The Legend of Zelda: The Triforce Wielders / Characters

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The Triforce WieldersRecurring: Goddesses and Allies, Villains and Enemies, Races Main Series: The Legend of Zelda, Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, A Link to the Past, Link's Awakening, Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, Oracle games, Four Swords, The Wind Waker, Four Swords Adventures, The Minish Cap, Twilight Princess, Phantom Hourglass, Spirit Tracks, Skyward Sword, A Link Between Worlds, Tri Force Heroes, Breath of the Wild & Tears of the Kingdom Spin-Offs: Philips CD-i Games, Hyrule Warriors, Cadence of Hyrule, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity

DISCLAIMER - Some spoilers for some games in the franchise are unmarked

The three main characters, whose actions form the basis of The Legend of Zelda as a whole. Each one of them wields a piece of the Triforce, making them the Chosen Ones for their respective Goddess.

Link possesses the Triforce of Courage, and is the Chosen of Farore.
Zelda possesses the Triforce of Wisdom, and is the Chosen of Nayru.
Ganon possesses the Triforce of Power, and is the Chosen of Din.

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Tropes

In General

The Chosen One: Of their respective Triforce pieces — Link is always Courage, Zelda is always Wisdom, and Ganondorf is always Power. Ganondorf in particular is even granted the Triforce of Power in the Child Timeline when he's about to be executed in Twilight Princess, which the Sages see as a "divine prank".
Chromatic Arrangement: Red, Blue, and Green for Ganondorf, Zelda, and Link, respectively. This is also the order of their Triforce arrangement, reading from the top, then left, then to the right.
Divine Conflict: Skyward Sword reveals that while they use the powers of three Golden Goddesses, the conflict is ultimately derived from the battle between two specific lesser divine beings, the Goddess Hylia and Demon King Demise, and the mortal chosen as the former's champion.
Hereditary Curse: Ganondorf, or something else controlling the Moblin and demon forces, will appear in every era that Zelda and Link reincarnate in just to cause trouble for them. At the same time, those two are the only people that can defeat him, and it's implied by Miyamoto it may in fact be the other way around: Zelda and Link only reincarnate when evil returns to threaten Hyrule. Skyward Sword spells out the reason for at least one of these problems: Ganondorf is the product of the curse of Demise destined to plague Link and Zelda's descendants.
Humans by Any Other Name: Link and Zelda are Hylians, while Ganondorf is a Gerudo. Apart from the Pointy Ears (which Ganondorf didn't even originally have), both races are virtually indistinguishable from real-life humans.
Interpretative Character: Justified, given Hyrule's lengthy history and the splitting of timelines. While their basic attributes remain unchanged, the circumstances behind their encounters vary throughout each game.
Legacy Character: There have been about twelve Links, thirteen Zeldas, and three Ganondorfs according to Hyrule Historia and the mainline games. Spin-off and non-canon media add even more.
- Hylian heroes known as "Link" are all reincarnations or successors of Hylia's Chosen Hero from the era before Skyward Sword.
- Females born into the royal family were often named Zelda in honor of the one from Skyward Sword, who was Hylia herself incarnated into human form. The Back Story of The Adventure of Link explained that this eventually became a requirement for every female in the family (at least within its timeline) in honor of that game's Zelda.
- According to official canon, most variants of Ganon seen throughout the series are their timeline's versions of the original Ganondorf from Ocarina of Time, resurrected or unsealed over the centuries. The two exceptions are the Four Swords Adventures incarnation and the Tears of the Kingdom incarnation, with the former actually being a reincarnation like Link and Zelda, the original Ganondorf having been Killed Off for Real in Twilight Princess. The Tears of the Kingdom incarnation lived at the founding of that iteration of Hyrule and is shown to have had a different backstory from the previous two. This implies Ganon in general can reincarnate just as much as the other Triforce Wielders, he simply doesn't need to most of the time because of his near-immortality.
Magic Knight: Link and Ganondorf are most often associated with the sword and trident respectively (though Ganon uses swords too, and Link can really use anything), and as of Wind Waker, Zelda gets a bow. They can all use magic as well.
Multiple-Choice Chosen: Implied to be the case. Link, Zelda and Ganondorf are the chosen bearers of the Triforce—but it's left ambiguous as to whether they are worthy because they were chosen, or chosen because they were worthy. For example, Ganon originally had to claim his piece of the Triforce through his own cunning, and Link (or whatever Hero retroactively given that name) often has to pass several tests of courage before being allowed to wield his. The original Zelda may be an exception (because she was a benevolent goddess in human form), but she also has to prove herself wise or just before the Triforce manifests. Given this information, it's possible that if Zelda, Link and Ganon weren't Wise, Courageous or Power-hungry, the Triforce wouldn't have chosen them.... but then they wouldn't be Zelda, Link or Ganon, either.
Power Tattoo: They sometimes bear the mark of the Triforce on the back of their dominant hand (usually left for Link, always right for the others), with the piece symbolizing the pieces they own glowing the brightest. The symbol can also appear when magic abilities are triggered.
Power Trio: In spinoffs, they sometimes work together, but never in the main canon.
Reincarnation: No matter how many centuries pass in Hyrule, new incarnations of the three characters will always surface. However, some games such as Twilight Princess and Breath of the Wild imply these may simply be successors of the previous characters, rather than reborn versions of them.
Xanatos Gambit: From their forebearers. If the Triforce splits, Ganondorf and Zelda, via Demise and Hylia, are guaranteed to get their pieces, with a Link/Hero Spirit showing up to tip the balance in Hylia/Zelda's favor. Link can apparently touch the full Triforce without breaking it, however.

The Wielders

Link

Debut: The Legend of Zelda
Voiced by: Nobuyuki Hiyama (The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, Super Smash Bros. 64, Super Smash Bros. Melee (as an adult)), Fujiko Takimoto (The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (young)), Sachi Matsumoto (The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Toon)), Akira Sasanuma (The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U), Yūki Kodaira (The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks), Takashi Ohara (The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, Mario Kart 8), Mitsuki Saiga (The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (Switch)), Kengo Takanashi (The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate), Yūki Kaji (Hyrule Warriors)

The main playable character(s) and hero(es) of the series. The various incarnations of Link across the series vary in backstory, age, and personality, but there are a few constants. The simplest way to describe Link is that he's an everyman peasant boy who discovers he is The Chosen One, a hero preordained by the gods to save the kingdom of Hyrule (and frequently, its Princess) from the forces of evil. This quest usually involves him proving himself worthy of a Sword of Plot Advancement and using it to save a group of Barrier Maidens and/or securing a few MacGuffins.

Though Link is one of the most prominent Heroic Mimes in video games, he does have a personality, shown through facial expressions and physicality, as well as just the framing of the narrative and the choices he makes. As one would expect of the Hero of Hyrule he tends to be virtuous, selfless, and determined. Along with Zelda and Ganondorf, Link is one of the predesignated three wielders of the pieces of the Triforce, the Triforce of Courage, and he is often associated with the goddess Farore, who among other domains created the forest and the wind. Link's connection with the Triforce of Courage is due to his Heroic Spirit that has allowed his various incarnations to overcome innumerable dangers to save Hyrule no matter how badly the odds are stacked against him.

