Villains of the Zelda Series: Demise the Demon King

Demise, the Demon King from Skyward Sword, is such an interesting character. Not only is he a member of a race we know very little about, but he is the very first main antagonist in the official Zelda timeline. Demise is shrouded in mystery and surrounded with different fan theories.

He also looks pretty sweet. I mean, come on; wouldn’t you like to have flaming hair too? Flaming hair!

(MASSIVE SPOILERS AND THEORIES WARNING)

Demise: Demon King

Let’s start with the whole “Demon King” thing. I mean, what is a Demon King? We know of three Demon Kings: Demise, Ganondorf, and Malladus. Since Skyward Sword is currently the earliest game in the timeline, that means Demise is the very first Demon King. We know that Ganondorf was born as “a reincarnation of Demise’s hatred”, according to Hyrule Historia, but he is not Demise.

What we don’t know is where Malladus comes from. Malladus is “resurrected,” according to Hyrule Historia. He was vanquished once before, but he hasn’t been in any previous Zelda games. How did he become King of the Demons? We know Ganondorf is sealed once again by Link, but what we don’t know is how Malladus came to replace him. We know the Demon race is a monarchy, so there couldn’t have been some sort of election. Maybe he fought his way to the top. Malladus is yet another Zelda villain shrouded in mystery. Because he was resurrected, he could be a new Zelda game where he is vanquished for the first time.

Demon Race

Well, we’ve established that we know next to nothing about what a Demon King is. He’s the ruler of the Demons, and let’s leave it at that until another time. Being the first known leader of the Demon race, it makes me wonder what his grudge is against the forces of good. This is another instance where there is absolutely no lore to research on this topic. Now let’s back up a bit. I said that Demise is the first known leader of the Demon race. In Skyward Sword, you rescue an “ancient piece of technology” and have it repaired; emphasis on ancient.

Skyward Sword is by no means in an earlier period of time. Just because it’s the first in the timeline, doesn’t mean it’s close time-wise to the creation of the Zelda universe. There are also references to an ancient mining civilization, one you actually get to explore using time crystals. This opens up a whole new realm of different possibilities. There could have been a slew of Demon Kings before Demise rose to power. Demons and other races of the world could have lived in harmony at one point in time. After all, not all Demons in the Zelda series act evil. Sure, they’ve got powers of darkness and a conflict was bound to happen, but that doesn’t mean they couldn’t have left the forces of good alone at one point.

Time Travel?

Link’s “Servant of the Godess” companion, Fi, describes Demise as “the source of all monsters”, and states that he “has conquered time itself”. Woah! Back up! “Conquered time itself.” That statement makes my head spin, trying to think of what it could mean. It could be that Demise has the power of time travel.

He may not travel around in a little blue box that’s bigger on the inside, but he does have IMMENSE powers of darkness. If this is so, we could see a future Zelda game that is set way ahead in the timeline, but with Demise as the main villain again. Think about it. He could time travel into the future before he died, just to mess stuff up. I mean after all, Ghirahim does take Princess Zelda into the past at one point in Skyward Sword, using the Gate of Time. We don’t know for sure if the Gate of Time was sealed forever.

The second possibility could simply be interpreted as how Ganondorf is an incarnation of Demise’s hate. Since Demise has conquered time itself, he could theoretically find a way for his strong hatred to be carried through time using his mastered Demon abilities. If you were a Demon King who discovered time travelling to the future was possible and you knew you were going to die, wouldn’t you create another Demon King that’s almost like you to live on and carry out your agenda? That’s exactly what Ganondorf is. A Demon King, created by the previous Demon King, to carry out his Demon agenda.

A Link Between Games

Now, I’m about to blow your mind. On Demise’s sword, there is an upside down Triforce. Now you may say, “So what? It means nothing, it’s just a symbol.” I would have said that too, a year ago. Now we have a lovely little 3DS game called A Link Between Worlds, in which we discover a parallel universe called Lorule. It too, has a Triforce. An upside down triforce. This is one of those fan theories I’m talking about. If this next part I’m about to say is true, Nintendo is more interested in developing Zelda lore than I thought.

Now we’ve established that there is the mark of Lorule’s Triforce on the Demon King’s blade. According to the prologue of Skyward Sword, Demise and his armies came from fissures in the ground. These fissures are thought to be the fissures that appear as a gateway between Hyrule and Lorule in A Link Between Worlds. An argument could be made that Demise, or the entire Demon race, could originate from this parallell universe.

Ghirahim would be the Lorule version of Fi, much like how Ravio is the Lorule version of Link. Demise’s sword could also be the Lorule version of the Master Sword– a sword we never see in A Link Between Worlds; because it’s gone. It stays sealed with Demise’s remains, and where were Demise’s remains sealed? In the Master Sword. That means the Master Sword is a Double Master Sword now, containing a separate Master Sword within itself.

(Art by VegaColors, CCNCC, and Taco-Yaki)

In conclusion, there is a lot about Demise that we don’t know.

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