Ganon Conflicts

New worlds come and go, plot elements and unique items fade into the past, and it seems as if there is always a new Link popping up. Little is consent is the Legend of Zelda, but Ganon has displayed himself to have lasting power above all else. The various attempts Ganon makes to conquer Hyrule are immensely difficult to co-ordinate. In fact, the interpretation of these events (which dictates a theorists placement of the five storyline "arcs") is the only major difference between individual theories, and by far the area of greatest focus in timeline debate.

Debate Basics
In general problems arise when games appear to imply that "their" Ganon is enirely the same entity as a Ganon featured in a previous game, or in the complete opposite situation when a game manages to completely isolate its particular Bad Guy.

Shared Ganon
 * AlttP first brought back story and character to the antagonist Ganon.
 * Ocarina of Time was originally intended to show the origins of the the one and only Ganon, and detail his Sealing as originally described in AlttP. It is almost universally accepted as Ganon's first game.
 * The Wind Waker was originally intended to describe the actions Ocarina of Time's Ganon took after being released from his Seal and finding no Hero to oppose him. It ends with Ganon's defeat and physical incapacitation.
 * Twilight Princess may be intending to describe the continuing actions of Ocarina of time's Ganon. It ends with Ganon's defeat and physical incapacitation.

Isolated Ganon
 * Four Swords Adventure introduces what is undeniably a new incarnation of Ganondorf, and ends with this new Ganon sealed in the Foursword.
 * Oracle Series, which revives a fallen Ganon for a short battle he cannot win.

Without considering FSA, and accepting OOT as Ganon's first known assault on Hyrule, there are ten possible interpretations for the order of games.

Important Factors
A theorist's opinions on the debate will largely be based on his/her interpretations of smaller issues concerning the nature of Hyrule, Legend, and Ganon himself. Most of these issues are quite polarizing, and a theorist will find a heated argument regardless of which interpretation he chooses to make.

Ganon vs. Ganondorf
The closest a canonical source has come to defining the difference between "Ganondorf" and "Ganon" has been to specify Ganondorf a "thief" and Ganon a "Demon King". Yet in both OOT and TP a figure called Ganondorf accused of being a demon lords over a large castle... which he stole. The distinction has hardly been helpful. It is clear that the subject's Gerudo kinsmen raised him as "Ganondorf" and are often unaware of the alternate. It should also be noted that the subject's pig-like beast form has never been referred to as Ganon. Interpretations include:


 * The names are interchangeable. There is no important difference.
 * "Ganondorf" becomes "Ganon" when using the Triforce of Power.
 * "Ganondorf" the man channels an dark spirit the dark spirit "Ganon" with whom he shares a consciousness. Ganon's "Pig Form" is his state independent from Ganon.

Note that "'Ganondorf' is a man while 'Ganon' is a beast" is not a valid interpretation, as the term Ganon has been used numerously to refer to both man and beast.

Ganon's Mortality
In LoZ and AlttP it was made extremely clear to Link that Ganon could not be killed without the Silver Arrows. In the ten Zelda titles since, no canonical text has disputed this assertion, but the silver arrows have not been seen (though light arrows have) and some feel that tWW and TP suggest Ganon has died twice regardless. This has resulted in many opinions regarding ganon's mortality:


 * Only the Silver arrows can kill Ganon. Period. Ganon did not die in tWW, TP, or OoX.
 * Only the Silver arrows can kill Ganon. Period. Ganon did not die in tWW or TP. He did in OoX (which is a special case)*
 * The Silver Arrows are needed to kill Ganon in beast form, but not in human form. Ganon died in tWW, and TP, but not OoX.
 * The Silver Arrows are needed to kill Ganon in beast form, but not in human form. Ganon died in tWW, TP, and OoX (which is a special case)*
 * The Light Arrows do everything the silver arrows do. Ganon died in tWW, and TP, but not OoX.
 * The Light Arrows do everything the silver arrows do. Ganon died in tWW, TP, and OoX (which is a special case)*

Note: *It can be argued that because Ganon was only partly revived in OoX, the rules of his mortality had changed.