The Ace: He is a powerful swordsman, (sometimes) a magic user, a skilled adventurer, and a legendary hero whose incarnations unfailingly appear across the centuries.
Action Hero: He is a warrior, this is a given.
Adorably Precocious Child: Even in his younger incarnations, Link is righteous and unbreakable.
All-Loving Hero: Link will help those around him, no matter what. Affiliation, race, and different dimension mean little to him. To him, helping is helping. This is quite possibly why he's the chosen of the Triforce Of Courage. It takes true courage to be willing to help so many people without a second thought for your safety.
Alternate Self: The events of Ocarina of Time split the timeline in three, making the Links seen in the Decline, Adult, and Child timelines this to each other. He also has a cowardly Lorule counterpart named Ravio.
Ambiguously Related: All Links are the reincarnation of the Spirit of the Hero, but there is one instance in which he canonically reincarnates in one of his descendants: namely, the Hero of Twilight from Twilight Princess was a descendant of the Hero of Time from Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask. However, since the Hero of Winds from The Wind Waker was stated to NOT be related to him, this seems to point that, unlike Zelda, who always reincarnates in the Royal Family of Hyrule, the Spirit of the Hero can reincarnate outside of his own bloodline (or at least, out of the direct line).
Ancestral Weapon:
- Twilight Princess Link is a descendant of the Hero of Time, making the Master Sword this. It's also implied that most Links descend from the very first recorded Link, the Hero of the Sky (though as Wind Waker shows, they don't have to - but then again, the Hero of Winds could just be a descendant of a different branch of the family).
- The Rito in Breath of the Wild understandably conclude that the Master Sword is this to their contemporary Link, but for several reasons, it actually isn't.
Animorphism: In A Link to the Past, he turned into a rabbit, and in Twilight Princess, a wolf. The manga adaptation of the former by Akira Himekawa has him turn into a wolf as well.
The Artifact: His status as a Heroic Mime became this as later games give him more pre-defined personality traits and relationships.
Audience Surrogate: This is the reason his name is Link.
Badass Adorable: Well, look at him. Even the older Links tends to get a "d'aww" out of fans when they get their cute on.
Badass Biker: In Mario Kart 8, seeing as his default vehicle is a motorbike, along with the Master Cycle Zero in the Breath of the Wild DLC.
Badass Bookworm: Not only is he a skilled warrior, he is also smart enough to solve an impressive amount of puzzles. Happens literally, too; in The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, he retrieves a book from the library to help translate ancient text throughout the game.
Badass Normal: Zelda and Ganon are revealed in Skyward Sword to be reincarnations of powerful deities who fought over the Triforce, explaining how they are able to wield powerful magic even when they lack their respective pieces of the Triforce. Link, in contrast, has always been a mundane Hylian even in his earliest incarnations, with whatever magical abilities he uses being either a Bequeathed Power or activated with some enchanted item. He's still able to hold his own against various Physical Gods and Eldritch Abominations.
Beware the Nice Ones: He's generally portrayed as a friendly, kindhearted young man who tends to go out of his way to help those in distress. He is also the avatar of Courage, and has a history of beating the hell out of everything from dragons to demigods.
BFS:
- He is able to use larger-than-average swords in some games, such as the Biggoron's Sword and the Great Fairy Sword.
- In Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword, the Master Sword is almost as long as he is tall.
- In Breath of the Wild, he can use huge claymores, axes, and other such two-handed weapons.
Big Brother Instinct: To Aryll in The Wind Waker, and to all the kids in Ordon Village in Twilight Princess.
Blue Blood: Possibly, depending how you take the ending of Skyward Sword. It has Demise's ending dialogue ambiguously imply that both the Links and the Zeldas all have the 'blood of the Goddess' since that Zelda is Hylia reincarnated and has Link and Zelda starting a life on the surface together after a game of Ship Tease and their Loftwings flying off together. Since at least some of the Links are implied to be directly related to one another (the Hero of Time is explicitly an ancestor of the Hero of Twilight), and he's implied to be their ancestor... it's entirely possible that they descend from a branch (or several) of the royal family that split off.
Blue Is Heroic: Blue is a common color worn by him besides green. He starts off with blue outfit in The Wind Waker and the Champion's Tunic, his most observed outfit in Breath of the Wild, is bright blue.
Born Winner: Averted. He may be destined to be The Chosen One who will fight Ganon, but that doesn't mean he's destined to win. He has canonically failed at least a few times. Namely in Ocarina of Time, where he ends up inadvertently giving Ganondorf access to the Triforce in a silver platter, allowing him to rule Hyrule for 7 years, and even fails again in the Downfall Timeline, where he is down-straight killed. And then again in Breath of the Wild, where he falls during the Great Calamity, putting him in a slumber that takes 100 years, in which Hyrule is left to ruin.
Bootstrapped Leitmotif: Ever since The Wind Waker, the Main Theme of the Zelda series has also served as Link's own character theme, to the point of being used as such in a diagetic way in Skyward Sword with "Song of the Hero".
Bow and Sword in Accord: While he has a vast array of weaponry, he is rarely seen without a sword or a bow.
Canon Name: For most of the series, the player could choose the name of the hero. His canon name, however, is Link. Breath of the Wild cements this by virtue of the player not getting the option to rename Link, likely due to the game having voiced cutscenes. Amusingly, this is also the case in the decidedly non-canon CDI games, which also had voiced cutscenes.
Carry a Big Stick: Link always uses a sword as his primary weapon, but in several games he also finds large hammers. The hammers are often slower and harder to wield than the swords, but they do a lot of damage when they hit. Some enemies simply can't be beaten without hammers, especially enemies with hard shells.
The Champion: Zelda's, whenever she's more than a cameo. Kind of the point, really.
Chaste Hero: Generally, although subject to a few exceptions:
- He is kissed by Zelda once in The Adventure of Link and again in the Oracle series.
- There is also Puppy Love between Link and Zelda in Spirit Tracks.
- In Skyward Sword, he and Zelda actually go on a date. Hell, they found the Royal Family of Hyrule.
- The Link from Twilight Princess is canonically a bloodline descendant of the Hero of Time. Whether he got married or simply had a single romantic evening, that Link passed on his genes one way or another.
- The original Japanese text of Breath of the Wild has the Adventure log written in the first person, as in Link being the one who writes them, including him giving his own opinions about the situation at hand. Notably, whenever he writes about Princess Zelda, the writing has some really heavy romantic undertones. Given that Zelda canonically falls in love with Link in this era, the log entries heavily indicates that he reciprocates. Plus, this is supported by the symbolism used in other moments of the story as well. This was changed in the translations to other languages (except for Russian, for some reason), making the entries address the player instead.
- Tears of the Kingdom adds to the ship tease, where Zelda now lives in what previous was labeled as Link's house. Although it is referred to as Zelda's house now, everything in the house is set up for two people, except that there's only one bed, which suggests the two are living together.
Chick Magnet: Mostly in his adult incarnations, he's often the (implied) recipient of the affections of several women/girls at once. Breath of the Wild takes this to bigger extremes than most; Zelda, Mipha, Paya, as well as a few scattered, less story-relevant NPCsfound around Hyrule, all explicitly have crushes on him to varying degrees. The non-canon spin-off game Hyrule Warriors riffs on this idea by having the Big Bad be one of Link's many admirers who took things too far.
The Chosen One:
- In A Link to the Past, Ocarina of Time, the Oracle series, Twilight Princess, and Skyward Sword. "The Hero Chosen by the Gods," indeed. The major exception is The Wind Waker, where he is The Unchosen One and he has to find the Triforce of Courage himself and prove his worthiness to be the hero.
- Played with in The Adventure of Link; despite possessing a mark on his hand indicating that he is the only one worthy of obtaining the Triforce of Courage and awakening Zelda, he still has to prove himself by running the gauntlet of the Great Palace and taking it for himself.
Chronic Hero Syndrome: Link will find himself helping random citizens in his quest to save Hyrule.
Clothes Make the Legend: To the point that, in The Wind Waker, Twilight Princess, and Spirit Tracks, there is a reason as to why he wears the so-called "Hero's Clothes".
Color Motif: He's almost always associated with the color green, due to his trademark clothes, his connection with nature (he often starts his adventures in a forest in the countryside), and the Triforce of Courage (the piece of the goddess Farore, who is also associated with green). Very often, blue and indigo serve as secondary colors for him too (the Hylian Shield, the Master Sword, the glow of its attacks, etc..)
Combat Pragmatist: Though he's skilled with a sword, the majority of his battles have him coming up with a more clever way to take his foe down than simply head-on combat, such as irritating Valoo even more (the point of the battle was to get rid of the source of his irritation) so he causes a stone slab on the ceiling to drop on Gohma. This mostly happens out of necessity, as Link might not be able to damage the foe normally, but in fights he CAN win with just his sword, there are often alternate methods of defeating the opponent, like reflecting energy balls with a net, or using a hammer instead of a sword.
Conveniently an Orphan: Link never has his parents appear in-game, and it's usually implied that they died some time before. He's occasionally lucky enough to have a few blood-relatives.
Cool Sword: It's called the friggin' Master Sword!
Cosmic Keystone: He is the destined bearer of the Triforce of Courage, ⅓ of a divine wish-granting artifact.
Costume Evolution: The exact look of Link's Hero outfit varies from game to game, but in the original games — and most of the games set in the Decline timeline — it has yellow trim. Ocarina of Time gave him tights, while Twilight Princess added chainmail and pants.
Crazy-Prepared: Has a weapon/item for every possible situation.
Dark Is Not Evil: He makes use of Twilight-based magic in Twilight Princess and he wields the power of the Ambiguously Evil Fierce Deity's Mask in Majora's Mask, but remains a hero.
David Versus Goliath: Very frequently takes the role of David. It's actually to his advantage, as most attacks send him flying and give him room to recover.
Depending on the Artist: The different Links have often wildly divergent appearances. The only real constants are his green tunic and hat, and even those aren't seen often in Breath of the Wild.
- Early Links especially were distinct from his current appearances: he had a brown undershirt, hair wandering somewhere between auburn and brown, and designs that switched between an anime-influenced artstyle to more realistic high fantasy designs and back. He even had pink hair in his The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past sprites, albeit this was due to hardware limitations, and appeared with brown hair in promotion material. Sometime in the late 2000s, Link's appearance was largely standardized to just two blond models: the young "Toon Link", and the older more realistic teenage Bishōnen. However, a more consistent version of the original, brown-shirted design made a minor comeback with A Link Between Worlds, and has since reappeared in Cadence of Hyrule and the Link's Awakening remake.
- His eyes are usually very blue, but in The Wind Waker and other games featuring "Toon Link", they're black.
- As mentioned above, Breath of the Wild mostly does away with the classic green tunic, relegating it to your reward for beating all Shrines and the previous tunics appearing as Amiibo bonuses. He's still unmistakably Link in facial features, but his new main outfit is the blue Champion's Tunic.
Death Glare: Normally, Link has a pretty calm and sometimes even happy expression, so when you see him frowning at an enemy, you know shit is getting real. Skyward Sword would be the best example, but there are instances before that - the Hero of Twilight was noted repeatedly as having a piercing and almost feral stare.
Demolitions Expert: Bombs have been a standard part of his arsenal since the early days, and over the years he's gotten more creative in their usage.
The Determinator: On top of Link’s lionhearted courage, he never gives up despite facing near-impossible odds and severe setbacks in almost every game. The Hero of Time takes this to the extreme in Majora’s Mask where he never gives up on trying to save Termina from imminent destruction despite being forced to repeat the same three days countless times and seeing his efforts continually reset.
Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Since the Big Bad of each game tends to be some sort of Eldritch Abomination, yes. Yes, he does. Frequently.
Die, Chair, Die!: All Links seem to share an instinctive hatred of pottery and tall grass.
Earn Your Title: Despite being The Chosen One, every incarnation of Link still must to overcome a series of tests designed to test his virtues and see if he can be the Hero of Hyrule.
Emerald Power: He wears green clothes, his homeland is most games is a lush forest, and Farore, his patron goddess, is also symbolized by green.
Eternal Hero: Skyward Sword and Hyrule Historia imply that each Link is the incarnation of the "Spirit of the Hero", therefore making successive Links the reincarnations (and in many cases, descendants) of their predecessors. Hyrule Warriors is the first game — albeit not part of the established timeline — to explicitly state this to be the case. Hyrule Historia notes that not all of them may have even been named Link, but that the name is given by the storytellers who recount the Legends of Zelda. This is a Lamp Shade on the fact that you can name the character in every game, but even in-universe previous Links are only referred to by titles such as The Hero of Men, Hero of Time, or Hero of Winds, never by given name. And though characters may note that the current Link is wearing The Hero's Clothes, wielding the same Cool Sword, or having the same spirit, they never say that he has the same name. Of course, this wording is right after "they could be the same person, [or] relatives...", so they could mean family name.
Experienced Protagonist: Certain Links are continuing their stories from a previous installment (usually in a new land), such as the one from The Adventure of Link being the same Link from the first game, but going on a new quest to awaken a (different) princess. The Link from Breath of the Wild is one of these despite not having starred in a previous game; before being caught up in the adventure, he was already a knight. Specifically, he was Princess Zelda's personal bodyguard, and had quite a good deal of practical experience in battle.
Expy: His design in the first game was based on the Disney version of Peter Pan.
Farmboy: In Twilight Princess. Also more generally, while not farmboys per se, most Links tend to lead fairly simple lives in rural or suburban settings before being drawn into an adventure (such as being an apprentice blacksmith in The Minish Cap and A Link Between Worlds). As a royal guard, Breath of the Wild's Link is an aversion, though even he is said to be a "commoner" who grew up under humble circumstances.
Featureless Protagonist: Was this for the first few games (well, sort of), but with additions over time of backstory, family members, and motivations other than "save Zelda", seems to be beginning to grow out of it.
Forced Transformation: His wolf transformation in Twilight Princess, his Deku form in Majora's Mask, and his rabbit-form in A Link to the Past are all initially forced upon him by outside forces. He does usually manage to find ways to put his transformations to good use, though, especially once he manages to gain control of them.
Friend to All Living Things: Especially noted in Twilight Princess, where all animals in-game have a grand fondness in him. Part of his kind and helpful demeanor comes from having bonds with almost anything he meets. As well as the fact that his patron Goddess, Farore, was responsible for creating all life forms on Earth.
Genius Bruiser: In addition to being a formidable warrior, Link is also an excellent puzzle-solver and strategist.
Good Is Not Soft: Link is most often a humble farmboy, but when things get messy, the bad guys will be destroyed.
Guest Fighter: In Soul Calibur II on the GameCube, or at least his Ocarina of Time/Majora's Mask incarnation.
Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: About half of Link's incarnations have blond hair and, true to the trope, he is often kind to the people he meets.
Handicapped Badass: Link loses his right arm at the beginning of Tears of the Kingdom, getting it replaced shortly after. This doesn't make him any less capable.
Hello, [Insert Name Here]: Although his Canon Name "Link" is used extensively everywhere, you get to name the lad in almost every game. While at least one of the Links could've actually been named Link — for example, in Breath of the Wild Zelda's spoken dialogue actually calls him this — the other heroes' real names have been lost to history, so it's open to interpretation.
Heroes Prefer Swords: Many of Link's incarnations are highly skilled swordsmen, or become them over the course of their adventures, and all of them wield swords as their primary weapon.
Heroic Ambidexterity: After the Wii port of Twilight Princess (and, to a greater extent, Skyward Sword and Breath of the Wild in general) had right-handed Links, Word of God has stated that the Links are actually ambidextrous (and hand preference depends on the incarnation).
Heroic Mime:
- Aside from battle cries, Link never says a word — that the audience can hear, at least; NPCs often react as though he does, indicating that his dialogue is supposed to be imagined by the player. Occasionally, he gets a Dialogue Tree. Also, at some points in The Wind Waker, where he very clearly calls out "Come on!" during the escort missions. This is averted again in Twilight Princess. The main Link doesn't speak audibly, but Hyrule Historia says that the Spirit Advisor Hero's Shade is the ghost of the Link from Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask, and he speaks plenty.
- He's actually seen talking during cutscenes in Twilight Princes, Skyward Sword, A Link Between Worlds, and Breath of the Wild, and an NPC in Twilight Princess further comments on Link's voice carrying well. The audience just doesn't hear anything, although they get the gist of it if they have been following the game's plot.
- This doesn't apply to the manga adaptations, where Link just speaks normally and the reader gets to see it.
- In Breath of the Wild, whenever dialogue options come up, they're phrased as actual dialogue. Also, while he himself is never heard speaking, in a flashback, Zelda directly quotes something he told her. It's revealed in Zelda's diary in Hyrule castle that he had told her that he keeps a stoic and silent front because of the pressures that he feels from being the chosen hero. Mipha, who knew Link when they were younger, also remarks that he used to be more talkative before taking on Championhood.
Heroic Lineage:
- Some of the Links in the series are descendants of others, though most are not. Given the nature of the timeline he belongs to (ie: the timeline Link died in), even the original Link isn't related to his canonical predessor, the Hero of Time. Nor is the Hero of Winds, though his decendent is the protagonist of Spirit Tracks. Several games don't specify one way or the other, though Skyward Sword and Hyrule Historia imply that all of the various Links are reincarnations of the Spirit of Hylia's Chosen Hero.
- Breath of the Wild gives Link a different sort of heroic lineage in the form of having him come from a long line of Hyrulian Knights.
Heroic Spirit: Whether the obstacles are diabolic puzzles or demon kings, nothing stops Link when people need him. Lampshaded in Skyward Sword, which explains that he's The Chosen One specifically because of this.
Hero of Another Story: Some games feature incarnations of Link that aren't playable, like Minish Cap's Hero of Men.
Horse Archer: Originally, the only thing that he could use while riding Epona was his bow.
Hot-Blooded: If there's one thing all of Link's incarnations have in common, it's passion.
Humble Hero: Humility is officially described as one of his virtues. In some games, Link hails from a humble background and is pretty happy with that kind of life until duty comes calling.
Hyperspace Arsenal: A sword, shield, bow, boomerang, bombs, and a hookshot. And those are just his standard items.
Iconic Item: The Master Sword and the Hylian Shield are almost as iconic of him as...
Iconic Outfit:
- His trademark green tunic and hat. Its first canonical appearance was the green version of the knight's uniform in Skyloft. Somehow, it came to be casual clothes worn by the Kokiri. Then it became known as the Hero's Clothes after the Hero of Time (who was raised as a Kokiri). In the Adult Timeline, it became part of a coming of age ritual on Outset Island, before the Hero of Winds brought it full circle to being a knight's uniform in New Hyrule.
- One of the most notable ways The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and its direct sequel ''Tears of the Kingdom'' breaks from tradition is to change Link's default outfit to a blue shirt and no hat at all — the first time in Zelda's decades-long history this has happened. Of course, it's possible to find the classic green tunic and hat in the overworld, but it's very hard to do so without amiibo, meaning you can play through the entire game without ever finding them.
Ideal Hero: No matter in what situation he is in, he is always described as the ideal choice to be the hero of Hyrule.
Incorruptible Pure Pureness: He is the purest, kindest soul in the game, helping others solely out of the good in his heart and never becoming corrupted by evil influences (even if it includes things to his own benefit. See Dark Is Not Evil above). The closest he gets is a deeply disturbing cut-scene in Twilight Princess where one of the Light Spirits graphically illustrates how the Twili were corrupted by hunger for power, using Link's own image to emphasise it - and even that was just a warning, and Link remained uncorrupted (just disturbed). Except when attacking Cuccoos...
Informed Attribute: His ambidextrousness, which doesn't really show up in any of the games as he's almost always favoring one hand over the other. The only exception so far is in Skyward Sword, where he wields the bow like a left-handed person would despite being a right-handed swordfighter.
Innocent Blue Eyes: Of the heroic and idealistic variety.
Instant Expert: Give him a new toy, no matter how bizarre, and Link will be wielding it like a natural in a matter of minutes.
Irony: Link is consistently portrayed as having Super Swimming Skills except in the two games where he has the closest connection to water, instead limiting his swimming abilities with a stamina meter. Those games are The Wind Waker, where he lives on an island in the middle of an immense ocean, and Breath of the Wild, where he not only was Childhood Friends with many Zora but almost became their prince consort.
Jack of All Stats: Among the denizens of Hyrule, Link is well-balanced, with an average running speed and strong but broad and spaced-out attacks. Link's main strength is versatility, as he uses many different weapons and tools for different purposes and fighting styles; he encounters many foes that are Mighty Glaciers, Stone Walls, Fragile Speedsters or even Lightning Bruisers in comparison, but always adapts to exploit his foes' weaknesses and his own advantages over them.
Jaw Drop:
- Happened in The Wind Waker and Spirit Tracks when he meets Zelda for the first time. Even accompanied by a long gasp in Spirit Tracks. Blush Stickers, too.
- This can also happen when he sees a big scary boss monster... or when a boss is Not Quite Dead yet.
Kid Hero: Whenever he's a kid.
Kleptomaniac Hero: If it even vaguely looks useful and isn't nailed down, Link will nab it. And anything that is nailed down? He will brave a dungeon's depths just to get something he can use to pry it up so he can nab that as well.
Knight in Shining Armor: He has a very strong knighthood motif, and is explicitly stated to be a literal knight in both Skyward Sword and Breath of the Wild. Normally, he sets aside the literal shining armor for his iconic green tunic and hat, but he can wear plate in both Breath of the Wild (in the form of the Soldier's Armor and Ancient Armor) and Twilight Princess (in the form of the Magic Armor).
Knightly Sword and Shield: In keeping with his knight themes, the Master Sword and Hylian Shield being the most iconic and consistent across almost all of his incarnations. In games where they are depicted as an Infinity +1 Sword, Link is more frequently shown with other, less powerful and more common weapons, especially in Breath of the Wild where barely any promotional material shows him with the iconic weapons.
Lady and Knight: The White Knight to Zelda's Bright Lady.
Legendary in the Sequel: Several games mention the adventures of previous Links as the stuff of legends:
- By the time the story in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker begins, the events of Ocarina of Time have been passed down for generations and is considered a myth. Despite this, the people of Outset Island have a custom where boys are garbed in green, when they come of age (twelve), in the hopes they'll find courage like the Hero of Time. There's also a statue of him in Hyrule Castle.
- The legend carries over to Twilight Princess as well, which occurs at roughly the same time as Wind Waker, due to the split timeline. After the events at Death Mountain, wherein Link restores Darbus' sanity, Renado remarks how Link's actions are reminiscent of the Hero of Time's.
- The Hero of Time seems to get this treatment a lot, to the point where he and his era were especially renowned in Hyrule Warriors despite being visited alongside the Twilight and Sky eras.
- This continues in A Link Between Worlds where the events of the previous game A Link to the Past are shown as a series of paintings in the entry way inside Hyrule Castle.
Leitmotif: The field theme for each game, which usually means the Main Theme of the series. Some melodies once unique to individual games, like the Ocarina of Time Hyrule Field and the Twilight Princess Hyrule Field themes, have become recurring in future games as well.
Magic Knight: Pairs good old-fashioned swordsmanship with magical items, and occasionally magic spells.
Magic Music: Whether it's an ocarina, a harp, or a magical baton, several of the Links have had the ability to warp time and space via music.
Magikarp Power: Link almost always starts very weak, with low health and few options for either combat or puzzle solving. He ends his adventures much, much stronger with all kinds of tools and abilities. The most notable example is the Link from Breath Of The Wild, who starts as easily the weakest version of the character and ends as the strongest. Distant seconds are the Links from Link to the Past and Link Between Worlds, due to their sword and armor upgrades on top of the usual.
Manly Tears: He's typically portrayed as a stoic warrior, but there are occasions where he at least seems on the verge of crying, such as when his grandmother finds out Aryll has been kidnapped in The Wind Waker or when Zelda seals herself in a crystal prison in the Sealed Temple to maintain Demise's imprisonment in Skyward Sword.
Master Swordsman: Develops into one or is one from the beginning in each game.
Maybe Ever After: While Link and Zelda have never been outright confirmed as an Official Couple, it's been implied many, many times, perhaps most strongly in Skyward Sword, Spirit Tracks and Breath of the Wild - in the former, it's even implied that, with Zelda, he'll found the Hylian royal family.
Meaningful Name: His official name refers to the fact that he is the player's "link" to the game world. And by pure coincidence, this left-handed hero's name just happens to be German for "left." In Dutch, Link means both "risky" and "dangerous". Which describes the situations he's in adequately well.
Mr. Fanservice: His Bishōnen designs. The first one in Ocarina of Time was made specifically to make him physically attractive. Boy, did it work! Other notable examples are his Shirtless Sumo Scene in Twilight Princess, and the option to have him run around shirtless (and pantsless!) in Breath of the Wild.
Multi-Melee Master: While Link has always used multiple tools and gadgets to supplement his sword, Breath of the Wild is the first game to show that he is completely unmatched in using almost anything as a primary melee weapon: spears, hammers, two-handed broadswords, magic wands, magic blades, tree branches, torches, axes, metal boomerangs and more. In fact, he can go the entire game without ever using a one-handed sword. About the only weapon he's never seen using are his bare hands. Justified by his extensive training and battle against Ganon before the fall of Hyrule, rather than living a peaceful life like most of his other reincarnations.
Muscles Are Meaningless: Often performs feats of strength that, considering his size, should be completely impossible. Some cases are justified with the use of magical enhancements. Others (such as swinging around a sword twice his size in Skyward Sword and 3 times his size in Wind Waker) are not.
Nice Guy: Link is kind to just about everyone he meets.
No-Nonsense Nemesis: Rare heroic example. If Link has any advantages over his enemies, he will use them, such as attacking weak spots, using items to clear distances, or using the terrain to his advantage. Really, everything is fair game to Link.
Not a Morning Person: If the number of games that begin with a Good Morning, Crono scenario is any indication, he likes to sleep in when he isn't busy saving Hyrule.
One-Man Army: Repeatedly shown to be utterly superior to Hyrule's official army. There are a few games that subvert this partially because of allies either directly or indirectly helping him, and starting with Ocarina of Time, he has an informative or occasionally useful partner for much of the franchise until Breath of the Wild, but there's always one constant across the franchise: a Link gets pointed to the next dungeon, enemy stronghold or foul creation of darkness, and then a couple hours at most later, everything in that direction is dead or rescued without fail and entirely by his handiwork. It's to the point that certain villains who don't underestimate him exploit this for a Macguffin Delivery Service since he's virtually assured to bring back what they want intact once all is said and done.
Only I Can Kill Him: Being the chosen wielder of the Master Sword, Link is the only one who can kill Ganondorf.
Only the Chosen May Wield: The Master Sword does not appear in every Zelda game, but when it does, a Link is always the chosen wielder.
The Paladin: He is the chosen hero of gods and wields Holy weapons like the Master Sword and Light Arrows.
Pants-Free: Played straight in most of the earlier games, where the art made it clear he wasn't wearing much under the tunic. After Ocarina of Time, though, they started showing him wearing tights, and in Twilight Princess, he is finally given real pants.
Parental Abandonment: In almost every single one of his incarnations. Before Breath of the Wild the closest he ever came to having parents was Ocarina of Time (in which they were revealed to be dead). He gets to have an uncle in A Link to the Past and a Grandma and Grandpa in Wind Waker and The Minish Cap (respectively). Breath of the Wild states Link's father is a knight (and Link is following in his footsteps) and flashbacks imply he's still alive at the time of the Calamity, but by the time that you begin the actual game he's almost certainly dead, if not by the Calamity then by old age.
Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Even his adult incarnations are always pointedly shorter than other Hylians, sometimes even including their respective Zeldas, but Link is consistently the most heroic, accomplished and courageous being in Hyrule.
Platonic Life-Partners: With Zelda, in games where their relationship doesn't have romantic implications. It has been noted in some games, most notably The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap.
Plot Tailored to the Party: No matter how bizarre the magical knicknacks he picks up, he'll find some way to kill at least one giant monster with it.
Precursor Heroes: Some Links are this to their successors. The best-known example is the Link of Ocarina of Time, who is the ancestor of the Link of Twilight Princess.
Progressively Prettier: Link was rather average looking in his first few appearances, with unkempt hair, a stubby nose, and enormous ears. It wasn't until Ocarina of Time that he became a full-on Bishonen thanks to sharper features, a cleaner hair-do, and thinner ears, and he's only gotten prettier since then.
Reincarnation: Link is not just one hero, but many who are all incarnations of the "Spirit of the Hero" who is destined to fight Ganondorf alongside Zelda.
Rewarding Vandalism: Link's primary source of income is smashing random objects. Especially pottery.
Rip Van Winkle: In both Ocarina of Time and Breath of the Wild. In the former game, he was forced to sleep seven years in the Sacred Realm until he was old enough to wield the Master Sword, while in the latter game, he had to spend a century sleeping in a Healing Vat to recover from his near-fatal injuries during the Great Calamity.
Sacred Bow and Arrows: His Light Arrows/Silver Arrows.
Screaming Warrior: Link's only spoken dialogue has been screaming at his enemies as he hacks them to pieces.
Second-Person Narration: With a few exceptions that can be written off as typos, the narration always refers to Link as "you", e.g. "You found ten rupees!". The instruction manuals for A Link to the Past and Link's Awakening are written entirely in second person.
Ship Tease: Besides having this with Zelda throughout the series, in each individual game there's always at least one female character who develops a crush on him.
Short Teens, Tall Adults: In the games where he's a teenager, he's always one of the shortest humans, aside from children or the elderly. Even girls his age are generally taller than him. In The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Link is shorter than everyone, and other characters even comment on his height from time to time. Even when he becomes a young adult in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, he’s still pretty short while Zelda has grown a few inches taller than him.
Showy Invincible Hero: We all know he'll win, but dear Gods, it's almost as much fun to watch him win as it is to be him when he wins.
Signature Headgear: Link is known for wearing a green pointy hat which all of his incarnations have worn. It practically even got its own game. Nintendo Power once stated that the one thing Link could do that nobody else could is make a floppy green hat look cool. Many can certainly agree on that.
Signature Move: His Spin Attack. Also, to a lesser degree, the Jumping Down Thrust/Finishing Move.
Special Person, Normal Name: The Hero of Hyrule has the average name "Link".
Spin Attack: Since A Link To The Past, this has been one of his best sword attacks, and essentially his signature move.
Spirit Advisor: The Hero's Shade guides Twilight Princess's incarnation of Link through his adventure. And the Hero's Shade was himself an incarnation of Link, specifically from Ocarina of Time according to Hyrule Historia.
Stab the Sky: Many times across the series, but Skyward Sword turns it into an actual gameplay mechanic.
Sword Beam: In some games, Link can use his sword to fire energy beams. Depending on the game, either any sword can fire a Sword Beam or only the Master Sword can do it.
Travel Transformation: With multiple kinds of transformation:
- Majora's Mask has masks to transform into forms that can swim, and roll.
- The Minish Cap has Sizeshifter to enter Mouse Worlds.
Tricked-Out Shoes: His Pegasus Boots, which invoke the mystical powers of the Ancient-Greek flying horse that allow Link to dash, run, and jump higher and faster than before.
Unskilled, but Strong: In the 2D games, Link's fighting style consists of large, slow, sweeping slashes and stabs, but with his legendary sword in hand, he's an unstoppable force. In most 3D games post-Wind Waker, he starts out as this but becomes a Master Swordsman by picking up more elaborate fighting techniques.
Villain Killer: Link has reincarnated many times across the Zelda timelines, but in many of the games, he has fought Ganon/Ganondorf alongside Zelda herself, and in some instances, they have killed him. The most notable case of this was in Twilight Princess, where Zelda and Link work together to stop Ganondorf, and Link fully and completely kills him. However, in other games, he fights other villains that he usually kills. Some of these monsters include a dark shadowy version of himself, a malevolent apocalyptic mask that tried to drop the moon on the world, a life force-sucking squid-like monster with unnaturally placed eyes, and the progenitor of every monster in the franchise before Hyrule was even created.
Voluntary Shapeshifting: The Adventure of Link, Majora's Mask, and Twilight Princess give him transformation powers to navigate the world and solve puzzles.
Wolverine Publicity: Thanks to the success of the various games throughout the years, three different Links have been treated as the default. All three are seen as his most iconic looks, and typically have obtained references in future games, and are all relatively equal in likelihood to be used as the basis of cosplays.
- The first is the Hero of Time, whose likeness was used in Super Smash Bros. and Melee, and retains alternate outfits based on it in future Smash games. He's also the only Link who has made an appearance in a subsequent Link's game, and even get lines of his own. His younger self also appears as a playable character in Smash Melee, Hyrule Warriors, and Smash Ultimate.
- The second is the Hero of Twilight. This one took the helm of the default Link after Twilight Princess was released, and was subsequently used as the basis for his Brawl and Smash 4 appearances. While the design was left behind in Smash Ultimate, he still retains an outfit specifically based on her Hero of Twilight.
- The third is the Hero of the Wilds. This one is the most up-to-date Link, being the protagonist of Breath of the Wild and a lead in Age of Calamity. This one was used as the basis for his Smash Ultimate appearance, and is seen as the current default Link, with all appearances in promotional materials exclusively being this Link.
World's Best Warrior: By the end of every game, Link becomes this.
Would Hit a Girl: He has occasionally squared off against female opponents such as Gerudo warriors, the Twinrova sisters, Veran, and Lady Maud, and he's never treated them any different from his male opponents.
Wrestler in All of Us: He has shown to be quite capable of a few rough hands-on techniques.
- In The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask using the Giant's Mask during the Twinmold boss fight causes young Link to resort to melee combat, as his weapons do not grow in size with him.
- In The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, he engages in sumo wrestling with Mayor Bo for practice in challenging one of the leaders of the Goron tribe, Gor Coron, for a real sumo match in order to proceed to their mines. He also is shown to tackle and throw the Ordon goats with ease.
- One of the weapons he owns in Hyrule Warriors are the Gauntlets. Some of the animations seen while attacking include a number of different wrestling moves, including Link suplexing a massive rock to slam down on enemies.
- Some of his attacks in Super Smash Bros. can count as this as well, more specifically, his Grab move techniques. The Down Throw involves him pinning down his opponent while he body slams/elbow drops them.

