a Hyrule that was different from how he remembered it. Notably, there would be no hero, nor descendants of his for him to exact revenge upon. And while we know that a princess seems to have had existed at the time, who knows if she was “a Zelda”, if you wanna call them that.

I just imagine it wouldve felt a lot less satisfying that he imagined, heck, probably wouldve felt more like he was robbed if his chance to take revenge.

And who knows what even happened to the Gerudo by that point? I know lack of them in Wind Waker doesnt mean they are extinct, but for all we know they couldve left hyrule altogether? (Like they seem to have done between OoT and TP, and mightve done post OoT in the Downfall timeline, if you dont think they went extinct)

Overall I could see what Ganondorf mightve pictured/wanted to be his most glorious moment, his long awaited return, mightve just ended up feeling kinda empty.

Not that I think he wouldve done a complete 180 already because of that, but I could see it leaving him in a bit of a shock.

Adding to that, now just as he is about to conquer Hyrule for real, the gods decide to destroy it, essentially. Or at least, thats how Ganondorf felt about the situation, given how he speaks of it in the game. Its like the gods are playing with him, everytime Hyrule is just within his graps, they take it from him.

The flood mustve felt especially terrible for him, cause the way he saw it, it mustve been something like the goddesses saying “we’d rather just end hyrule and kill all its people than have you be its ruler”. What a slap in the face, to put it lightly.

After that, getting sealed away again, and all the stuff I mentioned above, probably gave him time and opportunity to reflect upon his life so far, and the future too.

I dont think that in WW, Ganondorf was just “going through the motions”, and just trying to finish what he started because he had no choice at this point. I do think he still genuinely wanted to try and conquer Hyrule, its just that he has had some time to think about it, a bit more about why he wanted it, and about what he did wrong before, and regretting those mistakes.

Like for example, he really doesnt seem like he wants to harm Link and Zelda anymore, if he can help it. He could be hating them, still furious for what happened during OoT, but he doesnt seem to be.

One of these days I wanna talk about all the contrasts and parallels WW seems to draw to Zelda games that came before it, especially OoT, but for this bit I just wanna mention this one thing.

How in OoT you confront Ganondorf, who smugly plays his leitmotif on the organ, the sound of which growing louder the further you approach his chamber. His back pointed at the entrance which he knows the hero will emerge from. Zelda, encase in a crytal, hangs above him like a trophy, like the hero bait she is to him at this point.

And then in WW, his leitmotif plays in his final dungeon, but actually grow more quiet the closer you get to him. That already makes you feel like, while it invokes OoTs atmoosphere, it actually turns it on its head. And then, when you do cofront him, “Zelda” is instead peacefully sleeping in a bed, (presumably Ganondorfs bed?) with him calmly sitting by her side, watching over her. He doesn’t face Link directly as he enters, but isnt completely turned away from his either.

Of course this scene still has some creepy atmosphere to it, especially when he starts reading her mind, but maaaan, the contrast to OoT (and games that came before it) just GETS ME everytime I just think about it.

Ahhh, I could go on and on like, you all know this stuff, you all thought about him in this game so much, didnt you?

I really hope nintendo will choose to give another Ganondorf this kinda depth, and maybe even just play with the idea of Ganondorf taking on a different role than “final boss” in a Zelda title. I would love that.

Now, let’s turn the clock wayyy back to when Ganon fought Link, and talk about the timeline that occurs when Link is actually killed by him.

To me, this is kinda of the “original” timeline, for various reasons, but I don’t wanna distract from our main man here too long.

In this version of the events, Ganon manages to actually aquire the full Triforce in the final battle of OoT, and causes quite a bit of misery before the Sages finally manage to seal him away in this version, too. But because he is so powerful with the Triforce and all that, it ends up costing a lot more lives to finally get to that point.

Now from that point on, this Ganon seems to just kinda rule the Dark World, a twisted “evil” version of Hyrule of his own creation. And of course most notably, either because of this worlds properties, or his general state of being, this Ganon seemingly always stays in beast form from that point on.

Sadly this one doesnt talk too much (though he is very much capable of doing so), so we dont get much of a grasp on his character.

To me, ALttP!Ganon feels like somewhere in the middle when it comes to Ganons. Despite his bestial appearance, he doesnt seem as blind with power and rage as TP!Ganondorf, maybe cause he doesnt call himself a god or something. But he of course is nowhere near WW!Ganondorf in terms of reasons and having reflecting upon his past.

