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Breath of the Wild What did you think of Ganon in this game?

Joined
Jun 21, 2016
Location
Leeds, England.
Personally, I'm a little disappointed so far. I haven't finished the game yet (I have another two Divine Beasts to go and a few more Shrines to do). I love the game as a whole, and I even like the story (even though it is a tad weak), but the villain situation is by far the biggest problem for me.

I loved moments in the other Zelda games where Link interacts with the main (or secondary) antagonist before the final fight. Ganondorf in OOT and WW, Majora in MM, Zant in TP, Ghirahim in SS. But in this game the main bad guy (Ganon himself) is largely absent. As far as I understand (from spoilers I've read), the ending doesn't really deliver on this front either. What do you think about that? Some people seem to love this, preferring to see Ganon as being an evil force of nature rather than a human (albeit extremely powerful) man. I, though, much prefer Ganondorf to Ganon.

So, what are your thoughts? Did you find it underwhelming? And where do you think Ganon goes from here? I don't want him to take another long rest, I want him back in the next installment. But as Ganondorf, not as Ganon.
 
I think its a nice change, not one i'd like for Nintendo to keep repeating, but its still interesting.

Ganon(dorf) has always had reason, Calamity is just there to be a force of nature to threaten the world. His simplicity is scary, just having this entity that has no thoughts or feelings really makes Ganon feel like an intimidating and immediate problem.

However having no reason to his actions also makes the story into a lesser tale and becomes about something-that-needs done. Why, just because. But whyyyy?

So for me its a nice change i find the simplicity and raw power of Calamity rather intimidating. The lack of reason is felt but its something ive not seen from Ganon before so its okay this once.
 

Dio

~ It's me, Dio!~
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I'm not a fan of this Ganon. There is no buildup or suspense to his reveal. He is just there without interacting with the antagonist and not really appearing very much. These mindless monster types like Bellum and Calamity Ganon just aren't intimidating for me. It seems little thought was put in to this antagonist (and story) and was just a way for the developers to have an easy time of it. A child could have come up with better.

We have already had a destructive antagonist in the form of Majora which was handled much better (in a game that was made in a year!). We see how manipulative and cunning the evil is throughout the game, with it being responsible for the state of termina and that our actions as the player reverse these ill effects. We also learn it is mostly responsible for Skull Kids actions and then finally we see him discarded as the Mask reveals itself as the villain.

Calamity Ganon isn't manipulative, has no character and doesn't have enough of an effect on the world. Yes it revives all enemies when a blood moon occurs but we never see Ganons power increase or show any sign of being able to escape from the castle. This does not create any incentive or urgency to go there and kill him.

I don't know where Ganon goes from here. I would like to see Ganondorf back and have him play an active role in the story of the next game. But we will have to wait and see what happens.
 

Amy Lu Minati

The Triangle conspiracy
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Actually... We do learn that even though Calamity Ganon seems like he is mindless, he is actually a genius! Think it about it, he outsmarted the whole kingdom on his run during the game and took control of the ENTIRE GUARDIAN ARMY and "defeated" all of the champions! He even "defeated" Link! This is proof that he is actually getting stronger or at least smarter every time he returns from the grave. I would even daresay that this was the smartest Ganon... It is really quite funny how slim the chance was that Zelda was able to contain him... I'm hoping some of this is focused on during the DLC since it is supposed to be a whole new main story with another dungeon! If it is attaching another dungeon, there is a big chance that we could see some more Ganon in there. (lol did anyone else try to escape during the last-last-last ganon battle?)

Link won by pure luck this time...
 

Dio

~ It's me, Dio!~
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Actually... We do learn that even though Calamity Ganon seems like he is mindless, he is actually a genius! Think it about it, he outsmarted the whole kingdom on his run during the game and took control of the ENTIRE GUARDIAN ARMY and "defeated" all of the champions! He even "defeated" Link! This is proof that he is actually getting stronger or at least smarter every time he returns from the grave. I would even daresay that this was the smartest Ganon... It is really quite funny how slim the chance was that Zelda was able to contain him... I'm hoping some of this is focused on during the DLC since it is supposed to be a whole new main story with another dungeon! If it is attaching another dungeon, there is a big chance that we could see some more Ganon in there. (lol did anyone else try to escape during the last-last-last ganon battle?)