Zelda

Princess Zelda

Debut: The Legend of Zelda
Voiced by: Jun Mizusawa (The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U), Hikari Tachibana (The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords, The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures, The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap, The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass), Ayumi Fujimura (The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate), Akane Omae (The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks), Yu Shimamura (The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild), Saori Seto (Hyrule Warriors), Patricia Summersett (The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, English)^{Foreign VAs}

The series's namesake(s), the Princess of Hyrule across various reincarnations. Zelda is often one of the Seven Sages, and is one of the keystones binding Ganon, the Triforce, and/or the entrance to the Sacred Realm (it varies, and these are not mutually exclusive options either). Zelda is the predesignated holder of the Triforce of Wisdom because of her great wisdom and insight. Because of her powers, destiny, and political position in Hyrule, she is often a target of dark forces that seek to abduct her to either use her for their plans or keep her from thwarting their plans. Thus Link's quest to Save the World tends to include rescuing Zelda or securing her safety.

While Zelda is one of the iconic Damsels in Distress in video games, this is a bit of inaccurate Flanderization; she's often an active force plotting against the villain of the title, and provides Link with information, equipment, and guidance. It's also not uncommon to see Zelda out in the field instead of cooped up in Hyrule Castle, and on occasion she's even fought alongside Link. Since she is typically not adept in swordplay (at least not as much as Link and Ganondorf), her usual weapon is a Sacred Bow and Arrows, and more generally she is adept with different kinds of divine magic.

Skyward Sword reveals the source of the magical powers of Zelda's bloodline comes from Hylia, the guardian goddess of Hyrule that protected the Triforce after the Golden Goddesses departed the realm. Unable to defeat the Demon King Demise on her own, and being unable to use the Triforce against him because of her divine nature, she chose to shed her divinity and reincarnate as a mortal - Zelda. Throughout the ages since, the sacred powers of Hylia has run in the blood of the royal family.

