Ganon/Other Appearances

This page details all appearances of Ganon outside the canon, main series games.

Animated Series
In the Zelda animated series, Ganon's design is loosely based upon his appearance from the first game, making him similar to a humanoid pig in a purple robe; however, when needed, he can raise a hood over his head to disguise himself, which he often does when in the surface. Len Carlson serves as the voice actor for Ganon.

Ganon makes his den in the Underworld and maintains an Evil Jar which allows him to summon his minions to attack at his command. He also keeps the Triforce of Power in his lair, giving him an endless supply of magic to aid him in his attempts to overthrow the kingdom of Hyrule by either capturing Princess Zelda, King Harkinian, Link, or stealing the Triforce of Wisdom from North Castle. However, his plans are often flawed by the ineptitude of his servants or by Link and Zelda, which sometimes results in Ganon being zapped into the Evil Jar instead.

Ganon is capable of teleporting to any location in the Underworld, an ability that he often uses to immediately find Link and Zelda whenever they are traveling around the Underworld. However, since his magic is limited in the Overworld, he is unable to use his powers outside the Underworld, which forces him to rely on his minions to perform tasks for him: as means of transportation while in the surface, Ganon often rides a Lowder or is carried by Stalfos to help him reach his destination.

This version of Ganon is more comical and bumbling than his appearance in the games, and he is seen to be short-tempered and intolerant of his servants' clumsiness. As such, he is often seen treating them harshly, which at one point they grow tired of and overthrow Ganon as their leader, as seen in  "The Moblins are Revolting." Other than using his minions to execute his plans, Ganon is also known to invent various items that will help him achieve his goal of stealing the Triforce of Wisdom, such as a Mirror that creates an evil clone of Zelda, a Wand of Power, and a Capture Staff.

Captain N: The Game Master
Ganon appears in the "Quest for the Potion of Power" episode of the Captain N: The Game Master show. Len Carlson reprises his role as the voice actor for Ganon.

After finding out about a potion that can revive Ganon, King Hippo and Eggplant Wizard find it in the Maze Island Palace and go to Death Mountain to make Ganon drink it. Before the evil wizard takes the potion, he is depicted as a small, innocent and defenseless pig. However, right after he swallows its contents, he transforms into a bigger, stronger and more grotesque-looking pig, slightly resembling his Zelda cartoon appearance. With Ganon now resurrected, he plans to take over Videoland, much to the dismay of Mother Brain, who Ganon is supposed to be working for. The Evil Wizard, however, exclaims that he works for no one, and sends out a shockwave that knocks Mother Brain on her side. Kevin tries to stop Ganon, but he increases his size and becomes a monster of epic proportions. Ganon then tries to defeat Link and Kevin by sending a fire geam in their direction, but Link's Magical Shield reflects it back to the giant wizard, instantly defeating him.

The Legend of Zelda Comic
In the Legend of Zelda comic published by Valiant Comics, Ganon is usually depicted as a man in a  heavy dark blue hooded cloak with no visible face for several issues,  although later on he would be sometimes portrayed as the familiar pig-faced monster. Since this comic takes place after the events of and, it is told that Ganon led his minions to attack Hyrule and thus allow him to steal the Triforce of Power. Ganon dwells in the Underworld, with his lair being in Death Mountain, just like in the original The Legend of Zelda. Using the might of the Triforce, Ganon strives to destroy Link and Zelda, steal the Triforce of Wisdom, and take over the kingdom of  Hyrule. Ganon goes to great lengths to accomplish his goals, such as manipulating the citizens of the Water Town of Saria into going against Link and Zelda, and disguising himself as Impa to defeat the young hero once and for all. Although his minions follow his every order and are loyal to him, Darknut Prime reveals that they hate their "pig-nosed master even more" than Zelda and Link do.