Either way, it is clear that he is not happy with just ruling his very own personal Hyrule, filled with damned people that have become monsters like him, as in ALttP he does attempt to break his seal and go back to the World of Light

This might just be out of greed, but you could also imagine he might simply be unhappy in this demonic world, or even scared? Given how we see that some inhabitants of this land lose their humanity to such an extent that they’re turning into things like trees, maybe even completely losing their sense of self?

One of the more curious things about ALttP!Ganon is his relationship to Agahnim. No one is entirely sure what they are to one another.

In some of the mangas, Agahnim is portrayed as a human who gets possessed or turned by Ganon in some shape or form, and this portrayal is popular from what I’ve seen.

But in the actual game, Agahnim is described as being Ganon’s alter-ego. The term used in the japanese version is “bunshin”, which can mean a lot of things, including alter-ego or even reincarnation, but in the context of the Zelda franchise, there is another part in the series where it is used. In Phantom Hourglass, Oshus is described as being the “bunshin” of the Ocean King. So, if we assume Agahnim works the same way, his consiusness would have to be exactly Ganon’s, right? Of course that doesn’t mean other interpretations can’t exist, I myself am not even sure what to think.

The usage of the word bunshin does imply that to some extent, Agahnim literally was a part, or offshot of Ganon. So froma  certain point of view, we could add his character to Ganons, if we wanted to.

Something that intrigues me though is that in the Downfall Timeline, we never see Ganon in human form again. Could this be related to Agahnim? Maybe not exactly literally but symbolIcally?

Did Ganon split the humanity he had left off of himself, because that was the only part of him that could exit the Dark World before the seal was lifted?

If so, did Agahnim dying have any effect on him? Or did whatever Agahnim was in the end just return to him?

So much to think about here, ahh.

Of cours, ALttP!Ganon then gets killed by Link in their battle. Not sealed away, just flat out killed.

Normally this would probably be the end, but of course OoX happened, in which Twinrova tried to revive him, but didnt quite succeed.

Ganon is revived as a seemingly mindless beast, only actualy talking in his final moments, which is the quote from earlier.

In the japanese version, this quote is written entirely in katakana, which can indicate that its pronounced weirdly somehow, in cases like this likely because he had a hard time forming the words at all.

He also refers to himself as a Demon King in japanese, but that term hadn’t caught on in the english versions of the games yet.

Okay so, as I kinda mentioned above, this Ganon’s story gets a bit muddled from this point on.

Sometime after ALttP, but before ALbW, ALbW’s backstory (which is not ALttP) occurs, during which a hero fights a Ganon, who is then sealed away by him, the princess and the sages, but we dont know if this Ganon is the same, just revived again, or an entirely new incarnation.

But you could argue that it hardly matters, cause he barely does anything in the game, essentially acting as a power boost for Yuga...

However, there is a theory that he might do more than that actually.

So, according to this theory, Yuga actually was completely loyal to Hilda, and its only by fusing with Ganon that he starts wanting to betray, due to Ganons influence. The theory is nice in the sense that it makes Yuga more of an opposite of Ganon than he seems if you take the game at face value, and gives Ganon more to do. Depending on your interpretation, Yuga might just be influenced by Ganon, or they literally fuse into a being that is just as much Ganon as it is Yuga.

But of course that is just a minor theory, and you dont have to like it, naturally.

After that we get HF and AoL!Ganon, who is said to be more of a mindless beast as this point, no trace left of the human he used to be.

A rather sad fate.

Again it is unclear if this is the same Ganon, revived yet again, or maybe (anotehr) reincarnation.

But if its the former, you can only assume that, even if you dont think Agahnim dying had any effect on Ganon, just forcing him to ressurect over and over instead of letting him reincarnate properly, must’ve done quite the number on Ganon.

Somehow thinking about this version of Ganon in particular makes me think about the cursed boars in Princess Mononoke, who where lost to their anger. Especially the moment when the Wolf faces the Old Boar, who we have seen slowly lose his self at this point, and she almost pitifully says “Can’t you even speak anymore?” to him.

It almost feels like Downfall Timeline!Ganon is cursed by fate, in a sense. Not really in-universe either, but out of universe too!