Achilles' Heel: While all Zeldas appear to have a degree to independence and even some have their own individual combat prowess, a common weakness of every Zelda is their inability to deal with prolonged or powerful attack by herself. This usually leads them to their trouble and leads to the Link of their eras having to either help or rescue them.
Action Girl: Princess Zelda has been slowly approaching this Trope for some time; in Ocarina of Time she fills a more Barrier Maiden role, but in Wind Waker and Twilight Princess she takes a more combative role. In Spirit Tracks, she qualifies fully. It's less noticeable in Skyward Sword, but she still manages to fight her way through two monster-strewn lands and temples on her own and unarmed. In Breath of the Wild, Zelda is initially lacking in any combat prowess and is trying in vain to awaken her powers so she can seal away Ganon when the time comes. When Link is near death after fighting corrupted Guardians, Zelda's power is awakened when she steps in front of Link and shuts off all the surrounding Guardians in the area. After instructing some Sheikah to take Link to the Shrine of Resurrection and sealing away the Master Sword in the Lost Woods, she marches toward Hyrule Castle to take on Calamity Ganon himself, proceeding to fight him for a hundred years while sealing themselves away in Hyrule Castle in a stasis to prevent the destruction of Hyrule and wait for Link to awaken and help her seal away Ganon. After Link weakens Darkbeast Ganon with her help, she emerges from Ganon and personally deals the final blow by sealing him away with her divine power. Her power has greatly dwindled by Tears of the Kingdom due to her hundred year duel with Calamity Ganon, and initially she has to rely on Link for protection while searching below Hyrule Castle. However, when she is teleported back to the past, she discovers she is also naturally gifted with time magic as the Sage of Time and while she might not be the force of nature she previously was, she has weaponized her magic against Ganondorf and Phantom Ganon disguising itself as herself a few times, most noticeably against the fight with Ganondorf where she reverses the weapons the other Sages throw at a powered up Ganondorf to distract him while Rauru seals him away.
Barrier Maiden: When fighting with magic, she can create barriers.
Battle Couple: With Link in more than one Final Battle.
Big Good: Starting in Ocarina of Time, where she takes an active role in Link's adventures and gives him missions.
Childhood Friends: She and Link are this in Four Swords, Four Swords Adventures, The Minish Cap, and Skyward Sword.
Child of Two Worlds: There have been subtle hints ever since Ocarina of Time established her nursemaid Impa as a member of the Sheikah tribe that Zelda also associates with and honors the Sheikah despite being a Hylian. She spends much of that game disguised as a Sheikah, she wears a robe with the Sheikah eye emblem on it in Twilight Princess, and she is enthusiastic about researching ancient Sheikah technology in the backstory of Breath of the Wild despite the Sheikah having been banished from Hyrule prior to that point for their association with said technology. Given what Skyward Sword revealed about her distant ancestor, the first Zelda, and the Sheikah's duties (to serve Hylia), this makes more sense than it doesn't.
Cosmic Keystone: She is the destined bearer of the Triforce of Wisdom, ⅓ of a divine wish-granting artifact.
Costume Evolution: She originally had a pink dress with puff sleeves, and a wide bell skirt that had white ribbons and bows near the hem. This only lasted the first couple of games. In The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past she had a white dress with some purple trimmings and gold accessories. This would be the first form of her standard dress, which would evolve over further games.
Crystal Dragon Jesus: The biggest example in the games, due to her being the mortal reincarnation of the goddess Hylia.
Crystal Prison: She ends up in one in A Link to the Past, Ocarina of Time, and Skyward Sword.
Damsel in Distress: Plays with it. It's not at all uncommon for Zelda to be abducted or imprisoned by the villains in the opening act and one of Link's primary goals will be to rescue her. However, in many games she tends to be only abducted very late into the story and rescuing her is not a major plot point until then. On such occasions it's common to have Zelda being active in the story by giving Link advice and information, and sometimes she's even out in the world trying to fight the villain in her own ways, or helping Link do it.
Damsel out of Distress: Mostly in her Action Girl incarnations, but even when she's not, she always keeps her cool and dignity.
Demonic Possession:
- Used on her empty body near the end of Twilight Princess by Ganondorf, while Zelda's soul is secretly keeping Midna alive.
- Happens again in Spirit Tracks, only this time her soul's been put in a suit of armor. Multiple suits of armor, in fact. Also in Spirit Tracks, Malladus inhabits her empty shell as part of a boss battle.
Depending on the Writer: The Zelda character archetype despite often needing assistance is often justified as being more action oriented and hands on than the other Nintendo princess called Peach. However this depends on appearance as some Zeldas such as the Adventure of Link incarnation or the Oracle version doing very little to nothing to aid Link and might as well be Princess Peach in her place. A notable example is in ''Subspace Emissary" where despite one of the most action oriented Zeldas being the representative of the character she was no more capable of saving herself than Peach.
- The cartoon incarnation of especially guilty of this as her competence in battle varied between episode where one episode she could stand up to Ganon and his evil army all by herself and in another she was completely helpless to escape the monster of the day's arms when it had her in a Bridal Carry and not restrained in any way.
Deuteragonist: The second most important character in the series (despite it bearing her name) after Link.
Divergent Character Evolution: Zelda was originally interchangeable with Princess Peach in her story role and characterization, but has become more and more distinct as the series has progressed. With that said, she is still largely a Damsel in Distress, just like Peach.
Dreaming of Things to Come: Ocarina of Time, A Link Between Worlds, and Breath of the Wild deal with her dreaming of the coming danger to Hyrule.
Early-Installment Weirdness: The original NES Legend of Zelda and its direct sequel, The Adventure of Link, are supposed to be separated by a few years, and the protagonist of both stories is the same incarnation of Link. However, the princess Zelda that he rescues in each game are supposed to be two different princesses. This never happens in the series again, and seems to have been retconned since to be the same person.
Everyone Loves Blondes: Whenever she's depicted as a blonde, she has someone interested in her. These interested men are Link (usually), Vaati, Groose, Osfala and a nameless Sheikah poet.
Expy: Her role in the first game is near-identical to that of Princess Peach (or Princess Toadstool, as she was known at the time) in Super Mario Bros., being a princess locked away in the villain's dungeon because only her magic can undo the curse he has cast upon the land.
Glass Cannon: Not counting non-canon fighting games, if Zelda has combat prowess she'll most likely be this. The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks is an exception, as Zelda fights by possessing Phantoms, making her Nigh-Invulnerable by extension.
God in Human Form: Specifically Skyward Sword's Zelda, who is the mortal incarnation of the goddess Hylia. It's been confirmed that most-to-all of the Zeldas in the series are reincarnations of each other, so it's very probable this trope applies to them, as well.
Good Wears White: Zelda frequently wears white as part of her ensemble. The best examples are The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, where her gown is white and purple with gold accents; The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, where she wears a white dress in the later part of the game; and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, where she dons a white dress while visiting the sacred springs.
Graceful Ladies Like Purple: When not pink, her dresses are predominantly purple, particularly when the art style is more realistic.
Guys Smash, Girls Shoot: Zigzagged. In games where her princess persona helps Link in combat, it's usually with magic or arrows while Link fights with the Master Sword. However, her Shiek persona, fights with hand-to-hand martial arts skills, adding needles and a chain-whip in Smash Bros or kunai and an enchanted harp in Hyrule Warriors. Tetra, an incarnation of Zelda who was brought up as a pirate captain, in Hyrule Warriors, who fights with Sword and Gun.
Grand Theft Me: She is on both the giving and receiving end of this. She is possessed by Ganondorf and Malladus in Twilight Princess^note and Spirit Tracks, respectively, but she can also possess Phantoms in the latter game.
Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Like the leader hero, most of her incarnations are blonde. On occasion, she will have brown hair and, even rarer, red hair. While she is a princess of varying ages, she has her people's best interests at heart.
Heroic Lineage: Like some of the Links - and unlike them, all Zeldas are directly related to one another, with the abilities passing on through the bloodline (which is actually a plot-point in Breath of the Wild, as Zelda's mother died before she could teach her daughter). Since the original Zelda in Skyward Sword was the mortal incarnation of the Goddess Hylia, this makes a certain degree of sense. It's also implied in Skyward Sword that Link and Zelda would found the Hylian royal family together - which, if true, would make all versions of Zelda since direct descendants of the original (or second, if you take the prequel manga as canon) Link.
High-Class Gloves: Her standard royal dress often includes long, white gloves.
The High Queen: Particularly in Twilight Princess, where the plot begins right in the middle of the coronation ceremony that would have made her Queen of Hyrule.
Iconic Item: Starting in Wind Waker, the Light Arrows have become this for Zelda, essentially becoming her preferred fighting style in Twilight Princess and Spirit Tracks. This is more apparent in spin-off material such as the Super Smash Bros. series, the original Hyrule Warriors, and Age of Calamity, which generally feature Zelda using the Light Arrow in a prominent capacity.
Iconic Outfit: Among all the different outfits she has worn over the years, two outfits from two separate games have become her most famous.
- The first is her Twilight Princess outfit. The brown hair and the white, purple, and gold dress, complete with a rapier. It served as her basis for Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Smash 4, and is an alternate outfit in her Smash Ultimate appearance.
- The second is her Breath of the Wild travel attire. The blue and black outfit that hugs her curves with the crown braid is the outfit that she wears most throughout the game. It was put in as an alternate outfit in Hyrule Warriors.
Implied Love Interest: The various relationships between Link and Zelda sometimes fit this trope: Zelda never has another love interest (Link tends to be either the same or a Chick Magnet depending on the game), they interact with each other the most (usually), the plot is focused around Link rescuing Zelda (usually), and the two always form a strong emotional connection quickly no matter the amount of actual interaction. In particular, Spirit Tracks, Skyward Sword, Hyrule Warriors, and Breath of the Wild play up the romance angle to the point where they border on being an Official Couple.
Incorruptible Pure Pureness: As she is a reincarnated heavenly goddess in the form of a princess with Light magic, her fairness and benevolence are what shape her to be a well-loved character.
- Played with in Sprit Tracks and Twilight Princess, where her body is physically corrupted by a dark power and used by the villain for their doing. Her soul, however, remains untouched and safe.
Kicking Ass in All Her Finery: Zelda's Action Girl selves typically have more masculine alter-egos, but still tend to do most of their combat in her Pimped-Out Dress.
King Incognito: She has alter egos in Ocarina of Time and The Wind Waker in order to evade capture by Ganondorf. In the latter game, even she doesn't know that she is actually Princess Zelda.
Lady and Knight: The Bright Lady to Link's White Knight.
Lady of War: She becomes one in the final boss battles of Wind Waker, Twilight Princess, and Spirit Tracks, as well as in non-canon spin-offs such as Super Smash Bros. and Hyrule Warriors.
Living MacGuffin: According to Word of God, Zelda is the title character because she is invariably the center of Link's adventures. While later games in the series, especially the "Wild Saga", have given her more character and some agency, Zelda tends to be the center of most plots due to factors too powerful for her control, mostly due to more powerful villains wanting possession of the Triforce or any other power within her.
Leitmotif: Zelda's Theme (better known among fans as Zelda's Lullaby). First appeared in A Link to the Past and officially named in Ocarina of Time. She's also associated with the Ballad of the Goddess, which is Zelda's Lullaby backwards.
Light 'em Up: Usually in the form of the Light Arrow, but sometimes as a Kamehame Hadoken, Instant Runes, or an Energy Ball.
Light Is Good: She often emphasizes the power of light against evil.
Little Miss Badass: Give her younger forms a weapon and you get this.
Mage Marksman: She's always something of a sorceress and on many occasions will take up arms with a bow and arrow, mostly to fire the Light Arrows.
Meaningful Appearance: Unlike most Princesses, Zelda's often been wearing boots as opposed to heeled shoes in more of her higher-detailed models that can be seen in certain moments. Examples include Ocarina of Time^note, Twilight Princess and Breath of the Wild. While she does wear boots in Skyward Sword, Zelda is not considered a princess in that game.
Missing Mom: She tends more toward complete Parental Abandonment, but while her father has occasionally been either portrayed onscreen or at least given a major offscreen role, the most we ever hear of her mother is in Breath of the Wild where the queen's premature death left Zelda and King Rhoam unsure of how to proceed with the princess's training for the fight against Ganon; Zelda's mother gets at most a very brief reference in the other games where she is mentioned at all.
Named After Somebody Famous: Shigeru Miyamoto has cited Zelda Fitzgerald, the wife of F. Scott, as an inspiration for her name.
Nice Job Breaking It, Hero:
- Her sudden disappearance to take up the guise of Shiek in Hyrule Warriors, which served no strategic purpose and succeeded in doing nothing but demoralizing her troops.
- Her Ocarina of Time incarnation (accidentally) created the infamous timeline split. The Downfall timeline implies Link failed to defeat Ganondorf at first and Zelda used the Ocarina to give them another chance, but that timeline continued to exist regardless. The Adult and Child timelines were created when she decided to send Link back in time after Ganondorf's defeat so he could have the chance to live the 7 years he lost. These are, of course, well-meaning and/or quite nessesary actions, so it's hard to hold it against her too much.
  - This additionally had a knock-on effect that created the circumstances of Wind Waker's conflict, as Link basically becoming non-existent in the Adult Timeline left the Triforce of Courage without a weilder in that timeline.
One Head Taller: She has always been either taller than Link or the same height.
One-Steve Limit: Averted. Like Link, there are multiple Zeldas throughout the timeline, though for various reasons. For example, in The Adventure of Link, it's explained that the prince mandated that every princess born be named Zelda in honor of his sister who was put to sleep defending the Triforce of Courage, and King Rhoam's diary in Breath of the Wild indicates that there is a less stringent tradition of naming princesses Zelda regardless of timeline.
Parental Abandonment: Tends to be subject to this, although her father has appeared in three games so far, and offscreen in a fourth (there's also Kings Gustaf and Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule, but they're not the fathers of their respective games' Zeldas).
Parental Substitute: Zelda has sporadically had her father show up and never had her mother show up, but she has usually had someone fill in for her mother. Most of the time it's Impa, while in Breath of the Wild it's her late mother's old friend Urbosa. Tears of the Kingdom gives her both Rauru and Sonia, distant ancestors to her who ostensibly take her under their wings as a surrogate daughter the moment she fell into the past.
Physical Goddess: Each Zelda is an incarnation of the first, who, in turn, was a mortal incarnation of the Goddess Hylia.
Pimped-Out Dress: Being a princess, she often wears elaborate dresses.
Platonic Life-Partners: Since she and Link are repeated incarnations of the Goddess Hylia and her hero, they're invariably this, especially in games where their relationship doesn't have an implied romantic slant (such as The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap).
Pretty Princess Powerhouse: More recently, Zelda has been taking increasingly proactive roles in protecting her kingdom while maintaining the aesthetic of a less proactive Princess Classic.
Princess Classic: She's characterized as this in the games up to Ocarina of Time, where she is instead a headstrong child/guilt-ridden adult. Subsequent games have diversified her characterization, including a few incarnations where she's not a princess at all.
Princesses Prefer Pink: About half of Zelda's outfits. Some games avert this, like Skyward Sword and Breath of the Wild.
Princesses Rule: In the Oracle games, Spirit Tracks, and A Link Between Worlds, she is portrayed as Hyrule's head of state but is called a princess instead of a queen. This is averted in Ocarina of Time, The Wind Waker, and Breath of the Wild, where she would technically be the queen if there were still a functioning government to make it official, and supplementary materials for Twilight Princess indicate that she was just about to have her coronation when Zant attacked.
Promoted to Playable: The first (and so far, only) time for her to be directly controlled by the player was Spirit Tracks. Later on she would also be playable in other spin-offs such as the Hyrule Warriors series and Cadence of Hyrule.
Psychic Powers: She is often clairvoyant and telepathic.
Reincarnation: The first Zelda is the reincarnation of Goddess Hylia and it's confirmed that some of the Zeldas are reincarnations rather than just bloodline descendants.
Rip Van Winkle: The Adventure of Link, Skyward Sword, and Breath of the Wild deal with her entering a deep sleep/stasis for at least a century and being awakened near or at the end of the story. In the former, it was because her brother's wizard adviser placed a sleeping spell on her in retaliation for not telling the location of the Triforce of Courage, while in the latter two, it was because she needed to use her sacred powers to seal away the main villains long enough to give Link enough time to finish them off properly.
Royal Blood: All Zeldas are females born into the royal family, and they always have a crucial role to play in the Links' battle against evil.
Royalty Super Power: Sorcery is passed down the Royal Family of Hyrule, due to the line's Divine Parentage and service to the Gods.
Royals Who Actually Do Something: Oftentimes. Even the very first Zelda game had her doing her part in keeping Ganon away from completing the Triforce by breaking apart and hiding each piece of the Triforce of Wisdom.
Sacred Bow and Arrows: In more recent titles, the honor of wielding the Light Arrows has passed from Link to her.
Semi-Divine: Skyward Sword reveals that the first Zelda was the reincarnation of the goddess Hylia, making every Zelda after her this.
Ship Tease: Has a ton of these with Link. While the first two games implied they were an Official Couple, later games toned the relationship down to this with only hints of a romance. However, she does kiss Link at the end of The Legend of Zelda: Oracle Games, causing him to swoon.
Single-Target Sexuality: Like Link, she's presented with other possible romance options besides him in several of the games; Vaati, Groose, Osfala, and the unnamed Shiekah poet. Unlike Link though, who can often reciprocate at least a bit if the player so decides, Zelda never shows any interest in any of them. If she gets a Ship Tease at all, it'll only ever be with Link.
Single Woman Seeks Good Man: Games that depict her relationship with Link with romantic undertones will show her fondness comes from him being a Nice Guy.
Statuesque Stunner: A number of Zeldas are as tall, or taller, than their respective Links.
Sword and Sorcerer: She has this dynamic with Link in almost every game where she helps in combat.
Taken for Granite: In The Minish Cap and Phantom Hourglass, she's petrified.
Telepathy: Starting with A Link to the Past, she has consistently had this power, typically using it to give guidance to Link.
Villain Killer: Not as prominently as Link, but in many of the examples where he's killed villains, she was an active and critical part of vanquishing said villains, too.
Walking Spoiler: Frequently the case with her, particularly in games like Ocarina of Time, The Wind Waker, and Skyward Sword where there are hidden revelations about her identity and/or backstory that even she may not be aware of.
White Magic: Her powers are almost always defined as divine in origin, which is revealed in Skyward Sword to be attributed to her divine heritage.
The Wise Princess: Triforce of Wisdom, natch.
Wise Beyond Her Years: Whether as a child, a teenager, or a young adult, Zelda is always much wiser than her age would imply.
Wolverine Publicity: Much like Link, she has three different versions that are considered default. Two of them are currently relatively equal in the representation they receive.
- The first is the Princess of Time. As her adult appearance was a highly unexpected Plot Twist of its time, her appearance as an adult became a massively iconic look. In turn, her first appearance in the Smash series in Melee had her appearance based on the Princess of Time, and in subsequent Smash games, she always has a Palette Swap that resembles the Princess of Time.
- The second is the Princess of Twilight. It was one of the earliest games that she not only was an active character, but had really become a true Action Girl. This look was used in Brawl and Smash 4, and was used as an alternate outfit for Zelda in Hyrule Warriors. In Smash Ultimate after her redesign, she still retains an alternate outfit that is obviously based on the Princess of Twilight.
- The third is the Princess of the Wilds. This one is her most powerful incarnation yet, wielding the entire Triforce, fully inverted the Damsel in Distress trope, and is one of the two leads of the most successful Zelda game in the series after Twilight Princess. Her blue travel attire was put in the definitive edition of Hyrule Warriors, and it surprised the fanbase when the Princess of the Wilds wasn't used as the basis for her Smash Ultimate appearances, and even more surprising that none of her alternate outfits are explicitly based on any of her Breath of the Wild outfits.
Xenafication: Initially just a Damsel in Distress, later games made her a ninja, a pirate, and ultimately a goddess. After Wind Waker, she's not as capable as Link, but is able to competently assist him in battle by providing Light Arrow support fire. Skyward Sword even goes so far as to have her successfully infiltrate the Skyview Temple and get a good distance to the Earth Temple on her own.
Your Size May Vary:
- Her Breath of the Wild incarnation is shown to have a tad inconsistent height, at least in relation to Link. In Breath of the Wild itself, Link is slightly taller than her, something that can be clearly seen in the final memory of the "Champion's Ballad" DLC, where they both stand up straight right next to each other. However, in Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, the difference in height seems to be reversed, with Zelda being the one slightly taller. Tears of the Kingdom sticks with Link being the shorter of the two consistently.
- Her incarnations tend to vary in height from each other a lot more than Link's—who are generally always on the shorter side of average height for Hylians. Leaving out her child incarnations, her Skyward Sword and Ocarina of Time incarnations are rather petite and measure up as fairly small next to the average Hylian, and are slightly shorter than their versions of Link. Whereas her Breath of the Wild incarnation is fairly average height, while her Twilight Princess incarnation is an outright Statuesque Stunner.

Ganon

Ganondorf Dragmire / Ganon / Calamity Ganon

Ganondorf is the Arch-Enemy of Link and Zelda, and the most prolific and recurring Big Bad of the franchise, serving as such in a majority of titles and usually still having some influence over events when he isn't. Ganondorf was once a Gerudo king who coveted the Triforce that held the power of the gods. Eventually he entered the Sacred Realm and took hold of the Triforce, but due to his imbalanced heart, it split into its three virtues, leaving him with only the Triforce of Power since he prized power above all else. Still possessing great strength and magical prowess from his single piece, Ganondorf began his war to conquer Hyrule, and his power eventually corrupted him and transformed him into the demonic beast Ganon.

Unlike the different incarnations of Link and Zelda, who are Legacy Characters, most of the Ganondorfs and Ganons seen across the franchise are the same being; either he was sealed away in the past and has been released, or he was killed and has been resurrected. Four Swords Adventures instead states that its version of Ganondorf is a reincarnation, Tears of the Kingdom has a Ganondorf with a unique backstory, and a couple other appearances are vague about how he was beaten last time and how he has returned now. His appearance, personality, motivations, and plans often vary between games, but his ultimate desire is usually the same — to obtain the full power of the Triforce and use it to Take Over the World.

Hyrule Historia and the English version of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, the earliest game in the franchise's chronology, imply further ancient origins of Ganondorf. In the distant past before the founding of Hyrule, the Demon King Demise sought the Triforce and was slain by an early incarnation of Link. With his dying breath he placed a curse on Link and Zelda, declaring that "an incarnation of [Demise's] hatred" will plague them and their bloodlines for eternity. This curse resulted in the creation of Ganondorf, and it is why he keeps coming back no matter how often or how thoroughly he is defeated — through all the timelines and all the centuries, the Hero and the Princess are destined to keep crossing paths with the King of Evil.^note

The Ganons of the "Wild Saga" can be found here (Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity), here or here (The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom)
Other incarnations of Ganon can be found at their respective games' character pages.

