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Spoiler Interpreting Demise's Final Words

Joined
Jan 29, 2012
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Clock Town
“Extraordinary. You stand as a paragon of your kind, human. You fight like no man 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!”

These are the Demon King Demise’s final words as spoken at the conclusion of Skyward Sword. Many have taken these words and applied a very literal, closed-interpretation of them. Many automatically assume that Demise is referring to Ganon, and many others have also interpreted Demise’s final words as completely literal: that not only is he talking about Ganon but that Ganon is literally a physical manifestation of Demise’s hatred.

Now, these are perfectly legitimate interpretations, but that is what they are: interpretations. I’ve heard many talk about Demise and Ganon as if Demise had said something like: “Let me tell you about this guy named Ganondorf…” Ganon was never mentioned once, nor are Demise’s words at all concrete or set in stone. The beauty of this ending is that, like so much else in The Legend of Zelda, Demise’s last words are completely open to interpretation. Here are a few interpretations one can take from these words:

1.) Ganon is a physical manifestation of Demise’s literal hatred.

2.) Ganon is the reincarnation of Demise.

3.) Demise’s hatred (or Demise himself, literally or spiritually) shall live on throughout the ages, manifesting in multiple incarnations. This implies every major villain in the Zelda series, from Vaati to Bellum, that haunt Link and Zelda. Perhaps Ganondorf is the strongest incarnation of Demise, and this might explain why Ganondorf bears physical similarities to Demise and is the most prominent of the Zelda villains post-Demise.

4.) Demise’s hatred and lust for power shall live on in future ages through other individuals, such as Ganon. This does not mean there is a literal connection between Demise and Ganon, just that they share similar forms of malice and a lust for the Triforce.

Personally, I believe Demise was speaking in metaphor, and interpret his words as something of a combination between options 3 and 4 above. I realize that Aonuma said prior to Skyward Sword’s release that the game would touch on “why Ganon showed up” in Ocarina of Time, and many have taken this as solid proof that Demise is referring to Ganon alone at the end. However, even if Demise was talking about every villain in the series, Aonuma’s quote would still hold true. The game would have touched on why Ganon showed up…as well as why all the other villains showed up.

I see Demise as the ultimate evil in the Zelda series, basically “the devil” of the Zelda universe if you want to look at it that way. He is the source of all evil and, Fi claims, all monsters, and the original evil in the legend. His hatred and malice gave birth to all the other evil in the Zelda universe. This is how I see it.

But as I said, Demise’s words are not set in stone. They are very malleable and very much open to interpretation, which is what I love about them. I wrote this because I’m tired of reading about Demise’s last words as 100% unarguably referring to Ganondorf being a manifestation of Demise’s hatred, and that is absolutely what Demise was implying. This is simply not the case. Also, Demise mentioned a “curse” and this could mean that he personally curses Link and Zelda OR that this curse already existed, and Demise is merely informing Link of it. This “curse” is thus also open to interpretation.

What is your personal interpretation of Demise’s final words?

Demise.jpg
 
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Joined
Apr 6, 2011
Brilliant post about Demise's Final Words. I too believe that Demise's words is indeed a metaphor for all the evils in the Zelda Universe and prevents the unfortunate implication that Ganon was born to be evil because he happens to be an incarnation of Demise's Hatred.
 
Joined
Feb 21, 2012
To me, just knowing the difference between incarnation & reincarnation lets me know that choices #3 & #4 would be the ones that the developers wanted us to understand with Demise's final words.
The 'curse' is his hatred, as in, as long as there's a spirit of the Hero (Link) and blood of the Goddess (descendant of Hylia, Zelda), there's going to be Demise's hatred (curse) that will torment them.

If you Z-target Demise and call Fi (down on the d-pad), she explains some stuff about Demise:

This eternal being has conquered time itself. It is the source of all monsters.
According to tales passed down through generations.
It appears differently in each epoch and to each person who lays on it.
 
Joined
Jan 29, 2012
Location
Clock Town
I too believe that Demise's words is indeed a metaphor for all the evils in the Zelda Universe and prevents the unfortunate implication that Ganon was born to be evil because he happens to be an incarnation of Demise's Hatred.

This is something I have seen a lot. Some fans have claimed that Demise ruined Ganon for them because Ganon was evil from the start and had no choice in the matter. While this is one theory, I also disagree with it. I still see Ganon as 100% his own character. The stories in A Link to the Past, Ocarina of Time, and The Wind Waker paint Ganondorf as a greedy, power-hungry thief who desired power and transformed into the Demon King through this lust. I still see Ganon as such. His appearance in The Wind Waker also shows some of his humanity.

