What Makes Ganondorf Evil?

The main villain from many Zelda games, including the latest entry Tears of the Kingdom, is often seen as a prime example of an evil character. But what lies behind the facade, and what makes Ganondorf evil?

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[marvelousmadmen]

This video made me understand Ganondorf’s quotes in TOTK and other Zelda games. I always believed that Ganondorf’s hatred of the light was a byproduct of Demise’s influence. Demise is the embodiment of darkness after all.

But the scorching weather caused by the agonizing days in the desert could also bring about one’s bitterness towards the light. It’s already been established that Ganondorf’s life in the desert was hell. He even says it himself in Wind Waker; “My country lay within a vast desert. When the sun rose into the sky, a burning wind punished my lands, searing the world. And when the moon climbed into the dark of night, a frigid gale pierced our homes. No matter when it came, the wind carried the same thing... Death.“

Before Ganondorf became the Demon Dragon, he proclaims that he will “cast this world into eternal night”. I thought it was just another edgy villain monologue. But now I realized it showed Ganondorf’s desire to no longer be hindered by the daylight that punished his kingdom for so long, wanting to strip it away from Hyrule entirely

Perhaps his hatred for the light and resignation to darkness is one of the reasons he was chosen to be the successor to Demise.

[level]

I think Nintendo kind of shot themselves in the foot with Ganondorf when they revealed that he’s the personification of a curse from an evil god in Skyward Sword.
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Which means a guy obsessed with having as much power as he possibly can ultimately has none over himself. No matter how much the games frames him as heinous, you can’t help but feel a bit sorry for him.

[willbeyeler]

Great video! You could also think of Ganondorf being the villain because he really had to be, due to Demises curse. Demise was going to be reborn into some form of evil, and Ganondorf had to take that place, just like he had to be King of the Gerudo.

[therobotFrom]

I'm mad that Nintendo didn't give us a tragic fallen hero arc for Ganondorf. It would have been amazing to watch him fall from great heights as he gets corrupted by Demise awakening in him. Kind of an inverse of BotW Zelda who did everything to awaken the power of the goddess, we could have had an increasingly desperate Ganodorf seeking to delay the inevitable

[MaestroSTY]

Wow. What an amazingly well done video. Please continue making these types of videos. I’m subscribing right now!

[shasta_creates]

I really liked this format; I liked hearing how the character of Ganondorf has developed over time, and I thought drawing the connection between light being something that could kill you in the desert would in turn make Ganondorf come to hate it, especially with the "insufferable light" quote. Excellent work, I would love to see more videos like this!

[christophernash]

I just played Tear's Gerudo desert and I love it. It may be my favorite location.

[Jormunguandr]

8:31 e.g. a dark/night mode phone user 😊

[wyatt]

You just earned yourself a digital cake: 🎂

[Shadoxas]

From a fan animation I seen it was about TWP Ganon trying to break the curse Demise put upon him, link, and the goddess hylia. Because Ganondorf is always forced to be a vessel for evil, he isn’t given a choice of his own. He has no choice to make a path for himself besides being forced to follow a given path he has no control of. It would’ve been great if instead link or a new character comes to break this curse so link isn’t always fighting Ganon and Ganon isn’t forced to do evil stuff. It would also save the Zelda reincarnations from all the pain of being a princess that can’t really do much for Link and the people of hyrule.

[you_mad]

good channel, would have subbed if you just kept politics (trump flag when saying meglomanic) out oof the video. we play zelda to forget politics