In The Power, Link manages to steal the Triforce of Power from Ganon and uses it to severely damage the Prince of Darkness with it. Knowing that he is powerless against the might of the Triforce, Ganon barely manages to escape back into the Underworld. However, after Link catches up with him, the young hero traps Ganon inside a cage hanging over a bottomless pit. Ganon then begs Link to let him have the Triforce of Power back so that the two of them can defeat Zelda together, but Link ignores him and says that the Triforce of Power is his forever. Once Link realizes what he has become and decides to throw away the Triforce of Power to keep his soul intact, the cage that was holding  Ganon disappears and sends him tumbling down after the Triforce.

Nintendo Adventure Books
In the Nintendo Adventure Books, Ganon appears again as the main antagonist of both The Crystal Trap and The Shadow Prince. However, in these books, Ganon is described as a skeletal figure with "burning, white eyes" and "skull-like mask" for a face. Some of the magic used by Ganon in the book includes shooting fireballs from his hand and firing a bolt of light from his fingertips.

The Crystal Trap
In The Crystal Trap, Link and Princess Zelda are running inside the Midoro Palace trying to escape from Ganon's grap. However, the evil wizard finds them and eventually encases Link in a Crystal. Ganon explains that since he cannot obtain the Triforce of Courage and Wisdom from Link and Zelda respectively, he used a Magic Scroll which cast a spell to encase both pieces of the Triforce, including the Triforce of Courage encased in Link's heart. Although the evil wizard had planned to kill Princess Zelda, he confesses that he prefers seeing her suffer over Link, and mocks her that she will be unable to obtain all three items necessary to save the young hero before he gets trapped in the crystal forever in 24 hours.

Eventually, however, Princess Zelda finds the three items as dictated by the Fairy's Scroll and frees the young hero. After the duo find the Spear, which is the only weapon that can destroy Ganon, the two are confronted by the evil wizard. Although Ganon tries to fight back, Zelda fires an arrow and pins his robe to a tree trunk, giving Link a chance to hurl the Spear. It pierces through Ganon's hand, injuring him gravely, but warns the young heroes that he will come back before disappearing into nothingness.

The Shadow Prince
In The Shadow Prince, Ganon disguises himself as a knight from the land of Moria known as Charles, who has come to visit the kingdom of Hyrule to do good deeds and thus become the king of Moria. He meets Link and Zelda when they are about to be killed by a gang of Moblins, but Charles arrives and easily scares them off. Although Princess Zelda is impressed by his bravery after single-handedly defeating a Darknut, Link distrusts the Morian knight from the moment he meets him.

The King of Hyrule is also quick to trust Charles and shows him the Triforce of Wisdom, dubbing him a knight of the Triforce in the process. Later on in the book, the King of Hyrule, fearing the safety of the Triforce of Wisdom, decides to relocate the Triforce to the Fifth Castle of Ancient Hyrule and chooses Charles to do the task instead of Link. The young hero, furious at the king's decision and saying that Charles cannot be trusted, uses the Mirror of Truth to reveal the knight's true identity. However, Charles quickly takes the Triforce of Wisdom and escapes into the woods with it, where Link defeats him by slashing his necklace, the true source of Ganon's power.

A Link to the Past Comic
In the A Link to the Past comic, Agahnim and Ganon are explicitly shown to be different beings, communicating  between worlds in chapter 5. In this scene, Ganon, who appears as a mere shadow, warns the wizard that a "being with intense emotional energy",  Link, is approaching Hyrule Castle, much to Agahnim's surprise.

Upon Link's arrival to the Dark World, a man transfigured into a tree tells of Ganon's history. Accompanying this tale is a burly, and unkempt man depicted as transforming into a piglike beast, presumed to be an early depiction of Ganondorf.