That said, while I believe Demise's final words imply all the evils in the Zelda-verse, I believe Ganon to basically be Demise's prime successor as the Demon King, or King of the Monsters.

As you said, I ultimately believe Demise was speaking in metaphor and that villains like Ganon carry on his legacy and are metaphorical "incarnations" rather than literal ones.
 
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Zeldawolfsheik

Chief of Shiekah Tribe
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I wish there was just one or two games made by nintendo that would stop little mysteries like this! I like them now and then but sometimes i just want an anwser
 

unknown

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In my mind, demise was the incarnation of hatred and evil. His essence will never be erased, because it is part of human emotion. I think there is a passing of ages and demise lives on and then ganon is where he channels a concentrated amount of his hate and hunger for power. that would explain why beast ganon(tp) has the same silver mark on his belly that demise has on his forehead. Beast ganon also seems to have some resemblance to demise too. The crimson hair and the clawed feet. If demise was on all fours I think there is some similarity.
 

Dio

~ It's me, Dio!~
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It was Aounuma that said that this game will explain more into Ganons origins. That is why I think demises last words were not a metaphor at all, but an actual curse. The incarnation of his hatred is Ganon. It's not every other villain in the series, or else Aounuma would have said this game would elaborate on the origins of certain villains in the series. I think Ganon replaces Demise as the demon king and the source of monsters in later games as he seems to have created his own monsters, Moblins even appear in his own image now, whereas before in SS they do not resemble him.

Other reasons the incarnation is Ganon includes the fact that:
Ganon never dies permanently, he is always revived or reincarnated. Other villains all die for good.
Demise was clearly made to resemble Ganon. Vaati, majora, onox, veran and Malladus do not resemble demise(Malladus is a blue smoke skull and resembles Ganon only when possessing cole, so he does not count)
The master sword is required to defeat Ganon, the only other villain this is needed for is Demise. Other villains are less powerful and can be killed with less powerful weapons.
 

Beeker

Wild Card
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Whole Aonuma said that there would be a reference to how Ganon got there, I think the 'curse' Demise left isn't just specific for Ganon. So long as there's a spirit of the hero, and a descendant of the Goddess, there will be an evil incarnation of Demise's hatred. If there are a Link and a Zelda, even if Ganon is dead/imprisoned/whatever the case may be and he's not there, there surely must be some evil that will attack them.
So I guess I agree the most with #3.
 
Joined
Apr 6, 2011
It was Aounuma that said that this game will explain more into Ganons origins. That is why I think demises last words were not a metaphor at all, but an actual curse. The incarnation of his hatred is Ganon. It's not every other villain in the series, or else Aounuma would have said this game would elaborate on the origins of certain villains in the series. I think Ganon replaces Demise as the demon king and the source of monsters in later games as he seems to have created his own monsters, Moblins even appear in his own image now, whereas before in SS they do not resemble him.

Other reasons the incarnation is Ganon includes the fact that:
Ganon never dies permanently, he is always revived or reincarnated. Other villains all die for good.
Demise was clearly made to resemble Ganon. Vaati, majora, onox, veran and Malladus do not resemble demise(Malladus is a blue smoke skull and resembles Ganon only when possessing cole, so he does not count)
The master sword is required to defeat Ganon, the only other villain this is needed for is Demise. Other villains are less powerful and can be killed with less powerful weapons.

Aonuma said Skyward Sword would explore why Ganon came to power. But that does not mean other villains are not part of the curse. I think Aonuma specific mention Ganon because he happens to be the biggest villain in the Zelda franchise. Demise references alot of villains so far in the Zelda universe. Black scales of the Nightmare, fiery hair of the Twili, Ganondorf's face, eyes of Majora and Malladus, the battleground of Dark Link, and teleportation powers of Vaati. Note that Ganon does not always meet every Link and Zelda all the times yet Demise said that those with the Hero's Spirit and Hylia's Blood will be followed by an incarnation of his hatred. MC, FS, and ST Links and Zeldas never faced Ganon at all. Also Demise looks different for each person who gaze upon, thus he might resemble Vaati to another person.

Not to mention the fact that just having Ganon be the only incarnation of Demise limits new ideas and creativity, much like how some theorists tries to place the old games after Spirit Tracks, a game that takes Hyrule to a new era.
 
