Breath of the Wild The Ganonblights Are BS...

[AncientPoe]

So, this is a thought that has been sorta rattling around in my head for a while. However, after I'd finished the Champion's Ballad DLC, it came further into the fore of my mind. I'll also just say now, mild spoiler warning if you haven't finished the DLC.

So, my main problem is this: I think that each Blight was sorely mismatched for its chosen opponent.

It made little sense even before the DLC, but between reading diaries and watching cutscenes, it became inescapable to me. I mean really think about it. Waterblight, a foe who uses slow-moving attacks that are heavily telegraphed, and whose ice blocks shatter when they contact water, faced off against Mipha and won!? Watching her traverse that waterfall, her vertical leap potential, her ability to dive, and the game telling us on numerous accounts of her stunning grace and ability? And Fireblight... his main attacks are a bigass sword and shooting fire. DARUK SITS IN LAVA AS A FORM OF ENDURANCE TRAINING. Fireblight wouldn't be ****. As for Windblight? He's sorely weak to bomb arrows. Against Revali. And lastly, Thunderblight's main thing is lightning, and moving fast. But we see Urbosa is a FIEND when it comes to dodges and parries, and she lives in a place where Voltfruit is a dietary staple, and she can summon lightning with a snap of her fingers.

But... you know what would make a lot more sense? mixing them up. The Zora tell us that a single Shock Arrow can kill them, which is why they so fear the Lynel. Thunderblight could have mopped the floor with Mipha instantly. Fireblight wouldn't have much trouble with Revali, as he is capable of creating a powerful vortex to suck the skybound warrior in and vaporize him with intense blasts, while creating a force field that protects from bomb arrows from the outside. Windblight can easily stay far from Daruk's reach while pelting the ground-bound Goron with enough rapidfire shots to overtax his Protection. And Waterblight... well I mean honestly whoever had to face Urbosa is the Blight that drew the short straw. But that spear would have been good for keeping her at a range where her short sword was ineffective, and while WB is somewhat weak to lightning, Urbosa can't keep that up forever. He certainly has enough HP to take two or three shocks and keep on coming. As he gets weaker he summons a lot more Ice attacks, which would have been highly difficult for Urbosa to deal with.

Anyway, that's my two cents. The Blights were poorly chosen to deal with their respective Champions. They should have been mixed and matched.

 

[YIGAhim]

I suppose they didn't do that because of the stage that was set. It would be hard to pull off a fight inside Vah Ruta with Thunderblight Ganon, but would not be as difficult in Vah Nabooris simply because a water boss would match with a water setting, ect

 

[AncientPoe]

I suppose they didn't do that because of the stage that was set. It would be hard to pull off a fight inside Vah Ruta with Thunderblight Ganon, but would not be as difficult in Vah Nabooris simply because a water boss would match with a water setting, ect

Yes, I am aware of the gameified reasons for the matchups. This was more just a musing sort of rant. Also maybe it will spark some fun discussion. But also, if you think about my matchups, and assume the Blights are going to the Beasts, it still holds up. Thunder can easily fight in the room you face Waterblight in, and Waterblight can still move easily enough in Nabooris, while the control areas for both Rudania and Medo are equally open-air.

 

[Spirit]

Cant remember for Daruk and Urbosa but didn't Mipha say Waterblight ambushed her?

And that Revali was 'winging it'?

Makes sense if Mipha was killed even before she saw Waterblight, and Revali is ignorant enough to be fatally careless.

 

[Fraxinus]

Their weapon types correspond to the champions they faced, so I'd say it probably was a very balanced matchup from a combat standpoint. Revali has a bow, and windblight has ranged attacks. Mipha has a spear, as does waterblight. Daruk has a greatsword, as does fireblight. Urbosa has a one-handed sword and shield combo, as does thunderblight.

 

[AncientPoe]

Another thing I noticed about Urbosa, is she always seems to have the Thunderhelm on hand when she's at the Divine Beast.

