Spoiler Ganondorf's Evil Spirit?

[AcuallyAmDylan]

In Beginning of OOT, we meet Ganondorf as nothing more than an evil thief, who hails from the Gerudo valley, a land that is rather insignificant for most of the Zelda games. As the game progresses, we come to find that Ganondorf is really a powerful and dark entity, capable of wielding powerful magic. In the end of the game, we see Ganondorfs true form, a giant demonic beast by the name of Ganon. He is in fact so powerful that the Master Sword can't kill him and he must be sealed away by the Seven Sages. Now, being a kid that likes to question realism (I was pretty young back then), I questioned how this evil form of Ganondorf came to be? He was just a regular Gerudo king, and it seems rather stupid to assume "well he's Ganon that's all there is to it he was born that way". There's a number of explanations I'm sure. I considered that perhaps there is a deep past to Ganondorf's upbringing, one that was never truly explained to us, where an event seems to turn him into this beast, or even, an evil spirit is locked inside him (may be connected to Demise?). Or maybe, a more simple and reasonable explanation, the Triforce of Power's energy was corrupted by his evil heart and the evil power dwelled within him, forming the demonic entity we came to later know as Ganon?

 

[Shadao]

Well, Skyward Sword has given some light on this matter about origins of Ganon's evil. When the Demon King Demise was defeated in battle, he placed a curse on Link and Zelda's descendants (and future incarnations) to be forever haunted by an incarnation of his hatred. This incarnation is implied to be Ganon.

"Extraordinary. You stand as a paragon of your kind, human. You fight like no human or demon I have ever known. Though this is not the end. 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!"

Now as to why Ganondorf's spirit is the incarnation of Demise's hatred remains a mystery, but there are clues. According to Hyrule Historia, Twinrova apparently worships Ganondorf as the Demon King long before he became Ganon. This is interesting considering they're his surrogate mothers and the behind-the-scenes rulers of the Gerudo Tribe. Did they believe that Ganondorf is the genuine incarnation of the Demon King Demise's hatred or did they want to make Ganondorf the Demon King for their own lust for power? Why does the Gerudo Tribe live in the desert, which describe to be barren wasteland filled howling winds and death? And why do the Gerudos have only one male ever one hundred years and make him their king? That would be an unwise decision should he prove to be a poor ruler or a ruthless tyrant. No one knows for sure, but there's enough background to come up with theories around.

In my personal opinion, I think Ganondorf ultimately created the monster Ganon within him by his actions and choices. He had somewhat good intentions of searching the Triforce at the beginning, but his desire for power and world conquest became more important to him rather than his people and it keeps getting worse from here. He practiced dark magics, cursed the Deku Tree, threatened to starve the Gorons, poisoned Jabu-Jabu, and started a coup against the King of Hyrule. When he got the Triforce of Power in Ocarina of Time, he essentially cast away any remaining noble intentions and flat-out called himself the King of Evil. If he were to enter and remain the Sacred Realm with this kind of personality, he would have been a hideous beast in resemblance of a pig. And that's what the Triforce did. It revealed the true nature of Ganondorf's evil in the form of a beast known as Ganon.

"Oh? Who are you, Mr. Bunny? This world is like the real world, but evil has twisted it. The Golden Power is what changed your shape to reflect what is in your heart and mind. I am always changing my mind, so I turned into a ball." — Bully’s friend