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I just want to clarify something: I did not mean to imply that those four options are the only interpretations of Demise's final words, only the options that seemed most likely to me. One can certainly interpret his words in a different way than these four.

I'm glad the writer(s) of Skyward Sword chose to keep Demise's final speech rather vague. I think that vagueness is a strength in the story-telling of the Zelda series as it keeps the mystery intact, and also in a series that is meant to connect directly to the player (Link) it allows for players' own interpretations. Like good art, different people take away different meanings.

Demise may literally be every main villain in the series in a new form (perhaps they are Demise himself in a new form, or maybe the same being but take on new personalities, or perhaps his evil only led to their existence). Perhaps Demise may only be Ganon's predecessor and Ganon is the sole incarnation he spoke of. Or perhaps Demise's words were a metaphor as I said above, and his malice lives on through other beings. Maybe it's some kind of combination of all of these (I suppose I mainly think of it as some kind of combination of the literal and the metaphorical). I honestly don't know, and I like it that way. I found Skyward Sword's conclusion to be subtle and poetic, and in a simple, yet epic way, it sets up a legend of heroes and villains, and good vs. evil.
 
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Night Owl

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I understood it as the generic If there is a hero, there will be a villain clause.
Or the If evil rises, there will be a hero to defeat it clause. Both of which are common in story telling, if I'm not mistaken.

I think that this game explains the origin of the good vs. evil nature of all of the games.
Not necessarily just Gannondorf, but other villains as well.

At least that's how I understood it.
 
Joined
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I understood it as the generic If there is a hero, there will be a villain clause.
Or the If evil rises, there will be a hero to defeat it clause. Both of which are common in story telling, if I'm not mistaken.

I think that this game explains the origin of the good vs. evil nature of all of the games.
Not necessarily just Gannondorf, but other villains as well.

At least that's how I understood it.

You said it a lot more simply and clearly than I did haha That's basically how I understand it as well.
 

Locke

Hegemon
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That line is very similar to Ganondorf's last line in TP, which was removed in the North American release.

There's a Japanese god that represents evil, whose story and name I've forgotten, and there's a similar entity in Tolkien's work which is the source of evil in man and nature. I think Demise was modeled after one or a combination of these (not necessarily intentionally). He has conquered time, he's the source of all monsters, and his hatred will always come back to haunt people (as a side note, I do not believe that this is a curse, but rather a statement of fact - as Fi states, it's been happening for a while). So I agree that something between 3 and 4 is the best interpretation. I think a big point of debate can be encompassed in whether "My hatred" is the same as "Myself". Is Demise hatred itself, or is he just an entity with a lot of hatred?
 
Joined
Feb 23, 2011
That line is very similar to Ganondorf's last line in TP, which was removed in the North American release.

There's a Japanese god that represents evil, whose story and name I've forgotten, and there's a similar entity in Tolkien's work which is the source of evil in man and nature. I think Demise was modeled after one or a combination of these (not necessarily intentionally). He has conquered time, he's the source of all monsters, and his hatred will always come back to haunt people (as a side note, I do not believe that this is a curse, but rather a statement of fact - as Fi states, it's been happening for a while). So I agree that something between 3 and 4 is the best interpretation. I think a big point of debate can be encompassed in whether "My hatred" is the same as "Myself". Is Demise hatred itself, or is he just an entity with a lot of hatred?

Demise is not "he" so much as he is "it." Demise is a corporeal (, sort of metaphorical) manifestation of evil and hatred. This is why "it" is interpreted differently depending who sees "it" (and in which epoch "it" is seen). Fi's quotes referred to this fact. This explains the multiple incarnations of "it" throughout the series, and why they appear differently to the various incarnations of the goddess (Zelda) and the hero (Link); this extends to the world (Hyrule et. al.) throughout the eras of time as well. This seems to draw parallels with the real world concept of evil, as it pertains to the various interpretations of it and such. Ganondorf seems to be the strongest and/or the most common manifestation of "it." That is to say, he is the most tenacious. I also agree that Demise seems to have been inspired by the god Amatsu-Mikaboshi of Japanese mythos.

EDIT: Also, the Curse of Demise isn't supposed to be a literal "curse." "It" (Demise) didn't literally cast a "magic spell," and then, BOOM, Link and Zelda are cursed. The "curse" to which "it" refers is nothing more than an inevitable occurrence, as evil shall always exist for all time and cannot be completely destroyed...EVER...only kept at bay.
 
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