Ganon himself does not appear until Link, Princess Zelda, and Roam arrive at Ganon's Tower, where he rises from the defeated body of an Agahnim specter. Link attacks Ganon but he is easily thrown back by Ganon's trident. Zelda takes up Roam's crossbow as Link is trapped in between the trident. While Ganon mocks Zelda,   Link uses the opportunity to slash the evil thief's trident in half    and, as he is falling down, the young hero slashes over Ganon's chest,    leaving him paralyzed. Zelda begins to ask for the aid of the maidens and fires an ordinary   arrow from the crossbow, but as it approaches Ganon, the power of the    maidens, Zelda, Link, and Roam, turn the arrow into the Silver Arrow, destroying Ganon. The Triforce   rises from his body, and the Essence of the Triforce tells Link that    the Triforce is waiting for a new master now that Ganon has been    defeated, asking that the young hero touch it with a wish in his heart.

The Adventure of Link Manga (Ran Maru)
In Ran Maru's Adventure of Link manga adaptation Ganon is revived when his alter-ego the Magician uses the current Zelda's blood after she has been killed in battle. Since Zelda's blood is used in place of Link's the revival is incomplete. After Ganon has his magician alter-ego obtain the Triforce, he bursts out of the magician's body. He faces Link outside of North Castle, and is defeated when he is trapped under a boulder.

The Adventure of Link Manga (Yuu Mishouzaki)
In Yuu Mishouzaki's Adventure of Link manga adaptation the Ganon who was killed during The Legend of Zelda is revealed to simply be one part of Ganon, and that his true body is sealed away alongside the first Zelda's in the Great Palace.

When the first Zelda's phantom appears to Link and the current Zelda, she explains that 400 years ago she fought against Ganon and managed to seal him away using two pieces of the Triforce

The piece of Ganon who was defeated three years ago in The Legend of Zelda has managed to reconstruct itself, having taken on the form of Link's Shadow: Dark Link. Link eventually encounters and defeats Dark Link, who then heads to the Great Palace and regains his true body as Ganon - with Dark Link acting as Ganon's core - however Link defeats the Demon King.

Triforce of the gods Manga
In the Japan exclusive manga adaptation of A Link to the Past by Ataru Cagiva, Ganondorf is depicted in the prologue wishing upon the Triforce. As Ganon's human form had yet to be depicted, Ganondorf is depicted as a figure veiled entirely by shadow.

A Link to the Past Manga
Like the A Link to the Past comic, in Akira Himekawa's manga both Agahnim and Ganon are again shown as separate beings with alternate backstories. Sahasrahla tells Link the creation of Hyrule and the story of the Imprisoning War when he meets him at the Eastern Palace, describing Ganondorf as a member of a group of bandits who accidentally found the entrance to the Sacred Realm. It is said that they fought to the death over the Triforce, with only one man left standing, Ganondorf, also known as the evil bandit Ganon. Ganon is seen later in the manga speaking to Agahnim in the form of a giant horned silhouette that bears similarity to his demonic form in, appearing from a great flame in Hyrule Castle Tower and asking that he break the seventh lock and "open the glorious door of evil". Link arrives in time to attempt to rescue Princess Zelda from Agahnim, but is frozen on the spot by Agahnim's magic while the seal is broken, and drawn into the Dark World.

Later, once Link and his two companions reach Ganon's Tower, it is revealed that Agahnim made a pact with Ganon to break the seal in exchange for great power. He had originally intended to use this power to help Hyrule, before he was consumed by his obsession over the Triforce. Desperate and defeated, Agahnim appears before Ganon's shadow once more and begs for more power, but Ganon refuses, striking him down on the spot, stating he has no need for a mortal. Ganon finally reveals himself as a gigantic boar-like monster weilding a trident, and immediately attacks Link. Link manages to parry his first blow and strikes at his arm, causing blood to spray on the ground. Ganon's blood is like acid, and melts Agahnim's body to nothing. Weakened slightly, Ganon reaches out towards the Pyramid of Power as his sizzling body reforms, with the words "Give me more... Give me more power!". In shock at this horrific form, Link questions if this is what happens to people who get the Triforce. Zelda states he is a monster of ever growing greed, and they must stop him before he connects light and dark. Despite being injured, Link summons the strength to unleash one final blow on the monster, striking him in the head and stunning him. Ghanti, another descendant of the Knights of Hyrule and the wielder of the Silver Arrow, fires her bow, charged with Zelda's magic, and strikes Ganon. Ganon is finally destroyed, and his vast evil form melts away to nothing, desperately desiring "More... More... I wanted more..." to the very end.

