Tears of the Kingdom Developers Discuss Ganondorf’s Design and Character
Posted on November 26 2023 by Rod Lloyd
Tears of the Kingdom director Hidemaro Fujibayashi and Zelda series producer Eiji Aonuma recently sat down with Japanese publication Nintendo Dream to discuss the latest Zelda game’s development and its stable of characters. Having touched on Princess Zelda’s recent depictions in an earlier portion of the interview, the conversation turned to series antagonist Ganondorf and his return in Tears of the Kingdom.
While Fujibayashi has served as a director on various Zelda titles since 2001 — including Oracle of Ages & Seasons, Four Swords, The Minish Cap, Skyward Sword, and Breath of the Wild — Tears of the Kingdom is actually his first directorial effort to feature the Gerudo king.
Nintendo Dream’s interviewer makes note of this fact when asking the developers to elaborate on Ganondorf’s latest depiction:
That reminds me, this is the first Zelda game Fujibayashi-san is involved with that depicts Ganondorf, isn’t it?
Fujibayashi: To me, Ganondorf is untouchable, or something that is very hard to touch upon. He’s an important character in the long history of the Zelda series. I’ve even thought that Ganondorf is like another protagonist. That’s why I think a certain level of resolve and skill is needed to handle him, so maybe a part of me avoided him. This time, since one of the themes was Princess Zelda thinking about how the Kingdom should be, I wanted to depict various countries’ lifestyles, and the ways of their monarchs. Ganondorf is evil personified to the people of Hyrule, but he is also a “king” with his own dignity and way of thinking, as the Demon King and also King of Gerudo. So I felt like he might be the most convincing foil to Princess Zelda, and wanted him to appear. But there are a lot of fans of previous Ganondorfs, so I needed the determination to satisfy his fans in his depiction.
Did Aonuma-san, who has depicted Ganondorf many times, have anything to say?
Aonuma: No, not at all (laughs).
(Everyone laughs)
Aonuma: This is the first time Ganondorf is shown killing on screen, which shocked me. That being said, enemies should be evil, otherwise you wouldn’t think “Ugh, this guy” when you see him. Up until now, Ganondorf has been softly depicted as evil, but for this world, I think he needed to be this much of a villain, or else the story wouldn’t work. While I’ve been depicting Ganondorf for a long time, I think this game really solidified his character.
He looks really cool too.
Fujibayashi: Thank you. I think we managed to represent this visually as well. The designer didn’t simply make him look violent; they managed to fulfill my wish of making him look overwhelmingly evil while also being handsome enough that both men and women would fall for him. We put a lot of thought into choosing his clothes and accessories, keeping in mind that Ganondorf himself should have a strong sense of beauty and good taste. We thought he would probably be a character who paid a lot of attention to his appearance, demonstrating his dignity and intelligence as a king, and designing him with that in mind, we were meticulous with his face, body, all the way down to his fingertips, making him come off as robust and sexy at the same time.
Aonuma: Ganondorf enjoys the Japanese aesthetic.
Fujibayashi: We incorporated something like the coolness, or essence, of Japanese military generals. Take a look at his stance with his sword, and how he unsheathes it among other movements.
On the other hand, the irredeemable cruelty in his expressions was also memorable.
Fujibayashi: I wanted to show “humanity” through Ganondorf as well. His expressions when killing was also something we were meticulous about. Actually, we wondered if we should show that at all, but we thought it was a meaningful shot to include, so we did.
Considering the lukewarm response to Calamity Ganon in Breath of the Wild, I’m glad the Zelda team decided to bring back Ganondorf in all his Gerudo glory in Tears of the Kingdom. His ruthlessness in cutscenes and the final swordfight between him and Link are two standout moments from the game for me.
Did you enjoy Ganondorf’s depiction in Tears of the Kingdom? Was he a good foil to Princess Zelda? Let us know in the comments below!
Source: Nintendo Dream (via Nintendo Everything, My Nintendo News)
Rod Lloyd is the Editor-In-Chief at Zelda Dungeon, overseeing the news and feature content for the site. Rod is considered the veteran of the writing team, having started writing for Zelda Informer in 2014 as a Junior Editor. After ZD and ZI officially merged in 2017, he stepped into the Managing Editor role and has helped steer the ship ever since. He stepped up to lead the writing team as Editor-In-Chief in 2023.
You can reach Rod at: rod.lloyd@zeldadungeon.net