Achilles' Heel: The Master Sword is typically this, it's not called the "Blade of Evil's Bane" for nothing. In The Legend of Zelda and The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Silver Arrows are needed to finish him off.
Affably Evil: Occasionally, Ganondorf is genuinely polite and respectful towards Link, viewing him as a Worthy Opponent and speaking to him as an equal. This is particularly pronounced in A Link to the Past and The Wind Waker, where he has mellowed out following his initial defeat and is (somewhat) willing to put aside his pride to compliment his nemesis.
Alas, Poor Villain: The defeats of his original incarnation are sometimes played somberly:
- After seemingly being defeated at the end of Ocarina of Time, Zelda laments how Ganondorf's hubris led to his own downfall.
  Zelda: Ganondorf…pitiful man… Without a strong, righteous mind, he could not control the power of the gods…and…
- The entire climax of The Wind Waker serves as this for him, as he laments his Dark and Troubled Past and prepares to finally accomplish his life's goal of claiming the Triforce… only for the King of Hyrule to reach it first, crushing his hopes and sending him spiraling into maniacal laughter. In his final breath, he takes a moment to feel Hyrule's wind— the wind that he coveted so desperately his entire life— on his face one last time before being Killed Off for Real. Even the King of Hyrule expresses sympathy for Ganondorf's fate.
  King Daphnes: If only I could do things over again… Not a day of my life has gone by without my thoughts turning to my kingdom of old. I have lived bound to Hyrule. In that sense, I was the same as Ganondorf.
- After he dies at the end of Twilight Princess, still refusing to give up on the hatred for Hyrule that consumed his life to the bitter end, Zelda bows her head and begins praying for him.
Almighty Idiot: A recurring consequence of Ganon's lust for power. Whenever Ganondorf uses the Triforce of Power to become Ganon, he grows more powerful but usually it seems he ends up devolving his intelligent mind into that of a primal beast. Other examples of his intelligence loss include his botched resurrection in the Oracle games, and Calamity Ganon, a manifestation of Ganondorf's malice and hatred that escaped his frozen body, in Breath of the Wild. It's quite telling that Ganondorf is more dangerous when he is significantly weaker but sane.
Alternate Self: The Ganondorfs seen in the Decline, Adult, and Child timelines are this to each other — with the exception of the Ganondorf in Four Swords Adventures, who is explicitly stated to be a reincarnation, the Ganondorfs in those games are all the same individual as the one from Ocarina of Time. In addition, he has an effeminate (implied) Lorule counterpart named Yuga, who fuses with Ganon to become superior.
- In the Downfall timeline, Ganon is at his most powerful, having claimed the entire Sacred Realm and the Triforce with it. After he is destroyed by Link in A Link to the Past, he is brought back by Twinrova, but he Came Back Wrong, devolving into a mindless beast with a thirst for power and destruction.
- In the Child timeline, the only thought on his mind is revenge, having been thwarted before he can even set his plans into action. Even then he still obtains the Triforce of Power as part of a "Divine Prank", but he is killed by the Link seen in Twilight Princess. His reincarnation in Four Swords Adventures behaves slightly more like his Downfall counterpart, as a power-hungry monster.
- In the Adult timeline, The Bad Guy Wins, but at what cost? He may have conquered Hyrule, but it's all gone. As centuries pass in-universe, Ganondorf has become more philosophical, yearning to bring back the once lost kingdom.
- While non-canon to the official timeline, the version of Ganondorf in Hyrule Warriors hews closer to his Ocarina of Time self, being The Chessmaster who set the entire story in motion, but takes several design cues from his Twilight Princess outfit, and Demise.
- Non-canon, but yet another version of Ganon appears in Cadence of Hyrule, as both a teenage Ganondorf and his blue pig-monster form in the future.
- Ganondorf in Tears of the Kingdom appears to be completely separate from any Ganons from the past games as he lacks the past Ganondorf’s history and origins and comes off as another reincarnation instead of being the same person as shown before.
Amazing Technicolor Population: In contrast to the Gerudo's usually brown skintones, Ganondorf almost always has green skin.
Ambiguously Brown: The Gerudo people all live in deserts and have a vaguely Arabic culture, and consequently often have medium to dark brown skin. Ganondorf himself, however, is Ambiguously Green for whatever reason. Conversely, his Lorule counterpart Yuga has stark, pasty white skin.
Ambiguously Related: While Ganondorf has a connection to Demise, the finer details behind it vary from source to source. In the Japanese version of Skyward Sword, Demise promises that his demon army will continue to plague Hylia's subjects, which is fulfilled by Ganondorf coming to power and taking over Demise's role as the Demon King. Hyrule Historia and Hyrule Warriors paint Ganondorf as the reincarnation of Demise himself, although the English version of Skyward Sword leans more towards Ganondorf being the Anthropomorphic Personification of Demise's hatred.
Ambition Is Evil: Ganondorf was ruthless from the start of his career, as he sought to acquire more power by any means. His main character flaw is that no amount of power — not even the full and completed Triforce — is ever enough for him.
Ancient Evil: In many games, Ganon is considered an ancient, reoccurring evil dating back hundreds if not thousands of years who must be sealed or destroyed to save Hyrule.
Animalistic Abomination: Introduced as a boar-headed monster in the first game, he has increasingly been portrayed as the living embodiment of evil destined to return every few centuries to ravage Hyrule. He especially fits this trope in Breath of the Wild, where he primarily takes the form of a boar-shaped cloud of pure Malice with nary a hint of human attributes and is given the moniker "Hatred and Malice Incarnate".
Animal Motifs: Pigs and Boars, representing his greed and lust for power.
The Antichrist: In the English version of Skyward Sword, he is implied to be the incarnation of hatred of Demon King Demise, who reincarnated himself into mortal form to match his rival, the goddess Hylia, and swore revenge on her and her champion. As part of the curse, Ganon is destined to bring ruin to Hyrule every time he shows up until Link and Zelda defeat him.
Arch-Enemy: He's fought half a dozen different Links and Zeldas.
Art Evolution: The latter games put more emphasis on his human form and less on his Pig Man or Wereboar form. But since Ocarina of Time, his voice acting has remained the same: he's always been depicted with a deep voice and a menacing laugh.
As Long as There Is Evil: The English translation of Skyward Sword implies that, due to being the manifestation of Demise’s hatred, he can never truly be defeated and will always reincarnate in some form if he is killed. The Japanese original instead states that Demise's curse instead enables all monsters to be reborn and continue their war with the gods' creations, meaning Ganondorf may be a beneficiary of this in the Japanese original rather than the source.
Back from the Dead: Unlike Zelda and Link, who are new reincarnations in most appearances, Ganondorf's return is usually due to his original self from Ocarina of Time being brought back from the dead by his minions.
- This is the villains' goal in The Adventure of Link, as Ganon died in the events of the original The Legend of Zelda. This only happens if you got a Game Over, and has presumably happened several times offscreen.
- The linked ending of the Oracle games features a Ganon revived from the dead. He Came Back Wrong, though.
- He is also briefly resurrected in A Link Between Worlds before being taken over by Yuga.
- He attempts this in Breath of the Wild, but his resurrection is interrupted by Link, resulting in him being fought as an undead-looking cyborg.
Badass Cape: He wears a cloak in human form Ocarina of Time and Twilight Princess, and as Ganon in the games set in the Decline Era.
Badass Longcoat: In The Wind Waker, and in his concept art◊ for the Oracle games.
Batman Gambit: In Ocarina Of Time, he just waits for Link to pull out the Master Sword for him, correctly suspecting that Link will unlock the door to the Triforce that he himself could not.
Beard of Evil: In Wind Waker, Twilight Princess, and Tears of the Kingdom, Ganondorf has a beard and is—as always—a warlord determined to conquer Hyrule, though Wind Waker acribes him some sympathetic motives for wanting to do so.
BFS: Ganondorf tends to wield two-handed swords whenever not armed with the Trident or simply using his fists. The swords he uses as Ganon in Ocarina of Time, the blade his Ocarina of Time incarnation wields in the Space World 2000 Demo and Smash Bros. series, the Sword of the Six Sages in Twilight Princess, and the Blades of Despair, Darkness and Demise in Hyrule Warriors are standout examples.
Big Bad: The main antagonist of the entire series and usually the main villain of each game, with a few exceptions.
Big Ol' Eyebrows: Has them in his human form. They're so big that they connect to his hair!
Blood Knight: Ganondorf loves a good challenge, and enjoys facing off against Link specifically because of the hero's status as a Worthy Opponent that can match him in combat.
Brainy Pig:
- In the early games, Ganon was a cunning humanoid boar-like Sorcerous Overlord with vampiric traits that ruled over many other animal humanoid monsters such as the dog-like Moblins and leonine Lynels.
- Inverted in most later games where his beast form is a raging, primal beast who relies solely on brute strength and his innate magical powers (in the The Legend of Zelda: Oracle Games, this was because the ritual required for his resurrection had been botched).
Breakout Villain: Since his debut in Ocarina of Time in his human form, Ganondorf has become one of the most reoccurring villains in the series.
Came Back Wrong: The linked finale to the Oracle games and Breath of the Wild deal with the effects of a botched resurrection. In the former, Twinrova had to use herself as a sacrifice for the ritual when she couldn't use Princess Zelda as intended, leaving Ganon a mindless beast. In the latter, Zelda's seal and Link's abrupt appearance in the Sanctum forced him to scrounge together a haphazard Cyborg body.
Card-Carrying Villain: He happily calls himself "King of Evil" and "Dark Lord"; he makes no secret of his sheer love of power; but he's pragmatic, intelligent, strikingly brave, and perhaps slightly tragic (The Wind Waker depicted him in gloomy middle age), and he enjoys a challenge from a worthy hero.
Close-Range Combatant: Link has handled his share of ranged weapons and Zelda is a fine archer, but Ganondorf relies entirely on hand-to-hand combat if using magic is ineffective or unnecessary. He's made use of tridents, swords (normally two one-handed swords, occasionally a great two-handed Chinese broadsword), and the occasional battle magic or weight-triggered earthquake. Super Smash Bros. flanderizes this aspect of him by making him a brawler Moveset Clone of Captain Falcon, drawing far more attention to hand-to-hand moves that he used rather offhandedly in various boss fights and cutscenes.
Complete Immortality: In Ocarina of Time, it's established that his piece of the Triforce makes him immortal, and for the most part, the series sticks with it. However, if he loses his piece, he does die for good, as seen in The Wind Waker and Twilight Princess, although in the case of the latter he was reincarnated.
The Corrupter: He is able to turn people toward evil (or sometimes more evil) through his dark magic and promises of power:
- Later supplementary materials for Zelda II: The Adventure of Link indicate that the evil wizard adviser to the prince who drove the latter to cruel acts in search for the Triforce was secretly an alias of Ganon's.
- Ocarina of Time states that he corrupted his own tribe. The Gerudo were occasional Desert Bandits before, but Nabooru states that they only did so to survive in the desert. Before Ganondorf took over, they had strict standards on who was a valid target. After he took over, they became ruthless soldiers who would target anyone he ordered them to for his megalomaniacal goals out of fear of his power. When the Gerudo were brought back in Breath of the Wild after ages free from his influence, they had dropped banditry entirely and become just as friendly as the other intelligent races of Hyrule. Even uncountable generations later, Ganon is hated on a personal level by his former people who see him as nothing but a stain on their collective honor.
- Twilight Princess shows how he got Zant to make a Deal with the Devil where Zant would be granted the power to take over the Twilight Realm in exchange for spreading the Twilight over Hyrule so Ganondorf could take over the latter.
Cosmic Keystone: He is the destined bearer of the Triforce of Power, 1/3 of a divine wish-granting artifact.
Dark and Troubled Past: As revealed in The Wind Waker, Ganondorf grew up as the ruler of a poor, starving kingdom that was forced to resort to thievery to survive. Recognizing Hyrule's prosperity, Ganondorf eventually grew into the Big Bad he is today.
Dark Is Evil: His Color Motif leans on black and very dark tones. And whenever his power grows, darkness begins to blot out the world. Hell, the world he created is called the Dark World.
The Dark Side Will Make You Forget:
- Centuries of plotting to steal the Triforce and take over Hyrule caused Ganondorf to forget why he wanted to do so in the first place: to give his people a better life. By the time he remembers at the climax of The Wind Waker, his people are all gone, and his desire for power is all he has left to live for.
- In Tears of the Kingdom, both Rauru and the Gerudo Sage say that Ganondorf was once a great leader and a hero to his people, but eventually lost his way due to his lust for power. It's clear that, by the time of the game's backstory, Ganondorf has all but forgotten about his benevolent past in his war against Rauru.
Decomposite Character: Initially, the only differences between Ganondorf the human and Ganon the monster are their appearances and the fact that the latter is his stronger form. But Ganondorf has been increasingly portrayed with more complex characterization (with The Wind Waker particularly giving him a more sympathetic initial motivation for his actions) and has retained the intelligent mastermind personality the character had pre-Ocarina of Time, whereas Ganon has been increasingly portrayed from Ocarina onward as a bestial, mindless monster who is typically a Silent Antagonist (especially in Breath of the Wild). In the timeline featuring Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, it's established that Ganon is The Heartless for Ganondorf as opposed to something he can transform into.
Demonic Possession: He uses this on Zelda in Twilight Princess, and it is implied that he did so on Agahnim in A Link to the Past.
Demon of Human Origin: Originally introduced as the Demon King who ruled over the monsters in Hyrule, Ganon was revealed to be once a mortal human named Ganondorf in A Link to the Past, which is later elaborated in Ocarina of Time to be a race of humans known as the Gerudo. His transformation into a demon was the result of him stealing the Triforce, which gave him god-like powers but transformed his appearance into a hideous pig monster. Skyward Sword later complicates the matter by revealing that Demon King Demise cursed Link and Zelda to be haunted by his reincarnation, heavily implying that Ganondorf was a demon reincarnated as human.
Depending on the Writer: Whether or not Ganon has any sense of honor depends on the game.
Desert Bandits: He was the king of the Gerudo, a tribe of desert-dwelling thieves. He shocked his countrymen (or countrywomen, as the case may be) with his tactics; but he envied the Hylians' pleasant, temperate surroundings, and wanted to lead his people to that better life.
Devil's Pitchfork: One of his most iconic weapons, he wields it in A Link to the Past, the Oracle games, A Link Between Worlds when fused with Yuga, Hyrule Warriors as his secondary weapon from its Legends rerelease onwards, and a Zonai cave painting in the teaser trailer for Tears of the Kingdom. His reincarnated self in Four Swords Adventures wields one he stole from the Pyramid, which has powerful abilities such as leaving a trail of fire when thrown and shooting lightning bolts that send enemies to the Dark World.
Devil Complex: Though Ganondorf typically desires to become a god, he is well aware of his reputation as the Demon King and embraces it all the same. In some stories, he proudly declares his defiance to the gods for denying him Hyrule. In others, he accepts his own death in the hopes of reincarnating into a new Gerudo male, and then continue the cycle just to torment new incarnations of Link and Zelda.
Diabolical Mastermind: Ganondorf is possibly the most intelligent character in the franchise, and is more charismatic than you'd expect from someone with a nasty temper, a constant desire to be in charge, and the power to turn into a giant anthropomorphic boar. In Ocarina of Time, he easily manipulated Link and Zelda into opening the Door of Time for him; in the lead-in to A Link to the Past, he gained the trust of the King of Hyrule and carried out a palace coup, even though the king had all the necessary information to figure out that this reclusive wizard wielding an unfamiliar magic just might have something to do with the weakening seal on the Sacred Realm and the great plague that had emerged from it.
Dimension Lord: In the Decline timeline, he was sealed away in the Sacred Realm and conquered it, turning it into the Dark World. In the Child timeline, he indirectly took control of the Twilight Realm by using Zant as a proxy.
The Dreaded: While games early in their respective timelines (like Ocarina of Time and Twilight Princess) depict Ganon as a relatively unknown entity, those later in their timelines like A Link Between Worlds and Breath of the Wild show that, even if he has yet to show his face in the present, people are terrified of him as the King of Evil who has repeatedly brought unprecedented death and destruction to Hyrule.
Dual Wield: He wields a pair of swords in Ocarina of Time, The Wind Waker, and Hyrule Warriors.
Dub Name Change: The English Super Nintendo instruction booklet for A Link to the Past notoriously made the claim that he was known as "Ganondorf Dragmire" and was also called by his alias "Mandrag Ganon" (supposedly meaning "Ganon of the Enchanted Thieves"), but this information is simply not present in the Japanese Super Famicom version and was subsequently omitted entirely from the Game Boy Advance manual. For 25 years straight, this was never referenced again in any later game or related material until the name Ganondorf Dragmire suddenly resurfaced in an April 2017 update to Zelda.com — which, while an official website, has a proven negative track record of including flat-out erroneous details.
Dying as Yourself: He is often killed/sealed away as the demon Ganon. But there are a few exceptions:
- The Wind Waker is the first game that has Ganondorf be the Final Boss as oppose to Ganon and consequently, Ganondorf is killed as a Gerudo instead of a monster. The official Hyrule Encyclopedia goes even further, suggesting that, by remembering his original motive and past, Ganondorf dies as a free man no longer bound to the curse that binds him to Link, Zelda and the Triforce.
- Twilight Princess also has Ganondorf dying as a mortal Gerudo, deprived of the Triforce of Power and succumbing to the fatal wound on his chest. However, unlike his Wind Waker counterpart, Ganondorf's hatred persists even after death, causing him to reincarnate into a new male Gerudo who also lusts for power and transforms into the demon Ganon again in Four Swords Adventures.
Early Installment Character-Design Difference:
- Downplayed with Beast Ganon's original design of a blue furred pig without a fiery mane of any sort. Outside of retro titles like Four Swords Adventures or A Link Between Worlds, this design has mainly disappeared with Beast Ganon having green fur and red hair-like "fur" over his head. Even in many titles that use the Retro Ganon design, they often still find a way to add red hair.
- In the very first game, Ganon wore no clothing outside of a shirt with a skull necklace. Every other game, including the Satellaview remake, depicts Beast Ganon at least covering his lower half.
Eldritch Abomination: Calamity Ganon which no longer has a physical form, but is just a swirling mass of hatred and rage in the vague shape of a boar.