Majora's Mask Manga
In the, Ganon appears only in Link's memories of the events of Ocarina of Time. After his visit to Osun's academy, Link remembers his last battle with Ganondorf in the future and his return to the past.

Link: The Faces of Evil and Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon
Ganon appears as the main antagonist in and. He bears a much greater resemblance to a bulldog than a pig, although he retains some aspects of his design from the animated series, such as the long, flowing robe and helmet.

In Link: The Faces of Evil, Ganon and his minions had taken siege of the island of Koridai, and had built fortified lairs in their likenesses called the "Faces of Evil", while enslaving many of Koridai's citizens. Word of their hostile take over eventually reaches Hyrule, and soon Link is dispatched to defeat him. However, while Link is away fighting his minions, Ganon captures Zelda and holds her captive under the influence of a sleeping spell. Link eventually reaches Ganon in his lair, inside of Ganon's own Face of Evil on the island. Ganon offers him the choice of an alliance or death, however, Link defeats and imprisons him within the Book of Koridai. With Ganon imprisoned, Link wakes Zelda and peace is restored to Koridai.

In Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon, Ganon and his minions had captured Gamelon and imprisoned its citizens. An urgent request for help is sent by the island's ruler, Duke Onkled, and reaches King Harkinian, who leaves to fight Ganon himself. However, after no word from neither him nor Link after he was sent to investigate the King's disappearance, Zelda leaves for the island along with Impa to find them. They eventually learn that Duke Onkled is working with Ganon in an alliance and had betrayed the King, who was captured by Ganon and is being held in Reesong Palace. Zelda later confronts Ganon inside the palace with the light of the Fairy Lantern, to which Ganon angrily blows her away with dark magic. Zelda uses the Wand of Gamelon to mystically summon chains to bind him, and he is inexplicably trapped in what appears to be the Book of Koridai. He claims that she has not seen the last of him, just before the book closes on him.

In both games, Ganon appears as a simple boss who is instantly defeated by throwing the Book of Koridai or the Wand of Gamelon in their respective games. He attacks by unleashing a string of fireballs, however these can be blocked with the Shield.

Zelda's Adventure
In, Ganon (referred to as Gannon) had captured Link and conquered the land of Tolemac. He had stolen the seven Celestial Signs and hidden them throughout the land's Shrines, guarded by his minions. The wizard Gaspra summons Zelda to undertake the quest to defeat him and rescue Link. Zelda manages to defeat Gannon's minions one by one and locate the Celestial Signs. However, just as she is about to collect the final Sign, Gannon stops her and sends her plummeting down the opened Vision Henge and into his realm. Inside, Zelda challenges the Shrine Keepers in a string of rematches, and a moving, horned device appears after each one is defeated and teleports her to the next room. This device later reveals itself to be Gannon in the final room.

Ganon attacks by releasing waves of electricity, before disappearing and reappearing in a flicker of static. As he has no real weakness, he can be attacked and defeated with merely the Wand. Upon his defeat, his body disappears in a tornado and his realm shatters. His defeat brings peace back to Hyrule and Tolemac, and Link is freed from his captivity.

Hyrule Warriors Series
Ganondorf appears as a playable Warrior in and, as well as the final Giant Boss of the main story in Legend Mode and in certain Adventure Mode battles as Ganon.

