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 constant in 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.

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Debate Basics
In general, problems arise when games appear to imply that "their" Ganon is entirely 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 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 fourteen 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.

The Imprisoning War
(AlttP Argument I)

Though it has been demonstrated that the team of designers behind Ocarina intended to recreate the Imprisoning War of A Link to the Past, 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 events 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) can 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 in part. FSA completes the storyline.*
 * OOT is the IW, but only in part. A second series of events, not shown in game, 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

Note: ***In some timelines that assert this point, an underlying principle is that the Sacred Realm was sealed in OoT, and the seal was broken in ALttP. Ganon's presence(s) inside or out of the realm in between the two titles is deemed irrelevant to this progression, citing the example in tWW in which Ganon escapes the seal of the gods without "breaking" the seal.

The Master Sword Part 1
(AlttP Argument II)

A Link to the Past introduced the Master Sword to the Zelda Series, and may have also showcased the final chapter of its epic history. Acording to AlttP's ending scene, the "Master Sword sleeps again... FOREVER", likely implying that the sword will never be used again. However, the Japanese Kodai no Sekiban features the Master Sword, and most certainly occurs after AlttP. While KnS may not be canonical itself, it seems to show that the developers have no intentions of standing by the AlttP quote. Opinion is divided;


 * The Master Sword cannot canonically appear after AlttP
 * The Master Sword can canonically appear after AlttP

It may be that there have been many swords given the title 'Master Sword' over time. It should also be noted that Ganon was supposed to be imprisoned in the Sacred Realm forever, a statement eventually proven false, implying "forever" messages are not always correct.

The Flood
(tWW Argument I)

After the gods sent the 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 (Sending Koroks to plant trees in different places around the Great Sea in hope that one day the islands will merge together to form one great land again). 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 Adult Timeline.
 * Hyrule does not unflood. tWW caps the Adult Timeline, and most of the games occur in the Child line.
 * 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.

Connection Analysis
In a Single Timeline, a theorist now faces the challenge of finding the three-game-order which best suits his/her interpretations on the above issues. There are six possible combinations, each quite different from the last, but it is highly unlikely that any one of these six will allow a theorist to retain all of his/her original interpretations. It is likely that a single timeline will be chosen on the basis of it being "the lesser of six evils".

The creation of a Double Timeline works in much the same mannor, but DTers enjoy two distinct advantages: (1) The ability to sluff TP and/or AlttP into the "child timeline", where it/they need no interfere with connection in the adult world and (2) the ability to fill the "gap in history" that exists in the CT after the child ending with the theory of their choice (usually the IW or TP BS).

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 in-game story mentions multiple magic portals.

It is remotely possible 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 the "great war against evil". 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.

Minor Ganon Conflicts
There are a number of secondary debates concerning Ganon, which, though generally unrelated to the Timeline as a whole, are common subjects of discussion among timeline theosrists.

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 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 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 Dark World 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 Dark Worlds outside of AlttP and OOT are all the same world--"hell", the FSA Dark World, TP's Twilight, and OoX's dark realm. Historically, one could say the reverse--all of these worlds are the Twilight, exploited in different contexts.