Link won by pure luck this time...

We won't see Ganon in the DLC. Tingle will be the villain. Just you wait.
 
Joined
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I liked the malice, but the Ganon boss fight was too easy. Even Silver Lynels are harder to kill than him.
 
Joined
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Actually... We do learn that even though Calamity Ganon seems like he is mindless, he is actually a genius! Think it about it, he outsmarted the whole kingdom on his run during the game and took control of the ENTIRE GUARDIAN ARMY and "defeated" all of the champions! He even "defeated" Link! This is proof that he is actually getting stronger or at least smarter every time he returns from the grave. I would even daresay that this was the smartest Ganon... It is really quite funny how slim the chance was that Zelda was able to contain him... I'm hoping some of this is focused on during the DLC since it is supposed to be a whole new main story with another dungeon! If it is attaching another dungeon, there is a big chance that we could see some more Ganon in there. (lol did anyone else try to escape during the last-last-last ganon battle?)

Link won by pure luck this time...
I think Ganon was at his smartest in OoT; he sat back and let Link open the door to the SR for him, and then he just walked right in, took the Triforce of Power and actually succeeded in ruling Hyrule for seven years before being sealed.

While Ganon demonstrates some basic intelligence in BotW, it's really just more of a case of him learning from his mistakes 10,000 years ago, and the defeat of the champions can be explained by the him being at perhaps his most powerful ever.
 

Amy Lu Minati

The Triangle conspiracy
Joined
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We won't see Ganon in the DLC. Tingle will be the villain. Just you wait.
Yes please! XD I am still looking for a tingle easter egg and the closest thing i've found is Bolson. Think about it, he throws confetti AND he dances to his own theme song!
 
Joined
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Location
Leeds, England.
Interesting responses guys. I still can't help but find Ganon underwhelming in this game. I know there is an argument that Ganon is intelligent in this game with his plan succeeding 100 years prior (taking over Guardians, killing Champions, almost killing Link, etc), but I still think he's being portrayed as being mindless just because of his desire for destruction and destruction alone. Honestly, the similarities between this version of Ganon and Majora are quite startling (as Deus pointed out). He's purely a source of evil and destruction this time. He no longer cares about ruling Hyrule, he just wants to destroy it. I understand why that has a certain appeal, but, for me...that just doesn't work for the Ganon/Ganondorf I know.

One more question guys. Do you believe Ganon is now aware of Demise at this point in the series? This is evidently the furthest forward we've ever been in time when it comes to the Zelda series (the 10,000 years ago victory over Ganon kinda confirms it), so I'm wondering just how much of the real Ganon/Ganondorf now remains. Are Demise and Ganon now one? This would explain the change in Ganon.
 
Joined
Mar 19, 2017
Ganon(dorf) has always had reason, Calamity is just there to be a force of nature to threaten the world. His simplicity is scary, just having this entity that has no thoughts or feelings really makes Ganon feel like an intimidating and immediate problem.
I think the "force of nature" thing is intentional and ties into the themes of the game. Essentially the guardians are an attempt to control the most destructive forces of nature with technology. Since Zelda games are often about things that happen inevitably as a result of time, I think this is essentially about disasters and the fact that you can never fully prepare for them. It may be a stretch but I think this idea also ties into gameplay things such as weapons that always break and horses that sometimes exert their will no matter how tame they are.
 

Link Floyd

ᵒⁿ ᵗʰᵉ ʳᵘⁿ
Joined
Sep 23, 2014
I personally love this Ganon. He's terrifying, creepy...I would've liked a human form like we've seen in almost every other Zelda game, but that's really the only complaint I have about him. He's definitely in my top 3 favorite Ganons though. :)
 

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