Ganondorf resembles his Twilight Princess design with traits that resemble Demise. He has longer hair (resembling Demise's flaming mane), wears two golden gauntlets, and has a more vivid color palette on his armor. Ganondorf fights in a very destructive and brutal style that revolves around mixing quick and powerful attacks with dark magic. He wields dual Great Swords in battle as his primary Weapon. In Hyrule Warriors Legends, Ganondorf has access to an additional Weapon in the form of the Trident, using a fast, hard-hitting style with quick one-handed strikes and charging attacks. This Weapon may be transferred to the Wii U version.

In his beast form, Ganon resembles Dark Beast Ganon from Twilight Princess, incorporating elements of the previous Giant Bosses. Selected items must be used to disarm Ganon when he performs similar attacks to those of the other bosses; Bombs on his right claw when charging a fire ball (similar to King Dodongo), the Bow on his left claw when charging a laser blast (similar to Gohma), the Boomerang on his shoulder spikes after rapidly firing seeds (similar to Manhandla), and the Hookshot on his glowing tail (similar to Argorok). Each successful blow will break a respective part of his body. Once weakened, Ganon becomes vulnerable to Arrows when the gem on his forehead glows when he is about to charge. Striking this knocks Ganon down, revealing his Weak Point Gauge.

Ganondorf occasionally drops his Gauntlet as a silver Material when defeated, and rarely his Jewel as a gold Material. Ganon drops his Mane as a silver Material, and rarely his Fang as a gold Material.

Legend Mode
Prior to the game's events, Ganondorf was split into four pieces and sealed away long ago within different eras and dimensions; the Water Temple of, the Palace of Twilight of , the Sealed Grounds of SS undefined, and one guarded by the Master Sword in the Temple of the Sacred Sword. Although without a body, his influence manages to corrupt Cia, a sorceress tasked with maintaining the balance of the Triforce, into a crazed witch with a strong desire for Link. His influence persuades her into opening the Gate of Souls, with which she uses to summon monsters and wages a war over Hyrule. After stealing the two Triforce pieces from Link and Sheik, thereby reuniting all three Triforce pieces, she uses the gate to retrieve three of Ganondorf's dark fragments. Although his body is still yet to be complete, Ganondorf grows impatient and manifests his body's form in an attempt to steal Cia's stolen Triforce pieces. She subdues him however after returning the two pieces back to Link and Zelda. He appears again in the Temple of Souls, commanding Rogue Forces as he attempts to take the Triforce pieces from their owners. He is defeated by Link before he can capture Zelda.

Ganondorf does not return until Cia is defeated, when the seal in the Master Sword's chamber finally breaks as a result of the sword being removed, thus freeing his last fragment and reviving him again. For three Scenarios, Ganondorf becomes playable as he creates and leads an army to take the Triforce pieces. He summons Zant and Ghirahim to lead under his command, threatening to return them to their imprisonment unless they serve him, and takes over the monster stronghold in Gerudo Desert. He invades the Valley of Seers, where he manages to defeat Lana and take the Triforce of Power that had been bestowed to her by Cia. He then takes Link's and Zelda's Triforce pieces in Hyrule Field, and takes over the castle. After the Hyrulean Forces defeat the stronghold at the desert, they return to Ganon's Tower to defeat Ganondorf. He is defeated by Link, but uses the Triforce to transform into Ganon. He is however again defeated with the Light Arrows that Zelda bestows to Link, which returns the Triforce pieces to Link, Zelda and Lana. They use the Triforce pieces to imprison Ganon's spirit again.

Ganon's Fury
In the Boss Pack DLC exclusive to the Wii U version of Hyrule Warriors, Ganon in his beast form becomes a playable character in the extra Challenge Mode, Ganon's Fury. He shares many attributes to the normal playable Warriors, but handles differently as he is much larger in size.