History is already written (the first two games are already out) and thus Ganon has to follow the path that is already set for him, become what he will be in the future (what he is in the first two games), a frightening monster that terrorizes this kingdom of Hyrule for the sake of power, with no humanity in him (him having been human wasnt part of his character at the time the first two games where released)

I wonder if the demons failing to get Links blood in 2 will mark the end of this Ganon? (I hope not)

It was kinda nice to see BotW seemingly do somewhat of a modern take on this kinda idea of Ganon, something that has become little more than destruction of Hyrule in pyhsical form. I could see people place BotW as post- AoL for that reason, even.

And well, rolling back time yet again, we go to the last way OoT!Ganondorf turned out, which is TP!Ganondorf...

....who, compared to the others, actually has a bit more of a complicated “set-up” that kickstarts his character.

When Link gets send back in time at the end of OoT, his Tiforce of Courage breaks apart into the pieces we find in WW, presumably because Link was literally removed from that reality as he possessed it?

Then upon his arrival in the new Child Timeline, Link immediately gets the Triforce of Courage of THAT timeline, presumably cause he is in a state of being where he is meant to have a Triforce Piece of Courage?

Well, regardless of what you believe to be the cause, this is what happens, and as a result, the other two Triforce pieces choose Zelda and Ganondorf to bear them and end up residing in them. Thats how the pieces ended up with the three without the Sacred Realm being entered in this version of the events.

Link ends up warning Zelda and the king of the events that will transpire in the future, and thus Ganondorf loses the trust of the king and is unable to set his plan from OoT into motion.

Its a bit vague, but sometime after that Ganondorf starts a direct attack towards Hyrule, but gets captured and put on trial.

And as you know, as he was about to be executed, the Triforce of Power activated and saved him from death.

Now I am not sure if this is true, but I think up until that point, Ganondorf didn’t even know he had it.

But wether he discovered he had it now, or the moment it fist came to him, one thing I am sure of, he mustve felt so great for it. Cause he has no idea that a time travelling Link caused this to happen, right? From his perspective, the power of the gods just came to him like that because he is that great! And then, he cant even die as a result of this? He is literally immortal? Well, he must be the dang chosen one, right?

No wonder he got all god complex in this one!

Something I´m kinda interested in is how this guy spend years, likely centuries, in the Twillight Realm, and if his form in there is any indication, not exactly in physical form either, I mean isnt it implied he HAD to mae use of Zant like that in order to be able to have a physical form like that?

Ultimately TP!Ganondorf just is a lot like OoT!Ganondorf if you think about it, just kinda taken to a more extreme. He is no longer just human, but has transcended humanity much further than OoT!Ganondorf has, and feels superior to everyone because of it.

He is absolute in his own eyes, he is a god, his eventual victory is certain, his battle with the hero just a formality at this point.

And he sticks to that mindset until the very end, even as he is stabbed and fatally wounded by Link. It only makes sense, he couldnt be stopped by this before, why would it stop him now?

Of course the events that follow are rather vague, and people argue about what it means to this day, but I think it ultimately boils down to Ganondorf biting of more than he can chew, overestimating his own power. Or rather, what he thinks is his own power, cause its not even his.

From the moment he was impaled by the sword of the sage, Ganondorf has been a dead man.

He has only been kept alive afterwards through the power of others, the gods, and Zant as well.

This power was not his, and thus it could just leave him just as quick as it came to him.

The imagine of Zant snapping his neck, to me, either just refers to the fact that with Zant dead, who acted as Ganondorf anchor of sorts, Ganondorf himself dies as well, or it refers to the fact that Ganondorf, who saw himself as a god and superior to everything, was ultimately just as much of a mortal and simple being than the very person who worshipped him as a deity the most.

Yes, you could call Zant the very person that made Ganondorf a god in the first place, in more ways than one, so without him, Ganondorf is a god no more. And he dies just like any mortal would.

Ultimately this Ganondorf story feels like a story of hubris.

Simple, but neat.

(Its interesting like, its almost like, TP!Ganondorf was a human who longed to be a god, and WW!Ganondorf was like a god who longed to be human?)

But, do not think it ends here...

We’ve looked at all the people that OoT!Ganondorf grew up to be, but that isn’t all the Ganons there is, the story of Ganon actually continues further down the Child Timeline.

Yes, this brings us to FSA!Ganon, or as I sometimes like to call him, Ganon II.