Enemy to All Living Things: An increasingly prominent motif for him, with his presence and/or influence typically killing off any living thing that isn't one of his monstrous creations:
- A Link to the Past shows that his influence over the Dark World includes turning the plants into unhealthy-looking brown equivalents of their Light World counterparts and transforming people and animals into monstrous and occasionally undead forms.
- Ocarina of Time shows that after conquering Hyrule, he transforms Hyrule Castle and its green surroundings into a barren, lava-covered waste dominated by his Tower while also emptying Castle Town of everything but ReDeads. His influence over the rest of Hyrule includes making Death Mountain violently active, imprisoning the Gorons to feed them to Volvagia, freezing the Zora in Zora's Domain and simultaneously drying up Lake Hylia downstream, and generally spreading monsters everywhere.
- Twilight Princess has him do many of the same things as Ocarina (unsurprising, given that he's the Child timeline version of the latter), while also adding the corruption of the Twilight Realm, and conquering Hyrule and covering it in Twilight with Zant as a proxy, filling Hyrule with monsters (including Shadow Beasts, created from ordinary Twili and, by implication, possibly also Hylians), crippling its light spirits, and trapping every non-monster bar Link (who turns into a wolf), Zelda, and Midna as a helpless spirit.
- Breath of the Wild shows that the mere presence of his liquid Malice is enough to leave any area it is present completely barren of anything but his monsters and Guardians. This is especially noticeable in Hyrule Castle and the surrounding area, where all the plants are grey or brown husks presumably left over from the Great Calamity (with the exception of a single Silent Princess in Zelda's Study). Tears of the Kingdom later shows Gloom, Malice's refined form, which chokes the life out of Hyrule's various people and their weapons, even making the Great Fairies cough when they are resealed into their buds by Phantom Ganon disguising itself as Zelda or wrecking the Master Sword, the very weapon that can defeat him.
Eternal Villain: Ganondorf is essentially one as a counterpart to Link's Eternal Hero. In the English version of Skyward Sword, the original Demon King, Demise, cursed the royal family of what would become Hyrule and its chosen hero to be forever haunted by an incarnation of him and his hatred. This evil is implied to be Ganondorf and as part of the curse he has lived to become an ancient, eternally reincarnating embodiment of an even older evil that eternally returns to bring ruin to Hyrule every time he shows up until Link and Zelda defeat him.
Demise: 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!
Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: In most of the games they appear together, Ganondorf is shown to love his equally villainous adoptive mothers, Koume and Kotake. In Wind Waker, his swords are named after them.
Even Evil Has Loved Ones:
- Played with. His Motive Rant at the end of The Wind Waker reveals that his initial descent into villainy was due to the harsh desert environment he grew up in, making him jealous of the green fields of Hyrule. However, he also takes a moment to describe the suffering of his people under the burning sun during the day and freezing wind at night, implying that he initially wanted to gain a better life not just for himself, but for all of his people. Over time, however, he loses this motivation due to his lust for power, and is only able to remember it centuries after they've all gone extinct.
- Furthermore, after his takeover in the Bad Future of Ocarina of Time, every region of Hyrule is shown to be suffering under Ganondorf's tyranny… except for the Gerudo, who are operating like it's business as usual and still hold their king in high esteem. Despite his megalomaniacal goals, he spared his own people, implying that there may be some truth to his original motive.
- Horrifyingly subverted by his incarnation in Tears of the Kingdom. While he initially appears as to be something of a Warrior Prince who fights alongside the Gerudo and is said to have been a benevolent and heroic leader, he immediately turns against them upon becoming the Demon King, even outright ordering his monsters to eliminate them all and wipe out their settlements.
Evil Chancellor: He becomes the King of Hyrule's trusted advisor during the events of Ocarina of Time, even bowing before him, though Zelda knows he's up to no good, which is proven true since he wants the Triforce. In A Link To the Past, he, as Agahnim, becomes the King's royal advisor by using previously unheard of magic to rid Hyrule of all its recent troubles...which he himself may have had a hand in.
Evil Counterpart: To both Link and Zelda:
- Link and Zelda possess the Triforces of Courage and Wisdom respectively while Ganon himself possesses the Triforce of Power, representing the negative elements of creation. Ganon is the incarnation of a demon, much like Link is an incarnation of the original hero and Zelda herself is the human descendant/incarnation of the goddess Hylia. The comparisons to Link are especially drawn out in Twilight Princess and Tears of the Kingdom, where the final fights depict them utilizing the same methods as the Hero. Specifically, the former has a phase as a quadrupedal beast, one on horseback, and one as a swordfighter that even shares a few moves, while the latter makes use of the Flurry Rush and all four weapon types available in the game. Meanwhile, all other characters (aside from his Phantom) in the Wild duology stick with one each.
Evil Is Bigger: Seven and a half feet tall in human form (although a more normal six feet or so in Ocarina of Time), and probably ten or twelve feet tall in boar form. He's practically a Kaiju in Breath of the Wild. It's worth noting he's actually much taller in-game, being 10+ feet in all 3 of his appearances as Ganondorf, and that the 7'6'' number originates from a listing next to a piece of some old black and white concept art in the Hyrule Historia.
Evil Is Hammy: Ganondorf is prone to laughing menacingly while bragging about how powerful he is.
Evil Laugh: First appeared in The Adventure of Link — where it was absolutely terrifying if you were of the target age group, since no one imagined at the time that the NES could show portraits or depict even the simplest of voice acting. Iconic ever since, to the point of being a Verbal Tic in Ocarina of Time.
Evil Makes You Ugly: In Ocarina of Time, Ganondorf starts as the king of the Gerudo, and a tall, handsome man. He develops yellow eyes and pointed ears in the seven years after he takes over Hyrule. In the final battle, he invokes the Triforce of Power to transform into a hideous pig-like monster. And in the Downfall timeline, where he succeeds in defeating Link, he remains in Ganon form for all of his subsequent appearances. Depending on the game, he loses his mind along with his body after he becomes Ganon, with his botched revival in the Oracle games in particular reducing him to little more than a feral beast that wants to destroy everything.
Evil Only Has to Win Once:
- Subverted. The "Decline" Timeline is exactly what happens when Ganon does win — and it still doesn't work out that well for him. Even after defeating Link and gaining the complete Triforce, the people of Hyrule still managed to fight back and managed to seal Ganon in the Sacred Realm/Dark World. However, as he still had the Triforce at his disposal, Ganon continued making wishes and building his power until the Dark World's power began seeping into the Light World too. Then a new Link shows up ("a new Hero was destined to appear"), kills him, and claims the Triforce for himself. Centuries later, Ganon reacquires the Triforce of Power and falls upon Hyrule again, but is again defeated by a new Link.
- There's Breath of the Wild, where Ganon succeeded in destroying the Kingdom of Hyrule with the possessed Guardians and Divine Beasts but still got sealed up in Hyrule Castle by Zelda to give Link time to recover and eventually defeat Ganon. So really, evil's at a disadvantage in this series - and it's implied that he's realized this, which is part of why Ganon just wants to destroy everything this time.
Evil Overlord: He isn't called the Great King of Evil for nothing. Even if he doesn't actually rule over Hyrule, he still has a loyal army of monsters to conquer Hyrule anyways.
Evil Sorcerer: Early in the franchise's life, he's described as a wicked wizard and various incarnations of him, notably Agahnim and Ganondorf, play this image straight (though they often transform themselves into the classic pig demon at the end of the game).
Evil Tower of Ominousness: Ganon's Tower is his base of operations in several games. He sometimes hijacks Hyrule Castle for the same effect.
Evil Virtues: Just about everything on the list. Even a certain amount of honesty. Particularly, Ganon is consistently portrayed as Patient and Diligent, working for thousands of years to hatch his plots.
Expy: His name during the development of the first game was Gyuumaou Hakkai, as he was conceived as an amalgamation of Chohakkai (Zhu Bajie, a.k.a. "Pigsy") and Gyuumao (Ox King) from Journey to the West.
Familial Foe: He repeatedly clashes with the bloodline of the Goddess Hylia, ie. the various Princess Zeldas. Possibly twice over, thanks to the implication that the Hero of the Sky helped found the Hylian royal family, and that at least some of the Links are his descendants and/or some are descendants of others.
Fatal Flaw: His insatiable powerlust proves to be this to him. When the chips are down, he is all too willing to sacrifice his mind and sanity to achieve even greater levels of power, even though he is arguably more dangerous with his mind than without it. This is especially noticeable with his incarnation in Tears of the Kingdom, where instead of retreating after losing the battle with Link and the Sages, he sacrifices his mind and body by swallowing the stolen Secret Stone and permanently transforming into a dragon, further dooming him.
Faux Affably Evil: As Ganondorf, he is refined, stylish, and charismatic... which allows him to manipulate everyone around him with ease.
Fighting a Shadow: A favorite tactic of Ganon is sending his puppet to showcase a preview of what the Final Battle will be like for Link. It's often Phantom Ganon, but he uses this for his alter-ego Aghanim, Calamity Ganon, and, to a lesser extent, Zant since the Twili Usurper did borrow Ganon's power. Skyward Sword also implies that Ganon himself is a shadow for Demon King Demise, though the latter has been long dead by the time Ganondorf took center stage.
Final Boss: If he's in the game, he's all but guaranteed to be this. Even if other villains take prominence, Ganon will still likely be the final challenge for Link to face.
Fisher King: In Ocarina of Time, Hyrule becomes plagued by disasters under Ganondorf's rule, with the once-lively Castle Town in particular becoming a literal ghost town whose only population is a few ReDeads.
Flaming Hair: Ganon has some in his Dark Beast form in Breath of the Wild, and his Demon King form in Tears of the Kingdom has some too, looking uncannily similar to his forebear Demise.
Flaw Exploitation: Ganon is one of the undisputed masters of this trope, using Zelda's fears of him against her and the Kingdom of Hyrule, such as accurately predicting that she thinks he wants the Spiritual Stones, when he's really after the Triforce and creates a dark and stormy night that makes Zelda think the Four Sword's seal on Vaati is weakening, when in reality, it wasn't and was best left untouched. He also exploits Link's willingness to save Zelda, and Zant's anger about not becoming ruler of the Twilight Realm to free himself.
For the Evulz: Chaos and destruction are means to ends that he's very attached to, but Ganondorf also enjoys them for their own sake; this comes through particularly clearly in Ocarina of Time and Twilight Princess.
Freudian Excuse:
- It's revealed in Wind Waker that there's a very understandable beginning to Ganondorf's lust for power - the Gerudo had a bad lot in life in Hyrule, having to resort to thievery to survive and dealing with the desert's ruthless conditions from day to night. Looking at the lush land of Hyrule and the prosperity its people enjoyed in comparison, he grew jealous of it, and claims that is the reason he initially invaded. While as Hyrule's new ruler he brought seemingly little to no improvements for the Gerudo and only seemed to devastate the beautiful land he once coveted, this detail makes it clear that a genuine and tragic reasoning lies behind the powerlust that consumed the King of Thieves.
- It’s averted with his incarnation in Tears of the Kingdom, however, as he lacks any tragic backstory and plans to conquer Hyrule solely for himself.
Full-Boar Action: His Ganon form, especially in Twilight Princess and Hyrule Warriors.
Genius Bruiser: A clever manipulator, a powerful sorcerer, and a fearsome warrior, with or without weapons.
Generic Doomsday Villain: Sometimes he's pretty front-and-center, and gets a great deal of dialogue (for a Zelda game). On other occasions, he's about as impressive as the filler villains he normally replaces. Calamity Ganon in Breath of the Wild is a justified example, as he's lost his mind after becoming a physical manifestation of rage and has degenerated into an Eldritch Abomination more akin to a force of nature.
Godhood Seeker: His main goal in the franchise is to become a living god with the power to remake Hyrule in his own image. He usually seeks out the Triforce, which can make wishes come true, and often succeeds in obtaining it. Of course, when he does obtain that power, it transforms him into a demonic boar-like beast known as Ganon and he doesn't enjoy his newfound godhood for long as Link and Zelda will always emerge to defeat him.
God in Human Form: In the English translation of Skyward Sword, much like how Zelda is the mortal incarnation of Hylia, Ganondorf is the reincarnation of Demise — either the incarnation of his hatred or Demise himself reborn — destined to fight the spirit of Link and bloodline of Zelda forever. This is brought up in Hyrule Warriors and Breath of the Wild, the latter of which describes Ganondorf as an ancient evil that incarnated as a Gerudo.
Demise: 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!
Grand Theft Me: He does this to Zelda in Twilight Princess, turning her into the boss "Puppet Zelda". He himself falls victim to this in A Link Between Worlds, courtesy of Yuga.
Greater-Scope Villain:
- He serves as this role if he has a Dragon working for him (usually trying to resurrect him, like his surrogate mothers in the Oracle games) or if he is The Man Behind the Man. In fact, there's a whole trope for this, and he is the Trope Namer: Hijacked by Ganon.
- He serves as this for his Calamity Ganon incarnation in Breath of the Wild, since the Demon King himself was sealed deep beneath Hyrule Castle by Rauru years before the first Great Calamity.
Greed: The very foundation of his character centers around greed, with his monster form resembling a giant humanoid pig and his agenda revolving around stealing. Ganondorf has specifically been shown attaining what he was after and still not being truly happy or satisfied.
Green-Eyed Monster: The Wind Waker reveals that growing up and being king of a barren, inhospitable desert caused him to see the fertility and peace of Hyrule and covet it, which is what drove him and in the end gave way to his tyranny. It's especially notable and tragic that in the position he's in throughout all of the game, he could've paved the way to change for his people or had a life in that land himself - he was able to become a trusted advisor of the man ruling the kingdom, and he spent 7 years holding reign over Hyrule. But by the time he had that power, Ganon seemed to have lost sight of where he came from; his possession of Hyrule more a matter of owning it than any genuine happiness. By Wind Waker, he seems to regret his youthful arrogance, but he still fights to return and rule the Hyrule of his nostalgia, in the process dismissing that a new world teeming with new life and people has begun to grow on the lands atop the ocean that'd be drained to do that. It's also implied in the English translation of Skyward Sword that Ganondorf is the incarnation of the ancient Demon King Demise's grudge against Hylia after the latter was defeated by the first Link, which means Ganondorf originates from envy in a sense: though word on his death in Wind Waker from Hyrule Encyclopedia implies this isn't entirely unbreakable.
Hades Shaded: Not only does the villainous Ganondorf have a significantly darker skin tone than any of the heroes, his skin is green, unlike the natural shades of brown seen with other Gerudo. Only his surrogate mothers, a pair of Wicked Witches, share his unusual skin color.
Happily Adopted: Surprisingly, despite how evil he is, Ganondorf seems to have a good relationship with his surrogate mothers, Koume and Kotake, to the point that they serve as his Co-Dragons and he even has their names etched into his swords.
Hated by All: Whilst initially Ganondorf had strong support among the Gerudo, after his defeat in Ocarina of Time, he went down in history as the most hated man in Hyrule. The Gerudo disowned him and only see him as a demon who pretended to be one of them. Only monsters, doomsday fanatics, and power-hungry opportunists follow Ganon now.
The Heavy: As the most recurring villain in the series he has played this role for most games he is in.
Hellish Horse: In Ocarina of Time and Twilight Princess, he rides a Black Gerudo Stallion with glowing red eyes. In Tears of the Kingdom, his steed has a more demonic appearance when leading his minions into battle to destroy Hyrule and create his own kingdom for himself.
Hijacked by Ganon: The Trope Namer since nearly every Zelda game ends with a Ganon boss fight regardless of the story. This means that the majority of the villains that don't fit with the traditional Ganon's aesthetics are often revealed to be related to Ganon somehow. Ironically, despite being the final boss for nearly the entire series, Ganon only plays the trope straight on his end in Four Swords Adventures, Twilight Princess, and the spinoff Hyrule Warriors.
Honor Before Reason: A rare villainous example: During the final fight in Wind Waker, Ganondorf, after being hit by enough Light Arrows, approaches Tetra, and, instead of stabbing her, puts away his sword and simply backhands her. Also, he seems to have a habit of, whenever knocking down Link, waiting until he gets back up before he resumes his attack or does a finishing blow.
Humanoid Abomination: He was once simply the king of the desert-dwelling Gerudo tribe, although a powerful sorcerer nevertheless. After acquiring the Triforce, however, he became something much, much worse — which is best reflected by his changes in appearance over the seven-year time-skip in Ocarina of Time: his eyes change from having yellow irises and white sclerae to red irises and yellow sclerae, his ears become pointed, and his brown skin acquires a distinct green tint. After being revived by the Triforce of Power in Twilight Princess he immediately begins transforming into Ganon, sporting Black Eyes of Crazy and protruding fangs on his lower jaw.
Immortality: He is the only bearer of a Triforce piece that remains the same being from appearance to appearance for this reason. It's strongly implied that Link and Zelda's spirits are reincarnated from each passing generation instead.
Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Done multiple times over the series in terms of the finishing blows:
- In Ocarina of Time, Link, after Ganon was pinned down by Zelda, slices Ganon's face and then delivers the final blow by impaling his mouth.
- In Wind Waker, Ganondorf attempts to do a last-ditch attack on Link. Link parries it, gains enough air, and then does a downward thrust through Ganondorf's head.
- In Twilight Princess, Ganondorf is skewered through the chest with the Sword of the Six Sages in a flashback, and Link's finishing blow against him going right through the wound left by it.
- Skyward Sword gives this trend Futureshadowing by having Demise be defeated the exact same way as Ganondorf was in Twilight Princess.
Invincible Villain: Ganondorf claims to be unable to be killed by any weapon without the ability to purge evil, and backs it up in Wind Waker. The only weapons capable of harming him are the Master Sword and Light/Silver Arrows.
Joker Immunity: Despite dying on-screen several times, he usually finds a way back in time for the next game. The Triforce of Power is attributed for most if not all of these returns.
Kick the Dog:
- In Ocarina of Time, he freezes over Zora's Domain. Unlike his other conquests or even his attempted genocide of the Gorons, this serves no clear purpose other than to be evil for the sake of it.