Ganon starts out with maxed out Special Attack Gauges and can level up normally, although he has no Weapons to gain nor can he be upgraded at the Bazaar. He attacks mainly using his claws by swinging and smacking them against the ground, but lacks combo strings for Strong Attacks. His Strong Attack, however, has him slash at the ground, creating red energy beams that linger and knock away enemies. A second button press has him swipe with his other hand to create more. Ganon also has a ram attack mapped to the ZL button, as well as a spin attack performed by pressing up on the D-Pad. Due to his enormous size, Ganon does not flinch to most enemy attacks. Instead of traditional items, Ganon uses "Boss Attacks", which he gains from defeating Giant Bosses. These attacks are based on the attacks that these bosses use. They can be used as many times as desired and have the added benefit of knocking down Giant Bosses without having to wait for their exposed Weak Point Gauges to appear. Additionally, because of his massive size and strength, Ganon is able to normally combat bosses and cause them to flinch. In his Focus Spirit Attack and Weak Point Smash for bosses, he employs the use of his Trident. Like his original form, Ganon is of the Darkness Element.

Super Smash Bros. Series

 * See article on  for more information.

Ganondorf appears as an unlockable playable character in the. In, he is unlocked after the "Triforce Gathering" event match or by playing 600 matches. After any of those have been achieved, he will have to be fought in. If beaten, he will be unlocked for use in the game. His moves and animations (with the exception of his taunt and victory animations) are almost identical to those of, save for a difference in speed, power, and effect. Ganondorf is slow moving but overall the most powerful character in the game. However, his lack of speed can be compensated with "" which allows Ganondorf to be played with both power and relative speed, making him a mid-tier. In his game's artwork, Ganondorf wields a sword, although it only appears in the actual game in one of his victory animations. Ganondorf's design, with sword included, is based on the SpaceWorld 2000 GameCube Tech Demo.

In, Ganondorf is unlocked by playing through as Link or Zelda on Hard difficulty, playing 200 matches in Brawl mode, or playing through The Subspace Emissary until he joins the party. His moveset appears largely unchanged. However, many of his animations were changed from the ones he used to share with Captain Falcon. His appearance is based on his Twilight Princess incarnation, like Link and Zelda. He does not use his sword to battle, but draws it out in one of his taunts. His moveset still features some of the dark purple magic he is seen using in Melee. His movement speed was lowered from Melee, and though most of his attacks can KO at low percentages, he is considered to be a low-tier character and is currently ranked as the worst character in the game.

The Subspace Emissary also marks the first time Ganondorf teams up with Link and Zelda to fight a common enemy. In this new story mode, Ganondorf reprises his villainous role and helps the as a servant of  along with, who he later betrays and turns into a trophy with a. Later on, it is discovered that Master Hand was being puppeteered by the main antagonist:. When Ganondorf sees this, he is enraged and charges at him, but Tabuu easily sends him flying backwards and turns him into a Trophy. He is knocked into Master Hand, and in the process, severs the strings controlling him. Later, on the way to Tabuu, Bowser discovers the trophy of Ganondorf and begins to brutalize it as an act of revenge for his betrayal. Shortly afterward, he is discovered by Link and Zelda, who agree on resurrecting him. Initially responding with anger and a headache, Ganondorf joins them to help out in the final fight against Tabuu.

Ganondorf returns as an unlockable character in. His moveset only has minor changes from his Brawl incarnation. Like all characters in the game, he can be modified with custom moves.

Ganondorf's Final Smash is Dark Beast Ganon. For a brief time, Ganondorf will transform into his boar form, Ganon, and lunge forward, trying to ram his opponents off the stage.

Animal Crossing: New Leaf
Ganon was added as a villager in the Welcome amiibo update of Animal Crossing: New Leaf, alongside Wolf Link, Epona, and Medli. He closely resembles his incarnation from The Legend of Zelda and A Link to the Past. If the Ganondorf amiibo is scanned into the game, Ganon will show up at the campground and can be asked to move into the town. He has a Cranky personality, and is thus introverted and often rude, though becomes quite kind after being befriended.

Trivia

 * Ganon's birthday in Animal Crossing: New Leaf is February 21st, the day that The Legend of Zelda was first released in Japan. This also makes his astrological sign a Pisces.