Daily Debate: What Would a Zelda Game Starring Ganon Be Like?
Posted on August 16 2024 by John Lortie
Echoes of Wisdom is launching in a little over a month. After years of teasing a playable princess, Nintendo’s finally giving players the chance to step into Zelda’s shoes in a mainline Legend of Zelda title. The company’s making good on Zelda series producer Eiji Aonuma’s sheepish allusions to the princess taking the lead. She’s the one doing the saving, she’s the one fighting Ganon’s forces, and she’s the one going on the adventure.
Yet, there’s still so much we don’t know about the game! In the absence of more concrete details we’ve spent time discussing many of these unknowns in our Daily Debates. One thing that is certain (beyond the basic premise of Echoes’ story) is that Zelda isn’t Link. She plays differently than our traditional green-clad hero. Instead of using a sword, shield, and dungeon items on her quest, Zelda is equipped with the Tri Rod. This gives her access to the Echo, Bind, and Reverse Bind abilities (and, presumably, more that Nintendo has yet to reveal).
Once Echoes of Wisdom releases, Zelda fans will have spent time throughout the franchise as two of the three Triforce wielders. They’ll have battled as the courageous Link and used their wits as the wise Zelda. That leaves only one Triforce holder not featured as a playable character: Ganon.
What would it be like to play as a protagonist Ganon in a Zelda game? What would the story be like? Would we follow him as he helps the Gerudo and becomes tangled in Demise’s curse? Would it be set mainly in the Lanayru or Gerudo Deserts? How would a playable Ganon work? Surely if Nintendo purposefully set out to make Zelda’s gameplay distinct from Link’s, they’d do the same with the Prince of Darkness.
If Nintendo asked me to come up with the idea of a Ganon-centric Zelda, I’d focus on pig Ganon, completely disregarding the human form of Ganondorf. The game would reuse assets from Link’s Awakening and Echoes of Wisdom (Link and Zelda both got titles in that style – give the same to the big bad!). We’d see Ganon venturing around Hyrule and building his army with the monsters that inhabit each region. To do this, he proves his worth by battling these would-be allies with an equal mix of magic spells and hand-to-hand combat until his forces are great enough to attack Hyrule Castle. It’s here that the gameplay takes on real-time strategy elements. Would Ganon succeed? Well despite being the protagonist, he’s still the villain of the story.
Now, it’s your turn! What would a Zelda game starring Ganon be like? Would he be an anti-hero who plays like Link, or something else entirely? Let your imagination run wild and share what you dream up in the comments!
John’s been a Zelda fan since he was seven years old (which was a good few decades ago). He loves the last three months of the year, analog media, his family, and Tolkien. His favorite Zelda game is Breath of the Wild and his favorite game is Night in the Woods.