The Dark World
Ganon often chooses to attack Hyrule from a power base in another world. Though he recently took the opportunity to attack from the Twilight Realm, the Pigman had previously always chosen to work from an alternate realm known as The Dark World. In AlttP and Ocarina of Time, the Dark world was originally the Sacred Realm, which had become perverted by Ganon's malice. In OoX, it was something of a prison where Ganon''s soul awaited the revival of his living body. In FSA it was a direct mirror of Hyrule and a haven for Ganon's servants. Interpretations concerning the term "Dark World" include;


 * The uses are unrelated. The first DW is Ganon's Sacred Realm, the second is the Hylian equivalent of hell, and the third a creation of the Dark Mirror.
 * They are all the Sacred Realm. OoX occurs after AlttP, where Ganon was killed in the SR, and the Dark Mirror, like the Magic Mirror, is a portal to that their world.
 * The Dark world is the personal domain of Ganon. He takes command of a world and extends the Dark world across it, much as Zant expands the Twilight.

The Flood
After the god sent flood of tWW's back story and the Triforce induced deluge that is Daphnes' final wish, Hyrule was fully and completely buried beneath the waves of the Great Sea. The King had wished Hyrule gone forever, in hopes that his people would move onto a new land, but at the same time the Deku tree has envisioned a Hyrule raised from the depths and set in motion a plan to acheive that aim. Waiting on Phantom Hourglass, theorists can not truly know the fate of Hyrule. However, some of the most common theories include:


 * Hyrule does not unflood. tWW is the final game in the Single Timeline.
 * Hyrule does not unflood. tWW caps the "adult timeline", and most of the games occur in the "child".*
 * The true Hyrule does not unflood. Link and Zelda find a new land which they name "Hyrule"
 * Hyrule is raised from the waves, likely by the Deku Tree, and a number of games follow.

Note: *This is a Double Timeline interpretation. See Number of Timelines

The Imprisoning War
Though it has been demonstrated that the team of designers behing Ocarina intended to recreate the Imprisoning War of Ocarina of Time, the degree to which they accomplished this goal has always been a matter of debate. OOT is in no way a perfect match to the vents described in AlttP (this is ascribable to the nature of Legends, and their tendency to change over time) and later released games (including tWW, FSA, and TP) cn be considered to "interrupt the OOT-AlttP connection. Opinions on the issue include:


 * OOT never was the IW, the two accounts are far too dissimilar. Nintendo tried and failed. It is a separate event.
 * OOT was once the IW, but recent developments have changed that. It is a separate event.
 * OOT is the IW, but only impart. FSA completes the storyline.*
 * The IW occurs parallel to OOT, in the "child timeline". OOT occurs in the "adult".**
 * OOT is the Imprisoning War. That will never change.

Note: *This theory is detailed below

Note: **This is a Double Timeline interpretation. See Number of Timelines

Connection Analysis
A full listing of the possible orderings of Ganon's Games (excluding OoX and FSA)

FSA Before AlttP
Curiously enough, the Imprisoning War is never referred to by name within the context of ALttP itself. While it has been generally accepted that the introduction of ALttP, which mentions the key events that surround the Seal War--1) the door to the Golden Land being discovered and opened; 2) evil power flowing from the Golden Land; 3) the door to the Golden Land being sealed--the references to the "war with the demons" (pure translation from the Japanese version) make no mention of the Golden Land, Triforce, or Ganon at all. They do, however, reference Seven Sages, magic portals to the Dark World, and the extermination of the Knights of Hyrule. There is some degree of contrast to be had, here, because the Seal War story mentions only one doorway to the Sacred Realm-turned-Dark World, while the demon war story mentions multiple magic portals.

A few theorists have decided that, since FSA includes these three elements--seven Maidens who can serve the purpose of sealing, portals to [a] Dark World, and the extermination of the Knights of Hyrule--FSA can actually assume the role of "demon war". Of course, how it is that Ganon makes his way from the Four Sword seal into the Golden Land to prepare for ALttP is a matter in question, but in a pre-ALttP placement of FSA, this is inevitable. It is important to note that those who believe that FSA represents the demon war do not believe that there was any additional war or Sages' Seal necessary for Ganon to be stuck in the Sacred Realm in ALttP, because the game itself says that after he rediscovered the Sacred Realm, he couldn't get back to the Light World.