I understand that most probably never played this game, and I probably won’t blow your minds if I tell you Ganon doesn’t actually do much in this game but, I still like to think about him.

He’s actually a proper reincarnation of TP!Ganondorf, folowing the latter’s death at the end of TP.

From some dialouge in-game we know a little bit about his past. Like his past life, he was a boy born to the Gerudo people, and was named Ganondorf.

Interestingly, in this game, the Gerdudo dont actually say that every 100 years a male child is born, they that every 100 years a “special” child is born, and of course Ganondorf was that special child. They still mention the “only man” part, but it doesnt come up with the “every 100 years” line.

Notably it also doesnt seem that Ganondorf was supposed to be their king, and it doesnt seem like they ever treated him like a king, they only mention he was supposed to be the protector of the Gerudo people and the desert.

This is just speculation, but perhaps, after what happened to the first Ganondorf, the Gerudo people decided it wasnt a good idea to treat the sole male like a king just because.

The Gerudo in the game tell you that the older Ganndorf became, the more twisted and obsessed with power he became, and eventually he started breaking their laws, too.

When he entered the forbidden pyramid, the Gerudo basically considered him banished from their tribe, but also didnt think he would ever survive in there and presumed him to be dead.

The Gerudo in this game really only talk badly about Ganondorf, which probably makes sense if he really just did bad stuff to them, but its a very stark contrast to OoT where the Gerudo seemed to just let Ganondorf get away with everything, kinda.

Something I wonder about if maybe like, Ganondorf wasn’t exactly treated well by the Gerudo, out of fear of him turning out like the old Ganondorf, or if Ganondorf just turned bad all on his own. Or maybe a mixture of both?

What is sorta interesting is the story of how this one came to be Ganon, which is that within the pyramid, he found a certain Trident, which is implied to have caused him to “awake as Ganon”, so to speak, as he picked it up. This is the inscription found with the Trident:

“Seek...you...the world? Seek you...power? Does your...soul...despise peace and...thirst for... more? Does your soul...cry... for...destruction and... conquest? We...grant you...power to ...ruin...the world. The power of...darkness. Evil...spirit of magic trident. You are...the... King of Darkness.“

The trident feels like it has more out of universe meaning than in-universe (though I do headcanon it to be a reincarnated ghirahim somehow, because I can). The trident being a weapon that franchise-wise is heavily associated with Ganon, and notably Ganon only, as Ganondorf is never really seen wielding a literal trident.

This Ganondorf picks up the trident, and with it the legacy of the interpretations of Ganons that came in the games before this one, so to speak.

I´m sorry for this part being so unstructured, but interestingly, Ganondorf is this game is referred to as “ancient demon reborn”, or something like “instrument of evil reborn” in japanese, hinting that even at the time of the game’s release, this Ganon was probably intended to be the reincarnation of a previous evil, likely a previous Ganon, of course.

What I wonder about is how much this Ganon is aware of that, though. When he grew up, becoming more and more twisted, did he know? Did he know he was the reincarnation of a villain that had previously plagued Hyrule? Did he feel his hatred? Did he know whose it was, or did he consider it his own? Or was it simply his own?

And when he picked up the trident, and transformed into a demon beast, did he understand what this meant? What he was? Did he ever obtain any memories of his past self, even?

Something that hints that this /might/ be the case is Shadow Link.

Now Shadow Link is not actually created by the dark mirror from the evil part of Link’s heart as the english localization suggest. Instead its created from the evil part of Ganon’s heart, using the dark mirror. It is said that through the mirror,the hatred and evil of Ganondorf, throughout time, took on the shape of Link. Likely because the hero is a major subject of Ganondorf’s hatred.

The fact that this happened when FSA!Ganon used the mirror, despite himself never having met Link up until that point, hints that he might, at least subconsiously, harbor the memories of his past incarnations?

But really, as usual there is a lot open to interpretation.

I´m just so intrigued, like in this timeline there is a “second Ganon”, a Ganon that came “after”, someone who had to take on this cruel legacy.

And, with that we have now talked about all the Ganon(dorf)s that have existed in the franchise to this day, not counting stuff like BS Zelda and the CDI-Games.

If you stuck around until this point, thank you so much, you’re too kind!

But also thanks to everyone that just skimmed this or looked it over briefly, I hope this wall of text did something for you. 

(Sorry for any typos I... type too fast when I get excited about a topic.)