 

[Azure Sage]

I always thought the idea was to not only kill the Champions, but to humiliate them. The Champions were all considered experts with their specific weapon types. So, to kill them and destroy any hope they had, these blights wielding the same weapons and elements are used to utterly destroy them in areas they were considered unbeatable in, further sinking their spirits into despair. That's how I saw it, anyway.

 

[AncientPoe]

I always thought the idea was to not only kill the Champions, but to humiliate them. The Champions were all considered experts with their specific weapon types. So, to kill them and destroy any hope they had, these blights wielding the same weapons and elements are used to utterly destroy them in areas they were considered unbeatable in, further sinking their spirits into despair. That's how I saw it, anyway.

That's an interesting take.

I wonder how close the fights were...

 

[Ninja]

That's an interesting take.

I wonder how close the fights were...

Hmm, thats a great question! For me it would go like this:

Mipha - Already shown to have been ambushed.

Revali - Said he winged it, so I would imagine the battle was close until he got overconfident and then got surprised.

Urbosa - Another close battle that was probably decided by a split second moment, imagine if Thunderblight used electricity to shock the sword/shield away from her and deliver the final blow.

Daruk - Probably had a speed disadvantage and was exploited.

 

[Alita the Pun]

Ninja probably hit pretty close to the mark here. I think that for most of the fights it would have been one slight mistake or one wrong move that doomed the champions.

It always makes me sad to think of the champions dying. I love each of their personalities and they were most of the reason why I bought the game. Other than the fact that it was a Zelda title. It’s mostly links fault for dying anyways! And why couldn’t they put them in shrines of resurrections too?

 

[ray138]

I think Ninja's post is a good outline of what probably happened, but I really like the idea of the Blights exploiting the Champions weakness.
Thunderblight taking out Mipha, for instance. The Zora seem scared of electricity and with good reason. Would have been cool to see that each race has a elemental weakness that they fear. That fear would be made very real by the fact that their Champion was taken down by that element.

 

[DeletedUser9]

Interesting points.

I think the idea with the Blights wasn't that they beat the Champions by countering them, but rather by doing what they did better. Urbosa even comments on Thunderblight's speed; just because they do things the Champions were also excellent at does not mean they weren't more powerful. Daruk might sit in lava, but there are always hotter temperatures. Just because Urbosa is quick doesn't mean she wasn't outfought, etc. Revali probably makes the least sense with the bomb arrows thing, but as Ninja commented he probably got cocky.

Of course this makes it hard to swallow when you see the champions actually pull off their feats in the cutscenes, but this is an old oddity in video games: Feats in cutscenes are often more intense-looking than gameplay. Even in the Devil May Cry series or other spectacle fighter games, the cutscene battles are wilder than anything you can actually pull off in-game. If the Blights had been actually stronger/quicker than the Champions were shown to be in cutscene, then they would probably be too difficult for the player to beat. But aside from the gameplay-cutscene disconnect, I'm pretty sure this was largely the intent, for better or for worse.

 

[Vanessa28]

I don't think it matters the Ganonblights were the same element as the champions they faced. It could all have been that specific "heat of the moment." Attacking when the champion in question didn't expect it. Or turn their own strength into their own weaknesses. Like in Mipha's case; yes she was a Zora Princess and her element was water. But unlike Link Mipha didn't have a sheikah slate with cryonis on it. So Link got attacked by a certain amount of icecubes and he could destroy them. But what if Mipha got attacked by five and escaped but being attacked again by five or even more we don't know about? Or Mipha could've been thrown off guard. So could the other champions. And I think that was the case. We don't know how long the Blights have waited for that specific moment. That one moment the champions just let their guard down. Even for a split second. And that split second could've been all they needed.

 

[ray138]

I don't think it matters, but I do think it would have been more interesting story wise and visually.
Seeing Thunderblight take advantage of the surrounding water, Windblight turning fires into infernos, ect. could look fantastic and make for some great battles.

 

[AncientPoe]

I don't think it matters, but I do think it would have been more interesting story wise and visually.
Seeing Thunderblight take advantage of the surrounding water, Windblight turning fires into infernos, ect. could look fantastic and make for some great battles.

-cascading relief-