- Does this twice in Twilight Princess. First, after capturing Princess Zelda, he mounts her unconscious body over his throne like some kind of sick trophy for Link and Midna to discover. Later, after seemingly killing Midna, Ganondorf picks up her crown, looks straight at Link and Zelda, and then crushes it.
- His incarnation in Tears of the Kingdom laughs at and mocks King Rauru for not using the full power of his Scared Stone right after murdering his wife Sonia and stealing hers.
Killed Off for Real: The original Ganondorf was killed by Link at the end of The Legend Of Zelda I (Decline), Twilight Princess (Child), and Wind Waker (Adult), the latter two times due to the Triforce of Power, the source of his immortality, being separated from him. However, he is reincarnated as the Ganondorf seen in Four Swords Adventures in the Child Timeline. So far, he's stayed dead in the Adult Timeline, but this is still circumstantial and a later Demon King, Malladus, is vaguely similar to his beast form. However, in the Decline Timeline, Ganon loses the entire Triforce twice (at the end of A Link to the Past and then at the end of the original Legend of Zelda too), and we're told that there's still a way to revive him in Adventure of Link. That's the final game in that timeline, so it never actually happens barring a Game Over, as far as we know. Additionally, as per the English translation of Skyward Sword, his returns may additionally be driven by the terms of Demise's curse to forever plague Hyrule with the incarnation of his hatred.
King Mook: Starting with A Link to the Past, his Moblins are depicted as Pig Men to better match with Ganon in his pig demon form. Though there were games that uses the classical bulldog design like Ocarina of Time, the pig design becomes the staple for the Moblins and their relatives, even when Ganon is nowhere to be seen.
King of Thieves: Before he obtained the Triforce of Power and became the Prince of Darkness/King of Evil, Ganondorf was the King of Thieves of the Gerudo. The position goes to the one male born to the tribe every 100 years.
Knight of Cerebus: When he appears in a 3D game, he typically ends up darkening the plot. This is especially true in Lighter and Softer games like The Wind Waker, where his various minions are portrayed as much goofier in comparison.
Large and in Charge: In both his human and beast forms. Hyrule Historia even puts his official human form height at a staggering and stout 7 feet 6 inches. Later games show that the Gerudo tribe tend to be larger than other humans as a baseline, but Ganondorf almost always towers over other Gerudo.
Large Ham: In various games. Bonus points for, as Ganon, making it as literal as possible.
Last of His Kind: According to Creating a Champion Ganondorf was the last male Gerudo born to his race. Considering that was more than ten-thousand years ago male Gerudo are essentially a myth by Breath of the Wild. Tears of the Kingdom reveals there was good reason for that...
Laughing Mad: His reaction to the waves coming down on Hyrule from the Hyrulean King's wish to the Triforce in Wind Waker.
Leaking Can of Evil: A Link to the Past, The Wind Waker, and Breath of the Wild all deal with how he is still able to spread his dark magic across the land despite either him or his powers being sealed up. Tears of the Kingdom reveals that the Malice in Breath of the Wild was only just the appetizer for Hyrule as a whole... since its true form, Gloom, is more deadly and even destroys the Master Sword!
Legend Fades to Myth:
- In A Link to the Past, the story of how Ganon got the Triforce was that he rediscovered the way to enter the Sacred Realm and killed all of his followers so only he could obtain it, when he got the whole Triforce by defeating Link and was still banished to the Sacred Realm-now turned Dark World by Zelda and the Seven Sages. Justified, since no one remembers the original story from Ocarina of Time, being that Ganon tricked Link into opening the door to the Sacred Realm by letting him collect the Spiritual Stones.
- By Breath of the Wild, his true origin as the king of the Gerudo has become a distant, muddled myth with Urbosa saying that the Calamity Ganon once merely took the form of a Gerudo.
Leitmotif: Agahnim's theme in A Link to the Past became Ganondorf's theme from Ocarina onwards, as the former was in many ways a prototype for the latter. It is a slow, menacing theme. He even played it on his organ one time, while waiting for Link to arrive. The various Ganon, Phantom Ganon, and Ganondorf boss battle themes go with the character too.
Light 'em Up: He has shown proficiency with light magic, and in Twilight Princess, he uses the Sword of the Six Sages that he stole from the sages who sought to execute him.
Light Is Not Good: Despite being affiliated with darkness and evil, he is the chosen wielder of the divine power of Din, and he uses the Sword of the Six Sages in Twilight Princess.
Lightning Bruiser: In Wind Waker and Twilight Princess, he does away with taking on Link with spells from afar and fighting as the Mighty Glacier Ganon and proves to be an astonishingly agile opponent while still being bigger and stronger than Link and Stone Walling all but the most advanced sword attacks. Even when he is Ganon in Twilight Princess, he's incredibly agile, and turns human for the final battle.
Made of Evil: In Breath of the Wild, Calamity Ganon is completely comprised of an evil mystical substance called Malice. The English version of Skyward Sword also implies that because Ganondorf is the manifestation of the curse placed upon Zelda and Link's descendants by Demise, Ganondorf's existence hinges on the hatred and persisting spirit of an ancient evil, possibly making him this or possibly fated to be evil.
Magic Knight: He not only possesses powerful magic, but is also unbelievably strong and skilled with melee weapons.
Manipulative Bastard: He uses his raw cunning to manipulate people around him. He uses this skill to manipulate the King of Hyrule into believing that the Gerudo King was on his side before betraying him and attempting to steal the Triforce.
Manly Facial Hair: In his first appearance as Ganondorf, he is clean-shaven and heavily relies on his warlock magic to fight Link. In the later games, he sports a beard and emphasizes more on melee physique, with a heavily stout body and a sword in his hand. He's also smarter and more dangerous in these bearded appearances, rarely underestimating his adversaries.
Maou the Demon King: Ganondorf has been known as 魔王 Maou (Demon King), 大魔王 Daimaou (meaing Great Demon King), and 闇の魔王 Yami no Maou (Demon King of Darkness), while Ganon has been known as 闇の魔王 Yami no Maou, 大魔王 Daimaou, and 魔獣 Majuu (Demon Beast), the latter when he is especially mindless. He rules over all the other monsters Link faces and is a persistent threat to Hyrule, returning through the ages in a constant cycle of being sealed away, escaping, being slain, and being resurrected or reincarnated.
Meaningless Villain Victory: One of the tragic aspects of Ganon is that he is destined to lose even when he wins.
- In Ocarina of Time, Ganondorf successfully manipulates Link and Zelda into opening the door to the Sacred Realm, allowing him to steal the Triforce and become the ruler of the world for seven years. However, his heart is unbalanced and thus the Triforce splits into three pieces, leaving Ganondorf with only one Triforce Piece. The other two are given to Link and Zelda, who manage to defeat him with their combined might and the Sages.
- In the backstory of The Wind Waker, Ganon nearly conquered Hyrule with ease due to the absence of the Hero of Time. This unfortunately caused the Golden Goddesses to intervene and flood Hyrule until it became the Great Sea. Undeterred, Ganondorf searches for the Triforce in the present day and successfully does so after capturing Zelda and overpowering Link before he can swing the Master Sword. Despite assembling the Triforce, Ganondorf never gets to make his wish because the King of Hyrule touched the Triforce first, who wishes for Hyrule and Ganondorf to be washed away forever.
- In the "Downfall" Timeline, Ganon succeeds in defeating Link and thus obtains the full Triforce. However, Zelda and the Six Sages still seal him away with their powers and centuries later, another incarnation of Link would arrive into the Dark World to finish off Ganon and take back the Triforce before he could break out of his seal in A Link to the Past.
- In Breath of the Wild, Calamity Ganon completely devastates Hyrule, killing off the King, the Champions and many populations left and right with his army of possessed Guardians. He even gets Link mortally wounded, leaving Zelda as the only survivor left to face the Calamity. However, Zelda manages to use her powers to trap Ganon inside the castle for the next century, denying him the chance to savor his victory. And when he finally breaks free from Zelda's hold, the newly revived Link is right there to kick his ass once again.
Motive Decay: The Wind Waker indicates that he initially wanted to take over Hyrule so his people could have a better life, but over the course of Ocarina of Time he became consumed with a lust for power and by The Wind Waker his people are gone so he has no reason to want the Triforce and Hyrule other than for his own sake. In both Twilight Princess and A Link To The Past, he doesn’t even bother pretending that he cares about anything but attaining Hyrule and the power of the Triforce.
Narcissist: Ganondorf is an extremely powerful being, and he knows it, causing him to believe himself to be superior to everyone else and develop a general Lack of Empathy towards others across all of his incarnations. Even his Older and Wiser self from The Wind Waker still sees the people of the Great Sea as weak and hopeless, and refuses to accept responsibility for the role he played in Hyrule's destruction.
Nigh-Invulnerability: In The Wind Waker, Ganondorf laughs off a slash from the depowered Master Sword and scolds Link for even thinking that he could be defeated by a weapon without the power to purge evil. Every time he is killed, he will come back to life just fine due to having the Triforce of Power.
Older and Wiser: His depiction in The Wind Waker, having had a lot of time to think about things. He still wants to claim the Triforce and take over Hyrule, but he's become more philosophical and explains his original motives.
Omnicidal Maniac: If his resurrection goes horribly wrong, his intelligent mind will be reduced into an unstable, rampaging beast bent on destroying everything. Tears of the Kingdom, despite having him in his human form, still has him command his minions to destroy all life in Hyrule so he can make a new kingdom.
The One Guy: To his entire race. Ganondorf is the male Gerudo born once every one hundred years, which is his claim to his title as king. This is still true in a broad metatextual sense, as while later games with the Gerudo make clear that men are sporadically born into their tribe, he's the only one to ever be portrayed onscreen.
One-Handed Zweihänder: Although he's usually shown wielding a trident, some games have him wielding massive swords, most notably Ocarina of Time (as Ganon) and Hyrule Warriors (where it's his default weapon-set).
One-Winged Angel: His boar-like beast form, Ganon, where he becomes much larger and much more powerful. Different games vary in depicting Ganon as a permanent transformation of Ganondorf and the inevitable result of his power and hatred corrupting him, or if he can transform into Ganon and back willingly. The 2D games often go with the former and the 3D games (with the exception of Breath of the Wild) usually go with the latter.
Orcus on His Throne: Possesses the Triforce of Power, is a spectacularly skilled sorcerer and swordsman, easily mows down any and all (non-Links) who oppose him, is immortal... and he generally waits around for the latest incarnation of the Hero to level up at the expense of his minions rather than deal with any potential threat himself. Subverted in some games, however, like Wind Waker, where Ganon was tearing up the place before the Master Sword was sacrificed to seal most of his power and then Hyrule was flooded to keep him away.
Our Demons Are Different: Though he started off a Gerudo man who happened to have access to evil magic, he is frequently characterized as a demon in games that take place chronologically after Ocarina of Time, with "the Demon King" being one of his more common epithets. The English version of Skyward Sword reveals that the Demon King Demise cursed the descendants of Link and Zelda to forever face an incarnation of his hatred; whether you interpret this, based on what source you go with, to mean that Ganon is the physical embodiment of Demise's hatred or is in fact Demise reincarnated, the implication in either case is that he was actually a demon to begin with.
Pet the Dog:
- After taking over Hyrule and bringing most of the surrounding lands to ruin in Ocarina of Time, Ganondorf leaves Gerudo Valley perfectly intact. Likewise, his reincarnation in Four Swords Adventures does the same even after betraying the Gerudo's laws, and seems to treat the Deku Scrubs pretty well according to their dialogue. It seems that even the King of Evil has mercy on his people and loyal followers.
- Right before his showdown with Link in Ocarina of Time, Ganondorf refills his hearts and magic for no apparent reason other than because he respects Link and wants a fair fight.
- At the end of The Wind Waker, Ganondorf takes the time to sincerely explain his motives and spares Link and Tetra, even reassuring the former so he won't be afraid.
  Ganondorf: Do not fear. I won't kill you… I merely have need of the power that dwells within you.
Pig Man: The rare Big Bad example of this trope. Precisely how piggish he looks frequently vary from game to game; he tends to be more pig-like in the 2d games, probably to match his iconic Mooks, the Moblins (who often see-saw between pigmen and bulldog-men themselves). His Ocarina of Time and Twilight Princess incarnations are the least piggish-looking, with the former being a hulking demonic Beast Man with a piggish nose and the latter looking like a swinishly snouted, tusked hybrid of lion and ape.
Physical God: Almost literally, as he (usually) wields the Triforce of Power, which amplifies his own abilities immeasurably, and the Triforce of Power itself is a remnant of the Goddess of Power, Din. He is also the reincarnation of the Demon King Demise as per the English translation of Skyward Sword.
Planet of Copyhats: In the backstory of A Link to the Past, he is said to be a masterful thief on account of how he came by the Triforce. Thievery ends up being one of the main defining features of the Gerudo.
Pointy Ears: While Ganondorf originally has rounded ears in Ocarina of Time, after the seven-year time-jump his ears have become pointed, signifying along with his yellow sclerae that he's not quite Gerudo anymore.
The Power of Hate:
- The English version of Skwyard Sword implies that he embodies the dying curse that Demise set on the descendants of the first Link and Zelda, in which that an incarnation of his hatred is destined to forever fight all of their descendants.
- This makes him transform into Ganon for the final boss fight in Ocarina in tandem with the Triforce of Power.
- As Calamity Ganon in Breath of the Wild the evil goop-like substance related to him that corrupts locations and spawns monsters is called Malice. In the final battle he loses any sort of mind or consciousness and is simply rampaging Malice incarnate.
Pride: What really keeps undoing Ganondorf again and again is his extreme arrogance. While he has recognized Link's skill on several occasions, the King of Evil refuses to believe that the Hero is a match for him, no matter how much the latter accomplishes.
Progressively Prettier: As Ganon, he was depicted as an enormous demon boar. Ocarina of Time establishes that his default form is a tall, muscular Gerudo man, albeit with a Sinister Schnoz and a near-constant Psychotic Smirk. The Wind Waker and Twilight Princess depict him as an older and more dignified man, and the version of him shown in Tears of the Kingdom is a shirtless Mr. Fanservice.
Pure Is Not Good: Twilight Princess and Breath of the Wild describe Ganondorf as possessing the purest malice and Skyward Sword's English translation implies that he has inherited it from Demise.
Rage Quit: He does this in a couple games.
- After losing his first fight to Link in Ocarina of Time, he primes the castle they're in to explode. When he realizes that Link survived, he goes berserk and transforms into Ganon.
- In Breath of the Wild, Link manages to interrupt his reincarnation cycle and bests his physical body in battle. In response, he transforms into Dark Beast Ganon, a monster that will kill all life in Hyrule if Link does not put him down in that form.
- In Tears of the Kingdom, he is so infuriated that he lost to Link that he willingly undergoes Death of Personality to become a giant dragon, all so he had a chance to come out on top.
Raised by Grandparents: Sort of. Word of God is that he was raised by Koume and Kotake, the Twinrova witches.
Raise Him Right This Time: The Gerudo attempted this with the second Ganondorf in Four Swords Adventures, but he turned out evil and power-hungry regardless.
Gerudo Elder: Once every 100 years, a special child is born unto my people. That child is destined to be the mighty guardian of the Gerudo and the desert. But this child, its heart grew twisted with every passing year. The child became a man who hungered for power at any price.
Rasputinian Death: Being a powerful sorcerer, the wielder of the Triforce of Power, and the living embodiment of evil, he won't go down unless Link, Zelda, and their allies give him a major walloping first:
- In Ocarina of Time, first Link fights him, pelts him with Light Arrows, throws his Energy Blasts back into his face and delivers enough sword-strikes that Ganondorf coughs up blood and collapses. Then his entire tower collapses with him on the roof, leaving nothing but bits of stone debris. He survives that due to the Triforce of Power, and transforms into Ganon. Link fights him, slashes him in the tail many times, and finishes it off by cutting up his face and stabbing deeply into it. And he still doesn't die, instead having to be sealed away in what was once the Sacred Realm.
- In Wind Waker, to show he's been Killed Off for Real this time, he gets stabbed through the head, Taken for Granite, the tower you fought him on collapses, and the ocean rushes in and buries him under miles of water. We don't actually know for certain which of those steps really did it, either.
- In Twilight Princess, it takes four phases. First he possesses Zelda, gets beaten out of her, then transforms into Ganon and receives another beating from Link. Midna then uses the Fused Shadows on him which causes an explosion that levels Hyrule Castle, and after predictably surviving that, gets his body filled with light arrows. He falls off his horse (which looked rather painful too) and gets in a rather awesome sword fight with Link which ends with him getting stabbed through the chest with the Master Sword. Then he STANDS UP, gives his last words, and gets the Triforce of Power taken from him (which had been keeping him alive through all of this). We then see (the dead) Zant break his own neck (for no explained reason), after which Ganondorf eventually dies. He is STILL standing. Not only that, but all of this happens with the wound caused by being impaled, before the game started, by the Sages, who had then sent him to the Twilight Realm. This wound is also the only vulnerable area of his Beast Ganon form.
- In Breath of the Wild, almost immediately after his Mechanical Abomination form emerges from his cocoon, the Divine Beasts fire their powerful lasers at him. Link then duels against him using all manner of melee weapons, arrows, and the Bequeathed Powers of the Champions. He then reforms into his Dark Beast form on Hyrule Field, where Link rides a horse while shooting Light Arrows at weak points Zelda generates. This all allows Zelda to be freed from within Ganon and deal the finishing blow by sealing him with her magic... and even then it's indicated he'll one-day return, which indeed comes to pass in Tears of the Kingdom.
Really 700 Years Old: Hardly ages much, if at all, over the course of centuries or millennia. This is likely because of the Triforce of Power or some other artifact turning him immortal. It appears to be a constant in each timeline; with Ocarina of Time, Four Swords Adventures and Cadence of Hyrule being among the few games that seem to avert this.
- Subverted in Tears of the Kingdom, where he spends most of the game in a mummified state until around the end and in flashbacks. And even then, his body is still in surprisingly good condition given how utterly ancient it is, thanks to the sealing ritual preserving him.
