History Monster / TheLegendOfZelda

* ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess Twilight Princess]]'': [[PsychopathicManchild Zant]] is a maniacal member of the Twili who [[DealWithTheDevil aligns himself]] with [[Characters/TheLegendOfZeldaGanonGanondorf Ganondorf]] in exchange for power, before overthrowing Midna and conquering the Twilight Realm, earning the title of "[[TheUsurper Usurper King]]". After [[ForcedTransformation transforming]] Midna into an imp and turning the rest of their kind into mindless Shadow Beasts, Zant begins extending his tyrannical reign into Hyrule. There, he executes the Zora queen in front of her people and freezes them all, leaving them to die; invades Hyrule Castle and forces Princess Zelda to surrender in exchange for the lives of her people; envelops Castle Town in Twilight, turning all of its citizens into terrified spirits; and attempts to permanently trap Link in a wolf form and kill Midna by forcing her into the light. When confronted in his palace, Zant calls the duo "traitors", ranting about how he alone deserves the throne before viciously attacking Link in a final battle. Despite being a mere [[PuppetKing pawn]] in Ganondorf's scheme, Zant stands out due to his sheer depravity and treacherous nature.

** [[Characters/TheLegendOfZeldaGanonGanondorf Ganondorf]] is a "[[MaouTheDemonKing Demon King]]" and former thief who was banished to the Twilight Realm after his attempted bloody conquest of Hyrule was prematurely halted by Zelda's time-travelling. Not to be deterred from his goals, Ganondorf seduced the [[AmbitionIsEvil ambitious Zant]] to become his emissary, and used Zant to stage a murderous coup against the Twilight Realm royalty, murdering the elders and unleashing hordes of beasts onto the land. Ganondorf schemes to merge Hyrule and the Twilight Realm into one world that he can plunge into [[HellOnEarth an eternal nightmare of death and decay]], and when Link tries to stop him, Ganondorf sadistically uses Zelda as a puppet and tries to kill Link in a torturous way. Even when beaten and offered peace by Link, [[SpitefulSuicide Ganondorf chooses to kill himself out of spite]], knowing he will reincarnate and continue to plague Hyrule for ages to come.

* ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast A Link to the Past]]'': [[Characters/TheLegendOfZeldaGanonGanondorf Ganon]] was once the fearsome bandit lord [[AdaptationalVillainy Ganondorf]], who betrayed and slaughtered his followers and allies to claim the Tri-Force for himself. Using its power to transform the Sacred Realm into the Dark World, Ganon corrupts all life in the Realm into [[AndIMustScream mutated monstrosities]] of suffering and destruction. Though sealed away, Ganon contacts and corrupts the scholar [[DecompositeCharacter Agahnim]] into becoming his servant, sowing chaos through Hyrule to pave the way for Ganon to subsume it into his Dark World of pain. When Agahnim accomplishes his goal, Ganon repays him by [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness murdering him]] and mocking that he never planned to share his power as promised.

[[AC:Main Games]]

* ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaPhantomHourglass Phantom Hourglass]]'': [[EldritchAbomination Bellum]] is [[AdaptationalVillainy given sapience]], yet still carries out his atrocities to fuel his sadistic appetite. The ArchEnemy of the Ocean King, Bellum would drain his foe's life force to the point where he becomes a frail and weak old man, Oshu, as a result, and would still drain Oshu's remaining life force, slowly killing him. Bellum would then use the Ocean King's temple to drain the life-force of the Ocean King's inhabitants, while constructing the Ghost Ship to find and lure countless more victims; including Linebeck's crew and Tetra, whom Bellum [[TakenForGranite petrified]]. He would then [[DemonicPossession possess]] Linebeck and force him to kill his friend, Link, before allowing Linebeck to commit suicide so he can consume his life force afterwards. Forced out of Linebeck's body, Bellum would drag the Ocean King down further into the depths of the sea in an attempt to kill him.

->''"And when you do fall, know that your world and everything in it is mine to dominate...Mine to subjugate...Mine to rule! When I finish with you, you can take solace in knowing your friends and kin will soon follow, as I wipe all who oppose me from the face of this world!...It won't be long now. At last, the almighty power I've sought for millennia...I will take the Triforce for my own…And the world shall be under my foot for eternity!"''
-->—'''Demon King Demise''' to Link before the final battle, ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword Skyward Sword]]''

** [[MaouTheDemonKing Demon King Demise]] himself, aka [[SealedEvilInACan The Imprisoned]], is the progenitor of almost all evil in the franchise. The king of monsters, Demise attempted to steal the Triforce for himself while leaving death and destruction in his wake, ultimately resulting in him being sealed away by the goddess Hylia. Demise schemes to return to power by devouring the soul of Hylia's reincarnation, Zelda, guiding the actions of his LivingWeapon Ghirahim before painfully twisting the willing Ghirahim back into a sword the second the latter's freed Demise from his seal. Demise attempts to annihilate the world and all who would oppose him, only entertaining Link's bravery out of amusement while promising him his friends and family will follow him in death. When Demise finds himself bested by Link, Demise [[DyingCurse spitefully curses]] "those who share the blood of the goddess and the spirit of the hero" with "[[Characters/TheLegendOfZeldaGanonGanondorf an incarnation of [his] hatred]]...dooming them to wander a blood-soaked sea of darkness for all time".
** [[AxCrazy Demon Lord Ghirahim]] is the sadistic soul of Demise's weapon. [[TheHeavy Seeking to free his master]], Ghirahim kidnaps Zelda, willing to agonizingly feed her soul to unleash Demise. Attempting to awaken multiple monsters to kill Link and eventually desiring to torture Link to death himself, Ghirahim [[WeHaveReserves summons an army of monsters to buy time]], saying [[BadBoss they can die by Link's blade or his own]], even [[DieLaughing gleefully giving his own life]] to awaken Demise and see the entire world ravaged by Demise's monstrosity.

* ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkBetweenWorlds A Link Between Worlds]]'': [[EvilSorcerer Yuga]] starts off working with Princess Hilda of Lorule to capture Hyrule's Sages to revive [[Characters/TheLegendOfZeldaGanonGanondorf Ganon]] so the Triforce of Power can be returned to the mortal plane. He also imprisons several soldiers around Hyrule Castle by [[PhantomZonePicture turning them into paintings]]. Yuga merges with Ganon and mercilessly attacks Link, only to be stopped by Hilda who sets him off to free the Sages. After all the Sages are freed, Link gains the Triforce of Courage. After wearing Yuga down, he then betrays Hilda, puts her in a painting, and then merges with her to get her stolen Triforce of Wisdom. [[NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist Yuga himself reveals that he didn't care about restoring Lorule at all]]; all he wanted was to reshape it [[InTheirOwnImage in his own image]]. He even tries to cause Lorule's destruction at the end for that purpose, with only Link standing in his way.