Reincarnation: The Ganondorf seen in Four Swords Adventures is the reincarnation of the original Ganondorf killed in Twilight Princess, and Shadow Link is a manifestation of his hatred for Link. The version of him in Tears of the Kingdom is also distinct from all previous incarnations, although it is unknown which version of Ganondorf he reincarnated from. In the English version of Skyward Sword, it's implied that he is the incarnation of Demon King Demise and the hatred that he bore for Link and Zelda. Hyrule Historia and Hyrule Warriors state Ganondorf is Demise's reincarnation too. Otherwise, most other Ganondorf appearances avert this, being the same individual across most of his appearances (albeit split across the three timelines).
Related in the Adaptation: The English version of Skyward Sword very strongly implies that Ganondorf is something of The Antichrist of the Demon King Demise, having been directly born of a curse of Demise's hatred to forever fight with Link, Zelda, and the gods. The Japanese original, while still having Demise as a Suspiciously Similar Substitute, is much more vague and indirect about their relation, as it states that the demons' hatred for the gods will instead continue as a sort of karmic conflict, meaning Ganondorf would have become the Demon King in a very indirect manner. Hyrule Historia supports both versions of Demise's final declaration.
Sanity Has Advantages: Ganondorf is smart, charismatic, pragmatic, brave, patient, relentless, immortal, and not unstable — traits which make him one of the most dangerous villains in just about any work of genre fiction. Link consistently needs his wits about him to beat Ganondorf, or to ensure that he stays beaten. Ganon, on the other hand, is a feral pig monster who is certainly dangerous but ultimately more manageable.
Sanity Slippage: One notable example of this occurs in Wind Waker. When he tries to use the Triforce's power to conquer Hyrule and restore the submerged lands to how he remembered them, only for King Daphnes to get there first and wish for both Hyrule and Ganondorf to stay submerged, he starts going Laughing Mad and has no further complications over murdering Link and Zelda. The final boss theme, with its loud, frantic drums and blaring horns, represents the deteriorating mental state of a Tragic Villain violently lashing out at those who opposed/sabotaged him because he has absolutely nothing left to lose.
Scary Black Man: Though more Ambiguously Brown, or perhaps Ambiguously Green, his skin's dark enough to give off something of this vibe. He's always been depicted as more Middle Eastern or East African than anything else, in contrast to the European-cultured Hylians.
Sealed Evil in a Can: At the end of Ocarina of Time and in the backstory of the Decline timeline, he's sealed into the Sacred Realm, at the end of Four Swords Adventures, he's sealed inside the Four Sword, and in the backstory of Breath of the Wild, he was sealed inside Hyrule Castle, with his real body sealed WAY more deeper, as seen in Tears of the Kingdom.
Shrouded in Myth: By the time of Breath of the Wild, his origins as a Gerudo have been distorted into him once adopting the form of a Gerudo.
Sinister Schnoz: As part of his Gerudo heritage, he has a large nose. Ocarina of Time particularly has it be impressively pointy like all Gerudo. Later games tone it down, but it's still fairly big in most interpretations.
Sinister Swine: He's evil and the animal that he often transforms into is a pig, symbolizing his greedy appetite and aggressive attitude.
The Sociopath: The common depiction of Ganon is a greedy, uncaring evil sorcerer with an insatiable appetite for power and vicious retributions towards all who oppose him. Even though he came from a harsh desert and was tasked with the responsibility of caring for the Gerudo, there's no indication that he wants to improve his people's lives, especially after he got power to liberate them. His incarnations in Four Swords Adventures and Tears of the Kingdom don't even have the excuse of a bad upbringing, and they both jump at the chance to use an Amplifier Artifact for evil. The Wind Waker Ganondorf is the only true exception, mainly because he did have time to reflect on the suffering of his people and is far more merciful to Link and Zelda than his other incarnations.
Sorcerous Overlord: Being a powerful sorcerer is essential for Ganondorf to rule Hyrule uncontested given that nearly all of Hyrule despise him.
Stalker without a Crush: To every Zelda he meets, though he only desires her for the Triforce of Wisdom she carries, rather than any desire for love.
Staying Alive: Several games imply or outright state it is due to the Triforce of Power making him immortal.
Stout Strength: In most of his appearances, he's either fat (as an anthropomorphic pig) or has a fatter muscular build like many power-lifters (as Ganondorf in all his appearances except Ocarina of Time). However, Triforce of Power aside, he is still one of the strongest beings in Hyrule.
Super-Strength: Along with his powerful magic abilities, his physical strength is godlike. Many times, he is portrayed as stronger and more powerful than Link (who has impressive feats of strength himself), like in Wind Waker where he completely overpowers Link (a Link who can lift giant boulders) in every encounter without even trying, or in Ocarina of Time where Link needs big magical strength enhancement gloves to even compare to Ganondorf's strength. He has feats like breaking free from heavy chains, destroying the floor of his throne room with one punch, destroying pillars which require powerful weapons for it to destroy with ease, wielding huge weapons that Link himself would struggle to wield, killing the Sage of Water with one punch, breaking free from a giant castle rubble while half dead, and creating earthquakes with his physical abilities.
Take Over the World: His main goal in claiming the Triforce and conquering Hyrule.
Tennis Boss: Initially does this as Agahnim in A Link to the Past. This later becomes a signature technique of his in Ocarina of Time and while possessing Zelda in Twilight Princess.
Time Abyss: Due to being same guy most of the time and often sealed away rather than being killed, Ganon is ancient in many games, with people barely remembering who he was before becoming the Demon King. Calamity Ganon in Breath of the Wild is at least ten-thousand years old, and his Gerudo form in Tears of the Kingdom dates back to the founding of Hyrule itself, long before even the ten-thousand year legend.
Touché: Especially evident in Wind Waker, when Link manages to escape or defeat Ganondorf. He always has this smirk on his face which demonstrates amusement with Link's gumption.
Tragic Villain: By way of Character Development. Initially, Ganondorf was just a Generic Doomsday Villain, with A Link to the Past and Ocarina of Time expanding on how he was a master thief and warlord who managed to acquire the Triforce (and, in the former game, slaughtered his own followers to possess it). In Wind Waker, he was given a Freudian Excuse for coveting the Triforce, having grown up in the barren wastes of the desert whilst living right next door to the lush and prosperous Hyrule. Then, in the English version of Skyward Sword, we learn that he's the reincarnation of Demise/the avatar of Demise's hatred born of a Dying Curse, meaning that he was destined to become a villain. Averted when it comes to Tears of the Kingdom as the only tragic aspect of him is the inevitability of his evil, as he otherwise is a sociopathic narcissist with no tragic, redeeming, or humanizing qualities at all.
Try to Fit That on a Business Card: Usually caused by inconsistent translations of his Japanese title daimaou ("Demon King") over the years. At this point he's Ganondorf, the Demon King, the Great King of Evil, the King of Thieves, the Dark Lord, the Prince of Darkness, the Calamity, Hatred and Malice Incarnate, the Scourge of Hyrule, the Menace Unleashed, and Master of the Secret Stone. You can then include "the Dark Beast" as a footnote in reference to his Ganon form.
The Unchosen One: Zig-Zagged Trope. Unlike Link and Zelda, Ganondorf did not stumble across the Triforce of Power and was not granted its power from birth. However, he still seems to embody it. Most telling is the Child Timeline, where Ganondorf failed to open the Portal of Time due to Link's intervention, but is seeming "awarded" the Triforce of Power for reasons that even the surviving Six Sages can only describe as a "divine prank". The English version of Skyward Sword additionally implies that Ganondorf is chosen for a different reason: the chosen incarnation and successor of Demise.
Unexplained Recovery: He has died in multiple games. He has also appeared, perfectly healthy, in games that are chronologically some time after the game in which he has died.
- According to Hyrule Historia, Ganon returns in the original The Legend of Zelda (after A Link to the Past) without hinting he had died before in games which at the time weren't released. Due to the ambiguity of what happens in-between, how he inexplicably recovers is unknown, though the fact he was unsealed by Yuga in A Link Between Worlds as part of Hilda's plan to use Hyrule's Triforce to restore Lorule before Yuga himself decided to betray Hilda while he was merged with Ganon, shows that his soul survived to fight another day after Yuga's death.
- Several of the games, including Ocarina of Time, strongly imply if not outright state it is due to the Triforce of Power making him immortal. In Twilight Princess, the original Ganondorf is finally slain... only to reincarnate in time for the next chronological game.
- The backstory of Breath of the Wild makes clear Ganon was sealed away and/or dead for 10,000 years by that point, yet he suddenly appears to devastate Hyrule in the Great Calamity. While "The Champions' Ballad" says that the Yiga Clan were seeking to revive Ganon, it's not clear if they were the ones directly responsible for his return. And this is one of the few Zelda games where Ganon explicitly lacks the Triforce of Power. Tears of the Kingdom fully explains the situation: he was originally Ganondorf who became the Demon King after acquiring a powerful Amplifier Artifact, and was subsequently sealed away by the first king of Hyrule. Calamity Ganon is the result of some of his evil and hate leaking out of the seal, which attacked Hyrule once and then again ten millennia later.
Villain Decay: Being an intelligent and powerful villain, he isn't a usual victim of this unless the circumstances negatively affect his mind.
- In the Decline timeline, Ganon's power and intelligence gradually decrease as he gets defeated by various incarnations of Link over time. In A Link to the Past, he was at the height of his power, having defeated the Hero of Time and obtained the entire Triforce ages ago with an entire world at his command. The only way to defeat him was by a combination of the Master Sword (which could only stun him) and four Silver Arrows^note. In the Oracles games, Ganon is revived, only for the resurrection to be botched and he comes back as a mindless, raging beast with limited awareness of who he is. He can be killed by any sword (with the Master Sword causing the most damage). In A Link Between Worlds, Ganon is revived again to be used as a power source for Yuga's One-Winged Angel form, and Yuga remains in full control of his body. He is killed by just the Master Sword. And finally, in the original Legend of Zelda, according to Hyrule Historia, Ganon returns but lacks any of Ganondorf's intellect back in Ocarina of Time, now simply a demon warlord bent on stealing the Triforce. He is ultimately slain by a non-Master Sword and one Silver Arrow this time around.
- Played with in Breath of the Wild, as Calamity Ganon, where he's stronger than ever, but lacks a body at that point, and is an Almighty Idiot too due to his sheer power overriding any remaining identity as Ganon or Ganondorf. Until he reawakens in Tears of the Kingdom as Ganondorf himself, and defies the trope, reaffirming exactly why he's one of the most dangerous foes in the land.
Villain Teamup: He teams up with Bowser in Brawl's Subspace Emissary mode, despite the latter's dislike for him and preferring Master Hand, as well as Yuga, his Lorulean counterpart, marking the first (and so far only) time in the Zelda series that Ganon has teamed up with another villain without hijacking the plot...even if it was through possession.
Yuga: Behold! The Triforce of Power! Join with me! Let us destroy all ugliness in this world or any other. We shall be TRULY superior!
Villainous Breakdown:
- In Ocarina of Time, after his attempt to bury Link and Zelda with his castle had failed, Ganondorf becomes so enraged that he uses the Triforce of Power to transform himself into Ganon for the first time. As Ganon, he is a beast of pure rage and power with no strategy aside from attacking Link. When he is defeated again and gets sealed away by the Seven Sages, he reverts back to his human form cursing his jailers and vowing revenge on their descendants.
- In The Wind Waker when King Daphnes wishes for Hyrule to be destroyed moments before Ganondorf can wish for it to be his. Ganondorf proceeds to laugh as the ocean starts pouring down around them and then decides to just kill Zelda and Link then and there.
  Ganondorf: This is foolishness... A future... for you? [...] Very well, then... Allow me to show you... Your future... Yes... Allow me to show you... Just what hope you have... See how much your precious Triforce is worth!
- In Breath of the Wild, he's become more of a walking natural disaster and living incarnation of The Power of Hate than a real character, intending to destroy the world instead of conquer it. As the final battle goes on, according to Zelda — at least in the English version — he even gives up on trying to properly revive himself just so he can make sure Link dies.
- In Tears of the Kingdom, Ganondorf himself makes a grand return with all of his intelligence that made him so dangerous to start with. As his final battle progresses, his fatally high pride is so strong that facing defeat, he chooses to sacrifice everything that he is just so that he can immediately reverse his loss. He does this by turning into a mindless demonic dragon.
Villainous Legacy: Zelda II and Phantom Hourglass deal to varying extents with Ganon's actions in the preceding games having some influence on the plots of the new games despite him having been killed. The English version of Skyward Sword also implies that Ganon himself is this for Demise.
Villains Never Lie: In Wind Waker's New Game Plus, Link receives the "Hero's New Clothes", which are invisible to everyone but the honest. Ganondorf can see them just fine.
Villain Respect: Despite animosity toward him as an enemy, Ganondorf has nothing but respect for Link's courage. Numerous times, he praises Link's determination and toughness and gives an amused grin/laugh when Link outsmarts him.
Wicked Cultured: As Ganondorf, aka King of Thieves, he surrounds himself with the finest arts and treasures. The most notable example is in Ocarina of Time, where he plays his own theme on an organ while he waits for Link in his Tower.
Wolverine Publicity:
- Although he only appeared in four canonical games, Ganondorf (in general) is treated as the definitive version of the series' Big Bad, getting more publicity than his pig demon and Calamity forms. Super Smash Bros. and Hyrule Warriors use his humanoid form as his default playable form, with his pig form being limited to brief transformations.
- The pre-rendered clip of Link and Ganondorf fighting that Nintendo showed at Space World 2000 gave Ganondorf a distinct cleaver-type sword. Promotional images of Ganondorf with that sword were used in artwork for Super Smash Bros. Melee, and he was eventually given the sword to use in-game for Smash attacks in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. It is one of Ganondorf's most iconic weapons despite it never appearing in any canon Zelda games.
Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: Thanks to his Character Development in The Wind Waker. He initially coveted Hyrule because of the harsh environment he grew up in but ended up falling hard down the Dark Side. Heck, in Ocarina of Time and Twilight Princess, Zelda and Link even pitied him. It's averted with his incarnation in Tears of the Kingdom as he's shown to be an unrepentant, horrible monster of a man.
World's Strongest Man: No matter the age, Ganondorf is always the strongest warrior and most powerful sorcerer alive when he appears. At his weakest, it takes armies of some of the most potent warriors and mages around to defeat him. At his strongest, divine intervention may not be enough to stop him. His power is so far above anything else in the mortal world that he will always be "chosen" by the Triforce of Power as the divine relic is forced to acknowledge his strength is supreme.
Worthy Opponent: Considers Link one, for his courage at least. Ganondorf is prideful and arrogantly secure in his own power, but he is often pleasantly surprised by Link's ability to give him a challenge.
Would Hurt a Child: Link and Zelda have frequently fluctuated in age across the games, but whenever they are children, Ganon has never been any less willing to fight them than when they are older. Justified Trope, as they're powerful heroes in their own right that have taken down many of his minions by the time Ganon meets up with them.
Wrestler in All of Us: While very heavily exaggerated in Super Smash Bros., Ganondorf often uses various hand-to-hand combat and wrestling moves in his boss battles alongside swordplay and magic.
Xanatos Gambit: In a few games or so.
- Ocarina of Time. It doesn't matter who opens the Gate of Time, he'll still get a Triforce piece.
- Wind Waker. The Master Sword is the only weapon that can defeat him, but freeing it gives him his full powers back.
- In Hyrule Warriors, he repeats the gambit from Wind Waker by manipulating Cia into unsealing three parts of his soul and becoming a big enough threat that the heroes have to draw the Master Sword — which was sealing away the final piece of his soul — to stop her
You Can't Fight Fate: The English version's implication that Ganondorf is the human reincarnation of Demise brought on by the Demon tribe's curse indicates he was fated to come into conflict with Zelda and Link.
You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: He has a penchant for throwing high-ranking subordinates aside once he's gotten what he wants:
- The manual for A Link to the Past says he was originally the leader of a gang of thieves/sorcerers seeking the Triforce. Once they broke into the Sacred Realm, Ganondorf killed all the others so he could have the Triforce for himself and became Ganon.
- In Twilight Princess, he granted Zant some of his powers so the latter could blanket Hyrule in Twilight and leave Hyrule Castle to Ganondorf. Yet when Midna kills Zant in the Palace of Twilight, he stays dead despite him verbally expecting Ganondorf to revive him over and over. Ganondorf later makes clear that he only valued the Twili, and by extension Zant, because he could feed off their hatred.
- In Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, Astor takes a leading role in reviving Calamity Ganon and attacking the Hyrulean forces in order to bring the kingdom to its knees. But once Astor's failures have stacked up by the final battle, and after Astor tries to order the ancient demon to attack the heroes, Ganon devours the guy in order to take on a humanoid form.
You Killed My Father: He's directly responsible for killing Zelda's father the King in A Link to the Past, Ocarina of Time, and Breath of the Wild, though only in the last game does her grief for her father play an explicit role in the story. In Tears of the Kingdom, he instead kills Queen Sonia, Zelda's ancestor and the first Queen of Hyrule, for her Secret Stone.

Characters / The Legend of Zelda: The Triforce Wielders
aka: The Legend Of Zelda Link

DISCLAIMER - Some spoilers for some games in the franchise are unmarked

Tropes

The Wielders

Link

Princess Zelda

Ganondorf Dragmire / Ganon / Calamity Ganon

Alternative Title(s): The Legend Of Zelda Link, The Legend Of Zelda Princess Zelda, The Legend Of Zelda Ganon Ganondorf

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Characters / The Legend of Zelda: The Triforce Wielders aka: The Legend Of Zelda Link

Edit Locked

DISCLAIMER - Some spoilers for some games in the franchise are unmarked

Tropes

The Wielders

Link

Princess Zelda

Ganondorf Dragmire / Ganon / Calamity Ganon

Alternative Title(s): The Legend Of Zelda Link, The Legend Of Zelda Princess Zelda, The Legend Of Zelda Ganon Ganondorf

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Characters / The Legend of Zelda: The Triforce Wielders
aka: The Legend Of Zelda Link